WhIP

by footfungus

nederlands verhalen over mijn otp

263. TALATBT CHAPTER 37-71

Take a left at the broken tree

Chapter 37

I wish that I could say that the China trip was uneventful. I wish I could say that I barely remembered what we did. It was anything but uneventful. On the 2ndday, we lost Yejun in the country where we could barely converse, and hunted for him for nearly an hour. On the 3rdday, Bonggu unintentionally upset a young Chinese lady and thankfully Hamin rescued the poor boy who was completely lost in translation. On the 4thday, Eunho and Ye Jin got into a disagreement and gave each other the cold shoulder. We didn't know what was the cause, for Ye Jin and Eunho were both bottling it up. Yejun was certain though, that it had something to do with Eunho's increasing admiration of Ye Jin's stepfather. All of us forgot to warn the newcomer, you don't try to get Ye Jin to like Mr. Yu. It was a land mine, and it appeared that Eunho had stepped all over it.

The result of that little spat of theirs was that Ye Jin wouldn't let me leave her side on the 5thday. Noah happily let us be, though I wasn't certain if his sudden good mood had something to do with the fact that he realized he was over-imagining things about a certain Chinese boy, or that the said boy had little chance to speak to me when I was with Ye Jin. I would think that he was pleased about Eunho and Ye Jin having a row, but from the way he pulled Eunho aside to advise the boy, I had to admit, that he was trying to accept that Eunho was leading in this friendly competition over Ye Jin, or maybe he was admitting that he might not have been considered a contender at all. But of course, I knew, that neither of these possibilities meant that he had given her up.

However, if I were Eunho, I would not listen to Noah's advice. The latter overestimated his ability to understand Ye Jin all the time, despite her telling him to stop acting like he knew her best. He didn't care, he continued putting words into her mouth. Honestly, it was not like Ye Jin would admit that Noah was right, her pride was too strong. But our Noah was never one to be tactful with words.

Sometimes, I wondered if he registered the words he said.

Noah didn't understand, that his words, had consequences.

"Hey, this is pretty cute." I pointed at some animal-themed hair accessories in a random shop that I put Ye Jin into. The group of us was having fun exploring a shopping street that seemed endless. That was much to see, and much to buy. It was a pity, that I didn't have much money.

Ye Jin barely glanced at it. "For you or Min Ah?"

"Why? Too kiddish?" I pouted at her disinterest. I forgot, that Ye Jin was not exactly tactful with her words either.

"I think these are cute. They suit you." I jumped at the sound of Luhan's voice, not realizing that he had entered the shop.

He fell into place beside me and ran his fingers through all the hair accessories as if it were the most normal thing to do. Glancing around, I noted that as expected the rest of the guys had abandoned Ye Jin and me in the shop, probably because the amount of pink in this place threatened their manliness.

"This one." He picked up a headband with deer antlers and placed them on my head. A wide grin appeared on his face as he nodded approvingly of his own choice. "You look cute with them."

A soft cough escaped Ye Jin causing both of us to stare at her. Without a word, she smiled serenely in response.

"It's cute but Ye Jin thinks I am too old for this. It would be a waste of money." I commented sadly as I removed the headband. Luhan shook his head firmly.

"Of course not. I will buy it for you."

Despite my violent protests, he took the headband off my hands and proceeded to pay for them. In the end, all I could do was accept it gratefully, for there was something strange about the glint in Ye Jin's eyes as she watched Luhan and I argue over it. So I ended the conversation quickly while avoiding Ye Jin's gaze.

Nothing else caught our eyes, so we left the shop to go look for the others. We found Eunho waiting outside a large three-storey music store and he told us that everyone else was inside. The second we stepped into the store, Ye Jin got distracted by the pianos and I decided to look for Noah. As expected Noah was in the guitar aisle, complaining to Hamin about how everything was cheaper here.

"What did you get?" Noah pointed at my bag curiously.

I took it out to show him eagerly but only to have him tease me endlessly for having childlike taste. During the entire time, Hamin was staring wordlessly at us. "Did Luhan pick those?"

"How did you know?" I replied as Noah and I turned to face Hamin, surprised by how he was so spot-on about his guess. The boy smiled meekly at the sudden attention.

"Oh. Lu means deer in Chinese. So they are kind of his thing."

At those words, Noah's facial expression changed drastically. Unsmilingly, he grabbed the bag off my hands and stomped off. I called after him, knowing full well that he was up to something stupid. Upon catching sight of Luhan and Eunho, waiting outside the music store, he pushed the bag holding the headbandinto the arms of the surprised Chinese boy.

"Take it back," Noah growled as Eunho looked on with confused eyes. He turned quizzically to me but I was too busy tugging onto Noah's sleeve to clue him in.

"It's a gift for Min Ji," Luhananswered calmly, completely unfazed by the uninvited confrontation.

"She doesn't want it. She doesn't need anything from you." Noah pried my fingers off him, and pushed me behind him, without a single glance at my direction. As I stumbled backward, Eunho caught me from the back and I cast him a helpless look. I was afraid of Noah's temper and I needed help.

"Oh? That's okay. But Min Ji can speak for herself, Noah." The bright-eyed boy turned to me expectantly. My mouth opened wordlessly as I looked at the confrontational stances of the two boys. What was I supposed to say? What did he want me to say? A rush of thoughts flooded my head in an instant and I couldn't make sense of it with both of them watching me.

To my surprise, Eunho stepped forward and blocked me from the piercing stares of the two boys. Nudging me slightly towards the shop, he said softly. "I think Ye Jin is calling for you. Go look for her. I will stay here."

Was I supposed to trust Eunho? Did he know Noah well enough to hold back the angry boy? What if he teamed up with Noah to give Luhan a beating?

No, Eunho wouldn't. I looked into his steady gaze. I could trust him. And he was telling me that I shouldn't be here. At his reassuring tone and firm nudge, I walked back into the shop briskly without a word to Noah and Luhan. It didn't matter, they continued their standoff. And I could hear every word. I wasn't fast enough.

"Leave her alone. I already warned you before."

Noah's tone was one of the harshest I had heard from him. The sound of my beating heart could not mask their conversation. I wasn't fast enough.

"And I will. If she asked me to. You are in no place to speak for her."

I could still hear Luhan's calm but sharp reply as I tried to pick up my pace. I wasn't fast enough.

"Of course, it's my place! You must see her as a naïve girl that's easy to fool. But while it's all fun and games to you, this fool is the most loyal person I know. When she likes someone, she will wholeheartedly and selflessly like someone. And when the weekends, it won't be you who would be missing the other person despite knowing full well it is impossible. So unless you are serious about her, and you have a plane ticket to follow her back to Korea, you better leave her alone. Min Ji's like a sister to me and I won't let you have any chance of hurting her!"

I tried. I wasn't fast enough.

Chapter 38

What do you call these things? Instincts that cannot be put into words. Feelings that cannot be explained. And we speak nothing of it. We know of it. Yet we act like we don't so that we don't have to face it. We know of it. But we neither accept nor acknowledge it.

How Ye Jin knew of Mr Yu's kindness, but she chose to not acknowledge it.

How Eunho knew that things had been different with Ye Jin, but he chose not to accept it.

Like how I knew of Noah's truth, but I refused to hear it. No, I didn't want to hear it at all.

In the presence of Hamin, no one said anything else about this matter. Even Luhan, put on a smile without anyone asking him to when he felt wronged. When the truth was out though, I wasn't sure which of us had the scariest expression. Was it me? Was it Luhan? Was it Noah? Or was it Ye Jin? You see, she wasn't on Luhan's side, but she was livid at how Noah handled things. She believed that I wasn't stupid enough to not know how to protect myself. But she didn't know the full reason why I was in such a bad mood.

Whether intentionally or not, Eunho told no one the full content of Noah and Luhan's talk. So as far as anyone knows, I was upset that Noah judged Luhan too quickly and painted me to be someone who couldn't take care of myself. And because Bonggu and Yejun would not leave Noah alone, for fear of him creating more trouble, I could not tell them the full story. And Ye Jin was already so angry on my behalf, that I didn't have the heart to tell her the whole truth. At least not here, everything would have to wait till we return home.

I couldn't sort out my thoughts when there was no one I could speak to. I needed someone to talk to, for I wouldn't know what to think unless I voiced it out. Walking around alone in the back garden did help, but I still felt that there was a heavy fog in my head, keeping me from thinking straight. It was weighing me down, and I couldn't barely function. It was too hard, to smile in front of everyone else. So, when I realized that there was a beautiful husky roaming in the garden, I found myself sitting with it and holding an elaborate discussion with the inquisitive dog.

"It's not like I didn't know, right? It's not like it changed anything, right? So I shouldn't mind, right? Why do I feel like this then? Am I nuts, doggy? What do you think?" I rubbed its head as the husky took a sniff of my hand. I didn't know whose pet it was, but it was well-trained.

"Probably, yeah."

Screaming, I spun around to face an amused Eunho. He snorted at my reaction before lowering himself to pat the husky who perked up at his appearance. "Her name is Wolf by the way. 'Doggy' doesn't do justice to such a beautiful creature."

"Were you being a stalker again?" I folded my arms in annoyance. How could I not hear him approaching?

"I asked Mr Yu to let me feed Wolf tonight. I am going to miss her when we go back. She's such a sweet-tempered dog." A fond smile appeared on his face. Suddenly, Eunho looked his age.

"This is his dog?"

"Yeah, he adopted Wolf because he thought Hamin was getting lonely. That was before his job sent him to Korea. And when he settled down with Ye Jin's mom there, he couldn't bring Wolf over. You know how Ye Jin and her mom feel about dogs."

I nodded understandingly. Our Ye Jin was not fond of animals. "I didn't know you were spending time with Hamin's dad."

"Not intentionally, I was trying to spend time with Wolf."

"Don't you spend enough time around dogs at work?" I gave him a light smile.

He took a double look at me. "I never told you that I worked at the animal shelter."

"No secrets," I smirked, and he rolled his eyes, unamused.

"You never told me that you liked Noah." Eunho raised an eyebrow.

I scowled at him. "Who told you?"

"No secrets." He repeated calmly. "I guessed anyway, you just confirmed it. You had me fooled, being such a big supporter of Noah and Ye Jin."

A long sigh escaped me as Eunho sat down on the ground beside me. "I was thinking if I ought to comfort you. But I wasn't sure if that was the reason you were avoiding everyone."

"I wasn't avoiding everyone."

"Sure you weren't. You were just holding a meaningful conversation with a dog."

I snarled at him but Eunho simply laughed it off. "Easy, girl. Honestly, though, I am not going to comfort you. I am not exactly in a better place than you."

His deflated tone caught my attention. "Are you two still arguing?"

The light in his eyes dimmed. "We never actually argued. She's ignoring me. Just because I told her that she wasn't very nice to her stepfather. But no matter what I said, she seemed determined to not like him. But guess what, Ye Jin turned to him just now."

"What happened?" My eyebrows shot up at his words.

"Ye Jin went to tell Mr Yu, that she didn't like Luhan, and that she didn't want him bringing us around anymore. She made up a bunch of ridiculous examples so that it was clear that she was just being difficult, rather than the fact that something was honestly wrong."

"Wait, what?" I turned so fast that Wolf backed away from me.

"She knew that he would try to please her, and if Mr. Yu stepped in, Lu Han would no longer be needed as our guide any more. Except Ye Jin did not realize that they were overheard by Lu Han's mom. But even when she was berating Ye Jin for being overly proud, spoilt, and difficult, Ye Jin did not tell them that it was Noah who had a row with Lu Han. She protected Noah in front of her family. She turned to the person that she did not like, and she allowed herself to be misunderstood, all for Noah."

"Is that what you think?" I asked slowly as I bit my lips uncertainly. Eunho's expression hardened.

"Of course. And she didn't even like what he did but she still helped him! She'd rather make it seem that it was her fault rather than tell the adults that Noah was being unreasonably rude. It wouldn't matter to Luhan anyway, now he was looking for an excuse to get out of this duty and Ye Jin just gave him the perfect reason to back off."

I scanned his expression carefully. "You are mad at her?"

"Yes, I am. However, I am not sure if it was because she manipulated someone who honestly cared for her or the reason behind it. She wouldn't listen to me about being nicer and speaking to her stepfather but apparently, she could do it for Noah. It was a stupid lie, and what would she do once it got exposed?"

"You think… she did that for Noah?"

"Who else? I thought… Guess we are in the same boat huh? Despite everything she says about him, Noah is important to her. She would take the scolding for him."

There was a distinct tone of defeat in his voice. The fact that I could detect it in him, could only mean that he could barely hold in anymore. At that moment, I forgot all about myself. Instinctively, I lifted Wolf's chew toy and smacked it hard on Eunho's shoulder.

"Eunho ah… you misunderstood our Ye Jin!"

The boy looked up at me in surprise as I took a long sigh before I started to explain the complicated way that Jang Ye Jin functioned.

The person she wanted to protect, was not Noah. Well, maybe it was. But there was more at stake. If she were to tell the truth, not only would Noah look bad, but so would Luhan, and it would be in front of his own family. There would be more fights, from families defending him, and families chastising him. So Luhan would never exposed Ye Jin's fabricated lie, for Eunho was right, Ye Jin gave him the perfect excuse to stay away.

Noah, however, was pissed off at the fact that Ye Jin was being misunderstood, and would never go against her wishes. Especially, if she asked him directly to stay out of it. Also, if he did, I would get tangled up in the whole situation, and Noah knew, I would not be able to handle Luhan's mom the way Ye Jin could. It was perhaps, something that Luhan understood too.

But of course, I would think the person playing a large part in Ye Jin's decision, was the person that was bound to get caught in the middle. The most innocent of them all was the sibling she never wanted nor acknowledged. Even though Ye Jin and Hamin were never close, they never had anything against each other. What stopped them from being close, was the mutual dislike of each other's parents. But that was not enough, for Ye Jin to put Hamin in a difficult position. Since Luhan was unwilling to let Hamin know too, Ye Jin knew she could continue keeping Hamin in the dark.

Maybe she still refused to acknowledge it, but Ye Jin cared about her family. And Hamin was family.

Eunho took it all in slowly before he returned his attention to Wolf. Stroking her grey fur gently, he muttered under his breath. "If you are going to put it like that, I would think the person she is trying to protect, is you."

Chapter 39

I didn't think there would ever be a time when I would look forward to the future. And that mindset didn't change in the 11thgrade. That year we were sixteen. And, I found a new reason to be envious of Ye Jin, namely her brand-new iPhone 3G. That year Eunho became a trusted friend. Noah and Yejun rediscovered their love for Ironman. And Bonggu began obsessing over this newly debuted celebrity named IU.

That year, Min Seok and Kira left for college. And I learned that being the oldest child in the house, effectively meant that you were no longer a child. That year I dreaded growing up. I liked my world simple. But the world just never stopped getting more complicated.

"Hey Min Ji."

"Hmm?" I turned to Bonggu curiously. We were studying at our usual spot in the school when something caught his eye and distracted him.

"See that girl over there. The one with the green bag."

I nodded at him, despite not finding her familiar. "Yea. What about her?"

"Do you think she's cute?"

"Omg! Bonggu! Shouldn't you have this sort of conversation with Yejun or Noah?" Several heads turned in our direction before I realized I was a tad bit too loud. I cringed under the intense gaze of our annoyed schoolmates.

He let out an easy smile, unperturbed by my reaction. "Nah. I think girls have better judgment. And you are my best friend! I need your stamp of approval."

"That's just weird. And if I don't like her?"

"I will talk to her anyway. I can just convince myself you are jealous." He chuckled even as I smacked his head hard with my textbook.

"You should know me better than that. I don't approach a girl based on her looks." Bonggu bemused as he rubbed the wound.

"I don't understand you guys very well. Miyoung was a perfectly nice girl but Yejun hardly gave her a chance. Poor girl probably spent the whole summer gathering the courage to speak to him. I thought he was interested, but nope, that ended quickly."

Bonggu raised an eyebrow. "Do you not know? Yejun turned her down because she implied that she was uncomfortable that he's very close to you."

I frowned at his attempt to fool me. "Me? I am not stupid, Bamby. Is it Ye Jin again?"

"Ye Jin doesn't act all chummy and buddy with him. So yeah, it's you that Miyoung didn't feel comfortable with. And Yejun told her that he wasn't going to accept someone who didn't like his best friend. He was very nice about it, but I think deep down he was furious."

"That's..." I took in Bonggu's words slowly. "Sweet of him."

"Noah's not the only one who cares about you." He commented offhandedly as he returned to his schoolwork.

Of course, I knew that. I knew it was useless telling these boys to stop worrying about me, not when I was the same to them. How could I ask them not to meddle, when I was the biggest meddler of the group? For that very reason, when Noah apologized for being overprotective, I told him honestly, I wasn't angry. I honestly wasn't. It was not anger after all. He was keeping his promise to me. So how could I be angry?

They didn't understand. He was the first.

When we returned to Korea, the first person I told was Bonggu. AboutNoah's honest words. A sister. All along, that was who I was to him, and that would always be who I am to him. I was hoping Bonggu would make me feel better. He always could. But even the chatty boy was at a loss of words. He decided against feeding me comforting lies. All along, we somehow all knew who I was to Noah. What else was there left to say? No words could make me feel better. Not that Yejun didn't try.

Someday all these would make sense, he had assured me. Would it? When? When is that day?

"Could you consider it?"

"Not unless you tell me why."

Bonggu and I looked up to see Yejun heading for us, with an eager Hana trying to catch up with him. The boy stopped in front of our table and Hana gave us a small wave before returning her attention to Yejun.

"I really can't work with him, and I don't want to fail chemistry! I know you want to get out of partnering with Miyoung. Since l desperately need a new lab partner, it's a win-win!"

"So ask her. Why me?" He sat down causally at our table without looking at Hana.

"Seriously? You are top of the year! Of course, I will pick you." She threw her hands up.

Yejun smiled a little. At this point, I concluded that he was simply having fun making things difficult for Hana. Bonggu and I exchanged a knowing look and sniggered behind our friend's back.

Hearing us, Yejun replied cheerfully. "Are you sure? You are not using me to get close to Bonggu?"

A loud coughing sound came out of Bonggu as he choked on air mid-laughter. The boy turned a bright shade of red.

"Please. I know when to give up." Hana rolled her eyes, unfazed by Yejun's words.

"How would I know? Weren't you just trying to convince me that you would make a great lab partner because of your persevering spirit or something?" His eyes twinkled at the exasperated girl.

"Even I know the line between determination and stubbornness, Yejun. I know a lost cause when I see one. Sorry Bonggu, didn't mean to imply that you're a waste of time."

"No. Go ahead. Keep talking like I'm not here." He grumbled as he cast me a small pout. I wasn't in the mood to laugh.

The thing was, there was something that I didn't tell any of them. Before we left China, Luhan finally caught me alone. We went for a short walk, out of the house, and away from everyone else. He apologized, though I felt that he didn't have to. He had heard so much about me from Hamin, that he got curious. Luhan insisted that he didn't mean to make me uncomfortable.

"You just... seemed like someone I could get close to. And I don't say that to just anyone." He lowered his head, regrettably.

Shaking my head, I gave him a reassuring smile. "Please don't apologize. Noah was out of line. Don't mind him."

Luhan's eyebrows creased in the middle at the name. "Yes... well, he was right. I didn't have the right intentions. And he was just trying to protect you."

I opened my mouth but he cut me off before I could get a word in.

"You must understand that I know he's a good guy. So, it's with the best of intentions when I tell you this. Min Ji, sometimes we must know a lost cause when we see one. If you have your eyes locked ahead, you will miss everything that is going on around you."

"What are you talking about?" My eyes met his as the both of us stopped walking.

In the night, Luhan pointed to the road ahead of us.

"Last summer, it was so hot that this road cracked and sank. During my evening run, I ran straight into it and nearly broke my neck, even though the sun hadn't even set yet. I guessed sometimes we are so used to taking the same path home, that even if there's a huge pit hole right in the middle, we only realize it when we fall right into it. It's dangerous, to think only of the destination. Always keep your eyes open for the pit holes, Min Ji. And keep your mind open for other paths home. Don't go running straight into a hole thinking that it's the only way. At some point, we must admit that the pit hole is a little bit too big to jump across.

There's a thin line between determination and stubbornness."

Chapter 40

"Wake up!"

A shadow of a giant loomed over me and I attempted to wave my heavy hand at it.

"Get out of my face, Noah."

"Then get up! We'll be late! Come on! Come on!" The boy pats his hands on my bed continuously. I opened my eyes to find Min Ah had long escaped to Minseok's empty room to sleep in on the lazy Sunday morning.

It was Yejun's sixteen birthday. And we were planning on surprising our friend before he returned from his weekly grocery shopping trip. As I was washing up, Noah rambled on what we needed to do. Not that there was much to fret over, it was a small celebration since the birthday boy preferred a quiet affair with just his mom and the bunch of us. When I was done, I found Noah ransacking through my drawers, without any concern about my privacy.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him, not at all hiding my annoyance.

"Your card games. Where do you keep them again?" He replied without looking up.

"Honestly, you never remember. Second drawer."

As if he checked through the correct drawer, Noah muttered under his breath. "You are so mean to me recently."

He meant for me to hear that. "I am never nice in the morning."

"No. You have been mean to me since we came back from China." He pocketed the card games while he stared at me pointedly. I looked away immediately. "Even Ye Jin is no longer mad at me."

"That's because you wouldn't leave her alone till she forgives you." I knew that because she told me so. Noah could be a very persistent person when he wanted to be. Or maybe, he just hated Ye Jin not speaking to him. It was not like he was glued to me, and begging me for my attention. It was like he read my mind, for Noah gave me a sad smile.

"Well, you said you weren't mad. But you have been acting strange since."

"I am not. Let's not talk about it anymore. Come on, we are going to be late." I motioned towards the door, but he stayed rooted to the spot.

"You haven't wanted to be alone with me since then too. Right?" Noah's voice dropped as he stared accusingly at me.

"Noah..."

I had not realized that he caught on. He was so busy worrying about Ye Jin after all. It was too difficult to face Noah. I wasn't mad at him, but it didn't mean that I was perfectly fine too. How could I look at him if every time I saw him, I would get reminded of the words he said? I wanted to go back to the way we were before. Before the China trip. Hence, I stayed rooted to the spot, trying to come up with the perfect lie. Noah noted my hesitation and walked over to me.

"I am not sorry though. It doesn't matter to me. Even if all of you think I am out of line, I would still do it. I won't risk it." He lowered his face to meet mine. I lowered my head, just in case my face was flushing.

"Risk what?"

"You getting hurt."

The honesty in his tone made me look up and my eyes met his. "I can take care of myself."

"But I promised. I made you a promise before." He smiled when he stuck a pinky out.

"You remembered?" My eyes widened.

A satisfied beam brightened up Noah's face, he knew that I was pleased that he had not forgotten. "Of course. I thought you did too, that's why you wouldn't be mad at me. Come on. We are going to be late."

As we made the walk to Yejun's house, I glanced at him before smiling to myself. Truth be told, I missed him. Being around Noah always made me feel safe. And it was too difficult to stay away from his reassuring aura. Still, should I hold him responsible for something that he had said when we were both kids?

"You know, you really shouldn't have made that promise. You know how clumsy I am. It's a tough job, keeping me from getting hurt. You can't protect me forever."

The boy looked down at me. "Please Min Ji, you are never getting rid of me. Ever. I don't think I would be used to not having to watch over you all the time. I can handle forever."

Did he feel the same then? When he pictured his future, no matter at what age, no matter at which location, no matter when, did he see me too? For that was how it was with me. I supposed, in life, you just knew that some people were meant to be in your life forever. And to me, the person was Noah. And to Noah, was that person me? For the first time in weeks, I finally felt at peace. It was going to be alright, as long as we belonged together. Maybe it wouldn't be as lovers, it would be at least as something. Anything. It didn't matter, even if he never saw me in the same light, as long as I could always still see him.

After all, not everything has to be done with an expectation of having something in return right? I didn't need him to feel the same way. It was not like our parents loved us, demanding for us to love them back. It was not like we did something nice for our friends and expecting the same in return.

No, it should be about the other person. Like why Ye Jin organized Yejun's birthday gathering. For the same reason, Eunho cycled for 30 minutes over to Yejun's house. For the same reason, Bonggu and Noah carriedBonggu's backyard grill down the street in the afternoon sun. For the same reason, Auntie Kim and I prepared the food for our grilling session. It was not about ourselves.

So I didn't need anything in return. I was already very lucky, to have them in my life. And if all of us could stay together forever, there was no way I could ask for more.

Except, of course, I could do with more luck in card games. I was terrible at anything that involved too much brain power and analytical work. And it was evident when I drew the sheriff card when we were playing Bang!

"I can't tell who's trying to protect me and who's trying to kill me." I turned helplessly to Ye Jin.

"I do." She winked and lifted her outlaw card. Ye Jin made herself too obvious as an outlaw and I eliminated her at the first chance. She took it in stride and said she would rather watch anyway. Meanwhile,Noah was just trying to kill everyone in the room, and Bonggu was alternating between killing and saving me. Yejun and Eunho were trying to target each other and I had no clue when they caught on to what each other's role was. "But I am not going to help you."

"You are a terrible friend." I pouted angrily.

"Get rid of Noah," Yejun instructed. "He's messing everyone up."

"No. I am telling you, Min Ji, it's Eunho. He's too quiet." Noah glared at the passive boy.

"Sure. Kill me." Eunho shrugged. "No way this sheriff can win anyway."

"Hey. I am going to make the sheriff win!" Bonggu slapped both his hands on the table dramatically

"We all know you are not the deputy!"

I glanced around the room as the boys argued among themselves. Beside me, Ye Jin started chuckling lightly.

At my confused look, she smiled. "I will miss this."

Chapter 41

Unsurprisingly, I was never much of a planner. I was very much a worrier, but never a planner. Yejun was the one in the group with foresight, and Ye Jin was the ever-careful one. They were the ones that planned for the future, while the rest of us sort of just wing it, and see where life takes us.

But even when you planned for everything, you could never be prepared enough for it all. Ye Jin learned it the hard way, through a phone call, sometime during the start of our new semester in the 11th grade. Just like that, her whole life plan was disrupted. It only took one phone call.

As expected of Ye Jin, she told no one of the call. She mused over the contents alone. She weighed her options alone. She did her research and planning alone. And she made her final decision alone. This was why when she told us her plan, we all knew it was too late to change her mind.

"I am going back to live with my dad."

I couldn't stop crying when I heard those words.

The eloquent Bonggu was lost for words.

The thoughtful Yejun didn't see that coming.

And the one that would miss her most looked her straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, you should go." Noah hid his sadness with an understanding smile. He fooled no one.

Ye Jin's father was sick, very sick. Years of alcohol abuse and neglect of his health had finally taken a toll on him. But it wasn't him who made that phone call, but an aunt who thought that Ye Jin would want to know, and would like to visit. Ye Jin didn't explain the details, but it worried her enough to move back to the city and stay by her father's side. We didn't dare ask, how long she planned to stay. Because from the way she said it, it didn't sound like he would ever get better. At least, that would be the only reason for her to make that painful decision. Ye Jin was choosing between family after all. She knew her mother didn't need her as much as her father did. But Ye Jin didn't know her decision would unintentionally mean that this man was yet again, hurting her mom.

Her mom couldn't understand why Ye Jin had to move back, not when Mr Jang was hospitalized after all. It was not like she hated her ex-husband so much that she wouldn't let her daughter see him but she didn't think that Ye Jin had to resort to moving back. There was honestly nothing much for Ye Jin to do, and there was no patient back at home, for her to care for either. Despite what her mom begged of her, Ye Jin was determined to go. She was no longer a child. And Mr Yu understood, which was why he helped her make all the necessary arrangements. It was early enough, in the school year, to make her transfer easy. Her stepfather took care of everything for her, without once trying to convince Ye Jin to stay here. It hurt him too, but he knew Ye Jin was a stubborn girl, and there was no point trying to change her mind.

It seemed like it was all for selfish reasons, that we wanted her to stay. If she made her choice, who were we to doubt it? She never needed anyone to worry about her. This was a girl that could take care of herself. Ye Jin was a city girl. She was tough. When she set her mind to it, Ye Jin was unstoppable. Noah was right, if she said she needed to do this, then we should all stand behind her and support her through it.

Eunho was a different story. He was absolutely against the choice. Eunho didn't think the man deserved her forgiveness. A man who drank in front of his young child, a man who raised a fist to his wife, and a man who we found out, accepted money from Mr Yu to drop Ye Jin's custody. Only when an angry Eunho let slip this fact, did I realize that I had never thought about Ye Jin's conflicted feelings that she hid so well. She had a stepfather who tried to love her, but she had never forgiven his role in her custody. She had a father who didn't love her, but she had never forgotten that he once did.

Eunho's argument made sense. After all, all these years the man had shown no remorse, nor did he ever try to continue to be a part of his daughter's life. Yet, even knowing that Ye Jin looked Eunho straight in the eye, unperturbed. What she said next, only my heart ached more for her. She didn't have to convince Eunho, but her tone convinced me that she had hoped that he, out of all of us, would understand.

"I know. He's not a good man. Yes, he was a terrible husband. Yes, he could have been a much better father. But just because he was a bad father, does that mean that I have to be a bad daughter?"

Ye Jin never didn't anyone's approval, but she had wanted Eunho's.

Eunho never showed up to the train station the day Ye Jin was leaving. She had allowed only Mr Yu to send her off, but the rest of us found our way there too. No way were we going to miss saying goodbyes.

We waited as long as we could, but none of us got a hold of him. Ye Jin was not surprised. She already knew he would not be here. Perhaps he hated goodbyes, I tried to give him an excuse, but she was not convinced. Ye Jin said it was alright and I had no idea if it was the truth.

Mr Yu reminded Ye Jin that she was going to be late and she nodded at him before he walked away to give us some privacy. The usually unaffectionate girl gave everyone a long embrace. Bonggu, who had been keeping the mood joyful, finally let his smile drop when she unhesitantly hugged him first.

"Thank you Bonggu. For always making everyone smile. Please keep on doing that. Please make sure that all of you are always full of smiles and laughter. Now that I am no longer here to nag at you boys, you must smile brighter and laugh louder alright?"

Bonggu clenched his jaws and nodded before she released him. Ye Jin turned to Yejun, who stepped forward and enveloped her tightly. There was a moment of silence before I heard her whisper, "Hamin and his dad, are the same. Always forget to eat when they are busy. And my mom, she doesn't even know how to take care of herself and-"

"I understand." Yejun interrupted her. "I will drop by as often as I can."

With a grateful nod, she turned to Noah whose eyes had never left her. He had not spoken much to her, as though he was dreading the last few words. When he stood unmoving watching her, Ye Jin strolled towards him and laid her head on his chest. Noah froze before wrapping his arms around her and letting his chin rest on her head.

"I am giving you the hardest job of all, okay? Take care of everyone. Please." Her voice cracked.

"That includes you too, you know. Whenever you need me, I will always be there for you. You are not alone. " Noah looked down gently into her eyes. "That's my promise to you."

When Noah let go of her, I took his place and held Ye Jin tightly. Suddenly she seemed too thin, too fragile. The strong protective wall of Ye Jin was gone.

"What am I going to do without you?" I mumbled as tears that I tried so hard to hold back, streamed down my face effortlessly.

"You'll be fine, Min Ji. There are so many people looking out for you. Don't cry. You are ugly."

"I hate you."

Ye Jin laughed softly. "I know."

"I will call you every day."

"And I will ignore most of that." She smiled. "How about once a week? That's your job. Tell me everything that I am missing out. Tell me how everyone is doing back at home."

Home. Ye Jin considered her home. Yet she was going back. Back to a place that stole her happiness and her innocence. A place where she had to grow up fast, a place that she both loved and hated. What was she like before? How did she become someone who believed only in herself? When did she start to reject weakness and anything less than perfection? Who was Ye Jin before we met her as the 11-year-old who found nothing in life worth smiling about?

As expected, Ye Jin hopped onto the train coolly, with no tears, no dragged-out farewells. She didn't even look back at any of us once. And none of us called her to.

She had somewhere to go.

And perhaps, only by going back, could she finally move forward.

Chapter 42

Our beautiful and intelligent Ye Jin was a mystery on most days, even to us. But her guardedness was predictable. That was our way of understanding her. While she was good with her words, she was careful with them. She hid herself well behind her purposely crafted sentences, revealing little of her true emotions and thoughts. And when she truly was feeling vulnerable, she shut everyone out.

Ye Jin didn't want to talk about Eunho.

It was difficult for me to wrap my head around the whole situation, regarding why was it that the two of them could never seem to work out their differences. Maybe they were too similar. Both Ye Jin and Eunho were so bad at just talking things out. I could not sit by idly. Not when I knew that the two of them cared about each other so much. At least, I think I was sure.

