♠ NINETEEN ♠ 

“Hurry up Gyu-nim, come out and let us take us have a look! Gyu?”

"Don't push it. He usually takes longer than I do to get dressed."

"I heard that!" 

Currently, Dongwoo, Seulbi and Sunggyu were at the Jang family’s boutique to help Sunggyu pick out a suit for his first formal social gathering. Grandfather and Mrs. Im were exstatic about this; he was getting his etiquette lessons roughly three times a week now and Jungyeop had been spoiling him silly, ensuring he would be looking like Woollim's pride on that night. Woohyun was busy on his own, quietly calculating how they were going to go about this in order to avoid attracting a lot of attention. He had been rambling on about diarrhea at some point, which made Sunggyu a little bit paranoid.

Sunggyu finally stepped out of the dressing room, looking extremely uncomfortable to be wearing something this classy for the first time. It was a suede black suit with a red long-sleeved dress shirt. "So?" he asked, pulling on his collar awkwardly when Dongwoo began to circle around him like a starved vulture.

"He looks very cool, don't you think so?”

“I disagree. He looks like some host you randomly picked up from some trashy bar.”

Sunggyu decided that was going to endure her dismissive side comments for the time being and grabbed the next set that the Jang’s company stylist wanted him to try on. Lee Seulbi had shot down about a million of them, unsatisfied with each and every suit he put on.

“Pimp.”
"New York, New York tap dancer."
"He'd look like one of the waiters in that one."
"This time, he'd look like part of the table cloth."

Having had it, Sunggyu threw his bow tie down in frustration. “The last time I checked, this wasn’t Korea's Next Top Model!"

"Then quit slouching and carry the suit like it's befitting of an heir of Woollim," Seulbi curtly dismissed and he absolutely hated it when she pulled that tone on him because it vaguely reminded him of Woohyun's nagging.

Dongwoo light airy laughter filled the room as he resumed his role of being the tension diffuser. "Gyu, try to understand. She's a bit peeved from earlier's company assignment. Now go try on a few more for us, please, so we can all call it a day."

With much grumbling, he took the next set and went back in to change.



“Bumblebee, what about this one?" Dongwoo announced. The heiress looked up from her phone, where she had been playing a quick game of Bump Sheep, just as Sunggyu stepped out again. The ensemble wasn't anything too fancy, but it was well-fit and entirely in black, from tux, to vest, to inner shirt and sleek tie.

He felt uncomfortable at the stare of scrutiny Seulbi was giving him and decided to beat her to it before she could make another snarky comment. "Butler? Mafia? James Bond?"

“I'm going to get your driver to ready the car, Dinowoo,” Seulbi dismissed after a long pause, getting up from her seat. Dongwoo could only shake his head as he watched the girl's retreating figure.

"That girl!" Sunggyu seethed. "Just what did she mean by that remark?"

"Very dapper! I have to hand it to her, she has a good eye for things! Please have this one dry cleaned, Miss Saemi! I'll pick it up in two days."

Sunggyu stood there scratching his head. Girls were so complex. So she liked this one?

<<<<>>>>

Dongwoo’s car had barely pulled up by the driveway when they were ushered out of it and into the house, the charge led by none other than Shimgoon himself. Sunggyu managed to get a glance around; the place was busier than usual. Everyone walked in hurried steps and seemed to be moving things. Hiding things even. There was no sign of the rest of the family anywhere.

“There’s been an emergency situation,” Shimgoon instructed with urgency. “Lee-sajangnim refuses to disclose any further detail about it, I'm sorry I can't brief you as much as I'd like to before you take your leave.” A backpack each had been hastily shoved towards them, together with one of their usual jackets and their phones and wallets were suddenly collected as well.

“A-Are we going somewhere?” Sunggyu asked. "Don't we have an event coming up in two days? And what about college--"

“I'm afraid you'll have to hold off your attendance for the meantime, both for the convention and for your classes. It would be too dangerous for all of you to be seen in the public eye. There’s no time to further explain. We need to get all of you into safety as soon as possible, young master, so please put those on."

Dongwoo, who knew better, did not bother to question and quickly did as was told. With no inkling whatsoever, Sunggyu followed and numbly slipped his hoodie on. On the other hand, Seulbi had practically chucked her bag and jacket to the floor, running off to bombard her attendants with more questions.

“Where are they?” the girl insisted, grabbing the guy’s shoulder. “Hoya and Sungyeol, where are they?!?”

“A-Agassi, we’re sorry. They have already transported ahead with the Young Master Sungjong.”

“What about Woohyun?!?”

“SEULBI.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing momentarily as the stern voice boomed across the place. The three whirled around to find Lee Jungyeop approaching them. His aura was different from the happy-go-lucky, fuzzy, loving grandfather persona that he was usually enshrouded with. He was more serious, stern, and he carried himself in such a business-like manner, that even Sunggyu had to back off in slight fear. So this was the mighty Lee Jungyeop in his element.

