Minho arrived early the next morning to Lily’s apartment.

Using the key that she had surrendered the day before, he did the same thing as the day before: he took off his shoes and collapsed on the couch before channel surfing. He was still tired and was craving a coffee, but it was going on 9:00 AM, and he wasn’t sure what time Lily would wake up. Happy that she was still asleep, he leaned back, closing his eyes...

… and nearly screamed when the pillow landed on his face.

Yanking the pillow away, he was surprised to see that Lily actually had been awake, and was quietly sitting in the bean bag chair just beside him. Was he that tired, to not notice her just sitting there? Regaining a healthy heart-rate, he took a deep breath. “Good morning. You scared the life out of me.”

She said nothing, as usual, and got up to put her shoes on.

He was still unsure on how to feel about her being mute. Not that it bothered him, but it still puzzled him. He had never been in any sort of relationship with someone unable to speak, and was shocked to find out that she was. Rose hadn’t mentioned anything like that when she had called him for help.

He heaved a sigh as he followed her to the door. No more resting, today.

Lily was dressed in the casual attire of a baggy t-shirt and shorts, in contrast to his hoodie and skinny-jeans. To his dismay, she didn’t look tired at all, nor did she seem to be in such a bad mood as the day before. She was more... content. Almost happy.

They descended the stairs, and he put on the baseball cap that he had brought along with him to somewhat conceal his face while they went in public. Most of the time, he easily got away with going in town, most people ignoring him when he didn’t wear make-up or had ten cameras following him around.

When they reached the street, she broke out into a steady jog. He hurried behind her. “You’re not supposed to be physically exerting yourself like this.” he warned her, grabbing at the back of her jacket to stop her. She shook her head, continuing the steady pace. As much as he enjoyed exercise...

Things had gone smoothly for the first fifteen minutes, and they had reached the shore of the Hans River, a beautiful view for anyone living in Seoul. He remembered going this way with some of the members on occasion when he had been able to convince them to run with him. He enjoyed it here, where there was no screaming traffic or overwhelming buildings surrounding him on all sides.

“Do you usually jog every morning?” he asked her as they ran.

She shook her head simply. No other response was offered. Minho felt a sudden wave of discouragement. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with this communication boundary. But how could he get past it? He might’ve pondered more on this, but suddenly, she was beginning to sway. He had just caught on when she suddenly tripped, falling forward towards the concrete.

He had managed to grab her wrist to break her fall, but her other arm still skid against the pavement and she winced in pain. He let her fall slowly, carefully, kneeling beside her to assess the damage. Her outer forearm along to her elbow was scraped, just enough for the skin to break, blood creeping to the surface. He had no bandages to offer. Hissing, he scolded, “No more running.”

But she didn’t appear to be registering that he was speaking at all, rubbing her temples, shutting her eyes tight. When she opened them, she no longer looked in high-spirits. If anything, she looked ready to cry.

This alarmed him. He knew he was supposed to watch her while she was in this fragile state, but he wasn’t prepared for this. Additionally, she was unable to explain to him how she was feeling. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Are you feeling dizzy?”

She nodded and moved to get up. He assisted her, pulling her to her feet.

“Let’s go back to your apartment and do something that doesn’t involve exercise. Come on.” he pulled lightly at her wrist. For the first time, she complied with him without any hint of rebellion. While it took much longer to get to her apartment at the slow pace, they eventually arrived, and she searched the cabinets for first-aid. As she nursed her arm, he stretched. “Do you have any boardgames?”

She only shrugged, pointing to the closet in the hall. He walked over to search for a form of entertainment. When he opened the door, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a wall of junk, all packed into the small space. No wonder the apartment appeared so clean, with all of this shoved in the closet! He began picking through the mess, through books and CDs, before his eyes fell on something interesting.

A photo-album.

Sneakily, he looked over to Lily, seeing that she was still occupied with her wound, then used himself as a shield as he flipped open the book in the closet. He chuckled upon sight of two little girls in the first picture, playing in a blow-up pool. The smaller girl, whom was doing a silly performance, bore a strong resemblance to the very person he was in the company of. He turned the page. This time, there were three girls- one in elementary school, the other right behind her, and a toddler. He immediately recognized Lily, whom was wearing a pink Hello Kitty backpack.