Eunho, on the other hand, was always unpredictable.

"Where were you?"

I had cornered him after class, and when he tried to brush me off to make his way to work, I had hopped onto the same bus with him. He was annoyed, but mostly surprised as he pointed out that I didn't even know where this bus was going.

That was how determined I was. There weren't many opportunities for me to catch him alone after all, and I didn't want any of the guys to be involved for now, especially Noah. He was not pleased that Eunho had upset Ye Jin, but I think she had told him to let it slide. I wasn't Noah, I didn't have to listen to her.

There were too many things I needed to know, and since Ye Jin wasn't around anymore, I had to ask Eunho, no matter how unwilling he was to answer. Ye Jin had enough on her plate, and just maybe, I could help with this one thing. Ye Jin's smile was a mesmerizing one. But it was so rare, for she found little to smile about. I stare at Eunho's pensive expression.

He was supposed to make her happy.

"Are you going to tell me why at all?" I asked again for the fifth time on the awkwardly silent bus ride.

"Are you not planning to shut up unless I tell you?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"I thought you would be there for sure... even if you were mad at her. How could you let her leave without saying goodbye?" I wrapped my arms around my schoolbag as I recalled her expression when Ye Jin decided to stop waiting for him. There was a long drawn silence before he turned his head to face the window.

"How could she leave?" Eunho muttered as I glanced in his direction. His face was indifferent. And it only reminded me again, how similar he was to Ye Jin. I couldn't read him, at all. Was he angry at her? Did he not miss her? Who was Ye Jin to him?

"I don't understand the two of you at all. I thought... you were serious about her." The words fell out of my mouth before I even realized it.

"I don't understand the two of us either." He sighed slowly, unperturbed by my unintentional hurting words. "Maybe I am too serious. Maybe it was my fault. Do you know Ye Jin's a lot like me? So much so that it scares me. But that's why we were drawn to each other I think, and why we were so tempted to get each other to accept the other. That doesn't work when we can barely accept ourselves, can it?"

He had given these a lot of thought. Just like me,Eunhoquestioned why Ye Jin and him, just could not seem to work. Did they not know each other well enough, or was it because they knew each other too well?

"I don't understand..." I said softly.

My eyes were on Eunho, but he had his own closed. Perhaps, there were too many emotions in there, that he didn't want me to see. Perhaps, he was not as apathetic as he liked to portray himself to be. Ye Jin's absence had bothered him more than he let on.

I didn't miss the fact that his hands were clenched tight, and his fists were shaking. Eunho was trying to hold himself together, but once he had started talking, words started to naturally fall out of his mouth. And all I could do for him was to listen.

"We were so eerily similar. She once told me that she felt that we were two parallel lines. Coming from the same place, going down the same path, but perhaps, never meant to meet." Eunho's eyelids flew open as he looked straight ahead. "I don't even know anymore. I guess it wasn't enough."

They were straight lines. Inflexible and unbent.

Was that what he was trying to tell me? The two of them were equally stubborn, equally strong and they could never bend to each other's will. They could never concede to each other's expectations. But was it honestly that difficult? Was it that difficult to get along? Was love not enough, or was there not enough love?

"You love her." Was the only response I could muster.

"I don't know if she loves me," Eunho admitted wearily. He was tired.

"Is that important?" I found myself asking him.

For the first time during the bus ride, Eunho turned to face me. "She never once asked me for my opinions. Ye Jin always formed her conclusions, made her own decisions, and lived her own life. I know she doesn't like to be weak, but why couldn't she trust me? I want the best for her too, I want her to be strong too. If she loved me, she would listen to what I had to say. But every time she didn't like what she heard, she shut me out."

"That's Ye Jin. You can't try to tell her what to do. You don't try to fix her."

"I am not trying to fix her, Min Ji. I am trying to keep her from getting hurt again."

I found myself frowning at what Eunho was trying to say. "You didn't want her to go back? You expect her to abandon her father?"

"He abandoned his family first. She rejected the family that had been giving her love and chose the one that only brought pain. And it won't be just her getting hurt. Think about everyone who loves her. A man like that did not deserve forgiveness. It's not like he even asked for it. He didn't ask for her." Eunho took a sharp breath before he continued heatedly.

"I thought she had moved on, but she chose to go back. I thought she would be strong enough to walk away from someone who would only hurt her. It's like she's still hoping for something. But whatever she is looking for, she is not going to find it."

A father's love, the phrase hung unsaid in the air.

"You know, Noah told me once, that Ye Jin tried so hard to be perfect because she wanted to prove to her father that she could live well without him. But the harder she tries, the more it shows that she truly needs him. I think she needs this. Maybe this time, they can finally work it out. He's not well, but I am sure that he would appreciate her return. Maybe he will finally be sorry for what he had done to his family." I replied to him hopefully.

Something unfamiliar flashed past Eunho's eyes. "Sorry? What good is sorry? Does being sorry mean that everything in the past could be erased? Does sorry mean that the pain could be undone? She said sorry to me too, you know? Sorry, but I have to leave."

"Ye Jin?" My eyes widened in confusion.

"Have to... it didn't matter that we needed her. It didn't matter that I needed her..."

Since when was our Ye Jin ever apologetic? Her pride was too strong, even if she knew she was in the wrong. And why would she feel the need to apologize to Eunho when she was so certain she was making the right decision?

It finally dawned to me, what I was seeing in Eunho's eyes. It was something so foreign, that I could not recognize that expression immediately.

His vulnerability.

"Eunho... who are you talking about?"

Chapter 43

It had turned out, that I knew very little about Do Eunho.

At first glance, I thought he was a cold and insensitive person, without any friends. But he went to Yejun's defense when they weren't close, he tried to know Ye Jin beneath her frosty exterior, and he befriended Noah despite his initial prejudice and their conflicting interests.

I thought he was irresponsible and nonchalant, from the way he was either always skipping classes or missing deadlines. That was before I spent a day with him at the animal shelter, watching him work tirelessly to ensure everything was running in perfect order and triple-checking that he had not missed anything.

I thought he was indifferent, to let Ye Jin leave without saying goodbye, but it may well be because he cared too much.

Eunho was, in fact, a simple person. He was the kind of person, who readily admitted what he liked, and what he didn't. He would not be polite, just for the sake of being so. He was not one to pretend to be someone he was not. He was difficult to read, but he was an open book. And he would not hide his feelings when he loved.

And he loved her.

He didn't want to tell me. But I wouldn't leave. Not when I knew something was wrong with Eunho. So I stayed with him, making myself useful as he cleaned and tidied up the shelter. It was a small non-profit organization, that housed over fifty abandoned dogs. There were cages to be clean, and hungry animals waiting to be fed. Despite his annoyance, I stayed near him, with a broom of my own. The owner of the place was used to volunteers anyway. Aunty Lee was a kind lady, who started this shelter with her retirement funds, because of her love for animals. She was full of praise for Eunho, whom she told me had been helping her since he was 14. He came so regularly that she decided she had to pay him for his help. And he had been her best employee since.

The joyful lady recalled a hilarious story of how Eunho accidentally locked himself in a cage once when the scowling boy showed up to pull me away and join him in cleaning up the backyard.

Out of earshot, we finally returned to our previous conversation. It was then he finally told me everything. Eunho's mother had married his father when she got pregnant before they could complete college. But marriage and parenthood were not for young carefree souls who had unfulfilled dreams to chase. His father, who used to be the popular kid in school, suddenly found out that it was jarringly different in real life. He grew increasingly dissatisfied with settling for a dead-end job, but he had no other choice. His mother, who used to have a promising dance career, found herself stuck at home with a crying child and a man that she could barely recognize. She wanted more from life. She wanted out.

In the year Eunho turned six, she walked out on them. She decided that she wanted a different life, and her back on her small family. Her last words to her son, was for him to take care of his father. And that she was sorry. Eunho hadn't seen her since.

Eunho gave a number of reasons as to why he hated her, like her selfishness, her recklessness, and her irresponsibility. Her departure had not brought the father and son together. Instead, it left a huge wound in the family and drove them apart. Eunho believed that his father had blamed him for the state they were in, but I believe, Eunho thought the same of his father.

He didn't like being home, where he had to endure dead silence, even when he wasn't alone. So Eunho was always out on the streets, and getting into more trouble than he should. But whatever he did, his father had never seen the need to intervene, his mother had never seen the need to return. When Eunho was nearly expelled for fighting in middle school, it was Aunty Lee who helped him, letting him serve his community hours with her. She was patient with him, showering him with more care and concern than he believed he deserved. Eunho said she was more of a mother than his own was. And he emphasized again, that he hated her. And he hoped she would never show her face in front of him again.

But we both know the truth.

He loved her.

I stared at the boy sitting across me in the backyard intently, with a sudden understanding of why I always thought he looked older than his age. Did he even have a childhood? How lonely must he be? How broken he must had felt? Was this why, he found solace here, of all places? Was this why he stayed here even after clearing his community hours? In a place full of abandoned animals, did he finally feel that he belonged?

With an uncontrolled urge, I reached out for his clenched fists and gave them a squeeze. He jumped a little at the touch, but Eunho did not pulled them away. It was finally clearer to me now. He was in pieces, and he had hoped that someone would make him whole again. But she had left him too.

"I am sorry. I can't pretend I understand what you went through. But you can't... you can't take your anger out for what happen to you on Ye Jin. She had to leave for a very different reason. If you love her, you would understand and let her go."

"I know Min Ji." He replied hoarsely. "I know. But I am scared. I am scared that she would never come back. Is it stupid, that I had hope that she love me enough to stay?"

I didn't know Do Eunho at all.

I thought he was like Ye Jin, who pushed everyone away to protect herself from getting hurt.

But all along, everything Eunho did, was to pull people towards him.

All along, he wanted someone to save him.

He wanted someone to love him.

Chapter 44

The truth was, as much as it felt that something was different, life was still very much the same without Ye Jin here.

I was still scrapping through my classes andYejun was sailing through them. Bonggu was still full of laughter and endless jokes, whether it was welcomed a not. And Noah was still putting more effort in his after school activities than school itself. And Eunho… was still Eunho.

Of course, some things had changed. Noah started to spend more time with Hamin. Maybe because they had both developed an interest in music. Maybe because it was for Ye Jin. But Noah convinced Hamin to joined the guitar club, and the quiet boy had since settled into high school quite comfortably.

Eunho was spending lesser time with us. Although all of us made it clear that we still wanted him around, he needed some alone time to, in Bonggu's words, heal his broken heart. There was a moment, when I wondered if the boys would judge Eunho for not being supportive of Ye Jin, but Yejunsimply shrugged it off and said that everyone could tell, that neither Ye Jin norEunho were playing fair. Noahsummed it up perfectly. How ever stupid our friends were being, they were still our friends. He didn't agreed with Eunho's actions, but Noah admitted that Eunho should be allowed to make mistakes, just like the rest of us. And who was to say, who was right and who was wrong?

Of course, Ye Jin had different views. I didn't speak to her as often as I would like, for somehow she always seemed very busy on the phone. She had settled into a new high school in Seoul. After classes, she would be in the hospital with her dad as he underwent treatment, even though he didn't want her to. At night, she would returned to her old home, one filled with a mixture of good and terrible memories, and stayed there all alone. It was not ideal, but we were sure that she knew how to take care of herself. Ye Jin was a strong girl.

There were many things that she was keeping from me. I didn't know if her dad was getting worse. I didn't know how she was feeling. But I didn't complain. For it became clear when the group of us swapped stories, that she was already confiding the most in me.

Instead, during most of our phone calls, I would talk about what the rest of us were doing. I would tell her about the mean geography teacher that we were assigned to this year who would give us weekly pop quizzes. I would tell her about how Bonggu accidentally lost Noah's new watch and that I had to stand between them to stop Noah from hitting the very apologeticBonggu. And I would tell her, that our latest hobby, was watching Yejun and Hana bickered.

And boy, did they bicker frequently. It was like watching Mars and Venus collide. Hana was a very chatty person, and she had to express herself vocally when she worked. The extroverted girl was a hard worker. She was not afraid to ask questions when she wanted answers. And she was happy to share when she had them. It was understandable, why people might see her as overwhelming, but her brash attitude, also highlighted her genuinity.

The problem was Yejun was very quiet when he worked. He figured things out in silence all by himself, and disregarded everything that the teachers said. He was not one to take things as they were, and found joy in rebutting these 'facts' that we were , always looked for shortcuts; he loved loopholes and cutting corners, thus making it very difficult for any one else to catch up with him when he doesn't share how he got there.

So all hell broke loose when Hana began bugging Yejun continuouslyboth during class and outside of it. He got annoyed by her endless questions while she got angry that he would just ignore her when he got tired of her. The schoolwork discussion would almost certainly end up in an argument and a cold war, with Hanasulking and Yejunpouting. It was ridiculously funny for the rest of us, because none of us, even Bonggu, was able to annoy Yejun to that extent. Truth be told, I sympathized with Hana, there was a reason why I had always preferred to ask Bonggu rather than Yejun to tutor me. One too many 'How could you not know this would do strange things to your pride? I was secretly applauding Hana for not letting Yejun get away with it.

Eventually, the bickering got personal. Yejun would make fun of her previous crush on Bonggu, even though everyone else was working beside them, and were in perfect would pretend to see and call out toAreum, leading Yejun to believe his previous crush was approaching. Without fail, Yejun would push something off the table and climb beneath it to look for an unusually long time. As to how Hana found out about Areum, I highly suspected it was Bonggu's revenge.

"Who do you think will realize it first?" Noah muttered under his breath. Beakhyun and I both looked up from our work at the next table, where the chemistry partners were working together. Or rather, trying to work together.

"Hana. It's not even worth betting for. But... ten bucks." Bonggu replied as I looked at both of them in confusion.

"What are we talking about?"

Noahjabbed a finger at the pair beside us. Hana was red in the face as Yejun was throwing his head back and laughing loudly at her.

"Seriously? How could you get that wrong? Come on. Even an 8th grader could solve that!" He grinned at the girl.

"You let me work through the whole question when you knew all along that I got the first part wrong?" Hana gaped at the delighted boy.

"Yea. I like seeing that growing frustration and horror on your face when you finally realize your mistake. It's entertaining. But good job. You did it without my help."

"You...! I am going to work on this on my own!" With an impressive hair flip,Hana threw everything into her bag and stomped off, without saying goodbye.

"That was a productive session as usual." Yejun dropped his stuff on our table before he sat down.

"Did you two owe each other in the past life or something?" Bonggu grinned at Yejun cheekily.

"Maybe. At last! Some peace and quiet!" He glanced in the direction thatHana headed towards.

"Really? Here, I thought you two enjoyed each other's company or something." Noah nudged Yejun with a pen but the latter brushed it off nonchalantly.

"Were you not paying attention? She's annoying. And the feeling's mutual."

"Oh, it's mutual." Bonggu winked across the table at me.

Only then did I finally catch what the boys were going on about, but so did Yejun.

"No way. Not her. Not that girl who doesn't know when to shut up. She can't stand me anyway." Yejun chuckled naturally.

I frowned uncertainly. "How is it that you guys always seemed perfectly alright with each other the very next time you meet up?"

"Oh." Yejun hesitated. "I always apologize after. So does Hana. With a long text message explaining how she feels. But she never stays mad. I suppose it helps that I remember her favorite coffee order. Although at this point, I might go broke soon. Why does she have to be so fun to annoy?"

The question was met with silence, as Noah, Bongguand I exchanged a knowing look. As I bit my lips to stop myself from grinning, Yejunrolled his eyes before he returned his attention to his homework.

With the expression of a six-year-old child who just got a new toy, Noah lifted his fist beforeBonggu."Ten bucks."

His equally mature friend bumped it.

Chapter 45

For a smart boy, Yejun was frustratingly dense regarding matters of the heart. Though to be fair, none of us were any better.

It was the oddest thing, watching two people slowly but surely developing... something. There was an elephant in the room staring at them straight in the face, but it seemed like only the main characters involved were clueless, or maybe they simply didn't want to know. The hilarious scene of two people flatly declaring that they could not stand each other and that they were just not leaving each other alone, to be annoying, even managed to make the static Eunho crack a smile. Bonggu and Eunho's stance was to let these two sort things out on their own, leaving Noah and I extremely restless. But all four of us agreed Yejun needed someone spirited like Hana in his life, to keep him on his toes.

But like Bonggu had pointed out, who would have thought that it would be this girl that they had shared classes with for a year, but had never actually gotten to know because of her bold and assertive personality. Then again, people always tend to believe that Yejun was quiet because he looked down on everyone else with poorer grades than him when that sweet boy was just shy with strangers. First impressions, were never what they seemed were they? It only made me wonder, how many things had to happen, for this moment. At this moment, Kang Hana and Nam Yejun, cross paths.

Perhaps we had to trace it back to the first day of high school, to when a nervous Hana took a seat beside the cheerful Bonggu. If Bonggu had not been the first person to be friendly to her, she would not have taken notice of him, and his group of clingy friends. If Hana had not fallen for Bonggu, she would not have formed a bad impression of me, and the rest who tried to convince her to deter her from him, hence avoiding the whole group of us altogether. If Hana had befriended Yejun then, he may not have fallen for Areum. If Yejun had not fallen for Areum, he would have angered the football captain. If Hana had befriended us earlier, she might not have the habit of taking her lunch by the bleachers alone and witnessing Yejun being bullied.

If they got acquainted with each other then, would they just have brushed each other off like the many faces we encountered each day? Maybe Yejun would react to Hana the way Bonggudid. Maybe Hana would react to Yejunthe way Areum did. Would they try getting to know each other? I wasn't sure how to explain it, but somehow a year ago, it may have turned out differently for them. It just seemed like only now, was the right time for them to know each other. Now, they might take a chance with each other. I couldn't put it in words, but that was how I saw it. It could only be now.

If Hana had not apologized to me for previously being unfriendly, I would not have asked her not to tease Yejun about Areum anymore. She would not have found out that the boy avoided the girl like plague, mostly because of his previous bully, and not because of any lingering feelings. She would not have shown her mischievous and righteous side by pulling an insane prank on the 12thgrader, for Yejun. The boys were in awe, and frankly a little terrified. The pink dye did not wash off the exasperated guy's skin for a whole week, and his ego took quite a beating; Hana refused to tell anyone of us how she did it and got away with it, claiming it to be trade secret.

Hana and Yejun found something to laugh over together. The two of them, stop magnifying each other's flaws and started to recognize the other's strengths. They were no longer just together because they were locking horns. Hana would tell me, she was starting to see a side to our friend, that people might skip over and disregard based on the first impression. She was finally seeing our Yejun. The playful boy teased her continuously but whined like a little child when she did the same to him. The thoughtful boy combed the entire campus for two hours when he heard that Hana lost her phone. The sweet boy would know instantly what to do to make someone smile again, even without her telling him that she was having a terrible day. The apologetic boy who always bought her coffee when he knew he had made her angry, which was fast becoming a weekly affair.

And the only problem was that he was so fond of annoying Hana, that it confused her so badly. No one remembers to warn her that sometimes the perceptive Yejun used his powers for evil. He knew exactly what buttons to push to mess with people, so he could drive people up the wall when he wanted to. Hana did not why the same boy could make her feel so many different emotions; but she at least, admitted to me, that there might be something between them. Too bad that it had appeared she was not keen to dwell on that thought further, given his odd behavior around her.

It was entertaining at first, to watch the two dance around each other, but now it was just frustrating. Of course, I got tired of watching Hana alternate between blushing shyly when speaking about my best friend and flushing red with anger with a murderous look in her eyes. I was not going to do anything.

"Stop being so mean to her."

"Who?" Yejun flashed an innocent look at me from across his living room, where our schoolwork was sprawled out on the floor between us. It had been a while since I spent time alone with him. The weather was too cold, for us to enjoy studying outdoors on the campus grounds. So, I took the opportunity to join him back in his house since everyone else had their after-school activities to busy themselves with, only then did I realize that we had not had much time to ourselves recently. When he wasn't seeking Hana out, he had to avoid the group of us after classes. Frankly, I missed him. And when Noah claimed that he suffered from separation anxiety when he didn't know where Yejun was, the latter merely shrugged and said that he was with Eunho in the library. I knew for a matter of fact that Yejun and Eunho were lying because Hana tried to look for Yejun there and neither boy was around.

Bonggu reckoned that Yejun was probably bothered by the fact that we were acting like he could not protect himself in front of a girl he was trying to impress. Hence, we decided to leave him some space. Unfortunately, we could not think of a convincing excuse to explain to Hana regarding Yejun's increasing disappearing acts.

"Hana." I rolled my eyes at his attempt to act like he didn't know who I was talking about. "She's going crazy. She says some days you would hang around her like an annoying shadow, other days you would avoid her with a lousy excuse. How is she supposed to know what to feel?"

"She… I thought she might need a little space from me. Hana keeps complaining that I'm a brat." He lowered his head to steal a glance at his phone. It had been vibrating continuously the whole afternoon, and right on time, another new message came in. I shook my head at his attempt to hide the smile creeping slowly on his face.

"Come on, all of us could tell she likes you. What about you? Stop making it so confusing to her."

"I am not confusing her."

"Yes, you are. We are running out of excuses for you." I poked his arm fiercely with my pen as he winced dramatically.

"I had things to do! And things to think about…" He mumbled offhandedly.

"Like what?"

The smile slipped off his face. "It's not that easy, Min Ji."

"You complicate things." My eyes softened at how his face fell as though he had suddenly a ton of baggage dropped on his shoulder. Maybe Eunho was right. He had pointed out to me that Yejun acted like a middle school kid around a girl he liked. It was like he merely annoyed Hana just to get her attention. He was hiding how flustered he was and I had let myself forget because of his usual confidence, that he was hiding his true emotions.

"Ha. That's what Bonggu told me too." He made a face at the memory.

"He spoke to you? What happens to his no-meddling policy?" I sat up straighter, with a frown on my face, wondering why I had not heard of this.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Noah and he just wanted to know who is winning the bet." Yejun pouted and folded his arms. "I am not speaking to those two again. They can't help me. But… Maybe…"

He brightened up as he faced me excitedly, and a cat-like grin spilled across his face.

"What?" I lifted his cushion and placed it between us as he scooted over closer to me with his eyes fixed on my face.

"Min Ji. My sweetest and kindest Min Ji."

"What do you want?" The cushion was now on his face for his eager expression was scaring me, but he pulled it down forcefully and stared at me straight in my terrified eyes. The corners of his lips curled despite my growing scowl.

"Would you go on a date with me?"

Chapter 46

"Hurry up!"

Cringing at how vibrant Yejun's voice was in the morning, I grabbed the first outercoat I could find and hurried out of the door. The annoying ball of energy had been ringing his bicycle's bell for the last five minutes as if I didn't already know how late I was. I attempted to save some time by planning my outfit the night before, but the temperature was a lot colder than I had predicted and I had to throw on something else. It was my first date, after all, I had to put some thought into my outfit. Leaning beside his favorite bicycle, a beaming Yejun waved enthusiastically at me. He observed me from head to toe before he looked down at his outfit and started to adjust the bright orange scarf around his neck. Nodding satisfyingly at himself, Yejun's eyes traveled to my neighboring house and I found myself glancing up at what had caught his attention.

"Am I forgetting something?" A sleepy Noah leaned out of his 2nd-floor bedroom window as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was clear that he was confused as to why Yejun was outside my house on a weekend morning.

"Nope." Yejun climbed onto his bicycle he patted the back seat and made a motion for me to hop on. "Go back to bed."

Dutifully, I climbed onto the back of his bicycle but not before waving goodbye to Noah. The tall boy returned the wave with a blank look on his face, before shaking his head violently, to wake himself up.

"Where are you two going?" He shouted down at us as Yejun started to begin to pedal away.

"A date!" We yelled back at him in unison before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Even before I looked back, I knew Noah's jaws had dropped open as he blinked stupidly at the both of us as if he wasn't sure if he was awake.

Putting an arm around Yejun's waist, I shook my head when he couldn't stop chuckling even after we left our dumbfounded friend behind. "That was mean. We should just tell him."

The boy scoffed. "He's not that stupid. But if he is, we might have to rethink this friendship."

"How much do you want to bet that he is calling Bonggu right at this moment?" A smile slipped onto my face as Bonggu's house drew closer in front of us. Indeed, as we reached the mouth of our street, our friend walked out of his house barefooted, still wearing his yellow striped pajamas, and gaped at us in disbelief. He was holding up his phone to his ear and it didn't take a genius to figure out who was on the other end.

Yejun had no intention of stopping to say hello, and he kept pedaling while laughing at the horrified look on Bonggu's face. I returned the wave cheerfully and motioned for the boy to head back inside. "Don't stay outside in your PJ! You will catch a cold!"

"DATE?" Bonggu's voice echoed down the street, inducing another round of laughter from Yejun and me.

A soft thud told me that Bonggu, was in fact, holding his slippers the whole time... till he decided to throw them at our retreating backs.

It was of course, quite easy to have let them know beforehand. But Yejun was right, our friends should know us better than to believe Yejun and I would see each other as anything more than a dear friend. Nope, Yejun would always be the friend that I would do anything for, including going on a pre-date.

Believe it or not, Yejun was having a meltdown because the boy finally admitted that a particular girl might have managed to capture his interest and he had every intention to confess to her on a proper date. The only issue was, that he was at a loss with how exactly the whole dating thing worked, and well truthfully, none of his friends could be much help.

A pre-date was what this ingenious boy came up with. It was like holding a rehearsal so that it could help him with his nerves for the actual show. Partly, he admitted, maybe he won't feel too much like a failure for never going on a date before. And so I was, as he had termed it, his 'only hope' and I ended up letting him take me to the amusement park.

As cliché as it sounded, the two of us had a blast. It was comfortable and a lot of fun, going on a date with Yejun. We went on the pirate ship twice because Yejun surprisingly loved it. He let me drag him onto the carousel ride even though he protested multiple times that it was too childish. We took ridiculous photos at the photo booth for keepsakes and Yejun paid for everything. I even won him a giant dinosaur plush, much to the amusement of the elderly owner of the balloon-shooting stall.

The day passed by too quickly through all the screaming and laughing, and the two of us found ourselves sitting outside the ice cream shop, looking up at the menacing roller coaster ride in front of us, and a dinosaur plush between us. I was bouncing in excitement as my eyes followed the tracks as they looped and turned, but Yejun was a shade of blue.

"It's why we are here." I reminded the boy who merely gulped nervously.

I couldn't help smiling at the look of terror in his eyes. Thrill rides had always been a thing for just Noah and me, and Yejun and Bonggu were never fond of them. Bonggu insisted he wasn't scared, he merely didn't enjoy them. Yejun had never willingly stepped into an amusement park since he passed the minimum height requirement for the rollercoaster since he could no longer use that as an excuse to give it a miss.

Just his luck, he had to find out that Hana was a fan of rollercoaster rides, and he had resolved to bring her here for a date. Yejun grumbled of course, that he ought to have just settled for a girl whose favorite place in the world was the library, but no, he had to deal with this craziness instead.

Sensing his increasing nervousness, I threw a comforting arm around him. "We could just chicken out. You should bring her up the Ferris Wheel instead. Isn't it more of a couple activity?"

"I don't know, Min Ji. Isn't that kind of cliché?"

"Jun, we are at an amusement park."

"Right." He grinned sheepishly at me.

I made a face at him before shivering and hastily putting down my cup of ice cream. How did I let him convince me that ice cream was a good idea in this weather? "Or you could just face it then. When you ask her here? At least you won't have to do it twice."

Yejun took a look at me clamping my hands together, and promptly took off his coat and wrapped it around me. The corners of his lips lifted slightly before he returned his attention to his ice cream. "If I asked."

My mouth dropped at his odd response. "You are not still worrying about her saying no, are you?"

Yejun shook his head lightly. "I am worried about her saying yes. I… like the way things are between Hana and me now. Will things be different? Will things be awkward? What if somehow, I screw things up? Look at how Ye Jin and Eunho ended up. They don't talk anymore. I am scared. What if the more she found out about me, the more she sees my flaws? What if things don't work out?"

"Was that why you have been strangely distant with her?" I blinked in confusion, recalling his bizarre antics over the past weeks.

"Min Ji, I am really happy with her. But sometimes if I am too happy, then I get worried. What happens if I lose, that happiness?"

"What happens if you don't?" I wrapped myself tighter in his coat, musing slowly about what he had voiced out. A lot was going through my mind, although I was positive, that he had these thoughts at some point. "What happens if you don't? What if no one screws anything up? What if the more you two find out about each other, the more the two of you fall in love? What if things work out?"

There was a long drawn silence before a soft laugh escaped his lips. "Then your best friend would be a very happy person."

I did want him to be. He deserved to be. Because I knew that despite all the fears that he was voicing out, Yejun was going to risk it anyway. He was going to be upfront and honest with his feelings, even if he wasn't completely confident, even if he had not figured out the answers to all his worries. Because Yejun was never one to do anything half-heartedly.

He propped hischin on his hands, as he stared distractedly at the intertwining roller coaster tracks before us, probably imagining his next visit. The next time, he would be with a girl who held his heart, a girl who returned his feelings. Yet, when I looked at him, I still remember when he was the young boy who once told me that girls were just trouble.

How time had flown.

Would it be very soon before Bonggu found a girl who could give him the love he deserved? A girl who would understand what made Bonggu smile and what made Bonggu laugh? A girl who would inevitably become the reason for his smiles and laughter?

And Noah, would Noah get his happily ever after?

Noah who loved a girl so deeply despite her multiple rejections, Noah who stayed on even when she gave her heart away but only to watch her get hurt, Noah who encouraged the girl of his dreams to leave, making her even more unattainable, Noah who constantly, time and time again, put the girl first…

Would Noah be happy?

Chapter 47

When we were very young, I used to be afraid that my friends would leave me one day... once they found cooler friends, once they found a girlfriend, once they made it rich and famous. Of course, it didn't take long before I realized those worries were unfounded. Still, we used to talk about this; Noah, Bonggu, Yejun, and I, that no matter who struck it rich, no matter who ended up becoming famous, no matter if we found a life partner, we would always have each other. They were my constants.

In this craziness that we termed as growing up, I hung on to what's known, what's predictable, something, anything that made me feel secure.

Like how Noah always waited for me to walk to the bus stop together every morning. Like how Bonggu would get us matching sweaters for Christmas each year. Like how if Yejun fell sick, all of us would eventually succumb to the same virus, because that boy's body was like a bioreactor.

Or maybe because we were stupid enough to hang out in his house when he was running a fever.

But this time with the approaching term tests, we decided to visit our sick friend only when we were certain Yejun was already recovering from the terrible flu he had recently caught. When Hana heard our plans, she insisted on coming along, and that in turn, made Eunho tag along, though he said he was simply in need of 'good entertainment' during this stressful period and Hana and Yejun, were 'a riot to watch'.

As usual, we strolled casually into Yejun's house without warning him we were dropping by. He came out eagerly from his bedroom when he heard our voices, clearly dying from boredom without us visiting the past few days.

"Hey! You looked better! I brought your homework. You didn't miss much! Although I think Mr Song was hinting at something about the term test I didn't catch it. Can't be too important." Bonggu beamed as he opened his backpack to pour out the contents inside on the dining table. He looked up to glance at Yejun when he received no response, only to realize that the boy had turned a bright shade of red for he had just spotted Hana in his living room.

To my acknowledge, Yejun decided that his current health condition was a sign that everything between Hana and him should be postponed. There were too many term tests and project deadlines approaching and well, school was always important to Yejun. The upcoming winter break might be a better time to ask Hana out.

Hana of course, remained oblivious to the things going on in Yejun's head and had walked up to him and was nagging him for not taking care of himself. Yejun attempted to brush her off but claimed up the second she placed a hand over his head to check his temperature, keenly aware of the fact that Noah and Bongguhad their fists in their mouth to stop themselves from giggling like the immature kids they were.

As if we all knew that we ought to give Hana and Yejun some space, all of us looked away and scattered around the house. Eunho and I had settled in on the sofa as Bonggu helped himself to the drinks in Yejun's fridge. Noah had disappeared into Yejun's room after he grumbled out loud to no one in particular, that he could use a nap. I grimaced at his retreating, predicting that Noah would be the first to catch that cold, for daring to share Yejun's bed.

"Hey Jun. When did you have this?" Noah made his way out an hour later, with his arms wrapped around a very familiar dinosaur plush toy. "Looks just like you!"

"That's mine!" I called out to Noah who threw it over to the sofa where I caught it smugly. Giving it a tight embrace before remembering it was probably full of germs if it was in the sick boy's room, I shoved it over to Eunho who raised an eyebrow at my odd behavior.

