Mr. Bae stopped by Sungjong’s house to pick him up, as well, and by the time he saw Myungsoo, he smiled, and said, “It’s nice to see you again.”

   “You, too,” he reciprocated.

   “So the two of you already know each other,” Mr. Bae remarked. “I wouldn’t have to introduce you, then.”

   “Seems like it, Uncle,” Sungjong said with a grin. He placed the white paper bag he was carrying on the floor, and he introduced himself to Daehyun. Soon, the two were absorbed in talking about different things.

<:>

   “So this is Myungsoo,” Mrs. Bae gushed, smiling warmly. “My husband told me about you. Thank you so much for going to the airport.”

   “It’s my joy, really…” Myungsoo muttered, his cheeks burning due to the attention being given to him. The women in the kitchen were eyeing at him, and this made him feel uncomfortable all the more. Regaining his confidence, he beamed at Mrs. Bae and said, “It’s really nice to meet you.”

   “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she replied. “I hope this won’t be our last time seeing each other, though.”

   She led him out of the house again, where Suzy and the others cooked barbecue. Daehyun was already playing with some of the children, and Myungsoo couldn’t help but smile.

   “Myungsoo hyung, over here!” Sang Moon cried, as he waved his arm.

   “He can see you, you know,” Suzy whispered.

   The younger scowled at her. Sungjong, on the other hand, was too absorbed in checking the meat on the grill. Myungsoo approached the three, and that was when he realized that he was still holding the gifts he was supposed to give to Suzy. He held them up, and she grinned.

   “Come with me,” she said. “I’ll show you something, as well.”

   The two retreated back to the house, and Suzy told him to follow her upstairs. By the time they were in front of one of the rooms, she took the paper bags gratefully.

   “One of them is from Sunggyu,” Myungsoo began. “The one in the pink paper bag. I just thought I’d let you know.”

   She nodded away, and she looked at the smaller bag, with a card sticking out of it.

   “That’s from Daehyun and I,” he carried on.

   A smiled graced her lips. “Can I open it now?”

   He smiled, and nodded. “Go ahead.”

   Suzy took the card enthusiastically and the smile on her face grew even wider as she read its contents. She looked at Myungsoo, and said, “Daehyun’s really sweet.”

   “He is,” he agreed.

   Finally, she took out the pair of friendship bands, her eyes wide with pleasant surprise.

   “It isn’t much, but I hope you’ll like it,” Myungsoo said.

   “I like it,” she replied. “Thank you.”

   Without hesitating she wore one of the bands. Suzy took Myungsoo’s right hand and she secured the other pair around his wrist.

   “Suzy, the other’s supposed to be for your friend.”

   She cocked her head. “Are you not my friend?”

   He couldn’t seem to reply, and this caused her to chortle. “Thank you for the gift, really. I appreciate it very much.”

   Suzy opened the door nearest to them. “This is my room,” she said. “And the next one is Sunggyu’s.”

   She quickly placed the paper bags on her desk, before heading out of her room again. “What I want to give you is this,” she handed him a notebook. “It’s a collection of short stories and poems. I think it’s the best one I’ve ever written.”

   Myungsoo stared at the thick notebook she had just given to him. “But…why are you giving me this?”

   “Back then, when we were still talking over the phone, I’ve thought about it,” she began, while nodding away. “I’ve thought about it quite a lot.”

   He sifted through the pages. Everything was handwritten in a careful manner. There were almost no erasures. “Suzy, there’s only one copy of this in the entire world.”

   “I know,” she said, grinning. “That’s why I want you to have it.”

   “What’s the reason behind it?”

   “Because,” she seemed to hesitate for a bit. “I want you to understand that there’s only one of you, too.”

   Both of their eyes met, and as if they understood what the other was thinking about, they headed downstairs, only to join the rest.

<:>

   “Did you have fun?” Suzy asked Daehyun, by the time all of their guests aside from the siblings and Sungjong left the place.

   “I did, noona, thank you,” he answered. He beamed at his older brother, who was laughing away with Sang Moon and Sungjong in the kitchen at that time while wiping the plates. “And hyung had fun, too.”

   “I’m really glad to hear that,” she said. “Now, let’s bring these plates over there and wash it.”

   He outstretched his hands. “I’ll help you, Sunshine noona!”

   Suzy laughed shortly, before handing him four plates. “That should do it. Thank you very much.”

<:>

   Sunggyu had to kill several more hours before boarding the plane leading to Heathrow.

   “The last plane,” he muttered, while tilting his head back only to stare at the crystal ceiling. The sound of the woman over the speakers rang inside his ears, together with the constant rolling of the wheeled bags and the clacking of some of the people’s heels. The soft chatters of the people behind him overwhelmed him. He let out a sigh, and whispered, “I miss you already.”

