Hyo-shin paced up and down his room. He stopped, turned to his roommate who was sleeping and then continued pacing. He wondered what happened with Won Hyung and Hyun-joo noona. From what he knew, they were dating even if she didn’t admit it when he asked. He had called her six times already but she didn’t answer her phone. He took a deep sigh and then his phone rang, it was Hyun-joo noona. “Noona…” “Ya Lee Hyo-shin! How dare you disappear without a call? Do you know how worried I was?” “Noona, I’m sorry. I needed to do this and I felt that if I had called you and told you I would not have been able to do it.” “Are you okay? Your parents were worried sick about you? They thought you had done something terrible to yourself again?” “Noona, I’m okay. I just went to the army.” “The Army?! Lee Hyo-shin, why do you do things like this? What about your University interviews?” “My parents won’t let up if I didn’t run away, and the only place they can’t come and get me forcefully is the army. Anyway, what’s happening with you and Won hyung? Did you two break up?” There was silence on the other end for about two minutes, then she spoke. “Yes, we broke up.” “Why? What happened?” “It wasn’t anything big, he couldn’t refuse his father’s request. I can’t stand around waiting for a man who can’t make up his mind whether he wants to be with me or not. I had to let him go.” Her voice broke a bit as she said that. “Noona, are you okay with this? Don’t you even love him a bit?” “I do love him, that’s why I had to let him go. It’s not something you would understand.” She sighed. “But…” “Listen, do your parents know where you are?” “Yes, and I am hoping they would have calmed down by the time I get out.” “Alright. Make sure you take care of yourself, eat well and don’t be sick.” “Neh noona.” He said and hung up. He sighed deeply. He liked Won hyung and he felt sorry for him he had to be forced to marry a woman he didn’t love, but he felt sorry for Hyun-joo noona more because she was his first love and he hated to see her being hurt.

Chan-young and Bo-na sat opposite each other in Myung-soo’s studio, filling out their applications for Universities. Bo-na was going to take a course in Journalism and Chan-young was going to take the civil service exam so he could become an officer at the Internet Crimes Division. “Chan-youngah, don’t you dare flirt with all those lady cops okay?” “Lee Bo-na, just because I won’t be with you, doesn’t mean you should make eyes at the boys in your class. I’ll break your legs if you try it.” “I’m going to miss you Yoon Chan-young.” Bo-na pouted and he grabbed her hand from across the table, “Don’t worry, I’ll try to come and see you often. Make sure you get along with your roommate.” “Of course, I’m such a good girl.” She flipped her hair. Just then, Tan and Eun-sang came in, looking like they were having an argument.

“Hyung said what?!” Tan yelled at Eun-sang as they arrived at Myung-soo’s studio. “Won Oppa said that he arranged for you to go to Harvard Business School. He said he already informed you about it at the wedding.” “He asked me about it and I said I would think about it. I never agreed. I can’t leave Hyung right now, he needs me.” “You need to understand that your brother knows this but he needs to go to one of the best business schools in the world so you can help him later.” Eun-sang got out of the car and walked inside Myung-soo’s studio. She noticed that Bo-na and Chan-young were already there and nodded at them. She was followed by Tan who was still yelling. “What about you then? Are you coming to America with me?” “Are you crazy? I can’t afford to go to Harvard.” “But didn’t Hyung offer to send you?” “Ya Kim Tan! Do I look like I want someone to pay for my education? Didn’t we already have enough of that last year? I want to be able to stand on my own two feet and pay for it myself.” Tan turned to Chan-young, “Ya Yoon Chan-young, can you convince Eun-sang to let my hyung pay for her school fees?” “She has a point Kim Tan, she should be able to pay her way through school. She’s good at working hard.” Chan-young said and Eun-sang smiled at him. “What’s wrong with Tan’s family paying for your school anyway? They can’t force you two to separate again because of that.” Bo-na said. “This is about me becoming my own person.” Eun-sang said and Tan scoffed. “This is about you being fed up of me.” Eun-sang looked at him and tilted her head. “What?” She said, “Remember last year when I asked you to move into the apartment I got for you, what did you say? ‘You can’t, because we might break up.’” He hung his head and she smiled. She put her hands on either side of his face and looked at him. “Aigoo, Kim Tan, you’re such a baby. I’m not breaking up with you anytime soon, okay?” She kissed him and Bo-na screamed. “Get a room you two!”

