Erika’s POV

I am sitting in the underground cafeteria, picking at the food on my tray I am having for lunch. Mino is across from me talking about his new project given by Yang sajangnim. He has to make several tracks and present them to Yang sajangnim for approval and depending on how many pass, Mino will be able to release digital single or even a solo mini album. Mino has been talking nonstop about how he wants me to revise some of the tracks for the past week, and now he is at it again. I am hearing him talk, but I am not listening to his words.

I am simply staring at the food in front of me. I have not been able to concentrate on anything ever since the night I met Block-B and argued with Zico. He thinks I am a , I thought sadly. Only hanging out with the guys to get it with them. Cham! I scoff loudly in anger and stand up from the table making Mino stop talking in surprise at my sudden reaction. I walk away from the table and place the tray with most of my food on the counter for the café lady to clean it up. I walk to the elevator with Mino walking behind me trying to catch up.

“Yah! Are you ok?” I can hear the concern in Mino’s voice.

I did not respond and push the button to the floor with the gym. I have to distress myself.

“I asked you a question,” Mino grabbed my arm and made me face him. “You have not talked to me for a week now. What is wrong?” Mino’s voice full of concern.

I shake my head. I do not want Mino to worry about me, it is a useless cause. “No—nothing’s wrong. I have to go. I’ll see you around,” I tell Mino and leave with my head down.

I get to the gym and change my shoes. I walk toward the treadmill and start it going into a run right from the start. After a couple of minutes, I still feel the anger boiling within me and get off the machine. I walk toward the door leading to the emergency stairs and take off down four flights of stairs reaching the second floor. I turn back around and run back up the four flights of stairs until I reach where I started from. After a couple more rounds up and down the stairs I am feeling tired, sweaty, and ugly. I head back into the gym and borrow a towel from the locker room and head to take a quick shower. I was not planning to exercise today, but I always keep a spare change of clothes in my locker. My mood did improve with the running; I am not as mad as before. I get out of the shower and change back into my sweatpants and an oversized mustard yellow hoody and head out of the gym after changing back into my outdoor shoes. I got in the elevator and went down to the fourth floor and walked toward the studio room Mino uses. I need to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I cannot live with the thought of having hurt Mino’s emotions.

I walk up to the door of the studio and knock lightly. I can hear laughter coming from inside. It sounds as if several guys were in there. The door opens after I knock a second time to reveal Mino with a huge smile on his face. I look at him with a blank stare. I glance down to my feet and then back at Mino.

“Oppa, I’m—” my apology is interrupted by Mino as he takes my forearm and begins to pull me into the room. I resist, not wanting to intrude into his group of friends.

“Erika, come in,” Mino keeps insisting and opens the door wider to reveal three other people in the room: Bobby, P.O, and none other than Zico. Right at that moment they all turn to the door.

“Oh! Ivy,” P.O is the first to react.

I bow to P.O in greeting and then I try to free my arm from Mino’s grasp. I need to leave, I think as I begin to feel queasy. I can’t be in the same room as him.

“Ivy, come in, come in!” P.O heads toward me and grabs my other arm and helps Mino drag me into the room.

Bobby closes the door behind me and goes back to sit at the revolving chair in front of the control table. P.O goes back to sit in the far end of the room in another revolving chair, leaving only a third and last revolving chair in front of the control table for Mino. Zico is half lying, half sitting in the couch to the left of the entrance. I bow in greeting to Zico and turn to look into the room beyond the soundproof glass. I stand in front of the small island table rigidly, uncomfortable.

“Erika, sit down. Why are you still standing?” Mino tells me.

I look at him and give him a small smile. “It’s ok. I think I have to leave either way,” I bow to him and turn around and walk out of the room. I do not know why I am acting like this, but I do not have the energy to act like I am completely fine, because even I know that I am not. I am halfway down the hall when I get turned around to face Mino with a crestfallen face.

