Sungmin didn’t come the next day. Nor the day after. Nor the day after the next. I never really thought how lonely I’d feel without him in class, for he was always there, either filling me in with stories about the other Super Junior members when they were kids, or just providing a comfortable presence. Just knowing he was there right beside me all the time made me feel at ease. Thinking about his situation, my heart ached further for him. I wondered what he was doing. Was he alright? Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was crying in his room. Maybe he was feeling so upset about the other members ignoring him that he wanted to do something silly…

On the first day that he didn’t come, I texted him, but all I got was a cold reply, telling me to ‘just go hang out with Kyu’. I had sent him a dozen other messages in the same hour but to no avail. So just what had happened to him?

“Jiyeon. Jiyeon!” Miss Park was staring at me. She was usually friendly, but her stare right now felt like it could melt me. “Answer the question!” She rapped the board with her knuckles and all I could see was a blur of equations which I didn’t understand.

“S…Sorry, Miss Park.” My mind didn’t dictate it so, but my feet made me stand up. “I’m sorry,” I said one more time, before dashing out of the classroom. There wasn’t much point staying, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway. I ran as fast as I could towards the main gate.

“Ah! Sorry!” I apologised to the person I had just bumped into and continued running, but the person held my wrist and I swerved backward. He steadied me by holding my shoulder.

“Kyuhyun?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m…to Sungmin’s house.”

Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows.

“He hasn’t been coming to school for three days. I’m just a little worried about him. He hasn’t been picking up my calls either.”

“Ok, but do you know that he’s not in his house anymore?”

“What do you mean?” I was quite surprised. Where would he be then?

“They had to sell that big house. They’ve moved to a smaller place. Here, I’ll give you the address.”

Speeding into a taxi, I told the taxi driver the address. He glanced furtively at me. “What business do you have there?”

“I’m…visiting a friend?”

“But it’s not a very safe place for a young girl like you, even in broad daylight. That neighbourhood is filled with thugs and hooligans of the likes you could never imagine.”

“It’s ok, please take me there.”

“I’ll only go as far as the start of the neighbourhood, though.”

“Ok, thank you, ajusshi.”

We drove into a part of town I didn’t know even existed. The houses became more and more shabby, the buildings more dilapidated. Some were unoccupied, and the whole place had a very run-down look. On the pavement some people had set up camp, and were either selling some little trinkets or just sitting there begging.

“This is the street. The house you want to go to should be along this lane.” The taxi jammed to a halt and the driver looked like he was ready to turn and leave the moment I paid him and got out. I did so, and ventured forward into Sungmin’s new neighbourhood.

“Won’t you spare a little for one so old?” I jumped, only to turn around to see an old woman sitting by the corner. She was all wrinkled up, and had only 2 teeth left. She was also bent over, and it was quite a sorry sight. I wondered whether to give her any money, but wasn’t too sure about taking my wallet out in this sort of place. I still had yet to find Sungmin’s house. I glanced around, but there was no one else. “All my children have abandoned me, they’ve just left me here to dieeeeee!” The old woman threw her hands up in the air. There was a bit too much drama in that for my liking, but besides feeling sorry for her I also worried that she wouldn’t leave me alone, so I decided to take out my wallet anyway.

“My, pretty young lady, let’s see, what can you do for us today?” I jumped again, and there was a man with a moustache who appeared out of nowhere.

“Uhh…” I backed away slowly.

“And what’s that in your hands? Ooh, money! I haven’t touched that in ages, care to let me have a feel?” He started coming towards me faster than I was backing away.

“Stay away from me!” I somehow looked at the old woman to see her reaction to this whole thing. Our eyes met and she cackled.

“That’s my boy!”

I had been tricked! Who would have thought that I could have been tricked by a half-bent over octogenarian? Just what did I go to school for? I imagined the next day’s headlines. ‘SM student gets robbed by old woman and son in sleazy neighbourhood.’ But my thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.

“Get away!” The man whipped around to see the owner of the voice. It was another man in a leather jacket and dark jeans, his face covered by a cap. His arms were raised as he carried a baseball bat, all ready to hit the man. As the robber was unarmed, he obviously reasoned that any amount of money I had was not worth the potential injuries he might suffer, and he hurriedly picked the old woman up and left.

I was of course thankful to my saviour, but who knows? He might have chased that robber away, only to turn out to be another one. Maybe he just wanted my money too. He started walking towards me but suddenly stopped and removed his cap.

“Jiyeon noona?”

“Sungjin?” It was Sungmin’s younger brother. We’d met at the ball. “Sungjin!” I ran forward and hugged him in relief.

“Are you here to see my hyung? He’s very sick, come on!” Sungjin pulled my hand.

“He’s sick? Oh no…”

We walked past a few more doors before stopping at an old house. It had a zinc roof, the paint on the door was all worn out, and there were more than a few cracks all over.

