Speechless. Breathless. Amazed. IU couldn't find the exact words to describe the scenery she saw at the moment. Tall buildings seemed old and ugly, but they brought her a refreshing imagine of her memories in the past. The old trees, twisted from the lack of room, swayed in the breeze, showering the young woman with their finest, green leaves. Thunder walked besides her, smiling, as he inhaled the scent of his hometown - their hometown.

"Welcome back, IU," Thunder whispered. "We're home."

Another breeze passed by, slightly lifted up the rims of IU's summer dress. Her yellow clothing stopped waving, as the wind died and tucked her lemon-colored sunhat back on her head. She smiled for a few moment, then suddenly filled her expression with dread.

"Is… Is he here?" IU asked.

"As far as I know it, yes," Thunder replied confidently. IU froze, stiffening her body in an uncomfortable position. "But he's married."

"Oh." 

Silence wrapped around their conversation. Once again, the wind picked up and carressed both friend's hairs, lifted them up as if they were reviving from the dead. Thunder sighed and put a black cap over his head in order to keep his hair from flying around the wind.

"It's pretty windy. Watch out for your hat," Thunder warned her. IU only nodded her head as she followed Thunder through the rough concrete. The passed by markets, bakeries, and even a small arcade shop they used to hang around in when they were younger. While they made their way, no one seemed to have recognized IU. They obviously knew who Thunder was, and went out to greet him from his long trip. However, when they saw IU, they were shocked and too surprised to greet her. All they asked her was if she was going to stay at their hometown, but to this, IU replied with a small "no."

After a few hours, Thunder found a bench near the shore and gestured her to sit down. IU shook her head, but was forced down when Thunder grabbed her wrist and made her drop onto the bench.

"Wait here," Thunder said. "I'll be right back with drinks. If anything happens…" He paused, glanced at IU, then smirked. "Nah, nothing would happen to you. You're not even that pretty."

IU blushed furiously and shot a glare at him. Thunder laughed and pulled off her hat in order to mess up her hair.

"I was just teasing," he replied, smirking. He was just about to put her hat back on until a strong breeze snatched it away from his grip. "Oops."

The two watched the hat fly away like a frisbee, spinning and going higher up in the hair until the wind would finally stop. Soon enough, the breeze disappeared and the hat plopped down to the ground. It fell down like paper, flimsy and light. As it landed on the sand, IU and Thunder ran to retreive the hat. The two suddenly stopped when they realized that a pair of shoes was approaching the sunhat. IU froze, while Thunder gleefully beamed. The stranger bent down, picked up the hat, and turned to where the two friends were. The man smiled, walked calmly towards them, and handed the hat towards IU.

"Jieun, that's you, right? My little princess?" The stranger stared at the short girl, then broke into a smile. "Well, you're not as little as I thought you'd be, but you're still short."

Only one word slipped out of her soft lips, barely audible for anyone to hear. 

"Taeyang."

"Unbelievable. You guys let him snatch away IU but not me? My goodness, this world is so unfair!" Sungyeol screamed. Everyone was having breakfast, including Yoseob and Wooyoung. The two looked extremely annoyed as they chewed on their toast, wondering when everyone was going to calm down. 

"I wasn't planning for him to take her away," Myungsoo snapped. "I knew he was going somewhere and was going to take IU, but I was planning to stop him. I didn't know that he was going to take her that early."

"Whatever! You still knew!" Sungyeol shot back. The blame game went on between the two. Woohyun boringly bit into his egg, realizing how plain it was compared to how IU made them. He spat the chewed substance out of his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Sunggyu.

"What the heck? What is this?" Woohyun asked.

"It's scrambled eggs," Sunggyu replied, now flipping some pancakes.

"IU makes them way better than you do," Woohyun muttered.

"What are you talking about? We make scrambled eggs the same way," Sunggyu retorted. Woohyun paused, and blinked his eyes. He stared at the yellow eggs for a long time, trying to think why a girl's cooking was more delicious than a guy's cooking. He poked his meal, then dropped his fork as he slung his backpack on his shoulders.

