That night sleep refused to grace either of the girls.  Instead they sat in Sung-hee’s room on her bed with miscellaneous snacks talking.  Not quite the talking that one would expect at your average sleep over.  Instead they were talking about the past, more specifically Sung-hee’s past.  After dinner Sung-hee finally decided it was time that Delphine knew the whole truth about what happened between her and Lee.  Starting from the beginning Sung-hee told Delphine how in love she thought she was, all the good times and the bad.  Even the was discussed not in great detail but it was almost like Sung-hee couldn’t stop once she started.  By the time the sun rose Delphine knew everything Sung-hee ever thought about Lee, Dae, high school, and boys who played too much video games. 

Suk came into the room around eight to find both of the girls hugging with tissues littering the bed and the floor.  Before either could give an excuse he just smiled at them and advised a dip in the pool and hot tub to refresh since he was going into town to get food and the last part to fix the oven.  Before he was able to close the door both of the girls were scrambling to their suitcases mentally kicking themselves for almost forgetting about something they were so excited about the day before.  “Remember girls don’t stay in the hot tub too long it’s bad for you!”  They yelled out random words in response while fishing through their suitcases making Suk laugh as he headed back downstairs. 

He waited patiently on the couch for the two wanting to make sure they had everything before he left for the next hour or so.  The pair came giggling down the stairs with towels in their hand and their hair pulled back into buns.  Standing he dusted off his pants and spoke, “Is there anything you girls need before I go out?” 

Sung-hee looked over at Delphine who shook her head.  “Hmm yes there is something I need,” she held out her arms, “I need a hug.”  The innocent pout on her lips and the childish tone of her voice reminded Suk of the times when his daughter Brie would come into his room asking for a hug during a storm.  So of course he was all too happy to oblige. 

“Next time make sure to drag your brother up here okay?”  She nodded as they pulled apart.  “Now I’m going to be going out for a couple of hours.  Make sure to eat breakfast and take a nap if you need to since I know you two didn’t sleep last night.”  An accusatory look crossed Suk’s face and like scolded kids Sung-hee and Delphine smiled sheepishly up at him.  “You better sleep well tonight or we’re not going to the springs tomorrow understand?”  When they nodded he smiled satisfied.  “Good I’ll see you in a few hours.”  He turned and walked out of the house whistling a little tune. 

Delphine and Sung-hee stood in silence after the door clicked shut both in shock that he knew they had stayed up all night.  And they had tried so hard to be quiet.  Suddenly Delphine nudged Sung-hee with her towel, “Race you!”  Without giving the other girl a fair warning Delphine darted towards the back door intent on making it to the pool before Sung-hee.  She forgot though that Sung-hee was a fast runner and just before Delphine was able to jump into the pool Sung-hee grabbed her waist and turned them both away from the water.  Quickly sliding in she turned to find Delphine staring down at her pouting.  “That was totally unfair.”

“Nope you ran with a head start I just returned the favor.”  She spoke matter-of-factly while moving backwards in preparation for Delphine to try and attack her when she jumped in the water.  What surprised her though was Delphine didn’t even bother attacking her she just slipped into the pool with that scary smirk on her face. 

“For this you’re getting asked embarrassing questions.”

Eyes wide Sung-hee walked over already having an idea as to what her first couple of questions would be.  “Aw come on Del!” 

Despite Sung-hee tugging on her arm Delphine didn’t waver and actually pulled at Sung-hee’s arm jokingly.  “Nope this is payback.”  Her smirk grew even wider as Sung-hee grimaced.  “So who was your first kiss?”

Absolute horror covered Sung-hee’s face and she swam away from Delphine hoping to avoid the question.  Unfortunately for Sung-hee, Delphine swam after her and the chase didn’t last long before both grew tired and Sung-hee finally gave into Delphine.  “Okay but you can’t laugh.”  Delphine drew a cross over her heart.  “Okay I was in my first year of middle school and I had a huge crush a second year boy named Alexander.  And well at a school dance,” a dark blush covered Sung-hee’s face and she turned away from Delphine, “apparently I looked a lot like the girl he liked from the back.”  Instantly Delphine started cracking up.  “Yah you brat you lied!”  As revenge Sung-hee splashed water over at Delphine who just smiled and shrugged in response.

