Day 11

Suyun's routine of visiting the cafe has become a daily chore for her, since Jaekyo has more work then ever and she needed to pass the time. It's been 11 days since she's lost her belongings, but she still comes to the Starlight Cafe like a ghost haunts a certain part of the house (if not the entire house). Her usual spot has been the unoccupied booth by the window, and has been deemed a regular customer.

However each day has proven to be dissappointing, what with her items still not turning up. Suyun began to lose hope, and did not visit the cafe that day.

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Day 14

She's not here, Yong Gook thought, where's the girl who was here the other day? He glanced around the cafe once again for the sixth time within the past minute. He pulled out her camera from his pocket, turning it on, and scanned through photos of the girl with the permanant smile.

"Is that your girlfriend, hyung?"

Yong Gook flinched, immediately turning off the camera and returning it to his pocket before turning around, "Yah, babo, don't sneak up on me like that."

Yong Gook's curly haired blond childhood friend, Zelo, grinned widely, his folded arms resting on his hyung's seat. "Easy, hyung, it's not like I was gonna jump you. So is she your girlfriend, hyung?"

"Ani," Yong Gook explained. "This girl left behind her camera and her phone, but I haven't seen her to return them yet."

"Ah~ She's so pretty!" Zelo's eyes flickered with childish excitement and nudged Yong Gook. "I wanna get to know her..."

An unpleasant feeling -- jealousy, resent, rage, greed -- boiled through Yong Gook's blood. He disliked the way his friend spoke about the girl with the angelic smile. "Shut up, Zelo, you don't know what you're talking about."

Zelo flinched a bit at his hyung's cold words, "Geez, hyung, I didn't mean it like that."

"Mian," Yong Gook said.

He frowned at his usual order as Zelo stood up and came around to sit across from his hyung. He never really had much friends, and Zelo was the only one other than his family who accepted his harsh demeanor. He didn't want to lose his only friend just because of an outburst, regardless of how tolerable Zelo was of his behavior.

Zelo passed up on an offer for a drink when the waiter came by, and after he left, he leaned in with his hands folded in a business-like manner. "Alright hyung, have you met that girl?" his expression held the innocence of a child as well as mirroring the seriousness of Yong Gook.

"What are you talking about now?"

"Have you talked with her?"

Yong Gook furrowed his eyebrows and stared at his friend, also leaning forward on the table, "Alright look, I've only seen her once, and that was the day she forgot her stuff here," he began. "I want to see her again, to return her stuff, but she never seems to be here when I am."

Zelo sighed and scraped his chair back, standing up. "Good luck, hyung. You'll find her again. Soon." The puzzled Yong Gook watched as his friend raised his hand in goodbye as he walked out the door. He faced forward again, sighing at his half-empty beverage that lost its steam. I have to see her again, he thought, I can't leave until she comes.

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"Oppa, you're gonna be late for work if you don't hurry." Suyun sat at the table in the kitchen with a book open, yet she watched Jaekyo scramble around the empty house to organize his things he needed for one of his 3 jobs.

"Aneunde, aneunde," Jaekyo replied, not even glancing at her. "Have you seen my sweater?"

"In our room, oppa," she said, restraining a giggle.

Suyun and Jaekyo were the only two people in the small house and has been on their own since young. Jaekyo, being the big brother, has been taking care of finances whereas Suyun takes care of the house and keeps the both of them up with their studies.

"Ah, gomawo," he rushed to their room to grab his gray sweater before heading to the door. "Kalkke. Go to sleep early, yeah? Jaljja." And Jaekyo disappeared behind the door.

Sighing, Suyun had a small smile before turning the page in her novel. She was deeply engrossed within the magic of the story until a piercing car screech interrupted her. She looked up and out the window with curious eyes. Flashes of red could be seen, causing Suyun to stand up abruptly and the chair to topple over.  "Oppa," without hesitation, Suyun rushed out the door, the book falling from the edge.