"This doesn't taste the same," Woohyun responded bluntly. "I'm going to school."

"Oh shoot. The talent show is tomorrow," Dongwoo remembered, widening his eyes. "Hoya, we gotta go right now! We're having early rehersal and another one after school!"

Hoya nodded his head and shoved the remaining sausages in his mouth. He went upstairs to find his backpack, and came downstairs while adjusting his blazer. The three boys left in a hurry, forgetting to bid everyone a "goodbye."

Sungjong got up and yawned. He glanced at the time, and finished his toast. He got up, gathered his plate, and dumped it into the sink. Sunggyu turned his body around as his eyes followed the youngest.

"Wait, you aren't eating the pancakes?" Sunggyu asked. "I made extra for you."

"Sorry hyung," Sungjong apologized, "but I got to hand in my form."

"What form?" Sungyeol asked, putting his elbow on Sungjong's shoulder. 

"The 'Leaving School Request Form.' I told you that I'll be going back to my parents as soon as I can."

"B-But you said that you'll be leaving next week!" Sungyeol exclaimed.

"I told you that I'll leave as soon as possible, and next week was just an option." Sungjong rolled his eyes and stared at his folder. "I hope I didn't forget anything."

"You did," Sungyeol replied. "You forgot to burn it."

"Sungyeol!" Sunggyu scolded. "Respect his decisions!"

"I'm only saying," Sungyeol said, shrugging his shoulders. Yoseob and Wooyoung glanced at each other, nodded, and stood up to put away their plates. They turned to Sunggyu and politely bowed at him.

"Although we still hate you," Wooyoung started, "we'll still thank you for the meal and the hospitality."

"Break it up, guys," Myungsoo said, scoffing. "Why are you guys so polite?"

Yoseob glanced at Wooyoung for permission, who only responded with a small nod. He nodded back and took a deep breath.

"We're planning to take our leave back to our hometown. Wooyoung still has school, and I need to visit my family."

"What? No evil scheme?" Myungsoo asked them. Yoseob pressed his lips. The other boy shrugged his shoulders and slipped his hands in his jeans.

"Well… To confess, we were going to pull some pranks on you guys," Wooyoung blurted. 

Yoseob decided to continue for his friend. "But… we got bored. Our luggages are already outside, and we're ready to go."

Myungsoo looked out the window. "There's three luggages. Is one for Thunder?"

To this, Wooyoung and Yoseob grinned with mischief marking their face. "Nope. That's IU's. We're taking her back, just like we promised before."

IU found herself in a sticky situation when a beautiful waitress served her, Taeyang, and Thunder a cup of coffee and took a seat across from Thunder. She nervously glanced up at the employee, admiring her beauty and envying her close relationship with Taeyang. Taeyang and the woman smiled, held hands, and turned to face the younger friends.

"It's so nice to have you back, Jieun," the waitress said. "You remember me, right? I'm Sanghyun's-"

"Thunder," Thunder corrected. "It's Thunder, Noona."

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm Thunder's older sister. Do you remember?"

IU only nodded quietly and sipped her coffee. "You're Sandara, right?"

The lady smiled brightly and laughed in delight as she clapped her hands. "She remembers! She remembers!"

"Call her IU, Noona. That's her nickname. Plus, of course she'd remember, Noona. Who was the one who dolled her up and got her in trouble for using her mom's lipstick?" Thunder scoffed. Sandara dropped , but the corner of her lips were still curved upwards. She slapped her younger brother's arm playfully and giggled.

"I can't believe you remember! Do you remember, IU?" Sandara asked. IU nodded her head silently, continuing to sip the cool ice coffee. Her eyes were on Taeyang, who would only smile foolishly to himself and stare at his wife. 

Would he smile like that if I was married to him? IU wondered curiously. Thunder, who noticed how IU was dazing off, kicked her under the table. She yelped quietly, narrowed her eyes at Thunder, and kicked him back. The two exchanged glares, kicking each other back and forth. Soon enough, IU forgot about her thoughts of Taeyang and was only focused on trying to make Thunder stop kicking her back. The couple stared at the two teenagers, smiled, and gave each other teasing looks. Suddenly, Sandara leaned forward and batted her eyelashes.

