Gongchan sighed and buried his face into his books. Class had finally ended. The two seats next to him had been vacant for three months, Ah-ra was never ever coming back to school ever, Sandeul on the other hand had disappeared into thin air. He was uncontactable and nobody knew anything about him, some said they he had ran away from home, others assumed that he had committed suicide and that his death had been kept as a secret. The girls behind him were gossiping about Ah-ra being pregnant with Sandeul's baby and that was the reason why they were expelled from school. 

" Aish!" he hit the table and stood up. He glared over the girls that were gossiping about Ah-ra and Sandeul.

" Gongchan-ah, calm down." Jinyoung came over to him and tried to calm him down.

" I'm going home first. Bye." 

Jinyoung only nodded his head and packed his things up, he was going to visit Ah-ra. As soon as he was about to walk out of class, Mr.Park stopped him, and called him over. He knew what it was about, he couldn't understand why his lecturer wanted him to accept the scholarship so much. 

" Mr.Park, it's the last term. I'm not going to think about it anymore." he voiced out and politely bowed to leave the classroom.

" Think about it. A higher degree will get you a higher pay. They'll pay you more for your songs. The amount of royalties that you will receive in a week will be ten times the amount that you're earning now." Mr.Park explained.

Jinyoung shook his head and walked out of the classroom. He flipped his phone over and stared into it, Shinwoo had left several messages pertaining Baro.The trip to the hospital took him over an hour, but some things just had to be done. He politely greeted Baro's family members and sat at the corner of the room. Baro was still under observation, he was left with a week before he could be discharged. 

" Jinyoung..." Baro voiced out.

" You do remember me..." Jinyoung grinned and approached him.

" Of course... I've not seen Sandeul for a long time. Where is he?" 

" He's really busy with his project work. How are you feeling?" Jinyoung lied to not make him worried.

" I'm feeling a little bit better... I hope my testimony will help Ah-ra a little. Is she alright?" Baro weakly uttered those words and forced a smile.

" You helped a lot, but Ah-ra decided to close the case against her sister. She's at home resting for now." Jinyoung explained and pursed his lips to give Baro the reassurance that he needed.

After the short visit to see Baro, Jinyoung forced himself to walk on the streets to keep a lookout for Sandeul. Who knew if he was lucky, he might just bump into Sandeul. The last time he had heard from him was on the night when Ah-ra had woke up, Sandeul called in to ask for forgiveness and that he really loved Ah-ra a lot, but he knew that her happiness wasn't with him. So he was going to let her go and start a new life, he told Jinyoung to not worry about him and that he was going to throw the ring somewhere high and that Ah-ra should probably get rid of their promise ring.

" Sandeul-ah... You're such a fool. I wonder how you're doing. I'm really worried. Everybody is worried." Jinyoung thought to himself and looked around the streets.

The last time Jinyoung felt this way was when he lost a puppy. He had gone into the streets to search for his lost puppy, day and night, before and after school, he would go out to keep a lookout for the poor puppy. He wondered whether it was safe or if it was eating well. He prayed that somebody kind would take the puppy home and take good care of it. Till today, he didn't even know what happened to it. Inwardly, Sandeul was quite important to Jinyoung, he wanted to treat the boy better. 

" If I was Sandeul, where would I be now?" Jinyoung questioned himself and thought hard, he really cracked his brains to get the answer.

One hour later...

" Ahjumma! Did you see Sandeul here? You know the little boy. a little bit plump, the one with brown contacts..." 

" Ah... He just left. Jinyoung-ah, he's grown up so much! He lost a lot of weight, grew whiter, he looks like those boys in the magazines! He even sang for my customers..." the food stall lady answered his question.

Jinyoung widened his eyes at the reply that he had received, Sandeul was well and alive. 

" If Sandeul comes here tomorrow. Give me a call. Here." he wrote his number on a piece of paper and passed it to the owner.

He immediately ran to the nearby streets and searched for Sandeul, he desperately sprinted to the nearest bus stop but there was no sighting of the boy. Jinyoung sat down on the bench and covered his face, he really needed to find him. It's been three month now, he wanted to know exactly where Sandeul was and whether he was well. He wanted to see it for himself.

" I'll kill you when I find you." Jinyoung muttered those words silently and boarded the bus that would go straight to Ah-ra's house.

He sat at the back seat of the bus and leaned his head against the window. Even then, he would find himself looking out of the window, scanning  through the crowds to look for Sandeul. Jinyoung let out a soft sigh and hugged his bag, he felt bad about it, he should have been patient and waited for the right time before he proposed to Ah-ra. Sandeul wasn't as evil as he had thought, at first he had assumed that Sandeul was just making use of Ah-ra to get to Dal-rae, but now he finally realized that Sandeul's love for Ah-ra, Dal-rae and his family shaped him into the person that he was now. Selfless and brave. 

Lee Junghwan could have just destroyed the Shin's if he reported them to the police claiming his rights on the company and house but Sandeul never did those incorrigible actions. He could have told Ah-ra that Dal-rae was her own blood sister, but he never once said anything about it. If he had really wanted to hurt Ah-ra, he would have just blamed her for everything and take sides with his own sister. Everything finally made sense to Jinyoung, he had misunderstood Sandeul so much.

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" Onni... why are you crying?" Ah-ra hugged her sister and tried to comfort her.

Dal-rae kept on sobbing and couldn't stop, if only she knew that Ah-ra was related to her by blood, she wouldn't have hated her so much. All these while, she had been living with her true family, with a mother that she had always wanted, a family that could give her everything that she needed. She received the love and warmth from them, but she was blind then to not realize it. She was blinded by greed and money, thinking that it was the only thing that could make her happy.

" I'm sorry... Ah-ra... You don't have to do it. Oh? Don't leave. Onni, will take care of you." Dal-rae expressed herself and pulled her little sister closer to her. 

