Word Count:  2,813

".....hello?  Can I help you?"

Key's father smiled at Byul, who answered the door.  He looked around the flat in amusement.  "Well this place looks great for a flat in Itaewon,"  he mumbled. "So, this is where my son and my best friend's son hangs out frequently, huh?"

Byul continued to stare at him.  Something feels familiar around him, then it registered her brain.  "You're Key's father, right?"

Said man blinked and smiled at her again.  "Yes I am, and you must be...?"

"Byul!"  She exclaimed happily and shook his hand.  "Nice to meet you, sir!"

"Byul...." he repeated to himself aloud.  What are the odds that she's....?  "Hmmm....do you have any idea why you were named Byul?"

The young girl nodded her head happily.  "My grandmother said her daughter named me after what my father loved the most.  He loved looking at the constellations with my mother,"  she proudly explained.  "It was also a starry night when my father confessed to my mother!"

Mr. Kim froze upon hearing the story.  So it IS true.....  He cleared his throat and continued to ask, "Where...is your mother now, sweetheart?"

Byul sadly smiled and pointed above them.  "In heaven.  I can remember when I was young of how my grandmother swore to find the one that killed her."

The elder man's heart tore in his chest from the sudden news.  He refrained himself from crying right in front of who is possibly his only daughter.  "She-she was killed?"

"Yeah.  My grandmother was taking care of me when it happened.  The police called it a hit-and-run, but my grandmother said that just to be sure, I should stay away from grand fish markets and tow trucks."  Byul explained more to him and gestured him to follow her.  "Key is in the bathroom taking a shower, so it'll be a while until he comes out.  You can sit on the couch to wait."

The man thanked her and sat down on the couch.  He noticed used sticky notes in the shape of a star.  When he found there was writing on the notes, he began to read them carefully.  Once he was done, he chuckled and shook his head.  Her grandmother must've left out the part how she was conceived, he thought amusingly.  I found her....I found her at one point and I had her, even for just a moment.  But she disappeared again....

When Byul came back out to the living room from Onew's room with Onew, Mr. Kim had a depressed look on his face.  Both people tilted their heads to the side, staring at the middle-aged man.  "Is anything wrong, sir?"  Onew asked hesitantly.

Mr. Kim snapped out of his daze and looked up to see Byul & a man who appears older than her.  From what he remembered of his son's many 'short' talks (because with Key, 'short' was an understatement when it came to the limit of conversation), the guy he saw before him could be Lee Jinki, the eldest of whom Key befriended.  "Who is this fine young man beside you?  Your boyfriend?"  He couldn't help but ask in wonder.

"NO HE ISN'T!"  A random shout gave all 3 people a surprise as Jonghyun just came in from the front door.  He rushed over to push his older friend on the couch and hugged Byul by the waist.  "I'M HER PUPPY AND SHE'S MY ANGEL!" He retorted and emphasized certain words as he glared at the old man before him.  "Now who the heck are you?" he asked rudely.

BONK!

"OWWW~ DAMMIT, KEY!"  Jonghyun whined as he pouted and rubbed the back of his head.

Key gave him death glares as he held his pink slipper.  Jonghyun gasped once he took a good look at him and covered Byul's eyes with his hands.  

"Dammit, Key!  My angel see just impure things such as your !"  Key glanced at himself and realized the lower half of his body was covered with only a towel.  He smirked at Jonghyun.

"Oh yeah?  Make sure she doesn't look at you in general and she'll be fine."

"YAH!"

"YAH YOURSELF, IDIOT!"

"Ahem."

Everyone turned to Mr. Kim, who cleared his throat loudly.

"I actually need to speak to Kibum & Byul for a moment," he announced and turned to his son.  "Can we talk in your room?"

Key nodded slowly and hesitantly gestured his father to his room, then pulled Byul beside him, wondering what was going on.  As soon as the door was closed shut, Taemin & Minho came out from the kitchen.  Taemin was the first one to speak after a moment of silence.  "Um, not to sound a bit off subject, but how did Key's dad find this place?"

"Oh, yeah,"  Onew exclaimed and snapped his fingers.  "I totally forgot to tell you guys.  Might as well since he's here...."  He chuckled sheepishly and grinned, scratching his head.  "I sort of lied of where I pay the bills.  I've been saving the money we earned in a bank account that Key's father opened for us.  He also owns this flat, which was how I managed to obtain.  He generously bought this place permanently so he knows where Key is at all cost."

Everyone else in the living room gaped at him.  "So," Minho started, "you mean to say that we didn't have to work or steal cash just to make ends meet?"  He glowered down at Onew.

Taemin smiled brightly all of a sudden.  "So that's how you paid for the dance studio!"

