“Oppa!” Areum exclaimed cheerfully when she saw the familiar figure step into the kitchen.

Joonmyeon’s sleepy eyes immediately widened. “I overslept!” he cried out.

Areum pouted. “No you didn’t. You came home late at night this time too, right? Also, there should be mornings when I cook breakfast. You’re always babying me.” A smile forming on her face, she came to the table with two plates filled with scrambled eggs and bacon.

“I’m… sorry, I really am. It’s just that I was… busy. Really busy.” Her brother let out a big sigh.

“I know. You had something to do with your ‘friends’ again, right?” Areum stated. She was quite used to her brother coming in late and telling her that he was “busy.” However, she completely trusted him. “Just make sure it’s not a habit. Look at your dark circles!” Leaning over, she began fussing about the tiredness that was so obvious on her brother’s face.

Joonmyeon seated himself in a chair, struggling to hide a conflicted expression. Wonder surfaced onto his face when he examined his plate, making him forget about last night. “Areum, it’s a miracle! There’s no blackened bacon or burnt eggs!”

The girl wrinkled her nose at his comment, but a grin snuck onto her face. “I know, right? I think I’m getting better at cooking!” She began shoveling eggs into in a very childish but adorable manner that softened the older boy’s expression.

“Areum, you didn’t have to spend time making my breakfast also. You might be late for school!” Joonmyeon exclaimed, looking at the battered watch on his wrist.

“I’m fine,” Areum mumbled with a mouth full of bacon. She rapidly finished her breakfast and placed her plate in the sink before grabbing her backpack. “I’ll leave the dishes to you!” she said with a light laugh before running out the door.

Joonmyeon shook his head affectionately. He put a spoonful of eggs into his mouth and it nearly came back out. ‘It’s really salty,’ he thought. Then he began to laugh.

Areum began running down the sidewalks, her bangs flying back from her forehead. “Hey, wait up, Shorty!” A familiar deep voice made her screech to a stop. Panting, she looked to the side to see a tall boy standing next to a tree, waving.

“Sehun!” she called out. Her tall best friend smiled and walked towards her.

“Sehun!” she repeated, suddenly remembering why she had been running. “We need to hurry! We’re going to be late to Mr. Yoon’s class!” Mr. Yoon was the strict Physics teacher who terrorized the seniors at school.

“Then let’s hurry!” Sehun grabbed the girl’s hand, glad to have another excuse to hold her hand. He began running towards the school, dragging Areum along.

“What?” Joonmyeon roared into his phone. “Are you kidding me?”

“Hyung, do you really not believe me?” the male voice on the other side began to whine, which sounded really weird considering its bass tone. “It’s real! Exo-M sent a text that they know where you live and with whom! Wait – who exactly do you live with?”

Sweat broke out into cold little beads on Joonmyeon’s forehead. His eyesight momentarily blurred. From the phone, Chanyeol began calling out his name, but Joonmyeon couldn’t hear him. He raised his head to face the blue sky and was tempted to scream at the heavens above. He had been so cautious for over eight years… Yet it hadn’t been enough.

He had gone on a mission with Baekhyun to Busan. It would take him at least four hours to go back to his house. Letting his misery overwhelm him, he sent a shout of frustration at the sky. Surprised, Baekhyun, who was standing nearby, gazed at him with wide eyes.

“How about ice cream? My treat,” Sehun said as the two exited the school grounds.

Areum pouted, making the boy poke a finger at her cheek. “You always pay. It’s my turn.”

“I like paying.” A smug grin formed on Sehun’s face, but all he could think about was her small, old house that he saw every time he walked her home. Since last year, when she secretly told him that she was an orphan who lived with her older brother, he started paying for everything for her. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it, anyways.

The girl scoffed and punched his arm playfully. “Who in the world likes paying?”

However, when they reached the store and ordered their ice cream, Sehun was the one who paid. The boy and girl sat on a bench in a nearby park and began eating their cold treat.

“It’s getting late,” Sehun commented as he gazed at the setting sun.

“Well, it’s probably because we had to finish our project in the library for several hours at school.” Areum gobbled up her chocolate ice cream.

Sehun laughed. “I can’t believe a girl can eat so fast.” He wiped her cheek, which had a bit on ice cream smudged on it, with two fingers. Areum didn’t even blink.

She stood up. “I better get going. My brother always tells me to come home early.”

“You know, I’ve never seen your brother,” said Sehun. Areum pretended that she didn’t hear him and began skipping to the direction of her house. Sehun sighed. She rarely told him anything about her older brother – she would always pretend not to hear or change the subject. He was worried her brother was abusive or indifferent, although she once labeled her brother as “extremely nice” and “protective and responsible.”

Sehun walked Areum home. She would sometimes chirp out jokes that weren’t funny, point out little things like a squirrel, or just laugh at nothing, but Sehun liked those simple things about her. The one thing he liked the most at the end of the day was when she waved cheerfully at him before entering her little house.

With a small smile on his face, he trudged away, the image of Areum waving still fresh inside his mind. If he had known what would happen next, he wouldn’t have dared to leave her alone.