“You’re wasting precious time, child. Please understand. I'm doing this for your safety, until it’s okay for you and your cousins to come home,” Jungyeop's tone softened as he spoke. It was now back to the one that Sunggyu was more familiar hearing. “I promise, I will clear this mess out as soon as possible and our family can be complete once again--”

“We don't have to separate. I’m not going anywhere, not this time--"
"Listen to me--"
"--I’m going to help--"
"--this isn't something you can take care of on your own yet--"
"--I'm staying here with you--"
"LEE SEULBI."

The girl cringed once again the moment he raised his tone but she stood her ground, meeting his eye. “Please hear me out as well," she appealed for the last time, her tone almost pleading, "This isn’t about taking responsibility as heiress to Woollim or whatever. I'm speaking to you as your granddaughter! Abeonim, I can't leave you!“

"I'm sorry child, if what I've decided on upsets you. I will do anything in my power... I cannot allow any of my precious grandchildren to be put in harm's way."

She knew that her words fell on deaf ears as Jungyeop apologetically signalled for them to be taken away. One by one, the three were pried off the premises and back into the driveway, where two taxis were waiting for them, and much chaos ensued. Seulbi was being particularly difficult as she fought tooth-and-nail to avoid getting herself dragged into the cab by her attendants.

Sunggyu could barely hear himself being addressed to by Lee Jungyeop over the noise, but he managed to get the message."Sunggyu, son, I'm sorry to leave you with such a difficult responsibility this soon, just when you've returned to our care. You need to get out of Seoul as soon as possible. Please take care of the youngest for me and for your cousins."

"Hey. Hey! Where are you taking Dongwoo?" Sunggyu complained, turning to one of his attendants. The guy merely replied with a 'Master Woohyun' and avoided the next set of questions, instead handing over Seulbi's backpack and jacket to him. Dongwoo's usual cheerful smile had disappeared; he too was protesting loudly as he found himself being boarded into a separate cab. His friend could only look back at him with fear shining in his wild eyes, but Sunggyu managed to return a reassuring glance. With newfound determination, Dongwoo nodded as they came to a silent agreement, accepting their imminent parting. With Seulbi successfully stuffed into the cab with Sunggyu, they were on their way.

<<<< >>>>

The pair ended up at the heart of Seoul in the middle of the bustling afternoon. Dongwoo's cab had taken a left turn at the intersection, which confirmed their suspicions that they were really being separated. Thankfully, Seulbi didn’t pull any stupid moves like jumping out of a running cab and didn’t protest as she followed Sunggyu around the area, keeping an eye out for potentially suspicious movement. They were on their own now— phoneless, with no bodyguard, no secret service, nor attendants.

“Where are we going?” Seulbi whispered as they made it to the bus terminal. Sunggyu had immediately purchased their tickets, ushering her towards the particular bus they were supposed to board.

“Out of Seoul. I'll tell you later, just get on the bus,” Sunggyu instructed as he started to board it. The girl remained rooted to her spot, continuing to glance around hesitantly. “What? Too plebeian for you, princess?”

“Umm… I don’t think I…”

People in waiting were starting to get impatient with her holding up the line. “Remember the little deal you proposed about 101 swapping?” Sunggyu asked. “Well here’s lesson number one of my side of the deal: get your on that public bus! The later we do so, the more dangerous for us.”

When Seulbi still made no move to follow, he decided to take matters into his own hands. The heiress let out a squeal as she was hastily shoved inside and with Sunggyu guarding the rear to prevent her from alighting, she had no choice but to settle herself into a seat.

She was unusually silent and kept to herself, clenching and unclenching her fists every now and then as the bus slowly filled with people and finally cruised away from the terminal to its destination. Her face paled with worry as the seconds passed. Sunggyu looked up from his backpack check and was about to tell her to school it for the meantime until he saw what Seulbi had kept glancing at.

It was her wallet. All of the usual credit cards had been taken out by the attendants earlier, but her family picture remained. It made him feel rotten for being rather crabby. Earlier, when she hesitated on boarding the bus, it wasn’t because she had rich kid apprehensions; it was because she had been worried and hesitant to leave Seoul with no status update on any of her cousins.

He cleared his throat to subtly catch her attention. “If you don’t mind me asking… is this the first time this has happened?"

She shook her head. “This is honestly nothing new. As a big company, threats like this are unavoidable, whether it be for political or personal gain. We’d be pulled out in the middle of class, and the next thing we know, we’re boarding a plane for Toronto or wherever with nothing but the clothes on our back, some necessities and cash,” Seulbi recounted, "It must be scary for you. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"I'm dealing well, trying to make the best out of the situation before it screws my rational thinking."

“But this… this is the first time we’ve ever been separated with no way to contact each other. So I can’t help but wonder—are they safe? Are they eating alright? Where are they now?”

“Chin up,” Sunggyu comforted. “To be frank, Woohyun’s the most worrisome of them all, but I trust Dongwoo’s keen sense of intuition and practicality. You can throw the guy in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle and he’d well enough survive. The Lee siblings will be more than okay too, they’re brain and brawn combined and they’ve got Lee Sungjong with them. They’ll be fine, I know it.”

