All of them were seated at the large dining table, enjoying their late lunch and snacks, when something unexpected happened. A woman came rushing into the room, her face flushed, and it seemed like she was hurrying to get to somewhere. She paused upon seeing all the boys there. Youngmin suddenly stood up.

“Moth…..” But Youngmin was cut short when the woman went to Kwangmin and suddenly hugged him.

“My dear dear Kwangmin. I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.” And then tears came down her cheeks.

Kwangmin was speechless. He was still sitting on his chair. His eyes suddenly swam with tears. He however held the tears back.

“Mother?” He asked softly. And then the woman released him. Kwangmin stood up, looked the woman in the eyes, and suddenly, he couldn’t hold back his tears. He was also crying. He hugged his mother.

“For so long I wondered how you looked like, how it felt to be hugged by you, now I am, and I’m telling you that it’s one of the happiest moments of my life.” Kwangmin said, in between his tears.

Youngmin was staring quietly at his mother and brother, then he smiled. He took a camera from his pocket, took one picture and joined his mother and brother in their hug.

“I hate people who cry.” Youngmin said jokingly, but he was also starting to tear up.

When the tree finally let go, it was Youngmin who spoke first.

“Mother, please meet Hyunseong, Jeongmin and Minwoo. They’re friends of ours.” Youngmin said, gesturing to the other three who was still seated at the table. Hyunseong was grinning from ear to ear as usual, Jeongmin was dabbing his eyes on the tablecloth and Minwoo was going red in the face.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Especially you Minwoo, I’ve heard from Youngmin that you’re Kwangmin’s bestfriend. Thank you all for coming on such short notice.” Said Youngmin and Kwangmin’s mother. “I’m Kwangmin’s mother. You can call me Mrs. Jo. I didn’t give up my ex-husband’s surname when we seperated, in hopes that Kwangmin will find me sometime.”

“I’m sorry for the drama by the way.” Said Mrs. Jo.

“It was nothing Mrs. Jo. Thank you for having us over!” Minwoo said, he was now smiling, but he was still red in the face.

“Well, I’d better start preparing.” Mrs. Jo said.

“Preparing? For what?” Youngmin asked puzzled.

“Oh? For Kwangmin’s welcome party of course! Every year you hold your birthday parties, why not throw one for Kwangmin?” Said Mrs. Jo.

“Excellent idea.” Youngmin grinned suddenly.

“You don’t have to do that.” Kwangmin mumbled.

“Of course not, but we will do it anyway. We’ll hold it here tomorrow since tomorrow is a Saturday. I’ll be inviting a few friend over. Actually, some guests are expected to arrive today.” Said Mrs. Jo.

“Mother? You didn’t happen to invite….” Started Youngmin, but again, he was cut short when Mrs. Jo raised her hand.

“I know what you mean, they are actually coming. And mind you Youngmin, please be on your best behavior.” Mrs. Jo said.

“I will if he does!” countered Youngmin, now sounding hurt.

“I’ve gotta go.” Said Mrs. Jo. “Kwangmin.” And she hugged Kwangmin one last time, nodded to Minwoo, Hyunseong and Jeongmin and left.

“What did you mean hyung?” Asked Kwangmin.

“It’s just.. she has this close family friend who has a son that’s about Hyunseong’s and Jeongmin’s age, who’s a real jerk. Just because he’s older he pushes me around.” Youngmin said, clearly irritated by who he was speaking about. “Nevermind that. I have you guys now, let’s see if he can even lay a finger on me with you guys around. Come on! I haven’t shown you the stables yet. And I so want to show you Snowflake.”

“Snowflake?” asked Hyunseong.

“Yep. My horse.” Smiled Youngmin.

So they gobbled down what wsa left of their late lunch and went outside through the backdoors. It was almost 5 pm in the afternoon. They trudged to the stables which was about a mile away from the house itself. Upon reaching the stables, the smell of fresh hay greeted them. Youngmin entered the stables, the four following suit. Youngmin led them to one of the occupied stables. And there, they saw a white stallion, he was magnificent to look at, and Youngmin was standing beside the horse.

“Snowflake, meet my twin brother, Kwangmin, and our other friends: Minwoo, Jeongmin and Hyunseong.” Youngmin said to the horse.

And as if he understood, Snowflake neighed.

“Hyung? What a beauty!” said Minwoo.

“I know right? I got him when he was still a pony, and I’ve been taking care of him all through the years. Why don’t you go ahead and pat him?” Youngmin said proudly.

So Jeongmin, Kwangmin, Hyunseong and Minwoo went forward and placed their hands on Snowflake’s head. Snowflake seemed to enjoy it for he closed his eyes. Half an hour passed and they headed back to the manor, after feeding Snowflake lots of sugar cube treats and taking a look at the other horses stabled there. There, they all took showers in their separate rooms to freshen up and got dressed, they went back down to the living room where they were supposed to wait for the first guests for tomorrow to arrive. Not long after they were seated, the doorbell rang. A maid opened the door and led the guests to the dining room.

Youngmin sighed. “Well, I guess we’d better join them. Come one.”

And they followed Youngmin to the dining room. There they saw five persons already seated at the dining table. Mrs. Jo was talking to an animated woman, there was a girl about seven and two males about Hyunseong and Jeongmin’s age.

“Youngmin. Please introduce our guests to them.” Mrs. Jo said, glanincg at them.

Once again, Youngmin sighed. “Kwangmin, Jeongmin, Hyunseong, this is mom’s friend Mrs. Rebecca, her youngest daughter Kim Rye and her eldest son: Donghyun-hyung and his friend. And this is my twin brother Kwangmin, and our friends Jeongmin, Hyunseong and Minwoo.”

Kwangmin, Minwoo, Hyunseong and Jeongmin all looked at the guests. Mrs. Rebecca was in her late thirties, her daughter had curly hairs and didn’t look like seven but looked a lot younger, her son, Donghyun had red hair and was looking at them with a sneer, but when they looked at Donghyun’s friend, they all gaped at him with mouths open. It was none other than Taecyon, their very own school bully!