I stilled. Why would KyuJong ever ask that? Did he find out somehow? Did he find anything as he cleaned up the mess in my unit? I looked around and saw that everyone was waiting for my answer.

“It’s just… as I was cleaning up, I saw an empty bottle of medicine,” KyuJong explained.

Idiot, I thought. He must have found the empty bottle of painkillers. I forgot to throw it away and of course he found it. “Back pain,” I finally said. I wasn’t completely lying, though. I did have back pain. “I have back pain. I’ve had it for awhile now.”

KyuJong didn’t seem satisfied by my answer. “How long have you been feeling it?” he asked. The look in his eyes told me that he wouldn’t drop this until I answered his question.

“A while. I don’t remember when I first had it but I’m getting it more often now. I have made an appointment for tomorrow, so don’t worry.” I smiled and he sighed.

“Well, then you should rest, Noona,” YoungSaeng said.

“Yeah,” JungMin added, “go on, get some rest. We will clean up the mess before we leave.”

“Nonsense. It’s really late and you all drank, right?” I looked at them one by one. Their faces have turned red save KyuJong’s who barely drank. “You guys can stay in the extra room. I’ll get it ready.” I said and my heels, getting into the extra room where the guys usually stayed in every time something like this happened. Though it was the first time all five was going to stay over, the room was big enough for the five of them. The bed was big enough for three people and I had a set of the traditional bedding that I kept in the wardrobe. I got it out and spread it on the floor. When everything was set, I went to my room to get a few pillows and brought it to the extra room.

I scanned the room once and after making sure it was habitable I left the room. Outside, the guys had just finished cleaning up and they all went into the room. I left them and went to my own room.

Getting settled in, I glanced at my phone that was resting on the bedside table. I couldn’t help but wonder how many missed calls did I have. Thank God I had two phones. I made a mental note to tell the boys to contact me through my other number tomorrow. They shouldn’t be surprised, though. As this was not the first time I avoided the Winchesters by turning off my phone for a few weeks.

I adjusted myself on the bed and sleep took me immediately.

---

Seoul, One Week Later

One week had passed since the boys told me the news. We had not met again since the boys left my apartment the next morning. They had been busy preparing for their comeback. KyuJong had called the next evening to ask me about my appointment, I told him the doctors had prescribed something for the pain. Well, I didn’t lie because they really did.

Sam and Dean hadn’t called again. I turned my phone back on after the third day and found out that there had been no call since the second day. They probably had accepted the fact that there was no changing my mind in this matter. I truly hoped this was the case.

I, on the other hand, had been busy going back and forth to the hospital. They had assigned me a team to help me choose what treatment I wanted to take. They also had been doing a lot of tests and asking even more questions.

The doctors in Houston were right, there was no curing the cancer. The team assigned to give me council also reminded me of it as they suggested palliative treatments. They said that if I wanted to, I could have palliative chemotherapy to try to shrink the cancer and slow its growth. However, there were also some side effects of this treatment. I told the doctors I would read more on it and let them know later.

After three hours of talking with the team, I left the hospital. My mind was occupied with what the doctor said that when my phone rang, I didn’t bother checking who it was. Before I even said anything, the voice at the other end came. It was Dean.

“Oh, so now that I’m using a Korean number you decided to pick up, huh?” he said casually.

Surprised, I looked at the caller ID and saw that he really was using a Korean number. But how? Wait, he couldn’t be in Korea, could he? I put the phone back to my ear. “Wait, Dean, are you-”

“In Korea? Hell yes I am,” Dean said, cutting me mid-sentence. This was definitely not good. Dean was pissed. “Sam’s here as well. We arrived yesterday and now we’re about to go out to eat. Care to join us?”

Well, here we go, I thought to myself. Knowing there was no avoiding meeting him, I asked him where he and Sam were staying. He told me the name of the hotel and we agreed to meet at a restaurant near the hotel. After that I hung up and continued walking to the bus station.

When I arrived at the restaurant, Sam and Dean were already eating his food, I grinned as I pictured the Winchesters having to translate as they ordered. I walked closer toward them and took the seat directly in front of Sam. The waiter came and asked if I wanted to order anything and I ordered a drink.

I waited until they both finished eating before I started talking. “You shouldn’t have come,” I said.

“You shouldn’t have made the deal,” Sam said matter of factly.

“Don’t do anything stupid, you said,” added Dean. “Seriously, SeoYun? Don’t do anything stupid? That was the last thing you said to us before you hung up and decided to cut us off?”

“Yes,” I said. I was surprised at how calm I was. “By the way, not doing anything stupid includes not coming here. You have a lot on your plate already. Why did you even come here?”

“Seriously?” Sam gave me that infamous face of his. “SeoYun, there must’ve been another way. You can’t just make a deal for some boys-”

“Some boys?” I said, raising my voice a bit. “They’re not just some boys. They’re my brothers, almost like my kids, even. Dean, don’t tell me this is not something you would’ve done for Sam.”

“It’s not. It really isn’t something I would do for Sam,” said Dean. “I want him happy, but he wouldn’t be happy knowing I-” Dean suddenly stopped. He looked over my shoulder and I followed his gaze to find HyungJun. He was walking toward us and stopped on my side, smiling.

“Oh, hello, HyungJun,” I said, surprised to see him here.

“Hi, Noona. We came here to have lunch,” said HyungJun in Korean, pointing to the other four boys at a table not too far away from us. “Are you okay? Is there anything bad happening?”

I waved and smiled to the other four. They had food on their table already, that meant they'd been there for awhile. I couldn't help but worry about how much they'd heard. Turning my attention back to HyungJun, I switched to Korean, “Well I’m okay. Oh by the way these are Sam and Dean, my friends from the US.” I pointed at the boys as I said their names.

HyungJun smiled and greeted them in English, “Hello, I am Kim HyungJun. I am Noona’s brother. Nice to meet you.” HyungJun bowed slightly.

The Winchesters then introduced themselves and awkwardly bowed with their heads. They were having their first culture shock, it seemed.

“Noona, are you really okay??” HyungJun once again switched to Korean.

“Yeah, these guys came without notice. I was just a little bit surprised.”

“For real? If there’s anything wrong I can-”

“I’m okay. Have a good lunch,” I said, effectively ending the conversation.

HyungJun seemed reluctant to leave but he did anyway. He joined the other guys, leaving the three of us there. We sat in awkward silence for a few moments until laughter was h