Sungjong and IU had been walking through countless of aisle for ten straight minutes, trying to find any snacks they wanted or any recipes she needed to cook for all the boys. She figured that Hoya and Dongwoo would be starving by the time they finish their last minute touch with their dance, so she made sure to make extra. Woohyun would probably skip dinner after putting up a fight with another wannabe-gang, but she made to text Myungsoo to bring the boy down to eat when it was time for dinner.

"Is this it?" IU asked, staring at the cart. Sungjong grinned as he put a final bag of onion rings in the cart. The green bag dropped into the vehicle as IU scowled. "Why so many onion rings? Are you really going to eat all this?"

"Oh, half of it is to bribe your friends to go out. It should be enough for them to live out on the streets for a while, right?" Sungjong asked. IU glared at the younger boy and smacked the back of his head. 

"Honestly, why are you guys so against my childhood friends? It's not like they ever did anything to you," IU muttered.

"That's not true. Sunggyu hyung has been acting extremely strange when he met your friends. I think they're threatening him or something. You should talk to him and check if he's okay."

"I thought Sunggyu was fine. He just looked a bit pale. Say, should I buy some soup? It might warm him up."

"I think he only needs someone to talk to. Recently, he's been avoiding us."

"Mm." IU ignored Sungjong's words and grabbed a familiar can of soup and dropped it gently into the cart. "Good job, Sungjong. You have a pretty sharp eye. I wonder why you don't have a girlfriend yet."

Sungjong blushed and looked away. "T-That's… Why? Do you want me to have a girlfriend?"

"It would be nice. You know, I would actually have someone to chat with and stuff," IU murmured, reading how many calories a certain item had. Her eyes widened, but she still dropped the packaged food in the cart. Sungjong, on the other hand, felt a bit hurt. He bit his bottom lip and skimmed around the market until his eyes landed on his favorite biscuit snack. He had an urge to run and grab the boxed snack, but he stood next to IU, knowing how she was disappointed with all the snacks he had bought.

"IU, what kind of guy do you like?" Sungjong asked. "Does it matter if the guy is younger than you?"

IU smiled at the boy with a light grin. "Age is just a number, Sungjong. Why? Does someone who's younger than me have a crush on me? If he does, then please tell him that I will politely reject him."

Sungjong flinched. "What if that guy is really close to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, he's not a stranger, but he actually knows you and is really close to you. Well, at least that's what the guy thinks."

"Please reject him for me. I hardly know any guys younger than me except for you-" At that moment, IU stopped pushing the cart and froze. Her sneakers squeaked loudly against the floor as her head slowly turned around and faced the embarrassed (and quite anxious) man. Sungjong rubbed the back of his head nervously, unsure what her answer would be. For a few minutes, the two stood at their spot, staring at each other with eyes that read curiosity. Then, IU looked away and turned her head to the side to grab a package of meat.

She knows, Sungjong thought. She knows that it's me.

"I'd still reject him."

Rejected. Her words stung Sungjong's heart so bad, he felt like he wanted to run away from her. However, he couldn't quite possibly leave IU alone to carry the shopping bags herself. The young boy took a deep breath, forced a smile, and nodded his head.

"I see. Good to know," he replied back in a low voice. People had told him that once they confess, they have the heavy feeling lifted from their chest.

For Sungjong, he felt like he was carrying an extra pound on his shoulders.

Yoseob laid on his bed, and groaning about his failure with Sungyeol. Thunder, who was praying for Wooyoung to come back anytime soon, clenched his jaws and made a fist, obviously irritated with the loud noises Yoseob was making. Once Yoseob threw his body over the bed and hugged a pillow, he glanced at Thunder and pouted in an adorable manner. This didn't work on Thunder, for he was already too focused on the computer.

"Thunder, you got to help me."

"No."

"Why not? You're a genius!" Yoseob exclaimed.

"So? Why should I help you? I should be surrounding myself with smart people, but I'm stuck with you."

