Jessica

"Do you think..they're nice people?" Taemin asked, swirling syrup around his plate with a fork. We already headed out of our home. On the way, we stopped by a diner to eat breakfast.

"Of course they are. That's why we're moving in with them, right?" I answered.

"Well, yeah..but we've only seen Aunt Jane, like, twice. What is her relation to Mom, anyway? Mom didn't even have any sisters. We barely know her."

"Taemin, we barely know anyone. And I'm sure she was a close friend." Changmin replied, wiping Yoogeun's face with a napkin.

We only seen Jane a couple of times before, but she was the closest, and really, the only person that can be considered "family", or at least, close enough. Mom wasn't the social type and only had a few friends. Jane was Mom's co-worker and we would see her sometimes at our house, talking with mom. The only time we really spoke to her was just a "Hello" or "How are you". My mother's funeral was the first time I felt a little closer to her and got to speak with her a bit more.

"Ugh, but we could have moved into Amanda's house or something." Taemin muttered.

I sighed, "Amanda lives in a small apartment with her parents. The four of us won't be able to fit."

Taemin crossed his arms and sat back, but immediately sat up again, "Hyung! You'll be turning eighteen in just a few more months! Why can't you just be our guardian?"

"Taemin-ah. After high school I'm going to college, remember? I'll be too busy to take care of the three of you. Plus, I'll have to find a job, and we'll have to find a place that we can afford-"

"Okay, fine.." Taemin sighed, defeated.

The waitress came around to the edge of our table, "Are there any plates that you would like me to take?"

"Oh, yes. Thanks." Changmin handed the waitress some of the plates. "Can we get our check too please?"

"Of course."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive wasn't that far, it was just the directions and our stupid navigator that made the trip take a while

" 1288 Wolfton St." Changmin said to himself. He drove slowly, carefully scanning through each of the house numbers.

"Are you sure that this is  her address?" I asked in the seat behind him.

"Uhh..I'm pretty sure it is." his voice was low.

I looked at the navigation system, "Psh. She didn't give us her address. I had to search for "Jane Woo" on the envelopes sent to our house and only found this one."

Changmin drove in circles around the neighborhood.

"Hyung," Taemin called behind us, eating a bag of chips.

"Hyung, hyung!" Taemin repeated, now tapping his shoulder.

"Taemin, not now! Let me...concentrate." Changmin shook Taemin's hand off his shoulder.

"But! 1288! You just passed it!"

Changmin immediately stepped on the brakes, making the car give a loud screech. His mouth was an O-shape as he quickly backed up into Aunt Jane's driveway. When he turned off the engine, we all headed out and took a few bags with us. I carried Yoogeun and we walked to the doorstep.

I'm glad that her house wasn't that far from our school. Tomarrow I would tell Amanda all about Aunt Jane and have Amanda meet her after school, where the three of us can have our nails done at Jia-Li's Spa.

Taemin was behind us finishing he last chips in the bag, looking up and examining our "new home".

"Hm. Not bad," he said under his breath as Changmin took him by the shoulder. They joined behind Yoogeun and I. "I don't even remember what Aunt Jane looks like," Taemin added after I knocked on the door.  Changmin and I sighed, "Taemin, don't worry. She's not bad."

"Hmph..I hope so." Taemin added with a smirk, kicking a cigarette from under his shoe.

We waited for a while. After a few minutes, I knocked on the door again. "Try ringing the doorbell," Changmin pointed. I rang the doorbell and within a second, barks of huge dogs in the house made us all jump in panic.

I heard a man yelling behind the door, trying to shoo the dogs away. The front door opened with a struggle. A man in boxers, a robe and slippers with messy hair was revealed. He looked as if he just woke up, but judging by how low his eyebags were, it seemed as if he hasn't slept for days.

"I'm sorry, kids. I-I'm not interested in anything you're selling." he said quickly, his uncovered legs trying to block her two loud dogs from running out. Hewas about to shut the door.

"W-wait!" Changmin ran up. The man looked up to Oppa's tall figure, shocked.

 "We are Lee Haesoo's children." Changmin told him. He looked confused.