“If it makes you feel better mine was worse.  My first day of high school I ran into the kingka of the school and when we fell, our lips locked.  Let me tell you that was the worst year of my life.”  At first Sung-hee laughed before it set in the trouble that must have caused her.  “So in first kiss embarrassment I top you.” 

This time Sung-hee laughed and took her place next to Delphine as they both clung to the wall but let their legs float in the water.  “Yeah, but I bet my first time was worse than yours.  I mean come on the roof of the school worst place to do it ever.”  Lee had always been impatient on the matter and he soon managed to get his way after putting her on a guilt trip for some time.

Once again Delphine laughed and shrugged, it wasn’t a problem for them to joke about Lee and other ex-boyfriends after last night.  “Nope my first time rocked thank you very much it was on an actual bed and everything.”  Snickering Delphine leaned against the wall of the pool and let her feet float a little bit.  “But speaking of first times, have you and Cheon doong done it yet?”

A furious blush covered Sung-hee’s face and chest as she kicked at Delphine’s legs.  “Shut up!”

Delphine swam to the other side of the pool grinning happily.  “I take that as a no then?”  Delphine always got a great amount of joy from poking into Sung-hee’s life since she always got so flustered about it. 

Narrowing her eyes at her friend Sung-hee kicked some water towards her but a small smile found its way onto her face.  Sung-hee still felt the heat on her cheeks though and she had to work hard to push the dirty thoughts flashing through her head away.  “Why do you even have to ask?”

The devilish grin on Delphine’s lips was enough to make Sung-hee twitch before she even received an answer.  “Because I’m pretty sure the boy would be freak in bed and I wanna know if I’m right or not.”

Just when she thought the blush would leave it returned full force and she bent down to hide herself in the water for a moment.  When breathing became an issue she stood back up and rubbed the water off her face.  “You’re joking right?”

Delphine held her hands up in an innocent manner and shrugged.  “Hey it’s always the quiet ones and you’re experienced you can teach him all kinds of stuff.”

This time Sung-hee plugged her ears shaking her head violently.  “Oh gods stop.”

“Oh come on you guys have been dating since, what March?  It’s almost July and you’ve never even wanted to do something?”

Sighing Sung-hee slowly half walked half swam over to Delphine stopping a few feet before she reached her.  Sometimes she really hated conversations like this.  A part of her felt like she was taking away Thunder’s innocence.  And while she was proud with the fact she would be his first in a way she felt inadequate since she had given away her innocence to someone that clearly didn’t deserve such a treasure.  “Well I have it’s just I don’t want to rush it you know?  I mean I know I’m ready but I’m not sure if he is.”

“So you’re not even going to talk to him about it.”

Sung-hee wasn’t sure how to respond at first, sometimes she really hated arguing with Delphine because she was so darn good at it and honestly it wasn’t fair.  Especially on matters that involved Thunder.  “When he’s ready he’ll tell me.”

“He’s a boy he’s always ready from the time they’re like fourteen their bodies are forever ready.”

“I know but still I don’t want to pressure him.”

“You are so impossible.”

“You’re impossible.”

“You’re more impossible.”

The pair stared each other down for a moment before bursting into laughter.  Of course this wasn’t the first time the pair had this conversation especially in recent weeks.  Mostly they tended to stick with how ually frustrated band members made them, jokingly of course.  “At least I’m dating him unlike someone who keeps refusing my invitations whenever she gets to see the object of her affection alone.”  This time it was Delphine’s turn to blush and splash Sung-hee with water.  Delphine had already met the others Sung-hee understood that Delphine was nervous but she couldn’t run forever. 

“You act like he’s going to spend time with me and instantly want to date me.”

“No but it’ll never happen if you don’t try.”

“And come across as the crazy fangirl best friend?  I think not.”

“Oh and I suppose trying to cover up your desire to spend time with him with Teen Top is better?”

Delphine frowned and turned away from Sung-hee only to have her follow every movement that she made.  Eventually Delphine decided to climb out of the pool and started to walk over to the patio where both of them had dropped their towels.  Knowing that Sung-hee was right behind her she handed her a towel before grabbing one.  “Shut up you like them too.”