"When did the two of you adopt this little monster? Oh! Was it when Yejun and you went on a date- off." Bonggu heaved heavily as my fist landed on his stomach when he reached over to take a closer look. I stole a glance at Hana who was looking over at us, just in time to see her face fall.

The second our eyes met, Hana forced a smile and stood up from where she was sitting. "Well, look at the time. I think I will go now. Got... homework and stuff."

Her eyes avoided Yejun's as she gave everyone a quick wave and briskly walked out the door, much to our surprise.

"Look! What! You! Have! Done!" I smacked a cushion on Bonggu with every word and he scrambled off the sofa to get away from me.

Noah hurried over to Yejun's side and gave him a light push. "What are you standing here for? Go get her back!"

"Scarf!" Eunho cried out, snapping Yejun out of his trance as he grabbed his coat and an orange scarf on the rack before he hurried out of the door in his bedroom slippers.

Noah made a move to follow but I stood up to hold him back.

"Leave them alone."

"Come on. Aren't you a little bit curious?"

He grinned at the bunch of us before Bonggu shrugged and the two of them left the house too. I glanced at Eunho who extended his hand to allow me to ahead. Sighing heavily, I trailed behind the two boys with Eunho rounding up the group.

Just a few houses ahead, Yejun had caught up with Hana. His scarf was now wrapped around her neck and she was looking up to him in confusion.

"It's cold. Don't forget your scarf." He was telling her. The four of us stood rooted to the spot, realizing at once, we should not go closer to the pair.

"This is your scarf."

"Well it is a Kim Jong Jun Original, but I didn't knit it for myself." Yejun'e eyes were glued to his feet as he rubbed the back of his bare neck.

Hana blinked slowly at the boy before her. "You... knitted this?"

"I mean, I needed the practice before I make one for my mom so I figured you might want- need- since it's cold... yea." Yejun coughed into his fist in a terrible attempt to hide his rambling.

Hana touched the scarf gently before a light smile formed on her radiating face. "For me?"

"Ah. I mean, you don't have to wear it if you don't like it. It's just... something that I want to do for you."

"I... love it. Thank you." Her response caused a child-like grin to appear on Yejun's face, a clear indicator of how pleased he felt knowing that she accepted this gift that must have taken days to make, and that's not inclusive of the time he needed to learn knitting.

With a determined look, Yejun lifted his head to finally meet Hana's eyes. "If... if you keep it, you must never take it off okay! Even if it's ugly, even if it clashes with your shoes, even if it's itchy, even if it's 40 degrees outside!"

Hana let out a soft giggle at his random outburst. "Are you trying to kill me, Nam Yejun?"

"I couldn't bear to, Kang Hana." He replied softly as he started adjusting the orange scarf tenderly around her blushing cheeks. Hana's eyes darted away from him to focus on the scarf before a look of realization crossed her face.

"Wait, if this was for me... why were you wearing it for the past week?" Hana recalled.

"Oh." He grinned sheepishly at her. "I thought you might want it to smell like your boyfriend."

At Yejun's bold admission, Hana burst into laughter before she held his gaze teasingly.

"I have a boyfriend?" Her eyes widened in mock confusion, causing Yejun to flick a finger on her forehead. As she winced and raised her hand for her forehead, his hands caught hers and he interlaced his fingers with hers, like it was the easiest and most natural thing to do.

"Yes." He brought their joined hands between their faces. He wore a cheeky grin, but his tone spoke volumes of his sincerity. "His name is Nam Yejun. And he plans to stick with you, to annoy you every day, to make you angry, and to fight with you, for a very very long time. And you will never be able to get rid of him."

At some point, I had my arms around Bonggu who was next to me, and we were jumping up and down to stop ourselves from squealing out loud. Behind us, Noah was doing the same thing to Eunho. Despite his clear annoyance at having his personal space invaded, Eunho was beaming proudly at our friends. We were all pleased, we were all proud, even if it was our favorite genius once again taking the lead, at finding someone to love you back, at finding his Hana.

Things would be different now, now that Hana's part of our small family. But it's okay. It's more than okay.

I guess... some things were constant.

Like how even in the coldest of winter, there was always something to warm your heart.

Chapter 48

Do you think that life was predestined or were the future based on our choices? Was what meant to be really will be? Or was the power to change fate in our hands all along?

The winter that welcomed the year we turned 17, was unusually harsh. After Yejun recovered, Noah caught the same flu bug, and he subsequently passed it along to Bonggu and Eunho. It hit Eunho especially hard, although it may be that Bonggu was well taken care of by Mama Chae, whereas Yejun had to drag Eunho physically to see a doctor when his fever refused to drop after two days of attempting to sleep it off. It was somewhat bizarre, to watch Yejun fussed over Eunho, but Yejun was thankful to the latter, for it had turned out that it was from visiting the animal shelter with Eunho that Yejun had decided to pick up knitting from Aunty Lee. And well, the rest was, as they say, history.

Yejun and Hana spent the beginning of their relationship in the library with their noses buried deep in their respective piles of reference books. When Noah and I teased them about it, Hana rebutted that she was puzzled too, considering that it was the two of us that probably needed the extra studying time and that promptly shut us up.

I wasn't doing that badly, I meant, there was room for improvement, but I was surprisingly doing much better than Eunho and Noah. It appeared that both of them had lost the motivation to do well, although I wasn't entirely sure what had changed. Mama Han was understandably upset at her son, and I could hear their yelling matches much more frequently than usual. Thankfully, everyone in my family was long immune to it and I would thank my lucky stars that my mother did not share the same lung capacity as Mama Han.

And with all the studying sessions, term tests, and flu bugs going around, it was understandable that we were spending more time apart than usual. I was alone in my own home that afternoon when Ye Jin's text came through.

'Dad just passed away. Settling a few stuff here before I come home. I'm okay, talk to you when I get back.'

I didn't realize that I was stumbling till I hit the chair behind me. Holding on to it for support, my eyes scanned her message repeatedly till everything sunk in. Ye Jin's dad passed away. He's gone. He's gone. And she's all alone. What's going to happen to Ye Jin now? I forced my fingers to stop shaking as I punched her numbers into my cell.

There was no dial tone.

She had switched off her phone after the last message.

I started panicking.

What do I do now? What could I do now?

I had to tell someone. I dialed his number.

"Hey Min Ji." His tired voice came through, probably awoken by my phone call.

"Bamby." My fingers gripped around my phone tightly. "I just got Ye Jin's text. Her dad just died."

There was a pause on his end, and I knew that he was in just as much shock as me. "She's not picking up."

"What do we do?" The sick boy asked himself more than he was asking me.

"I don't know. I don't know. But I am afraid to tell Jun over the phone. He's probably with Hana and I am scared it will remind him of..."

"Yea." Bonggu understood instantly. "Ye Jin... trying to handle everything alone again, isn't she?"

"I don't want to be the one to tell her mom." I glanced out of my window at the neighboring house. "Do you think Noah would be up for it?"

"Don't tell him!" Bonggu replied harshly.

I flinched at the tone of his voice. "Something this big happened to Ye Jin and you want me to keep this from Noah?"

"Exactly, Min Ji. Noah's not going to sit still and do nothing. He will be on the next train to Seoul! Don't you guys have a test in two days? Let's wait till then. He really can't afford to be skipping school with his current grades."

"But... it's Ye Jin. Noah would want to know. He needs to know."

"He's irrational regarding her. I don't even know if we should tell Eunho, in his current condition. I am serious Min Ji. Or let's discuss this with Yejun later and maybe he would know if Ye Jin's mom already knows. I will call and get him to rush home. You just keep trying to reach Ye Jin for now."

I knew what Bonggu was trying to tell me. I did.

"Ok."

Bonggu was right. That was the reason I called him before I called Noah. Because Noah's going to go crazy. He would worry relentlessly for her. He would drive himself crazy knowing what Ye Jin was going through, all by herself.

He would not allow it. I left my phone on the table.

She's too important to him. I stepped out of my house.

He would not want me to keep this a secret from him. I was at his doorstep.

That winter, I made a choice.

"I have to go find her." Noah scrambled onto his feet and dug under his bed for his duffel bag.

The truth was, I was as worried for Ye Jin as he was. But I was terrified at the same time. We were too far away to be of any help to her. But even if she was right beside me, what could I do for her? What could I do for the girl who had always rejected help? Perhaps we ought to listen to her and wait for her to return home. Home, to the rest of us. As always,Noahrefused to wait.

It was exactly as we had predicted. Noah's immediate reaction was that he needed to be by Ye Jin's side. While I disagreed with keeping Ye Jin's matters a secret from Noah, I was on the fence regarding supporting him to travel to the city. Not when he planned to keep it a secret from his parents, not when it meant he would be skipping school without a valid reason, not when it meant he would be failing his classes for failing to turn up for the term test. He had to protect Ye Jin, but who would protect Noah?

I tried my best to convince him that sending the adults to Ye Jin would be the most logical option. But Noah didn't think Ye Jin's mom would want to go back, even though I believed she would do it for her daughter, no matter how much their old house brought her nightmares.

"They wouldn't know she needs, anyway." Was his retort.

"And you do?"

"Me. She needs me." He frowned as he threw random clothes out of his wardrobe, pausing slightly to glance at me. "Ye Jin… she acts like she could do everything on her own. And you know what, maybe she can. But I will still be there with her. She has to know that she's not alone."

He was determined to go to her. Maybe I was relying too much on the fact thatNoahwouldn't know where Ye Jin was exactly, but it turned out that he had her address all along, for she gave it to him as a compromise that he would not call her every other day. Instead,Noahhad been sending Ye Jin a care package every other week.

Noahwas always proud that he knew Ye Jin better than anyone.

On the other hand, I honestly, did not know, what Ye Jin wanted, or rather, needed.

But I knew Noah. As much as I knew he should stayed, I also understood that he had to go. Noah had always been an unstoppable force when he put his mind to something. And all he could think about right now was Ye Jin. He would rather get into trouble than leave her alone in her time of need.

This was a stupid plan. This might be his stupidest plan yet.

"Be careful." I met his eyes.

Noah paused while packing, as he held up a dirty Rilakuma plush that I had given him for his birthday a long time ago. He had slept with it every night since. "Go home and go to bed early. Tomorrow, when my mom asks, say you didn't see me the whole day. And that I only called you after I reached Seoul. Pretend none of you knew anything about Ye Jin till I called. I don't want you guys to get in trouble for me."

I nodded my head, and it seemed to ease the tension between his furrowed brows for a second. Reaching out to pat me softly on the head, Noah gave me a reassuring smile before he returned to his packing.

It didn't skip my notice that the bear was left behind at his bedside.

That winter, Noah made a choice.

Chapter 49

There were consequences.

Noah texted Mama Han only after he boarded his train bound for Seoul. As righteous as he felt, he was terrified of her reaction and he had switched off his phone since. He had every reason to be afraid because his mother looked murderous when she asked me about his disappearance. As instructed, I feigned innocence about the whole situation, even though I hated lying to Mama Han. I tried to calm Noah's mom down but there was honestly nothing much I could say to justify Noah's decision. She called his actions immature and irresponsible and was in half a mind to go there herself to drag her son back. None of us could reach him even if we wanted to, and we simply had to endure in silence, the terrifying glares that Mama Han was shooting at Yejun, Bonggu, and I. She did not buy it that we were not in on his plan.

Noah was gone.

After Yejun clued Ye Jin's family in, her mother went straight to Mama Han, to apologize on Ye Jin's behalf before leaving for Seoul with her husband, leaving Hamin to crash at Yejun' they were worried about their wilful daughter, I was certain, they had not forgotten the fact that Ye Jin chose not to personally inform them of a new of such scale. When I last saw Mr Yu, he was as pale as a ghost. When I last saw Mrs Yu, she was in tears.

Our street became eerily quiet. The three of us often found ourselves huddled up in Yejun's room, lost in our thoughts and worries about our two friends. The consequences of my decision were beginning to weigh down on me, and I found myself apologizing profusely to the boys for starting this whole mess. Bongguonly sighed and said that he wasn't angry that I went to Noah with Ye Jin's news. But I understood, he wished I hadn't let Noah go. I could have easily foiled his plan. Yet, that thought had never crossed my mind. The guilt developing from my lack of action was quickly consuming me, and I was so restless that I was either pacing worriedly or rambling non-stop about coming clean. It wasBonggu who flatly refused to let me confess to Mama Han about my involvement, deciding that the truth would not help Noah's case.

"For now, let's listen to Noah. Everything is going to be fine." Bonggu concluded in a firm but gentle tone as he gripped my hands to stop me from shaking. Yejun merely nodded silently, his dark circles more prominent than ever. He was worried for Noah, but not as much as he was for Ye Jin. The death of a parent, hit too close to home. Yejun was too distracted to fully register the situation that Noahhad created for himself. He was having trouble convincing himself that Ye Jin was a strong girl and it was unsettling for us, to see him so her best, to cheer Yejun up. But having to be the bearer of bad news, was exhausting the boy.

There was someone else other than Noah, who held Ye Jin very close to his heart, after all.

I wasn't present when Yejun broke the news to Eunho, which he only did after he was sure that Eunho's fever had fully subsided. However, according to him, Eunho was quiet throughout the entire conversation. All he wanted to know was, if any of us knew, or could check if Ye Jin was none of us could answer him, Eunho spoke nothing more about the entire situation.

Admittedly, I was a little confused by his calm response. How could he act so indifferent regarding the lack of news from Ye Jin? Did it not trouble him that Noah was the one with her right now? Then again, I was never good at guessing what was on Eunho's mind. Perhaps like me, he was thankful that at least with Noah beside her, Ye Jin was not alone. Noah would always make her smile, and Noah would keep her safe. That was what I knew for sure.

With all that was happening in both Ye Jin's and Noah's families, it was a miracle that I found time to stress overEunho. But I couldn't help it. It was unfair to Eunhoin every sense, and I honestly wanted to know how he was feeling. Truth was, I felt responsible even when I knew with Eunho's health condition then, I could not have turned to him. There were many questions and 'what ifs' running through my head. Should I have told Eunho, instead of Noah? Would he have gone to her if he knew? Would she want him there?

It didn't escape me that Eunho was still here, even after his recovery.

The thing was, I had no idea who Ye Jin would prefer to be by her side. What if Noah reached her, only to realize she was not waiting for him? How could he handle that? But then again, knowing Noah, it wouldn't matter. To him, going to her was the right thing to do. It was as much for himself, as it was for her.

It took a few sleepless nights, but I finally spotted the similarity. Telling Noah was the right thing to do. Letting Noah do what he needed, was what I had to do. It was for him, and it was also for me.

There were consequences.

"Tell me honestly. Do you think I was wrong?" I scanned Eunho's face for any hint of how he felt. He had been too quiet for my liking and I couldn't help wondering if he was mad at seemed childish, to be worried about such matters with everything that was going on, but since everything else was out of my hands, the least I could do was to make sure everything was alright between Eunho and me. He was becoming more withdrawn day by day, shuffling out of sight as soon as classes were over.

Eunho sighed tiredly. I couldn't tell if it was from my abrupt question or from the fact that I went all the way to the shelter to seek his answer. After a long drawn silence, Eunho asked softly. "Do you think you are in the wrong?"

"Well, no… not entirely. But now Mama Han is furious, Noah is in trouble with the school, there's chaos over at Hamin's, and you are probably upset at me. I still think I did the right thing, but I don't like what's happening now. I don't even know anymore…"

"Me neither. I don't know anymore." Eunhoran his hands through his messy curls. He cast a brief look toward me and took in my worried expression. "I'm not upset at you. You did what you felt was right. And Noah did too."

"Bonggu thought I shouldn't have let him go." I confided in him.

"Noah's old enough to be responsible for his actions. He made his choice, and he will have to face the consequences of his decisions."

There was no malice in his words. That I was sure, even if Eunho was difficult to understand. Their past hatchet was long buried. And it became apparent, that Eunho did care about Noah, but he trusted enough, the tall boy's ability to take responsibility for his actions.

I wanted to probe about his thoughts, or rather, his feelings regarding Ye Jin but for some reason I held back. Instead, I found myself looking into his eyes, in an attempt to search for the same uneasiness I felt since Noah's departure. If I was feeling miserable, Eunho must be feeling a lot worse, given his history with Ye Jin.

Why haven't Eunholeft for the city, to look for Ye Jin?

There was a faraway look in those brown orbs when he continued as if he was not entirely here with me.

"We are all responsible for our choices, Min Ji. Once we made what we felt was the right decision, we can't regret it. We just have to brave through the consequences, whatever they may be."

It was the longest week of my life.

I didn't know what exactly was going on in Eunho's head. I didn't know if everything would be fine, as Bonggu had promised. I didn't know howYejunwas hanging on through it all.

I didn't know how much trouble Noahwas in. And I didn't know if Ye Jin was going to be strong enough to tide through it all.

So it had seemed, Eunho might be right. The only option left was to be brave.

What's coming, will come.

Chapter 50

"They are coming home."
Hamin held up his phone, to show us the message from his dad. The younger boy had been crashing over at Yejun's during the last week, and we spent most of our free time with him, huddled together waiting for the latest news. They were finally returning home. We didn't know what was going to happen after, but I figured, we would learn to deal.
We timed ourselves well, Yejun, Bonggu, and I, as we reached the mouth of the street where Bonggu's house sat, just as Mr Yu's car pulled in. As we dashed eagerly towards the vehicle, the car pulled to a stop before us.
"Guys!" Noah was the first to tumble out and enveloped all of us in a clumsy embrace.
"You! Are mental!" Yejun chided, but there was a distinct look of relief in his tired eyes.
"I told him the same thing." A soft voice laced with amusement came from behind us and I spun around to find myself looking at the familiar beautiful face, that I had missed so dearly.
" I am so glad to see you again." I ran over to Ye Jin to hug her as tightly as I could. Her light chuckle rang in my ears and I pulled away to observe her up close. She was exhausted, but her smile was genuine. She was home.
"I hate to break this up kids, but we have to keep going." Mr Yu stuck his head out of the car window. He made a motion for us to follow, and the five of us strolled behind his car.

The destination was clear. We were going to Noah's.

As the five of us walked, Bonggu broke the silence by berating Noah continuously for his impulsiveness. Yet there were smiles on every face. He was back, and he was safe, for now, nothing else mattered.

Unknowingly, Ye Jin had slowed down, walking by herself just a few steps behind, taking in the sights of the road home. Yejun was first to realize, and he slowed his pace to match hers. As the two of them exchanged a knowing look, it was clear that it was a private moment, and I left them to be.
Instead, I slid up to Noah's side as the tall boy sheepishly dodged Bonggu'sendless punches.
"Don't ever do something so reckless and stupid again, do you hear me? I will tie you up if I have to!" The shorter boy glared.
"C'mon Bamby. You love me because I am reckless and stupid."
"Yes, but I also love you alive." He replied sharply, unperturbed by Noah's pout. "What if something happened to you in Seoul? Even if you are back in one piece now, Mama Han probably already has her kitchen knife sharpened."
Noah grimaced at the thought. "I am not that mental. The first thing I did was to let Kira know I was in Seoul and she helped me find Ye Jin's place. I wasn't planning to wander in an unfamiliar city all by myself."
"Wait what? Kira knew? And she didn't send you home?" I gaped at the new information.
"Can't say she didn't try. But please, my sister knows me. And I also know that she has my back." A bright grin split across Noah's face. "But yeah, she's going to pretend it didn't happen though, so that she didn't get into trouble with Mom. Kira was stressing out the time if she ought to let Mom know that I was alright, but she didn't want to handle Mom's pestering. But Mr Yu forced me to call Mom soon after anyway. Sorry, I didn't contact any of you. I figured Mom wouldn't be too happy with you guys if she knew that you were in contact with me."

"Oh, that's why Mama Han stopped glaring at me the last few days. Your logic's screwed up by the way." Bonggu mused thoughtfully.

I tugged at Noah's sleeve, with a frown. "If Kira knew, how come I heard nothing from my brother?"

A confused look flashed across his face. "I am not sure. She brushed me off whenever I mentioned Min Seok. But anyway, Kira didn't stay with us for long. She was still having classes so she left us the moment Mr and Mrs Yu came over. Ye Jin doesn't exactly stay near the university after all."

It had been too long since I last spoke to my brother. And Noah's mention of his sister reminded me that they would be returning home for winter break soon and that thought alone, was comforting enough.

"What were you guys up to the whole week anyway?" Bonggu stole a quick look behind us.

"Oh, there was the wake of course. But it was a small and simple affair. Mr Yu was amazing, he took care of everything. We spent most of the time packing their belongings in the old house. Mr Yu and Ye Jin were arguing if she should complete the school year there, and eventually, he convinced her to return here. They are selling the house in the city since she no longer has any reason to stay there anymore."

I nodded my head as I absorbed his words. Of course, with Ye Jin's inexperience and Mrs Yu's meekness, it was always Mr Yu who took care of things. "How's Ye Jin?"

Noah hesitated before his expression softened. "She will be okay."

"Nothing will ever faze Jang Ye Jin right?" Bonggu added quietly and Noah gave him a sad smile.

"On the contrary, when I first found her, she broke into tears and told me that she was hurting more than she thought it would. Her aunt later told me that it was the first time Ye Jin cried since her dad passed away. And it was probably the last, for I had never let her out of my sight since. But, Ye Jin admits her pain is progress, right?"

"Ye Jin cried?" I felt my heart ached even more for this girl who always seemed to be the strongest out of all of us.

"She went through a lot these past months, but she would probably tell you herself in due time."

As I was musing over his words, Bonggu turned curiously towards Noah. "Huh. You meant she talked to you?"

"Well, Ye Jin couldn't sleep." Noah bit his lips as if he was trying to hold his expression together. "We spent most nights talking. Don't look so surprised that she would confide in me. Like I said, progress."

Before either of us could ask him further, the car had pulled to a stop outside Noah's house and we heard the tall boy take a sharp intake of breath as he realized. Unlike the rest of us, he was not looking forward to being home. As the three of us stood frozen on the spot, Yejun and Ye Jin caught up with us.

"Come on." She urged softly as she placed her hands on Noah's wrist encouragingly.

The boy forced a smile. "I am fine. You guys should make your way home."

Yejun nodded quickly. "Oh, we don't plan to go in with you. We will be waiting at Min Ji's. Call us if-"

"You need a coffin" Bonggu chimed in solemnly.

At my annoyed glare, the two boys shrugged in unison. "We took enough scolding for him this week."

Ye Jin shook her head, and she walked up to Mr Yu and her mom who had exited the car. With a firm look from Mr Yu, Noah dragged his feet over to open the door and reluctantly called out for his mom.

"HAN NOAH! THE NERVE OF YOU TO LEAVE HOME AND LEAVE ME A TEXT MESSAGE! A TEXT MESSAGE!"

You would think, with the stunned expression on everyone's faces, we were witnessing the approaching of a large wild tiger, baring its teeth, but no. It was the sight of a very very furious mother.

"Mom. Not now." Noah muttered as he stared firmly at the ground, with his head lowered to hide his reddening ears.

At his words, Mama Han noticed the sight of Ye Jin's family, a few steps behind Noah. Adjusting her clothes, she folded her arms in a dignified manner and looked straight at the girl behind her son.

"I am glad to see you back, Ye Jin. I am very sorry for your loss. I suppose such terrible events could make you forget the inappropriateness of asking my son to travel to Seoul. Maybe things are different in your house, but in mine, we have a high regard for rules and discipline. You are a smart girl, so I think you understand when I will ask you, to not encourage my son in such reckless behavior in the future."

Ye Jin visibly stiffened at Mama Han's sharp tone, but before she could open her mouth, Mr Yu had placed a hand over her shoulder while stepping forward as though to block Ye Jin from Mama Han's reproaching gaze.

"I am sorry for Ye Jin's actions, and for not sending Noah back earlier, Mrs Han. I decided to not put Noah alone on a train back. The fault is mine entirely. Noah has been nothing, but a great friend to Ye Jin this week. I bear full responsibility for the behavior of our two children. I should have let Ye Jin feel safe enough to turn to us, rather than her friends during her time of need." Mr Yu spoke calmly, but there was a firmness in his tone. "Please let me know if there's any way to make it up for you."

"Ye Jin didn't ask-" Noah began.

"Stop it!"

A sharp cry caused all of us to turn towards Ye Jin who had her head held high, a familiar fire blazing behind those dark exhausted eyes. It took her a while, to realize that all of us were watching her in confusion before Ye Jin shook off the grip on her shoulder.

"Don't. Don't speak for me as if you are my father." Her eyes were fixed ahead, at nothing in particular. "This was my fault. I am sorry, Mrs Han. I won't do it again."

The air stilled, after Ye Jin's sudden outburst, only broken by Ye Jin's mom's harsh whisper of her daughter's name. The sound jolted Mama Han back from her thoughts, and she pursed her lips at Ye Jin, and turned on her heels, returning to the house.

Noah stood awkwardly at the door, before turning to the rest of us, with a forced shrug. He gave us a sad wave before turning his attention back to Ye Jin. She had taken a step away from her stepfather, who was still wearing his usual calm expression, completely unfazed by Ye Jin's words. With a solid pat on Noah's shoulders, Mr Yu pulled his wife back in the car. Ye Jin hesitated before she made a motion to join them. Reaching out for her hand, Noah pulled her back anxiously, before flashing his characteristic grin.

"I will be okay. Don't worry alright?"

I supposed it was weird, to see her slowly returning a smile to Noah's reassuring expression.

I supposed it was weird, that Ye Jin's rare smile was barely registered in my head.

All I saw, was Noah intertwining his fingers in hers gently, as if she was the most fragile thing, to be treated only with the utmost care.

All I saw, was Noah's glowing eyes fixated on Ye Jin, full of pride and admiration, as if she was his to protect.

All I saw, was that Ye Jin did not let go of his hands, and she allowed herself to be pulled in as Noah enveloped her into his protective arms. And it became unclear, as to who was giving who strength, and who was reminding the other, to be brave.

And there, she stayed.

Chapter 51

A lot had happened. Noah had been grounded to the end of time, which made the upcoming winter break a lot sadder than it should be. Well school wasn't any better, but to him, it was better than being locked up in his room. He was to return home straight after classes, and none of us were allowed to visit him.

A lot had happened. Bonggu however, was sure that things were going back to the way they were. He seemed afraid that I would read too much into things but I wasn't that dense. I shrugged and replied to him that I hoped not. Better days should be ahead.

A lot had happened. Yejun, looked uneasy most of the time, but he couldn't explain it and called it a gut feeling The intuitive boy let slipped to me that he believed Ye Jin's outburst towards her stepfather was uncalled for, but it was almost like she was trying to be the bad person in that conversation. For once, he chose not to nag at her.

A lot had happened. Eunho was seen with Noah, on the latter's first day back in class, and their interactions looked nothing out of the ordinary. But when the rest of us tried to speak to Eunho, he promptly excused himself. Eunho was lost in his head again.

A lot had happened. Ye Jin mostly busied herself, settling to life back home since she wasn't returning to school until the end of the winter break. Not wishing for her to be alone, I decided to spend my afternoon to help her unpack. It was then we finally talked. It was then I learned, that while a lot had happened, nothing had changed.

She forced herself, into the last few months of her father's life. But he had never wanted her around. Ye Jin was her usual stubborn self, of course, dropping by the hospital every day. Although, it was hard to say if she was trying to reconnect with him, or was trying to make him guilty by showing him the daughter whom he had given up. Still, he was distanced from her. There were no tearful apologies, there were no heartfelt confessions. It came to the point when a very exasperated Ye Jin asked him if he ever regretted destroying his family.

She didn't get her answer.

I didn't think she would have forgiven him, but regardless, she might have hoped that he was. But then again, Ye Jin was unpredictable.

"I guessed, my father was gone, long before his illness took him" Ye Jin quietly whispered.

Somehow, the ten-year-old in her still hoped, that there was some good in this man. Somehow, she had confused reality with fiction, remembering him kinder than he was. Somehow, he still managed to fall short, even to his dying breath. Somehow, she came back with more questions than answers.

"Even if he said he was sorry, it doesn't erase what he had done to the family," I told her gently, reminded of my conversation with Eunho and his reluctance to see her disappointed again. Even if she kept the details from us, we knew she had a rough childhood. Years later, we could still see the lasting effect of his abuse in Ye Jin's obstinacy and her mother's meekness.

"I know. The truth was, I didn't know what I was trying to find too." She replied, knowing full well that some pain could not be erased with apologies.

"Maybe that's why he didn't even try. Or maybe… he has other reasons for not making things up between the two of you."

"I don't even care anymore. This may be the best ending. He's not around anymore. Since I can no longer get answers from him, I can finally stop questioning why was I never good enough or why was he never happy with our family. It's done. It's over. I am tired. "

Was that her truth?

"Are you sure? Don't lie to me Ye Jin."

She smiled lightly despite my obvious concern for her welfare. "Why would I lie to you?"

"Then what happens between Noah and you in Seoul?"

The second those words left my mouth, I regretted it instantly. The room was pin-drop silent. Ye Jin was going through so much, how could I turn this conversation into something so… trivial? I snuck a nervous glance at Ye Jin but she avoided my gaze, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"I'm not sure exactly." She finally admitted, after the longest and heaviest pause.

"Oh." I flinched at my pathetic response and found myself with a newfound interest in the length of my fingernails. "Have you met Eunho since you came back?"

"Not yet."

"He was worried."

"I know. We talked a little over the phone, he said we can meet up once I am done settling back down."

I nodded at her words. "Eunho and you…"

"I thought about us, a lot. Eunho and I… are right, but wrong. We are right for each other, but always a little wrong. Still, I owe him an apology." Ye Jin let out a long sigh, the tiredness evident in her eyes and slow speech. "Being away… had put some things into perspective. I think he knows, but I am not sure how ready he is to admit it."

"Knows?"

"That we would never work."

It was over before they even began. Of course, Eunho might not heed the warning signs, but Ye Jin would not risk it. She would not risk giving her heart up if she was not reassured that it could be kept safe. Even if she knew he was trying his best, even when she wanted his best to be enough.

"It's like that story, isn't it? The princess doesn't always end up with the prince." I noted vaguely. "Sometimes, the princess falls for her white knight, the one who does everything to keep her safe, and protect her always."

I could feel her gaze on me, without looking up. "Min Ji…"

"I am… glad. I am happy for you. Noah... will be good to you."

She said nothing. For a second, she hesitated, like she was going to apologize, but she shook her head instead. A sigh of relief almost escaped me, I am glad she didn't, for I wouldn't be able to hold it together if she did.

Maybe she knew, maybe her father did too.

Some pain could not be erased with apologies.

"That's just like you to say something like that, Min Ji. We are not together. It's just… he was there when I didn't know that I needed someone to be. I am a little overwhelmed right now. It is only starting to hit me, how much Noah has done for me. He was the first one to force his friendship upon me when I first moved here and was ready to fight against the world by myself. I was frustrated with so many things then, but there he was, promising me that he would always give me a reason to smile. Because he's always around, I guess I never thought I would miss his playful overprotective presence."

She tugged her long hair behind her ears, and her bare and honest expression made this conversation way harder than it already was. Ye Jin was honest with me and that was enough, to remind me that she cherished me, as much as I did of her.

"Took you long enough. Noah's life revolves around you." I gently pushed her, teasingly. Ye Jin didn't smile, and I wondered if she heard the envy in my tone. Straightening herself up, she returned me a light punch, before throwing me a wry smile.

"Min Ji, do you know how much I envy you? I am jealous of your parents who fuse over you, I am jealous of your brother who leads you right and I am jealous of your sister who you always bicker with. And I envy that you have so many people looking out for you. Yejun, who keeps you from making mistakes, Bonggu, who makes them with you, and Noah who will always save you after.

You are the type of girl that people want to take care of. I am not. I have never been. And of course, I never wanted to. But Noah, no matter what the circumstances, would always take it upon himself to make me smile, make me safe, and make me remember that I'm not alone. And for a very long time, I didn't want to rely on him. But I am tired. I am really tired.

Is it weird if I admit I want to know what it's like being you?"

Chapter 52

It was the weather.

As the beginning of winter break rolled by, I was down with the worst flu ever, and every part of my body was aching. My fever wouldn't go down even with medication, and my pounding head kept me from the sleep that I so very much desired. My mom tried to get some food into me, but there was nothing I could stomach. Even as I was wrapped up in my thickest blanket, I was shivering. Everything hurt. My head, my limbs, my throat. And then there was that lingering ache in my chest, that I felt with every breath, as if something heavy was pressed against me, hindering my lungs from functioning.

It was just the weather.

