It’s raining the day they safely landed back in Seoul.

The Incheon Airport is never not crowded with people, and today is no different. Wooyoung is barely trying to register the scene -chaos- before his eyes, when he feels Minjun lifting his arms up and forcing a jacket on him.

“Hyung,” Wooyoung knits his eyebrows in an amused frown, but let his older brother does it his way anyway.

“It’s cold,” Minjun says flatly, worry evident in his eyes. “Let’s not get you cold.” Wooyoung looks back at him with a knowing gaze.

“I’m fine,” he assures. Minjun only offers a small smile. He secures a cap on Wooyoung’s head and puts the hoodie on. “Do I look better now?” Wooyoung asks, rolling his eyes.

“Safer,” Minjun nods. He takes their suitcases back into his hands, and then peers at a direction right behind Wooyoung. “Or, maybe not really.”

Wooyoung blinks and slumps his shoulders down. “It’s the twins, isn’t it?”

The suffocating bear hugs he gets right after that only confirm that they were indeed, his younger brothers.

+

It’s always the same in every country. The same white, empty walls, the same dull colored furniture, the same coldness and smell.

The same fear.

The doctor is young, probably no older than Minjun‘s age, only so much taller and very well built. Wooyoung honestly feels small in his presence, but he seems very kind and patient, and Wooyoung allows himself to relax a little.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, opening the file with Wooyoung’s health record and tapping his pen on the thick papers as he reads through everything. Wooyoung eyes the pendulum on the table for a brief second before shifting his gaze to the doctor. Doctor Ok, his nametag says.

“I feel fine,” Wooyoung answers.

“Why did you decide to stop getting treatments from the States? Korea is not far behind when it comes to medical advancement, but they can provide you better treatments there, should anything bad happens to you,” he says. Wooyoung blinks his eyes and shrugs, fingers playing with the hem of his t-shirt.

“Doesn’t make a difference when there’s no suitable heart donor for me.” Wooyoung answers truthfully. His voice came out really hushed though, so he’s not sure if the doctor’s heard him or not. Wooyoung sighs. “Things are a lot more foreign and expensive there. I’d rather be here.”

“You know how it is,” Doctor Ok nods his head and closes the file. “Don’t stress yourself, don’t work and move around too much, take your medicines and get enough rest. You should be fine.”

Wooyoung stands up and fixes his jacket. “Thank you, doc.”

“If you feel sick, come see me.”

“I hope I don’t have to,” Wooyoung says. Doctor Ok only gives him a toothy smile.

+

With the help of his parents and younger brothers, everything in his room was already pretty much cleaned up and organized even before Wooyoung arrives here. There’s only a few small boxes of his personal belongings left untouched on his study table that Wooyoung never really bothers to check just yet.

He hears a squeak on the bed and isn’t surprised to see his younger brothers lying down on the mattress. He puts the boxes back down and squeezes himself through in between Jaebeom and Jinyoung on the bed.

“Why are you guys at home when you should be out there hanging out with friends like normal kids?”

“It’s cold outside!” Jinyoung says.

“And nothing fun to do,” Jaebeom agrees. Wooyoung chuckles.

“Jaebeommie and Jinyoungie,” Wooyoung calls, turning around so he can lay his back on the mattress too. Both twins turn to face him. “Are you sad you had to leave your friends back in US because of me?”

“No,” Jaebeom quickly replies. “Maybe just a little, but it’s so good to be back in Korea again. We can find and eat Korean delicacies everywhere.”

“Yeah. And we have a lot of friends here too!”

“But I thought you guys loved it there?”

“Only because we were all there!”

“Doesn’t matter where we are,” Minjun’s voice interrupts the conversation. All the three of them lift their heads up to see Minjun leaning on the doorframe on his side. “As long as we’re all together, anywhere is fine.”

Wooyoung, Jaebeom and Jinyoung sit up and look at each other, and then playfully scrunch their faces. “Eww, cheesy hyung!”

“What!” Minjun widens his eyes in disbelief and folds his sleeves up as he approaches the bed. “I will get all of you one by one!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Wooyoung laughs, putting his hands up in surrender, the same time Jaebeom shouts a “No way!” and moves in front of Wooyoung with outstretched arms as if to protect him, while Jinyoung only giggles and hides behind Wooyoung. Minjun gets a hold on Jaebeom and wrestles him onto the bed.

“Ah, hyung! How old are you, seriously?!” Wooyoung laughs, grabbing and trying to pull Minjun off of Jaebeom by his arms.