"Not paid, Taeminnie.  Bought.  I bought it with the money I earned working for Mr. Kim."  Onew corrected him.  Jonghyun narrowed his eyes at him suddenly.

"You mean to say you've been lying to us and working for a rich man?  And I had to SACRIFICE MY OWN PRIDE TO WEAR DRAG QUEEN OUTFITS AT BARS JUST TO PERFORM AND MAKE MONEY?!"  Jonghyun shouted in fury and jumped on Onew, pushing him to the floor and attempting to choke his neck.  Minho held Jonghyun back and literally lifted him off the ground, tossing him onto his shoulder as if he was carrying a sack.  "THE FUDGE, CHOI MINHO?!  PUT ME DOWN!" he bellowed, causing Onew & Taemin to laugh at how Jonghyun cursed and looked right about now.

Key & Byul listened carefully, sitting on Key's bed, as Mr. Kim continued to stand and pace back and forth in front of them, explaining his story.  Before doing so, however, he ordered his son to at least put on some pants.

It was the month of October when I saw her again, Park Gaehwa.

"Gaehwa?"  

She turned around upon hearing the name and frantically looked around.  I knew she was looking for me.  Her eyes widened at the sight of me and quickly tried to run away.

Not wanting to lose her, I ran after her and grabbed her by the arm.  I mean, what were the odds of seeing her again after she disappeared for like 2 years?  "Gaehwa!" I desperately shouted.

She snapped at me.  "That's not my name!"  I already had a feeling it wasn't, since for a year I failed to find her.  My mother, who was lonely after my father's death, wanted grandchildren, so I did what I had to do for the company I was in charge with and married someone whose family needed strength from our company's assets.

At least with the one I married, Kang Mawang, we had a somewhat stable relationship.  Sure, she can be pretty blunt and honest, but she's always considerate for me.  She gave me a great son by the name of Kibum.  Though, I had a feeling his personality would halfway end up like his mother; rude & blunt.

Nonetheless, I held my grip steadily and softly asked, "Then what exactly is your name?  Tell me, please...."  I slowly hugged her, even when she tried to pull away and flinched at my touch.  "Tell me, please.....I need to know the name of whom I fell in love with...." I begged her.

She froze for a moment, then I could feel her crying against my chest.  I held her in my embrace and we simply stood there, in the middle of the crosswalk.  We weren't really disturbing anyone's paths, really.

For a long moment later, I carried her the way she liked it - piggyback style.  On the way back to where she was currently staying, we started chatting a bit awkwardly about our lives.  But this time, I listened while she talked.  It was pretty obvious how my life was going due to the media and the mass production of newspapers with my face on the front page headlines.

Her real name was Wang Xingji.  Her mother named her after the stars, and that night when she saw them was also when she decided to keep Xingji and raise her.  Her father walked out on her mother, and she never believed in love, until she met me.  It turns out that not only was she into Chinese culture, but she was actually part Chinese from her father's side.  Her mother was somewhere in Korea, and they frequently travel a lot with no attachments to people; another reason why she left me after a month of being in a relationship.

Other than that, she never lied about herself.  That was a good thing, too, because I was afraid that she might have lied about her personality.  It turns out I still fell for the right girl, but married the wrong one.

Xingji's apartment flat in Itaewon was where we secretly met and continued our relationship.  She always wanted to end it, but I convinced her otherwise.

"Fine, leave me.  But know this - I don't care about my status.  I don't care about anything else, and I'd give all this up just for you!  .....but, if you want, then admit that you don't love me and live a new life without me."

"........you bastard....."  she mumbled and ran over to kiss me on the lips.  After that fight ended, we had our romantic moments for about another 4 years until Mawang found out.  She somehow went through my wallet and a found an old photo of me & Xingji before she first disappeared from my life.

"How dare you cheat on me with a poor girl?!"  she cried out and lashed at me one rainy night with the slap of a hand across my cheek.  I knew I deserved that hit.  Imagine what would happen if she found out I had a 4 year old daughter with Xingji.

My eyes widened as I saw Mawang stalk towards her car.  I had a bad feeling something would happen, so I followed her and tried blocking her from her car door.  "Mawang, what are you doing?!"  I asked in a panic.

She pushed me away and simply replied, "To my father's damn fish marketing company.  I have to blow off some steam."  She got into her car and drove in the rain, leaving me with my 6 year old son, who was watching us from the window inside the mansion.  I went back in and decided to play with him, praying to God that Xingji & Byul would be just fine.  I was almost convinced that they were, considering I remembered that Xingji's mother was going to visit them.