" Then go with me."

" No. You're only doing this to stop Omma and Appa. I was wrong about you. Ah-ra, don't forgive me... I made you like this." Dal-rae kept on blaming herself and sobbed into her hands.

" Being blind in the left eye isn't a problem. I was thinking of pursuing my studies in Macau. That would be nice. Onni, our parents made the mistake, so let them settle it on their own. For now, focus on your studies." Ah-ra curled her lips and stood up.

No matter how many times she tried to convince herself to hate Dal-rae and punish her for her wrongdoings, Ah-ra just couldn't do it. She pitied Dal-rae a lot, she had been misunderstood, mistreated, misplaced, mistaken, underestimated just because she was adopted. Dal-rae had always thought that she was nothing and less perfect than Ah-ra. She wanted to be better than Ah-ra in everything, on the other hand, Ah-ra wanted to be just like her sister. Flawless and smart.

As Ah-ra walked down the stairs, she could see her parent's arguing and like always, Shinwoo would be in the middle trying to stop them. After learning about her brother's heart problem, she felt sorry for him. Being the eldest, he had always been the one trying to solve problems, working extra hard for the family and taking care of his younger siblings. Never in her life had she once thought that her parent's were going to get a divorce, they had always been loving and inseparable.

" Ah-ra, go to your room now." Shinwoo sternly looked at her and tried to make her budge.

" This is getting tiring for me and Dal-rae. Omma, Appa, get over it. I might just go insane if the both of you keep on bickering about the past. I've already made my mind up. I'm going to pursue a degree in fashion in Macau. I'm bringing Dal-rae onni along with me." Ah-ra voiced her opinion out.

Her parent's turned around to look at her, they had been arguing about everything under the roof. The both of them had almost forgotten that Dal-rae and Ah-ra were around. Mrs.Shin tried to protect Dal-rae and her husband was trying to get Dal-rae out of the house, if she wasn't going to get out of the house, then he wanted a divorce because he didn't want to see Dal-rae's face anymore. He had enough.

" Is that really what you want?" Mr.Shin answered his daughter and widened his eyes.

Ah-ra only nodded her head and regretfully approached her parent's.

" 3 years is all I need."

" Fine. Do what you have to do." he answered her and stomped off into the study room.

" Appa! You can't just let her go-" Shinwoo rushed to his father's side and tried to stop him.

Ah-ra changed her attention to her mother, they hadn't been talking to each other for three months now. 

" Omma. I don't hate you." she uttered those words and exited the house.

Ah-ra kicked the small stones and leaned her head against the cold metal gate of the mansion. In reality, the reason why she wanted to go further her studies in Macau was to run away from her problems, she couldn't stand the tension back at home. All she needed now was the support of her family members, but her parent's are so caught up in their own circle of problems that they failed to even look at Dal-rae and her for once. 

" Shin Ah-ra!" a familiar voice called out to her.

Ah-ra turned to her right but her vision was a little bit fuzzy, she showed her gums and waved back at Jinyoung who was running towards her. 

" What are you doing here?" 

" Do I need a reason to visit you?" Jinyoung chuckled and folded his arms.

" How is school? I miss Sandeul and Gongchan. How are the both of them doing?" she questioned him and for the first time, she actually missed her two friends.

" They are just fine. Gongchan is still trying to adapt. Sandeul is well. Ha..." after answering her questions, he let out a short sigh.

Jinyoung was contemplating on whether he should further his studies, but at the same time he didn't want to leave Ah-ra. 

" Why are you sighing. By the way, Oppa. I have something daebak to tell you." she excitedly clasped her hands together and widened her eyes.

" Daebak? What is it?" Jinyoung perked his ears up and listened to her. 

After listening to Ah-ra's explanation, Jinyoung couldn't help but feel a little bit upset. He was just starting to enjoy the start of their relationship and her company, but her sudden want to study overseas made him feel queasy. He was confused at her decisions.

" Really? Is that really what you want?" Jinyoung casted his eyes on the ground and kicked a stone away.

" It's only for 3 years... Are you upset?"

" Not really. I'll be worried about you then..." he expressed himself and tried not to sound like he was upset.

" I can't just lay around here and do nothing right? I'll have to work hard and prove to Shinwoo oppa that my disability won't hinder me from majoring in Fashion. At least, when I return to Korea, I'll be able to help him with his work. Isn't that a great idea?" Ah-ra grinned at the thought of it.

Jinyoung only nodded his head at her reason.

" But Ah-ra. I will miss you. It's no fun having to wait for you. I'll be bored." he grabbed her hands and turned to look at her.

" Haha...Oppa. We can always sent emails and Skype with one another. It's the smart generation you know." Ah-ra giggled at his sudden outburst.

" Fine. 3 years. Promise me, you'll be back here in three years time. When are you planning to go?" 

" As soon as possible. Oppa, can I ask you something?" she intertwined her fingers with him and stared into the dark sky.

" What is it?" he followed her actions and looked into the skies. 

" If there was no me... would it really be boring?"

" It'll be empty!" Jinyoung immediately replied her and flicked her forehead. He didn't like it whenever she asked those type of questions.

" Why are you afraid of being bored again?" Ah-ra questioned him and and studied his pale face.

" Because I can feel happiness when I'm with you." Jinyoung honestly answered her question and gave her a hug.

Ah-ra moved her head up and down, the person that she had always wanted and yearned for was now here to give her the comfort that she needed. But this was also the same person who had uttered the same exact words to her elder sister, the person that loved Dal-rae wholeheartedly and promised with his life to love her. Ah-ra kept on questioning herself, does love really ever last?

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(A/N: credits to Aaka98 for the poster, thank you! Sandeul has disappeared, any idea to where he is? )