"Ah, you ! Sungyeol is so hard! Do something!"

"Sungjong and Sungyeol are your business! I'm in charge of three people!"

"You got two cornered and one already wrapped around your hand! Now help me!"

"Oh my gosh. Wooyoung! When on earth are you coming!" Thunder yelled, putting his hand over his eyes. Yoseob snorted and rolled his eyes. He sat straight up on the corner of his bed and narrowed his eyes at Thunder.

"Bleh! You !" Yoseob shouted. With the childish remark, he ran straight out of the room before Thunder could shoot a glare. The man threw his head back and rubbed his face with his sore fingers, which had beome stiff due to typing for so long.

"Why can't we just go home while leaving IU here?" Thunder grunted. "This place doesn't seem so bad after all…"

"We're home-"

"IU!" Yoseob screamed with joy as he ran over and burried IU in his hug. IU gasped and blushed, embarrassed from the sudden contact. Sungyeol, who had been hanging around in the kitchen, quickly appeared and glared at Yoseob. He grabbed Yoseob's collar and pulled away from IU, envious how he could show his affection towards her so easily with her blushing.

"Hey, stay away from IU. You know the rule," Sungyeol snapped. 

"What rule? We had no rule in this house!" Yoseob hissed.

"You have to stay at least five yards away from IU. That was the rule," Sungyeol announced. Yoseob rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around IU's waist protectively. Sungyeol was about to punch Yoseob when he realized that the immature man was using the fellow lady as a shield. After five minutes of trying to figure out a strategy, he eventually gave up and turned to talk to Sungjong.

"Hey, Sungjong! Did you buy me anything?" Sungyeol asked. He was about to scold the youngest playfully when he realized that Sungjong had a dreaded and pale look on his face. Sungjong's eyes seemed hollow and dead, and they seemed to be saying, "Don't. Just don't talk to me." Sungyeol could only nod his head as he watched Sungjong enter the kitchen, then walk out as he dragged his feet up the stairs. Yoseob glanced at Sungjong, also noticing his strange behavior.

"What's up with him? Did you guys fight or something?" Sungyeol questioned IU. IU could only give him a blank face as she walked into the kitchen. The two rivals followed right behind her, curious of what happened.

"Did you reject him?" Yoseob blurted. Sungyeol stared at Yoseob with wide eyes in disbelief. 

Sungjong? Like IU? Impossible! "Sungjong doesn't like older woman, stup-"

"Yes," IU answered Yoseob. Sungyeol choked on his own spit as Yoseob smiled proudly as if he had won something. IU dropped her shopping bags on the table and sighed as she dug into the green bag. Yoseob helped out by taking every thing out, but leaving them on the table. Sungyeol took this opportunity to show off his knowledge of where the food went, which ticked Yoseob off.

"So what happened? How did he confess?" Yoseob handed IU a can of soup as she placed it aside.

"He indirectly confessed to me. I was pretty shocked, but I managed to recover from my shockness and give him a proper response," IU confessed. 

"What did you say?" Sungyeol inquired her.

"All I did was say, 'I'd still reject him.' He was referring to himself, and I only see him as a younger brother or sibling," IU explained. Suddenly, Yoseob's expression hardened as he stopped handing IU the items.

"Isn't that what Taeyang told Wooyoung on the day you eavesdropped on them with me? 'I'd still reject her even if she confessed to me privately?'" Yoseob asked. Sungyeol's ears perked up as he turned his head around. IU's skin became pale, and her legs began to wobble. She could only press her lips together until they turned slightly purple. She took a deep breath, and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know who Taeyang is," IU muttered quietly.

"Don't lie. If it wasn't for him, you would still be with me, Thunder, and Wooyoung. We would be the four buddies!" Yoseob exclaimed. "I can't forgive him for what he did to you, especially since he knew about your feelings and ignored them!"

