A few days had passed since the visit from Kai’s brother, Chan Yeol, and Baek Hyun’s discovery of Miya’s secret. The guilty girl could not bring herself to face her older brother figure and, luckily, hadn’t had a run-in with him since the incident. She attempted to put the situation in the back of her mind, especially with mid-terms approaching, but found it difficult, being the worry-wart she was.

I’m so pathetic…

She felt herself a bit more stressed than usual – though, in the eyes of other people, stress defined Miya’s life – and was brooding over the fact that she had no time to relax with her two part-time jobs and demanding school work. However, she very well knew that she would go insane if she didn’t take a break anytime soon and decided to go to one of her favorite spots which she hadn’t gone to in a long time.

It was late afternoon as Miya had gotten out of class and was told by her boss that there was construction going on at the market, meaning that the store was going to be closed for the weekend. Which would give her time to relax a bit and study as needed. She paced her way over to a secluded area, which she deemed as her “secret area” near the Han River. Her home route landmark, the clock tower, had introduced her to this place, which would have most likely not have been found, otherwise.

It was, honestly, a rather hard spot to find and one that people would often overlook. This was because the little stretch of grass land gradually turned to a sandy landscape, which would often trick people to think that the river bank would end and there would only be water left in the distance – this would avert people from continuing on. However, with Miya’s exploring, she found that the little strip provided a nice little walkway and it was very peaceful. Of all the times she had been there, Miya had yet to see another person in her secret place.

She relaxed her shoulders and the straps of her backpack had slung down, dropping down to the grass below along with Miya, herself. The exasperated girl enjoyed the calm atmosphere and the fact that there was no chilly breeze to cause her to shiver and ruin the content moment.

It was fairly quiet and there were a few noises off in the distance, but one would have to concentrate and pay close attention in order to fully hear the disturbances. The area was a perfect place to just unwind and contemplate on various things and meditate.

Miya frowned a bit as she began to think of the things that were currently going on in her life. She always advised people to always take some time for themselves to just think – since it would often help people to unwind and give them a peace of mind. However, Miya often found that, while she would try her best, it would never exactly be the same for her. Rather than aid her in relaxing, often times it would just cause her to bring her back to reality to her current life.

Yes, her current life meant having two part time jobs and, also, keeping up with university work in order to get a full time job. However, it also reminded her of how she was completely independent and that… well, that seemed to be all there was to her life. It was really nice to have Baek Hyun, Suzy, and some other friends to be there for her and to talk to, but she rarely had time for them considering the time and dedication the previously mentioned things took out of her life.

Her heart ached as she remembered the one day which had caused her life to turn out like this.

There would always be heartache, but Miya had been numbed to the pain and had stopped asking herself “Why?”

It was now a matter of

If only…

Kai was now doing nothing now-a-days and noticed that Miya had rarely been “home” the past week. The only traces of her being in the house were the plates of food that were left for him for some meals of the day. However, the tenant still found himself ordering food from outside in order to eat.

It felt overwhelmingly empty and he was given way too much time to think about things now.

The main question that had been bugging him ever since he had moved in was…

What am I going to do now?

He wasn’t selfish enough to ask Soo Yun to leave with him and still cared for her studies and her future. However, at the same time, he began to wonder what he would do for himself. Kai refused to be a part of his so called “family”, with the exception of his older brother, and be forced to be and do things he just did not want for himself. At the same time, where could he start to begin a new life?

Kai did not have anything planned out, at all.

And the realization was finally dawning upon him.

Ring. Ring.

“Huh? Oh... that must be Se Hun,”

The forgetful young man swiped the screen of his phone and silenced the annoying ringing tone of his phone. “Hello?”

“Hyung! Where are you!? We’re waiting for you!”

“Sorry, sorry, I got caught up in some things,”

Not really. Just his thoughts.

“Then hurry up! The other hyungs are waiting already!”

“Alright, alright, I got it, I got it,”

It didn’t take too long for Kai to get ready and walk over to the coffee shop, where his friends were waiting. Of course, clad in a simple baseball cap, and casual clothes, he made his way through the crowd and entered the café and a small ding alerted the employees of a new customer. He scanned the area to find a familiar mass of bodies and paced over towards the group to find, none other than his friends whom he had not seen for a month or so now.

“Hey,”

“Jongin-ah! Where have you been?” Kai immediately held up a finger to his lips to shush his friends, whom had gotten the message and grinned sheepishly while rubbing the backs of their necks. They mouthed an apologetic “Sorry” and scooted over on the booth seats to let the new arrival sit down. Kai quickly scanned his friends’ faces to see if there were any apparent changes, but, there weren’t any large changes. It seemed that Se Hun had gotten a new hair color, but his hyungs, Kyungsoo and Joonmyun, didn’t change too much.

Se Hun started the conversation as he asked, “So, seriously, what have you been doing this past month?”

“Mmm, you aren’t in school right now, and with everything that’s going on right now, what have you been able to do?”

