[CONTENTID1]Sides[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Three[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Park Jakyung was many things.

Right now, she was tired, and the insistent knocking on her door was doing nothing to help her go back to sleep. She risked a glance at the clock on the night stand and groaned. She rolled out of bed, tossed on an oversize jumper and shuffled to the door. She peeked through the viewer on the front of the door and let out a noise of annoyance. Several seconds later, she had the door unlocked and a man was waltzing into the apartment as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I guess no one told you that house calls at 7 in the morning are usually unappreciated,” she grumbled, watching as the man draped himself over the furniture.

“Is that how you greet you favorite brother?” He asked, feigning hurt. She rolled her eyes at him and pushed his feet off of the coffee table.

“You’re my only brother,” she told him. Park Taekyung took in her unkempt hair and hastily thrown on clothes.

“You don’t have a man over, do you?” He eyed her suspiciously. Jakyung scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yah, don’t you have work or something?” She muttered, heading towards the kitchen. He popped up and followed her.

“I think I can spare a few ours to visit my little sister,” he said, suddenly growing serious. “How are you doing? I know this isn’t what you wanted-”

“It never is, Tae,” Jakyung told him. Taekyung had been her biggest advocate to try and keep her in Anyang, but her parents were having none of it. That’s when Jakyung knew she didn’t have a choice in the matter; if they wouldn’t listen to their favorite child, they certainly weren’t going to listen to her.

“I should have done more. There’s got to be a way,” Taekyung sighed. Jakyung shook her head and began removing things from the fridge and cabinets.

“Maybe this is good,” she said, cracking a few eggs into a bowl. “I mean, this will help me to get over things, right? I can start fresh.” The lies rolled off her tongue so easily, Jakyung felt her skin crawling. She shouldn’t have to convince herself that this was for her own good.

“Mother and Father wouldn’t know what’s best for you,” Taekyung scoffed. “They’re barely around to know anything. They tried to set you up in a big mansion you know. They would have done it too, if I hadn’t convinced them that you would be less likely to run away if you had something smaller and more like Nana’s place."

Jakyung gave her brother a rare smile. “I appreciate it. Have you eaten?” She was busy chopping up ham and a brick of cheddar cheese for omelets. Taekyung smiled sadly at his younger sister. He could tell she was trying her hardest to seem like she could get through this without breaking down. Nana’s death had been hardest on her.

“You always did know the way to a man’s heart."

They spent the rest of the morning catching up with each other. Taekyung told her about all the blind dates their parents had been setting him up on, and Jakyung filled him in on her school and her first night at the bar.

“Elysia? I know the owner, Yungmin,” Taekyung said, to Jakyung’s surprise. At her look of confusion, he explained. “I used to go there with Jaeseok and the other guys. It’s a pretty popular place. Guess all those years helping out in Nana’s lounge did you some good."

Jakyung smiled at the memory of their late grandmother. “Yeah, she even took me to some of the other bars in Anyang to give me some experience.” She could feel the emotion rising up in her chest and tried to school her expression into one of indifference. Taekyung saw right through it.

He scooted closer to her on the couch and gathered her in his arms. “You don’t have to pretend like everything is okay,” he whispered, her hair. “You’re hurting, Jaji, and you need to let it out.” The tears were starting to form and burn so bad from being unshed.

“God, I miss her so much.” A sob wracked her body as she buried her face into Taekyung’s shoulder and let out all the emotion she’d been holding back.

++++++++++

Xiumin blinked as the sunlight suddenly assaulted his eyelids.

“What the hell,” he grumbled. A soft sound from next to him brought his attention to the girl half under the blankets. “Oh god."

“Good morning!” Kai was standing at the foot of his bed, a smirk already on his face. He let his eyes drag over the body of the girl lying next Xiumin and his smirk grew. “I see you had some fun last night.” The girl in question moaned again and stretched, groping for Xiumin’s arm and the lost warmth.

“If I could remember what we did after leaving Elysia, I’d probably agree,” Xiumin snorted. He tugged his arm away from the girl who was slowly blinking into consciousness. At least she was kind of cute. She looked startled for a moment, as if she couldn’t remember where she was, so when it all came flooding back and she noticed Kai smirking at her, she swiped the remainder of her clothes off the floor and nearly sprinted out of the room.

“Charming,” Kai chirped, hands on his hips. “Come on, Hyung. Time for breakfast.” Xiumin let out another groan and lifted the blankets to see what sort of state he was in.

“Out Kai. I have to get some clothes on,” the elder boy shooed Kai away, who playfully about his overnight activities.

The other members of the household got the same treatment more or less. Xiumin and Baekhyun were the only two who’d had their night’s conquest still in the bed when Kai dropped by to