"It wasn't his fault. I sang him a love confession and he had the right to reject me-"

"Yeah, maybe he had the right to reject you, but to reject you in front of the whole school during the talent show? That's just a heartless action he did!"

"It wasn't his fault! You can't blame him! If I never had these feelings in the first place, then it would've been perfect…"

"Perfect? Jieun, when did someone ever teach you that you can control your feelings? Is this what all these guys are teaching you? False romance?"

IU shot him a glare. "False romance? Since when was there such a thing! Yang Yoseob, you have no rights to talk like this behind everyone's back!"

"Oh, so now Taeyang has the right to embarrass you, and I don't have to right to set you straight? Admit it, Jieun! You know him, and you still miss him!" Yoseob yelled.

"I…I do not!" With this, IU ran straight up the stairs and slammed her door. Yoseob scowled, but quickly fell to the ground when a strong impact landed on his cheek. Yoseob groaned in pain as he wiped the blood from his lip and narrowed his eyes at Sungyeol.

"What the heck?" Yoseob cursed.

"I have no idea what happened to IU and who's right or wrong, but a gentleman should know when to back then from a sensative conversation," Sungyeol breathed. Then, he leaned closer to Yoseob's face with a taunting glare. "Even a player like me knows better than an idiot like you."

Sungyeol gave him a smug look before running upstairs to cheer IU up. As Yoseob stood alone in the empty room, dumbfounded, he finally scowled and scratched his head.

"Seriously! Why am I the idiot every single time?" Yoseob complained.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Myungsoo tiredly rubbed his eyes, his fingers stiff and his eyes stinging from the computer screen. He had been typing up a whole essay for the last two hours, researching the correct facts, double checking his facts, and organizing his essay until it was perfect. He yawned, then glanced at the clock. It was only ten at night. Why not grab a snack? 

He stood up from his seat, skipped down the stairs with droopy eyes, and jumped when he heard a familiar voice from the kitchen. He quickly hid behind the walls, eavesdropping on Thunder and Sunggyu.

"Here." Thunder threw a bunch of envelopes at Sunggyu. Sunggyu gasped and fell on his bottom, unable to collect all the letters at once. As he reached for one envelope, he froze and bit his bottom lip.

"W-Why are you giving me this?" he stuttered. "I-I thought that if I obeyed you then you wouldn't reveal this-"

"That's right, we did say that, didn't we?" Thunder asked, tilting his head to the side. "Unfortunately, I already had my fun with you. I looked through these letters and, to be honest, they didn't seem like they would be a big deal to any of you guys-"

"What? This is a huge deal! It's the invitation back to home! Everyone would leave this house but me. I don't know how close you are with your buddies, but the rest of my guys are like my younger brother. Sending them away is like sending them to the streets. I-"

"Whatever. Anyways, tell Wooyoung that I'm taking my leave. You guys won't see me tomorrow in the morning." He paused for a moment, then smirked. "Oh, and you won't be seeing IU, either."

Sunggyu blnked his eyes. "What? Why?"

Thunder ignored him and walked away without saying a word. For a brief moment, Thunder's eyes met Myungsoo's dark gaze in the shadow. Instead of mentioning the cold ma, Thunder just shrugged his shoulders and walked away with a glass of milk in his hand. Myungsoo quickly entered the room, and found a flimsy envelope greeting him right below his foot. He slowly picked it up, read the address, then found it gone from his reach when Sunggyu grabbed it away. Both men's eyes connected, shooting each other icy and betrayed looks.

"Is it true? Can we really go home?" Myungsoo asked, anxious. Sunggyu looked over through his piles of envelope.

"Why? Why does it matter to you? Are you going to leave me?" Sunggyu shot back. Myungsoo only blinked his eyes with a blunt expression. 

"I don't think you could say that we're like brothers if we don't trust each other," he murmured. He turned around and faced his back against Sunggyu as he walked away back to his room. Forgetting all about his snack, his mind was occupied with the thought of going back home.

Can we really go back to the parents who left us in this house in the past?