“Fight, fight, fight,” Jinyoung chants.

“After this is Jinyoungie’s turn!” Minjun announces, pressing his elbows onto Jaebeom’s back.

“Hyunggggggggg,” Jaebeom whines, uselessly failing his arms around. Wooyoung grabs Minjun’s shoulders and pushes him off. “I will tell mom on you!” Minjun cackles shamelessly as Jaebeom stomps out of the room.

“Hyung, don’t be too mean to him,” Wooyoung lightly hits Minjun with the back of his palm.

“This is why you’re not our favorite hyung!” Jinyoung points an accusing finger at Minjun.

“I’m still Wooyoung’s favorite though!”

Wooyoung arches an eyebrow up. “Why do you say that? How can you be so sure?”

“I’m your only hyung!” Minjun reasons. “Doesn’t that make me your instant favorite?”

Wooyoung arches another eyebrow up. “Absolutely not.”

“….You guys are ungrateful.”

“Dinner is ready!” Jaebeom shouts from down the hall after a while, his footsteps eventually turn louder as he approaches the room again. “Mom said,” he says, helping Wooyoung get up from the bed. “The last person to get to the dining table will have to wash the dishes and clean everything!” Jaebeom sticks his tongue out at Minjun, dragging Wooyoung out with him and Jinyoung.

“Yah, are you guys really gonna leave me here?” Minjun asks but doesn't make a move to get up. Wooyoung turns his head around at Minjun.

“Why aren't you getting up!” Wooyoung chuckles. “Didn't you hear what Jaebeommie said?”

Minjun waves his hand around dismissively. “You guys are probably gonna make me do it anyway whether I get there first or last.”

Their gazes meet and Wooyoung can only offer him a smile. I will not let you let me win again next time, Wooyoung narrows his eyes. Just this time.

“Only because I'm your favorite hyung!” Minjun replies back openly.

“Ne, ne~” Wooyoung nods his head and lets his younger brothers guide him to the kitchen.

In the end, they all end up doing the cleaning works together anyway.

+

Wooyoung has a mixed feeling about discovering his old journal.

Back in the States, his doctor encouraged him to keep a journal and make a list of what he wanted to do in his life. He told Wooyoung that positivism is the key to being happy and living a longer life, but Wooyoung is never great at writing nor expressing his feelings properly, and he’s not very aware of what he wishes to do. So it’s really not a surprise that only a few pages of the journal were filled with short paragraphs and the list is expectedly empty.

Wooyoung never hoped too much, never dared for a miracle. It’s hard to find a heart donor and even though he’s scared, for the most part, he is accepting of his fate. The people around him keep encouraging and supporting him though, and Wooyoung tries to be a little stronger everyday for everyone.

“Why are you up so early, bud?” Minjun enters his room, fixing the tie around his neck. Wooyoung looks up at him and puts away the journal onto his study table. It’s 7.15 in the morning and the sunlight has already brightened up most of his room. The house smells like cake and pastries, and Wooyoung just loves waking up to this scent everyday.

“Well I don’t want to miss breakfast with everyone!” Wooyoung tells him, digging his feet deeper into his blanket and pulling it closer to his body as he rests his back against the headboard. Fall is here and the weather gets really cold a lot these days. Minjun straightens his blazer and sits at the edge of Wooyoung’s bed.

“What’s this?” he takes the journal and opens it.

“My old journal,” Wooyoung says. “Doctor Park said I should record my everyday life through writing. Keep the memories of what makes and keeps me happy.”

“But everything is the same,” Minjun points out, his lips curling into a soft smile with a tinge of sadness at the edge. “Family; day out, meals together, stocking groceries with dad, baking with mom, bickering with brothers…..” Minjun reads.

“Family makes me happy,” Wooyoung smiles, pulling his knees closer to his chest and leaning his cheek on them, fingers tracing the Polaroid picture of one of their days out back in the US. Minjun doesn’t say anything, but Wooyoung does feel his fingers threading lightly in his hair.

“Dear God, Jinyoung is so fat and heavy!” Jaebeom’s loud voice could be heard breaking the tranquil moment. He appears right outside of Wooyoung’s room soon after with Jinyoung on his back, and his backpack on his front.

“I am not fat though!” Jinyoung defends. “The last time I checked, you weighed heavier than I am.”

“What are you guys doing?” Minjun asks, the same time Wooyoung greets them a good morning.

“Jaebeommie lost in rock paper scissor, so he has to carry me around,” Jinyoung explains.