“Then where are we headed now? We can't leave South Korea. You and Sungjong don't have your passport yet.”

“To the only other place commonly known to the seven of us.”

“Jeonju?”

”Yup. It’s just that we’re taking the longer route. Knowing Sungjong, he’s rounding up the other two, bringing them that way. I know Dongwoo got the message loud and clear so he should be heading that way with Woohyun too. We may be able to reconvene sooner than you think, then we can think of our next move from there in order to avoid jeopardising Little Haven.”

Seulbi managed a small, tired yawn after hearing that. “I hope so too.”

“That's good, you're feeling better now. Sleep. You’ll need your energy,” Sunggyu advised, giving her much-needed space by taking the free seat behind her. “Don't worry, I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

Without any of the usual bickering, Seulbi nodded and turned away, drawing the hood of her jacket over her eyes. But the Woollim heiress’ sleep was anything but restful, her head lolling from side to side as the bus made sharp turns round street corners. Every now and then, she kept falling on her free side or hitting her head on the bus window.

The bus came to an abrupt stop and threw everyone out-of-balance. Sunggyu managed to steady himself with one foot pressed against the seat in front of him and another planted firmly on the ground-- he had reached out to cradle Seulbi’s head before she could slam into the glass window. Just when he was about to let out a sigh of relief, the auntie seats behind spoke up, "Well, are you just going to keep holding her up like that? Youngsters these days-- you should take better care of your girlfriend!"

“S-She's not--" Sunggyu stammered but the elderly lady gave him such a stern look that he decided not to protest. “Yes ma’am.”

Meekly, he resumed his seat beside her. Seulbi, fast asleep, still remained oblivious to her surroundings. As much as Sunggyu tried put enough distance between them, her head continued to lean dangerously towards his direction. Before his heart could explode from how flustered he was and before the imaginary Woohyun in his head could successfully strangle him for getting too chummy (and before she really ended up using him as pillow), he quickly grabbed her backpack, putting it between the two of them, which she thankfully eased into as a makeshift pillow. The rest of the trip was spent in weird, unexplainable, stomach-fluttering silence on his end.



“Kid, excuse me? Hey kid, get up.”

He felt unfamiliar hands shaking his shoulders-- rough, manly hands which couldn't have possibly been hers. Speaking of Lee Seulbi...

“I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Rest assured, this was all carelessness on our part. It wasn't our intention to cause any sort of mischief," That was her voice just now, drifting into his state of stupor. Although she sounded like her usual polite self, he could note the hint of grogginess in her tone. "I'll handle it from here."


"I'm only going to say this once: wake up."

That tone was icy enough to jolt anyone awake.

"I'M UP! I'M UP!" Immediately, his eyes shot open and he sat up straighter, his head feeling a little woozy after the abrupt motion he took. He wasn't even sure when and how he had fallen asleep. When Sunggyu finally came to, aside from the bus driver's frowning face, he had also noticed the complete absence of the rest of the passengers in the bus. Seulbi was looking unremorseful for her rather rude awakening, and whether that was an expression of amusement or irritance on her face, he couldn't draw the line.

"Are we in Jeonju?" he asked with all honesty, rubbing his small eyes.

"You think?"

Pissed. She was definitely pissed. Sunggyu huffed, unappreciative of her sharp tongue. Seriously, just because he wasn't able to wake her up in time for their arrival.

Before he could even say something, the bus driver had grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket. He let out a small terrified yelp as the elder pulled him into a standing position. "Jeonju? Don't make me laugh! You missed that stop a good hour ago! This bus was re-routed elsewhere for its scheduled garage servicing!"

"WHAT?!?"

So that explains the current lack of lifeform on the bus other than the three of them. The two had fallen into such deep sleep that they weren't able to realise that the bus had reached its destination and that their fellow passengers had alighted. Sunggyu's faith in humanity had dropped. No one had even bothered to wake them up or politely tell them that they were supposed to get off. Thinking that everyone had disembarked, the bus had continued on its merry way to its servicing center. It wasn't when Seulbi had woken up and stretched her arms that the driver had realized that there were still people on the bus.

"You could have woken me up sooner, thank you?" he complained, turning to the only other person he could pile the blame on.

The heiress was not the least bit pleased with that. She rubbed her temples, looking like she was about to experience a migraine. "And how was I supposed to know we were off track? You said you'd wake me up!"

Well, it was time to put his weaseling skills to good use once again. Sunggyu turned to the bus driver, flashing him with his ten-thousand-watt smile. "Sir, I'm terribly sorry, but this was all just an honest mistake!"

"Nice try, punk, but your girlfriend over here--"

"... cousin..." Seulbi politely corrected.

"--cousin, whatever, gave the same bogus reason earlier! The lies youngsters resort to these days-- is this what's become of the younger generations?!? Have you no sense of shame nor decency?"

"We're cousins, sir," Seulbi corrected once again.