During my small moments of clear-mindedness, I heard Min Ah mentioning that Kira was back, but Min Seok had decided that he wouldn't be returning home this holiday, much to the disappointment of our parents. It wasn't till I heard the news did I realized how much I had missed my older brother. Everyone in my family tried their best to take care of me while I was down, but it had always been Min Seok who knew exactly what I needed. Without my meticulous brother around, I felt strangely insecure.

I think Bonggu guessed, which was why he never really left me alone for long. It was easy to know when Bonggu came around my place, his laughter from the living room reached my ears even though I was buried in blankets. I was too tired to speak. He tried his best to joke around, and to some extent, it was a good distraction from my misery. I vaguely recalled him telling me that he was helping me out around my house so I should just focus on getting enough rest. With absolutely no idea what was it that he meant, I simply nodded my head soundlessly. It was much later, when I finally registered what he meant, for he kept dropping by, and I could always hear him talking to Min Ah or my mom. Maybe he was just trying to change the atmosphere in my house, everyone had been strangely down.

It was probably just the weather.

My other best friend did not bother to visit me when he knew that I was in a semi-comatose state. By the time Yejun came by, with a playlist of warm ballads he insisted would warm up my winter, I had regained most of my ability of speech. As always, he couldn't hide his emotions as well as Bonggu could. He was hesitant to tell me, the source of his concern, as if someone had warned him not my questioning gaze however, Yejun confessed that he wanted Eunho to come along to visit me, but the latter had brushed him off.

"That boy's always busy with something." Yejun tried to smile, but I didn't return it.

He was clearly worried about Eunho, and finally at my persistent probing, Yejun confessed that Ye Jin told him that the two of them met up for a really long talk. She had insisted that they had a mature and civilized conversation, but no one had seen Eunho since.

"The shelter?" Even if he was in a bad mood, he would never forget to help out at Auntie Lee's. It would be the first place I would try to find that elusive boy, if I wasn't confined to my own bed.

Yejun sighed wearily. "Isn't it kind of weird? I can't hang around there all day waiting for him to show up. I have a feeling that he's avoiding me, and I don't really want to burden him further. Bonggu thinks we should give him the space he needs, and he'll come around."

We locked eyes for a moment and Yejun's expression softened. "My friends know I am always around if anyone wants to talk."

What caught me off guard, was by the fourth day of my self-imposed quarantine, a wide eyed Noah appeared silently in my room, holding a large thermo flask in his arms.

"Aren't you grounded?" I barely croaked out as he reached over to hand me my glass of water from beside the bed.

"Yea. But you have been sick for so long and I was worried. So I got Mom's permission to check on you. She sent her love, and her homemade fish congee." He casted a frantic look at mebefore placing the container beside me.

"Thanks." I muttered as I adjusted myself to sit up in my bed, and Noah promptly propped himself down on the other end.

"You look like crap." He placed a hand on my forehead, frowning slightly. "Do you even still have any brain left to fry?"

As I feebly slapped his hand away, Noahcracked a smile. "Sorry I am a bit deprived of human interaction. But hey! You can fight back!"

"You still haven't gotten your phone back?"

"Oh, I got it back. In exchange, she took my guitar away." He sighed. "I am regretting begging for the phone back now."

"At least you can text everyone now."

"That's the upside I guess. But you know how Bonggu never checks his phone, and Yejun is busy dating and all that. I text Ye Jin but her messages are hard to interpret sometimes, and I don't know. Maybe I am worried for nothing."

"What's wrong?" I frowned at the nervous look in his eyes. Ye Jin seemed perfectly normal after our last conversation. It was me that was slightly shaken after.

"She's fine. I am… it's probably nothing. Ye Jin is worried about Eunho." He bit his lips uncertainly.

From that point, I looked away from Noah. "As a friend. Aren't you worried?"

"Of course I am! Even though we had a previous agreement, I had made sure to check that we were okay with each other. He might be mad at Ye Jin though, and I dohate seeing them like this. That… and her concern for him kind of bugs me a little bit."

At my patronizing frown, Noah threw up both his hands innocently. "Only a little bit I swear! I haven't been able to talk to her or see her since we came back. It's kind of unnerving! Sorry Min Ji, didn't mean to dump this on you now."

"It's okay," I muttered quietly, hugging my pillow closer. "You shouldn't worry about Ye Jin. She's always very clear about what she wants."

"Arghhh. I hate being grounded. I thought it wouldn't be too bad for at least Kira's back! But now the comparison is back on! Why can't you be sensible like your sister? Your sister has never gotten detention, much less two warning letters!" He folded his arms in annoyance. "I can't even retaliate or expose Kira's dirt anymore, because of what she has just done for me."

I glanced up at the change of topic and mustered a small smile. "Kira doesn't have dirt or secret. You are probably the only black spot in her other while spotless life."

Noah scoffed before his expression darkened. "Did Min Seok tell you that they are fighting? My sister and him."

"Wait what?" My eyebrows shot up.

"Something about Min Seok not liking her boyfriend and then dropping her completely to hang out with this girl that Kira thinks, is incapable of holding a proper adult conversation. And that was the nicest thing out of all that she had said about your brother's new girlfriend."

It was hard trying to take in all of what he was saying, given the current processing speed of my brain. The tall boy pursed his lips and continued darkly. "Honestly, I don't like Kira's boyfriend either. He's kind of stuck up in that 10 seconds that we met, and then he promptly disappeared on us. Thanks, dude, you were very helpful."

"He never told me any of this…" I mumbled, Min Seok was a very private person.

"Well, it's Min Seok. He has self-control, unlike my sister. I should tell my mom about the type of guy Kira picks. Maybe she will realize that Kira's not that brilliant after all."

We exchanged a knowing look between the two of us. Noah's threat was an empty one. He was very protective of his sister at the end of the day. It made sense, that he had always been critical of Kira's boyfriends.

"You know that Mama Han doesn't exactly approve of Ye Jin too right…"

There was silence before Noah shut his eyes in despair. "Oh, she reminds me every day."

"Noah..."

"Hmmm?" The tall boy peered at me with one open eye.

"Yet you made that choice. You dropped everything for Ye Jin. You got into trouble with Ye Jin. All this time, not know if your actions were appreciated. You know… if… the two of you get together, Mama Han's not going to like it."

Noah's face had grown unusually solemn. But he said nothing. There was nothing to refute what I had said.

"But you are still going to make the choice, aren't you? I mean, what made you so sure? How did you know it's the right choice?" I tucked my knees closer to me, rocking on the spotin mild frustration. There wereso many thoughts running through my head, and it was taking every ounce of energy in me to put them into proper sentences. And then there were memories too, memories of a younger us, memories of a young boy that would climb onto my bed and launch into his elaborateplan of our next big adventure. They were easier days.

He widened his eyes in confusion.

"But Min Ji, there was no choice."

Noah was the only one who would treat my bed as his own, and I had always liked having his warm presence beside me. Having a sister, he was less wary of a girl's bedroom than Yejun and Bonggu were. And then there was the fact that he simply had no boundaries with me.

Oddly enough, I felt chilled to the bones even though he was close enough that I could easily reach for him. He was that close, but my hands remained glued to my side. It was easy, but then again, it wasn't.

So, Noah remained unreachable.

They kept trying to tell me I wasn't the smartest person around. But I had at leastknown, he was never mine to begin with.

Quite done with that conversation, and I shifted the topic back to Min Seok and Kira. As he updated me with what he knew, I wrapped the blanket closer around me.

It was just the darned weather.

Chapter 53

"People grow apart, Min Ji. It happens. That's part and parcel of life."

My passive brother was not one to sulk, but his serenity over the phone unsettled me. Kira and Min Seok were inseparable despite their obvious differences, she was a dreamer while he was a doer, and it had appeared, together, they were unstoppable. They had their exclusive world, one filled with guarded secrets and inside jokes, one which was real only to them, one which couldn't be shared with anyone else. And fantasy couldn't co-exist with reality. That world, couldn't tolerate the existence of a boyfriend, a girlfriend. That world had shattered after almost 20 years of friendship.

It scared me. No, it terrified me, to know that they had allowed their friendship to crumble.

Because I would never let that happen.

After calling my brother to make sure that he was alright by himself, I had to convince my overly concerned parents that he really would rather be left alone. Min Seok banned me from speaking to Kira, and he knew me well enough to know I would try and fix them. Perhaps I would, but there was already so much to do once I recovered. There was making sure that Noah didn't die alone in his own house, for Mama Han gave me exclusive visitation rights because she was under some unfounded belief that I was a good role model for her rebellious son. Not forgetting that I had to company Bonggu because he was a little sore regarding how much time Yejun was spending with Hana. He was pushing it honestly, Hana was accommodating enough to ensure that Yejun didn't miss out on hanging out with his friends; even though they were still in the beginning of their relationship, would undoubtedly love some privacy. Naturally, with us, there was none. So it often was Hana, Ye Jin, Yejun, Bonggu and I, not doing anything in particular but simply enjoying the company of one another.

Someone was missing, and I didn't mean the one locked up in his room.

Noah was right though, Ye Jin was worried about Eunho, even though she tried not to show it. When I asked her about it, Ye Jin said there was nothing she could do. She had been honest with him, and she couldn't control how Eunho chose to react. She tried to sound indifferent about the pain that Eunho felt, but Ye Jin wasn't as heartless as she appeared. The girl was eavesdropping, whenever the rest of us updated each other, to see if the other had finally managed to reach the runaway boy. Despite knowing that he was not the one for her, Ye Jin couldn't deny that it was rare to find someone on the same wavelength as her. Despite everything, she cared.

"I want him to be happy, but not only do I think I can never be that person to give him that, I managed to bring him even more pain. Do you think I am selfish enough to ask for his friendship now? I think I have lost the right to ask him how he is doing." She confessed quietly to me after I suggested she should speak to him directly if his sudden disappearance was bothering her.

At the end of the day, even Ye Jin had times when she wasn't brave enough.

Does Eunho have the skills of a ninja, when it comes to avoiding people?

Not knowing where he stayed meant that I could only drop by the shelter, banking on the fact that I knew he wasn't going to run out on the elderly Aunty Lee. However, Eunho didn't show up regularly anymore. She suspected of course, because Eunho had a set of spare keys, that he chose to drop by in the middle of the night to complete the chores. I did learn from her, that he decided to buy himself a bike and Aunty Lee was extremely troubled if Eunho had decided to go racing off with the wrong crowd. It had seemed that he knew people, that she wasn't very fond of. It had seemed that he had a life, that no adultswould generally approve of.

I reassured her that Eunho was not that reckless, but the truth was, what did I know about him?I had never known about his other friends, and I had not expected him to distance himself from the only parental figure in his life. Bonggu was less worried for Eunho than the rest of us were, or perhaps he was merely trying to be reassuring, for there had to be a calm voice among us after all. In a way, he was right, out of the bunch of us, Eunho was the one who could take care of himself best. And perhaps, being away from us was best for him.

"Accepting that he lost, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, Min Ji," Bonggu explained after I expressed my frustration at Eunho's disappearance even though he was supposedly calm and understanding, the time Ye Jin spoke to him.

I didn't have the heart to tell them that my intuition told me that Eunho hadn't accepted anything. And he was simply running.

It wasn't like I knew how to help him, or what to say to make things better. But I knew better than to let Eunho return to his grouchy and irritable self. I knew enough, Eunho was happiest when he wasn't alone.

Since I had time, I ended up helping out at the shelter, since Eunho was hardly around and there was a lot to do around there. At least if Aunty Lee finally lost her temper on Eunho, I could be around to dispel the idea of her firing him. And if Eunho did choose to show up at night, he would most certainly be puzzled as to who was doing all his work for him.

And he was. For finally, Eunho returned, strolling into the backyard with a confused expression, after parking his motorbike in a corner. He froze in his spot, taking in the sight of me giving one of the strays a bath.

"That's my job." He blinked.

"Oh, you remember you have a job?" I scoffed and glanced up at him. His hair was messed up, more than usual. And his eyes, were empty and cold, a look that I hadn't seen in a very long time. He was scowling at my words, but what caught my attention, was that on his face, was an unmistakable bruise.

"What happened to you?" I gasped, standing up instantly at the shock that Eunho was probably in a fight again. The sudden movement caused the dog to jump and knock over the pail of water that I was using, almost spilling its contents on me.

Wordlessly, Eunho came right over and led the dog out of the washing point. Grabbing a towel, he dried the dog before sending it back into its cage. He turned around to see me, still in the same spot, watching him carefully. "Get out. You will get sick again if you get wet."

"I am a lot better. What about you?" I found myself smiling, after recognizing a glimpse of his usual self. "Where did you go? You didn't even visit me on my deathbed. What kind of friend are you?"

The stoic boydidn't crack asmile. "I needed to get away. I don't think I can be a very good friend right now."

"You didn't want to run into Ye Jin." I guessed as I went up to him. Up close, the usually tough-looking Eunho looked defeated.

I took his silence as a yes.

"She is worried about you. Ye Jin still sees you as a very dear friend, you know." I told him softly.

"Ye Jin doesn't need my friendship. Nothing I did was enough."

"Don't be silly Eunho."

"And I don't need her." His eyes darkened.

"Enough. You can't say such things." I let my tone rise higher than usual, unsettled bythe harshness of his last sentence.

"Why not? Why not Min Ji?" He held my gaze intensely.

I struggled to find the right words under his scrutiny. "Because you can't! She is still your friend! She still cares about you! So how can you not care about her?"

"I don't care?" Eunho repeated, almost threateningly.

Without a second glance at me, the boy stomped over to where his bike was. Panicking, I hurriedly joined him and attempted to grabonto his arm. But Eunho shook it off. I found myself frowning. Hedidn't know that I had a temper too. He didn't know that I could be stubborn too.I refused to let Eunho run away. Not anymore.

Probably not my finest moment, I stepped in front of his bike defiantly with my arms spread out like an eagle. "Where did you thinkyou were going?"

"Get out of the way." He warned in a low tone.

"No."

I refused to buckle under his glare, after the longest standoff, Eunhofinally shut his eyes tiredly. When he opened them again, those brown orbs were swimming with emotions. WhenEunho spoke, it was so softthat it was almost a whisper.

"Did you know that I had once told my mom that I wanted to be a plane? She had laughed at me then. Butplanes go places. That was what I heard. And I wanted to go places too. After she decided that home was not good enough, I kept having this recurring dream. I dreamt that I could close my eyes and open them again to find myself in a different place. I could go anywhere. I could be everywhere. I guess I am my mother's son.

Recently, I had the same dream again. I have the best ability in the world, where do I go now? I could teleport anywhere. Where now? I had asked myself. Where now?

I could be everywhere. But there was nowhere I wanted to go. I started laughing. I woke up laughing. I used to dream to see the world. I used to dream of being free. I used to dream of leaving. But for the first time, I wanted to be here.

I could be anywhere, and I chose here. With her."

"Eunho…"

"Don't you get it, Min Ji? For the first time, my world doesn't seem so lonely anymore. I let her become too important. I care so much that it hurts so bad. I thought I could be okay but I am not. Why is it that I chose her but she couldn't choose me?

What did I do wrong? Wrong...how could she still say we're wrong? Can love be wrong?Was it wrong to want it to be me to be by her side? Was it wrong to wish for her to love me back? Why is it not me? Why can't it be me?

Is she feeling bad because she should?She rejected what could have been. How do you expect me to stick around and be her friend?"

I shook my head hard at him. Eunho was wrong. He was very had to understand.

"Do Eunho!" He jerked his head towards me.

"You listen to me," I said as gently as I could."It's like when you are nice to someone, you don't expect anything in return. And it's the same with love. When you love someone… you don't, you can't ask for them to love you back. You just love them. You just love them even when you don't know if they love you back. You just love them, even when you know they don't love you back.

I don't how to tell what is the right or wrong way to love. But this is a way to love too, isn't it?Just wanting the other person to be when they are happy, you are happy for them. You always want them to be happy, whether or not you are part of that happiness.

It's not easy. But it's love."

You see, I finally realized I had been running too. I had understood, but I have never admitted it. I never had my friends' confidence, boldness, and certainty. I would be the first to come out and say that I knew nothing about the matters of the heart. We spoke of love so easily, as though it was something within our control. We spoke of love so logically, as though there was right or wrong.

It was Eunho's bold admission of lovethat made me see, what I had not allowed myself to admit for the longest time. The reason why I could never be angry at a certain tactless boy. The reason why I could stay by his side, quietly rooting for him as he chased the girl of his dreams. The reason why even when it was never easy, I couldn't stay away.

That regarding one Han Noah, it was love.

Chapter 54

"How did we end up here?" I muttered to no one in particular.

"You can't leave me. We are in this together." Bonggu whispered in response.

"Theatre is your thing, isn't it?"

"No, musicals are my thing. Shakespeare's play on the other hand…"

"Kids!" Bonggu and I glanced up at Mama Chae with matching forced smiles as she motioned for us to follow along. "Stay close."

"Yeap." We answered in unison before exchanging a glum look.

What started it all was because I was over at Bonggu's. I had not been able to stop the endless thoughts that flooded me after speaking to Eunho. He had given me plenty to think about. Most importantly, I was worried about him after seeing the state he was in. After much persistent questioning, he finally admitted that the bruise on his face was from a recent fight. Although he attempted to brush it off, by downplaying the pain of his physical injuries, I did not like what he was doing to himself. In the end, I told him, we would not pressure him to hang out with us if it was truly uncomfortable for him, but he was not to avoid the shelter anymore. He agreed, for Eunho knew, he was worrying Aunty Lee. I settled for that, for as then he couldn't spend the whole day out on the streets.

"Would you ever stop meddling in my business though?" He had grumbled, but it was with a familiar tinge of amusement in his eyes.

"You are my friend, Eunho. That makes it, our business."

Bonggu was relieved. We spent an entire day in his room, discussing our friend and guessing exactly what sort of crowd he somehow found himself a part of. Mainly because he had been worried that I would glue myself to Eunho to ensure that he would not get into another fight. It was scary, how well Bonggu knew me sometimes. For now, I chose to trust that the tough boy would take care of himself and that our Eunho, would return to us when the time was right.

It was then, that Mama Chae charged into her son's room and declared that the whole family was going to watch a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and promptly invited me. Bonggu, who was too gleeful to have someone suffer along beside him, pretty much physically shoved me into the car. Hence there I was, with the three Chaes at the local theatre uptown.

"Aren't you guys excited?" Mama Chae grinned as she waved four tickets in front of us, as we stood in line to enter the theatre hall.

"No." Papa Chae and Bonggu answered solemnly, and I had to cough violently to cover my laughter. She scowled at the lack of support as her husband threw an arm around her to steer her forward, barely flustered by her frustration. As they engaged in their good-natured bickering, Bonggu made a face at me.

"I have never liked this play. Though Mum loves everything Shakespearean."

I found myself glancing around the impressive interiors of the theatre. It was not the type of place I visited often. "I don't know it. I think the only one I ever read finished was Romeo and Juliet."

"Ah, the star-crossed lovers."

"Horrible, isn't it? I would hate to have to choose between family or the person you love." I shuddered at the idea.

Bonggu was watching me as I was once again, consumed by my thoughts. "You are worrying about Noah and Ye Jin again, aren't you?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"You really should stop treating their problems as your own, Min Ji."

"You didn't hear them, Bamby. I was at Noah's yesterday and Mama Han spent a good 15 minutes complaining about Ye Jin to me. Noah was livid. I lost count of the number of fights they had since he came back. It's awful."

"Poor Ye Jin." Bonggu shook his head as he cast a look at his mother's back. "Mum said that Mama Han thinks that Noah has been disobeying her because of Ye Jin. She's a bad example of being a good child or something. I would say Noah probably has a lot to learn from Ye Jin, but of course, she has her flaws,she is notperfect!"

"And they aren't even together yet." I shook my head as I shoved both my hands into the pockets of my outer coat. "Can you imagine what they have to go through once they are?"

The boy hesitated as a look of confusion flashed past his eyes. "Do you think they will?"

"Of course." Right from the beginning...

An odd look passed over Bonggu, perhaps from how quickly I was able to answer him before he shook his head firmly twice. "I don't see it. They argue all the time. There's no way that they would end up together… Come on, Noah and Ye Jin?"

He was looking at me straight in the eyes, with a confident smile. The thing was, I knew Bonggu too. The kind boy was trying to be reassuring. It took some time, for Bonggu was a lot more cautious when we weren't alone, but I figured it out from the way he was reacting since our two friends had returned. He was not fond of the idea of them getting together. Mama Han had been too blatant about it, so when I caught the similarity in Bonggu's words, I made the connection.

It was probably with good intentions. After all, Ye Jin was Bonggu's friend too. But it was not her, that he wanted his best friend to end up with. Perhaps, from his point of view, he much preferred the time when we were all just friends, simpler times. There was no point for me to dwell on that though, for I was sure he would come around.

For Bonggu wasn't stupid. Some truth you cannot deny.

Soon enough, we were makingour way to our seats and Bonggu began complaining loudly at how much he would rather be home, playing his computer games. I was barely listening for it only just occurred to me that Mama Chaegot everyone very good seats, a clear indication of how much she was looking forward to the play. The enthusiasm was not shared by her son. Mama Chae shushed him irritably several times, as didthe stranger behind him, and I only sniggered at Bonggu's increasingly prominent pout.

As the lights dimmed, he turned towards me suddenly. "Seriously though, rest your busy little head for a while and enjoy yourself tonight. You need a break badly."

"Don't worry about me, Bamby," I mumbled absentmindedly as I rubbed my hands together, realizing that it was going to be colder than I thought.

He kept his eyes onme.

"You worry about everyone else. Someone got to worry about you."

Bonggu wasn't entirely wrong about me needing a rest. The dimmed lighting was drawing me to was toolong of a play, and as much as I tried to fight it, my tiredness did eventually catch up on me and I found myself leaning into Bonggu for warmth, and much later, for support when I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drifted away.

"Hey, sleeping beauty."

To my embarrassment, I opened my eyes to see all three Chaes staring at me wide-eyed and the play had long ended. As his parents chuckled at my reaction, Bonggu helped me up with a strange twinkle in his eyes, causing my face to flushand I quickly followed them out. Our eyes met as he slowed down to walk beside me, and I found too wide of a grin onBonggu. He wasjust a little too tickled by how I could sleep through half the play. Annoyed, I glared at him for not hiding hisglee regarding my guilt towards his parents.

Just as I was about to apologize to Mama Chae for wasting her ticket, ashriek of delight escaped heras she spotted the merchandise corner and practically skipped toward it. Papa Chae pulled a face at us before dutifully following his wife, leaving the two of us alone.

Bonggu and I laughed at his father's reaction before he put an arm around me to pull the side of my face closer.

"Psst. Can I tell you a secret?"

"What?" I raised an eyebrow, wary of the ear-to-ear grin appearingon his face.

"You were drooling."

"No, I wasn't!" I threw out a punch towards Bonggu but he caught it skillfully before I had a chance to smack him in his stomach.

It was unfair because Bonggu wasn't as tall as Noah but he too, could put up a strong defense, despite my strong will to cobble him mercilessly. I wasn't going to give up easily, even if he was grabbing onto both my wrists, I still had my legs. As the two of us wrestled unceremoniously in public, an audible sound of displeasure was heard and we quickly turned to realize that we had been blocking the path of several strangers in the grand lobby.

"Irritating kids." A man muttered as he pushed past us, causing Bonggu and me to hit the wall beside us.

"Hey-" Bonggu called out as I desperately pulled my hand over his mouth, recognizing the stranger as the one who sat behind us in the theatre. "Hmmdam you ah-"

Once the stranger was out of sight, I let my hands drop and watched in amusement as Bonggu shook both his fists at the man's retreating angrily. He put on a convincing act, but we both know he wouldn't dare do that to the man's face.

"Let it go." I laughed at his exaggerated display of anger. "We were being irritating."

"Sure." He nodded firmly. "But we aren't kids."

"Are we not?"

"Of course not. I wish we were because I don't want to adult. But no, we haven't been kids for a very long time, have we?" Bonggu replied easily.

"Can you blame him? You still act like one."

"Hey." He folded his arms together. "You are not allowed to say that. I am a man!"

"Really? I see no difference." I mockingly scanned him from head to toe as Bonggu puffed his chest up proudly.

"It takes an amazing amount of effort to retainmy boyish charms even as I age."

"Sure, Bamby." I nodded my head in mock solemnness. "But it also means that you haven't changedone bit."

Bonggu shook his head at my words. "Seriously though, what's wrong with being the same? Everyone keeps telling us to grow up. But I refused, Min Ji. Everything around us is changing fast enough as it is. I miss the old days. Things keep getting more difficult, and more complicated...I kind of want to hold on to who I am,you know?"

"I'm pretty sure this is why I like you," I answered, glancing at him beside me, wearing the same infectious smile that he had worn since we first met. "You don't let things get to you. You are still the same kid, living in the moment, laughing every day."

We caught each other's eyes before Bonggulamented. "I told you, I am not a kid anymore. But you understand, don't you? Some things will never change. And I will never change."

It must be good to live like Bonggu, where every daywasbrightand probably filled with bad days were just about as real as dreams, dreams whichyou could eventually wake up from.

It had to bea dream. They can't both be realities. In one world, the six of us were huddled together over a barbeque pit, arguing over whose turn to cook it was. In another, we were mad, we became distant and even,frustrated with one another.

We were kids. And then we weren't.

What if it was the other way around? When everything going wrong was the real life, and simpler days like this, was the dream?

And you know what was always real?

That wealways wake up from dreams.

Chapter 55

I woke up, and it took only a couple of seconds to register what was happening.

As time went by, it was only getting harder for Noah. The confinement was breaking him slowly, especially since he didn't believe he did wrong. He grew restless, frustrated, and extremely grumpy to know that he was missing out on the holidays. And I believed, it was having his guitar taken away, that caused his temper to grow uncontrollable.

Even with Kira at home, it didn't help. She was equally irritable, for some reason, and spent most of her time back away from the house. Kira barely engaged me in a conversation when I went, or engaged her brother in banter even when he tried to bait her for it.

It was strange overall, the atmosphere at the Parks. Papa Han was his usual busy self, never really around. And if he was, he would sit by the dining table, reading the papers with a stern look on his face. Mama Han was her usual stringent self, ensuring that the house was in tip-top condition and that both kids were behaving. Kira was her usual blunt self, yelling at Noah to get out when he had an idea of carrying out his confinement term in her bedroom instead. Noah was his usual irksome self as he constantly tried to find ways to get his mother to end the punishment, like purposely not bathing for a full week since he wasn't allowed to step out of the house anyway.

Everything was the usual, but it was not. Every other day, our house would be able to hear the shouting matches over at our neighbors'. And it was always the same thing, Noah trying to argue his way out of his punishment, and Mama Han screaming back with a list of his misdoings. His grades were getting worse. She had been worried since he quit his football team, which meant he could no longer rely on an athletic scholarship to get into university. His increasing 'obsession' with playing music was wasting the time that ought to be used for studying. And of course, there was his affiliation with Ye Jin, whom Mama Han had decided to blame, for Noah's increasing tension with his parents.

Poor Ye Jin had, of course, distanced herself from the Parks, so much that she even avoided dropping by my place altogether. Even Hamin, who showed up blissfully unaware of the tension at the Hans, wanting to find Noah to practice with, had to suffer an earful before being sent away.

It was not being able to express his pent-up feelings through music that broke Noah. He decided, to let his mother know, that he had finally realized that, music was what he wanted to pursue in the future. Not business, like his father, nor Science, like his sister. What was the point of good grades, he had questioned, when he really should be attending auditions or seeking an internship at any of the leading entertainment companies?

That particular conversation could have been handled with more tact. My father ended up turning up the volume of the television to the maximum, and Min Ah had to hold down both my mother and me, in case we fell off the window by trying to crank our necks out of the window to sneak a look next door. We were pretty sure, by the sounds of it, we had to call either the ambulance or the police at some point.

We were kind of right, for that night, all hell broke loose.

I woke up, as Kira was tapping at our window furiously.

"Kira?" My eyes widened as I frantically climbed out of bed to walk over to the window as Min Ah sat up in her bed, half awake.

"Please tell me my brother is here." She whispered as the cold night winds gushed into our room when I threw open the windows. Not quite understanding her purpose of showing up at this time of the night, I shook my head. Her anxious face fell as she gazed around our room. Her next words sent a shiver down my spine in a way that even the wind didn't manage to.

"I have no idea where he is. I thought I ought to check on him after the huge row that he had with Mum. But he's not in his room."

"What? Maybe he needed some time away?" But I was pulling on my sweater even as I spoke. It was just like Noah, to decide that the middle of the night was the perfect time to take a walk to clear his head. It was not the first time he stomped out of the house after a fight, but of course, normally he wasn't grounded. Normally, it wasn't one in the morning.

"You don't understand. I woke up because I heard noises. His stuff and his guitar are gone. He is not picking up any of my calls. Noah… ran away."

"No." I anxiously checked my phone for any unread message from him, my heart stopped when I found none. "No, he wouldn't."

Kira shook her head furiously. "That stupid boy is in enough trouble as it is. I am taking Dad's car and heading to the train station. I doubt there's any train out at this hour, but he may be waiting there. You keep calling him and checking with the rest. Maybe he is hiding at one of their houses. If not, please keep searching around the neighborhood."

Nodding fiercely to her, I was on the phone instantly and instructed Min Ah, who had her eyes on us fearfully, to keep tabs on the adults, so that they could never find out that we were all out of bed. It was understood, we had to get Noah back before daybreak.

It was after a lot of phone calls and explanations that I grabbed my bicycle and went straight for Yejun's, where he and Ye Jin were waiting for me.

"Any news?" Bonggu half yelled as he joined the rest of us as Yejun shushed him furiously.

"No. Please keep your voice down. I don't think any of the adults would keep it from Mama Han if they knew."

"That crazy reckless idiot! He is dead, he is so dead." Ye Jin was mumbling to herself as she dialed his number for the tenth time. You would think, if there was a call he would pick up, it would be from her. But Noah was unreachable.

"Kira said she already went one round around the neighborhood before driving out to the train station but she didn't see him." I exchanged a worried look with Bonggu.

"I can't believe he planned a prison break and didn't think to tell any of us!" He folded his arms in annoyance.

Yejun was pacing around the spot while gazing up and down the street, as though hopeful that Noah would simply come cycling towards us. "We won't find him nearby, who knows how much of a head start he had on us."

"We have to try, come on." Bonggu urged everyone before Yejun nodded firmly. The latter quickly split us up and gave us instructions to cover different grounds, Bonggu was taking the quieter route to the jetty, Yejun would be taking the longer area towards the shops and supermarket, while Ye Jin and I were to circle the streets around the neighborhood.

"I will kill him. I will kill him once we get our hands on him." Ye Jin kept repeating to herself as she raced ahead of me and I anxiously tried to catch up with the athletic girl.

"Where could he possibly go anyway?" I asked her after we went almost five blocks away with no signs of the tall boy. It was beginning to seem pointless to me, to be searching for Noah without a clue of what he was up to.

It was those words that caused Ye Jin to break into the middle of the street, and I almost collided with her. In the dark, she glanced fearfully at me. There was something in her eyes, that looked as if she knew something but had been terrified to admit.

"Seoul."

"Seoul?" I repeated.

Ye Jin nodded. "Noah and I… we went past a records company in Seoul. He told me that it would be a dream come true if he could just quit school and become a musician instead. He had been writing songs you see. He told me he will go back one day, he will go back with his demos and drop them off at every single company until one signs him."

It had explained, why the second his sister found out that Noah had taken his guitar, she had decided that the train station was the place she should go to catch Noah. Kira had shared the same fear as Ye Jin.

"Noah wouldn't." He wouldn't drop everything, and everyone back home, would he?

"What if he did, Min Ji? He knew we would stop him. That's why he decided to leave without a word. Noah just left us…" Her pale fingers had tightened around the handles of her bicycles. Ye Jin was shaking. Was it fear? Was it worry?

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him, Ye Jin. We will find him."

"He is always like this!" She shook her head angrily. "When will Noah stop making me worry for him!"

I almost smiled at the surprise of seeing a flustered Ye Jin, but mostly, at my stupidity and failure to notice things earlier. She had always been hardest on Noah, even right from the beginning. Yejun had his fair share of brash moments and Bonggu clocked almost the same number of senseless actions as our tall friend. But it was Noah, it was Noah and his impulsiveness that Ye Jin always complained about. It was Noah who Ye Jin kept the closest eye on. It was Noah, who ultimately, was constantly on Ye Jin's mind. It was Noah, who first made his presence irreplaceable in Ye Jin's life.

And maybe all along, Ye Jin was afraid that Noah's adoration for her was simply an impulsive act. One that he would grow to regret with time. Given time, she was sure he would no longer be around. So she constantly brushed aside his persistence that he knew her, for she thought if that was truly so, there was no possible way that he would still love her.