The next morning, I woke up to a lovely smell of breakfast that the maids cooked for us.  I walked into the kitchen with Kibum in my arms and was surprised to find Mawang smiling at us.  She told me she forgave me and everything went slowly just fine, except for the fact that she told me to never see Xingji again.

That afternoon, I went to find her in our secret hiding apartment, only to panic as all the stuff was gone.  Not a trace of my love was around except for a letter, simply saying that they moved to China.

That entire week, I frantically searched for them abroad, but my search hunt failed.

I realized maybe it was for the best, since I probably deserved it for my wrong actions.  But I really love her....

"....and to this day, I still searched for her, until now."  Mr. Kim made eye contact with Byul, who simply stared at him back with no emotion.  Despite Key being angry towards his father, he gulped at how unemotional Byul was being.

"B-Byul?"  Key called out in a stutter.

Silence engulfed the entire room until Byul finally said something.

"This place.....was where you & my mother met?"

Mr. Kim slowly nodded and backed away, knowing full well that his children needed some space.

".......my grandmother wrote something before she made me leave with her to Daegu.....I didn't think....." she trailed off during her audible thoughts, then she gasped and turned to Key.  "Your mother's side is in charge of a fish marketing company?!"  she whispered quickly.

Key nodded and stared at her for a moment, not getting what she meant until the gears shifted in his brain.  His eyes widened in realization and carefully asked, "Byul.......exactly how did your mother die, according to your grandmother?"

A moment later, everyone in the living room jumped as the door to Key & Taemin's room bursted open and Key's father ran out of the flat like a horse racing through the wind.  They all turned to Byul, who silently walked to Minho & Jonghyun's room, her head lowered, facing the ground.  Then they fixed their gazes to Key, who was walking straight towards them with his arms crossed over his bare chest.

"Key, what happened?"  Onew asked.

He frowned and sat inbetween him and Minho on the couch.  Taemin was on the floor with Jonghyun, and they were in the middle of playing a card game called Speed before being disrupted.

"Well, it turns out Byul is my half sister,"  Key briefly explained, "and also the fact that my evil mother probably hired someone to hit Byul's mother with a tow truck when we were young babies, causing her to die.  It's automatically called a murder, and my father just left to take care of the case."  He chuckled, making his friends cringe a bit at the sudden light mood he had after the blunt bad news he gave them.  "Dude, you could've seen the look on my dad's face!  I've never seen him so angry - I always find him a bit too happy..."

"Wait,"  Jonghyun interrupted.  "So this means that you're related to Cheonsa?"

Key gave him a look and nodded hesitantly, letting suspicious thoughts come to mind.  His thoughts were unfortunately correct as Jonghyun scrambled to his feet and ran to his & Minho's room.  "Yah!  She's technically my sister!  So I'm still affected by your flirting!"  Key yelled, about to get up from his seat.

However, Minho made him sit back down and grinned.  "Key, guess what I learned from Onew?"  Onew's eyes widened in fear of the diva beside him.

"Cheonsa?"

Byul looked up at Jonghyun from inside the closet room, the same place where he first found her after the clown chase and the 'search party' for Byul.  Her silent tears continued to flow as she stared at the man standing before her.

"Xiao Gou....."  she whispered, and got up from the floor to hug Jonghyun.  He hugged her back and calmly her back.  Her sobbing continued again, but this time he could actually hear her cry out.  "Umma....I found Appa....." she kept mumbling over and over again.

Jonghyun's heart tore in two as he heard her mumbling.  He gently leaned down to whisper against her ear.  "You also have a brother.... an 'oppa',"  he continued to whisper close to her as he momentarily leaned back a bit to gaze into her eyes, "Not just Key oppa..... you have Onew oppa, Minho appa, Taeminnie.... you have 4 brothers!"  He cracked a smile, hoping it would cheer Byul up and decrease her tears from shedding more.

"......4?"

Jonghyun nodded.  "Mhm."

"......what about you?"

Jonghyun froze and slowly bit his lip.  Go for it, Jjong!  his mind commanded him.  He went for it and leaned towards her face.  Byul looked shocked but she didn't pull away.  Instead, she hesitantly met him halfway and their lips touched softly.  The kiss was soft, slow, and simple.  Jonghyun closed his eyes, then Byul followed suit when his arms slowly wrapped around her waist.

When Jonghyun pulled away after a moment, he felt like doing somersaults in his mind upon seeing Byul's smile.

"LEE JINKI!  I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!"

The two people inside the closet room sighed deeply as the moment was ruined.  Dammit, Key!  Jonghyun inwardly cursed.  However, Byul held his hand as she led him out of the closet room, to where Key was currently tying up a weak Onew onto the dining room chair.