Kai’s close friends did not sugar coat anything and got straight to the point with their questions. Then again, he could not really blame them for cutting to the chase, considering something rather juicy was happening with one of their close “brothers”, and they had to know what was going on with such a case. The main subject let out a sigh as he scratched the nose of his bridge and mumbled, “To be honest, I’m not doing anything,”

“You have a place, right? Se Hun told us you managed to find a place,” Hearing this, Kai shot a slight glare at the youngest one at the table as the latter sheepishly grinned and quickly looked away to avoid his killer eyes.

Can’t keep your mouth shut, huh? That’s why I don’t tell you anything, you blabbermouth.

“Yeah, it’s not much, but it’s something,” Feeling a bit uncomfortable being in the spotlight, Kai opened his mouth to somehow start another subject, but was prevented from doing so once the motherly Kyungsoo began to worry and questioned him. “Then how have you been faring? I mean, I know you’re not the best cook, Jong In, and you’re not exactly the-”

“I get it, I get it, hyung. Don’t worry; I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“So that means you’ve learned how to cook?” In an attempt to quickly end the conversation focused on himself, Kai had quickly answered a “Yeah,” to end it, but found that this was all in vain as Se Hun cheekily added in, “Cool, then how about you show us your new found cooking skills tonight?”

Their random hang outs were usually unplanned or spontaneous and made up on the spot. So, when Se Hun had made the suggestion, it didn’t come too much as a surprise to the young men at the table, but had shot down Kai’s attempt to end the talk about himself. A blank façade was worn by Kai as he began to curse Se Hun and found himself actually missing the past month without the troublemaker.

“... Alright, I don’t know how to cook,”

“So, you’ve been eating out this whole time? You look pretty good for having eaten out for the past month,”

“...”

There seemed to be no escape path for Kai and he scoffed at the heavens for having his situation be so easily revealed. It was as though life had planned for Kai’s runaway life to be known by all.

“My housemate cooks for me,”

“Oh! You have a housemate!? Whoa, how did you manage to do all that?”

...

Maybe this was one part of the story that could be left out.

“I just got lucky and happen to find a place,”

“Your housemate must be pretty cool to cook dinner for your every night. This guy must be pro or something. What’s his name?”

“Umm...”

... Damn...

Foiled again by the heavens.

“... It’s Miya,”

“Miya? Oh that’s a pretty name, I-”

“... Wait, Miya!?”

Hm, maybe I came a bit too early or should I have come another day?

It seemed that a Friday would be a good day to visit, seeing as though it was the end of the school week and beginning of the weekend. Even with jobs, from what Chan Yeol knew from his job hopping days, there would be some leniency for the types that Miya had, from what she had told him. And he had little to worry about his younger brother, Jong In, who, he knew, would not be able to do much, being a runaway. However, no one opened the door, so that meant that neither were home.

Chan Yeol’s best bet was that Miya would be coming home some time. Though, he didn’t mind waiting too much since he had time to waste and wasn’t doing too much at the moment.

He began to look around the pair’s living area a bit more and frowned a bit, realizing a few things. The neighborhood was not very well kept and many weeds had taken their roots in the concrete walkways and sidewalks. The street lamps looked dated and Chan Yeol was sure that, at night, they would probably flicker, if not, just not work at all. There were no signs of anything that could possibly brighten the area, such as a planted tree or decorations. He couldn’t even imagine how it would be during the nighttime.

How in the world could Miya live in a place like this? Especially by herself before Jong In?

“Chan Yeol-sshi? Is that you?”

Snapped out of his trance, Chan Yeol looked to the source of the familiar voice and grinned once he saw who he had been waiting for. “Hey Miya, long time no see,” A timid smile spread across her lips. “Long time no see,”

“You know, I’ve been waiting here for hours,”

“Huh!? Oh, um, I’m sorry? I mean I just... kinda... um... okay! I admit it! I forgot you were coming and I was supposed to be working now... but, I’m not saying that I’d rather not have you here!” Miya let out a troubled expression and Chan Yeol could tell that the cogs were working in her mind. He inwardly grinned as his prediction turned out to be right. He figured that by teasing her with a simple phrase, she would become troubled and flustered, resulting in a rather entertaining sight.

“It’s just that, if I had been working, then you would have been here for longer and then if that happened-”

“Haha, calm down, I’m just kidding,”

As Miya had paced her way home, she saw a rather tall figure hanging around the entrance of her house as she began to feel herself sweat a bit, afraid that it was some unwanted person. She gulped as she gathered her strength to, at least, pass her entrance to judge the person and decide whether or not to enter her house or wait a bit before doing so. Just as the paranoid young lady approached her home, she noticed that the person looked a bit familiar with reddish auburn hair and a tall physique and some casual sporty clothing.

Could it be...?

“:Chan Yeol-sshi? Is that you?”

As the subject turned his head, Miya’s guess was proven correct and she let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t some distasteful man at her doorsteps.

“Hey Miya, long time no see,” The next words that just happened to come out of , from conversational habits, were “Long time no see,” and Miya began to wonder why Chan Yeol was visiting.

Oh, that’s right, his brother.

The next words Miya heard were unexpected and caught her off guard as Chan Yeol pressed his lips together and stated, “You know, I’ve been waiting here for hours,”

At this, Miya began to feel an uneasy feeling wash over her as she was told this. Why had he been waiting for so long? Wait...

