Min Jung

I found myself at the cafe a lot earlier than I was supposed to be. Well- not that early, but early enough. Sooyoung was already there and a bit surprised herself to see me at the cafe so early. Sensing something was wrong with my behavior, she ushered me into the kitchen to take care of the baking and the dish washing. I was in no mood to deal with customers and I was sure she saw right through me despite my pitiful smile.

My head was light and my arms were heavy. The conversation with Hoon didn't go easy on me and it lingered into my mind for the rest of the day. At times I found myself staring off into blank space and on other times, I found myself blinking back tears. It had been years since I had last touched up on the topic- I couldn't understand why I was tearing up despite repeating the same story over and over to myself for more than half of my life. 

Crack.

"Oh no..." I murmured, picking the broken plate up and examining it. It was my fifth time today and I winced, feeling bad for Sooyoung. I would have to pay her back for all the plates I had broken today. No sooner had I disposed of the plate, Sooyoung came rushing in with a worried look on her face.

"Min Jung, a young man is asking about you. I've tried telling him that I know of nothing-" I cut Sooyoung off. Not that I had intended to be rude to her, after all she was like a mother to me. My tolerance was low today and my head was continuously spinning. 

"It's alright. Just tell him that I don't want to see him e-" I paused. Ever. I didn't want to see him ever again. I didn't want to think or even talk about our conversation. I couldn't though. I had to see him because of the stupid picture. Maybe it's called being selfish, but I had to comply with him. Not today though. "Tell him that I didn't come into work today. Just tell him you gave me a day off and I left immediately afterwards."

"If he knows you well enough, he'll be smarter than that." Sooyoung warned as she left the kitchen to relay my message. After five minutes, Sooyoung came back to the kitchen to fill me in on what happened. He had left. With a soft sigh, I felt the heavy weight on my shoulders lessen as Sooyoung returned to the cash register.

One less thing to worry about today I suppose. In what seemed to be light morning, turned out to be one of the most nerve wrecking moments. I closed my eyes, turning slightly red from the argument this morning. Normal. Couldn't I act normal for just once in my life? That absolutely nothing was wrong? Drying the dishes, work came to an end rather quickly.

"Go home and get a good night's sleep, okay?" Sooyoung patted my back affectionately like a mother and then sent me out of the cafe. Nodding to my own thoughts, I stepped on the dry leaves, enjoying the sounds as it calmed me. Giving deep sighs, I shoved my hands into the pockets of the blazer I was wearing before letting my eyes widen in surprise.

"Stupid!" I hissed at myself, stomping the ground as I stared down at the blazer I was wearing. It was his and there was a huge possibility that he wanted his blazer back, which was why he stopped by the cafe. Ruffling my hair in despair, I let out a sigh and walked home with another thought that bothered me. Arriving at my apartment, I noticed someone by my door, staring off into the distance as he sat on the ground. He came back to reality as I got closer and closer to my apartment and stood up when I opened my apartment door.

"What do you want?" I muttered, my head spinning from being too close to someone that reminded me of something unsavory. I didn't push my door open because I didn't want him walking into my apartment and criticizing my choice in furniture. 

"I just need a place to stay until one in the morning." He answered simply.

"And what makes you think I'll let you stay here?" I questioned with a sigh threatening to come out. "Just go home. I'm not in the mood to 'teach'." My voice came out flatter than I had expected it to, but my mood had really hit an all new low. I was feeling strangely depressed and it didn't help that he stopped by to bother me. Pushing my door open and stepping inside, I heard him follow and I turned around to tell him to leave once more.

"I said I'm not in the moo-." He pulled at my arm and caused me to lean against the wall by the door and leaned in with his hand on the wall to keep a distance between us.

"Yeah, I said I needed a place to stay until one. Do me a favor will you?" Stepping away from me, he placed his hands in his pocket. "Besides, I'm not here for you to teach me or anything. I just wanted to..." He paused and he looked hesitant to say anything.

"Fine, you can stay until one. Just..." My voice faded out at the end. I didn't want to argue with him as my energy was all depleted. "Just don't bother me." With that, I turned away and headed into my room, rubbing the sides of my head. Closing the door to my room, I pulled out the box of items by my desk. Looking through the objects one by one, I felt a bitter smile crossing my face as I smiled at the family photo I held.

Was that the time when I was normal? 

Placing the items back in the box, I could definitely feel the atmosphere of my room turn a bit darker. Changing out of my clothes and into my pajamas, I took his blazer and left my room to see him sitting on a chair in the living room. Throwing the blazer in his direction, he seemed to blink in surprise and then turned to look at me.