We stand in silence as he searches through my face, hoping to find anything. He is looking for something that will tell him what is wrong because he knows I will not tell him personally, but I make it impossible even now by putting on a poker face. Very seldom can I keep a blank face expression, but right now it comes too naturally. I am not myself, and I know that Mino can sense it as well.

“What happened?” Mino asks me softly and holds me in place by holding both of my arms. “You seem so—so distant. Did I do something wrong? Did I say something that upset you?” Mino’s voice was full of anguish.

I shake my head and lower it. “I—I’m so—sorry,” I stutter. I can feel my eyes become watery, so I try to hide my face from Mino.

“Sorry about what?” Mino's voice shook. “I’m I not your friend? Can you not trust in me?”

I shake my head again. Mino is not understanding anything; this is not his fault, yet he thinks it is. My body starts to tremble as I begin to shed tears. I try to pull myself away from him. I want to run away and hide from him. I am hurting his feelings because he thinks that I am acting this way because of him. I want to run away and take his pain with me even if it doubles my own pain. Mino is too important for me to hurt. I take a step back and try to free myself to only be engulfed by Mino’s arms. He is hugging me tightly and I cannot move away. I am trapped by him, by his arms. I sob into his chest as he holds me tighter. He begins to rub circles on my back making me sob louder. Why must I be so weak? I can’t take this anymore. I just want to be carefree and happy without having to be afraid of hurting people I care about. I hold on tight onto Mino and he places his lips on top of my head.

“Shh…it’s ok,” Mino soothes to me. “I’m here for you.”

I take in Mino’s scent and feeling of his comforting arms around me. I don’t want to ever let go. I want this to be my sanctuary. I need someone’s warmth near me. I finally calm down a bit after about four minutes of crying into Mino’s chest. I back away from him a bit, but not completely. I look down at our feet and I can feel my cheeks growing red.

“Are you feeling better now?” Mino asks me softly.

I simply nod without looking up at him. I feel a bit embarrassed for crying in his arms like a child. Mino senses my discomfort and lifts my face with his hand, cupping my cheek.

Mino lets out a chuckle and looks at me in the eye. “Next time you need to cry, just come to me. I’ll lend you my shoulder—no, my chest for you to cry on,” he smiles down at me.

I feel a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth. “Thank you,” I say shyly. “And sorry about the boogers on your sweater….”

Mino looks down at his sweater and say the wet smudges I left. “Uh!” He lets out a fake surprise reaction and let go of me. “You’re going to have to wash this later!” He points at me.

I laugh and nod. “I will. Just drop it off at my house when you are done wearing my boogers.” I smile and chance a glance over Mino’s shoulder. I can see Bobby and P.O peaking their heads through the open door. Zico, however, is standing out in the hall a couple of feet away from the door. In the small glance I can see his face contort into a scowl and I distinctly see him roll his eyes and turn around to go back in the room. I shrug slightly and turn back to Mino. “Well, I’m going to go back home, ok?”

“Yeah, take care,” Mino hugs me again shortly. “And don’t get all depressed when you get home, alright?”

I nod in response and leave Mino and walk to the elevator and head to the first floor and into the parking lot. Did I forget to say that I got a driver’s license in January? I had some free time in the winter, after I finished recording for the drama, so I studied the manual for the driving test and took it this January. It was rather easy to get my license since I already have one in America and all I had to learn was how to pass the written test. I am now inside a small compact car that Yang sajangnim let me borrow for now, when I don’t have hectic schedules. Even though I got my license in January I have not been able to drive until two weeks ago, and even then, I prefer to let Kwon manager drive me around. I start the car and am about to pull out of my parking space when I hear a knock on my window. I look out and see someone waving at me. I put my car in park again and put the window down to reveal Kang Hye-Jung with a bright smile.

“Hey!” Hye-Jung unnie greets me. “Are you busy right now?”