Did he mention to me that he was going to come today? I think I remember him saying that he was going to visit again to see his brother, but, was it today? What if it was today!? Oh gosh, what did I....

It seemed to play perfectly, too, since everything fell nicely into place with her classes finishing fairly early and her job break.

Oh no! I’m such an idiot!

“Huh!? Oh, um, I’m sorry? I mean I just... kinda... um... okay! I admit it! I forgot you were coming and I was supposed to be working now... but, I’m not saying that I’d rather not have you here!”

Wait, why did she even mention that?

Once you mention something, that means, obviously, it was something that was on your mind! He probably thinks that I don’t want him there now!

Should she even save herself with an excuse?

“It’s just that, if I had been working, then you would have been here for longer and then if that happened-”

“Haha, calm down, I’m just kidding,”

...

...

...

“... You mean... kidding about being mad at me for forgetting you were coming today?” Miya shot a confused look at Chan Yeol – Unsure if she should be mad at him for being such a jokester and causing her to over think or relieved that he wasn’t angry. She could see him stifle a laugh as this only further confused the girl.

“Silly, we didn’t even plan to meet today,”

...

...

Miya felt heat rush to her cheeks.

... You... idiot....

The poor girl found herself in an embarrassing situation, once again, and, for some reason, it just seemed that it would always be around Chan Yeol. Though Miya wanted to somehow disappear or have the ground swallow her from below, she knew she couldn’t really do anything to redeem herself in such a state.

... Why!?

“Oh... um... I-”

Seeing the flustered girl in front of him go through a series of small panic attacks really amused Chan Yeol to no end. However, he did begin to feel a little bit guilty once he realized that Miya was looking down and blushing, probably due to the fact that she had just embarrassed herself in front of him – which was really his goal, to be quite honest. He found her to be easy to tease since she was just always too polite.

“Oh... um... I-” Chan Yeol felt the need to redeem himself in some way and walked up to the petite girl and ruffled her hair a bit, causing her to look up at him and frown as she attempted to fix her hair. The taller giant, however, just smiled, knowing that she wasn’t truly upset by his friendly gesture. “I was just messing with you, sorry ‘bout that,”

“Ah! It’s okay, it’s no problem at all,”

As she had said this, she sent a smile back – most likely to reassure him that she wasn’t upset by it. Though, to be honest, Chan Yeol wouldn’t be surprised if she still was since he knew his jokes could be a bit too much in some cases.

“So, my brother isn’t here, huh?”

“Mm... sometimes. He doesn’t really tell me, honestly, but I do know that he usually comes back at night,”

The older brother furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, taking note of how rude his younger sibling seemed to be to his housemate who had given him a place to stay.

“So, it seems like he’ll be coming back later tonight – which means we’ve got some time to kill,” Chan Yeol grinned sheepishly as he still felt a bit guilty about his teasing. “How about we go out to eat?”

“How about we go out to eat?” At the suggestion, Miya’s eyes perked up and she looked at Chan Yeol as if to look for some confirmation. The word “date” had popped into her head as she recalled the dates that her friends would often talk about, but had never happened to her, personally, since Miya was usually immersed in her studies and was too busy to even think of one. Or would the times she ate out with Baek Hyun count as one?

Nah...

“Um...”

“Come on, my treat!” Miya opened to protest, but Chan Yeol had immediately caught on and pouted, refusing her suggestion to pay for part of it. “Nope, my treat. Think of it as payment for my troublesome brother if you want,”

By this point, the defeated girl felt that she would not be winning this battle and could only sigh and nod along, which conjured a smile on victor’s face.

“Great, I know this really great place and I have a feeling you’ll like it,”

^ Unedited ^

I have a big big apology to make! As I always seem to be making apologies >.< Just a quick update on what's going to be happening!

So, this story will be going through some editing, but, the storyline is the same! The main plot and the characters will be the same, but I'm just doing a few minor tweeks and fixing some details and what not in order to enhance the story. I also have a more solid theme for the story concerning Kai and Miya, so the title will change as well as the foreword in terms of what the main concept of the story is!

I have found that, whenever I have work, I tend to focus heavily on the work and don't really put too much towards other things - which is honestly kind of bad but it's a habit I found that I have >.< I am currently taking summer classes and have actually just finished one! It was Organic Chemistry I which is quite a hard course and intense at that. Many horror stories~ but I will be finishing up my organic chemistry II so that I will have a fairly easy academic year. Which will hopefully mean more time for chapters which I will force myself, if necessary, to write!

I want to say thank you so much too all who have stuck with me and my inconsistent and late updates. I truly appreciate all of you and am so grateful that you are still willing to stick with me and this story! Love you all~!

Please do not freak out when you see changes, since there will be edits going on in this story and the layout and what not may change a bit ^^'

I will hopefully see you all soon! <3

P.S. Yes, there is a lack of Kai love and it's pretty Miya concentrated, but it'll be coming soon~ and when it comes, it will hopefully make up for it! (Or I hope it meets your expectations xD)