The bus driver didn't look too pleased, thinking that this was one of their lying schemes, which sounded alarm signals in Sunggyu's head. He had to rectify this quickly before Seulbi's temper could ruin their whole chance of making it to Jeonju-- if only she'd keep shut like she normally did!

"Sir, with all due respect, please believe us! Besides, does this innocent, angelic child look like she's lying to you?!?" Sunggyu reasoned, pulling the girl in front of him as his selling point. Maybe he'd recognize the heiress from some television appearance of hers or something and even drive them all the way to Little Haven. On the contrary, Seulbi wasn't living up to her Woollim name and only gave a blank, confused stare which seemed to have infuriated the elder even more.

"Get off my bus before I have you two arrested." When they made no move to do so, he screamed at them, his face and ears red as a tomato. "GET OUT!"

The two quickly collected their things and he shooed them off, mumbling something about homeless, juvenile delinquents and irresponsible parentage. Once Seulbi had finally stepped, he slammed the doors so hard, the glass rattled. Then he mashed his foot onto the gas pedal, leaving the two coughing up the dust the bus managed to dislodge. The two took a good look at their surroundings. Of all the places that they could have been kicked out to, it just had to be at some lone, abandoned waiting shed in the middle of nowhere.

"Angelic, my . Your personality couldn't have been more pleasing, Miss Congeniality," Sunggyu grumbled, seating himself on the rickety bench.

"I already told you, pushing me as the scapegoat won't work. I haven't been formally introduced to the public yet," Seulbi huffed, kicking a pebble. "And please, at least I wasn't acting like a total creep."

"Creep?!? You can't even distinguish between flattery and good people skills, how are you supposed to run the company if you're like that?"

Big fat 'X' mark for Sunggyu. He figured that he must have said something wrong because her already touchy temper flared once again. Frowning, Seulbi peeled her own jacket off to tie it around her waist and cover her skirt. Next, she swung the sling of her backpack on her shoulders, storming off into the direction opposite to where the bus had gone off to.

“Hey. What are you doing? Are you walking out on me?”

"No , Sherlock! I'm teleporting."

"Get your back here, young lady! Wouldn't it be better to wait for the next bus?!? HEY! Do you even know where you're going?!?"

"What I do know is that we need to find shelter before the sun completely sets. Wait if you want to! I'm going to see if I can get help."

As much as he wanted to let her out of his sight, Sunggyu would never hear the end of it if Woohyun found out that he had left his precious baby cousin all alone in the wilderness. This time, he also had not only Hoya, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, and Sungjong to answer to, but Lee Jungyeop as well. Gritting his teeth, he adjusted his snapback before trudging after her, lugging his own bag around.

<<<< >>>>

Luckily for them, their aimless wandering managed to get them somewhere after what seemed to be hours of walking (and bickering) through barren roads. They reached a small farming village just when the sun was setting its last rays of light over the horizon.

"CIVILIZATION!" Sunggyu yelped, jogging forward, leaving Seulbi to her own musings. Textbooks had always described countryside traditional villages such as this as quiet and unrushed, but to Seulbi, that didn't seem like the case right now. It was the complete opposite, the small village was bustling with liveliness and unruly laughter. People moved in groups out of their respective houses despite it being sundown and settling time. She looked around, finding any indicator for some sort of town official, but fortunately for her, she didn't even have to search very far.

"Visitors? Welcome!"

An elderly man had called out just as he stepped out of the porch of his Hanok. The two looked behind them, and then at each other to check whom the elderly man was speaking to. Seeing that they were the only ones "urbanly dressed" among the throng of people, they were obviously the ones being addressed.

"Friends of someone from the village? Have you come to join in on the celebration with us?"

Girl wonder mode, as Sunggyu coined it, was back on again. Walking that long distance seemed to have cooled Seulbi's head down for her tone had become much more pleasant. “Ah, no sir, we were just passing through. Unfortunately, we missed our bus stop and we ended up here. We need to know where the nearest bus station is, and when the next bus back to either Seoul or Jeonju would be departing.”

“Tomorrow!”

“Pardon?”

“The liner only comes by the drop-off point once daily, you’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow for the next one. It would be better for you to head off to the terminal for regular trips to the big cities. But even then, we'd still have to take you all the way to the city proper in Gwangju. It's a forty-five-minute drive away from here; we'd be willing to take you there with one of our trucks, but I'm afraid everyone's staying in tonight for the village festival."

Sunggyu couldn't believe his ears. Gwangju? They've reached as far as the Southern Jeolla Province?!?

The elderly man noted the disheartened expressions on the two's faces. "Since you’re stuck here for the meantime, there's no need to rush! Why don’t you come and enjoy our little town festival? Both of you must be tired and hungry from the long travel!”

They knew needed to meet up with the others as soon as possible, but the hospitality was too nice to be turned down. All that walking and running away had indeed tired them out. Even the grumbling in their stomachs were goading them on to accept the offer. The two didn't have the heart to turn the man down.