“No, I’m free for the rest of the day,” I respond with a smile. Hye-Jung unnie was very nice to me. She helped me out when I was still a trainee by being my acting partner and tutor when she had free time. She also helped me learn how to cook several easy Korean dishes when she would invite me over to her house.

“Do you want to go over to my house for a little while? Haru says that she wants to see you,” she asks me.

“Umm, yes, I’d love to go,” I accept the offer right away.

“Ok, I still have to go to the grocery shop to buy food to stock up the fridge,” she laughs. “You can go ahead and head to the house, the password is still the same.”

“I could go to the store with you, give you some company,” I suggest. In all honesty I do not want to be alone right now.

“Oh OK! That sounds good,” Hye-Jung unnie nods and straightens up.

“I’ll follow you to the store in my car,” I tell her.

“No, come along in my car, why waste more gas than is needed?” Hye-jung unnie opens my door and I turn off the ignition.

I follow Hye-jung unnie to her car and get in the passenger seat. One thing I love about Hye-Jung unnie is that she does not simply suggest an opinion; she makes sure others follow her directions. I just need someone who tells me what to do right now because I do not have the strength to move on my own at the moment.

“Ok, do you have your seatbelt on? Let’s go, go, go!” Hye-Jung unnie is very cheerful when I am around. I have never seen her upset in person. “You know I was feeling down for a little bit until I saw you walking out of the building? You appeared at such a perfect timing.”

“Really?” I am surprised. I felt the same way about her. I am so glad Hye-Jung unnie came to me at this very moment, or else I would most likely just go home and be a depressed bum in my bed for the rest of the day.

“Yes,” she nods. “I really need a girl companion for a while. I have been feeling lonely lately what with no drama or movie to film, Haru at school most of the day and Sun-Woong oppa always at HIGHGRND, I have been home with no one to talk to.”

“Mm…,” I nod. “Well, I’m glad to be in your company too. I have not been myself for the past couple of weeks.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” She glances at me with a look of concern and turns back to the front and focuses on the road again. We arrive at the super market and get off the car.

I ponder about what I should tell her, but in the end I just shake my head and smile. “It’s nothing really, I just miss my family.” Half-lie, half-truth. We get a trolley and I maneuver it around the store as Hye-Jung unnie picks out the things she needs.

“Do you want anything?” Hye-Jung unnie asks me after she finishes getting everything she can remember. “It will be my treat for coming along!”

“Hahaha! I’ll have banana milk, then,” I say.

“What? No, no, no,” she looks at me with her hands on her hips. “You need to eat something healthy. I have the same problem with Haru.”

“But, I want banana milk,” I say shyly.

“Ok, but you cannot drink it until you eat something,” Hye-Jung unnie grabs the six pack of banana milk and places it in the cart.

“You act like my mother,” I laugh lightly as I remember my mom. “She always nagged at me for eating and drinking snacks before eating a healthy meal.”

“She is right,” Hye-Jung unnie gave one sild nod in agreement with my mother’s ways. “I should meet her someday and join forces against you girls for not eating correctly,” She laughed in amusement at her own words.

I smile, just thinking about my mother and Hye-Jung unnie hanging out together. I wonder if they would get along, though. I think about how different my mother’s style is from Hye-Jung unnie, but at the same time they both enjoy making their daughters lives difficult. I just want to eat all the snacks I want and not have to worry about my mother to tell me that I am getting fat… I already have Yang sajangnim for that.

Hye-Jung unnie pays for all the groceries and we head out to the car. After transferring all the food into the small trunk of the car we head back to Hye-Jung unnie’s house. Once we arrive at the apartment complex, I take as many bags as I can to help Hye-Jung unnie carry them up to the apartment. I am used to carrying most of the heavy bags for my mother when we would go shopping, and so I am doing the same now. I struggle a bit with the bags full of drinks and milk but manage to hold onto them until we reach the elevator and go up to Hye-Jung unnie’s floor. Finally, the doors of the elevator open and we walk out to the front door of unnie’s apartment. She opens the door and I stagger in and place the grocery bags on the kitchen counter with the last spark of strength left in me and then I dramatically fall to the floor.