Drying herself off Sung-hee shrugged nonchalantly at Delphine’s harsh tone.  “Yes I do they’re very attractive but they’re while you have a guy who’s willing to meet you that is your ideal type and you’re his I don’t see what the problem is.”

“You just want to go on double dates.”

Despite how tense the atmosphere was getting Sung-hee laughed a little at her response and wrapped her towel around her body.  “While I am guilty of that I want you to be happy,” hesitantly she reached forward and placed a hand on Delphine’s shoulder slightly surprised when the other girl whipped around to look at her, “I’ve seen the way you look at him Del and it’s not just the way a fangirl looks at an idol.”

For a moment Delphine wavered before sighing and shook her head, “Look Sung-ah while I appreciate your concern I really do it’s just idol relationships with normal people don’t typically work you and Cheon doong are like a special case or something.”

The pair went silent as they went back inside the heat getting too muggy for their taste.  The second that Sung-hee locked the door behind her she grabbed Delphine’s wrist.  “See I don’t believe that.”

Eyes wide Delphine pulled her wrist away from Sung-hee’s loose grip.  “Excuse me?”  Who knew that two words could be filled with such annoyance and venom?

For a fraction of a second Sung-hee stepped back surprised that Delphine reacted so harshly before regaining her composure and nodded.  At this point she might as well rip off the band aid so to speak.  “You’re scared that it won’t work so you won’t even try which is straight bull Del you don’t know if it won’t work if you don’t try.”

Pouting Delphine started climbing up the stairs but Sung-hee was still right behind her there was no way that she was going to let her escape that easily.  “That’s easy for you to say you already got your man.”

“And you could have yours.”

Delphine threw her towel at Sung-hee successfully covering her face as they reached the top of the stairs.  “It’s just not that easy.”

Ripping the towel off her face Sung-hee threw it at the back of Delphine’s head.  “Oh please like it was easy for me.  You know the story I had to go through hell to get where I am now and I’ll be damned if I let my best friend’s happiness slip away because she was scared about what ifs and maybes.”  Stomping over to Delphine who had made it to her room’s door Sung-hee poked her shoulder for emphasis anger burning in her eyes. 

For the first time Delphine saw how determined Sung-hee was on the subject.  “Sung-hee-”

Holding her hand up Sung-hee silenced her while her eyes softened just a bit realizing the intensity had probably freaked Delphine out.  She had never seen Sung-hee’s truly angry side before.  “Just promise me that if he ever makes a move don’t lie to him.”

“I-”

“Delphine please.”

“I promise.”

“Good.”  She hugged the girl close to her for a moment before letting go and shooing her towards her room.  “Now rest up I’m sure that Suk-ssi will wake us up when he gets back and has the oven all fixed so we can learn to make the Galbi.”

Grimacing Delphine raised a brow, “Jeez what are you my mother?”  Raising both of her hands in defense she was surprised when Sung-hee didn’t do anything.  Usually she hated being called someone’s mother.

Smiling Sung-hee reached forward and pinched both of Delphine’s cheeks.  “Yes now umma says nap time because she doesn’t trust the baby alone while she’s asleep.”  When Delphine smacked her hands away she smiled and darted for her room.  “You love me you know it!” 

Just as she reached the safe haven that was her room Delphine shouted, “You’re lucky I do!”  Laughing Sung-hee took off her bathing suit, hair out of the bun and threw on decent sleeping clothes before crawling into bed falling asleep almost instantly.

A few hours later Delphine was coaxing her awake trying to use the lure of the Galbi to get her up faster.  Regardless Delphine still had to drag her out of bed and to the steps only stopping when Sung-hee finally protested against the carpet burns.  As she clamored down the stairs Suk and Delphine relentlessly about her being such a heavy sleeper.  But after a firm glare at Delphine and a pout to Suk they stopped. 

“Okay girls the first thing you need to pay attention to is meat quality without good meat this recipe won’t work.”  He showed them both the meat he had picked out.  “Notice it’s got good marbling on it and not too thick or too thin.”  The girls took mental notes as he continued to talk about the ingredients they would be using though sometimes it was hard to keep up.  Sung-hee had mentioned before that since Hyo was a terrible cook and whenever their mother was away Suk would come over with his daughters Brie and Hana and they would have dinner together.  That was until Sung-hee and Hyo learned from Suk how to cook properly for themselves. 