Later that night, Tan and Eun-sang snuggled on the couch in his house, and watched a movie. Eun-sang’s mother no longer worked for the Kim family because she said she could stand working for her daughter’s boyfriend. She thought it was embarrassing for Eun-sang. Hee-nam and Ki-ae had decided to open a restaurant together. Ki-ae couldn’t continue to live with Chairman Kim even though she loved him. She realized that she needed to leave him and make something of her life. Hee-nam cooked, while Ki-ae attended to the guests. With the money they made, Ki-ae and Hee-nam moved into a three-bedroom house together with Eun-sang. Of course, this just made it easier for Tan to drop by their house whenever he felt like it.

Young-do looked over his university application form. He had applied for a course in management because he was going to take over Zeus after his father. He put it away and laid on his bed. He had gone to take a look at the campus today and he liked what he saw. No one knew him, he could start over. He wondered what it would be like if he and Tan could have gone to the same university as friends. Would they still be huge bullies? Would they chase after girls and go to parties together? He didn’t miss the days he and Tan used to wreck havoc on unsuspecting children, but he missed the days they used to play video games together, the days when they would go camping together. His mother had asked after Tan one day while he was having lunch at her restaurant and he couldn’t give an answer. “Aren’t you two friends anymore?” she had asked, “No. We aren’t friends anymore.” He had replied. “What happened? You two used to be inseparable, like brothers. You did everything together.” She had asked with concern and Young-do looked at his bowl of noodles. How could he tell his mother that they had fought because of her? How could he tell his mother that he had terrorized his best friend by holding a shameful secret over his head? He was ashamed, he didn’t want her to know he became a monster, so he shrugged and said “I don’t know.”

He laid back on his bed now and sighed. He wanted to start over with so many things. He could do it, he was different now. He was a better man. He could do it. Just then, his phone rang, it was Rachel. “Yeobseyo sister.” “Are you busy?” “Why?” “I’m at your hotel lobby. I need to see you.” “You can just come on up to my room.” “Fine, see you there.” Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and he opened the door for her. “What a surprise.” He said as he let her in. “Why? I thought we were going to be nicer to each other.’ She replied setting her bag on the table and taking a seat. “We are. Do you want something to drink?” He asked going to the fridge. “No, I’m okay.” She replied and he sat opposite her instead. “What can I do for you?” “My mom asked me to check on you. She wants to know how you are doing. She says to ask if you have been eating properly.” “Is your mother worrying about me now? Tell her I’m doing okay, I’m eating properly.” They were silent for a while, then Rachel said, “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but how are things with Cha Eun-sang? Have you started talking to her yet?” Young-do raised an eyebrow, “What? I’m trying to be a good sister. We promised to be nicer to each other, didn’t we? Don’t think I’m asking for my health.” “No, I’ve not started talking to her yet. I haven’t had any reason to talk to her.” “Well, you reason will appear soon. There is going to be a graduation party for our class this weekend.” Young-do nodded and noticed she looked a bit tired. “Are you okay? What’s wrong with you? Are you having boyfriend troubles? Do I need to beat someone up?” Now, it was her turn to be surprised. “What? I’m trying to be a good brother.” He shrugged. Rachel decided to open up to him. She didn’t have any friends she could talk to anyway. “I talked to Hyo-shin sunbae a few weeks back, he promised to call me back but he didn’t. On top of that, I’ve been really stressed with university interviews.” “Don’t worry, he’ll call. He is probably busy with army stuff.” Rachel was surprised that Young-do could be so gentle with her. She smiled. “You know, I think I like having a brother.” They chatted some more and then Rachel finally left. Young-do felt a little less lonely now.

Author’s note: Argh, the update is slow I know, I have my finals coming up in a few weeks so I’ve been really busy. I really hope you enjoy reading this chapter because I enjoyed writing it. Don’t forget to comment.