Unsure of my next move, only one person came to mind. After carefully sitting Rinah on the ground, I took out my hand phone and dialed Xander, knowing full well that he would pick up quickly the way he always did.

As usual, he didn’t disappoint me. He answered on the first ring, greeting me in that common perky manner of his. “Hyewon-ah!” he sang. “Is anything wrong?”

“Not exactly,” I answered, in an attempt to placate the situation. Having received a curious grunt in response, I quickly explained the situation I was in, ending the rushed explanation with a tired, “So what do I do?”

“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Xander replied bluntly.

Naturally, I was relieved. My brother was coming to fix everything the way he always did; until I heard the sound of a washing machine being cut off. “Are you doing the laundry?” I wondered out loud.

He laughed, “Not just the laundry. I’m cleaning too! I told you I’m magical.”

Just then, I blurted out, “Stop.”

- My brother sounded happy; that certainly was a fact which couldn’t be hidden. His tone of voice didn’t sound the least bit weary but I felt it –that unspoken exhaustion. I remember having the urge to hit myself that day, wanting to know why I always had to pass on my burden to others, to Xander, in particular. Was I really that incapable of solving one problem on my own? -

“I.. want to fix this one by myself,” I murmured softly. “You’re busy, aren’t you? Let me take this one on.” Feeling needlessly cruel towards my brother who only wanted to help, I added, “Maybe you should take a break today. You’re always so busy.”

“No, it’s alright,” he insisted. “I’ll be there in a few minutes just let me put away the broom and-“

I cut him off sharply, “Oppa.” An audible sigh came from the other end of the line. “For always being there when I need you, thank you,” I told him. “But let me handle this one. Don’t you trust me?”

“Kim Hyewon, you know just as well as I do that I trust you,” he replied sternly. I could practically see him narrow his eyes at me, the way it did every time I played the ‘trust’ card.

“Then trust me!” I answered simply. “Bye bye.”

With those as last words, I hung up and turned towards Rinah. She looked at me, her blue eyes shining expectantly. I groaned, becoming conscious of my moronic actions. What was I thinking? I can’t solve this on my own. “Rinah, are you sure you don’t know where you live?” I asked desperately, sinking to the ground in frustration.

Obediently, she looked around, trying to find a familiar sense of the park we were in. “I’ve been here before,” she admitted. “But I can’t remember the way home.” She looked down, the expression of defeat clear on her stance. “I’m sorry for wandering off and bothering you.”

I patted her hair softly. “What are you talking about? This is like an adventure,” I giggled softly, trying to look on the bright side for her. “Nothing else looks familiar to you, huh?”

Grateful for my words, she smiled at me and looked around once more, but nothing about the park appeared to catch her eye. She even took a look at the people passing by, but she recognized none. Facing me once more, she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she apologized again, bowing her head dejectedly.

“Rinah,” I murmured her name softly. “It’s alright.” Bending down to catch her eye, I grinned at her brightly. However, her field of vision avoided my sunny attack as she redirected her eyes sideways. She appeared to be looking at my clothes, but her soft gaze told me otherwise. Rinah was looking, but she wasn’t seeing.

- At that point in time, I remember thinking how unlucky I was that day. Not only was I unable to help Rinah on my own, but I couldn’t even keep her happy for more than half an hour. Useless, I told myself. Eternally dependent on others for survival; that was how I lived. For a moment, I was even desperate enough to play around with the idea of turning to Kiseop for help, in spite of the fact that he must’ve already been in school. But if I did, then I wouldn’t simply be useless, I’d also be selfish.

Although just as I was about to bring her over to the nearest police station, her pupils dilated and her vision zeroed in on me. Or at least my uniform, in particular. -

“I remember,” she murmured, her expression becoming much happier. “That’s what’s familiar!” She tugged at my skirt the way she had done earlier. “Your clothes,” she exclaimed.

With a quick glance at my uniform, I got on my feet immediately. “Do you know someone who wears this uniform?” I asked excitedly. Luck was definitely back on my side.

Nodding eagerly, she pulled me closer by my arm and whispered in my ear.

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•

“Shin Dongho, Shin Dongho,” I muttered repeatedly, striding past the hallways hurriedly, while Rinah ran to keep up with me. Classes had already begun long ago and the faster I brought Rinah home, the fewer lessons I’d miss. But to bring her home, I needed..

“That’s the Oppa next door!” Rinah yelled, jabbing her finger at a classroom window to my left. “He knows where I live,” she smiled, “Because he’s my neighbour!” I looked in the direction her little finger was impatiently prodding towards.

And there he was. Shin Dongho.

- Looking at his relaxed posture, I classified him as a regular uninterested boy. He was just like any other guy to me then. Honestly speaking, his looks were well above average and judging by the amount of stares he was receiving from the female persuasion, that observation had clearly already been noted by many others. By the way the watching eyes appeared weightless to him, he seemed to be used to the attention.

He must be rather arrogant then, I presumed.

It’s true, I guess; the saying that you never really know how much somebody would mean to you one day the first time you meet them. I never thought that, that bored boy who was half-asleep in his first class, would later on, mean the world to me.

If only I knew, maybe I wouldn’t be where I am today. -

I bit my lip, unsure of whether or not disrupting the class would be the right thing to do. Trying to think positively, I told myself that I was doing Rinah’s neighbour a favour. He wasn’t listening to the teacher anyway. The boy must be begging to be pulled out of the class. Right?

Taking a deep breath, I lifted a hesitant fist to knock. But Dongho caught me off guard.

Without warning, his bored expression twisted into a smile and against my will, my heart thumped unevenly. What on earth?

Following his eyes, I realized that Rinah had already slightly cracked the door open and peeked inside. “Oppa,” she whispered far too loudly. “Rinah needs your help.”

The class giggled, and Dongho chuckled too. The noise drowned out the sound of his laugh though. I didn’t understand why but I was a bit disappointed.

Dongho turned to the educator who was taken in by Rinah’s charms as well. “You heard the little lady,” he said, getting up from his seat. “I’ll be back.” Slinging on his backpack on one shoulder, he headed towards the door. “Maybe,” he added, as Rinah took his hand, “But probably not.” To Rinah, he said happily, “Good timing. Let’s get out of here.”

However, I stood there, dumbly blocking his way.

“Uh, miss?” Dongho looked at me curiously. “Please excuse me, I’m trying to escape.”

Now it was Rinah’s turn to giggle. “Eonni helped me a lot today. Can we escape with her?” Without waiting for a response, she grabbed my hand in hers. “Let’s go!”

“Escape?” I repeated, confused. “But I have classes.”

Smiling impishly, Dongho replied, “So do I.”

His smile. Forgetting my earlier way of thinking in an instant, I blinked at him, making an effort to understand what was going on. I was a good girl. I didn’t skip class. He waited for my judgement with the same playful smile. My mind was screaming at me to go to class, my feet nearly obeyed too. But I looked at him and all that came out of my mouth was, “Point taken.”

“So are you coming?” he clarified.

Weirdly enough, although my mind’s message was crystal clear, something else told me otherwise. Something inside told me to go with him. “Sure,” I murmured. What’s even more bizarre was that I listened to that odd gut-feeling.

- Later on I learned where that strange little voice was coming from. Silly heart. -