“Aish! Finally you’re home! We thought we were going to have to leave without you!” My mom shouted as soon as she heard the apartment door open.

“Sorry Mom, I told you I was staying late to dance with my friends again.” I replied as I pulled off my wet raincoat and took off my boots.

My Mom came from the kitchen and shook her head. “You look like a drowned rat. Go get changed we have to leave in 20 minutes. Wear something nice.” She smiled and went back into the kitchen.

I hesitated for a moment, thinking to myself “Where could we be going that’s so important?” but I didn’t question my mother and trudged into my room. I tossed my bag onto my bed before turning to my wardrobe. This whole deciding on an outfit thing would be a lot easier if I actually know where we were going. It was most likely that we were meeting with some of my dad’s work friends for dinner so I decided on a pair of black skinny jeans and a nice purple top. As I dried my hair I sighed to myself. I’d much rather be dancing. Almost every day after school my friends and I meet and dance together. We teach each other new routines and share our favourite music, but sometimes the time gets away from us and we come home way later than we mean to.

“Hurry up! It’s time to go!” I heard my mom calling from the front door. So I left my room in a mess and went to go put all of my rain gear on. “Why aren’t you wearing that skirt I bought you last week?” My mom asked as soon as she saw me, but I just shrugged. She practically pushed me out the door and my dad locked it behind us.

After taking the elevator down to our apartment’s parking level we climbed into our family car. “So who are we having dinner with today Appa?” I asked my dad as he started the engine.

“Sorry for rushing you out like this but don’t worry we won’t be long. We’re just picking up someone from the airport.” I scowled, why did I have to get all dressed up for that? We weren’t even going out to eat? My dad’s voice interrupted my internal complaining, “Junhong is coming to stay with us for a while, aren’t you excited?” I felt my heartbeat stop.

Junhong, or as most people know him Zelo, was coming to stay with my family. Junhong has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, he was the most talented kid I had ever met. I hadn’t seen him in almost a year because he had been busy promoting and working with his group B.A.P. I had always had a crush on him but he saw me as a sister because we had known each other for so long. “What?!” I managed to choke out, trying to keep my heart beating.

My mother turned and smiled at me. “Isn’t it great? B.A.P has a short break before they go to Japan to do some promoting over there. His parents can’t have him stay with them because they are out of town so he’s going to stay with us for a few days. It’ll be just like old times.” I closed my eyes and tried to regulate my breathing.

It seemed like it was such a long time ago that Junhong was one of the kids that would stay afterschool and dance. Then he would come over to my house and we’d eat my mom’s cooking while we did our homework. I can’t imagine how strange this is going to be. We pulled into the airport parking lot and got out of the car. Now I was kind of wishing that I had worn the skirt. Why didn’t my mom tell me? This was going to be a disaster.

Entering the airport was a refreshing break from the rain. Especially because I had forgotten to bring an umbrella and my parents were already sharing theirs. My parents and I stood together and scanned the faces of the people there looking for something familiar. I was trying my best not to look to eager as I stood on my tiptoes glancing above the crowd that’s when I saw him. His pink hair stood out like a flashing neon light, and if that wasn’t enough he was followed by Jongup and Himchan of B.A.P and two bodyguards. The pink was going to take some getting used to, the last time I saw him he was still blonde. He spotted us and smiled and waved, I waved a little and tried to show a nice calm smile. When he finally made it over to us I realised how tall he was. He wasn’t this tall when he left. I found myself wondering if this was still my Junhong.

He bowed respectfully to my parents but before he had the chance to straighten my mom pulled him into a large hug. “Oh Junhong we’ve missed you!” My mother shrieked squeezing him tighter. It was kind of strange to see this tall skinny pink haired boy being hugged by my mom.

He just smiled “It’s nice to see you too. Thank you for letting me stay with you.” Then he turned to me and I took a deep breath. “Hello Noona.” He said smiling sweetly. It always annoyed me when he called me that, I was only two months older.

“Hello” I replied awkwardly pulling at the hem of my shirt.

Himchan patted him on the shoulder and Junhong turned around. “I can see you’re in good hands now Zelo. We're going to go back and visit our familes we'll see you in a couple of days.” Himchan said. Junhong nodded and hugged his hyungs goodbye.

Once they left my father jumped into action. “You must be very tired after your flight. We should head home.” He went to reach for Junhong’s bag but he stopped him. My dad stopped flustered for a moment before heading out into the rain. I pulled my hood over my head before following. As we headed to the car my parents walked ahead, no doubt making plans to take Junhong around town and show him off. 

All of a sudden the constant pounding of rain on my head stopped. I looked up and saw Junhong holding a black umbrella over us both. “Thank You.” I said taking off my hood and shaking my hair. We walked the rest of the way to the car in silence. I knew it was going to be awkward. The car ride home was even worse. We were both stuck in the backseat so I leaned against the window and tensed all my muscles at every turn to avoid bumping into him.

When we finally got home my mom turned and smiled to me. “We’re going to have to put Junhong in your room. The living room is too crowded and he can’t sleep with us. Your father and I have to work tomorrow, so please take care of Junhong, and take him somewhere fun. Now go tell your father to get the sleeping mat” I was shocked. This was not good, but there wasn’t exactly anything I could do about it.

After I put all of my raingear away I walked into my room to discover that my dad and Junhong had already gotten out the sleeping mat. I walked to the closet to get the extra blankets. After setting up the mat my father retreated to the livingroom to watch the news. “Thanks.” Junhong smiled while I spread out the blankets on the small cot. The only extra bedding we had was printed with bright yellow and white flowers.

“This is going to go great with your hair.” I replied mindlessly and he laughed.

Once I set up the bed I got changed in the bathroom into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that I always sleep in. When I got back to my room Junhong was laying in my bed. “Yah! Get off. That’s mine.” I shouted at him and punched him in the shoulder.

He winced and pouted at me. “But Noona....” he whined.

“Don’t even try.” I glared at him. He sighed and got up and lay on the sleeping mat.

His feet hung over the edge and he looked really funny in the girly bedding. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Tuck me in?” He asked in a sweet voice.

I rolled my eyes “You’re such a little kid.” I turned away from him and climbed into my own bed. I reached over and turned off the light on my bedside table. I slowly closed my eyes.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard a strange noise. “Are you asleep?” Junhong asked through the dark.

“Yeah.” I replied groggily.

“Oh.” He said a little quieter. “I know this is really strange but I missed you. And I was hoping that we would be able to fall right back to where we were before I left, but I can see it probably won’t happen.” He said and sighed. I took a deep breath.

Maybe I should just tell him how I felt, this would be a good time, but then if he didn’t feel the same way it would make the whole weekend worse than it already was. “I missed you too Junhong.” I said slowly. I didn’t know how to reply to the rest, it was so obvious that things were different now. I don’t know why but we both felt very uncomfortable with each other even after years of friendship.

“Goodnight Noona.” He replied before turning over and falling asleep.

~

Edited: 20130310