"Well, we really don't have a place to stay, and we are a bit tired and hungry," Sunggyu grinned, scratching his head, secretly nudging at Seulbi's side with his elbow to get her to play along.

"My cousin and I might be of inconvenience to you," Seulbi hesitantly agreed. If she weighed it out, this was probably the lesser of two evils, rather than spending nightfall wandering where they could be harmed by some unprecedented force of nature.

"It's all on us! The farming gods must have sent you here for some reason-- for all you know, the two of you might be some sort of blessing in disguise! Now come on in, don't be shy! Hara, please lend these two a few clothes to change into."



Now that she was looking more place-appropriate, Seulbi had tucked her blouse and skirt back into her backpack and tied her hair into a high ponytail before stepping out. Sunggyu was already waiting for her in the inner yard with his arms crossed.

"I see why Howon likes to tease you with 'Grandpa'," she told him with a rather amused smile. Sunggyu's turtleneck sweater was a shade of blood red and he had a light brown vest on top of it. His murky brown pants were loose-fitting, and he had leather sandals on.

"School it."

"How do I look?"

Sunggyu couldn't even take a jab at her current wear. Even with her gray knitted sweater, flowery ahjumma pants and all, Seulbi still managed to rock it. Heck, she could even work the runway with it and still be fashion forward. "Like a country bumpkin," he lied, awkwardly clearing his throat. "Now come on. They're waiting for us outside. It shouldn't hurt to look around for awhile, right?"

And so began their little tour of the small farming village, Seulbi gave off an aura reminiscient of a curious little child. She was fascinated by every little thing that managed to catch her attention, every sight and smell and sound. It was hard not to be amused by all the music, merrymaking and festivity going on. The mouthwatering aroma of food and alcohol filled the air as all the doors and windows seemed to be open. Everyone was welcoming everyone into their homes to partake in the meal preparations.

“Please don't tell me this is your first time seeing a countryside festival," he asked.

“It is. It's a real shame that I don't have my camera with me," she admitted as she stared in admiration at the colorful paper lanterns. "Myungsoo would have had such a field day here."

"You're weird. Nowadays, when you and Sungjong talk about him, you seem to be in such high spirits, considering the guy just publicly declared you as his rival. And please, the guy is filthy rich. He could pay to have his own festival in his own backyard if he wanted to."

"You don't know it yet, but that two of you are a lot more similar than you think," Seulbi finished with a knowing smile, turning her attention to an open area where the townspeople had started gathering for their annual fun and games. People were extremely excited to take some of the prizes home. Although they had initially planned to be mere bystanders, the villagers had insisted on their participation; eventually, they gave in out of respect.

Sunggyu almost fainted after seeing the event that she had signed up for.

“MUD WRESTLING?!?”

"It seems fun," Seulbi merely shrugged.

The arena was set at a mud flat they had prepared before hand. Rules of the folk wrestling style still applied, with the competitors grabbing onto each other's belts. Victory was to be declared when any part of the opponent's body above the knee has been brought to the ground. He was barely watching the match through the slits of his fingers as he had them over his eyes. Seulbi's first opponent had managed to pick her up easily like a ragdoll, but Seulbi was quick enough to lock her opponent's feet, pulling her into a sweep. As the matches continued, Sunggyu watched in both awe and horror as Seulbi managed to completely tackle and bring down people who were twice her size; she was even putting a few buff males to shame, ascending the match ladder each and everytime. All for a clean zero-loss victory in the end!

 

"An eating contest. This is the best you can do?"

Sure, it was nothing compared to Seulbi's bigshot event, but this was something that he was very, very, VERY confident in.

“Are you sure about this?” Seulbi asked for the nth time, noticing how scrawny Sunggyu looked compared to his competitors. “You’re willing to going to go up against them? These people are like junior Godzillas!”

“You didn’t even worry about that when you took on people twice your size for mud wrestling,” Sunggyu dismissed as he proceeded to line up at the long table, rubbing his palms together in anticipation of whatever dish was to be served for them to challenge. “It’s an eating contest. Nothing Kim Sunggyu can’t handle!"



“Eight bowls of extra spicy ramyun. I hope that you're aware that you wolfed down an entire feast fit for eight people.”

Sunggyu gleefully patted his belly as he plopped down onto foyer's wooden floor. "It doesn't matter how much I ate. I'm full. I won."

"I do hope your gargantuan appetite isn't because the mansion isn't feeding you well."

"I am, I am. I'm just happy to be eating normal, commoner food for once. My stomach gets really sensitive when the Head Chef starts cooking up something from exotic for lunch. Everyday feels like a luncheon buffet from a different country."

"I'll take note of that. You know, you do have an opinion as to what's to be served for mealtimes," Seulbi informed him before nudging him with her knee. "Don't sleep, you're still full."

Sunggyu tutted, lazily pulling himself to a sitting position. "I hope you're aware that you can't be choosy today. Here, everyone sleeps on the floor. No special treatment."

