Eun Jung and the boys jogged right after class Friday afternoon. The guys sang another merry song as they went about their exercise, smelling the fresh clean air as they jogged. Suddenly, Eun Jung tripped and fell forward. 

"A..pa...."

"Noona!" Taecyeon shouted as he rushed to her aid. "Gwaenchanha?"

"How can I be okay when I tripped? Aish..." she winced in pain as she looked at her knees. The left knee had a small cut in it, and the other one had some abrasions. Her palms had some wounds too. "Aish...my leg...apa..."

"Let's bring her to the hospital," Chan Sung suggested. So, Taecyeon carried Eun Jung bridal style as the boys decided to jog back home. When they arrived, they met Mr Ham who coincidentally was home early.

"What happened?"

"I tripped, Appa...my ankles hurt too..."

So, Eun Jung was brought to the emergency room. X-rays were done on her legs, and cultures on her wounds were taken too and sent to the lab for examination. When the doctor finally saw the X-ray result, he told her that there was no major injuries to the ankles, and nothing was sprained. Still, she was given analgesics to ease the pain.

Sitting on the bed, Eun Jung kept clutching at her chest, her eyes kept blinking. Taecyeon saw this, and he went to her. He sat in front of her and squeezed her hand. To his surprise, Eun Jung squeezed his hands in return.

"Are you all right? You seem to be feeling uneasy..."

Eun Jung looked at Taecyeon with fear in her eyes. "I..I don't know. This feeling suddenly hit me when we were jogging, that's why I tripped. I tried drinking water yet, it didn't go away..."

"What could that be?"

"I don't know..I really don't know..."

Taecyeon touched her face and caressed it with his fingers. "I wish I could hug you right now, but I know you don't like us to be displaying affection publicly, do you? Besides, I know you'll get angry at me if I do so."

Eun Jung didn't reply. Instead, she closed her eyes, and rested her head on TAecyeon's hand.

"Kimochi...."she whispered.

Taecyeon smiled. He didn't understand Japanese that much, but he knew she liked it.

"I feel relieved even for just a few minutes...it felt so good..." Eun Jung confessed. But deep in her heart, she knew that the good feeling was superseded by the bad one.

"Are you planning to jog tomorrow morning? You all go without me, arrasseo?" was Eun Jung's faint order. TAecyeon just nodded.

***

That Saturday morning, it was Woo Young and Jun Su's turn to help the house hold chores. Eun Jung suddenly didn't like going to the market. The foreboding ill feeling that had been bothering her since last night was still there, and she couldn't place what that was. So, the two guys had to go to the market by themselves. When Mr Ham saw his daughter doing her task absentmindedly, he went to her.

"Child, are you all right?" Mr Ham knew that Eun Jung would always say she's fine even though she's not. But not today.

"Appa, have you ever felt that ill feeling that something bad's gonna happen and you can't place what it is?"

"Are you having premonitions again?"

Eun Jung swallowed. She felt that same ill feeling a few days before Juntaro died. And now, she had it again. She was starting to feel queasy when suddenly, someon knocked at the door.

"I'll get it," EUn Jung said to her father. To her surprise, and what she feared, it was Park Jin Kyung-ssi. The caretaker was puffing as she  delivered her news.

"Eun Jung-ah, I have bad news...Michicko-san...has passed away..."

Eun Jung stood there like a statue. "Obaasan..has...died?" she asked softly to no one in particular. And suddenly, she fainted.

***

The room was noisy as Eun Jung opened her eyes. She lazily gazed at the people in the living room. The boys on patrol duty were suddenly asked to come home to tend on their noona. Upon hearing the bad news from Jin Kyung-ssi, Taecyeon and Nichkhun exchanged glances. The others were calming Mrs Ham down too as she received the news with a heavy heart.

"O..obaasan..." Eun Jung managed to call for her grandmother. And suddenly, tears began trickling down her face.

"Noona's awake," Jun Ho said. So Woo Young, Jun Ho and Taecyeon attended to her.

"Did you know the news, Noona?" Woo Young asked. Eun Jung could only nod as more tears fell.

"So the feeling you had last night was probably because of this," TAecyeon said.

Eun Jung scanned her eyes to look for the caretaker. When she was asked for, Jin Kyung-ssi knelt on her mistress' knees.

"Mianhe...mianhe..."

"Ji Kyung-ssi...how did obaasan die? When did she die?"

"Molla...molla..." Jin Kyung was already crying. "When I came in this morning to give her her breakfast, she didn't respond. And she was very cold already, and turning blue....she must have died in her sleep."

"Geu..geurae....?" But the emotions had been waiting to overflow like a dam. Eun Jung broke down as she hugged the caretaker. Much as the boys wanted to comfort her, they decided to let her cry..

***

Mrs Ham decided to bury her mother according to Japanese traditions. She also decided to call her siblings and tell them of Michiko-san's demise. When she told them she'll be doing a Japanese funeral instead of a Korean one, they all agreed. So, the siblings decided to cancel all their appointments just to go to the funeral.

One of Mrs Ham's siblings, Ayako Wolfe, had arrived that afternoon. She had some business in Seoul when she received the news. When she saw Mrs Ham, she embraced her sister.

"Oneesan, I don't know what to feel when I heard about Okaasan. Eun Jung-ah had been crying since this morning. She loves her obaasan very much, more than she loved us her parents. And now that she's gone, I don't know how to comfort my daughter."

"Was she really attached to okaasan?" Ayako-san asked.

"Hai. She's like a leech as a child, always sticking to her obaasan to teach her everything. She's always having a competition with Juntaro."

"I dont' like that kid Juntaro. He's such a braggart, know-it-all kid who thinks he's better than the adults."

TAecyeon heard this comment, but he didn't budge. He never knew anything about Juntaro except that he was Eun Jung's uncle.

"He could be like that, Oneesan, but JUntaro-kun's a very responsible kid. He's the one  helping okaasan in her everyday chores when he was still alive."

But Ayako-san wasn't one to listen, so she changed her topic. "I noticed that you have guys in your house. Are they Eun Jung's friends?"

"Iie. They are her students. Actually...well..."

"Oh, now I seem to recognize one. Are they from 2PM?"

"Ah..hai...Eun Jung had been very strict with them, ensuring that they do not misbehave, that they do well in school and that they do their chores around here. She made a deal with their boss. And she doesn't want anyone to know about where they are now. We even had the community vowed to secrecy. Onegai, Oneesan? Please don't spread a word that they are here."

Ayako-san sighed. "Okay. Much as I wanted to tell my girls where the guys are, but since this is a secret, I'll honor it."

"Arigatoo, Oneesan."

***

Eun Jung was passively looking at the window of her room when Ayako-san knocked at her door. 

"Jung-chan..."

But Eun Jung just looked at her auntie and didn't greet her. Ayako went to her niece and sat beside her. She combed Eun Jung's hair as she spoke.

"Your okaasan just told me you were very close with your obaasan than you were with your own parents."

"H..hai..."

"Well...what now?"

"Obasan...I don't know what to do next...she meant everything to me. I became like this because of her."

"Wakaranai."

" I became a strong willed girl because she kept comparing me to Juntaro-kun. I didn't want to be the second best, so I did my all to beat him. ANd that fighting spirit I had was all because of obaasan. I had high respects for her. Even when she became this ill, I didn't forget visiting her every week. She's everything to me. And now that what gave me inspiration was gone...I....I don't know how to proceed."
 

And Eun Jung began to break down again.