<:>

   “Noona,” Sang Moon began, while arranging the plates in the cabinet along with Myungsoo. Sungjong was already in the living room, playing with Daehyun. “By now, where’s Sunggyu hyung?”

   “Beats me,” she answered. “It’s been several hours. He must be near to his destination.”

   “Could he be…” her younger brother began. “In your heart?”

   “Sang Moon!” she shrieked.

   “Shh!” he replied. “Don’t scream at me.”

   “Just shut up and do your job,” she seethed, which caused Myungsoo to smirk to himself. He had never expected Suzy to cause an outburst.

   “Myungsoo hyung, have you seen it?” he said. “She’s an Amazonian woman. An Amazonian woman.”

   With rough movements Suzy tied the black bin bag in the trash bin and carried it. “I’m going to take out the trash.”

   “I’ll go with you,” Myungsoo volunteered.

   “Sure thing,” she replied. Soon, they both stepped out of the house, only to be greeted by the woody autumn air.

   “Please excuse my brother and I,” Suzy began. “We’re generally like that most of the time.”

   “It’s fun to watch, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve never experienced having a sister before, you see.”

   She smiled. “The neighborhood’s bins are several blocks away from here.”

   “Let me carry it for you, then.”

   “No, Myungsoo, you’re all—” Suzy trailed off when he took the bag from her without a word. She nodded away, and shoved her hands in her pockets. “You and Sunggyu are quite similar.”

   “How so?”

   “Taking the bin bag just like that. He would take the left side, as well.”

   “You seem to miss him,” Myungsoo pointed out.

   “You think?”

   “People tend to talk about the person they miss especially when they’re not around.”

   “I see,” she replied. “I guess I do, then.”

   “What else did you do?” he carried on.

   Suzy glanced at Myungsoo, who was staring ahead. “After throwing the trash, we’d go to the convenience store to buy ice cream, no matter what season it was. It became a habit. He would take chocolate flavored ice cream and I’d take the strawberry ones—that became a habit of mine, as well. Eating strawberry ice cream, that is.”

   “Why?”

   A sad smile graced her lips and in a split of a second, it vanished. “Because he said that he liked girls who smelled like strawberries,” she exhaled a mouthful of air, and stretched her hands towards the sky. “It’s strange, Myungsoo. Why can I say things like this so easily to you?”

   He gave out a shrug. “I don’t mind, though.”

   “Of course you don’t,” she replied playfully. She stopped walking, and pointed at a large trash can not too far away from them. “We can throw it in there.”

   “And after this,” Suzy added all of a sudden. “Let’s go to the convenience store, hm?”

<:>

   It was already past eleven in the evening when Myungsoo and Daehyun arrived to their apartment. He quickly urged Daehyun to brush and wash up before heading to sleep.

   “You need to rest,” Myungsoo said, as he tucked him in. “Good night, Sunshine.”

   Daehyun yawned, and smiled sleepily at him. “Good night, Summer. I’ll see you in the morning.”

   He tousled his brother’s hair before heading out of the room, only to brood about the things he and Suzy talked about.

   “My relatives are not really fond of me,” she said earlier. “Because I wasn’t born soon enough. They somewhat blame me for my parents’ decision to adopt Sunggyu years ago. It’s sort of foolish, huh? It’s not like I asked to delay my birth, anyway.”

   “Your relatives don’t like Sunggyu?” he asked.

   She shook her head no. “We don’t mind, though, because Sunggyu doesn’t mind.”

   “What about you?” Myungsoo asked again. “Are you not having a hard time?”

   With this, Suzy chortled. “I simply do not let the small things get to me, Myungsoo. If they dislike me, then it’s their problem. It can be irritating at times, but not unbearable.”

   That was when he realized that she was stronger than he thought.

<:>

   Suzy lay on her bed, listening to the rhythmic pulse of her alarm clock. She didn’t mean to, but she ended up counting the hours since she last saw Sunggyu.

   “Twenty-three hours,” she murmured. “You should be there by now.”

<:>

   It was two in the afternoon when Sunggyu arrived at Heathrow. After collecting his luggage, he headed straight for the new arrivals’ lobby, where a man holding a placard with his name on it was waiting for his arrival. The person wasn’t that difficult to miss, considering that he was wearing a red shirt while waving the placard madly.

   He smiled to himself, before approaching the man.

   “Kim Sunggyu?” he asked, with a mischievous grin. He was obviously younger than Sunggyu.

   “Yes,” he answered.

   “I’ve been assigned to you,” he explained, the beguiling smile not fading away from his lips. He held out his hand. “My name is Woohyun. Nam Woohyun.”

   They shook hands, and without a word Woohyun took Sunggyu’s cart and said, “Welcome to London, Mr. Kim.”

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
- Deuteronomy 20:4