Ji Min pulled open the door of her apartment, breathing heavily; she had run all the way home, although she knew she had no real need to. She flung her backpack onto the couch, collapsing to the floor of the living room. Ji Min's head was still spinning, as if it had somehow gotten unscrewed. With furrowed brows, she took a big inhale in, holding it for a moment before letting the air back out. 

Calmed down a little, she looked around the living room. There was no warmth or comfort here anymore, even though it was the only place left to her. She had a house, but not a home. She had money, but money couldn't replace her mother. She had a lawyer that worried for her, but he, too, was a hired man, bound to her by salary and duty more than love. Ji Min was alone, as always.

The whole damned world was foreign to her.

Her face slowly changed, reverting back to her blank eyes and slight downward curve of her lips. It shouldn't have surprised her at all. Had she expected anything else for her?

Suddenly, there was a short knock at the door.

Ji Min turned her head towards the sound, wondering who it could be. Without a secondary knock, the door opened and there was Dae Hyun, who had somehow found his way to her place.

"Whoa," Dae Hyun whispered, taking off his mask as his eyes observed the apartment.

Why is he here? Before she knew it, something snapped in Ji Min at the sight of him. She stood up slowly and walked to close the distance between Dae Hyun and her. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice flat and emotionless. Yet inside, she was screaming at him. "Why did you come? How did you know where I lived?"

"I-I followed you," Dae Hyun stuttered, taken aback by Ji Min's cold attitude. "Why.. is it so.."

"Dead?" Ji Min finished for him, an edge to her voice. Dae Hyun gazed at her with uneasy eyes.

"...It feels like no one's lived here for-"

"-Dead."

Ji Min matched Dae Hyun's eyes with her own dark stare.

"My mom is dead," she repeated sternly. "I'm an orphan."

She gritted her teeth, getting angrier by the second though her face didn't show it. Was he happy now, to have found her out? Was he satisfied now, to hear her admitting to having no family?

Dae Hyun kept silent, his face turning somber.

"It feels like no one lives here because it's true. This place is deserted besides me. Just a place full of memories..."

Ji Min's anger went away as quickly as it came and she felt her heart start to ache. 

"The kitchen where my mom blended a smoothie for me each morning. The sofa where she used to fold our laundry while watching her dramas. The wall where she measured my height when I was younger. Her room I used to go to at night when I couldn't fall asleep... I used to listen to her pencil writing against the paper as a lullaby..."

She knew her poker face stayed, but she felt hot tears running down her cheeks.

"Everything here should bring me closer to her. But I still can't feel her," she suddenly confessed to Dae Hyun, unable to stop herself. Her mask finally started crumbling away, her face slowly distorting with pain. Her emotions found their way out, right in front of him, flowing over. "I'm grabbing onto all that I can, but... but... Nothing's the same as before."

Ji Min's legs gave out and she sunk to the ground. Dae Hyun rushed over to her in surprise, crouching beside her. He watched her with worried eyes, his own heart aching for her. He kept silent, wondering what he could possibly say to ease her pain.

"I-I knew this place. I grew up here, so I should know this place. But it all feels so... strange. I don't know why. I feel like I'm in a stranger's home without my mom here. I absolutely hate it here..."

Ji Min wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, holding back a sob.

"But I don't know where else to go..." she muttered, biting her lip. More tears rolled down face as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I.. I... I..."

"Ji min-ah," his gentle voice called. Ji Min felt a warm pair of arms embrace her; they held her tightly as he patted her back to soothe her. She intially froze from the contact, but welcomed the hug all the same, wrapping her own arms around his waist. When was the last time someone gave her a hug? The two of them stayed in this position until she calmed down a little. Carefully, she opened her eyes and looked at Dae Hyun.

Dae Hyun's caring face was inches way from hers. He made sure she was looking directly into his eyes while he brought a hand up to her face to wipe away her tears. Dae Hyun sent her a soft smile.

"Come live with Him Chan-hyung and I."

Ji Min stared wide eyed at his offer, stupefied. 

"You should have moved in the moment hyung signed those papers," he sighed, pinching her cheek lightly.

"Y-You... knew?" Ji Min stuttered out, confused. How could he have found out?