"Leee Haesooo?" he thought deeply.

"Susan Jung." I added to his line of thought.  

His face lifted in a moment, a light twinkled above his head, "Susan Jung!" he deeply exhaled. We noticed how rough and hoarse his voice was.  "Susan Jung!" he repeated nodding.

"Yes! Come in, kids."  he made way for us. We were in living room and the kitchen already as we entered in. The dogs continued to bark wildy, jumping with the sound of babies upstairs.

"Yeobo! Who's there at the door!" a woman yelled from upstairs, her voice just as rough against a cry of an infant. They both spoke in Korean.

 The whole house filled our ears. The man pushed the dogs out to the backyard. "Ah? Some of your friend's children are here!!" he yelled with his head to the celing.

"Huh?!"

"I said! Some of your friend's children are here!! Get down here!!" he was just next to us when he called to his wife. Yoogeun leaned his head on me and covered his ears.

"Well, you gotta come up her first and watch over Ryeojin!!" she replied harshly. The baby's cry was like a little lion's roar and I thought I was going to be deaf in just a few minutes.

The husband sighed and cursed in Korean, "Just a minute, guys." he told us, heading towards the stairs.

"Please, sit down if you'd like." he gestured to the couches before disapearing.

 The couches were covered in toys and trash. I didn't know about other families, but I guess we can be considered clean freaks. We sat at the dining table instead. We looked around us. Everywhere, the house was cluttered.

There was crayon scribbled on the walls, junk mail and food wrappers scattered on shelves, piles of laundry on different corners, a horrible house stench, and little 'mystery' globs on the floor of food and who knows what. "So this is where we'll be living.." Taemin said with an uneasy face.

"Taemin, shut up, we're going to live here for a long while and this is all we have. This is not even that bad. You should just get used to it," I told him tiredly.

"Fine. Since you feel that way, I get to choose my bed first while you sleep on the floor with the bugs nibbling at your-"

"Yah, I'm not going to be the one sleeping on the floor. If anyone's sleeping there it's you. I'm sick of your complaining!"

"Guys. Guys! Stop arguing! Mom wouldn't want us to be like this. Now that she's gone, this is what we have. Can't we just accept this?! Hey, Taemin-ah! Jess, listen to me!"

My brothers and I continued to nag at each other, not even listening to what each of us were saying. I didn't even know where or what Yoogeun was up to at this time, I was all about this quarell.

Yoogeun sat at the corner of the table. He noticed a moving figure behind a corner of the wall and stared at it for a while, waiting for it to reveal itself.

The three of us continued to argue as our maknae kept silent. A soccer ball shot out of the corner and made a loud bounce as it landed onto the dining table in front of us. We screamed at the sudden shock.

"W-what was that?!" big-eyed Taemin asked.

Yoogeun jumped out of his seat to retreive the soccer ball from under the table. He smiled, almost laughing as he threw the ball at his Changmin-hyung to catch. Oppa gently tossed the ball back to Yoogeun. "Where did this come from?"

At the sound of quick footsteps, we turned our heads to see twin nine year-old boys.

"Can we have our ball back?" they asked us quietly, but kindly. The two switched their eyes at Yoogeun who had his hands on their toy. Yoogeun walked up to them silently and dropped the ball at their feet. He ran back to place his head on Changmin's lap.

"Thanks! " one of the boys said.

"Wanna play?" shy Yoogeun just nodded and the two boys walked away.

"Yah! Woo Bojin! Woo Hyeojin-ah! Are you boys playing ball in the house again?! Soccer is meant to be played outdoors!" A woman yelled in Korean and shooed the two boys out the door.

"Sorry, Mom!" the boys replied in unison. The mother sighed, but put a forced smile on her face when she turned to see us. She looked like her husband; in a robe with messy hair.

"Well, hello kids. Would you like something to eat?" she headed to the pantry, passing us. Our mixed answer of "No, thanks" and "Sure" made her assume, yes.

"Sorry, we don't have any potato chips or cookies at the moment." she dropped an open box in front of Taemin. "Corn flakes are good too though, right?"