"Thunder, IU… Are you two dating?" Sandara asked them curiously. The two stopped and whirled their heads to the suspicious woman. IU turned red as Thunder made a fist under the coffee table.

"Wha… We're not dating!" he denied forcefully. "We are definitely not dating!"

"I can see you two together," Taeyang commented, causing IU to feel ticked off. "Wasn't it Thunder who courted IU to their middle school graduation?"

"Yeah, it was," Sandara answered. "They were so cute! She was in her little blue dress, and Thunder was also in his navy blue tuxedo. They were like the ocean, blue and synchronized."

Thunder blushed and covered his face with his large hand. "Noona, please. You're embarrassing me-"

Sandara grinned. "You're blushing. Admit it, you still have feelings for little IU. Did I tell you, IU, that Thunder was freaking out when you left?"

IU looked up, and stared at Sandara in surprised. As far as she knew, Thunder never freaked out. He was always calm, responsible, and humble. He wasn't the type who would panic, scream for help, or desperately call for the police in order to find her (like how Yoseob would). She gave the alluring woman a curious look, asking her indirectly for more information. Seeing this, Sandara smirked and nudged Taeyang's shoulder, motioning him to say a few words. Taeyang sighed and shook his head, still having the same, love-struck smile plastered on his face.

"Everyone was worried where you went after your parents passed away. When we found out that you were gone, the only person who freaked out enough to think that you committed suicide was Thunder. He was desperate, and blamed himself for not making an appearance at the funeral. You know what he told me?" Taeyang asked. IU shook his head as Thunder stood up. He grabbed IU's wrist and pulled her up.

"I'm sorry, but we'll be going now," Thunder replied. "It was nice meeting you, Noona. Taeyang hyung, thanks for catching the hat before it flew into the ocean."

Taeyang stood up. "You're leaving?" He paused, then frowned. "Are you still mad at me like Wooyoung is?"

IU blinked her eyes. "Why is Wooyoung mad at Taeyang oppa-"

"No, I'm not mad," Thunder replied, ignoring IU. "I'm not mad at all. Just… disappointed." 

"Disappointed at what? You three have been hating me from the moment I rejected IU's confession at her talent show," Taeyang said coldly. Thunder turned around and faced Taeyang with a bitter look.

"You could've accepted her and rejected her privately! She worked day and night on that song, and now it became a laughing-stock. You have no idea how much she cried that day," Thunder muttered.

"Look, I would've done that if I knew that she recieved a letter about her parent's death. A rejection is simply a rejection. A confession is just a confession. When I proposed to your sister, the only one who was against the marriage was you just because I rejected IU's feelings a long time ago," Taeyang responded hotly. 

"So you're saying that IU's confession had no feelings? No meanings?"

"Yes! It was just a small crush! I was just someone who she admired. I didn't love her, and she never loved me. She just liked me, that's all."

Thunder rushed over to Taeyang and leaned forward with a nasty glare. "Well guess what? Who was the one that said, 'Oppa's little girl will always be protected by her oppa?' That's right, Taeyang. You. You were the one who said that. Yoseob, Wooyoung and I took those words seriously. We admired you, too. You were our role model. The night when you crushed our little girl's heart, I couldn't find a reason why I looked up to a man like you."

Sandara pulled Thunder by his ear and glowered at him. "You talk to my husband like that one more time, I'm telling Mom."

"Ow, ow, ow…" Thunder yelped in pain as his sister dragged him out of the café to scold him and yell at him for being an idiot. IU stood still, remembering the familiar words Thunder had just said: "Oppa's little girl will always be protected by her oppa."

"IU?" Taeyang called. She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at him. "You still like me, right? The confession is over?"

She paused for a moment, and waited when she felt the cool breeze from the opening entrance rush into the café. Then, she smiled softly at Taeyang and tucked a strand of her hair behind her hair. She grabbed her hand, wore it carefully, then bowed respectfully towards Taeyang.

"Taeyang oppa, thank you," she responded. She left the café, not replying to his hanging questions.