“Hahaha! What are you doing?” Hye-Jung unnie laughs and pokes my side. “You are so dramatic!”

“Who is dramatic?” A male voice comes from the entrance of the kitchen. I look up and see Tablo's head poke from the side of the entrance. “Oh! Erika, you’re here?”

I quickly stand up and bow in greeting, “Annyeonghaseyo!” I scratch my head in embarrassment and start to pull the groceries out of the bags and place them back on the counter neatly.

“Oppa, what are you doing here? I thought you would be at HIGHGRND,” Hye-Jung unnie looks at him from the fridge, where she is making room for the new groceries.

“I was, but I came back a couple of minutes ago,” Tablo explains as he walks to my side and helps me take the things out from the bag. “So, how’ve you been?”

“Good,” I solemnly nod.

“What? That is not a typical response from Erika,” Tablo jokingly pokes the side of my head.

“Oppa, that is not the way to treat a guest,” Hye-Jung unnie reprimands Tablo for poking me.

“A guest?” Tablo jokes. “You’re a guest? I thought you lived here!”

I can’t not laugh at Tablo’s silliness.

“There is the Erika I know,” Tablo sends me a smile and goes to hand Hye-Jung unnie some of the things that need to be refrigerated. “You scowl me for poking Erika because she is a guest, but you use her to help you out with the groceries? That’s not fair.”

“Oppa,” Hye-Jung unnie sends a warning glare at Tablo and he retreats from the kitchen

“Be careful, she is dangerous,” Tablo whispers to me to me before leaving, saying he needs to go do the bed. I try hiding the smile on my face forming because of the relationship between the two.

I take over the spot Tablo left and hand Hye-Jung unnie the rest of the groceries that go in the fridge, the last being my banana milk which I look with such longing that I will not be able to drink right now.

“You can take one,” Hye-Jung unnie probably saw my face and let me take one bottle of banana milk.

I give her a great big smile and thank her. I take a little straw from the bottom of the rest of the pack and stick it in through the foil seal. If I anybody had to describe how I look at the moment I would most likely be described as the happiest girl in the universe. Banana milk has powers beyond human kind; it brings a joyful bliss to my life with a single sip.

“You are such a kid,” Hye-Jung unnie laughs at my reaction with the banana milk. “Come, let’s go to the living room.”

I follow her and sit on the couch beside her enjoying my banana milk all along.

“SO, tell me now,” Hye-Jung unnie breaks the silence.

I look at her in confusion. Was I supposed to tell her something?

“You did not tell me why you have been upset lately,” Hye-Jung unnie is keeping a close eye on me. “And don’t tell me it is because you miss your family, because then you would have been depressed for the past nine months.”

“I—I,” I am lost for words. Hye-Jung unnie has a way of figuring me out even I don’t know. “I had a bit of an argument with Zico oppa,” I decide to tell her the truth.

“With Zico? Mino’s friend?” Hye-Jung unnie sounds surprised.

I nod and lower my head.

“But, what did you fight about?” Hye-Jung unnie asks.

“Umm…our relationship—oh my gawd that sounds so weird—is a bit complicated,” I try to explain. Hye-Jung unnie just nods and encourages me to continue. “It’s—it’s…umm… argh! How do I explain this?”

“You are not dating, are you?” Hye-Jung stops me before I continue in alarm.

“No, no. nothing like that!” I wave my hands in front of my face. A blush faintly rising to my cheeks. “Umm… I’m a HUGE fan of his. I met him a week before I debut as an actress when I went to the movies with Mino oppa. But nothing much happened that night, I just made a fool of myself in front of Zico oppa….”

“Then?”

