I hurried to his side as he was crawling on the floor.

“What are you doing?! You should stay in bed!”

He ignored me, continuing to roll around the floor, trying to go somewhere.

“Jun Hyung… this is wrong! STOP MOVING AROUND AND LET ME HELP YOU!”I yelled, putting my hand on his arm.

“Take you hand off.”

“Jun Hyung…”

“WHEN WILL YOU STOP CALLING MY NAME LIKE THAT?! I DON’T WANT YOU TO CALL ME THAT WAY, YOU HEAR ME?! I WANT YOU TO LEAVE! LEAVE LIKE YOU DID BEFORE!”

“WHERE SHOULD I RUN?! WHERE SHOULD I GO?! TELL ME?! DO YOU THINK I CAN HANDLE THIS ON MY OWN? YOU BEING LIKE THIS AND FATHER ACTING LIKE HE NEVER HAD ME?! TELL ME!!! DO YOU THINK I WANT TO BE HERE?”

“THEN LEAVE! WHO TOLD YOU TO COME BACK?!”

“I! I RETURNED FOR YOU! FOR YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU’RE MY BROTHER NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY! AND YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY PRECIOUS PERSON! I LEFT, OK? I HURT YOU, I KNOW THAT! BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY TO FIND ME?! COULDN’T YOU JUST WAIT FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU?! I LEFT FOR YOU! FOR YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH!”

“For…me?!”

“FOR YOU! BECAUSE YOU…YOU SAID YOU LOVE ME! AND I…I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO BE JUDGED, HURT, IN PAIN BECAUSE OF THAT! I LEFT FOR YOU! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AFTER ME?!”my voice became all cranky from all the yelling.

He rolled on his back and starred into my eyes. “Y-you heard that…back then…”

I nodded, wiping off my tears with the back of my hand.

He sighed. “You misunderstood.”

“W-what are you saying there? I heard you perfectly when you said to father that you love me…there was nothing to be misunderstood!”

“I was just trying to get away from that marriage,”he sighed, one tear sliding down his cheek. “I didn’t want to get involved in such a thing, especially since I had no feelings whatsoever for Mi Ru. Ae Ri, I’m sorry…”

I frowned. My head was hurting from all the tears I spilled while yelling one at another.

“…I used you to cover myself. And look where it led…”

“What are you saying, Jun Hyung? I’m afraid I don’t understand,”I gently pushed him back on his mattress.

His tears reached his temples, soaking them. “I…”he breathed out and closed his eyes. “I don’t like women, Ae Ri.”

“W-what…are you saying there?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you have to say?!”I felt my blood boiling up in frustration. “IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME AFTER YOU RUINED EVERYTHING?!”

“I’M SORRY, OK?”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT! ‘COZ IF IT WERE TO BE IN THE SAME POSITION ONCE GAIN, YOU’D BE DOING THE SAME THING, HAVING SO REMORSE WHATSOEVER!”

“I NEVER SAID I REGRET WHAT I DID! I’M JUST SORRY IT ALL WENT THIS FAR!”he snapped back.

“I can’t believe you, Jun Hyung! You could have told me back then!”I rested my forehead against my knee. “It’s not like I never heard of men being homoual. And to think that we made out folks to go through all that…you idiot!”I smacked his head. “You’re an idiot, Cho Jun Hyung!”

“Yah…”

“But I’m glad you’re my brother,”I smiled as I lay my head over his stomach, placing my hand around his waist as he laid there on his mattress. “And I’m sorry you ended up this way…”

“I’m glad my lil’ sister came back,”he kissed my head. “I’m sorry I was harsh on you earlier. But if you knew how scared I was when you dissapeared in thin air…I thought of the worse scenarios.”

“Like?”

It felt so good hearing his voice so close. And knowing that his imagination was just as wild as before…

“You being kidnapped by some pirate? You being taken as a slave by some gang? You being violated and then killed? I don’t know?! I just had all those crazy thoughts inside my head, making me grow crazy by each day! Stop laughing, will you?!”

“Oh you! You’ll never change, will you?”

“Hope not,”he grined.

♃~✵~♃

The day came and passed just like a blink of an eye. My relationship with Jun Hyung only grew stronger…I no longer cared if people looked at us strangely. Only hearing his laughter made my day.

“Oh…oh! Ae Ri, look! Look at me, damn it!”he called one morning as I was preparing the mean outside, on a small stand made of wood, were I placed a small table after I carried Jun Hyung outside his room together with our old servant, Bojin.

“You shouldn’t curse, you know that?”I turned to him, letting the knife on the table.

He frowned in concentration as he stared at his right hand. And then…his fingers moved all numbed.

“Oh…Jun Hyung!”I embraced him, tears filling my eyes.

“Saw that, saw that?”he laughed in my arms.

“Am I interrupting something?”a voice asked from the doorstep of the gates.

“Oh, Seung Ho!”Jun Hyung’s smiled to the newcomer. “Look! Look what I can do,”he proudly moved his fingers once again.

“I see you’re doing well lately,”the Crown Prince smiled as the whole royal convoy behind him smiled and bowed in front of my brother. “Look who came to visit you!”

Two men dressed in silky clothes appeared from behind him, all smiles.

“Thunder! Yoochun!”I smiled to them as they approached with flowers in their arms.

“We heard of your return and we came to greet the most beautiful flower in Hanyang,”Yoochun sweet-talked me as he handed over his flowers. Thunder just stared at me, turning all red as he placed his own bouquet in my arms.

“Oh…friends!”I just hugged them tightly.

“Ahem…aren’t you forgetting someone?”Seung Ho cleared his throat, making his friends step back to let him give me his own bouquet made of 17 beautiful white roses. “I’m glad you made it safe and sound,”he said as he hugged me tight.

“Of course I did! Am I not the same, crazy Cho Ae Ri?”I laughed as I pulled away from the awkward position.

“Are so