"You know typically girls wash and fold the article of clothing she borrowed." He commented in an attempt to bother me. Humming back in response as my throat was closed off from the stress I had received from my desire to appear 'normal', I poured a cup of water for myself as he came and took a sip from it before I could bring it to my own lips.

"That was my cup of water." I stated dryly as I took another cup out and poured more water out for myself this time. It was silent as I shuffled around the kitchen and I could feel his watchful gaze on me. Grabbing my cup of water and heading back to my room, I could sense him following me.

"I'm sorry." Pausing in the middle of my steps, I was frozen. Did I just hear the oh-so-great Hoon apologize? "I'm not apologizing over the cup of water, but rather our argument. I said some things I shouldn't have and that I didn't want to say. For some reason, I- forget about it. All I want you to know is that, I'm sorry."

"I- I do." I managed to sputter out, surprised. I turned around and faced him. "I'm sorry as well. I've said some things that weren't exactly meant for your ears. I've probably been too stressed out recently." With a light smile, I whispered. "Jae Hee would've appreciated this moment if you were her boyfriend." I wanted to encourage him, but then again, I liked him. Experiencing this moment made me understand why I fell for him in the first place. There was much more to him than the cold and mysterious exterior.

"Do you think so? Well, what did I tell you?" A smirk appeared on his face. "I'm more of a person that learns through experience. In which case, it should be mean that every morning we have our 'lessons'."

"What? It doesn't necessarily mean that!" I sputtered once again. I didn't want to suffer having to wake up every morning at four."We're in college if you haven't noticed and I need sleep!"

"Ahem, just because I apologized, it doesn't mean that it'll change anything. In fact, you seem to have forgotten about the picture." A scowl was placed on my face as I shot him a glare. This guy really knew how to play with my emotions. Making me feel grateful towards him in one second and annoyed with another. 

"I apologized too you know!" I argued and then frowned. "If you're going to bother me, I suggest you go home or elsewhere."

"You said I could stay until one and I'm planning to stay here until then." He shrugged as he made his way past me and sat on bed. Before I could interrogate him, he continued. "I usually stay at a friend's place until one. Since all my friends are busy, I decided to stay here instead."

"Don't your parents get worried though?" I questioned. "It's already nine at night. Besides, I can't entertain you until one in the morning! I'd go crazy."

"I'm not surprised. I've been questioning your sanity for a while now." With an audible sigh, I pushed him lightly off my bed and found myself just lying on my bed staring at the ceiling. "I'm more entertaining that your ceiling, you know." He took up the space next to mine and I was hesitant to push him off the bed, but either way, he had dirtied my sheets by sitting on my bed. I would have to clean it later anyways.

"Well, the ceiling could keep its trap shut and not blabber like someone else I know."

"It's not nice to talk about yourself like that." My eyes twitched as I turned my head to shoot him a glare. It seems as though that were my glares were rather weak. He was never affected by it. Well, he wasn't exactly known to be the cool and mysterious guy at our campus for no reason. "Is this what girls like to do in their spare time?"

"This is what I do in my spare time- if I had any." I muttered, turning over onto my side, my back facing him and my face towards a wall. "Your perfect Jae Hee spends her time doing ballet and playing the violin."

If I said I wasn't jealous of Jae Hee, it would be a lie. Sure, there were a few perks in her life that I, myself, would've hated, but she had a lot that I wished could have. For one, she had such a delicate life. Everything and everyone around her has always treated her like a fragile crystal, tending to her needs very carefully. Of course, with her as a friend, I had to be careful around her as well. I've done a few things that could've easily disrupted her delicate lifestyle, but thankfully she didn't mind and instead we became closer through those incidents.

"It seems like a typical rich girl thing." His voice seemed to be cold as he spoke of her, but I could tell that he was trying to pull it off as if he wasn't some desperate guy that wanted a date with her. "Why do all girls take ballet and a musical instrument?"

"Her mother wanted to pamper her and give her the lifestyle she wanted herself. She wanted Jae Hee to live like a princess to help fulfill her dream." I answered, feeling bitter from the thought. A princess. What type of girl wouldn't wish for such an easy lifestyle? "Besides, not all girls take that. I can't do ballet for life nor have I played an instrument before."

"Well, I'm not surprised. You're not even considered to be normal as a girl. So you don't count." The calmness in his voice as he spoke, irked me and I sat up in my bed and this time, I could feel my body heat rising.

"I was normal. Back when everything seemed so right, everything had to fall apart." A lump was forming in my throat. "You're right. I'm not normal. Ever since then, I haven't been. I'll never be normal again perhaps. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be normal again. Does that make you happy?" He seemed to be taken aback by how far I had taken his words and sat up to face me.