“I don’t know if you knew, but my manager had to leave for about a week because of family issues?”

“I think I heard about it, why?”

“Well, Mino oppa offered to take me to my schedules since I didn’t have many activities at the time. But, one day that I was doing recordings for Inkigayo, Mino got a sudden schedule and he could not pick me up and he told Zico oppa to do him the favor and pick me up instead. And I guess Zico oppa forgot about the favor and ended up picking me up an hour later, but I didn’t mind. He then took me home—”

“Don’t lie to me. What happened after he picked you up?” Hye-Jung unnie interrupts me, knowing that I did not tell her the whole story.

I sigh, and then continue. “He felt sorry for forgetting to pick me up and he took me to eat because I had not eaten that day. When we were at the restaurant we just talked. He told me how he was afraid that I was a little too close to Mino oppa and that I could be a danger to both of our careers if I was not careful—”

“That crazy ba—”

“Unnie!” I am surprised at Hye-Jung unnie’s reaction. “Don’t call him that. I understand his worries.”

“But that does not give him the right to tell you that it is your fault. It is equally both yours and Mino’s problem.” I can see she is seething in anger. I stretch my hand out and pat hers in comfort. Who is the one comforting who?

“Anyway, we were talking to each other and we each said at least one mean thing to each other, but neither of us got offended. You know I am not easy to offend or get angry. And he was nonchalant about what I was telling him too.” I continue to explain. “After dinner he took me home and that was it.”

“Then why have you been upset?” Hye-Jung unnie looks confused.

“Block-B just had a comeback two weeks ago and they went to perform at Inkigayo. After I finished my recording and they were done with their own recording I went to visit them. I met the rest of the members and at some point they asked me who my bias was.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said it was B-Bomb oppa.”

“So, it’s not Zico? I thought you were a ‘HUGE fan’ of his?”

“I am, and he knows it too. He called me a liar when I said my bias was B-Bomb.”

“Were you lying?” Hye-Jung unnie asks with an eyebrow raised.

“It was not a lie, but it was not the complete truth either,” I explain. “B-Bomb is definitely one of my favorite members, but he is more of a bias list wrecker. Zico is my favorite over all.”

“Mm… so he got upset that you lied?”

“I don’t know. But then we started to argue mannerly like at the restaurant and we both know not to take everything completely serious. After a while I left the room and went back to my own dressing room and got my things to go back home,” I pause and take a breath. “Zico followed me to my backstage room and he decided to play a prank. He got close to me and…and he kind of teased me,” with every word I said Hye-Jung unnie’s expression darkened. “He then said that I was like any other girl trying to get in his pants. I got really mad about him basically calling me a and I lashed out. I screamed at him to get lost and—and—”

“Let it out, it’s ok,” Hye-Jung unnie patted my back as I start to sob. Just recalling that night made me upset. “If I were you I would have punched him in the face! Who does he think he is calling you a ?”

I shake my head frantically, “That is not what upset me, though… What upset me was that he played with my feelings. He knows I am his fan; he knows I like him. I think he used that against me as payback for lying.”

“You know what? Forget him,” Hye-Jung unnie suggested.

“It’s not that easy to forget that big-nosed idiot,” I subconsciously laugh.

“What are you laughing about?” Hye-Jung unnie did not understand.

“He is an idiot. He even sent me a message that night saying: ‘deserved it’. I bet he was trying to apologize and his phone fell on his face and it sent accidentally,” I imagine it and start laughing at the dumb face he would have made. But then, what about his scowl when I saw him at YG when I was with Mino?

“Yeobo, I’m going to go pick up Haru from school,” Tablo came out of the room.

“Who’s taking you?” Hye-Jung asked.

“Manager,” he answers nonchalantly.

“Ok, hurry back,” she calls out as he leaves the apartment. She then turns back to me. “But, umm…what makes you think that the message he sent you was a slipup?”

