Jong Hyun did not know that, while they were aboard the train, Shin Hye was staring indifferently at the other people, who were staring back at her with tepid responses. She trusted only Jong Hyun and Jaejoong, not any one else around. Her paranoia was arisen everytime people stared back at her. It was the same in the hospital while Jong Hyun sang.

"I wonder if Jong Hyun's bumonim and yeodongsaeng are as good as he is," she thought. "I simply must not trust anyone. I will only trust him."

And as the other people lukewarmly or boredly looked at their way, Shin Hye frowned as she also stared back at them, holding Jong Hyun's hand tightly.

"Please save me, Jong Hyun," she prayed. "I don't want these people to hurt me..."

****

"Here we are, Shin Hye-ya," Jong Hyun told her as they got off the train.

She followed him walk down the muddy path, gazing at the tall reeds at one side, and corn fields on the other side. Birds were flying overhead, the fluffy clouds floated above, while the sun beat the backs of the farmers in the field with its scorching rays. Shin Hye squinted her eyes and rubbed her delicate skin, for she had not been exposed to the heat of the sun and the light of day for years.

"So hot," she mumbled.

Jong Hyun turned around, put down his bag and guitar, took off a shirt from his bag, and placed it on Shin Hye's head.

"Mianhae. I don't have an umbrella," he told her with some guilt.

"Eung," she just said softly while nodding.

And the two went on with their journey. It seemed like forever to her, who had not walked for long distances for years.

****

Jong Hyun and his visitor arrived at the maternal farmhouse, and his parents hugged him tight as they missed him. Then, Eomma noticed the girl with her son.

"Nuguya?"

Shin Hye looked at the old couple shyly before bowing down.

"Please forgive her, Eomma, I will explain later," Jong Hyun said. "This is my friend, Park Shin Hye."

And he introduced his family to her. Eomma and Appa instantly liked the withdrawn girl. Jong Hyun's little sis, Ha Yi, looked at the newcomer with interest. 

"Oppa, why is Eonni wounded?" Ha Yi asked.

Eomma slapped her daughter's arm while telling her to shut up, and noticed that Shin Hye hid behind Jong Hyun.

"Ah, Agasshi, please forgive our Ha Yi-ya," Eomma explained. "She can be very tactless sometimes."

"Eomma, I am precocious, not tactless," Ha Yi said with a smile before looking back at her oppa and his visitor.

Eomma and Appa gladly let Shin Hye and Jong Hyun to the table first. They need to talk before anything else. The whole family watched Shin Hye looking at Jong Hyun, who was manly enough to provide her with everything she needed at the table.

"Oppa is so sweet," Ha Yi whispered to her eomma, who slapped her again.

But Shin Hye glared at the young girl. Her paranoia kicked in a bit.

"Shin Hye-ya, Eomma cooks really well, so please eat a lot," Jong Hyun said to her.

Shin Hye looked at the family members getting food in the center of the table. She looked at Jong Hyun again before holding her chopsticks. It had been years since she held a pair, as all she had was just the spoon and fork.

"Try this," Jong Hyun said as he placed some pieces of meat on Shin Hye's bowl of rice.

Shin Hye looked at him, asking for assurance, and he nodded as he smiled at her.

"Trust me, Shin Hye..." he whispered.

The others at table, especially Ha Yi, began to realize that the poor wretched girl was one who does not trust easily, and needs reassurance that she will not be poisoned as she dines. Shin Hye nodded, got her chopsticks, but let fall of the pair.

"Mianhae, Eomma, she was not used to chopsticks," Hyunnie said as he got some spoon and fork for the visitor.

Instead of becoming annoyed, Eomma, Appa, and Ha Yi tried to understand the visitor.

****

After lunch, Jong Hyun brought Shin Hye to his room.

"I will let you use my room," he said awkwardly as he laughed a bit while scratching his head. "So... please feel comfortable."

Shin Hye looked at him in silence.

"I always use this room whenever we visit Halmeoni in the past," Hyunnie said. "So, I can say this had always been my room."

Shin Hye nodded.

"Ah... I will just sleep in my sister's room," he told her. 