"That's not what I meant. You don't have to take things so seriously." At that moment, myself hatred at built up so much that I found it hard to breathe. At the times when things were less serious, I took everything too seriously. When things were serious, I took things to lightly. Maybe I was never normal to begin with.

"Well I'm not normal." I sneered, my head pounding. This day wasn't getting any better, but instead, it was getting worse. I wanted to go home. Home was the only place I could think of. Home wasn't here, but it was in Daegu. I wanted to go home.

Getting off my bed, I quickly shoved my feet into any random pair of shoes and without even locking the door, I ran off. Home. My head was hurting too hard to comprehend what was going on as I found myself running past Kang Dae's small office. The sounds of the leaves crushing didn't faze me one bit as I ran towards the brighter and livelier part of the city. Arriving at a train station, I stood there staring at the booth.

I hated my life right there and then. I didn't even have the money to go home. Just how pitiful was I? Everyone else around me was bustling, either buying a ticket or waiting for the train to arrive to board or greet family members that had taken the train. Minutes passed and just like that, hours passed. I sat at the train station, my knees brought close to my chest as I sat on the bench, staring at the trains that left as quickly as they had arrived. How I wished I could just hop onto one.

Maybe I was a little too sensitive to what Hoon had said. After all, to him, it was just another joke. He wouldn't understand though. But to him, it was all a joke. Was everything in life just a joke to him? It must be nice to be in such a position. Where everything isn't a burden. I buried my face into my hands as I bit my lip, envious of him and twinge bit sorry that he had to deal with my behavior.

"Get it together, Min Jung." I muttered. "He doesn't know anything about you. It's not his fault." Finally deciding to stand up and leave the station that had gotten immensely quiet, I found myself walking on the streets. Walking past a playground, I decided to take a seat on the swings. The wind felt nice on my skin despite how cold it was since I had foolishly run out of my apartment with such thin and light pieces of clothing.

Distracted by the leaves, I bent down to pick the leaves up. They were all dried and broke easily, which made me move my hands carefully as I picked them up. A thin smile was left on my face as I picked them out as I remembered how I would pick at the leaves as a kid. Not that leaves were particularly of any interest to a kid like me, but rather it was because-. I could hear the sound of leaves crunching behind me as I paused for a moment.

“What are you doing here, Xander?” I questioned without even turning around. I’ve known him for  a long time. I knew how heavy his footsteps could be. I continued picking at the leaves as he bent down next to me and helped me pick at the leaves.

“Nothing. I happened to be walking by until I saw a lost puppy.” I stayed silent, knowing what he was getting at. “Care to tell me what happened?” I gave him no response as I kept my head down and placed the leaves I liked aside. “Do you want me to call Kibum and tell him you’re hurt somewhere?”

“Don’t.” I blurted out as I finally made eye contact with him. With a warm and tired smile, he mimicked my pose.

“And all this time, I thought you didn’t like our Kibum.” He commented and I merely put my head down in response, picking at the leaves again. “Min Jung, the four of us, idiots will be here for you. Kibum might not be here now, but you know, how much that idiot cares for you.”

“I do.” I muttered. “I don’t want to be a disturbance to you guys right now. All of you guys are dealing with your own lives right now. Especially you, Xander. You’ve been busy with your job all this while. Working is stressful and the last thing I want, is to stress someone else with my problems. Besides,” I paused as I picked my head up and stared ahead. “I’d like to keep these problems to myself. I- I can’t talk about them now. It’s too hard for me as of right now.”

“Min Jung, thank you for being so considerate of us.” Xander smiled and took my hand before heaving a sigh. “But don’t keep everything bottled up inside. Don’t push any of us out okay? I’ll wait- no, we’ll all wait. We’ll wait until you’re ready to speak then. But don’t let everything pile up inside okay? It took me over twenty years before I exploded and- it was extremely difficult for me and the people around me. Look at me now. I’m a bum, but I’m one happy bum.”

“I’d like to be a happy bum too.” I declared. I was done with the burden my life was giving me. However, I knew it would be a long way before I’d be able to let go. I wasn’t even sure if I was willing to let go in the first place.

“Not everyone can be a happy bum like me.” Xander announced proudly as he picked up a few leaves and flaunted it in my face. “Look at how perfect these leaves are.” Reaching my hands out to  take them, he pulled his hands back. “Find your own. These are mine.”

“Tch, you’re so cheap!” I complained as I grunted and went back to digging for a few more perfect leaves. With a laugh, he stood up and stuck his hand out.