“He is not the type to want to hurt someone very close to his best friend, and that is also the reason why I think he was jocking around in the dressing room.”

“What makes you think that? From what you told me, you don’t seem to personally know him for a very long time.”

“Call it a woman’s intuition? Hehehe!” I laugh at Hye-Jung unnie’s bewildered face. “I’m kidding. I just simply want to believe in him. He is very close friend of Mino, and I believe they are similar in many ways.”

“Are you just saying that because you are a fan of his?” Unnie was still skeptical.

“Maybe, but deep inside I know that I truly do believe that he did not mean to send a message like that, nor make me upset with his prank.”

“Alright, as you say,” Hye-Jung unnie left it at that. “Well, what do you want to eat today? I’ll make anything for you hoping to bring your spirits up.”

“Umm…how about…,” I really put my mind to work. What do I want to eat? What do I want to eat? “Ah! I know! Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi soup)!”

“Really? That’s what you crave most?” Hye-Jung unnie asked incredulously. “I would have thought you would say some Mexican food or something! Hahaha!”

“Umm… I do miss eating my grandma’s sopitos, but I prefer you make a homemade Korean dish!” I think of the food my grandma makes. But then I remember something, “I can have all the Mexican food I want when I go back to America or Mexico, but it will be too hard finding any food that will taste as good as your cooking.”

“Mm…, are you going to miss Korea when you leave?” Hye-Jung unnie asks curiously.

I let out a deep prolonged sigh. “I don’t know how I will survive back in America without Korea. I can already see myself missing Korea the moment the airplane takes off from this land.”

“Do you like it that much here?”

“I never called my parents’ house in America ‘home’. I finally found somewhere I can genuinely call ‘home’, but I was destined to leave even before I arrived.”

“You know that you can come back whenever you want?” Hye-Jung unnie noticed my deteriorating mood. “We will even give you a place to sleep here in this house when you come visit.”

“I guess, but it will take time and money from the life I will be forced to live over there,” I look over at Hye-Jung unnie and give her a sad smile. “Hopefully it won’t be long after I leave that I come back. I really like it here.”

“Well, we will be waiting for you here with open arms,” Hye-Jung unnie leaned over and hugged me. “Ok, enough of this sadness! Go to Haru’s room and you can surprise her when she gets here. Meanwhile, I will cook dinner!”

We got off the couch, she went into the kitchen and I went into Haru’s room. It’s the same room that has all of her toys stored. Her bed was full of stuffed animals and pillows. I make a small room in the bed and I sit down, looking around. A couple of minutes passed and I heard the faint beeping of the front door. Next came Haru’s voice as she greeted her mom. I heard Hye-Jung unnie telling Haru to go to her room and change out of her uniform. It was a matter of seconds before Haru walked in through the door.

“What do I we—Unnie!!” Haru came into the room and saw me.

“Annyeong! Long time no see!” I smile at her.

“What are you doing in here?” Haru rushed to hug me.

“Just came around to see you.”

“Awesome! Wait, let me change my clothes and then, and then we can play! What do you want to play? I also have coloring books. Do you want to see what dad bought me last week?” Haru kept rambling about what we would do next. I could even hear her from her parents’ room where she was changing.

We ended up playing with some of her dolls; that they were having a birthday party for Mr. Unicorn and that his girlfriend was Sunny, a pretty yellow horse. I cannot say how happy I was simply playing with Haru and her dolls. I was after all a six-year-old in the body of a twenty-one-year-old.

“Girls, come eat!” Hye-Jung unnie called out from the kitchen.

“Let’s go eat, Haru,” I say, getting up from the floor in her room. Haru following suit.