Shin Hye sat on his bed and found it hard... but of course the floor was harder. She took out the blanket which Ha Yi had woven for her oppa, and she placed it around her.

"Rest first, Shin Hye-ya," he told her tenderly. "Please do not worry here. We are safe."

And she nodded again.

"Gomawo...yo..." she murmured her gratitude.

Jong Hyun smiled back at her before leaving her in his room. As Shin Hye was alone, she looked all around. Jong Hyun's room was a bit small but cozy, and on the window was a dreamcatcher. It was also a bit bare, being poor and due to the fact that this really was not Jong Hyun's own room--just his room in the maternal farmhouse. Nevertheless, she felt a bit of solace just being in his room. And she lay down and closed her eyes...

****

Jong Hyun shared to his family who Shin Hye was and why she was like that. The old couple were scared because of Shin Hye's affiliation to Kim Hye Ri, but when they heard that the poor girl was maltreated just because she was not an offspring, they had pity on her.

"Eomma, I will offer my savings to buy some clothes for Eonni," Ha Yi said.

"Geurae, geurae," Eomma said before turning to Jong Hyun. "But we have to pay our debts to the madame."

"Geokjeongmaseyo," Jong Hyun said to his parents. "Kim Jaejoong-ssi, a kind relative of Kim Hye Ri, payed our debts."

"But, who is that Kim Jaejoong?"

And Jong Hyun explained.

"I will contact him to tell that Shin Hye is fine, and I will pass my resume so that I can work for him," Jong Hyun said.

"How about your studies?" Appa asked. "This day is still school day."

"Arayo," Jong Hyun said. "I think I might skip a day or two, and go back to the city to go back to school."

"Your teachers might be looking for you," Eomma said. "So don't skip school."

"Arasseoyo..." Hyunnie said before twiddling his fingers.

"That girl... you like her, do you?" Eomma whispered to her son.

"Eomma?" came Hyunnie's shocked response. "Anio! She is...just my friend."

Ha Yi giggled, "Don't deny it, Oppa. You are blushing!"

"Aniya~~," Jong Hyun retorted while arranging his glasses.

"Ahohoho, arasseo, we believe you," Appa lied. "Anyway, Eomma and Ha Yi will go to town this afternoon to buy her clothes. And you, take care of her while I go to the corn field."

"Ne, Appa," Hyunnie said.

****

That afternoon, a glass of milk was all Shin Hye saw on the table near the door, and near the table, Jong Hyun was sitting.

"Had a good sleep?"

"Eung," she replied as she tried to get up.

"I prepared some milk for you," he said. "You might want to drink."

Shin Hye trusted Jong Hyun, and since he said he prepared it, it must not be poisoned. She had always eaten the food that he brought because she thought that Jong Hyun would never harm her. She walked to the table and removed the chair and sat on it. Beside the glass were two pairs of chopsticks, so she looked at him again.

"Ah...hehe, I will teach you how to use chopsticks," Jong Hyun told her shyly.

Shin Hye took the milk first and drank in one sitting. After drinking, Jong Hyun took a pair of chopsticks, while giving her the other one. Because she was struggling, he taught her how to hold it, and oftentimes, he would hold her hand to guide her.

And their eyes met.

Shin Hye blushed when the nerdy Jong Hyun smiled with his sweet dimples and his burning eyes, and she looked away.

"Wae?" he asked.

But she just shook her head. She suddenly found it hard to look straight at him like she used to. And she did not know what she was feeling. She thought that the feeling she had back at the train when she noticed his sleeping face was something she could just brush away, but him looking at her tenderly was something that made her blood flood to her cheeks and making her heart beat wildly.

"For startling you, mianhae," he said.

"Ah... gwae...wae... gwaenchan....chahn...a," she stammered, trying to pronounce the words again.

He smiled at her again then taught her how to say it politely before telling her to drop the formal conjugations when she will be speaking casually to someone closer to her. And their lesson got back to holding chopsticks.

****

That evening, Eomma presented the new clothes to Shin Hye, who took a warm bath before dinner. And while Ha Yi and Jong Hyun were preparing dinner, Eomma began to examined the beautiful dress that she bought for the poor girl. The dress was cheap but it looked good on Shin Hye.