The first thing that she saw upon leaving the house was bright red flashes slowly mixing with blue lights. There was a car that had created black marks on the cement of the street and smashed a fire hyrdrant, the driver unconscious. Suyun's eyes widened at the sight of two bodies on the ground, covered in blood; one was an unknown person, the other her brother.

"Jaekyo oppa..." she breathed, then rushed to her brother's side. "Oppa. Oppa, wake up. Please oppa, wake up. Gajima..."

Jaekyo's eyes were closed and his mouth overflowing with blood. Tears flooded Suyun's eyes, obscuring her vision for a moment before they fell. She began to weep and breathe heavily as she took his hand. Words could no longer leave her lips as she closed her eyes, unable to see her brother. You can't leave me, she thought, who will love me, oppa? Her heart was completely and permanantly fractured as fear, grief and shock filled the cracks.

"Y...Yu..."

Suyun gasped and her eyes shot open to look at her brother, "Oppa... w-what is i-it?"

Jaekyo's eyes were barely open, and a small smile attempted to spread, "Don't... c-cry... You can't... cry... Promise me you... won't cry... anymore..."

She gulped and rubbed away her tears, "Please d-don't leave oppa... j-jebal..."

His hand reached up to his shirt and pulled out a silver pendant that was dotted in his blood. He gave it a painful yank and the clasp came undone, then he placed the necklace in her palm, curling her fingers over it. "I'll... never leave... Promise me you... won't cry anymore... Promise..." Jaekyo said, almost in a whisper. He reached up to touch her face, his thumb gently carressing her cheek and wiped away her tears.

Suyun nodded, "Eung, I-I promise, oppa."

The smile on Jaekyo's face grew wider, "That's... a good girl..." The twisted pain shredded her heart as Jaekyo's hand dropped. With a sharp gasp and the tears reforming, Suyun took his hand, unable to say anything else as the lump returned to choke her.

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Yong Gook turned his head and glanced up again at the window before sighing and stayed there for a while, staring at his latte as it grew cold. It was silent in the cafe, with only a few other customers there in their insolated booths. Yong Gook stood up, leaving the money on the table and left the cafe.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Yong Gook made his way home, gazing boredly straight ahead. It was not until he saw people gathering, a distorted vehicle with smoke billowing from it, and red flashing ahead that he became curious. His footsteps quickened to approach the crowd and pushed through the people like water until the red flashes were identified as an ambulance. Soft sobbing could be heard, and Yong Gook was able to see who was crying as soon as he made it to the front of the crowd.

That girl...

She kneeled next to a body in a pool of crimson blood, a hand raised to as she cried endless tears. His heart fell, seeing that there was no longer a bright smile smeared on her face, and it shattered as he saw his familiar blond friend laying near them.

"Zelo!" Quickly, he rushed to his friend's side, gently shaking his shoulders. "Zelo! Erona, get up! Zelo!"

The blaring sirens of the police cars as well as the ambulance could not reach his ears as he restlessly shook his friend. Zelo was not responding. Panic, shock and fear filled Yong Gook as his friend's life hung by a thread. He couldn't lose his only friend. He just couldn't.

The paramedics lifted Zelo's body and took him away, leaving Yong Gook on his knees on the verge of tears. He lifted his head, looking over to the girl. She was gasping and her eyes were sealed shut with her own tears. She didn't scream nor did she speak; she only sobbed and cried on her own. The male body that she grieved over was also taken away into the ambulance with Zelo. Yong Gook was frozen to the spot, his hands and knees stained with their blood. He wanted to go to her, to comfort her and make her smile again, but he was too shocked to move. He breathed heavily as he watched the vehicles drive away and the whispering civilians disperse from the scene. It was only him and the girl.

Finally, the pain and panic seeping out of his system, he stood up. Yong Gook went to the girl who still cried silently to herself and lifted her up by her arms. He waited until her sobbing died away before giving her a weak smile. "Usobwa." He wiped away her tears and they both waited, staring into the eyes of one another.

Yong Gook did not forget to return her items; he simply kept them. He wanted another chance to see the girl with a smile next time. Then without another word, they went their separate ways.