“Are you doing ok here, Sungjin?” I squeezed his hand. Coming to such a scary neighbourhood and an old house, which was so different from what they were used to, they must be feeling all strange and foreign.

“It’s been hard, yeah, look I even had to dress up like that to make myself look tough,” Sungjin ruffled his hair and half-laughed. “But it’s definitely a new experience.” He frowned. “Hyung doesn’t seem to be taking it as well though. Let’s go in and see him.”

I stepped in, and was shocked at the condition of the house. It seemed even worse than my house back in Mokpo, and that was considered not-so-good already. But I had no time to look around now. “Where is Sungmin’s room?” I asked Sungjin. He pointed me to Sungmin’s room and sweetly said, “I’ll leave you two for now,” before leaving.

Knocking on the door provided no response. But after awhile I heard some moans coming from inside. I rushed in without waiting for permission. Sungmin was in his bed, a simple wooden bed frame with a thin mattress and a thin blanket. He still looked asleep, but he was in pain. It was probably his throat. I touched his forehead. There was no fever, but it was more like cold sweat.

Grabbing tissues from my bag, I dapped his sweat away. All the time he was still sleeping, but still emitting those pained noises from his throat. My poor baby! But even in this state of his, he still looked heavenly. His innocent face with a slight frown made it look like he was an angel who was being punished for something he didn’t do.

“Ji…Jiyeon?” a weak voice said. Omo! Sungmin was awake! His eyelids were pale and he was still drowsy, he was barely able to open his eyes fully.

“Sungmin, yes it’s me.” I held his hand and he squeezed it gently as a smile appeared on his beautiful face. Bringing his hand that was in mine to my face, I told him, “It’s only been three days, but I’ve missed you too much baby.”

He sat up and I leaned in. I felt like we were about to kiss, but then he stopped.

“Jiyeon, do you really love me?”

“Of course, why else would I be here?”

“But…” He bit his lip and I leaned back, waiting for him to continue, but he seemed to be waiting for me to prompt him to continue.

“What is it you want to say? You can just say it.”

“It’s just that after the crash happened and all, I thought you might not like me anymore, especially since…I saw you hugging with Kyuhyun.” His head was down, and his childish eyes glanced up at me.

“What?” I was trying hard to control my laughter, and it came out as a big smile. “You silly boy! I didn’t like you for your riches, and Kyuhyun was hugging me to thank me for staying with you! You came to the room that day?” I couldn’t help but shake my head at his silliness. Maybe I should get mad at him for doubting me, but we weren’t that developed in our relationship as a couple and his insecurity only made him cuter.

“Yeah. But I left when I saw you two. So there’s nothing between you and Kyu?”

“No! In fact, he likes another girl in his class, who happens to be my neighbour! No wonder you sent me that message to just go hang out with Kyu.”

Now that I had cleared matters up, Sungmin started laughing and rushed in to give me a light kiss. He hugged me and rested his chin on my shoulder as I leaned against his warm chest.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be, it’s partly my fault too.”

We stayed like this for some time, until there came a small knock on the door.

“Come in, Sungjin,” Sungmin called out, which made him start coughing. I patted his back as the door opened.

“Umm…I don’t mean to interrupt your moment but…” he started, which made Sungmin and I red in the face even though we weren’t even doing anything much. “Just wanted to let you know that Omma and Appa called to say they’re coming back soon. Just to let Jiyeon noona be prepared or something, you know?”

“Arasseo. Thanks, Sungjinnie.” Sungmin smiled and wrinkled his nose to his dongsaeng, who did the same action back. This pair of brothers was too cute!

Not before long, Sungmin’s parents arrived back home. I greeted them formally, not wanting to give a bad impression. But Sungmin’s mother’s warmth shocked me.

“Omo, let me take a look at you. So you are the girl who’s been sticking with Sungmin despite all this eh? You’re much better for him than that spoilt brat Heejun.”

“K…kamsahamnida.” I bowed for the fourth time in that minute, which earned laughter from Sungmin’s entire family, including his father.

His parents looked tired, Sungmin told me they had been going to settle issues with all kinds of people, including the company’s ex-employees, lawyers, people from other companies and even potential employers. So I was glad that they treated me really warmly. Actually compared to Sungmin’s mansion which was grand and nice but was a little too big, I felt more at home here where we talked over cakes and coffee.

“I’m sorry for the poor showing, this is about all we can afford for now,” Sungmin’s mother said as she served the food.

“No, it’s not bad at all! My family wouldn’t even have this at teatime!”

I spent the rest of the day and even had dinner there, before reluctantly returning to my hostel. Sungmin’s father wouldn’t risk me going even by taxi, and he said while they still had a car he could drive me back. There was a sad ironic tone in his voice as he said that, and I really hoped their family’s situation would get better soon.