"Hyung told me on the day he met with your lawyer and you."

Damn that Him Chan, Ji Min cursed. It was a mistake to believe his promise. 

"But he never told me you were going to come to our school too..." he grumbled.

All Ji Min could do was continue staring at him; the shock hadn't left her yet.

"Come live with us," Dae Hyun repeated, giving her a full smile that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

She wondered if she could. She wondered if the risk was worth taking. Moving in with the two brothers meant letting go of all the things she was trying hard to hold onto: this apartment and the memories of her mother embedded here, familiarity of old life, the image she remembered of Dae Hyun and Him Chan that kept her alive...

Yet holding onto it meant continuing to live in this hell hole...

Anything must have been better than here...

Could she allow herself to be such a burden to them?

In the midst of her deep conflict, Dae Hyun's phone rang, shrill in the silence of the apartment. He rushed to answer it after sending her an apologetic look.

"Hello?"

"Yah!" a husky voice shouted, so loudly Ji min that could hear him. "Where are you? Did you talk to Ji Min?"

"Hyung, I'm talking to her now," Dae Hyun spoke, pulling the phone a little away from his ear. His face was scrunched up in displeasure at his brother's interruption.

"I told you to bring her here a week ago! After all the trouble I go through talking to that old lawyer to transfer her to your school..." A deep, exasperated exhale finished the sentence. 

Him Chan... did what? Ji Min doubted her hearing, surprised yet again.

"When did you tell me to do that? I was the one that insisted Ji Min should-" Dae Hyun started to say, only to be cut off by Him Chan shouting again.

"Dae Hyun-ah, just get Ji Min and come home, now! Hyo Sung's been waiting to meet her."

With that, Him Chan hung up and the phone call ended. Dae Hyun was staring at the cellphone in his hands, mouth open and one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"And I call you a brother," Dae Hyun muttered under his breath and put his phone back in his pocket. Then he glanced at Ji Min, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Weeellll...."

"Well..." Ji Min repeated him, unsure of what he was thinking and what would happen next.

"You heard the man. Let's go home," he told her confidently, standing up and shaking the dust off his pants. Dae Hyun reached out a hand to help Ji Min up.

Home...

Ji Min looked around the apartment. What was left for her here, besides the wounds the reminders of her mother gave her everyday? She recalled the night she stayed at Dae Hyun's apartment; the two brothers had welcomed and relaxed her with warmth, to the point where she was able to fall asleep peacefully. She felt more at ease then than any other.

A home should feel like one...

Decided, she grabbed Dae Hyun's extended hand. Grinning from ear to ear, Dae Hyun pulled her up with vigor as soon as their her hands met his. 

The phone rang again as they were about to leave.

"What now?" Dae Hyun answered quickly, not even bothering to check who it was.

"Make sure Ji Min brings that red umbrella back, I know it was her who took it. It breaks my heart watching you try to fix that old, ratty one every night."

Ji Min could hear Him Chan's loud voice through the phone before he hung up on Dae Hyun again.

They... still kept that? Ji Min thought in amazement. She had been positive they would have thrown it away; it was so long ago. And Dae Hyun's been trying to fix it...

She stared up at the handsome boy, touched beyond words. How could someone be so... kind? Dae Hyun, however, was oblivious to her as he was busy glaring at his phone and muttering curses.

"He's not a brother, he's a freaking dictator!"

A smile played at Ji Min's lips, the corners of twitching. Gradually, it grew and grew until she was full out laughing, barely able to breathe. She was laughing for the first time in months.

Dae Hyun was stunned when he noticed Ji Min laughing, staring at her with owl eyes. He had never seen her happy before. Then he joined her, his face turning into a beautiful smile. He laughed with her, glad to see her cheered up and most of all, relieved that she had agreed to live with them.

I'll keep you laughing, Dae Hyun thought with satisfaction. As long as you're nearby me.

Her hand still in his, Dae Hyun pulled her along as they made their way home.

I gotta say... I so regretted making a sequel for this... I just... I just... *sniff* it was signficantly more difficult than the first section... sigh... Hope you aren't disappointed. And I made you wait so long too *facepalm* did you like the ending? :P sweet daehyunnieeeee <3