Daehyun dragged me everywhere around Busan. He left no stone unturned in his mission to show me all of Busan's appeals and attractions. And, let's just say that there wasn't as many as Daehyun made out to be.

"Look here, isn't this amazing?" He would ask me, pointing to a run down building, that he called Busan's pride and joy, stating that it was a famous historical building where some people met.

"And here, who knew that this place would house such a genius?" Daehyun asked, and gestured to a brick red builidng. There was a gold plaque outside it, and I realised that it was Daehyun's high school. Apparently, he was that genius.

"And see here? This is where I used to come to study." Daehyun said when we were outside a library.

"Yah! Can we not see something a little more interesting?" I complained, stomping after Daehyun.

"Interesting?" Daehyun asked me in confusion, spinning around. "Is this not interesting?"

"Not really." I told him. "I mean, it's all stuff that old couples would go and see. Libraries, schools, town halls . . ."

"Well, I could show you something else." Daehyun said and scratched the nape of his neck. "Somewhere important to me."

"Jinjja?" I asked in excitement. "Can we go there then?"

"Sure." Daehyun said, and his voice had a hint of uncertainty.

"Ahh, oppa, you're the best." I told him, trying to get rid of that tone. It worked, as he smiled.

"I know."

I rolled my eyes at him. But, I didn't say anything as a comeback, because, let's face it; he is the best.

*                       *                      *

"What are we doing here?" I asked, as we stopped outside a decrepit building.

"I used to live here." Daehyun frowned, as if something was right.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slightly worried by Daehyun's face.

"It's a little . . . different." Daehyun told me.

I hoped for his sake that he was right. A few of the window's were smashed. The lawn was infested with nettles and weeds, and growing over two feet high. Various soccer balls and tennis balls were hidden in the wilds of the front lawn.

In all honesty, it didn't look like a very nice place to grow up in. I was over the moon when Daehyun said that it had changed.

"When was the last time you were here?" I asked tentatively.

"When I was fourteen?" Daehyun asked, a little unsure of the timeline himself. He pushed the rusted gate open with a creak, and walked up the cobbled footpath, that was overgrown with weeds.

I followed him, a little uncertain. Daehyun's clenched fist hovered in the air, as if he were second guessing his actions. He finally made up his mind, and rapped lightly on the door. Some dirt fell to the floor.

There was a deafening silence. Daehyun pushed me slightly behind him, when he heard footsteps coming to the door. I seen a blurred figure through the glass, and someone opened the door.

The person who opened the door was not who I was expecting. It was a young boy, around sixteen. He was wearing baggy jeans that badly needed a belt to be held up. He had a baseball cap on that he tipped sideways, for a street look. He was wearing a white wife beater and an oversized cardigan.

"Yeah?" The boy slurred. I could smell the reek of alcohol off of him. "What do you want?"

"What are you doing here?" Daehyun asked him.

"This is my place, innit? Why? Got a problem?" The boy staggered forward, as if he were looking for a fight.

"Please, you're so drunk that I would just have to tap your shoulder and you'd fall down." Daehyun told him sternly.

"Yah! What's that supposed to mean?" The boy was so tipsy that I could barely understand his words.

"Oppa," I muttered, safely behind Daehyun's back, "Be careful."

Daehyun wordlessly reached out behind him with one hand, and grabbed my right hand. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, silently telling me to relax and that everything would be okay.

He gave my hand a small tug, pulling me behind his back even more. I couldn't see the people at the door anymore, and I didn't know whether or not they could see me either.

"What are you doing here?" Daehyun asked. I could tell that he was forcing his voice to remain calm.

"What does it matter to you?" The boy slurred, and I heard more footsteps.

"What does it matter to me?" Daehyun asked, and I didn't need to see his face to know that he had an eyebrow raised in incredulity, and that he was giving the boy a withering look.

"Who are you?" A new voice asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Daehyun snapped. "Where is the owner of this house?"

"That old bum?" Someone laughed. "He moved out ages ago, didn't he? This place is abandoned, mate, innit?"

"And that gives you permission to stay here, does it?" Daehyun asked, and I could hear the satoori leaking through his voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." They snorted.

Daehyun sighed heavily, and turned his head to the side in exasperation. When he moved his head, it cleared up my view of the front door.

There was a gang of several people. They were all dressed in a similar style to the first boy, and they were all roughly the same age as him. I noticed that most of them were holding bottles of liquor.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"It doesn't even matter." Daehyun said, bitterly. He turned around, and faced me. He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. He marched down the path, away from the house of memories.

"Daehyun?" I asked gently, unsure of whether or not he was mad.

"Just keep walking. Don't look back." Daehyun told me.

I followed his instructions, and walked back out of the gate, not looking back at the teenage delinquets, who were, really, not much younger than me.

