[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER 4 [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

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"Yah, Kim Joon Young!"

The middle school student cautiously poked his head inside his sister's bedroom. Ah Young stood in the center of her messy room, her arms crossed. She looked pissed.

"Nae?" Joon Young squeaked.

"Where're my headphones?"

"Headphones?" he repeated nervously. Not looking in her eyes, he scratched his neck and replied, "Um... Uh, I'm not sure... What color are they?"

Her anger skyrocketed, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "My gray Sony headphones. The ones that took me four months got get."

Ah Young wasn't a very motivated person. She didn't study, and she didn't think about her future very much. The only thing that could really excite her was music. She loved songwriting and music. Normally, Ah Young wouldn't be this upset about a lost pair of headphones, but these ones were extremely special to her. A few years back, she had done both Joon Young's and her chores to get extra allowance for four months. When she had finally got enough money, she had bought the latest Sony headphones. Three years ago, her parents had gotten her a ukulele and harmonica for her birthday. A guitar was on her birthday list, but she was saving money here and there just in case her parents thought it was too expensive.

"Oh, those ones!" Joon Young gave her a nervous, but cheesy grin. "Mian, I brought it with me when I was going over to Bo Kyung's. I must have left it there."

Ah Young's eyes narrowed. Her little brother has been acting weird since a week ago. He has been acting pretty irresponsible and clingy towards Ah Young. He started to go next door more often, and then leave something there. Usually it'd be one of Ah Young's possessions, but even if it wasn't he'd tell her to go and retrieve it. He and Bo Kyung didn't have a super strong bond like Ah Young and Bo Gum, but he suddenly always wanted to go to his house. Another weird thing was that whenever their mom would tell him to deliver some food or a borrowed plate next door, he'd always hand it off to Ah Young. 

"Answer honestly," she commanded, taking a step towards Joon Young. "Why're you acting weird?"

He almost looked genuinely surprised. Almost.

"A-acting? Weird? Me? No, I'm normal. Hey, listen, um, I'm gonna go shopping for Eomma to make dinner, so you can just drop by to Bo Gum Hyung's and get the headphones yourself, right? Awesome, great, later!"

"Yah, yah!" Ah Young shouted, watching her brother run away. She ran out her room only to watch him run out the front door. "Why don't you get it on your way back?" she mumbled. Sighing, she grabbed a sweater from her room.

"Eomma, I'll be right back," she called as she put her shoes on.

"Ah Young, wait!" she called, coming from the kitchen. "Was that your brother that just went out?"

She blinked at her mom. "Yeah. Why?"

Her mom's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Well, I was just wondering where he went."

She looked at the front door than back at her mom. "You didn't tell him to go shopping for you?"

"No... did he say that?"

She blinked again, her expression unreadable. Had Joon Young lied? "Aniyo I just... assumed he was shopping for dinner. Anyway, I gotta get something from Bo Gum's."

"Okay, don't stay too long."

Ah Young shut the door and knocked on Bo Gum's door. It opened with Bo Gum at the door, offering her something. It was her headphones dangling from his index finger.

"Ah, mian," she said, taking them. "Joon Young left them here."

"Ani, it's no big deal," he said with a small smile. "You know we have an assembly tomorrow at school, right?"

This took Ah Young by surprise. "Wait, really? With the whole school? What's it about?"

The corners of his lips twitched upwards into a knowing smile, as if he predicted that she'd forget. "Nothing important. I heard they do it every year. It's kind of a unity and welcoming-first-years assembly."

She scoffed lightly. "We've already been here for more than a month, why're they welcoming us now?"

He only shrugged. "By the way, do you want to do another drama marathon next weekend?"

Ah Young instantly smiled. "Call! What're we watching?"

"Moorim School."

"Oh, the one with Lee Hyun Woo in it?" She grinned dreamily. "Good. He's so good-looking."

Bo Gum laughed. "Yah, me and him look a lot alike."

Her grin dropped and was replaced with a scowl. "Don't insult Oppa like that!"

He laughed lightly. She jokingly narrows her eyes suspiciously before giving him a teasing grin.

"Okay, I'm off. See you tomorrow!"

♦♦♦

Beep.

Morning :) Running late, so u and Bo Gum can head to school without me

Ah Young quickly typed her response to In Guk.

Alright, c u at school

"No phones at the table, Ah Young," her dad reminded behind the newspaper.

"Nae." She placed her phone in her backpack.

She reached for the last piece of dried seaweed, but Joon Young grabbed it before she could. She opened to complain, but her mom interrupted her.

"Omo," her mom said, staring at the clock. "Yah, Ah Young, you better get going. You're going to be late."

"Oh shoot!" Ah Young quickly eat the rest of her food and placed her dishes in the sink. "Bye, Eomma, Appa." She pecked both her parent's cheeks and ruffled Joon Young's hair. "See you guys later!"

Hurriedly picking up her backpack, she shuffled on her shoes and left. Bo Gum was already standing outside her door.

"You're late," he told her, walking towards the elevator.

She fell into step with him and hummed in response, combing her tangled hair with her fingers. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Oh, and make sure you buy the snacks for this weekend."

They entered the elevator.

"Like you'd let me forget," he teased lightly. "I'm thinking you like the food more than you like watching the drama."

She elbowed his ribs with a light scowl. "How did you know?"

They laughed lightly as the elevator doors opened. As Ah Young exited the building, something rammed into her from behind, causing her to stumble forward. Her eyes slammed shut, p