"Umm..okay," Taemin answered quietly giving the box to Yoogeun instead. He put the box in between his legs and begun to munch on the corn flakes.

 "So," she begun as she sat with us at the table. 

"How are you guys? It's been a while since I saw you four at the funeral. Has it been two-three weeks?" she asked with a questionably concerned face. Her English wasn't very good, we noticed.

We all nodded, "Um..yes about."

It was silent for a moment. "Do you kids...know how to speak Korean?" she whispered embarassingly.

"Oh, of course. Yes." Changmin replied now in his native tongue. She looked relieved and begun a conversation with the eldest.

"So, why did you kids come to my house anyway?" she asked all of us, easily.

None of us spoke for a moment, "You don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

"Aren't you our Aunt Jane?"

"Yes, I am Jane, but I wouldn't really consider myself your aunt. I was only your mother's co-worker a few years ago." she didn't act as serious as we were, taking a sip of water. "Well..I guess your mom and I were a bit close so-"

"B-But our mother assigned you to be our legal guardian...?"

Jane almost choked on her water. "What?! Your mother couldn't have possibly did this. There must be some mistake." She walked over to Changmin who was already talking the paper work out of his bag. She was able to skim through the Korean letters quicker than us.

She switched from one paper to another. It was not until her finger stopped on a paragraph when we knew she found the statement. A burst of laughter filled her weak lungs at a realization that made us feel a bit stupid. "Oh, I'm sorry kids, but you got it all wrong." she continued to laugh at the paper.

Changmin cleared his throat, "Are you not Jane Woo?"

"Oh, yes. I am Jane Woo! Which makes me understand why you children may have came to my house in the first place. I prefer you to call me Jaenam though, but look, look at this name!" she pointed at the Hangul before, 'Jane Woo'.

"Lim Seon-jae?" we read and asked her.

She nodded, "Righttt.." she paused.

"But I am Woo Jae-Nam and my maiden name is Choi."

"...Oh," Taemin filled the silence. The four of us looked at each other dumbfounded. 

So what now?

______________________

It was getting late, so Mrs. Woo let us stay over the night at her house. We cleared the couches in the living room and put sheets and pillows to sleep on. I smirked at Taemin who spread a blanket on the floor. He dropped his pillows then glared at me, "Oh, wae?!"

I nodded and just smiled at him before I pulled the blanket on top of me. I rested my head on the pillow, looking at Yoogeun on the other couch fast asleep. Changmin was still taking a shower. There was an empty space left for him on the floor. Taemin sighed, going under his sheets.

"Goodnight~" I sang to him. Taemin rolled his eyes.

"Night."

It took me a while to fall asleep. Uncomfortable thoughts filled my head that somehow made me feel cold in chills. I held the blanket closer to me and closed my eyes tighter. For the first time tonight, I just realized.

We have no parents.

It was just that, and I never felt so alone and small in this world. We could run away just like that and go missing for who knows how long without anybody to give a care to find us.

An hour ago, before we fell asleep, Taemin whispered to me,

"Jess?"

"What, Taemin?"

He didn't look directly at me, instead his eyes just dropped to the floor, "Are we orphans now?"

I gave him a straight answer, no. I wanted him to be able to sleep without any worry, but his question had an effect on me. As I rested my head on the pillow, I stared up to the ceiling with clouds of thoughts floating above me.

________

The sound of voices awoke me. The clock on the wall revealed that it was three in the morning. The light coming from the kitchen reflected off the walls and I noticed the space next to Taemin was empty and my older brother wasn't asleep yet.

"Lim. Seon. Jae."  I heard what sounded like Mrs. Woo read.

"Yes," Changmin replied. I heard the sound of typing.

I turned my body to look over the couch and peeked over to the kitchen table to see Changmin and Mrs. Woo. She was on Changmin's laptop as he was looking through the piles of paperwork that covered the whole dining table. Mrs. Woo also had a thick packet of papers in hand, carefully looking through each one with her glasses at the tip of her nose.

Mrs. Woo's head stopped with furrowed eyebrows. Her eyes stayed on one part of the the paper. Changmin continued to shuffle papers around as she stayed frozen on one.