"I'll manage, I think. You don't have to worry about me tossing and turning at night."

Carefully, he began picking off flecks of dried out mud on her hair. "You, on the other hand, need a bath before you head to bed. They told us we could use the bathroom on the farthest right." He reached over to the side of the foyer to grab and hand her two wooden pails he had won from his eating contest. “Here. Draw your own water.”

Seulbi looked at the pails as if they were foreign tools. "Where?"

"Do you remember that big well we passed by earlier? There."

Her face fell. That thing was on the farthest outskirts of the village, closer to the paddies and flats. Too shocked to even utter a word, she got to work, leaving Sunggyu free to roll around in his sleeping mat momentarily. He must have dozed off for quite awhile because the moment he came to, she had arrived back at the inner yard. It was seriously amusing to see her shed her rich kid persona, working hard to haul two pails chock-full of water by herself. “You’re doing pretty well, princess!” Sunggyu mock-cheered, trying to hold in his laughter. “Few more steps and you’re there!”

“If I tell you I can’t carry it anymore, will you come over to help?!?” Seulbi gritted, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Your bathwater, not mine. Don't you want to take a bath?”

Before Seulbi could retort with a sharp comeback, their host had called out to her, smiling. "Oh, you're back? I see you got two more for yourself this time. Thank you for going out of your way to draw water for us."

"It's the least I can do for a night's stay, sir. Please tell eommonim to enjoy her bath!"

While he had been lazing his off, Lee Seulbi, heiress of Woollim, had carried four pails of water by herself; two of which she had offered to the host family. He should be ashamed of himself! Sunggyu cleared his throat once the village head had entered into the master's quarters. "Umm. Need help?"

"It's alright. No need," she dismissed smugly, "I figured you might not be able to carry both pails anyway."

<<<< >>>>

Seulbi sighed as she finally finished towel-drying her hair after her long soak in the traditional tub, walking over to Sunggyu's sleeping quarters to check on him. The greaseball didn't even bother taking a bath before pulling on the night cap, saying he was too full to move. Knowing it took longer than usual without the use of a blowdryer, she figured he must have fallen asleep within that span of time.

Contrary to what he was bragging about earlier, he was the one doing the actual tossing and turning. Seulbi bent over to check on him. His face was scrunched up in agony as another fresh wave of pain shot through his abdomen. Immediately, she brought a hand to his forehead to feel for his temperature. Although he was sweating bullets, he had no chills nor was his temperature the slightest bit feverish. "Sunggyu? What's wrong?" 

"It really hurts," he groaned, wincing again.

"Can you point to me where?"

Sunggyu merely shook his head and curled himself into a crouching position, unable to pinpoint where exactly. All he knew was that it hurt, and that it hurt a lot. The heiress did a few maneuvers with his left leg, twisting and turning it to note if he sensed more pain on abrupt movement, but he kept describing it to be sharp, generalized and persistent.

"Either my liver or my spleen is trying to start a revolution against my stomach, but I think that's my appendix talking-- ow!"

“I don’t think it’s appendicitis though…” Seulbi mulled, recalling that he had no fever. The picture and the presenting features just didn't fit quite right for the condition. "Maybe it's because you ate too much and had beer after? Are you sure you don't need to go for a Number 2?"

“I’m dying over here! It has to be it! It’s probably on the verge of rupture or something!”

“Wow, look at you, you even have the audacity to argue back when you’re in that much... pain..." she had trailed off because he had groaned out loud once again. If it was enough to bring any grown man to his knees, it must have been serious.



With the help of the village head, Seulbi managed to drag a pained Sunggyu out of the Hanok they were staying in. He had been flanked and supported by the two of them, with one arm each around their shoulders as they made their way in the dead of the night towards the place in the forest where the old folk healer maintained his tiny shack.

“Lee Seulbi," he murmured, his voice rather feathery and weak, "if I die here in the middle of nowhere… tell Sister Minyu, Grandpa and the rest that I’m sorry…”

“No. No one’s dying anywhere,” Seulbi dismissed firmly as she adjusted his arm around her shoulder. “Come on Sunggyu, just bear with it for a little while more. We're almost there. You’ll be fine.”

People coming in for help in the middle of the night mustn't have been a new occurrence, for the wizened, old man had answered within three loud knocks. He took one good look at a listless Sunggyu before turning to the village head. "This is bad. Did you bring the fruits?"

"I've got them all here!" he replied, showing him a plastic filled with oranges.

He immediately collected Sunggyu from the two of them, setting him down onto the mat. "Please put those fruits on the altar and make the offering. And you child, rub his arms and back." Seulbi followed immediately, hoping it can help ease his pain. "Now hold him down."

Albeit confused, the heiress did as she was told, securing Sunggyu's arms by pinning them down onto the mat. The healer had already lit several candles around them. What happened after was a shocking turn in events which made both Seulbi and Sunggyu unsure on whether to take it seriously or not. Seulbi bit her lower lip, trying to stifle in her laughter as the folk healer began brandishing an incense stick all over Sunggyu, the fumes of which made him cough and his eyes water. Taking a piece of shiny, elongated metal, the elder began piercing and jabbing at the air around Sunggyu's body.