Ye Jin had always pushed people away, her family, her peers, and a whole list of admirers. But then there was Noah, the boy who never took no for an answer. Noah was never deterred, not even when Ye Jin was almost Eunho's. Noah stayed. Noah always stayed. Noah was always Ye Jin's.

Noah did it, didn't he? After chasing her endlessly for all these years, he did it.

He loved her so much that, she finally began to believe that she could be loved.

And the second Ye Jin stopped running, the chase would soon, end.

Chapter 56

How did one find someone that didn't want to be found? Of course, one may argue, why bother? It was a frustratingly difficult task, but there was no time to be angry at Noah. Noah was just lost, and it was up to us to find him. It was up to us, to bring him home.

Naturally, it wascomingto a point, whereby we started to lose hope, that we mightnever find Noah in time. Kira called us from the train station and told us she saw no signs of her brother. Regardless, she was going to wait there, just in case he decided to head towards the city. The rest of us were circling the usual places that we hung out frantically. We wanted so badly to protect Noah, but how did we protect him when we did not know where he was? It frightened me, all the possible consequences of his actions, and also, the mere thought that he was out there, alone, feeling that he couldn't return home, upset me more than anything. It had come to a point, where I was silently wishing for a miracle.

And it turned out, that my miracle, was Eunho.

Eunho, who was heading home in the middle of the night, had seen a familiar figure from far in the dark. Thinking that he must have seen wrong, he let the figure past him. There was no way it could be Noah outat this hour, Eunho assumed. Still, He couldn't shake off the feeling that something might be off and decided to call Yejun, who immediately let Eunho in on our current emergency.

As quickly as we could, the four of us met up with Eunho, who waited for us with his motorbike beside the tree at the mouth of our street. It was amazingly really, how quickly he must have sped down.

"I am sorry, I should have stopped him but I thought I saw wrong. Not that he would listen to me." He glanced at all of us. "Come on, I should take one of you guys with me. If you let me decide, I might just knock him out and drag his body back."

"Where is he?" I asked urgently.

It was Yejun who answered me. "The high school."

It was not the answer I was expecting and my mouth dropped at the reply. One, Noah detested school, secondly, our high school was nowhere close to home. Itwould take us ages to reach by cycling, and I glanced down at my watch. I felt a pair of eyes mimicking my actions and I raised my head to find Ye Jin watching me. Before she could say anything, I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Go Ye Jin. Go with Eunho, and bring Noah home."

I felt Bonggu turn his head towards me, but I kept my eyes on a very surprised Ye Jin. Sheopened her mouth to say something, but Eunho interrupted her by handing her his second helmet. "Let's go. He might not stay there for long."

"I already called Kira to come back, and we will meet you guys halfway." Yejun urged her. "Go now."

The two of them exchanged a silent look before she took the helmet out of his hands. It didn't take much to convince her as Ye Jin nodded and looked over at me once again. I blinked, for I thought I saw gratefulness in her eyes but she had spun around before I could understand her expression. Ye Jinquickly put on her helmet and climbed behind Eunhoas he started up his bike.

"Hang on tight." And with that, the two of them raced off to find our lost friend.

Knowing where Noahwent, did little to calm my nerves. The three of us waited anxiously for Kira's car, wondering just how much luck it would take for all of us to get out of this unscathed. The idea of what might happen to Noah if his mother realized that he had run away again, was enough to keep us on our toes. We couldn't let that happen. We needed to get him safely back so that Mama Han wouldn't murder him.

And then we will kill him.

When Kira finally made it back to us, we quickly piled into her car as she sped down towards the high school. It was a long journey even by car, but all of us were wide awake, powered by pure adrenaline. There was also the fact that Kira was cursing under her breath, and driving like a maniac. The temper ran in the family.

As our car pulled into the parking lots of our school, Eunho who was waiting alone beside his bike, stood up. When we threw closer, we noticed a familiar bicycle sitting near Eunho in the dark. Noah was still here.

"Where's my brother?" Kira yelled at him as he raised an eyebrow, having never realized why we never doubted that Kira was her mother's daughter.

The boy calmly pointed towards the main building on the campus. "Inside."

Before she could stomp off though, Eunho took a step forward and blocked off Kira's path. "Leave them to be. Ye Jin will handle it."

At his odd request, Kira glowered but Eunho didn't back down.

"Please." He added thoughtfully, after a moment's hesitation. Silently, Yejun and Bonggu stepped up beside Kira, as though worried that she might hit their friend with her bare hands. It was a valid concern, but there was something else on my mind.

"You let her scout for Noah in the deserted school by herself?" I gasped before I quickly climbed the familiar flight of stairs towards the main building, the whole timenot quite sure which of the boys was yelling my name behind me. A hand gripped around my wrist forcing me to spin around right as I pushed open the unlocked doors.I found myselffrowning,irritated,at Eunho.

As we stood at the double doors that I had thrown open, the unmistakable melody of the piano keys traveled down the halls toward us. I feltEunho freeze before he dropped my handaltogether. "The piano room. Third floor."

Even though it was not part of the school which I ventured often, it was easy to follow the sounds of the piano as the melody carried itself easily in the silence of the night. It had to be Ye Jin playing. She was a skillful pianist even though she quit her lessons long ago. The song though, I had never heard. However, there was a tune that made my heart ache, a song that made you want to keep listening, just to see where it ends.

With the distracting music in the background, it was understandable that I forgot.I should have known that Eunho would never let Ye Jin be alone. And there had to be a reason that he left her and stepped out. My legs carried me to the third floor, with a mind of its own. I should have known why Eunho couldn't stay, but it didn't register in my head until I stood outside the opened door of the music room.

The song was over.

"You said you would always be here. You said you would always be here to guard my smile. You made a promise, Han Noah." I heard Ye Jin speak. There was no anger in her tone.

I should have known, but I looked in any way, to find Noah and Ye Jin sitting beside each other, facing the piano, but their eyes fixed on each other. There was a stunned look on Noah's face, as though he couldn't quite believe, that Ye Jin was worried for him, that Ye Jin had chased after him, that Ye Jin was there beside him, playing him a song, her song.

"I am sorry."

"I don't need your sorry."

"No, I guess not." Noahagreed. "Thank you then. I almost left. I almost make a horrible mistake."

Ye Jin held his gaze steadily. "Why didn't you leave, Noah?"

He replied to her, withsincerity in the upturned corners of his lips. "You, are the reason why I am still here."

When she said nothing in response but continued holding his gaze, Noah continued with light amusement "You know I would, but it would be nice to hear you ask."

"Ask?"

"For me to stay."

There was a pause. "Okay."

"Okay?" Noahrepeated.

"Stay."

Ye Jinanswered.

They both knew, at that point, no matter how lost Noahbecame, he would always look towards Ye Jin, for she was the girl whogrounded him. And no matter how far Ye Jinran to find herself, she would always want Noah there, for he was the boy who always gave her a reason to smile.

And that smile had slowly found its way on Ye Jin's face, and no more words were needed between them. He slid one hand over to where her handwas resting on the piano keys and gave it a protective grip. That additional weight pressed heavily on the black and white keys and theresulting note resonated loudlythroughout the school. Still, the consequence did not bother my two dearestfriends, who only had eyes for each other. Not at this moment. This was their moment.

For now, he needed her. And she needed him.

So, against all odds, Noah and Ye Jin found each other.

Chapter 57

Before he started playing football in middle school, Noah had been a clumsy kid. It was to everyone's amazement when he started displaying athletic skills. He was so clumsy that he had broken the parts of the human body that one wouldn't think were possible, including parts that didn't belong to him.

The year we were 9, Noah fell off his bicycle while trying to descend a slope far too steep. The fall broke his tooth and the arm he used to break his fall. It was one of the rare times that the boy had burst into tears in front of us, and that was saying something, for Noah hurt himself only too often. Yejun, ever the calm and logical one, ran off to the nearest shop to get help before any of us could recover from the shock. Bonggu then tried distracting Noah by selling him the idea that the tooth fairy might just accept his broken bone, considering that Noah was probably VIP now with the number of teeth that he had lost. And I was just there, squatting beside him on the ground helplessly, holding on to his escaped tooth. It was Noah who had always protected me, no, us. He was always the one dashing forward, and leading the pack. Thus he suffered for it, by being the first one to find out that particular slope was way too steep, even for those amongus who thought we were an unstoppable force.

As I watched fat and ugly tears roll down his bruised face, I remembered wishing there was something I could do, that somehow I could protect Noah too. But what could I dowhen I was, just me?

He had stopped crying by the time Yejun returned with a kind stranger offering to drive us to the nearest clinic. Our Noah, who was losing focus on us, still forced a smile and thanked the elderly lady. He grimaced in pain when he stood up, and he thought no one was looking but I saw it anyway. Noah caught my eye and tried to force a grin, revealing the gaping hole in his teeth.

"I am okay. I am getting used to the pain."

"You are okay." I agreed with the nine-year-old boy.

"Yup. Don't you worry about me, Min Ji?"

"What's on your mind?"

I jumped, realizing that Bonggu was beside me and I quickly shook my head. Yejun came up on my other side and used my shoulder as his armrest. We were all exhausted at this point, barely keeping our eyes open, with little energy for conversation. Despite his fatigue,Yejun'seyes were darting between Ye Jin and Noah, looking unusually thoughtful. He had that look on his face since Noah, Ye Jin and I walked out of the school together. Yejun had shot me a questioning look, and I told him that I met the two of them in the corridors. It was the truth. I followed Yejun's eyes to where Ye Jin was, beside Eunho and his bike, thanking him, probably. Or maybe she was saying goodbyes.

"Get in the car, Han Noah! FOR THE LAST TIME, NO! You will not ride your bike home!" Kira's voice traveled through the empty parking lots.

"But Kira-"

"Not a word or I will knock all your teeth out!" Kira growled as her brother clamped his mouth shut instantly at the threat. She was capable of it, he knew that very well.

"Aren't you glad this is over?" Bonggu mumbled to the two of us.

"Bonggu! Strapped his bike to the back of the car!" Kira ordered as she pulled Noah by his ear towards their family car.

"Yes, Mdm!" Bonggu obliged dutifully before he glanced over at me. "Honestly, she scares me."

Bonggu jogged over and did as he was told. He had tried, to help Noah out by being the first one to reproach Noah for his recklessness, because he knew he would at least, be kinder than Kira. It didn't work for Kira's temper was at an all-time high, and told Bonggu to scram off and stop hindering her from being the only child. The rest of us knew better, and lingered a safe distance from the siblings in silence, till Kira vented out her frustration, and declared that it was time to head home. There was still a matter of sneaking back in, without being caught. The night was not, truly over.

"Everyone get in the car NOW!" The frustrated Kira yelled after throwing her brother into the passenger seat. Her stare was so intimidating that Ye Jin immediately slid into the back with an athlete'sagility, the second Kira's eyes landed on her.

Yejun strolled over to the car but paused at the door because Bonggu wasn't getting in. Inthat second, the both of them had realized I hadn't moved from my spot at all. It wasn't as if I didn't want to join them, but I did the math. There wasn't enough space for me. I caught Noah's eyes as he peekedat me from inside the car, confused, wondering why I wasn't in there with them.

Maybe a long time ago, the car could have fit all of us. But now, there just wasn't any more space.

A helmet was thrown towards and the shock caused me to grab it out of instinct, before realizing that Eunho had chucked it in my direction, without even a glance to check if I caught it.

"I will take Min Ji home." He was looking at the boys instead.

Bonggu opened his mouth as though to say something but Yejun promptly nodded at us and shoved Bonggu into the back seat. He let out a small sigh before flashing us his gentle smile and climbed right in after Bonggu.

I didn't realize that I was supposed to move, till Eunho tugged at me and I dutifully sat behind him as he took the helmet off my hands and secured it to my head for me.

"You are not afraid of speed, are you? I can go slower."

I shook my head at him and Eunho nodded before placing my hands on his waist and setting off, following Kira's car.

During the ride, I mainly listened to Eunho talk about what happened before the rest of us arrived. It did occur to me, though much later, that I hadn't asked.

As Eunho and Ye Jin raced towards the school, Ye Jin commented that it was odd that Eunho was bringing her to Noah. Eunho thought about that remark long and hard. He could easily explain that Noah was his friend and it was his duty to keep Noah from making stupid mistakes.

Of course, that was before we knew that Noah regretted his decision almost instantly, and found himself at a loss of what to do next, right after he left home. Strangely, it was the school, that he thought to hide in to sort out his thoughts. He had every plan to go home, before daybreak, knowing that he really wouldn't be able to leave. There was probably a longer explanation for his behavior, his unhappiness, but this was his simple explanation to his so, that was that.

Eunhowas worried about Noah, he told me, but he knew he would be lying too because that was not his main reason at all. Instead, he decided to tell Ye Jin, it was because afool once told him, that loving someone is wanting to see them happy.

Scowling to myself, I threwa light punch on his back, just to let him know that I had been listening.

"Aren't you proud of me? I tried it." Eunho laughed humorlessly. "Do I get something?"

"Sorry." I found myself answering him.

"I am sorry too. I may not be able to do this for long." Eunho admitted softly, but the rumbling of his bike wasn't able to hide the sadness in his words. "It doesn't make sense to me. I think... it's time for me to let go. I think that, may be the last thing I can do for her. The last thing is to make her happy."

We were a group of five, and the next time we cycled by that slope. We were 12, taller, maybe smarter but still, very much a child. Ye Jin was with us, wondering why we would take the longer route home as she pointed out the slope, which we had gotten used to avoiding. Bonggu started on the exaggerated story of Noah breaking his entire body at that very spot, much to the latter's dismay.

Ye Jin stared at the downslope contemplatively. "It looks doable."

Without a word, Ye Jin pedaled hard. As she started down the hill, the rest of us gasped and shouted warnings at her but Ye Jin kept going till she reached the end gracefully. Glancing back at us with a triumphant smile, she motioned for us to follow.

"She's mental!" Noah gaped, though his eyes werefilled with admiration. On the other hand, Bonggu looked mildly upset at being outdone and quickly chased after Ye Jin impulsively. Yejun rolled his eyes at Bonggu's childish chuckles as he successfully made his way down, before following behind, with an equally competitive look in his eyes.

Noah and I exchanged a glance, and I knew that given his personality, he would rather fall again than admit he was afraid.

"Go on," I told him, knowing that he wanted to chase after Ye Jin too.

"We'll go together." Noah insisted, as though he knew, I couldn't go without him. "So that if anyone falls, we'll catch each other."

"I'm scared," I admitted to Noah who flashed me his pearly whites. There were no longer traces of him having previously broken them, at this very spot.

He paused before his expression lit up the way it usually did when Noah had an idea. "You know, I heard of a great way to overcome this. All you have to do is repeat three times 'I can do this' to yourself. Because anything that gets repeated thrice becomes the truth."

"I can do this?"

"I can do this," Noah repeated firmly.

"I can do this!"

We caught each other eyes and kicked off our bicycles down the slope in sync, forgetting our fear. Not knowing how this would end, we let go of the brake handles, and Noah and I went down.

"Are you still listening to me?"

"Huh?" I blinked, glancing around, wondering how could it be we were reaching home already. Was I spacing out?

His bike pulled to a stop at the red light, and Eunho glanced behind me.

"Min Ji-ah."

I peered up at Eunho's questioning eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I am okay," I told him immediately, though it was before I noted that the familiar car pulled up beside us.

"I am okay," I repeated, not knowing if Eunho was listening anymore, for we may both be distracted by our friends in the car.

Chaneyol caught my eye and gave me a goofy grin to show off his full set of teeththrough the passenger seat's window. He pointed towards his sister put on his best 'nagging Kira' impression, and grimaced exaggeratedly. Behind him, Bonggu reached out and smacked him hard on the back of his head.

"I am okay."

Chapter 58

"Wow. This feels strange." Yejun commented as he stood at his doorway and glanced around his bedroom, which was currently fully occupied. Bonggu was lying flat on the floor, with his full attentionon his mobile game. Also on the floor, Ye Jin was reading one of Yejun's books, leaningagainst the bookshelves. I was lying with my head on Ye Jin's shoulder, both of us sharing the same blanket. Instead of picking up a book though, I had pulled out Yejun's photo album of us when we were kids. Hana had mentioned previously that she hadn't seen a photo of a young Yejun yet, and I was on a self-assigned mission to find the ugliest one possible. Occupying the only chair in the room,Noah was on Yejun's computer, reading some movie reviews, commenting out loud to no one in particular.

When he realized that no one was going to respond, Yejun threw himself on the bed before checking his phone. "Ah. Eunho can't make it. As usual."

"He's probably sleeping. He was out late again last night." Noah commented since he was the one who called everyone to gather today. Shifting slightly in his seat, Noah turned his attention to Yejun. "His exact words were that he was on a date, but I can't tell if he was being serious or not."

The last sentence caused all of us to whip around and gape at Noah, who only shrugged. All except Bonggu, who was too busy letting out a high-pitched shriek, his eyes and fingers still glued to his phone. I reached over to kick him when he let out a swear word in his rage.

The last time we saw Eunho, was that eventful night, two weeks ago. To her credit, Kira did keep Noah's secret, although we weren't entirely sure if Noah blackmailed his sister, or did Kira spoiled Noah more than we realized. We did know that the siblings had a long heartfelt talk after that night, and Noah promised Kira, that he wouldn't try it again, especially since his worried sister would be returning to her universitysoon, now that the semester was starting. Even though she was mad at him, Kira understood Noah's frustrations. More importantly, she also knew that Noah despite all the arguments, loved his family deeply. Some issues needed time to fix, so she advised him to be patient when dealing with Mama Han.

Not only that, Kira managed to convince their mother that Noah should be released from captivity, at least, for the last week of winter break. Maybe Mama Han was beginning to understand that keeping a wild ball of energy in his room, was bound to backfire at some point, and because Noah had been unusually quiet it was worrying. Maybe Mama Han thought that she might have been too harsh on her son during their last argument. It couldn't have escaped her notice that Noah was doing every single chore in the house. Also, he had been very obedient, no longer rebutting his mother at every word since their last fight. Naturally, she put it off as Kira's good influence and condition in exchange for her begging Mama Han for leniency, as compared to the truth. Unknown to her, it was Kira's punishment for her brother, and Noah attempted to redeem himself.

Still, the catch was, that he could only be at one of our houses, with the presence of an adult or Kira. There was no way Kira was going to babysit him, so Noah called everyone up for a movie date at Yejun's. Hence, we ended up piled up in the same room, something that we hadn't done for too long. The owner of the house had his attention back on his phone before he let out a small sigh.

"Well, this room is crowded enough. Are we going to get the elephant out?"

"What?" Noah blinked in confusion, as Yejun stared intently at him.

"You." Yejun directed a finger at him, before turning it to Ye Jin. "And your girlfriend."

"AHHHHHHH."

A shriek of surprise escaped Bonggu as his phone landed on his face with a painful thud, and he scrambled up to follow the direction of Yejun's fingers. Instead of meeting Bonggu's searching eyes, I kept flipping the pages of the photo album. There was a pretty good shot of a six-year-old Bonggu and Yejun sipping yogurt drinks, and I pulled it out.

"So really then?" Bonggu widened his eyes at Noah, who looked equally caught off guard at Yejun's question.

"How did you know?" The tallest boy exclaimed, after shaking off his shock. Beside me, I hear Ye Jin let out a quiet sigh behind her book. Other than that, her expression remained unreadable, but she was listening.

"No. The question is, did everyone figure it out too?" Bonggu folded his arms and scanned the whole room in mild amusement.

"I'm smart. I guessed." Yejun shrugged.

"Just so you know, I am angry at you Han Noah." I glared at the tall boy who threw his hands up. "That I heard it from Ye Jin, but not you."

The surprised looks on all three boys were a little insulting. Of course, we had our girls' talk that didn't include them. There were some words, that they didn't have to hear.

That night in the school, Eunho had prevented Yejun and Bonggu from following behind me. Much later, I guessed that he might have figured I wouldn't want to be seen, eavesdropping outside the piano room. I didn't tell anyone what I heard that night, so, it appeared that I found Noah and Ye Jin on their way out. It wasn't entirely intentional. It was late, and I no longer felt like speaking to anyone. Everything after that night had been a hazy blur. I haven't been feeling conversational of late, nor has there been a chance for me to bring it up again.

Well, except for Ye Jin. There were words that she needed to hear. And she had been very surprised, when she dropped by my house with a hesitant look on her face the next morning, that I was smiling knowingly at her. I knew what she wanted to tell me, and I knew she couldn't be truly happy unless I answered her.

"I am glad that everything's good between you and Noah."

It was the truth. For too long, Ye Jin had not let anyone love her. She paused and nodded. "What about you and me?"

"Ye Jin-ah." Slowly, I crossed the room towards her and wrapped my arms around her. I hugged her as tight as I possibly could because that was how badly I wanted her to know. "I am happy for the two of you. I am. I am."

"It's supposed to be a secret… I mean, not to you guys. But I was waiting till I saw everyone in person again. It was kind of strange to drop the news over text." Noah muttered sheepishly, before sneaking a glance inYe Jin's direction.

I straightened up at his words, wondering why I had not guessed sooner. There was a reason why Noah didn't walk into the room, with a big fat grin today. There was a reason why he looked distracted even though he was supposedly excited about his regained freedom and coming face to face, with his girlfriend, for the first time since they got together. It wasn't because he was trying to hide their relationship from us. No, it wasn't us that he was worried about. At that moment, there was an overwhelming amount of guilt rising in me, how could I not see this coming?

"You aren't telling your parents?"

"No, please, nobody tellthem yet!" His eyes widened in genuine fear, as Bonggu stared at him, mouth opened with disbelief. He had just come to the same conclusion as me, that Noahwas dreadinghis parents' opinions on his recent relationship development.

Unperturbed by the terrified look on Noah's face, Yejun rolled his eyes and shouted towards the opened doorway. "MOM! I FORGOT TO MENTION! IT'S A SECRET! THAT NOAH THING!"

"WHICH ONE?" Aunty Nam's voice traveled from the living room to everyone's astonishment. "ABOUT THAT NIGHT OR ABOUT YE JIN?"

"BOTH!"

Noah was groaning into his hands by now, and Ye Jin had her book so close to her face, literally absorbed in her reading. Sporting identical grins, Bonggu and I were glancing at Yejun in amusement.

"What? I was feeling guilty so I told my mom everything." Yejunanswered simply before turning to Noah pointedly. "We tell no lies in this household."

The tall boy glowered at Yejun before sighing tiredly. "Fine. I probably deserved that. But you know I love my mom! I am still trying to work things out between us. I learned my lessonafter I was overly honest about my thoughts on the definition of a successful career. So I need to plan it through, rather than dropping the news randomly on them."

Bonggu glanced over to the girl beside me, who was still covering her face with a book, acting as though she was not part of this conversation. "Ye Jin's idea, I presume? You don't have that much foresight."

When she did not respond, I pulled her book down ungraciously. "Yejun is right though, it really shouldn't be a secret."

Closing her eyes, Ye Jin exhaled before glancing across the room at Noah. While Noah would not have thought about his family's possible objection until after he had asked Ye Jin to be his girlfriend, no doubt that Ye Jin would have long seen it coming before she agreed. "I know. But there's no hurry. We will tell them when things are less awkward. I don't want your mother to get any madder at you. What do you think?"

The tall boy sulked glumly and ran his fingers through his hair. "Give me some time. I will think of something. I could beg on my knees, or cry before her. Which one is more pathetic?"

"You know I am just worried for you guys, right? I don't want this to backfire on you." Yejun muttered, shaking his head. Silently, Bonggu reached out and gave Noah a supportive pat on his knee.

There was an identical concerned look on both Noah andYe Jin. As if there was an additional weight on their shoulder, even though they now have someone else to carry it with them. Was this how people should look in the early stages of their relationship? No, my friends were supposed to be happy."Hey. It's going to be fine. In any case, we are always here for you. We will help you guys keep the secret!Don't look so down."

At my words, Noah lit up and shot me a grateful smile. I flashed him a quick thumbs up before putting my hand. Wordlessly, Ye Jin reached over and gave my hand a tight squeeze. It was her way to say thank you.

Yejun, who had been watching the whole exchange quietly, stood up and clapped his hands loudly. "Alright. No more sulking around. We are supposed to be celebrating er… freedom! The new couple gets to pick the movie. Your first joint decision! Come on!"

"LION KING!" Noah, the overgrown child,suggested excitedly, only to earn double-death stares from both Ye Jin and Yejun.

"NO."

Grinning sheepishly, Noah walked over to help Ye Jin off the floor while Yejun made his way down to wherehis DVD collection was stored.

"I will order food!" Bonggu exclaimed as both Noah and Ye Jin filed out after Yejun. He waved me over as he took the seat that Noah had emptied, making himself comfortable before the computer. "Help me pick, Min Ji."

"What's there to help? You always pick pizza. Hawaiian pizza." I commented but I walked over anyway and took a sit on Yejun's bed.

Bonggu didn't disagree. Instead, he was already keying in the website as I spoke. As he scrolled through the menu, out of habit more than the actual need to read it, Bonggu snuck a peek at me.

"Have you been busy this past week, when I ask you to come watch me make Yejun cry?"

He was talking about the pointless competition between the two of them about who's the better player in a console game that Bonggu recently bought. I frowned slightly, realizing that I didn't remember the name, which was odd, for I was certain that they both told me. What was I so distracted with?

"I was spring cleaning."

It was true, my house hadn't been so clean in ages. Not since Min Seok went off to college.

"Really?" Bonggu raised an eyebrow, before glancing back to the computer to add his usual order to the cart.

"I told you. Dad and Mom had been arguing recently about Mom's hoarding habit. So I thought I should do some cleaning up and just make lives a little easier for everyone."

Without looking at me, Bonggunodded. "You really should stop worrying about everyone else."

"They are my parents, Bamby."

"You know that's not who I was talking about." He turned around sharply.

Our eyes met before I shifted myself to grab Yejun's photo album, continuing what I was doing. "Don't order two of the same flavor again. You won't hear the end of Yejun's whining."

"Min Ji…"

"And Ye Jin hates carbonated drinks. Pick ice tea." I smiled when I flipped to the next photo, where little Bongguhad 9 candles stuck onto a Hawaiian pizza, which Yejun was holding unsteadily for him. There was no way to tell whose birthday it was if one did not know beforehand, for Bonggu, Noah, and I were all trying to blow it out at the same time. The two boys were pushing each other, Yejunwas lookingfearfully at the candle flamesand then, there was me with my eyes closed. It was an awful picture.

"You are just going to ignore me-"

"Oh and chicken wings! Noah was saying he had been craving for them recently."

He threw up both his hands and returned his attention to the computer, doing as told before grumbling to himself. "You win this time, Kim Min Ji. But I will get you to talk, or my name is not Chae Bonggu."

I didn't answer him. Instead, I tugged the photo out of the album.

This one, I felt like keeping for myself.

Chapter 59

With the semester starting again, we found ourselves falling into our normal schedule. It was almost normal again. It was still fun to watch Yejun and Hana bickered, and our friend turning the conversation aroundjust before his girlfriend got mad. It was still amusing to watch Ye Jin shooting death stares at any boy who dared approach her to ask her for her number. It was still entertaining to watch Bonggu and Noah making bets on who would be first to land detention this semester. Although, at the frequency that Eunho was sleeping in class, it might very well be him.

Seeing Eunho again, reminded everyone that normal wasn't very normal. While he was friendly to everyone, it had seemed that Eunho decided that it wasn't appropriate for him to hang around us too often, given Ye Jin and Noah's budding relationship. It was strange, after he had proved that he was no longer mad at Ye Jin, I had thought they were friends again. But maybe to Eunho, to preserve their friendship, he had to stop being friends with her. For now, it appeared that Eunho had found a new company.

It was her sugary voice that caught my attention first. But the reason I kept staring was because it was like watching Animal Planet live. She was a clingy girl, her fingers gripping tightly on Eunho's arms like he was a prey, as the two of them came down the hallways, stopping just a few lockers down mine. Her perfectly shaped eyes were fixated on his expressionless face. Unperturbed, she was smiling brightly at him, and the entire scene made me squirm. Who was she? Was she the date? It simply did not look right. I could be judgmental, but everything about the flamboyant way she dressed, the exaggerated way she moved, and the cloying way she talked spelled trouble for me. There was no warmth in her eyes, no sincerity in her smile. Not like that smile stayed on, for it had quickly turned into a scowl, when Eunho waved her off the second he saw me staring at them.

I bobbed my head down, when she looked over, only lifting it when I felt her come near. She glared furiously at me as she walked off, stomping with her heels down the hallway. I watched her back in amusement. Shaking my head, I turned to Eunho curiously, as he had joined me at my locker.

"Who is she?"

"Why is everyone asking that?" He smirked as he leaned lazily against the locker beside mine.

"I don't like her." I declared as I placed my books into the locker. Not that I knew her or anything, but I was quite sure that I knew Eunho.

"Really? Bonggu thought she was pretty. Yejun too I think, but he couldn't say anything with Hana around." Eunho's eyes twinkled at the mention of our friends.

I scoffed at the boys' responses."So what? Is she your new target?"

He was fidgeting with the phone in his hand. "Why does that matter?"

"I heard her Eunho. She was encouraging you to skip class tomorrow. And who knows the kind of trouble she is associated with." I frowned at him. "I don't want to see you getting in fights again. Be careful please."

"I am not even surprised by you anymore. You have spare energy to worry about my attendance, honestly..." Eunho shook his head when I gazed at him in confusion. "She's a friend. I think she likes me for my bike."

"You really deserve someone better than that then." I shoved the locker door closed and spun around to face him. "What happened to looking for someone who could make you want to stay?"

Eunho should know of course, just like Ye Jin and Noah, he deserved his happiness as well. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be her, and it wouldn't be now. I was looking at thethin smile fixed on his face, it didn't belong. He didn't respondto my question, instead, Eunho's eyes were glued to his sneakers.

"How's Ye Jin?"

"The usual. You can never really tell what is she feeling. I think she's on the way to being okay though." I told him as Eunho nodded. There was a new-found concern in Ye Jin's mind recently, but I decided it wasn't the time to tell Eunho. He would worry too.

"That's good."

"Eunho?"

Carefully lifting his head, and still wearing that thin smile, Eunho met my eyes.

"Would you stop pretending like you don't care?" I asked slowly. "Come back to us. Everyone missedyou."

A dry chuckle escaped Eunho as he pushed himself off the lockers and started making his way toward the parking lots. I watched him go, wondering if he was going to run away again. Instead, a few steps later, he glanced back at me, with a fingerslightly raised to his lips. And there it was, thatsmile.

"I won't expose your lies if you don't expose mine."

...

Noah was trying to write a song.

I was beside him, as he hummed a small tune under his breathe while strumminghis guitar. A thoughtful look would cross his mind before he grabbed his pencil and noted it down anxiously on the loose sheets of paper before him. Then, a pleased smile would grace his face, before herepeated the whole cycle.

Noah was very intriguing to observe when he was serious.

But it was difficult to pay attention to him today.

First of all, I couldn't get Eunho's words out of my head. That was despite the fact I wanted to. I didn't want to think about his cryptic words. Nope, some thoughts didn't belong.

Secondly, looking at Noah, who had to make an excuse to hide in the school to work on his music, while waiting for Ye Jin to head home together, I was once again overwhelmed with the notion that this was not normal. Or was this the new normal?

He couldn't practice his guitar at home anymore, instead, he had been diligently studying, whenever Mama Han popped her head in to check on him. Noah had been trying to do better in school, and there was a lot of catching up to do. Partly, he had promised Mama Han to pull up his grades. Partly, he wanted Ye Jin to be proud. Or maybe to him, this was the same thing. After all,he wanted his mother to know that Ye Jin was a good influence before he broke the dating news to his parents.

Ye Jin had insisted, with a rare comforting smile, that there was no hurry. But I wondered if they were both lying to each other. Was it okay? Were they alright? Or were they both just trying to reassure the other one, that they were fine? Ye Jin would say she never cared for anyone's opinions, and Noah would say he never listened to his mother's wishes anyway. But what was the truth?

Noah would brush it off like he used to, as if it didn't matter what his mother thought. Never once, was that was why I decided to keep him company in school, the only place he felt safe enough to play. It was just the two of us, as everyone else was busy with their activities. It was just the two of us, and maybe to Noah, this was normal.

But he didn't know, there was a third reason why I wasn't paying too much attention to him.

I couldn't.

The boy had stopped strumming down, his determined eyes scanning his hastily scribbled chords.

"Do you see yourself as a musician one day?" I found myself asking Noah.

There was afaraway look appearingin his wide round eyes as he took in my question. "I know you think I am being impulsive, but yeah, I think this is what I would like to do."