About halfway through the trio spent less time talking about the food and more time talking about everything else.  Suk caught up on Sung-hee’s life and Delphine told him how she was a sculptor and in the same company as Sung-hee was.  Suk informed them that Hana was now battling cancer and Sung-hee promised to visit her childhood friend as soon as she could. 

Brie was now an owner of a small café in the next town over and she was supposed to come and visit tomorrow.  Sung-hee couldn’t help but ran around in excitement hearing the news.  Brie and Sung-hee had been very close when they were younger from their mutual interest in art.  Sadly they had lost touch over the years from all the moving and life always sweeping them up.  Delphine at first was worried about meeting her before Suk explained that she was similar to her except not quite as abrasive and her fears eased.

When they were cooking the meat Suk complained that he didn’t trust them on the oven so after the first batch he started cooking it himself.  The girls protested that their meat was good, after stealing a few pieces when he wasn’t looking, but he would have none of it.  Jokes about men and grilling ensued.  Suk finally admitted that their grilling skills were up to par when they finally sat down and ate with some rice and a few other side dishes. 

“You still have much to learn but I suppose that gives you a reason to visit.”

Sung-hee shrugged not sure if she or Delphine would be able to take a lot of weekends off like that, “Or you to visit.”

Suk wrinkled his nose in mock disgust before smiling.  “We’ll see I think I’ll get lost in the city honestly.”   The rest of lunch was spent trying to convince Suk that the big city really wasn’t all that bad. 

~~~~~~

A sigh parted Sung-hee’s lips as she sat cross legged by the forest in the backyard trying her best to clear her mind.  While she didn’t meditate every morning sometimes she liked to just let her mind go for a little while.  Especially when visiting a place with so many memories good and bad.  That and she knew that she didn’t have a lot of time before they were going to the hot springs and she wanted to be as relaxed as possible before going.  For her that always made the experience more enjoyable.  Just when she was about to finally let go and relax Delphine shouted to get her attention.  Teeth gritted she forced back the urge to run over and smack Delphine before answering.  “What?”
“I’m going to go to the market with Suk to get some of the ingredients we need for tonight we’ll leave for the hot springs when we get back okay?” 

Well at least that gives me more time to relax.  “Alright I’ll be here!”  Delphine waved and shouted good bye before leaving Sung-hee in relative silence once more.  At first it took her a while to forget about the sounds of nature around her and focus.  For a second she thought she would go crazy with how much the animals were running around.  But she didn’t make a move to stop it knowing if she yelled there would only be more aggravation. 

After what seemed like ages she was finally relaxed and was able to clear her mind.  She was so far into her meditation that she didn’t hear the rustling behind her until it was too late.  With a snap of a twig a cloth drenched in chloroform covered and nose.  Sung-hee held her breath and broke away from her attacker making a run for it.  Just as she made it to the back door a firm hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back hard enough to make her fall back onto the patio.  Looking up at her attacker she screamed loudly before he smacked her head with a branch effectively knocking her out.

~~~~~~

When Delphine and Suk returned their pleasant conversation cut off quickly when Delphine saw that her car was missing.  Adrenaline pumping Delphine and Suk ran the rest of the way to the house to find Sung-hee gone.  They searched everywhere and in the surrounding forest before Delphine spotted the cloth on the patio.  At first Delphine broke down into a crying mess on the grass beating the ground sobbing uncontrollably.  She didn’t even care about her car missing anymore she was more concerned with her best friend missing.  Suk gathered her into his arms letting her cry as he whispered soothing words to her. 

“Do you have any idea who would do this?”  He asked quietly when she finally started to calm down a little bit.

Hiccupping and rubbing her eyes furiously Delphine nodded.  “I-I th-think I have an idea but we n-need to call Hyo and the police.”  Shivering she hugged Suk tighter for a moment before he coaxed her to get up from the ground so they could head inside and use the office phone to make a conference call so they wouldn’t have to make two calls. 

“They’ll find her in no time I’m sure.”  Delphine couldn’t even speak as she clung to his arm for support while he led her inside the most terrifying images of what could have possibly happened to her best friend running through her mind.