"BE GONE FROM THIS YOUNG MAN'S BODY!" the healer bellowed, chanting a myriad of gibberish incantations right after as the whites of his eyes rolled up into view. "LEAVE!"

"WHAT THE HELL? I'M NOT POSSESSED!" Sunggyu screamed, temporarily forgetting his stomach pain. But the man had only taken his thrashing and writhing as a sign of rebellion from the so-called "malevolent spirit" within him.

"That's what they all say! You don't fool me, demon!"

Sunggyu wanted to laugh loudly at the absurdity of this situation if it weren't for his stomach acting up again, this time with a vengeance. It hurt ten times more and there was some painful bowel movement going on, which made him squeeze his eyes shut. He strained hard against it, momentarily forgetting to breathe, hoping that the pain would ebb away soon.

Suddenly, the chanting stopped and everyone became dead silent. Even Sunggyu's eyes shot open out of sheer embarrassment, wishing that the ground would magically swallow him up right now! Surely everyone had heard that surprise burst of air (which sounded like a disorganized symphony of trumpets)... sadly, which didn't come out from his mouth. Even Seulbi’s face turned extremely red as she wrinkled her nose.

“Ah, I'm right! It’s a case of severe gas,” the folk healer announced happily. "Our job here is almost done!"



"Sunggyu, why won't you look at me?"

The only reply she got was an uncanny gurgle. After such an embarrassing incident, he had his back completely turned to her the entire time, refusing to look her in the eye. Seulbi sighed as she quit nudging him. "If it's of any comfort, we're all human, everyone passes gas in public every once in awhile. Even someone as esteemed as Woohyun during a meeting. It was like the blinds for the Voice of Korea. 4-chair turner!"

Even that little jab at Woohyun couldn't make light of the situation. "Can you not put it that way please? I'm embarrassed enough as it is."

“On the bright side, I was right when I told you it wasn’t appendicitis. You were acting all morbid for nothing-- 'Seulbi, I’m going to die!', honestly, it's cute!" she teased, chortling afterwards. She was so amused, she started kicking her legs in the air as she held onto her stomach. Sunggyu could only tug at his bangs in shame.

Her amusement had been put to an abrupt stop as the folk healer resumed his services. "Here. Rub this herbal balm over your stomach," he instructed as he handed Sunggyu a small canister. And to Seulbi, he handed a big needle and a piece of thread. "And you my dear, please prick his finger."

Sunggyu's small eyes instantly widened again. "W-What? W-Wait, I don't think it's really necessary--"

"I'm terribly sorry for my ignorance, but how do you go about that? And what does it do?"

"It's an old acupuncture remedy for indigestion, which is probably the cause of his gas build-up-- eight servings of spicy ramyun, you said?" he asked and Seulbi nodded in agreement. "First, you tie the string around his thumb like so to stop the blood flow, then you prick a small part of the flesh at the corner of the thumb where it meets the fingernail. Then you bleed the puncture wound."

As she begun sterilizing the needle by passing it over the candle flame, Sunggyu was practically pleading her to spare his life, deeming it unnecessary, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. "Hold still so we can get over this quickly," she shushed. "Besides I want to try and see if this works."

"Lee Seulbi, I'm warning you. Don't! I'm fine! There's no need!"

“What's this? Kim Sunggyu, are you also afraid of needles? Would you like to hold my other hand?”

"Don't baby me! Why would I even-- YOWWW!"



By the time the two had gone back to the village, dawn was cracking, meaning the farmers were just about up as well for the daily morning grind and that they could finally get to the city soon enough once everything was ready. It was afternoon when the truck ready to take them (along with the produce) to Gwangju. They managed to finish their 'goodbye's' and 'thank you's' to each and every household in the village in time. Once they got there, Sunggyu took charge at the bus station once again and this time Seulbi settled herself in with much more ease than before. Pretty soon, they were on their way towards Jeonju, which was roughly an hour away.

"Take a nap, you've been up all night," Sunggyu urged. "I'll make up for last time."

Seulbi gave him a small, pleasant smile in response. "No thanks, I don't want to miss our bus stop this time."

<<<< >>>>

The sun was already setting by the time they had reached the outskirts of Jeonju. Sunggyu and Seulbi had decided to cap their little adventure off by backpacking the remainder of the way towards Little Haven. Seulbi merely shook her head at Sunggyu was still nursing his pricked thumb. "You're overreacting."

"You had to nick so much flesh!" he whimpered. "You could have at least warned me when you were going to prick."

"If I did, we'd still be in that forest shack by now. If you hadn't flung your arm in attempt to hit me, I wouldn't have dragged the needle further down."

He gave her such a judging glare which caused her to stop in her tracks. One sneer was enough to tell her to back off his case. Sunggyu stalked onwards, leaving the girl behind. Right now, he didn't care if he came home and presented himself Seulbi-less to Woohyun and the rest. He was sure he had left her a good distance back when there was a strangled yelp from her all of a sudden.