"I don't think this is you being impulsive," I confessed. This was just Noah, always clear on what he wanted, always persisting stubbornly after it. This was just him, being the boy I was used to.

He chuckled lightly, as he placed his pencil down. "Kind of scary actually, thinking about the future."

"I never thought anything would scare you."

"Me neither. I used to think we could be fearless, we could do everything we wanted for we got nothing to lose. I wasn't even afraid of being grounded was beforeI had my guitar confiscated because music should only be a hobby. That was before I was told every day that I should not spend too much time with bad influences." He bit his lips, the usual brightness in his eyes masked, by the cloud of emotions. "Maybe now I am starting to realize that there are some things I would never wish to lose. I don't know. I had way too much time to think about life when I was grounded."

Maybe it was from where I was sitting, but from here, watching Noahhunched over his guitar, for the first time, Noah looked small.

"I always thought I was the only one afraid of the future, the unknown. Will things be easier if everything stays the same?"

Maybe it's the tone of my voice, but Noah glanced at me, with a concerned look in his eyes. His lips curled slightly as he reached over to tap my head lightly with his pencil.

"Nothing stays the same, Min Ji. I admit it's scary, but I am positive that everythingwill work out eventually. Because change means bad times don't last I am not worried. You said you would look out for me too, right?Like what I always tell Ye Jin when she nagged at me for being overly optimistic, there's nothing to worry about when all of us are in this together. Oh!" His eyes lit up as hestarted scribbling on his notes again excitedly.

As he worked, I found myself staring at the walls around us. From the reflection of the nearest window pane, I could see our reflection, Noahwas penning his lyrics down, and the smile on my face. I froze, with my hand on my chest, taking in thefamiliarity of the smile. For a second, a certain dark-skinned boy crossed my mind.

"Noah?" Pulling my gaze away from the reflection, I kept my eyes on the boy beside me, once I noted that he was done. "Can I hear it?"

The boy nodded and picked his guitar up.

I can face it just about.

I'd rather hurt than live without

But I will rage and scream and shout

A love, a life, it's dark and bright

It's beautiful and it's alright

To cry your eyes out

Fill your lungs up

We all hurt

We all lie

And nothing stays the same

Let your guard down

Get your heart pounded

We all bleed

We all breathe

And nothing stays the same

Chapter 60

Even the most honest of us all lie. But we all do so, for very different reasons. Ye Jin lied when she said she was strong enough to take care of herself. Noah lied when he said he could handlehis family. Eunho lied. Bonggu lied. Yejun lied. And me?

I was watching Ye Jin laughing at Noah's joke, her eyes sparkling, filled with ease and fondness.

The five of us were taking the bus home. I was at the corner, with Bonggu beside me. Yejun was across the aisle, chatting animatedly with Bonggu. Sitting two seats in front, was Noah and Ye Jin, who were making use of the small moments of privacy, to catch up with each other's day.

"Hey. I kind of want to make a detour to the stationery shop. Would the two of you come with me?" I asked the two boys nearest to me, as I noted that the bus was pulling to its next stop.

Bonggu glanced up at our surroundings, as Yejun proceeded to press the bell. At the buzzing sound, Noah cast us a confused look. "Are we getting off here?"

"We are just going to get something. You guys can go ahead. You not supposed to reach home past dinner remember?" I threw a quick smile at Noah before pushing the Yejun and Bonggu off the bus.

After we waved goodbye to the confused couple from the sidewalk, Yejun glanced towards me with a thoughtful look. "We are not getting stationery, are we?"

"Of course we are," I replied, turning towards the direction of the shop. "That, and Noah seemed a little bummed that he hadn't been able to spend some alone time with Ye Jin recently. I thought we ought to do them a favor."

I knew better than to lie at that point and indeed, Yejun shook his head lightly, as though he expected that response. Bonggu on the other hand, froze and turned towards me.

"I thought you just wanted to get away from them." He blinked.

"I did. Weren't you listening?" I gave him a light push, to indicate that he should keep walking.

"Min Ji… what are you doing?" Bonggu stood firmly in place, blocking my way forward. At our sudden stand-off, Yejun had stopped in his tracks as well.

"Going to buy myself some new pens?"

"No. You know I am talking about Noah and Ye Jin. I know you are trying to be happy for them, but worrying about their dating lives is too much!"

"Bonggu…" Yejun reached out and placed a hand on Bonggu's shoulder, before throwing an apologetic look in my direction.

But I frowned at the boy who just raised his voice at me. "Firstly, I am happy for them. Secondly, why can't I worry? You know very well that the two of them shouldn't have to deal with all the stress of having to keep their relationship a secret. Have you paid any attention to their faces recently? It's like they didn't dare be too happy. Can you bear to see them like this? The question is, Bonggu, why aren't you doing something for them?"

"Don't you dare make it sound like I don't care! But we can't do anything about this, Min Ji. It's their relationship and their decisions. Are we supposed to open our house for them to be a secret dating spot now?" Bonggu threw up his hands.

"You know, that might just work-"

"I WAS JOKING."

"Enough!" The calmest of us all had lost his cool. A very stern-looking Yejun had his fingers curled up into a fist. "Bonggu, we talked about this. Not when she's not ready to talk about it."

"Not doing anything isn't working! This is getting out of hand!" Bonggu's lips thinned as my eyes darted between the two of them. There was an odd chill running down my spine and I found my throat becoming dry. Looking at my two best friends, I choked out the question on my mind.

"What are the two of you talking about?"

A frustratedBonggu placed his hands on his hips, his head down. "Forget it."

"No, tell me." I tugged at his arms, before turning my face towards Yejun. "Are you twokeeping something from me?"

Bonggu's eyes lifted, with a rare solemnness in them. "But Min Ji… you started it."

There was a boy who used to say things with no other intention but to make the people around him smile. And here he was, trying to take away mine. There was another boy, who used to tell me what to do when I was lost. And here he was, staring wordlessly at me. With the two of them standing beforeme, I felt oddly vulnerable. My arms wrapped instinctively around myself. Perhaps, that action of trying to hold myself together was too much for my friends, and I saw an identical flash of pain in their eyes.

"We are worried about you Min Ji." Yejun began calmly.

"There's nothing wrong with me," I replied Yejun, as I took a step back in surprise. It was exactly what I didn't need to hear. I didn't need them worrying.

Yejun sighed heavily. "We can't see you like this. You were telling me that you think Eunho was lying to us about him being okay. But have you looked in the mirror recently? You are worse than him. Min Ji, you are not only trying to lie to everyone, you have been lying to yourself."

That chilling feeling was back, and it was like I was frozen in my place. With much difficulty, I looked away from Yejun. But meeting Bonggu's wide worried eyes, was far worse.

"Why do you keep smiling?" Bonggu questioned me. "Since Noah and Ye Jin got together, every time I look at you, you are smiling."

"I… I am happy for them." The answer fell out naturally. "Aren't you?"

"Of course, I am. Noah and Ye Jin are my friends too. I know they make each other happy, I really do. But Min Ji… you don't have to pretend to be if you are not."

"I am not pretending…"

"But you are." He insisted. "I much rather see you upset, or even angry. Not like this."

"It's awful watching me be happy?"

"Min Ji…" There was a pleading tone in Bonggu's voice.

"This is what you taught me, Bamby. You were the one who told me that I should only focus on the good things. You were the one who never wasted a single day being miserable. If you could do it… why can't I?"

An odd look flickered past his eyes, as my words had struck a chord. Even Yejun was glancing at me with his mouth opened, at the way those words came out of me.

It was mean, it was uncalled for. But sometimes, we tend to get defensive when people rip apart our lies.

I wanted to protect Noah. That was what I told myself. It was the only thing I could do for him and Ye Jin. There was nothing that I was good at. I could never shine like Ye Jin or Yejun. On the other hand, I could not cause trouble like Bonggu or Noah could. Just like the way it was at home, I am the middle child, the forgotten, the average. But I was good at protecting my friends, wasn't I? Just like what I told Eunho a long time ago, when you love someone, their happiness would be enough. I wanted their happiness. So the first thing to do, I had to be happy for them. There was no alternative.

They all believed that I was lying but I love both of them so much. How could I possibly be lying when I said I was happy for them? Whatever I was feeling, didn't matter, shouldn't matter, and couldn't matter. And when you loved your friends as much as I do, you would understand. There was no other way.

Noah couldn't be my protector anymore. So I lied because I had to protect myself now.

"I am happy."

"No, you aren't." Bonggu stepped forward and held onto my arm tightly.

"I am, Bamby. Stop this."

His lips thinned. "No."

I was angry. I truly was. I worked so hard to keep myself from going there. I distracted myself at every opportunity. I was being a great friend. Here they were, easily tearing everything that I worked hard to build up. "What do you all want? What's wrong with the two of you?"

"I want you to say how you feel, Min Ji." Bonggu persisted even as I shook his grip off me.

"This is how I feel! I am happy for them! Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you let me be happy?"

"I am not trying to... Say something Yejun! Talk to her!" Bonggupleaded.

Yejun's eyes met mine as he slowly approached, as though he was terrified that he could break me with one wrong move.

"I know you want the best for Noah and Ye Jin, we all do. But Min Ji, we have plenty of time to be happy for the two of them. And Bonggu's right, what you think it's the right thing to do... isn'tworking for you. So right now, let's think about you." He gently said as he placed both of his hands on my shoulder.

"Listen to me, Kim Min Ji, before you can take care of everyone else, you need to take care of yourself. So how about 24 hours? This 24 hours, you can be selfish. You are allowed to put yourself first, you are allowed to think for yourself before anyone else. This time, you don't have to be a good friend. This time, you don't have to do the right thing or say the right words.

This 24 hours is for you and yours only. You are hurting, Min Ji. And please know that it's perfectly fine to feel this way. You have your own emotions and thoughts after all. You can be mad. You can be envious. You can be sad. Min Ji... when things are hard, you can cry."

We all lie, at some point in our life. And later, we would almost always give up, because lies could never be fully covered up. After all, the truth always prevails. Even when the lie was so well crafted that you started to believe them yourself, even when the whole point of lying was so that I wouldn't feel the pain.

But I felt the pain and I let fat ugly tears roll down my cheeks as I shook uncontrollably under Yejun's touch. In that instant, his arms wrapped around me as he placed my head protectively into the crook of his neck.

Just as lying did nothing to ease the pain, admitting the truth felt almost useless. In fact, in addition to the pain of having you heartbroken, there was now guilt, guilt that I couldn't be as selfless as I claimed I was.

It turned out that even if I knew he was never mine, to begin with, it would still hurt when he now, truly was, someone else's.

"Close your eyes for a bit. How hard must it have been? Just wait and it will pass. Wait a moment, before you go."

But Yejun was with me, and Bonggu too, as I felt him behind me, rubbing my back soothingly. Even if I was used to Noah being the one looking out for me, the two of them had never let me lose my way either.

"I... I miss him. Does that make sense?"

Admitting the truth did not lessenthe pain. But at least, the truth set us in the right direction.

Chapter 61

The thing about being hoarders was, that it was less about the novelty of acquiring something new, but rather, about the unwillingness to forsake something old.

Every piece of item, despite being defined by others as junk, a waste of space, or even something you agreed you are better off without, held a bit of memory and a value that no one else can appreciate. Yes, for most of them, it was simply nostalgia. Every logical part of you can know, that there's no solid purpose for retaining such items. Even when one ran out of excuses, the attachment would stubbornly remain. It's strangely hard, and extremely distressing to remove something which you know had to be removed. A lot of preparation, both mentally and emotionally, was needed. One may even feel the need to grieve.

It's almost like saying goodbyes.

Goodbye to a memory, goodbye to an old friend, goodbye to years passed.

The thing about hoarders was, that they mostly certainly, preferred the familiar past over the unknown future.

However, if you were to ask my mother, the answer was a lot less romantic. It was simply her frugal nature and deeply rooted belief that everything had a use, along with the fact that she was never rich enough to be wasteful. On the other hand, my Dad was a strong advocate of the minimalist lifestyle.

And that's when we have a problem.

The silver lining was, that I had time. 24 hours to be exact.

After ensuring that I was finally out of tears, Bonggu and Yejun sent me home with 2 liters of bottled water. Yejun's reason was that hydration was important. Bonggu's excuse was that in case I wanted to drown my sorrows. They left me, with a smile on my face, and a worried look on theirs.

It was like they already knew, I won't be getting any sleep that night.

There was a lot of truth I had to face, a lot of feelings that I did not wish to admit. To say I fully understand all of it, would be a lie. There are too many things stored up inside, and it would take a long time to store it.

I wasn't okay.

I was in pain, but I wasn't sure if it was from what I was holding on to, or from the thought that I would one day, I would have to let go.

For a very long time, I had convinced myself, to be contented with what Noah and I were. But for the very first time, I started to ask myself, so what were Noah and I? What were we?

But there was no 'we', was there? Not when Noah viewed me differently from the way I viewed him. And it was nobody's fault. He loved me like a sister, but that did not mean his love was any less genuine or selflessthan mine. I couldn't be upset at a scenario where he wasn't looking for my kind of love, and I could no longer accept his kind of love, what did that make us?

And the most important question of all that my friends wanted me to think, what would make me happy? What was it that Kim Min Ji wanted?

I had time. And so when I was lured out of my room on that lazy Saturday, by the strange sound of boxes being moved around the house, to be greeted by the side of my mom spring cleaning, I decided to join her.

"What is this…" My mom was sitting in our storeroom, with a distraught expression as she gazed at all the chaos around her.

It was an odd sight, to see the hoarder herself, picking up the mess. Even after she was so convinced that these items were not trash when my dad complained. And I was so surprised that I had to ask her if she was feeling alright.

Mama Kim scowled before letting out a deep sigh. "Your dad has been under a lot of stress recently. I rather not argue with him."

"Oh? What's wrong?" I frowned, wondering why I had not heard anything about it.

"His company... had been letting people go. Not that he thinks he is at risk! But it's terrible times at his workplace now." She shook at me as I stared at her in disbelief.

How long had this been happening? I was a horrible person, to have never noticed the growing concerns and wrinkles on my parents' faces. And I hung my head in shame, as I was overwhelmed with guilt.

Mom put a hand on my head and smiled gently. "There's nothing we can do about it. Rather than worrying, why don't we do some spring cleaning and maybe make some space for a bit of positivity in our lives? I think a tidy home would make your father very happy, wouldn't it?"

As it turned out, even the worst of hoarders, were willing to clear out the old, when they needed to make space for newmemories. My mom may be too candid and oblivious at times, but here she was, quietly doing something for her family. I couldn't help smiling, as I joined her sorting out our mess. It was a great deal of work, till the point where I was slightly upset that Min Ah didn't stay home to help. But I was pleased, to spend some quality time with just me andmy mom, and it was unexpectedly very entertaining to go through all the random stuff that she had stashed away.

"Why do you still have this?" I pulled out the old skateboard that Min Seok used to be so fond of in his middle school days.

"Oh! I didn't keep this. Wasn't it broken?" She exclaimed as we flipped it over to look at how the wheels were barely holding onto the board. "I guess Min Seok couldn't bear to throw it out."

"Since when does he have your bad habit?" I grinned at her.

"Kira saved her own pocket money to buy him this birthday gift, remember? Your dad didn't let him get one because we already have two bikes at home. Min Seok was over the moon when he received it." My mom trailed off thoughtfully.

"Oh. No wonder he never let any of us borrow it." I recalled how usually harsh he was to us if we even dared touch it.

My mom shook her head sadly. "It's a pity. I have been speaking to Kira's mom you know. We have no idea what's wrong between them. I have been trying to ask your brother but he keeps pretending like it was a bad time to call. Seoul is not exactly a different time zone."

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, remembering my last phone call with my brother, and his firm warning."Don't meddle in his life, Mom."

She glared back at me before she rolled her eyes. "Don't meddle in my life, Min Ji."

The two of us laughed, forgetting for a moment, the heavy weights resting on our shoulders.

The entire afternoon, my mom was recalling the stories between my brother and Kira. Of course, the stories of the first child tend to stick to the mother better, butMin Seok had always been my mom's son. Just like how Min Ah was my father's 's gaze wandered to the broken skateboard, and she sighed.

"You don't make many friends like that in one lifetime." My mother was saying and I lifted my head at her words. "But that's life. Even among close friends, there will be disagreementand people get hurt, whether intentionally or not."

"They will be fine. Won't they?" I asked her quietly.

"Well,I certainly hope so. Every relationship takes work, Min Ji, even among friends. You may think it's fine because you have known each other for so long, but it's precisely that reason why when feelings get hurt, you assume they would understand when no one wishes to talk about it or ask for forgiveness, the hurt feelings being said, we tend to be very harsh on those we love most when we really ought to be the most forgiving ones. Ultimately, one has to decide what is more important, our hurt feelings or that relationship."

My fingers reached for the wheels on the skateboard, spinning them casually, till I found one of them, could no longer move. "It's not... it's not easy."

"No, it isn't." My mom was watching me. "That's why I never really worried about you. You have amazing friends and a wonderful support system. You guys keep each other on the right track. I have been trying to tell Noah's mom for so long now. That she has nothing to worry about, regarding that son."

"Hmmm?" I froze, at the name.

"That woman keep too close of a watch on that poor boy of hers. Well, she agrees the group of you keep Noah in check. But she also knows you guys will take his side at the end of the day. I think she believes that you are the only one who brings out the seriousness in Noah. He's a bit more... brash with the others."

My mom was looking at me while wriggling her eyebrows suggestively. Annoyed,I threw a rag towards her and laughed. "It's a lot of work, being Noah's friend."

"Quite a handful, isn't he? When was it? When he came running over to our house screaming that his mother was going to kill him and went on his knees to beg me to adopt him?"

"Oh! Because we tried to bring Papa Chae's car out!" I recalled with a tiny chuckle. How old were we? 9? 10?"He's something."

"He's lucky that Bonggu's fathercaughtyou guys before you succeed! I still don't know why the lot of you alwayswent along with his crazy antics. Weren't most of the kids in your elementary school terrified of him, because he behaved like a little gang leader? But I guess... someone has to be his friend."

Mom returned to sorting her box, after throwing a look behind us to check the time on our wall clock. I followed her gaze and watched as the second hand moved diligently, endlessly, in the same direction.

"Yea. Someone has to be."

My eyes were still fixated on the clock, as the second hand fell into placewith the minute hand, right below the solid bold number 12.

Time's up.

Chapter 62

It wasn't too long ago, when we took the plane to China to visit Ye Jin, and I could still remember how terrified I was. So for someone who usually zoned out in class, it was an incredible feat that I was paying the utmost attention to the air stewardess while they were doing the safety instructions. Yejun was trying to look like he wasn't, but he was reading the instructions given in our seats carefully. Noah who heard it before, was flipping through the shopping catalog instead, muttering out loud to no one in particular, when he spotted something interesting.

"Did you hear that? What was she saying? Do you put the oxygen masks on yourself first? Why? Is it going to be every man for themselves when we crash? We are going to die, aren't we?" My face paled as I tightened my grip around Noah's wrist.

He winced and struggled to get out of my hold, underestimating dearly, how much fear had a hold over me.

"Really Min Ji? Stop panicking. Of course, you have to save yourself first before you help someone else. Honestly..." The boy grumbled as I kept holding onto him as if my life depended on it.

Yejun had looked over and chuckled. "Don't worry, Min Ji. Even if we crash land on a desert island, I promise you that we will keep each other safe, and it won't be every man for themselves. Unless we need food of course. Then I may consider sacrificing Bonggu."

The day that Yejun turned to the dark side, will be the beginning of the end.

I had no idea why this story came to mind, as I was staring out of my bedroom window. It was strange, but it seemed apt that I remember this when I was making my decision. It was done. There were many voices in my head, but I heard my own loudest.

And it was with a clear mind that I decided what I had to do.

"Noah's not in." Mama Han blinked at me as I stood in her kitchen, hiding my sweaty palms by shoving my hands into my back pocket. "I send him out to buy some spices."

I already knew that, having watched him leave before I came over. "I will wait then."

If the middle-aged woman was surprised, her facial expression betrayed nothing. Instead, she continued washing her vegetables in the sink. Mama Han had been preparing for dinner before I walked in. "Would you help me with this, Min Ji?"

Nodding, I took the carrots she had passed to me, and placed them neatly on the chopping board, before looking around for her kitchen knife. "Papa Han is coming home for dinner then?"

Noah's father was rarely home for dinner. His talent in running his business had made him very successful, but far too busy. I had stolen a glance at all the ingredients that Mama Han had taken out of her fridge, and it seemed like they were having quite a few dishes tonight. The highlight would be her famous beef and carrot stew, a basic homemade dish made with a lot of love. The fact that Mama Han was putting in so much effort for dinner, could only mean that her husband was going to be home early tonight. She said nothing and passed me the kitchen knife. And the two of us worked in silence, preparing the favorite dish for the men in the Han family.

"That's very pretty, Min Ji." Mama Han nodded approvingly at me as I showed off my first knife skills proudly to her.

"Thank you!" I beamed and glanced down at my nicely cut carrots, before proceeding to the next vegetable.

"Your mom is lucky to have a daughter like you. Kira always finds an excuse to avoid helping out in the kitchen." She remarked, shaking her head at the thought.

"Ah." I blushed. "Well, I am not good at half the things Kira excels in."

"Please, the only reason she hates cooking is because it's the one thing that she is terrible at. And she is too proud to admit it, more importantly, Min Ji, you are humble."

"Well… Ye Jin is humble too. She's always reminding us that there's room for improvement, and she never stops trying to do better." I added as I piled all the cut vegetables neatly on a clean plate.

The air seemed to have grown heavy, and I lifted my eyes uncertainly to steal a look at Mama Han, only to see her intense gaze fixated on me. With horribly awkward movement, I hastily brought all the vegetables to the table.

"Yejun was just complaining, now that Ye Jin was back, he had to work harder, in case she robs him of his first place." I continued, now that my back was facing her.

"Grades aren't everything." Mama Han answered and I raised my head at her words. Wasn't she the one who reminded Noah every day about the importance of his grades?

She must have sensed my confusion for she strolled over to the table. "Noah could learn from you, Min Ji. You are respectful to your elders, and you listen well to others. Instead, he thinks it's funny to challenge everything I say when everything I say was for his good."

"Noah doesn't… think it's funny," I muttered weakly.

"Well, he's getting a bit old to be rebellious. I just want him to do well in school, get a respectable degree, and a stable job, and then, marry a good wife. Is that asking a lot? Am I wrong in wanting my son to live a simple and secure life? You understand, don't you Min Ji? That's what you want too, isn't it Min Ji?"

As much as I loved Noah's mother, she had a commanding aura about her, that caused me to squirm uncomfortably. "Erm…"

I couldn't answer her, as I wasn't sure if I was reading her intentions right. First of all, Noah was the last person I knew to be happy with a simple and easy lifestyle. It wasn't like he sought trouble, but rather he wasn't one to sit still and be contented. Secondly, did she not approve of Ye Jin because the girl did not fit into that simple and secure future that she envisioned for her son? True, Ye Jin's life had been nothing less than complicated, and she may have appeared to be a magnet for misfortune. Wouldn't that mean that she would be the one to appreciate simplicity the most? Did I not know my friends well enough, or was Mama Han's logic too deep for my simple thinking?

"You know, I still stand by my statement, Min Ji you would be a very good wife one day. If only my son isn't such a big idiot, then he would see it too." Her eyes twinkled before she strides over to the stove.

"I… am not. You are too kind, Mama Han."

"No, I just speak my mind. You are a sweet girl, with a kind heart, and you treat your family well. Min Ji, you shouldn't walk around, with your head down all the time. Lift your pretty face, because you have so much that all the other girls your age don't."

"Yah… Kim Min Ji! If you are trying to nick food from us, shouldn't you be the one praising my mum?"

I almost dropped the knife in my hands when I heard Noah's voice. We looked up to Noah strolled in with his hands full of groceries, and Mama Han shook her head, for she knew right away that her son had bought himself plenty of snacks on the way. To my surprise, a cheerful Bonggu was tagging along behind him. Our friend must have seen Noah on his way back.

"Picked up another fan of your cooking on the way home," Noah explained as he started separating his snacks from the grocery bag, unperturbed by his mum's disapproval.

Bonggu grinned sheepishly. "Hi Mama Han. Noah said there would be beef stew, and I couldn't miss it."

Blessed with his natural charming abilities, Bonggu left Hans with a small pot of beef stew. Of course, I had one too, but I deserved mine much more than him. The two of us said our goodbyes and thanks before we left Noah's house. Only when we were at my doorstep, and I turned to say goodbye to Bonggu, did I realize that he was no longer smiling.

"Why were you at the Hans, Min Ji?"

And it had completely slipped my mind that I was supposed to be looking for Noah, which explained why the two boys were stealing looks at me. With Mama Han around, none of them had said a word. Sensing his concern, I put on my best reassuring smile for him. "I am fine, Bonggu. And I mean it this time."

"But Noah…" The worry was evident in his eyes.

"I am not going to avoid Noah." I flatly told him.

"No, I am not asking you to drop him as a friend! But I just thought you could use a little space from him. At least, let him handle his own for now. It was just that… Noah was wondering if Mama Han couldn't stop praising you just now, might be because you came over trying to talk to his mom about Ye Jin." Bonggu let out a sigh, the look on his face was evident that he agreed with our tall friend.

Noah knew me too well, and I flinched internally, knowing that he would eventually come around to my place and nag me for this.

"Well I tried… but I couldn't get a word in," I was admitted to Bonggu.

The boy shook his head in frustration. "I thought we agreed you have to start putting your interest before others, Min Ji!"

Avoiding his glance, I leaned against the gate to my house. "Bonggu, please let me do what I want."

"Min Ji... do you even know what you are doing?"

I bit my lips and nodded slowly. "Yes, I do. I am not feeling very good right now, I will admit that. But I won't let my feelings stand in the way of being a friend. Before I was doing everything for them, like I had to be happy for them, because they are Noah and Ye Jin. But now, this is for me, Kim Min Ji. And I realized, the only way I could be happy, is if they are. So, this is for me. Does that make sense?"

"I don't know, Min Ji." Beside me, Bonggu leaned on the gate too. He had gone quiet, as he stared intently at his shoes. "Forget it. You aren't going to listen to me, are you?"

"You know, Bamby, I think someone told me before, that once we make what we feel is the right decision, we just have to brave the consequences." I nudged his shoe gently with mine. "I mean it, I am fine. I know the consequences, and I am going to be brave."

Chapter 63

Ye Jin had always looked like the type of girl who had her life together. When she walked down the hallways of our school, there wouldalways be whispers about her. For someone who had never actively gone around making friends, people seem to claim to know something about her. Everyone assumed that because Ye Jin easily excelled in everything she did, she must be proud and unreasonably arrogant. I knew better than that though, I knew Ye Jin was just like the rest of us, that she had her insecurities, that she had her flaws, and that she had pain. Ye Jin worked hard to make it look easy, and no one seemed to catch on. No one could understand why the animated and lovable Chae Bonggu would never stop talking to her, why the brightest boy in school, Nam Yejun, was one of her closest friends, and particularly, why one of the most popular guys of our year, a certain Han Noah, was so taken by her.

Ye Jin had never been bothered by the gossip, but she kept hearing them. She brushed aside the small-minded people, never once letting them get her down. Our Ye Jin didn't want to be someone else, just to stop the assumption, but because of who she was, people continued to assume. Never once, had she shown any indication that those words were getting to her, but of course, the boys always defended her if they overheard. Perhaps it was this very reason, that burdened Ye Jin the most. Naturally, she insisted she didn't need any help, but we knew there was more to it. There was always more to Ye Jin.

Ye Jin was just a girl, who that always surrounded by endless and needless drama. Maybe, that was what Mama Han meant, that Ye Jin's life, would never be simple. There was good in her life definitely, but there was so much bad that she would think her life was written by a heartless author with an odd sense of humor. And when she disappeared and reappeared after one semester, it would be almost too naïve to have thought that it would go unnoticed by everyone else. Of course, our schoolmates had nothing else to talk about than Jang Ye Jin from 11thgrade. Of course, they had elaborated lies to spread regarding the mysterious girl. Since her return, the group of uswere all too preoccupied in our worldto have noticed the latest gossip. Or maybe we had long developed the ability to block out the words that we didn't want to hear.

It all began when those horrible fabrications reached Hamin's ears, which was very possiblewhen neither of them associated much with each other in what the words were, exactly how he came to it, were never relayed properly. When Noah came running towards me and proceeded to dragme down the school corridorafter shaking off his surprise to find me en route to his destination. I didn't understand half the things coming out of his mouth when he was panting that heavily.

"Slow down! What are you saying? Hamin what now?" I called out in panic as the pain from how tight his grip was on my wrist was starting to kick in.

He didn't slow down at all, instead, Noah only left once he successfully brought me to where he wanted to go. "He was arguing with someone in the cafeteria. It got so bad that it escalated into a fight and this little brother got himself sent to the principal's office."

And when we finally rounded the last cornerand found ourselves right in front of the office, Hamin was there, sitting right outside with his head lowered down.

"Hamin," Noah called out and the Chinese boy lifted his head in surprise. He looked shaken, but relatively unharmed and I heaved a sigh of relief, for Noah's anxious tone had given me quite a scare. As though he didn't quite believe that Haminmanaged to get out of a physical fight without much of a scratch, Noah stepped forward to inspect him closely but the younger boy waved him off.

"I'm okay." Hamin gave a small but reassuringsmile. "Just got yelled at by the wasn't fun."

"What were you thinking?" I shook my head in disapproval. For some reason, I did not foresee we would be in this situation with Hamin of all people. He had always been a gentle lamb. The fact that he barely got injured, spoke otherwise.

He wasn't paying attention to me, instead Hamin was glancing behind us, as if to check if anyone else was approaching.

"I didn't have time to tellYe Jin. I kind of ran down here the second I heard. She would be so pissed if she knew why you were called in." Noah commented, having guessed what was on Hamin's mind. Shaking my head, I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Ye Jin to clue her in, knowing full well that she would want to know.

"She wouldn't be the only one. They called Dad." Hamin sighed and I couldn't help but reach out and give his head a comforting pat. The weight of dealing with thedisappointment from his father was starting to sink in.

Noah nodded understandingly. "Violence isn't the answer, Hamin. You should have just walked away."

"You are one to tell," I mumbled under my breath, earning an annoyed glare from the tall boy.

"You would probably lay an even harder punch than me." Hamin agreed before he scowled. "If you had heard what they were saying about Ye Jin."

Strangely, Noah had not seemed at all surprised to hear the cause of this fight. "Well, I am a terrible role model! Youare supposed to be thegood boy, Hamin. And please don't let your father think that I have been teaching you to fight."

"You are not the only one who wants to protect her." The words slipped out of Hamin's lips, before he dropped his head again, avoiding both our stares. With a thoughtful look on his face, Noah took a seat beside the boy.

"Ye Jin wouldn't want you to be getting into fights for her. She is quite capable of handling herself." Noahfinally answered, after a long pause.

Leaning heavily on the wall behind him, Hamin shut his eyes. "She just lost her dad, Noah. Even though she has conflicted feelings towards this man, he is still her dad. Ye Jin has enough to deal with, without those people spreading those horrible rumors about her! Pregnancy! Honestly!"

A low growl escaped Noah'slips and his fingers clenched into a fist instantly at Hamin'swords. He was scared when hisprotectiveness kicked in. Naturally, I understood his anger, as well as Hamin's helplessness. Why was it that everyone loved talking about Ye Jin?Taking a deep breath, Noah shook his head firmly. "No. Ye Jin's right. Those people don't matter. Their words can't hurt her. But if we land in any trouble because of her, she will be hurt! And we can't do that to Ye Jin, can we,Hamin?"

The youngerboy turned his head towards Noah, with an upset look in his eyes. "I know, and I am going to stay away from them from now kind ofsucked that I couldn't do much for her. Oh! And you know what also sucks? That guy is one of Sooyoung's friends. And I socked him in front of her. All my efforts of trying to impress her! Gone! Wasted!"

Laughing out loud, Noah simply threw a firm arm around him in response. Meanwhile, I made a mental note to ask Noah later, who was this Sooyoung girl.

"Hamin."

It seemed that Ye Jin had read my text and she made her way across the campus instantly. I glanced towards her as she approached. Ye Jin nodded at me, beforetaking a seat on the other side of Hamin. Without a word, she scanned the boy from head to face was unreadable and Hamin recoiled slightly, as though preparing for Ye Jin's nagging to commence.

But instead, Ye Jin whispered."Thank you."

Hamin blinked in surprise before he gave her a gentle smile in return. "Of course. You are my sister."

Wordlessly, Ye Jin lowered her head, but her smile remained. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and Ye Jin nudged Hamin's side. "Let's go home."

"Dad's coming to get me."