“Come on, let’s get you home. I’m sure Kibum wouldn’t like the idea of having you out so late at night. He’s been bothering me lately.” Xander admitted with a slight smile drawn on his face. With a fake scowl, I stood up reluctantly. Slinging his arm over my shoulder, we made our way back to my apartment building, my body slightly tensing as we moved closer. Looking down at the perfect leaves I had collected, I calmed myself down while managing to send Alexander a reassuring smile.

“Where were you?” He had his arms crossed over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at me. Alexander stared at the light haired guy that stood in front of him, questioning the both of us with his eyes. “Who are you?”

“I’m her brother. What’s it to you?” Xander questioned, raising his own eyebrows at Hoon. “I’ll tell you now, I don’t like the idea of my sister with a guy like you here.” Hoon seemed to act differently around Xander.

“We’re not in that kind of a relationship.” He answered. “My name is Yeo Hoon Min. I don’t think I caught your name earlier.” His eyes seemed to be analyzing Xander as Xander stuck his hand out.

“Name’s Lee Xander.” It was odd for Xander to introduce himself in such a way, after all his full name was Alexander Lee Eusebio. It was possible that Xander just didn’t find any particular liking to the guy.

“You’re not her real brother, are you?” Hoon mused as Xander sent him a questioning look. “I caught on to the fact that you introduced yourself as a Lee and not a Park.” Xander broke out into a smile  and nodded.

“It doesn’t matter anyways. She’s the younger sister I never had.” Xander admitted, his arm dropping from my shoulder.

“So do you have an older one by any chance? You seem to imply it by stating she’s the younger sister you never had.” Hoon commented and Xander shrugged.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. I play with my words from time to time.” Xander walked me into the lobby with Hoon following. I secretly hoped that he would be able to sense the discomfort I felt around Hoon. As we got to my floor, Xander gave me a hug and a smile. “Good night, Min Jung.”

“Night, Xander.” I replied as his eyes traveled to the door next to mine.

“Sometimes I miss that idiot. I wish he was home right now so I could sleep over at his place. Going back to my place is a hassle at a time like this.” He complained. “Too bad he had to move away.”

“I don’t mind. One less hassle for me.” I claimed as I opened my front door as Xander narrowed his eyes at me playfully.

“Admit it, Min Jung. You two are perfect for each other.” Xander laughed as he pulled me close to him so he could ruffle my hair. “Kibum doesn’t give up easily. I’m sure he’ll find a way to get into your heart eventually.”

“Kibum doesn’t think of me that way.” I stated as Xander gently pushed me towards my apartment. “Get home safe, Xander.” Hoon stepped into my apartment, seemingly thinking of something.

“Alright. Give me a call if Hoon Min hurts you.” Xander whispered as he gave me a small wave and left. As soon as I closed the door, Hoon got off the chair he was sitting on and moved past me to open the door.

“You’re not staying?” I questioned, secretly relieved he was leaving. A curt nod answered my question.

“It’s past one already if you haven’t noticed.” He opened the door and stepped out of the apartment, causing me to question why he had bothered walking into my apartment in the first place. Stopping by Kibum’s old apartment, he stopped for a moment before turning to face me. “Xander and Kibum- who are they to you?” Startled by his question, I stuttered.

“F-friends.” It didn’t sound like I was speaking the truth, but it was. We were considered friends ever since I moved into this apartment building. Kibum had this annoying an persistent personality where he’d want to befriend almost everyone. “Why should you be concerned?”

“No particular reason. Just a bit curious how you even managed to make friends.” A scowl replaced the confused expression displayed on my face as I made a face at him.

“Sorry to disappoint you. Good night.” I closed the door with the scowl still evident on my face, dismissing the odd fact he wanted to know more about Xander and Kibum. Placing the leaves I had placed in my pockets ever so carefully, I found the box which I swiped all my personal items in and placed them next to the other perfect leaves I had collected. I had approximately six hundred now. I was almost there.

Hoon

I was curious. I wanted to know more. There were questions floating through my mind and tiny bit of suspicion about Min Jung. Was she really the person she held herself to be? She was a puzzle, but not a puzzle I had intended to solve. I didn’t want to get too involved with her. It was unnecessary to do so in any way.

“Mr. Hong?” I had my phone pressed up against my ear. He sent a muffled response. “I’m going home.” Hanging up, I sent the shabby building one last look before turning away and shaking my head. “No, Hoon.” I murmured to myself.

A/N: I'm thinking of speeding things up. I don't want you guys to find this story boring at all and I think it'll be better to have less chapters :D. Anyhow, enjoy!