“He cheated!” Jaebeom chimes in. “He said men will always choose rock and then he chose paper.”

“But on the bright side, you da man,” Jinyoung grins and puts his thumb up.

“Jaebeom, Jinyoung!” their mom calls for them from downstairs. “If you guys don’t eat breakfast now, you’re gonna be late for school!”

“Yes, mom!” Jinyoung responds. “Now let’s go get breakfast!”

“I hate you,” Jaebeom says, but starts walking again anyway. “You’re so heavy!”

“I’m not! It’s your backpack!” their voices linger. Minjun chuckles, closes the book and puts it aside.

“We should go too.”

“Yeah we should. How about a piggyback ride for me too, huh?” Wooyoung wiggles his eyebrows. Minjun clicks his tongue but he never says no to Wooyoung.

+

The house is really quiet around this time of the day with his younger brothers in school, while his dad and Minjun have to go to work. It’s mostly boring without them around, and Wooyoung wishes he has things to do other than watching variety shows on the television all day, except that he really doesn’t. Not that the people would allow him to exert too much energy on doing normal daily things anyway.

He opens and closes the book, eyes the pages and taps his pen on the paper. He’s thinking of starting writing again, that maybe it will help occupy his time but as expected, his skill still hasn’t improved since back then. Wooyoung grunts in frustration, and ends up doodling on the paper instead.

“Sweetie?”

Wooyoung quickly lowers the volume of the television with the remote control. “Mom?”

“I have to go to the store for a while to get some groceries. Is it okay if you look after the bakery for a while?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure! I’ll be down in a minute,” Wooyoung gathers his things and switches off the television.

The bakery is small, extended from the kitchen right to the backyard. The previous owner of the house had used it as an office, but Wooyoung’s parents renovated and turned it into a bakeshop. Their mom has always loved baking, so Wooyoung was happy that she finally gets to open and own her own bakeshop even though it’s just on a really small scale. She seems happy about it too, and the people around the neighborhood love her cakes and pastries. Wooyoung puffs his cheeks out looking at the cakes on the display fridge, and secretly hopes there will be extra slices at the end of the day.

“You know how to use this, right?” she asks, buttoning her coat on. Wooyoung looks at the cash register machine and scratches his head with a finger, giving her a hesitant nod. “Ah, never mind. Customers don’t usually come here around this hour of the day anyway. You’ll be okay, though, right? I won’t take long,” she pats his back. Wooyoung chuckles and settles his things on the counter, taking a seat on the stool.

“Of course I’ll be fine, mom. I can take care of myself.”

“Okay then, I’m going now,” she kisses the top of his head. “Love you.”

“Love you, too!” Wooyoung smiles. “And oh, don’t forget your umbrella, mommy!” he reminds teasingly in his American accent. Wooyoung waves goodbye and watches her leave until he’s left all alone again. He connects his iTouch to the stereo and puts the volume up.

The entrance bell tinkles. Thinking that it was his mom, Wooyoung doesn’t look up from his book.

“Did you forget your wallet?” he asks casually, putting different shades on his drawing to create decent effects. There’s a squelching noise as the person approaches the counter and a very wet pair of sneakers comes into his view. The realization that his mom doesn’t wear sneakers (and nope, not in that size anyway) comes hitting him, and he jerks his head up only to be greeted by a sight of a guy all drenched by the rain. Wooyoung looks past the guy and to the window at this other realization, not even sure when exactly did the rain start to pour.

“I’ve had such a bad day,” the guy remarks, combing his wet fringe away from his face with his fingers. Wooyoung frowns, unsure of how to react. He feels cold for that guy though, unknown shivers running down his body and Wooyoung pulls his hoodie closer to himself.

“Mmm, okay?”

“No,” the guy widens his eyes. “It’s not okay.” Wooyoung notices the heavy accent in his voice, and that he doesn’t look Korean at all.

“Oh,” Wooyoung cowers on his seat. “Well, then…..” he trails off.

“I’ve had a really bad day,” the guy repeats. He is really drenched, his trench coat a darker shade of brown from the heavy downpour. Wooyoung stares at the water dripping down the floor and cringes. This guy is making too much mess in his mom’s bakeshop. Wooyoung is distracted at how drenched and cold the guy might have felt that he barely caught what the guy is saying.

Wooyoung shakes his head to wake him up from his own thoughts. “Sorry?”

“I said, what cake would you recommend that will make me feel better?”

“Uhh,” Wooyoung blinks. “I’m—I’m just a cashier,” he replies lamely.