"Now, come here, my child," Eomma said with her smile as she patted Jong Hyun's bed.

Shin Hye sat cautiously, afraid that Eomma might harm her like the way Kim Hye Ri did. But Eomma gentle began combing Shin Hye's hair the way Jong Hyun combed her hair. The soft tugging was comfortable.

"You know, nae adeul's hair is really smooth and silky even if he is a young man," Eomma spoke fondly of her son. "Because he takes pride of his hair, he takes care of his voice too, that is why he is such a gentle creature. Because of his gentleness, he loves Ha Yi so much, but people despise him because of how he looks."

Shin Hye listened attentively.

"But nae Hyunnie is such a smart young chap," Eomma said. "If we were not poor, I will make him take up business or something like that."

Shin Hye's thoughts suddenly remembered Jaejoong, who was into business himself.

"Aigoo, nae adeul stopped schooling a lot of times. I hope he will make it through college," Eomma said as she continued combing Shin Hye's hair.

****

During dinner, Shin Hye was blushing the whole time everytime Jong Hyun served her, and this did not escape the father, the mother, and the younger sister. Jong Hyun was oblivious to this because he was caught up in being a good host.

"Here, please eat lots," Jong Hyun said to Shin Hye, who was dumbstruck in her own seat. "Wae?"

"Oppa, Eonni is overwhelmed because you are giving her lots of food. She might not finish it all," Ha Yi said before giving a sweet smile to Shin Hye.

Shin Hye saw the smile, and instead of frowning, she lowered her head and bit her lips.

"Shin Hye-ya, do not be shy," Eomma said to the poor girl. "Eat lots of vegetables. It will make you healthy."

"And eat the tofu," Appa encouraged her. "It will make your wounds heal."

Shin Hye looked at them and remembered what Jong Hyun told her about good table manners.

"Jal meokgetseumnida (I will eat well)," she shyly remarked.

"Ohoho, uri Shin Hye is such a pretty girl, geuchi?" Eomma said to Jong Hyun.

Shin Hye shyly gazed at Hyunnie from the periphery, not knowing that Jong Hyun was already blushing.

"Ah...ne, ne... Shin Hye is really pretty," Jong Hyun complimented her as he shyly looked at her. "The dress fits her really well."

Appa realized that Eomma and Ha Yi were teasing the two, and he told them to stop it already so the guest could eat. Jong Hyun, meanwhile, realized that something was happening inside him. Why did he suddenly got mushy and embarrassed when Eomma asked him? Why was his heart racing? And why did it suddenly felt awkward yet bittersweet to be sitted near Shin Hye? What was that?

*****

Eomma was brushing Ha Yi's hair when they noticed Shin Hye looking outside the window of the small house. Appa was at the porch, discussing some matters with another ahjusshi, but Shin Hye's thoughts flew all the way out of the porch. She saw Jong Hyun getting out of the house with his guitar in hand, and she wondered what her friend was up to.

"Uri Jong Hyunnie usually spends his night alone, playing guitar or making music," Eomma shared to Shin Hye. "By any chance that we are not aware of, he was usually lonely."

Shin Hye remembered when Jong Hyun told her that he was lonely.

"Oppa loves to run around in the mornings, and he plays with me," Ha Yi said. "But then, I am usually the one who scolds all the other children for making fun of my oppa. It's not my oppa's fault that he cannot see clearly."

"With our little amount of money, we were able to purchase a pair of cheap glasses," Eomma sighed. "Aigoo... I am so sorry for not being able to give my kids a good life."

"Eomma, do not be sorry," Ha Yi said. "The four of us healthy and well is enough for me. Money can be found, but not health."

Shin Hye was suddenly envious of the close bond that Ha Yi had with her eomeonim. She suddenly missed her mother.

"Joesonghaeyo..." she said to the two before going out of the door. She did not want them to see her tears.

****

Jong Hyun was sitting among the grasses near a persimmon tree, plucking his guitar strings while singing to "Illusion." Just then, Shin Hye sat beside him, and he heard her sniffling.

"Omona, Shin Hye-ya... are you crying?"

"Ani..." she lied.