"Eumm..Changmin-ah." It was only that moved.

Changmin continued to look through the papers, "Oh, yes?"

"Jung Hyun-Min. Who is he?" she asked.

My heart sunk, which made me lie back again behind the couch. I pulled the blanket over my arms again and just listened carefully.

My older brother was silent and I could only imagine the expression on his face when he heard this name.

"He's my father." he replied plainly. "Why?"

"He's no longer living, is he? Both of your parents have passed away?"

It took a bit longer for my brother to answer each of her questions, "Umm..No. He is still alive. My father-" Changmin paused for a moment.

"-Jung HyunMin. He left us when we were younger. And flew back to Seoul," he said quietly. He probably felt uncomfortable. I knew how much he didn't like to talk about our father. "D-Does your mother have any family or relatives living in the states?" she asked.

Changmin paused again, "No...our mother actually...she lived in an orphanage throughout her childhood," I could hear how he felt in his words. It felt like only the unfortunate things were being thrown at us, that no answer is ever positive.

They continued on with their conversation, but lying down made me feel tired and tired after every minute. I wasn't able to comprehend what they were talking about any longer as I kept falling asleep and awakening.

"-Well..Then I guess-" I didn't hear Mrs. Woo continue.

I woke up again, not knowing how long I've slept, probably not that long. It was still night and Changmin and Mrs. Woo were still behind me. Oppa was on the phone now with someone. His voice was low and calm, but the female voice that I was able to barely make out sounded bright and cheerful. The woman must have been Korean, because he continued to speak in this foreign language.

"Yes," Changmin kept repeating on the phone after the woman's voice paused on the other end of the call.

"Oh, yes. Thank you, we appreciated that." Changmin's words were bright, but the expression in his voice was grave.

"Yes, I'll write it down. The 27th of November at eleven pm. Thank you again, Gomo." Changmin paused again, and I heard the muffled but cheerful voice of the woman on the phone.

Gomo?

What did that mean again?

"Yes, we'll see you soon. Bye." Changmin hung up and gave up the biggest sigh he would do when he's stressed.

"Isn't there some other..some other option?!" His voice was a bit louder, holding back anger. 

"Changmin. I-"

"I mean, we can't just move there?! We were raised here in the states. A-and the four of us can't travel across the world alone?!"

My tired eyes widened and I bit my lip. I was lost.

Across the world?

Mrs. Woo spoke in a hushed voice, "Changmin. I'm sorry, but as much as my husband and I would like to care for you, we can't."

I turned my head again to peek at the situation. Mrs. Woo's hand was on Changmin's shoulder. His head was resting on a fist.

"I know your relationship between you two wasn't that great, but maybe when you both meet again, your family can..have a tighter bond..or something," Mrs. Woo spoke slowly, like she was struggling to find the right words.

"There's no way. I know him. We'll never be close."

Who is Changmin talking about? Is it who I think it is?

"It been years already. Maybe he changed. Don't just think about him. When you move there, you have your aunt and your uncle! Maybe you have even more relatives you have yet to meet!"

Changmin just shrugged, "I- I don't know."

Mrs. Woo looked at my older brother and rubbed his back, "How about you think about it. Rest now, you've been up all day."

Even though I don't know where the four of us were heading tomarrow, I knew we had no choice. Whatever Changmin's decision is in the morning, it wouldn't matter. Wherever it is, or who they are, that's where we're going to live from now on. I looked up to the ceiling again to think. Changmin and Mrs. Woo's conversation replayed in my mind over and over again. Changmin knows this person, but seems to not like him. We are going to  have to move across the world.

Are we travelling to Korea? Is it possibly, our father that we were soon going to live with?

A noise snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned my head. Changmin was under his blanket on the floor. He looked at me with a face that knew that I was listening this whole time.

_______________________

"Jess! Taem! Wake up, it's the last day of school," I heard Mrs. Woo call behind the couch. I stretched and watched Taemin walk to the bathroom already. Changmin wasn't in bed but looking at his wrinkled pillow, he slept for at least a couple of hours.

