"Min-Ji ah, don't keep focusing on your chips, watch where you are going," The 8-year-old boy called after the little girl in pigtails bouncing down the street.

"Oppa, I heard you the first time," The 5-year-old spun around and pouted before adding teasingly, "Look it's the green light, you slow poke."

A smile tugged at the corners of the boy's lips though it did not take long before a look of horror took over.

"Min-Ji ah!" He shouted but it was too late.

It happened so quickly. The crash, her scream and the lifeless form of his once bubbly sibling.

"Min-Ji, Min-Ji," Jaejoong repeated over and over again as he held her in his arms. "Help, someone help!"

 ~~~~~

Yuri does not remember for how long has she cried or when she fell asleep from the fatigue when the sound of someone calling for help woke her. It was Jaejoong but he did not seem to be awake.

"Hey," She called out gently while shaking the man who is by now covered in beads of cold sweat. Whatever is haunting him in his dreams right now must have been pretty bad to make him look this helpless. "Hey, Jaejoong-"

~~~~~

Jaejoong's POV

It was one of those nightmares again and if it did not already scare the wits out of me, what or rather who I saw next certainly delivered the remaining dose of shock.

"Wh-why is your face so close to mine?" I stuttered while pushing Yuri away in reflex and sat up.

"You were screaming so I tried to wake you. Then- then you pulled me in and I fell. Were you pretending to be asleep?" She uttered in horror.

"HA," I gave an over-exaggerated laugh before adding sarcastically, "Don't worry. I am not Choi Siwon."

For a second, I think I heard a bird chirp in the awkward silence that proceeded.

"I'm sorry" I managed. I thought I was in for another few hours of bawling when instead I heard her laugh.

"You're sorry? Kim Jaejoong is never sorry," She replied teasingly with a forced smile. For the first time, I saw her disheveled hair and the fatigue that took over the feisty personality of the girl before me. The events have taken their toll on Yuri, the way it did to her. The sight was so familiar that it hurt.

~~~~~

Yuri's POV

My heart ached when I heard the name but I managed. I tried to laugh it off but he did not look convinced.

"You're sorry? Kim Jaejoong is never sorry," For some reason, I tried to sound like I was fine, perhaps to persuade both him and myself that I was. He looked surprised for a moment and then – well, I might have seen it wrong – but I thought he had a look of sympathy for the first time.

"Do you want to know what he was looking for?" He asked gently, "Why he wants the bag?"

My fists clenched involuntarily and I had to fight the desire to run off then and there. I was afraid to hear what he had to say. Nothing had turned out the way I expected them to thus far and just when I thought things could not get any worse, they did. I forced a nod despite feeling like it would only take a light tap for my world to collapse.

And for once, unfortunately, I was right.