"Oh." She replied thoughtfully. "Let's go wait for him at the parking lots together then."

When the step-siblings stood up and fell into step, Noah got onto his feet too, a wide grin splitting his face. He reached over to ruffle both their heads affectionately, and when both of them protested simultaneously, he merely laughed and pushed them forward.

Still taking in what I just witnessed, I stayed rooted to my spot, causing Noah to turn around when he noticed I wasn't following. He exchanged a knowing smile with me after he spotted me watching Ye Jin and Haminwith the same pride. Noah made a gesture for me to follow them, but his hand froze in mid-air, distracted by something behind me.

Spinning my head around, I realized that at the far end of the corridor, leaning casually like a model in a photo shoot, was the elusive Eunho. He nodded at Noah, who raised a hand to greet him.

"Coming, Min Ji?" Noah questioned, looking torn between staying with Eunho and me or catching up with his girlfriend.

I shook my head and asked him to go ahead first, before jabbing a thumb towards Eunho. Noah nodded in responseand gave Eunho a wave goodbye, before turning around to chase after Ye Jin.

Realizing that I wasn't going to join Noah, Eunho came towards me. I bit my lips uncertainly, as I tried to read his indifferent expression.

"You were the one who informedNoah?" I hazarded a guess.

"You do know I spend a lot of time in the principal's office right? I was on my way out when I saw him being sent in. Wasn't hard to find out why." Eunhoreplied simply.

There was another question in my mind, but I wasn't sure if Eunho would answer. "But not Ye Jin?"

As expected, Eunho simply shrugged.

"So what trouble did you get yourself into now?" I glared at him in disapproval, changing the subject.

"Nothing much, it's just my hobbyto visit Principal Oh. He misses me when I don't drop by frequently."

"Ha. Ha. Funny, Do Eunho."

He chuckled before placing his hands on my shoulders and turned me around. Firmly, Eunho forced me to move forward and round the corner, making our way away fromthe principal's office.

"Really? What's up with everyone today? I can walk fine. Where are we going anyway?" I shook off his grip, irritably.

Eunhostepped beside me, as we kept walking. "Spying of course. Isn't that your hobby? Watching Noah and Ye Jin date? Like a guardian of their romance or something?"

"What are you even talking about?" I furrowed my brows at his choice of phrasing. "It isn't a hobby!"

"Obsession then." He lowered his face to my height and narrowed his eyes at me. "Did anyone tell you that you are a creep?"

"If I am a creep, then you are a weirdo." I pushed my palm against his face, and he stumbled backward slightly. Unperturbed, Eunhostraightened himself up with a slight chuckle, before he continued making hisway towards the parking lots.

"Come on, creep. Keep up. What the hell are you still doing here?"

Chapter 64

We all took after our fathers, in obvious and unarguable ways, but more often, in small and subtle ways.

Yejun's odd fascination with thunderstorms stemmed from his late father's hobby of lightning photography. He never got to learn directly from his father, so instead he went around asking everyone he knew would know a little about cameras. We always knew he liked Hamin's dad because the man taught him quite a lot about photography. Still, everyone was glad when one day, Yejundecided to settle for reading about storms rather than chasingafter them. It was the only interest of Yejun that I violently discouraged. Nothing about lightning and thunder was mesmerizing to me, and honestly, my fear went back way before our tree got struck during that one lightning storm. Of course, that incident did not help.

Bonggu's playful nature, was very much like Papa Chae, who we long suspected, might have been the more successful troublemaker as compared to his son when he was younger. His infectious optimism and eagerness to help easily made him the most popular adult for young kids, for he had a talent for making our imaginary adventures memorable. But his often disregard for child safety made him the least popular among all the adults along our street. Mind you, this was a man who dropped his only child into the deep end of the pool because he had a hunch thatBonggu was chubby enough to float. Mama Chae was not amused.

Noah's father dedicated his whole life to his career, and though, he spent many hours away from home, one still could see the same drive shining through his son when he pursued his own life goals and dreams. Kira was no different, for her ambitions had never been small. Perhaps that was why, Mama Han believed so firmly, that Noah could do better.

Meanwhile, my mom always said that I shared the same patience as Dad, which she was thankful for, considering how dramatic both she and Min Ah get under stress. Dad always impressed me, for his abilityto listen to Mom's endless worries and nagging. Of course, I suspected half the time he wasn't actually listening, but merely nodding along. In that case, that was very much me in every school lesson. That being that, Min Seok was more his child, than I was.

As for Ye Jin, it was a little trickier, given that we never met her father, and she was unwilling to talk much about the man. But we did know what her stepfather was like. Mr Yu, who treated his soft-spoken wife with gentleness, who raised his well-mannered son by example, who gave Ye Jin space and the trust she desired, the man was one of a kind.

There was no one quite like Hamin's dad, and that was something we eventually learned growing up. And perhaps, to some, he was too accommodating, too soft for a father. But there was strength in that softness. Hamin's character was proof. And maybe I was a romantic, but he was the man who let a woman who had her spirit broken, decided that it was alright to love again. That must mean something.

What impressed me the most, was that Mr Yu never gave up on Ye Jin. Even though Ye Jin seemed determined to put a distance between them, Mr Yu was always waiting close by. Somehow, he remained unfathered by Ye Jin's independence and aloofness. If he hadn't been the man her mum chose to marry, would Ye Jin dislike this man so much?

But naturally, it was this kind of father, the type who never raised his voice, the type that met your eyes quietly, that unsettled a child more.

"I am sorry." Hamin bit his lips anxiously as he avoided his father's eyes. Mr Yu had not said a single word since he pulled into the school park and stepped out of his car. Noah and Ye Jin stood firmly by Ye Jin's side as Eunho and I watched, from the steps leading out of the school building, both of us hesitant to go any nearer.

"It's not Hamin's fault." Noah began but Hamin shushed him up with a stern look. It didn't go unnoticed by his father.

Mr Yu frowned before turning to his stepdaughter. "Ye Jin?"

Perhaps he had thought that she would be honest with him since Ye Jin had always been firm regarding the use of violence. But Mr Yu wasn't expecting theanswer that she gave next.

"It was because of me. Hamin got into a fight because of me." Ye Jin instantly went to her side to give her hand an encouraging squeeze. This was not the first time someone got into a fight directly or indirectly because of her, and the sad truth was, it was probably not the last. But it was not every day that Ye Jin let her conflicted emotions show.

Mr Yu blinked in confusion, as though he wasn't sure he heard right. Then slowly, he it became clear that Ye Jin wasn't going to elaborate, he asked no more. Steadily he placed an arm on Hamin's shoulder. "We will talk at home. Let's go."

A panicked look crossed Noah's face at Mr Yu'swords and lack of reaction. "You are not going to punish Hamin, are you? It's not his fault! Nor Ye Jin's! If they hadn't been talking about her, Hamin wouldn't have-"

"That's enough, Noah." Ye Jin interrupted firmly.

"Yes thank you, Noah," Mr. Yu's eyes twinkled slightly, at the undignified expression on Noah's face at being shushed twice. "for your advice. But I like to think I know how to raise my kids. But thankfully, they never needed me much to tell them what was right or wrong. Now if you let go of Ye Jin's hand, I will give you a ride home too."

Whatever tension there was earlier, was all gone.

A snort escaped Eunho before he bit down on his fist to stop himself from laughing out loud. I rolled my eyes at Eunho's reaction before realizing that he had attracted Mr Yu's attention. Behind him, Noah was now an odd shade of red and a respectable distance from Ye Jin.

"Are you guys heading home?" Mr Yu asked after Eunho and I both greeted him. "Min Ji, my car can fit one more."

"Oh no," Eunho replied before I even said anything. Hethrewan arm over me, and I stumbled down a step, at the sudden weight. "Min Ji and I are just on our way to the animal shelter. See you around Mr Yu!"

Pretty sure there were no such plans, I stared at Eunho stupidly before turning back to Ye Jin. She looked amused, though I wasn't sure if it was because the girl seemed to understand what set Eunho off, or the fact that he nearly pushed me down the stairs so that I couldn't agree to Mr Yu's offer. Catching my eye,she shrugged and pointed towards Noah. The tall boy was looking a little lost as to how he ended up taking the same car home with Yus. So it was Noah's uncomfortableness that tickled my friends.

After we waved them goodbye, I rounded to face Eunho and jabbed a finger to his face.

"What was that?"

"What? You wanted to take the car?" He tilted his head to his left, expressionless.

"Well yeah, I mean it is going to be so awkward for Noah. And did you not hear why Hamin got into a fight? It was horrible. Ye Jin needs-"

I didn't finish my sentence for Eunho had swatted my hand away from his face. He wasn't interested in my reply, for Eunho's eyes were fixated on the retreating back of Mr Yu's car.

"I always thought he's pretty cool."

"Of course he is."

"Ye Jin used to get mad at me if I told her that though."

"She doesn't want to like him." I reasoned and Eunhonodded absentmindedly.

"You know, I think she will tell her dad first before Noah will tell his mom." He said.

It took me a second to realize Eunho referred to Mr Yu as Ye Jin's dad and I almost smiled at his choice of words, for I had never dared. No wonder she would get mad at there be a day when we all come to refer to him as Ye Jin's dad before her and not get our heads chewed off? Would there be a day when Ye Jin would know that she still had a father? Would that day come soon?

"You think so?" I asked Eunho.

He didn't answer immediately. "I hope so. I mean... I believe she can."

I didn't ask him to elaborate, regarding his firm belief in Ye Jin. He didn't have to.

It was then I realized I still didn't know much about Eunho's family.

If what Eunho said was true, his father never moved on from Eunho'smother. Was it possible that he remainedhaunted by the memories even today? That strain between father and son was because of Eunho's father's reluctance to let go of a relationship that didn't work out.

And was his son, the same?

Was Eunho any different?

Chapter 65

"There. Done. Check this for me please, my dearest Ye Jin?" I batted my eyelids at the girl unbashfully.

She scoffed and pushed my head away,but Ye Jintook my literature report from me to look through either way. Noah and Yejun had run off to the supermarket when they realized we were out of brain food, as in very unhealthy snacks for our study session in Yejun's room. That and both of them needed a break from theenergy-consuming activity.

Bonggu couldn't be bothered. He had been lying face flat, on Yejun's bed since we got back from school. The boy was exhausted so Ye Jin and I were working quietly on our homework, to minimize disrupting the boy. If it weren't for the light snoring, we would be worried by his lack of movement and sound.

"The rehearsal for the musical is taking a toll on him," I mumbled as I watched the steady rise and fall of Bonggu's back.

"He is the lead and got roped into being an assistant producer. Of course, he is tired." Ye Jin answered as she continued jotting down remarks in pencil on my report.

"Bonggu doesn't know how to say no. Do you think Na Eun is taking advantage ofhim?"

"No. She wants me to learn." He answered tiredly in defense of his glee club president. Bonggu yawned before he flipped himself over so that his face was facing up. Seeing that he still couldn't open his tired eyes, I sighed loudly.

"Go home and sleep, Bamby."

"No, it's quieter here."

I shook my head at him, even though he wasn't looking. "You are the only child."

"Yeah, butmy parents don't shut up."

Ye Jin chuckled at our exchange. "Hey Bamby, we are still waiting for our free tickets."

"Come on." Bonggu groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Just pay for it. The money goes to our very pathetic production fund. Do you want to see me going on stage with poorly made costumes and risk a clothing malfunction?"

"But I want front-row tickets!How else are you going to see my banner? You will love it. You have never seen a poster-size of your chubby five-year-old self, have you? The one with the unicorn PJs?" Ye Jin teased mercilessly. "And to answer your question about clothing malfunction..."

Opening his eyes just to throw a pillow at the girl who saw it coming, Bongguscowled at the very smug missed target. "You have been spending too much time with Noah."

Ye Jin's lips curledin response.

"I think that's good. Ye Jin is happier now. We don't get nagged at so much." I said while picking up the abandoned pillow from the floor.

Ye Jin glanced up from my report to meet my eyes, her expression unreadable.

"Only because it takes too much energy to stop Noah from getting in trouble. I couldn't be bothered with the rest of you. He is a handful and I am pretty sure I might have owed him something in my past life." She finally replied. "He caught someone trying to steal a bicycle last week and he chased the fellow around the whole campus till the poor juniorhad to climba tree. I had to physically restrain Noah from scaling that tree to pull the 10th grader down. Have you tried holding still that giant? I should get a leash."

I burst into laughter for I did remember finding a very exasperated Ye Jin pulling Noah by the ear, moments chuckled softly at Ye Jin's words. "If you do,I am giving you that free ticket."

"Hey!" I whipped my head towards him. "You can't be biased towards Ye Jin too. What about the rest of us?"

Lifting my fingers to do a mental count of how many of us would be going, I froze as I hit the odd number.

"Shucks. I am the fifth wheel." I folded my arms as Bonggu burst out laughing upon seeing my realization that I would be caught between two couples.

"No." Ye Jin stated firmly before she placed her head on my shoulder and hooked her arms over mine. "Noah is the fifth wheel."

"Behave yourself, girls!" Bonggucried out with an overly exaggerated scandalized expression, causing both me and Ye Jin to get up on our feet. She threw the blanket over his face as I whacked the boycontinuously with the pillow in my hand. Bonggu let out a loud groan as Ye Jin and I gave each other a high five before laughing at the boy's subsequent complaints.

"You are both bullies." Bonggu's head had surfaced again with a slight scowl. "Seriously though, drag Eunho along."

"Oh. That's an idea." Ye Jin nodded in approval.

"Eunho might not agree to join us." I grimaced. "I never knew what he's busy with."

"Well at least he seems to have stopped skipping classes or hanging around that... other group of friends he has," Bonggu commented offhandedly. "I know I don't know them... but they kind of terrified me a little bit."

Ye Jin pursed at her lips. "Why? Don't tell me you believed those rumors that they are going out every day to get high and drunk. I thought we were done with the whole Eunho and that gang activities he was supposedly involved in?"

"Yea. I am afraid if I get too close to them, then I might get tempted to join the dark side." Bonggu grinned mischievously. "Min Ji was the one so certain that Eunho was dangerous before."

"Hey!" I threw up my arms. "Ok, fine I am a horrible judge of character. And I jump to conclusions based on first impressions. Happy?"

"Peachy."

Down the hallway, we heard the turning of the keys to indicate that the boys were finally back with food. Like an overly excited puppy, Bonggu's eyes lit up and he scrambled down the bed to make his way to the kitchen, ignoring the judgmental look Ye Jin and I were shooting him. Whatever happened to being too tired to move?

Ye Jin shook her head in amusementbefore she returned to proofreading my report. I didn't join Bonggu but insteadfound myself watching Ye Jinthoughtfully.

"I wish Mama Han didn't judge you so quickly," I admitted softly, and I felt Ye Jin stiffened.

"She's just... looking out for Noah."

"And Noah is happy with you. What else is more important?" I grumbled and Ye Jin smiled at my words.

"I don't know. I hate seeing Noah getting caught in the middle, and all stressed out. I do create troublefor him, don't I?" Ye Jin let out a dry laugh, and held a hand up to my loud protest.

"We are going to be okay." She replied, and it almost felt like Ye Jin was convincing herself.

"But Ye Jin..."

"Wait and see, Kim Min Ji." She liftedher head ever so slightly, but somehow I didn't believe Ye Jin's confident expression this time.

Before I couldask her if she was planning to tell Mr. Yu about the fact that she was dating Noah when a loud crash was heard downstairs.

The two of us exchanged a quick look before dashing downstairs to find Bonggu sprawled on the living room floor, pinned down by the unfairly tallNoah. He hadtrappedBonggu in a headlock despite the latter's active trashing. Meanwhile, Yejunwas trying to stay out of the fight but Bongguhad no intention of letting Yejun escape. Bonggu was pulling on Yejun's pants, foiling his attempt to crawl away from the fight without losing his dignity.

Unflustered, Ye Jin ignored the mass of limbs on the floor and went to the kitchen to raid the grocery bags, walking past the boys as though they were the usual furnishing in the house.

"Are you guys five? Get off the floor." I had gone up to them and kicked the tangled mess just for emphasis.

An incomprehensible noise followed as all three of started yelling and explaining at the same time. Groaning at their mental age, I looked to Ye Jin for help.

Standing by the kitchen door, with a carton of fruit juice in hand, Ye Jin wore a calm and serene expression.

"Han Noah." She finally said. "I give you three seconds to get over here."

The series of shouts continued in the living room, and I couldn't even tell if anyone heard her.

"3... 2..."

"I am here!" A grinning Noahappeared by Ye Jin's side, with a fist raised in the air, as though he was reporting for duty.

Stunned, I glanced back to where he was, and two other boys still sat on the floor of the living room, disorientated. Yejun and Bonggumet each other's eyes, confused by the speed of the entanglement.

"Have you considered joining thelaw enforcement?" Yejun asked Ye Jin after he regained his senses and checked that he was still fully clothed. "Police Dog Unit to be exact."

"Yah! Nam Yejun!" Noah raised his fist threateningly and made a move back to the living room.

Ye Jin shot him a stern expression. "Stay!"

A soft whimper escaped Noah as he lowered his head with his arms folded. The rest of us burst into laughter at his misery and finally, even Ye Jin cracked a smile.

Raising her hands to ruffle his thick head of hair, she met his sad puppy eyes cheerfully. "Awww. GoodNoah!"

Chapter 66

If you hang out with an unpredictable force like Jang Ye Jin, chances are nothing ever fazed you anymore. We grew to understand while life was unfair to Ye Jin, Ye Jin herself, had never been fair to life.

The world was hard for her, but perhaps, she made it harder too. She felt misunderstood, but Ye Jin had never made it easy for her to be understandable. Until of course, she started to ask herself if was she fighting the world, or was fighting with herself. Ye Jin was going through something that perhaps, I would never fully understand. But I knew, she would only come out stronger at the end of it, for that's our Jang Ye Jin.

So we thought, just like how it was with Noah, Ye Jin was bound to give in and admit, her stepfather's importance in her life. He had always been there, he had never let their family down, and Ye Jin had let slip, Hamin was a lucky kid. It had to be only a matter of time before she would get tired of pushing him out of her life. After all, what started it all, was the spite of an abandoned child, and what continued the strained relationship, was a teenager's pride. But Ye Jin needed a reason to give in, for that was who she was. And we had thought, maybe with the pressure of Mama's disapproval, it would be the turning point for them.

That day,Haminrevealed he came home to see Mama Han and their parents having a conversation outside their home.

She came perhaps, with good intentions, with a mindset to remind the Yus to be stricter with their daughter and her stubborn ways. Hamin at least, didn't think she meant to say that Ye Jin wasn't a good girl. He hoped anyway, Mama Han was just direct by nature, and not disproving of his parents' parenting methods. Although he admitted, it was hard words to hear, and he was too shocked to react until much later.

But that was whenMr Yu raised a hand to stop the conversation in his usual cool and collected manner. With a quiet but firm tone, he had said. "Thank you. But I don't need anyone to tell me if my daughter is a good girl. And Ye Jin doesn't need that reaffirmation too."

Ye Jin was expressionless when she found out everything from Hamin. You would wonder if she knew why Hamin was telling her all this. Was she listening?

Because I didn't think it sunk it to her, perhaps the strangest thing to witness for me, was to see Mr Yu and Ye Jin walking side by side down the street, holding a civil conversation days later. It was one in which she wasn't ignoring him, one in which she was not only listening but one in which she was possibly holding up the conversation.

He was worried for her, naturally. Ye Jin didn't tell him much, for he was observant enough to figure out that something was going on between Noah and Ye Jin. Mr Yu didn't probe. And Ye Jin didn't elaborate. What they did agree on, was Ye Jin may choose not to tell him the truth, but she would never lie.

When I questioned further, Ye Jin simply explained that Mr Yu wanted to know if Mama Han's opinions had bothered her. It was an odd question for a girl who always shut her ears to everyone else's opinion. But she couldn't answer him.

And as weeks past us by, Noah despite hating having to keep a secret from his parents, still couldn't bring it upon himself to tell them the truth. For he knew, the truth would only bring upon a huge row and a direct ban, which Noah wouldn't be able to ignore.

Secretly, he admitted to me, the way Noah saw it, it would only hurt Ye Jin more. For while both of them had to bear the pain of being forced apart, it would be Ye Jin, who have to bear the insults and criticism, of not being good enough. It would be only Ye Jin under gunfire. Noah couldn't have that.

Noah wasn't a bad son, yes he was reckless and stubborn, but he didn't blatantly go against his mother's wishes and disapproval. But the tall boy was caught between being a good son and being a good boyfriend. He kept up the lies, in a naive attempt to protect the good in his life, but Noah was struggling with dishonesty. While Ye Jin was good at being secretive, Noah never was.

Perhaps, that was the reason why the two important women in his life sought each other out.

For that was the strangest sight that Chae Bonggu had loudly sworn he had ever seen, more shocking than what Hamin or I came across. The boy had glanced out of his window, to find Mama Han and Ye Jin, sitting by one of the park benches near the mouth of our street, all by themselves. Bonggu thought he was hallucinating.

He couldn't hear them, so he had no idea what was the content of the conversation. It was tense, that was all he knew. Even he didn't dare to find an excuse to stroll past them. Neither lady was smiling, and we thought this was it. What we were all dreading, was finally here.

After all, if Mama Han was to put her foot down, Ye Jin wouldn't be one to lower her pride and ask for the elder's understanding, and Noah wouldn't be able to forsake his mother's wishes, not that Ye Jin would ever ask that of him.

It had to be some sort of miracle, or a full moon, at least that was what Noah thought when he dragged his feet home that day after being warned previously by Bonggu, to find Ye Jin sitting in his living room, after having been invited to join them for dinner.

Next door, separated only by thin walls, I braced myself for the start of another yelling match, but it never came. Well, our whole family did hear Noah shouting, but it was something that none of us expected.

"THANK YOU MOM! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

An hour later, somehow I was already prepared for it, Noah came bursting into my room, hand in hand with Ye Jin. His facewas radiating with happiness.

"Min Ji! Min Ji! Have you heard?" He climbed onto my bed where I was using my phone, invading my personal space again as Ye Jin lingered near my desk.

I shoved him aside so that I could sit up. "What?"

"Mom says okay to me dating Ye Jin! We don't have to hide anymore!" It didn't seem possible for Noah to beam any wider. While his joy was infectious, I was utterly confused.

"She did?" I blinked and glanced at Ye Jin, but she was looking through the random items on my desk instead, seemingly uninvolved in the conversation.

"Yes!" It was Noah who answered me. "I know she will come around!"

"So what happened this afternoon? Between Mama Han and Ye Jin?" I questioned.

"I don't know." Noah shrugged. "None of them would tell me."

"It's an adult conversation, you wouldn't understand." Ye Jin answered himas Noah sulked. She sat down on my chair, swinging her long legs idly. "Mama Han isn't going to say anything about us anymore. That's what matters."

"You went to speak to her?" I asked the girl.

Ye Jin hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "She was speaking to everyone in my family… my mom, Hamin's dad, it didn't make sense. I figured if it's about me, I rather not have anyone else involved."

"And the two of them sorted out their misunderstandings," Noah said.

Was it that simple? Something that we dreaded for so long, was it possible that we were all paranoid? That all it took, was to face the issue head-on?

Noah shot me an understanding look, and only then did I realize how he was only just accepting what was happening to them. It was a lot to take in for everyone.

Perhaps, that was why Ye Jin didn't look like she was listening as Noah explained the civil dinner they had just now with his parents. Ye Jin did not understand either. Were we over-thinking? Was this some grown-up way of handling problems that we had yet to comprehend?

Everything always happened to Jang Ye Jin, and we were all bracing ourselves for the difficult path to obtaining approval for Noah and Ye Jin. It seemed anti-climatic even, that we all worried for nothing, for it was easily solved when Ye Jin decided, enough was enough.

What was amazing, was that it was the fact that Ye Jin felt bad for her mom and Hamin's dad. They were getting blamed for the way Ye Jin was. And the catalyst for the 'unfilial child' to take action, was the unwillingness to see her parents suffer.

Strange things did follow Ye Jin around, and she was perhaps, due for a simple, and uneventful life. And that life would begin with Han Noah, the simple boy who only knew how to love her.

As it turned out, there was a large weight pressing on my shoulder for the longest time, seeing Ye Jin's initiative to solve the misunderstanding for her loved ones, seeing Noah's clear joy at having the chance to make both important ladies of his life happy, that heavy weight disintegrated into nothing.

Ye Jin was still feeling theweight, her head was elsewhere, as though she wasn't sure if things really could be this easy. Noah, too had collapsed against the wall and let out a long exhale.

"You don't have to worry about us anymore, Min Ji. Things are finally starting to look up."

It was over, it was over now, wasn't it?

My friends, they were going to be happy, weren't they?

I found myself sporting an identical grin to Noah was. It was easy, to look at my friends and know that they could finally smile again. It was easy tomeanevery word I said.

"I am happy for the two of you."

Chapter 67

It was easy to forget if you let yourself be consumed by your problems, that the rest of the world kept spinning. That when you stayed trapped in your head, people around you kept moving forward. So then you choose, do you stay behind or do you move along?

Life doesn't stop even when you are unsure, afraid even, of what is to come. It just kept going. For anyone who was terrified of the future, it was not the easiest to embrace the unknown, the tomorrow. So when it was too much, we started to live day by day. We look for the good things. We live for the good days. For Ye Jin, a good day was when she could stay asleep through the night and wake up refreshed. For Noah, a good day was when he didn't make either Mama Han or Ye Jin angry at him. For Yejun, a good day was when Hana joined his mother in the kitchen to prepare a meal for three. For Bonggu, a good day was when all his friends caved and bought their tickets to his musical and he avoided having to bribe us to go support him.

"Hurry up!" I urged.

Noah glared at me and made a motion to hit me with the rolled-up poster in his hand, which I dodged skillfully. "Who was the one that took forever to get ready?"

The two of us were rushing to the performing arts center near our school. It was the night of the musical that Bonggu was going to be a part of and Noah and I decided at the very last minute, that we should get flowers, hence making us very late.

It was honestly a bad idea, for Noah and I were equally horrible at the job. We lingered stupidly in the shop, overwhelmed with all the different colors and scents. In the end, I went for a giant sunflower for it reminded me of a certain grinning boy, who loves the spotlight.

When we reached the gates of the theater, Ye Jin and Eunho were already there. They were engrossed in their conversation till Ye Jin saw us approaching out of the corner of her eyes and her face lit up.

"Hey. What took so long?" She smiled as Noah went up to her and threw an arm around her protectively, almost tripping over his own two feet. Mind you, it was flat ground.

Eunho caught my eye and both ofus had to look away to stop ourselves from snickering at Noah's obvious intentions.

"Did you keep our poster well?" Ye Jin pointed to the roll-up that Noah was holding on to. The latter nodded and unrolled it, presenting the hard work that Ye Jin and he had put in. It was a round-faced Bonggu in his favorite PJs, looking very determined. Until this day, Noah believed that the five-year-old was simply constipated. Written in gold glittery letters, the poster read 'The unicorn believes in you too.'

"Nice," Eunho said as he took the flowers off my hand to examine them closer.

Meanwhile, I glanced around the main lobby in confusion. "Where are Yejun and Hana?"

"Visiting Bonggu. Yejun thinks it is entirely possible to make him more nervous than he already is." Ye Jin shook her head in disapproval.

Noah scoffed, knowing full well that Yejun would be the last person out of the three of them to survive the spotlight. "He doesn't understand how terrifying it is to perform in front of an audience. We should force Yejun to sing on stage at least once."

"Oh gosh no. I don't deserve that kind of torture." A cheerful familiar voice piped in and we realized that Hana had returned, hand in hand with Yejun.

Till he shook her hand off and folded his arms, out of spite at her last statement, that was. One point to Hana.

"What did you two do?" I asked, recognizing the traces of a mischievous glint in Yejun's eyes. He must have been bullying Bonggu backstage.

"Nothing!" Yejun exclaimed, a little too loud. "Why do you assume the worst of me? It was entirely Hana this time."

The girl raised her hands innocently. "I didn't do it on purpose! I thought making a joke would relax Bonggu and I didn't expect her to turn into the shade of a tomato!"

"Who?" Noah asked in confusion.

Yejun was trying very hard not to snigger at this point. "A certain president of the glee club. Bonggu was babbling in nerves backstage and you know how in TV shows, that would be when someone would swoop in and shut him up with a kiss? Hana just randomly asked Na Eun if she would like to volunteer."

"She was just beside him! And Bonggu could have played it off. But instead, he turned into a huge ball of awkwardness." Hana defended herself, although, by the looks of her ear-splitting grin, she wasn't sorry.

Noah was the first to understand, as he perked up and snapped his fingers. "I was wondering why Bonggu would agree to be the producer! He hates responsibilities and leadership roles, doesn't he?"

"It's too early to say," Yejun said. "But it was too funny watching them squirm."

He caught my eye, but I simply shrugged, for Bonggu had said nothing about this to me. It wouldn't be the first time that our lovable friend stole someone's heart. Even though he usually caught on pretty quickly, maybe he just didn't think to bring it up to us.

"Well, he had some explaining to do later," I replied as I glanced down at my watch. "We have to head in soon."

Ye Jin agreed, and she led the way, tickets in hand. I was going to follow after her when I heard Eunho call my name. I glanced back at him, to see that he was at the back of our group, flower in one hand, as he used the other to pull his wallet out of his back pocket.

"Keep this for me. My pants are too tight." He explained before throwing it towards me.I caught the black wallet easily and chucked it inside my bag, only too used to the fact that the guys around me never had the sense to carry their bags. Still, I couldn't rid myself of the suspicion that he was deliberately putting space between Ye Jin and him.

The six of us filed into the theater, taking our places before the lights dimmed. Noah made Hana and Yejun move into the end, for he wanted to hold up the poster in the middle with Ye Jin. I took my seat beside him as Eunho took the seat to my right.

The show eventually began and we cheered loudly for Bonggu as he took the stage bravely. Under the spotlight, Bonggu hid his nerves well as he held all his notes confidently and stole every scene he was radiated a certain energy that enticed the audience to keep their attention on him, and while his fellow cast mates weretalented in their ways, Bonggu set himself apart. Even though we knew Bonggu was nervous, somehow heappeared carefree and undaunted. Perhaps that was why he stood out, for nothing could hold that bright light back. That was just who he I was biased, but to me, Bonggu always shined, and he would always shine the brightest.

By the end of it, I had never been so proud of Bonggu and I was positive that I was the first to jump out of my seat during the final bow. My hands were sore from all the clapping. It was a thoroughly enjoyable show and it was clear that the cast and crew all had worked very hard for the show. I could barely fathom how many hours had to be put into such a fine performance. With the theater lit up, Noah waved the poster excitedly and Bonggu shot a flying kiss in our direction.

The excitement had not worn off, and we were chatting happily in the lobby till Bonggu found us, after removing his makeup and changing into his normal clothes. Squeaking with pride when I saw him I ran towards him to give him a huge bear hug.

"You were so good!" I told him and Bonggu laughed as he tried to steady himself after I pounced on him.

"Of course I am! Why does it surprise you?"

"I always believed in you! You have always been a star in my eyes." Noah said loudly as he walked up and crushed the both of us with his long arms.

A sound of annoyance escaped Bonggu as he shoved Noah offbefore he successfully suffocated the two of us. "Go away, you big giant. What kind of poster is that? I didn't think Ye Jin was being serious."

Said big giant sulked as he returned to a smiling Ye Jin's side and I laughed at his expression after getting my breath back.

"Hey. We put a lot of effort into it. I expect you to keep it pinned up in your room for at least a year." She spoke up in Noah's defense.

I took the sunflower off Eunho's hands and passed it to Bonggu. "You can't win this one, Bamby. Not when Ye Jin and Noah team up."

"Yes. Listen to Min Ji, she is the smart one in our group." Noah piped in, earning a shove from Bonggu and a hard slap to his arm from me for his sarcasm.

"Ouch! What was that? Did you see that? They are ganging up on me!" The tall boy exclaimed as he turned to his girlfriend for help.

She shot him a sympathetic look.

"You poor thing."Ye Jin ended her sentence by smacking his arm on the same spot, resulting in another round of laughter at Noah's expense.

"Let's go eat." Yejun declared when the laughter died down.

Bonggu turned us down apologetically for he was going to join his other club members for their celebratory supper. Knowing that Yejun was going to start teasing him, Bonggu quickly left us to be and rejoined his cast mates backstage.

We stayed rooted on the spot for a long time for no one could quite agree on where was the best supper place. When I decided to stay out of Noah and Yejun's increasingly fierce debate, I noticed that Eunho was a step behind the group again and I moved to stand beside him. It was a safer spot if I wanted to keep my hearing till old age.