I got up and prepared to got to school. My thoughts already settled that today would be our last day in the states. After I got dressed, I walked back to the kitchen to see Taemin eating the same corn flakes from yesterday in a bowl of milk. "Good morning," I greeted Mrs. Woo by the kitchen counter still covered in papers. "Hello, Jessica," she replied with a tired smile. She focused on her paper work in front of her. As I passed her I could already make out the plane tickets in her hands.

"Hey Jess," Taemin said when I sat next to him. I slightly glared at my younger brother. He knows how much I hate it when he munches with an open mouth. I decided to ignore it for just today, "Hi Taemin."

I grabbed an empty bowl infront of me, pouring some milk. "I heard that Mrs. Woo and Changmin already know where we're heading after school today. I hope we get out of San Fransisco, maybe even out of the state," Taemin begun. I filled my bowl with cereal, "Maybe, maybe not." I replied. Although, I'm pretty sure we are travelling out of the country.

 "I'm just glad we don't have to go to that sh***y  school anymore," Mrs. Woo shot her eyes to Taemin. I punched my younger brother's arm. "Taemin-ah."

"Geez..sorry," he muttered, holding his arm.

Changmin entered the kitchen dressed, with a cranky mood. "Hey hyung!" Taemin waved. Changmin waved slightly back, not giving a glance at us. "Hi."

He dropped his bag by the counter, next to Mrs. Woo. In a hushed tone, they talked to each other and exchanged a few papers on the table. Taemin and I just watched them. "What are they talking about?" Taemin whispered. I couldn't tell, they talked very quietly and in Korean. After a moment, both Mrs. Woo and Changmin looked at Taemin and I. Changmin took the tickets from Mrs. Woo and walked to the dining table to sit infront of us. He placed the plane tickets on the table before speaking.

Behind us, we heard a sneeze from the couches. Yoogeun was awake as well. "Hold on. I think he needs to hear this too," I quickly got sleepy Yoogeun from the couch and had him sit on my lap by the table. Taemin slid a ticket in front of him. "What are these? Plane tickets? Where are we going?" Taemin read the ticket, even before Changmin spoke. "Seoul? As in -the Seoul in Korea?"

Changmin sighed at his younger brother, "Yes, Taemin. Seoul. Our flight is tomarrow morning at four am. We are going to live there from now on with Jung Hyun-Min," Changmin bit his tongue, unpleased with the words coming out of his mouth.

"Our father."

I knew this was coming, but it felt like the news smacked me in the face when I heard it. Yoogeun took the cereal box and dug his hand in to grab a handful to his mouth. "No way. This is awesome! Yes! Finally, we're leaving to Korea!" Taemin was the brightest one out of the four this morning. I couldn't blame him, he never knew our father. Taemin was just a baby when he left.

Scurrying children ran down the stairs towards us. "G'morning Mom!" five little boys sang. "Good morning kids. Breakfast is on the table!" Mrs. Woo pointed. "But we have cereal everydaay!" a boy with a backpack giggled loudly. "I like it though," a more plump boy with glasses added.

"Man, that's a lot of children.." Taemin muttered.

The five walked towards us. "Who are you?"

"Oh, those are Mommy's friend's kids! They're going to school too," Mrs. Woo told them with a smile.

"Are you in high school?" one of them in his pajamas asked me. I nodded, "Are you in school yet?"

"Yes, but Jaejin is not going to school until later. He's in afternoon kindergarten," Mrs. Woo put her hands on his head. "Really? Yoogeun is in kindergarten too!" I smiled at Jaejin who got the soccerball on the corner. Yoogeun jumped off my lap and ran to Jaejin to play soccer with him.

"It's getting late now. I think it's time to start heading to school. See you later Mrs. Woo," Changmin grabbed the keys and slid on his jacket. Taemin and I got up too and got our bags and waved at everyone. "See you, Yoogeun."

"Wait. You guys are not taking the van filled with your luggage to school, are you? That's dangerous, especially with all of those high-school punks these days. Here, take my car!" she handed Changmin her keys. "I can trust you with this, right?"

He nodded, "Yes, of course. See you after school," he waved again and we followed behind him.