When I got to the end of the path, I was confused about which direction to take.

"Right." Daehyun said, as if he were reading my mind.

I went right, and jumped a foot in the air, as something smashed just before my feet.

Shards of glass were splintered on the pavement. The little drink that was left in the bottle before it was thrown, spilled everywhere. I stared at it for a few moments, dumbstruck. Were they really throwing things at us now?

"I guess like people, houses don't change either. If they housed a violent drunk once before, they'll continue to do that." Daehyun muttered under his breath.

He wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. He was on the side closer to the house, and he sped up, probably wanting to get as far away from that house as much as I did.

Daehyun kept on walking down the street, and I wasn't sure if he had a direction planned or not. He kept a hand around my waist, and people began to give us strange looks.

"Daehyun?" I asked warily and waved a hand in front of his face. Daehyun turned to me with wide eyes, like he'd just stopped daydreaming. "Do you mind . . . erm . . ."

Daehyun didn't need me to elaborate, and he got the message loud and clear. He took his hand away from my waist. Instead, he opted for holding my hand.

"Are you alright?" Daehyun and I asked at the same time, and we both smiled at each other.

"You first." I commanded, and Daehyun sighed.

"I'm alright. I knew that goind back there was a bad idea. I mean, I knew that Abeoji was gone, but I never expected them to be in there." Daehyun confessed. "I just wanted to see if it had changed at all. I wanted a peace of mind. I wanted to show myself that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. It kind of backfired."

"You haven't been there since you were fourteen?" I asked in confusion, and Daehyun nodded sheepishly.

"Omonim got my stuff from there. I never had the guts to go back there." Daehyun admitted.

"Daehyunnie." I said in a whisper, and Daehyun gave me one of his dazzling smiles. One were you felt privileged and lucky if you got it.

"Now you." Daehyun commanded.

"I'm perfectly fine, since I have you to protect me." I beamed.

"Aigoo." Daehyun said, and shook his head. I think that he was back to his cheerful self again. He began to swing our hands as we walked down the street, heading to our next location.

*                    *                    *

I stared at the sight of the drained woman in the hospital bed. So this was Daehyun's mother. She was a lot like him ways. She had slight wrinkles in her face from laughing at some long forgotten jokes.

She was very thin, and she looked slightly sick. A machine that was monitoring her heartbeat beeped regularly, telling me that she had a steady pulse.

"Mr. Jung?" A nurse asked, stopping Daehyun from talking to his mother about everything and nothing. "The doctor would like to speak to you."

Daehyun frowned to himself. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Sure, go ahead." I waved a hand, dismissing him. He cast me a worried glance, before following the nurse out of the room.

I stared at the hand that was limp on the bedside. Was she cold? Did she even feel the temperature? On an impulse, I grabbed her hand. I was right, it was cold.

I tried to use friction to warm her up, but it didn't really work.

"Omonim - I hope you don't mind me calling you that - you must be very worried about your son, Daehyun. You must be worrying if he's happy, if he's overworked, if he's stressed, and if he's living well." I mused. "But you shouldn't worry. Daehyun's happy, at least I think he is."

I paused, and stared out the window, at the tips of the green leafs visible on the tops of the great oak trees.

"You're son is really special, Omonim, and I'm glad that I had the chance to meet him. In return, I will make sure that he is living happily, so that you don't have to worry about him." I promised, firm in my resolution. "So don't worry, arasso?"

"You know, that's a pretty nice thing to promise. But do you know what?"

I whirled in my seat, and faced a smiley Jung Daehyun. I shook my head.

"I am happy, so you don't have to worry either." Daehyun told me, and I blushed.

"Who said I'm worried about you?" I retorted.

"Simple, I am Jung Daehyun, who wouldn't be worried about me?" Daehyun asked. I tired to keep a serious face, but I couldn't help the smile that creeped onto my face.

"Silly." I muttered under my breath.

"But, Joy?" Daehyun asked and I looked up. "I'm glad I met you, too."

I smiled at him, and said nothing.

Daehyun talked to his Omma for another while. He filled her on in everything that was happening, and I admit that I drifted off for a while. It wasn't because what he had to say was boring, it was because I didn't want to invade his privacy.

"Joyce, you ready?" Daehyun asked, bring me crashing back down to reality.

"Hmm?" I asked in surprise.

"We're leaving." Daehyun told me, and gathered his jacket and things in one hand. I followed suit.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To meet the rest of my family." Daehyun told me.

"Huh?" I squeaked. Meeting an unconscious person was one thing, but meeting everyone else was another. Another entirely scary thing, that had me quaking in my boots.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N:

It's a bit late and short, but I had 101 things to do. Sleep is next on that list, so goodnight ^^

~* Fighting *~