30.

Jonghyun went back home that night, feeling jittery. He pushed his key into the keyhole, not daring to turn the key. He knew his parents were asleep at such late night but he was afraid to face them. He briefly remembered that day he wanted to leave this house and he had such a big tiff with his Appa. His Appa was so furious that he had gave him a tight slap on his left cheek and threatened to disown him if he left this house. He wished his Appa said all those stuff to spite and threaten him but he left anyway. It was about 3 months since he left this house and he missed his parents of course.

He took a deep breath and unlocked the door. He was thankful that his Appa did not change the lock at all. He smiled and he twisted the doorknob to the door. He was immediately faced with a completely dark house that he had expected. He hauled his luggage in quietly and got into the house then his room.

He on his lights and was surprised that the room was in a different colour. The wallpapers had changed into a pearlescent sky blue colour that looked oddly pleasing. The room was spick and span and he thought that Minho’s Umma did all the cleaning all this while. He lay on his bed without changing his clothes and gradually fell asleep because he was so comfortable at home…

****************************

Minho got out of the arrival hall and noticed his Umma and Uncle Kim waving at him. He smiled as he pushed his trolley of luggage and bags towards them. He bowed and greeted the elders but at the same time he was slightly disappointed that Jonghyun was not here with them.

“Umma misses you a lot!” Minho’s Umma went to hug her son. “How are you?”

Minho released his mom and beamed, “My school is great and I make new friends. I come back to enjoy my summer break because I miss you, Umma.”

“Aigoo,” Uncle Kim teased. “Good to have you back, Minho-ah.”

They walked to Uncle Kim’s car and headed back home. On the way home, Minho couldn’t help but ask casually, “How’s hyung?”

“Ah…” his Umma eyed Uncle Kim before answer cautiously. “I don’t know…”

Minho widened his eyes and echoed, “You don’t know?

Minho’s Umma looked at Minho who was sitting at the backseat. “He has been leaving home for quite sometime,” she sighed. “Once he came home with an outrageous blond hair which was unacceptable in school. Later on he dropped out from high school and left home. Since then, we do not have news about him…”

“Let’s stop talking about that brat,” Uncle Kim patted her hand gently. “Let’s talk about happy things.” The wife nodded sadly.

Minho took his time to digest what his Umma had just said. Blond hair? Dropped out from High School? Left home? Was she talking about Jonghyun? He suddenly felt dizzy. So you are dating Onew now and this is what you can do?

Jonghyun woke up at 1pm in the afternoon naturally. He quickly sat up because he thought of rushing to the café but quickly diminish that idea because he realized that it was his off day. He realized he did not wash up before he slept so he quickly headed to the bathroom for a shower.

After his shower, Jonghyun wrapped a towel casually around his waist as he walked around the house. The house looked exactly as it was few months ago. He did realize that his parents were not at home, so he walked back to his room to put on comfy clothes and used a hairdryer to b