"What are you thinking about?" I nudged him, lowering my voice even though there was no one paying attention to us.

Eunho shook his head slowly. "Stuff."

"Good stuff or bad stuff?"

"A little bit of both."

It was an easy decision. "Good stuff. Tell me about the good stuff."

At that moment, the boys' bickering got louder as Hana went with Noah's choice and Yejun started whining in protest. Ye Jin only laughed as shestuffed two fingers into her ears before turning around and making a face to Eunho and me.

Beside me, Eunho chuckled lightly in response. "Nothing much. It's funny, that's all. My idea of a good day didn't use to be this noisy."

Chapter 68

The next day, Eunho was completely surprised when I showed up at the animal shelter, considering I usually slept in on weekends.

"You forgot your wallet with me yesterday."

He scratched the back of his neck guiltily. "I know. I just didn't think you would come all the way here to return it to me."

"Well, I was worried that you might starve," I explained.

"I could always go over to your place."

"Sure. My family is used to my friends just walking in and joining us for our meals."

Surprisingly, Eunho let out a laugh at my response. "I meant it might be easier for me to travel to your place to collect my wallet. But sure, I will keep that in mind. And since you are here already, these cages need cleaning."

A broom was thrown in my direction I hastily caught it before I scowled at him. Nonetheless, I dropped my things and proceeded to help Eunho. It had been a while since I came over and from all the mess and the scent of the place, it looked like Eunho needed was partly his fault since Eunho banned Aunty Lee from working during weekends since she overworked herself when he had classes on weekdays. Still, I wasn't that easy to be ordered around, considering that I was doing him a favor and I didn't get any share of his pay, even if I knew he was just being considerate of his elderly employer. We played scissors-paper-stone to decide who had to go into the dirtiest cage and Eunho lost, much to my glee.

It was hard work, but for some reason being around dogs always made my day, and when these lovable energetic dogs looked at me with their adorable eyes, I was quite happy to clean up their mess for them. When we were finally done, the two of us sat done in the backyard, completely exhausted. Summer was approaching, and the sun had shone mercilessly on us the whole afternoon.

"I am tired, Min Ji. Go buy me a bottle of soda." Eunho complained.

I rolled my eyes at his laziness. "I worked just as hard as you."

"Yeah, but I am the one who has to fix that tool shed at the back later. Unless you are surprisingly good with power drills?"

Unable to answer that, I got on my feet unwillingly and checked that I had enough money with me. I waved to him, without turning around and set off for the nearest convenience store. But I only took three steps out of the shelter when I heard Eunho locking up the gates behind me.

Turned out he had enough energy to join me for the walk after all.

"So, did you guys manage to interrogate Bonggu yesterday?" Eunho asked as we made our way to grab drinks together.

I shook my head, there was no hurry. It wasn't like Yejun was going to let him off easily. I think Yejun was feeling slightly vengeful after the way Bonggu teased him when he was chasing Hana. Boys would be boys.

"See, I told you to join us more often," I chided. I knew Eunho had enjoyed himself yesterday, and quite frankly his absence was felt. "Ye Jin wanted you there as well."

"Hmm… not really." He answered vaguely.

I turned my head to face him at his response. "What do you mean? You guys were talking fine."

Eunho hesitated for a moment. "Yes, we were. But she was avoiding my questions."

"Questions?"

The boy stopped in his tracks, as though he was lost in his head again. It took a few seconds before he realized that I had too,froze in my spot.

"Something doesn't add up. I can't explain it."

"Regarding what?" I asked curiously.

"Mama Han." Eunho lowered his head and kept his eyes on a pebble. Frowning slightly, he gave the innocent rock a hard kick.

"It felt too… simple. Ye Jin isn't one to apologize nor to lower her pride to seek understanding. It would make a whole lot more sense if she had gotten angry with Noah's mother's harsh words and would rather end things with Noah out of frustration. Honestly, it sounded like it shouldn't be so easy to change Mama Han's mind too. What happened to change things? What exactly did they talk about that afternoon?"

"I am not sure…" I bit my lips uncertainly. "Ye Jin didn't want to elaborate."

"I know." He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "I tried to ask her about it but she kept dodging my question. Ye Jin is hiding something."

"Why would she?"

Eunho met my eyes. "To protect Noah, I guess? But I am afraid that she is going to end up hurting herself, and him."

I stared at Eunho, unsure of where I stood regarding his gut instincts. Sure, Eunho understood Ye Jin. But it made no sense to me. She loved Noah and I knew she cherished what they had. Why would Eunho suggest that there was something unusual about their new-found happiness?

I didn't like what was on Eunho's mind. I wasn't sure if it was because Ye Jin might be keeping secrets, or because Noah might have been kept in the dark about something concerning him, something big. I didn't like it because it sounded like their troubles were not over after all.

"You are overthinking it," I told him firmly. "It shouldn't be this complicated. It shouldn't be so complicated for two people who loved each otherto be together."

When we returned, Eunho went straight to the back of the shelter before he resurfaced again with a hint of frustration on his face. "I forgot the nails at home."

"It's not too far, right? Let's go get it."

"What?" He blinked.

I pointed to his bike. There was no way that I was going to walk with this weather. And I knew Eunho always had a spare helmet.

Eunho hesitated, before nodding. "Right. Don't want anything to drop on Aunty Lee on Monday when she goes digging through the shed."

It took a while before I remembered none of us actually knew where he lived. It was a small neighborhood, one that we never found a reason to ventureinto. As we made our way deeper in, I realized that the streets were a lot emptier and quieter than the ones I was used to.

The houses were smaller here, there were a lot fewer greens along the street from pots of plants left outside by the neighbors. Still, all these brick houses were someone's home, even if they were different than the ones I knew. When we finally reached a gray three-story building, he pulled over.

Eunho's reaction was overplayed, that was the thought when I entered his apartment. It was small, but it was enough for just Eunho and his father. Somehow, I had believed that it would be messy and cluttered without a woman in the house, but I was proven wrong. The living room was clean, partly because they didn't have many belongings, but someone was actively ensuring that the living space was comfortable. Given his working style at the shelter, my bet was on Eunho. My curiosity got the best of me, regarding the state of Eunho's bedroom. So when Eunho asked me to stay in the living room as he went into his room to look for the nails, of course, I didn't listen.

"Your room is too dark." Was the first thing I said as I walked in after him, ignoring his annoyed stare. The drawn curtains had made it seem like night had already fallen when the sun was still shining bright outside. Walking over, I threw open the curtains to let the light in, and the room instantly felt different. No longer felt like there was a lack of space, for, in the light, Eunho's room wasn't at all cluttered. Sure, there were small piles of clothes lying around, but mostly, they were an organized mess.

Pretty sure that Eunho wasn't exactly thankful that I might have made his hunt a little easier given the way he wouldn't stop staring at me, Isat down obediently at his study desk, out of his way. This was perhaps the neatest part of the room, for the textbooks laid nicely on the desk, looking very much ignored.

"You have too little personal belongings," I commented.

"You have too much." He replied drily.

It wasn't untrue but I stuck my tongue out at him regardless. When he finally found the box of nails hidden under his leather jacket on the floor, I glanced at my watch impatiently.

"I think it will be dinner by the time we are done with that shed."

"Will you miss your dinnertime? I can drop you off at your place first. Not like you can be much help with the shed."

"Nah, I will stay and help. How else am I going to make you feel guilty that I traveled all the way here for your wallet and ended up being your free labor?" I flashed him my pearly whites cheerfully.

Eunho rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Food." I beamed at him. After all my hard work, it would be a waste not to squeeze a free meal out of him.

"I usually eat out. My fridge is empty," Eunho said as we stepped out of his room and he saw how my eyes naturally traveled towards the small kitchen.

I glanced towards him. "You don't cook at all?"

"I do. But it is tiring cooking for one."

"What about your dad?"

"He grabs takeout."

The puzzlement had shown on my face for Eunho continued, "We usually come home at different times. It is easier like that."

That, I could never relate. My mother would throw a fit if the whole family didn't sit down for dinner together at least four times a week."Well, we could order in, though it is a little troublesome with just the two of us-"

I didn't finish my sentence for at the exact moment, the apartment door opened. In the doorway, stood a very confused middle-aged man, with a pair of very familiar-looking brown eyes. He ought to be a lot youngerthan my father was, but there was a reserved expression in his eyes, one that made him appearolder than he was, much like his own son.

"Hello." Eunho's father greeted me, the curiosity evident on his face before he glanced over at his son. "You didn't mention you are having a friend over?"

"We are just leaving. Work to do." Eunho replied as I felt him put a hand on my shoulder, to lead me out.

The excitement of finding a tool shed seemed to have clouded Eunho's mind, for I realized that I found the answer to a very simple off Eunho's hold on me, I stuck out my hand to Eunho's father and plastered a big smile on my face. "Nice to meet you, Mr Kim. I am Min Ji. There was a lot to do at the shelter today and Eunho was just suggesting that we order our dinner in. What would you like to have?"

After all, it shouldn't be that difficult, for two people who love each other to be together, just to share a simple meal.

Chapter 69

I must have outdone myself, for I managed to surprise the usually cool and indifferent Do Eunho, yes, the Do Eunho who never seemed to be fazed by anything, to be concerned by anyone.

Well, 'surprise' might not be the best choice of word. I think, I completely stunned him into silence.

His lengthy silence was unnerving to me and so I quietly stood by his side, to pass him the tools as he worked alone on the toolshed. The shelves were on the brink of falling apart from age, and it was threatening to drop its load any day. Eunho offered to fix it himself, after Aunty Lee's reluctance to buy new shelves from the furniture store in order to save cost.

Eunho had his full attention on his work since we returned to the shelter.

"Pass me the plank."

I took the one nearest to me and handed it over to him, without a word.

"The longer one."

"And the clamp."

"Hold this."

"Higher."

"Water."

My fingers wrapped around the bottle before I realized what I had been doing. Spinning around, I shot him a frustrated glare.

"I am not your maid, Do Eunho."

He scratched his nose, in a bad attempt to hide his growing smirk. "I didn't say that."

Seeing that he was probably not going to lose his temper on me anytime soon, I handed over his drink hopefully. "Are you done being angry at me?"

"I am not," Eunho said as he gulped down half the bottle. It had been a tiring afternoon for the hardworking boy. "I am just thirsty."

I folded my arms in annoyance. "Thenwhy weren't you speaking to me?"

Eunho let out a light chuckle. "You caught me off guard, that's all. And here I was thinking that there was no possible way that I could be any more surprised by the extent of your meddlesome ways. But no, Kim Min Ji, the little things you do drive me crazy."

"I am not meddlesome…" I muttered under my breath, as I found myself kicking the soil beneath my sneakers.

"No, you are not," Eunho said. "You just want everyone around you to be happy."

Glancing up at his eyes at last, I realized that Eunho meant it when he said that he wasn't angry. Cheered up by not having pissed him off, I started helping him pack up the mess in the shed.

"Honestly though," I snuck a look at Eunho. "It can't be that bad between you and your dad, right?"

The small smile on his face slipped ever so slightly, and Eunho turned his head away from me. "Maybe not. It's different I suppose. He lived his own life and I lived mine. Sometimes, I even wondered if he remembered he had a son."

"It's not always like this… was it?"

"No. But after everything with my mum… we just don't talk anymore."

"But you want to," I noted. All this time, Eunho spoke little about his family. But every time, he made it sound like it was a place that didn't feel like home. That disappointment, must meant that he still wanted a home, that he still needed his father. That disappointment could only mean that he hasn't given up.

Eunho put away the last of his tools, before answering me. "I am not sure it matters to him."

I stood up and walked over to where he was. He was lingering, not taking a step out even though there was nothing left for us to fix anymore. Tucking lightly at his sleeve, I threw him a confident smile when he turned around to face me. "Don't be silly. He cares. If not, why would he say agree?"

Eunho's smile, slowly crept back on his young face, before he lowered his head to check his watch. "Come on, let's go home for dinner."

Shortly after our return, the deliveryman from Eunho's favorite chicken restaurant arrived and Eunho went to wake his father up from his nap so that the three of us could have dinner together. Mr Kim was a quiet man, and well, Eunho had never been the most talkative person. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it could have been, but I kept talking for I wasn't sure if any of them was going to fill the silence if I stopped.

I didn't know what to say honestly, and I just found myself talking about our friends. I told Mr. Kim about how even though Yejun was the smartest person in our year, he was a terrible tutor who found joy in reminding the rest of us of our normalcy. I shared with him about the passionate Bonggu the amazing musical that he just put up and how much hard work he had put in for it. I even mentioned how the persistent Noah had chased our beautiful Ye Jin, and how many times he probably embarrassed himself in front of her before they were finally together.

Eunho's father did not speak much throughout the whole dinner. He merely nodded and smiled politely as I rambled on. It was only when Eunho stood up to clear the rubbish and brought the dishes into the kitchen and I was suddenly left alone with his father, did I suspect that I had probably spoken too much. Cringing slightly, I apologized to Eunho's father for my inability to stop talking.

"It's alright, Min Ji." He said, his indifferent expressionreminding me strongly of Eunho when I first met him. "Thank you for telling me about your friends... Eunho's friends. They sound wonderful."

"Eunho is, too." I found myself telling Mr Kim. "He is a great friend, someone who I can always count on."

Mr Kim paused before he glanced towards the direction of the kitchen, where the sound of the tap running could be heard. "Eunho grew up fast. Funny to think he used to be that child who pretended to fall asleep in the living room, just so he could be carried into his room and tucked into bed. It has been a while since Eunho needed someone to take care of him. Instead, now he is taking care of others."

It was the longest statement he had uttered all night, and I did my best not to let my surprise show. Instead, I watched the years engraved on Mr Kim's face and found myself thinking, that this man probably hadaged too fast too. Maybe he didn't like the present, maybe he was lost in the past, but I wonderedif he knew that his son remained hopeful of the future, that his son probably still wanted someone to take care of him.

A raresmile appeared on his face as he met my eyes and I returned it hesitantly. I wasn't sure how to respond to the last statement but I didn't have to, forEunho's father excused himself and retreated to his room. I watched the door close behind his back, and I stood up to join Eunho in his kitchen.

"Oh, you are done," I noted at the sight of him putting away the dishes into the cabinet above the sink.

"Yes, thank you," Eunho replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You were very helpful."

"You are welcome," I said as I glanced around the kitchen, feeling the need for a drink after all the fried food.

"I mean it."

"What?" I answered distractedly as I found a can of soda, taking Eunho's silence to be the consent of me raiding his fridge.

He rolled his eyes and waved his handlightly, asking me to go ahead and help myself when I smiled innocently at him, lifting the can beside my face.

"It had been a while since my house had this much noise," Eunho commented and I froze in mid-motion in opening the soda can, not exactly sure if it was a compliment or an insult.

"I think your dad cares in his way." I finally said. "He was listening well. You should talk to him more."

Eunho came beside me, leaning casually against the fridge. "There's… nothing to talk about."

"Surely it doesn'tmatter." I insisted. "Our dinner topics usually revolved around something stupid and meaningless. But that's what families talk about, the little things."

It was a complicated, life in this small household. And the two men that lived here, were more alike than they would admit. Maybe it was from his father, that Eunho seemed to have developed a habit of running away, and shutting everyone out when things were difficult. Was this perhaps, a built-in instinct for self-protection? It was a lonely way to live, and I truly did not want that for , sometime in the future, someone would be able to bash into Do Eunho's world and bring him the love and laughter that he deserved. Perhaps, he would find that someone, whose love for him was so strong, that he would never doubt it.

The thought brought me back to an old conversation of ours. It was way before we became friends, and Eunho was telling me what he saw in Ye Jin. I didn't understand then, what Eunho meant when he said Ye Jin looked like someone who never let go if she fell in love, and why that had drawn him to her. Maybe it was meeting his dad, and sensing the loneliness in him, but I wished that Eunho would not walk the same path. It was beyond me, so all I could do was hope that Eunho would find this girl, this girl who loved unconditionally.

We locked eyes for a second, but I think Eunho had guessed what was on my mind. His lips curled slightly as he said to me, "You don't get tired from worrying about everyone else, do you?"

"You are my friend, Eunho."

"I don't even know if that's a good thing." He mumbled before he reached out, grabbed the soda can off my hands, and took a big gulp naturally, despite my widening eyes.

"Hey, that's mine," I whined after he returned the drastically lighter can back to me. Why was I constantly surrounded by food thieves?

Eunho shrugged, with his usual passiveness. "I am just sharing your weight."

Before I could ask him what he meant, a sly smirk crossed his face. "Did anyone tell you that you eat like a cow?"

Chapter 70

Did you believe in fate? Or perhaps destiny? Do you believe that everyone was half of a whole? That if a pair belonged together, nothing can stand between them? However long the road was, however bumpy it may be, the souls that stood at each end will find their way to each other.

That's what I believed when I looked at Ye Jin and Noah. They were two people that needed each other, and nothing could keep them apart.

That's what Bonggu believed when he saw Yejun and Hana. They were each other's energy source and each other's best support.

It was partially sarcasm though, when Bonggu told me about it on our way home. He was complaining of course, of how the couple seemed determined to tease him about Na Eun. Hana and Yejun brought out each other's playful sides, and together they were quite difficult to deal with, even for someone quick-witted like Bonggu.

The way they understood each other, the way they finished each other sentences, terrified Bonggu. As glad as he was at Yejun's happiness, he had hoped that Hana would curb our friend's mischievous side rather than encourage it. Bonggu had conveniently forgotten how much he used to tease those two before, hence neither was willing to leave him alone regarding Na Eun, which brought me to finally ask him, what was between the two of them.

"Nothing!" Bonggu answered almost immediately before he grimaced, realizing his tone. "Well, I don't know. She's passionate about the things she does. I suppose that's pretty cool. She is the type of person you can't help staring in awe when she starts talking about her passions. Na Eun is a good leader, and I admire her for that."

"Bamby! What are you waiting for?" I beamed at him as I gave him light playful punches on his shoulder. Na Eun sounded wonderful to me.

The boy grimaced, finding interest in the loose threads of his jeans. "You think she will like me?"

"Of course! Who doesn't?" I shook my head at his unusual lack of confidence. At my words, Bonggu lifted his face and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Right." I let out a hasty cough as Bonggu chuckled in amusement.

"My goodness Min Ji. Don't give me that look like it's your fault."

"I am not… Oh never mind."

Bonggu shoved me aside good-humoredly before he ran his fingers through his thick hair. "If it is meant to happen, it will happen. Anyway, I am not planning to be sad and alone throughout high school. Not when Noah and Yejun can get a girlfriend. No, I am Chae Bonggu and I am a great catch."

"Yes, you are." I laughed as he puffed up his chest proudly.

"Things will always work out in the end."

I wanted to believe that, I did. "You think so, Bamby?"

"Sure, if two people are meant to be, they will always find each other. It might take longer than expected, it might take several detours to get there. But at the right time, in the right place, they will eventually find each other."

Yejun however, seemed determined to prove us wrong. When Bonggu and I dropped by his room that afternoon, Eunho was already there with him. I found myself frowning when I noted both boys were sporting an identical serious expression.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Eunho shot an odd look at Yejun. "Don't keep it from her. Min Ji's worried."

I glanced between them, confused before Yejun let out a long sigh. "I have a theory…"

Yejun was not one to rely on his gut instincts. He was a very logical person who made accurate deductions of any given situation. So when he said what he said, it was something that I had to sit down on his bed to take in.

"It started when Noah came to me, asking me about extra credit and tutoring and I thought, maybe he was finally concerned about his grades for once. Then the odd thing was, he was asking about several state colleges and their application criteria…"

"What's weird about that?" Bonggu took a seat on the floor beside the others.

Yejun looked at him pointedly. "He was looking at business schools."

"Wait." I blinked, almost certain that I heard Yejun wrong. "Didn't he want to go to Seoul to study music?"

Yejun met my eyes and gave me a short nod. "That's what I said too. Noah just shrugged and said he was considering alternatives. He says he knows he can't get into any of those big universities with his grades, but he might just be able to squeeze into one of the smaller universities and their business program."

Eunho glanced toward Yejun when the latter stopped talking. When he didn't continue further, Eunho added softly. "Noah said Ye Jin seems to think this is a safer and more secure option, as compared to a potential life as a struggling artiste."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, even though there was a hazy idea in my mind way before Yejun spoke.

"Eunho told me of his concern regarding Ye Jin and Mama Han. I have a feeling," Each word that came out of Yejun's mouth was slow and deliberate, as though he was afraid of making a mistake. "I've figured out what the secret deal was."

Was it possible that Yejun may be right? I tucked my legs in as I sat on his bed, overwhelmed by what I just heard. No one else seemed to know what to say, following Yejun's statement. It was an extremely uncomfortable silence for the sheer thought of the existence of this deal, was hard to swallow.

"Ye Jin agreed to discourage Noah from pursuing music." Bonggu summarized, after a lengthy silence. He couldn't hide his disbelief his tone, or his clear disapproval.

"She wouldn't," I whispered, mostly to myself.

"I don't like it either, but it made sense though." Yejun began quietly but I shook my head furiously. Ye Jin knew it was Noah's dream. She wouldn't kill it for him. She wouldn't ask this of him.

"She ganged up with Mama Han against Noah!" Bonggu's eyes widened as he glanced around the room.

Yejun grimaced at the choice of words. "Well… more like, she may have decided for Noah how much he was willing to sacrifice for their relationship."

"But… but…" I couldn't find the right words. It was too much for me to comprehend and it almost felt like my head was spinning. "Eunho, say something."

My voice seemed to have jolted Eunho out of his daze. He looked over to me slowly, before letting out a sigh. "Ye Jin… must have her reasons. Surely it is not that simple."

"Noah is going to go crazy," Bonggu mumbled as he started rubbing both his temples with his knuckles, clearly frustrated.

"I don't like this," Yejun said. "Ye Jin knows better."

This time it was Eunho who grimaced.

"I know given how this looks, you will be inclined to side with Noah, but think about the position Ye Jin found herself in. How would you choose? To give up on the person you love? Or to make him choose between you and his family? Or do you compromise and take a chance? Who are we to say what is right and wrong? I am not saying she is smart, deciding to solve everything on her own. Even if she made the wrong choice, Ye Jin is my friend," Eunho glanced towards me briefly, before he continued firmly. "which means I stand by her no matter what."

While it was a little surprising, to hear all that out of Eunho, I was glad to hear what he had to say. It was a timely reminder. Ye Jin was our friend, which meant we should be the last to jump to conclusions and judge her based on groundless convictions.

"Let's just ask her straight out," I suggested.

"I don't think that will work if she doesn't want to talk," Yejun answered quietly as he stood up and walked over to the window.

He was, unfortunately, right again. Watching Yejun's back view, I knew his hesitation was largely based on how well he understood Ye Jin's temper and his desire to maintain harmony.

"We can't exactly go to Noah either." Bonggu shook his head. "He will probably get into a huge row with Mama Han first before he asks Ye Jin what is going on."

"So we do nothing?" The question came out a little harsher than I intended, as Bonggu's eyes darted nervously towards me.

Yejun shot a stern look at me, as though he knew what was on my mind. "To be honest, it is a wild guess. I don't want to cause any misunderstanding unnecessarily. Even if we are right, it is something for Ye Jin to come clean about. Not us."

"Why can't Noah and Ye Jin just have a simple relationship?" I folded my arms in frustration as Yejun shot me a sympathetic look.

Bonggu reached out and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Let them be. If the two of them are meant to be, they will be fine. Everything will be fine eventually."

And if they were not? I met his eyes, uncertainly.

From the corner of the room, Eunho spoke out in his usual low tone. "Maybe I am just not an optimist, but I disagree. Things don't work out on their own. Life's not supposed to be simple. We can't leave relationships up to fate. It takes work, and it takes time. Nothing comes to us easy."

I glanced at Eunho as he added, "That being said, it is still just another issue that only Noah and Ye Jin could fix."

Eunho was watching me carefully, as though he knew that I was unconvinced by all of them. What if Ye Jin was pressured to agree to that secret deal? What if she was struggling against her values just to have Noah's mother's approval? Knowing her, she was going to yet again, believe that she could take on everything alone. Ye Jin would be difficult to talk to if she was set to keep everyone in the dark. The only way to let Noah into the picture. Only then he could fix things for Ye Jin, for them.

He would have to decide, what he felt about the possible existenceof an agreement, what he felt about Ye Jin's choice, and how they should move on from here.

I didn't tell the boys when I made an excuse to head home. The truth was I knew they would stop me. For various reasons, they didn't want to come between our friends, they didn't want me to meddle.

Lost in my thoughts, I slowly made my way home. Naturally, before that, I had to make a stop at Noah's. I found my stomach tightening at the conversation I would soon have with him. Why did it seem like it was so difficult for Noah and Ye Jin to have each other and be happy?

It should be the easiest thing, to fall into step with someone you love, someone who loves you in return, and to take each other's hand and walk along the same path.

Letting out a sigh uncontrollably, I stopped in the middle of the street, staring at my own feet. It was only then, it occurred to me that I could still hear footsteps. But before I could turn around, that particular pair of feet, sporting familiar black boots stopped right beside me.

I already knew who it was before I lifted my head to see him staring back at me, with a resigned expression.

"I know what you are going to do, Min Ji."

Chapter 71

"Are you coming to stop me?"

I questioned as Eunho stopped in his tracks beside me, wearing an unreadable expression. In his usual calm and indifferent tone, Eunho answered me.

"Do you know what you are doing?"

Strangely, it was that type of tone that made me edgy. It wasn't the time to start doubting myself, so I stood firm in what I believed was right. "I am not trying to rat her out. I believe she cares a lot about him so Ye Jin must had good intentions. I just feel that if Ye Jin is pressured by his mother, Noah ought to know. And it is his future. It is their future!"

"I know you are worried Min Ji," Eunho said but I shook my head before he could continue.

"I get it. Ye Jin will kill me if she is trying to keep all this a secret. Mama Han too, come to think of it. And I knew the possibility that Noah might not believe me and he may get upset with me for saying such things."

He nodded slowly at my words. "Yeah."

"So, are you not going to stop me?" My eyebrows shot up, at his lack of response. After all, Eunho was purposely following me because he suspected what I was planning to do, wasn't he? "You know this may be a mistake and I may get into so much trouble, and you are going to let me be?"

Eunho ran his hands through his hair thoughtfully. There was a lengthy silence before he started walking ahead of me. Glancing ever so slightly behind his shoulder, Eunho let out his signature smirk. "I know this may be a mistake, and you may get into trouble, and I am going with you."

Sometimes, I thought I understood Eunho well. I knew he didn't like to interfere with Ye Jin and Noah. He made it quite clear, that their friendship was not like before. Eunho no longer was the boy who would get frustrated trying to convince Ye Jin that she didn't have to be strong all the time. It had been a long time since Eunho had tried telling Ye Jin how to live her life. Eunho said he had given up on her. It was the only reason why, they could now be friends.

But here he was, beside me as I tried to explain to Noah what the rest of us thought about the odd deal between his mother and Ye Jin.

Eunho always cared, more than he let on.

For a girl who always claimed she needed no one to take care of herself, Ye Jin had many looking out for her. Noah's calmness at the entire situation was proof of that. I think all of us had expected Noah to blow up and run out of his room to confront his mother in yet another heated argument. Instead, Noah remained quiet as I did my best to be tactful and emphasized repeatedly that none of us knew what the truth was except the two ladies. I was prepared to hold him down at some point, to remind him how much he loved Ye Jin if he lost his mind from his quick temper, but I never had to do that. He remained eerily still till the point where I had to ask him if he heard what I said.

Noah was glancing at Eunho and me, with a certain sadness in his eyes. "Do you think Ye Jin is selfish enough to gang up with my mother behind my back?"

"No," I said immediately but I let out a sigh. It was too complicated for me to wrap my head around. "I don't know."

"I don't know what's going on either." He admitted softly. "I am not stupid you know. I know Ye Jin is keeping something from me. But... I trust her. She knows what she is doing. And I know what we have. Until I know for sure, I don't to assume anything. I will stay by her, and I will keep making her happy."

Eunho shared my disbelief at Noah's lack of reaction. "To be honest, I was almost certain that I had to come here and punch you if you started questioning how Ye Jin felt about you."

Noah chuckled at Eunho's blunt reply. "Why would you have to? I can tell from what she shows me. I know she cares about me even if she isn't one to say it out loud often. Just as Ye Jin always knowsI am here to deal with things with her whenever she needs me to."

Eunho locked eyes with Noah. "Youlet her be, but always be close enough to catch her if she falls."

That was indeed, Noah's type of love.

"So..." I glanced around the room, still not understanding what was going on. "We are not saying anything to her."

"No." Noah was firm about it, as he turned around to face me with an unusually serious expression. "Please understand Min Ji... I need you to drop this. This isn't the time to askthese questions to Ye Jin. Not doing anything is best for us now. I trust Ye Jin. And she can do what she thinks she has to do, for us."

At that moment, all I could think of was that Noah and Ye Jin's worlds weretruly too complicated for me. They had concerns, they had fears and they had worries that I never would have been able to carry on my shoulder. But at the very least, they had each other.

"And you are not angry? Not even at your mother?"

"She..." Noah bit his lips. "She is also doing what she thinks she has to do. For me. Don't worry about this, Min Ji. Why are we all acting like something terrible will happen in the future? Maybe there won't be. Even if there is, we have a lot of time to figure things out. Right now... I kind of like this peace."

I exchanged a look with Eunho. Was he the same impulsive boy who used to get into fights because he thought the guy was staring at Ye Jin for too long, or the same foolish kid who went on a hunger strike when his mother grounded him after failing one too many tests? Our reckless friend chose not to assume, and he was going to wait it out. "If... this is what you think is best."

What if Noah, had never been reckless? What if all along, he was fearless? Fearless, in the pursuit of what he wanted? He knew his rash actions had consequences, and yet he always went ahead because he was willing to face whatever would come. Ye Jin must know it too. She was a girl who was afraid of not being perfect, but with Noah, she knew he would be there for her regardless.

"Thank you, Min Ji." He plastered on a brave smile. "Thank you for always looking out for me, for Ye Jin. I knew I could always count on you. What would I do without you?"

"Do you understand now?" Eunho peered carefully at me as we left Noah's house. The two of us stood at the front of my house, and I supposed looking at the pensive expression on my face, Eunho didn't dare leave me alone.

"You know, I had always admired Noah for that," Eunho added when I couldn't respond to his question. "He has guts. Unreasonable but still, admirable."

Eunho, I supposed, came to the same conclusion as me.

Maybe Noah was brave, he knew he would stand by Ye Jin no matter what.

But I knew him. He didn't want me to worry. Noah was scared too, wasn't he? He was terrified of opening that Pandora's box. For now, he was happy, they were happy. To him, that was all that mattered for now. And whatever that will come, he would face it then.

I nodded absentmindedly, not truly answering Eunho's question. There was a lot on my mind, and I knew I would probably be losing sleep tonight. But I understood his concern. I understood my limits. "I get it. I have to stay out of it."

Eunho paused, his brown eyes fixated on me. "You listen to him."

I barely glanced at him, and I already knew what assumption he was making. "And you care about Ye Jin."

"Don't pretend you know me," Eunho answered, with his signature smirk gracing his face.

"Don't act like you know what I am thinking then." I retorted as he let out a light chuckle.

"Fine. Explain it to me."

Honestly, there wasn't much to say. For it seemed, it wasn't the lengthy explanation Noah said that got me to realize something. It was his brief but very sincere gratefulness.

It was a very selfish moment. But it was a moment that stuck with me, long after that day. For you see, even when you accepted that something wasn't yours, you would still grieve the loss, you wouldstill miss it. I had always believed Noah was someone who would stay with me forever. And maybe I held on tighter than I thought I was because I was so afraid of letting go of something so constant, so reassuring.

But the truth was, I didn't have to. Noah was sincere when he promised he would look out for me forever, just as he knew that I would look out for him forever. I was so afraid of change, that I forgot that what Noah and I were, would always be constant, and we would always be untouchable.

That thought was liberating. Maybe I had been hanging on to something. Maybe it was time to let go. I trust the future. Even though Noahhad Ye Jin to love and to care for, and I would have hopefullyfound my happiness, we would always look out for each other, just like when we were kids.

That was the same trust, wasn't it?

The type of trust, you placed in your dearest friend that they would be alright without you. Even though you want to be there for them, you would still give them the space they require. And that space wasn't distance, that space didn't mean they didn't need you, or that you couldn't help them. That space is trust, trust that they had to at least attempt on their own, trust that when they couldn't, they would reach out to you.

Sometimes, trust means letting go.

"I am just thinking... even when you let go, what is yours will always be yours, that's all," I said."Maybe letting go, isn't as scary as I thought."

Chapter 72