Hye-Jung unnie had already set up the table and Tablo was already sitting down playing on his phone. Haru sat to Tablo’s right, by the wall, and I sat on the chair across from Haru. Hye-jung unnie placed a big boiling pot of Kimchi jjigae in the middle of the table now surrounded by several banchan (side dishes). She sat next to me, in front of Tablo and served Tablo’s bowl with soup. Next she took Haru’s, then mine and lastly hers. We ate together and laughed at Tablo’s jokes and Haru told us about her day at school today. She also decided to tell a funny story were her dad tripped and fell on the carpet in the living room. I felt like if this were truly my family. I am glad I got to be here today. At least I don’t feel sad anymore. IF Zico were to call right now I would forgive him on the spot, no explanations needed. I was just this much elated.

“So, what’s for dessert?” Tablo asks out loud.

“You’re still hungry, oppa?” Hye-Jung unnie looks at him disbelievingly.

“Do you girls want some ice cream?” Now, that got my attention.

“Yes!” Haru and I say happily at Tablo’s suggestion.

“Yeobo, do you have 6,000₩ for ice cream?” Tablo asks his wife.

I took a glance at Hye-Jung unnie and I see her giving Tablo a menacing glare. I look back to Tablo and he laughed awkwardly.

“I’m kidding, you know that right?” Tablo got up from the table. “Come on girls, let’s go get ice cream!”

I hear Hye-Jung unnie let out a sigh and I turn to her. Haru already at the heels of her father putting on their shoes at the entrance. “Don’t do all the dishes by yourself, I can help you when we get back. Do you want something from the store?”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll just make a fruit salad here. Hurry before they leave you and don’t get any ice cream!”

“We’ll be back soon!” I shout as I run out the door and shove my feet into my shoes and race out of the apartment and to the awaiting elevator.

“We thought you weren’t coming,” Tablo said with a smile on his face.

We walk out of the building and head down the sidewalk, pass several blocks and finally arrive at the convenience store with all the undervalued treasures. Haru got the vanilla ice cream covered in a fish shaped waffle and red bean paste filling. Tablo took two types of Magnum ice cream, one for him the other for Hye-Jung unnie. I took a Tank Boy. Tablo paid for the ice creams and we head back to the apartment. Haru skipping slightly ahead of Tablo and me.

“I couldn’t help from listening in on your problem with Zico,” Tablo spoke up.

“So, you heard,” I nod in understanding. “I’m fine now, though.”

“Are you?” Tablo asks in concern.

I nod. “I believe so. Coming over to visit your family really helped me out. It also helped me to talk it out with Hye-jung unnie.”

“Well, that’s good,” Tablo seems content. “Thank you for coming over, too. Hye-Jung also needed someone to hang out with. I have been so busy at the company lately I rarely am home. Haru had a good time, too. She needs a girl companion with the same mentality who she can play with her.”

“Are you saying I have the mentality of an eight-year-old?”

“Exactly,” Tablo laughs shortly. “But you also have a mentality of someone like Hye-Jung-ah. You really are special; not many can change their maturity levels so drastically.”

“Umm…I think I’ll take that as a compliment,” I chuckle at his words.

“You should,” Tablo looks over at me. “I am like that as well.”

“What? I thought you always have the mentality of an eight-year-old who is highly talented!”

“Oh! Is that what it is?” Tablo stops in his track. “Erika,” he gives me a goofy smile, “You found my true self!”

“Oh! Now you are just playing with me,” I laugh as we enter the apartment. “We’re home!” I blurted before thinking, “I mean, we’re back.”

“It’s ok. This is your home, too,” Tablo pats my back and heads into the living room with the ice creams and starts to hand them out.

I am frozen at the entrance of the apartment. He said, “This is your home, too.” I want to cry in happiness. This the happiness that I never thought I knew.

"Unnie, aren't you coming in?" Haru came to the door again and took my hand. I took my shoes off and headed to the living room and sat with my back to the couch by Hye-Jung unnie's legs. Tablo handed me my ice cream, Hye-Jung unnie patted my head as she enjoyed her own ice cream, and Haru rested her head on my knees. I smiled simply thinking about this picture.

I am home!

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