“Huh,” the guy sniffles, lightly rubbing his fingers on his nose. “Do you have a favorite?”

“Don’t you?”

“I don’t,” the guy admits. “And everything looks so good, I can’t really choose. As a worker here, shouldn’t it be your job to help?”

“Umm,” Wooyoung looks and moves to the display fridge at the side of the counter. “Ice cream cake?”

“In this kind of weather?” the guy scoffs and moves to the front of the fridge. “I think you want to eat it more than I do.”

“Well, you were asking which was my favorite!” Wooyoung makes a point. “And it’s really nice. Ice cream and cake is such a good combination, okay? This food makes you happy,” he points at the cake, jabbing his finger on the glass. “But if you don’t want it, then,” he bends down and looks at the other choices. “Then maybe you will like something like strawberry cake, or red velvet…..” Wooyoung nods at his own suggestion. His train of sight moves to the guy when he bends down to look at the cakes too, before their gazes meet. “Uhh, take your pick,” he says in English and straightens up.

“You speak English?” the guy prompts, replying back in the same language.

“I lived in the States for two years, so yes I do speak the language.”

“And you’re telling me this because?” he grins. Wooyoung hangs his jaw open, baffled, and then frowns.

“Because you were asking me!”

The guy laughs and switches back to Korean. “Your favorite dessert is ice cream cake and you lived in the States for two years. Fifteen minutes of being in here and I already know some of the important stuff. Not bad.”

“You sure seem sad for having a bad day,” Wooyoung replies back sarcastically, pressing his lips into a thin line.

“I feel better, yeah,” the guy mutters. Wooyoung notices he’s lightly shivering now, uselessly crossing his arms on his chest to get some warmth. Wooyoung sighs.

“No, seriously. Take your pick while I get you something to dry you off.”

When Wooyoung gets back with a towel, he sees the guy peeking at his book and list on the counter. Wooyoung quickly runs to the counter, closes the book and slides it aside. “What are you doing? I didn’t particularly ask you to sneak on my journal.”

“I wasn’t,” the guy innocently blinks his eyes. “It was just…..right there, open to be read by people…”

“Well, what did you see?”

“Nothing. Just an empty list? And I’m not good in Korean anyway, so I didn’t register anything,” he shrugs and takes the towel. “Thanks.”

Wooyoung spares him an annoyed glance because no matter what this guy does or says, he is still the customer and customers need to be treated and assisted properly no matter who they are, according to his parents (and Minjun). So he takes a flattened box out from below the counter instead, and asks “Did you pick what you want yet?” as calmly as he can manage. He’s seen his mom doing this a lot, so at least he knows what to do this time.

“I’ll take the strawberry cake and red velvet,” the guy points, drying his hair with the towel. Wooyoung carefully gets a slice of each and puts them on the inside of the box, before setting it up nicely.

“That’ll be 7,550 Won.” The guy reaches out for his wallet from the back pocket and pulls a note out. “Umm,” Wooyoung eyes the money and then at the cash register machine. “I don’t…I’m not sure how to use this,” Wooyoung admits, feeling his cheeks burning up a little. The guy chuckles and puts the neatly folded towel back onto the counter.

“Keep the change. I guess we can use it to buy ice creams or bubble teas next time,” he suggests. Wooyoung raises his eyebrows in confusion. The guy takes the box and walks to the exit door.

“Hey, it’s still raining! You’ll get wet again!” Wooyoung shouts but the guy only raises his hand up and waves without looking back at Wooyoung. He walks out, runs and disappears to the route on the left. Wooyoung shrugs as he sits back on the stool, pressing the “open” button on the machine and it dings open. “What, it’s that easy?!” Wooyoung slaps a hand on his forehead in embarrassment at himself, but put the money in anyway. “What does he mean next time? Is he coming back here again?” Wooyoung wonders, closing the machine again and swivels on the stool to face the counter. The rain shows no sign of stopping just yet, and his mom probably won’t be home anytime soon. He buries his nose on his folded arms on the counter, watching the heavy downpour outside. “Would be nice if I can play outside in the rain,” Wooyoung says wistfully. He opens the book and flips the pages, and then notices a small note on the lower part of his drawing. Wooyoung is sure it wasn’t there before. He pulls the book up and squints at the handwriting.

Nice drawing. We should hang out sometime! Call me =]

- Nichkhun

It says, with a number scribbled below his name. Wooyoung blinks and then chuckles in amusement, dropping the book down so he can see the direction where Nichkhun has disappeared to before. “This guy really is something.”