‘What the hell was he over there, giggling about?’ Lily thought as she looked over to see that he was hovering over something and starting to laugh hysterically, failing to be discrete in any way, shape, or form. Quietly putting the first-aid kit back in its place in the cabinet, she creeped over to see what he was looking at. Peering over his shoulder, she saw that he was looking at an old photo-album. An old photo-album with her baby pictures! She punched him in the arm, startling him and causing him to drop the book on the floor. Despite getting caught red-handed, he was still laughing.

“You were so cute, back then! What happened?” he managed between laughs. She began to blush madly, embarrassed by his response to seeing her younger self. She shoved the book back in the closet, quickly locked on Monopoly, and slammed the door shut. He was still laughing when she dragged him to the coffee table to play the game. Aish; She had a headache.

She laid out the board, taking no particular note of anything, until he suddenly seemed completely confused. “Is this like Blue Marble? Why is it in English?”

She hadn’t even realized that he may have never seen this game before.

Yet, even if he couldn’t read a word of it, she saw the competitiveness flare in his eyes.

She never would understand how he had possibly won.

 

"So you are from the states?" he asked her later, kicking back with the grin that had been fixed on his face since he had won.

Lily scoffed at his reborn cockiness, shaking her head as she wrote. 'My stepfather is an American, and when I was young, my family lived in the US when he married my Mom.' She let him read, then erased. 'But after two years, we got homesick, so he found a job here. I was young, so Rose has a better grasp of culture.'

Minho gaped. "Wow. My bandmate, Key, is always bragging about his English. You need to give us an accurate score."

'Are you any good?' she wrote.

He cleared his throat. "Hello. My name is Min-ho. I am from Koh-ree-ah." This much was good, and if he’d stopped there, she might’ve given him a ten. "What your name is? Where are you come from?" But upon noticing that she was starting to laugh at him, he suddenly regretted it. "Good-bye."

She kept laughing, even if it wasn't half-bad. But she needed something on him in return, a revenge for the pictures. To not discourage him too much, she tried to make him feel better. 'You aren't bad.'

"Are you lying to make me feel better?" he asked. She shook her head for assurance. He didn't seem as flustered, but she didn’t think he would give English another try, any time soon.

They turned to the TV after game-time was over, and found particular interest in an episode of The Running Man. Minho boasted how he was on the show once, but said nothing when she asked if he won. He only said in return that he hated algebra, so she let it go. The rest of the day passed in a more comfortable way, until it started to get dark.

Lily picked up the whiteboard, switching the dull blue marker for a purple one. ‘You can leave if you want. I’m okay.’

Minho raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure...? You fell today... You still aren’t fully recovered."

'I won't do anything stupid. I promise.'

“I’ll be back tomorrow, then.” he said, in attempt to sound definite, but even he could hear the way the words swayed. He didn’t feel right about this. But at the same time, it seemed that she wanted him gone. So, he felt as if he had no choice but to take his leave. “Goodnight.”

Rose, all in all, was a nervous wreck back in Incheon. She considered time after time to contact Minho to check if Lily was okay, but kept getting interrupted by either family or friend. The only assurance was that he hadn't called her yet.

Despite promise of a week, Rose didn't think she could do it. It was too much to hear conversation about Lily, especially on how their family missed her, when she in fact knew exactly where her sister was. The guilt and burden, if left unchecked, could lead her to spilling everything...

But that would break her promise to Lily.

She didn't understand why things had gotten so far to turn Lily from their family, but she knew the root of the problem was the accident. Lily had become a different person, and the stress alone made her unforgiving. Even to their mother.

Rose could only hope that Lily would open her heart one day. And that when she got home, Lily was her usual self.

She supposed she could cut a day or two from the visit. She could tell her mother she wasn’t feeling well, or maybe that she needed an extra day back home to accommodate for the traveling time by train. Yes. She could cut two days.

But that still left three days...

‘Stop worrying, Rose.’ she assured herself. ‘That guy is watching her. Nothing will happen, everything is fine. He hasn’t called me yet, so everything is fine.’