Jong Hyun sighed and replied that he will sing to her so that she will not cry anymore. And so, he sang to "Wishlist" again. After the song, Hyunnie pointed at the stars and the moon above.

"I am glad that it is not a rainy night," he told her. "The roof in my room will leak, and I am afraid you will get soaked."

Shin Hye bit her lips as she blushed. Hyunnie's concern was really getting into her nerves that it was making her mushy inside. But Jong Hyun sighed again.

"I once told you I never had a girlfriend, right?" he asked as he looked at her, and she nodded. "But honestly, I had my first love... a long time ago."

Shin Hye felt uncomfortable with his confession, but she looked at him curiously and listened.

"Her name's Hitomi. I call her Hitomi-san," Jong Hyun shared. "She is the daughter of a rich man living over there."

Shin Hye followed his pointed finger. The house far ahead looked like a white pagoda or something.

"I loved her from the first time I saw her ten years ago. I did not know a twelve-year old boy would love a fifteen-year-old girl," he confessed. "But it happened. But then, she never knew that I existed, she never knew I loved her. It was a one-sided love, and it was so sad. That love was painful, up to now, because she never knew it."

Shin Hye lay on the grass and looked at the sky.

"Hitomi-san... eodi?" she asked.

"She is in America, studying to be an astronaut," he said as he looked at her. Then, he looked back at the sky. "It had been years since she had trained. She was a prodigy, she was beautiful and smart. Maybe she has traveled to the stars already. I can remember her for her white skin, small lips, sad eyes, and long black hair..."

"Jong Hyun is in love," Shin Hye commented, her heart aching. She did not want Jong Hyun to look at another girl, not even the one before her.

"I used to sing a song for her because she really had no idea of my feelings," he said to her.

Then, to he strummed his guitar, and Shin Hye felt the loneliness of the song, which was perfect for the still, cold night. Jong Hyun's voice was full of pain and suffering as he sang to M Signal's "You Don't Know." After the song, he placed his guitar beside him before lying on the grass with her. For some few moments, the two were silent.

"I really miss her, but I know this love is something that I have to let go," he told her. "Heaven knows if it will really be the two of us."

Just then, a shooting star flashed across the sky, and Jong Hyun got up and clasped his hands. Shin Hye also got up and looked at him. Then, he turned to her.

"If you see a shooting star like the one we saw, you have to make a wish," he said.

Then, they looked on and saw more meteor showers across the sky.

"Too many wishes to be made, right, Shin Hye-ya?" the cute nerd said to the silent girl.

Shin Hye began to clasp her hands and wished for something. Maybe guidance for her revenge, or Jong Hyun looking at her. 

"I suddenly have an idea," Jong Hyun said as he grabbed his guitar. "I will be making a song for the two of us."

"Norae?" she asked.

"Ne. I will make a song that you can remember. When you here this song, you will remember me. And when I hear this song, I will remember you," came Jong Hyun.

Then, he strummed his guitar, and Shin Hye noted it was an upbeat song, unlike the dolorous song he played earlier. The words just came out of Jong Hyun's mouth because he was so inspired to sing a song that night.

After the song, Shin Hye clapped softly. 

"Johahae..." she timidly replied.

"Ah..hehehe... music is the only one which I excel so much," Jong Hyun told her as he placed the guitar back.

"But... the lyrics..."

"Wae? You worry that I might forget?" he asked, and she nodded. Then, he tapped his chest. "I sang from the heart, Shin Hye-ya, and it will stay with me. So I will not forget it."

Then he slowly reached out to hold her hand. 

"I hope it will stay in your heart too so you will not forget," he told her.

"I won't forget," Shin Hye said, smiling a bit.

And Jong Hyun liked looking at her smile because he seldom saw it. Then, the two of them lay back on the grasses again.

"I will let go of my unrequited love because I know that I have a friend who will shine with me," he told her as he looked at her. "Even if we are in pain and we are suffering, I know that we will go on forward. And happiness will be our lot in the end."

Shin Hye bit her lips. Jong Hyun had always been optimistic, while she had always been hanging on to her revenge. Will she ever learn from him?

For tonight, she will just think of their song, and the fact that she was lying down beside him under the night sky.

~~~~