“S-S-Sunggyu? Help!”

He turned around after hearing her call of distress, only to find her seated on the middle of the road, her legs listlessly tangled into one another. Seulbi did an awkward, panicked wriggle. “My legs suddenly gave way and...“

"Did you twist your ankle? Can you get up?” Sunggyu asked, hurriedly making his way back towards her. She denied any spraining-- they suddenly buckled under her whole weight.

"I can't!”

“Shhh, okay, shhh, don’t panic,” he eased. And then it hit him. Seulbi must have been so exhausted from their countryside adventures: they had been walking non-stop since they'd been kicked out, she had taken on mud-wrestling, drawn four pails full of bath water in total, half-dragged him to the folk healer in the dead of the night and had gone on without sleep just to watch over him. Besides, he wasn't entirely sure if her injury from then had already completely healed out by now. Sunggyu could only sigh, transferring his bag so that he was carrying it like a kangaroo pouch in front of him.

[Rocoberry - Good Reasons]

"Hop on.”

“Excuse me?"

“You really have no choice right now, unless you want me to leave you here in the middle of the road for the night. I’ll piggyback you. And before you comment about anything weight-related, can it. You're fine."

After stalling much time (and to shut down Sunggyu's never-ending complaint that he was getting tired from squatting) Seulbi dragged herself closer, putting her arms awkwardly around his shoulders and neck. The close proximity between them brought back the weird fluttering in his stomach and his chest. Sunggyu was actually glad that he was facing in the other direction and that it was almost sun down. He could feel his cheeks burning as he gently adjusted her weight on his back.

"Seems like you're used to this, Princess," he coughed awkwardly to dispel the weird silence.

"Blame Hoya for spoiling me rotten. Besides, I'm not that much of a princess as you deem me, always getting cuts and scrapes from roughhousing. You can't blame the fact that I grew up with a bunch of bouncing boys for cousins."

"You don't need to prove it. I think your career stint at the mud flat told me everything."

This time, it was Seulbi's turn to clear . "You seem used to this too. I thought you didn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, you're the first person I've carried who isn't below the age of ten."

"Ah, I see," she replied, suddenly feeling bad for making false assumptions. Absentmindedly, she tried swinging her feet to-and-fro and much to her surprise, they followed. "I think I can move them now, you can put me down."

"I'll live. We're almost there anyway.”

"You know, we may fight and bicker a lot. We disagree on how to go about a lot of things. You pick on me for the fun of it, and I pick on you for the fun of it, but I realized... you're a lot nicer to me than you let on. Sometimes, a bit too nice."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Like right now. You must be tired too, yet here you are, still insisting on carrying me."

He ended up laughing to dispel the weird fluttery feeling, which seemed to have doubled after she said that. "Trust me, I wouldn't be doing this if you were in a skirt. You're lucky to be wearing jeans. You should wear them more often."

"Still. Thank you. For taking care of me."

"All in a day's work as the Lee Seulbi's cousin."

"Since you insist, might as well take advantage of the situation. Giddyup, horsie!"

"Now you're pushing it. Do you want me to drop you?"

"Try me. I'll pull your hair before you manage to do so."

That put a fuzzy smile on his face, his eyes disappearing into thin crescents. Yes, he had to admit, he felt much more at home when they were bickering like this. Although exchanged pleasantries with Seulbi weren't so bad after all, he realized. It felt out of the normal he was used to, but it felt warm and nice too.



They finally arrived at the archway, and the building for the orphanage could be seen looming over the gardens. Over at the rotunda and entrance, three familiar figures stood outside, pacing. Sunggyu could have sworn that Seulbi had given him a quick hug before pulling up, raising her free arm.

“NAMU! HOWONIE! YEOLLIE!”

Enthusiastically, Seulbi clambered off Sunggyu’s back. Despite wobbling the first few steps, she managed to run into the waiting arms of her cousins, who look equally overjoyed to see her and pull her into a tight bearhug. Dongwoo and Sungjong had piled out of the place as well, automatically latching onto Seulbi. Sunggyu scoffed at the sight, feeling slightly disappointed at the sudden loss of warmth. Ingrate. I carried you all the way back here-- I thought you couldn't even move your legs!

The cousins exchanged a few stories of how they got there. Apparently, Sungjong and the Lee siblings had decided to wait it out in one of of the Jjimjilbang spas overnight before taking the bus. Dongwoo and Woohyun had it better off and took the KTX and dealed a metered cab to get there.

"Come here, hyung. You know you want a hug," Sungyeol cooed, making sure Sunggyu wouldn't feel left out of their little family reunion by pulling him into their group hug. Sunggyu could only smile as he indulged. As much as he hated to admit it, he actually missed being with these bunch of weirdos, even if it had just been a day without seeing each other.

"Thank you," Woohyun sincerely said, "Seulbi was in good hands."

"No need to. It's part of the job description anyway."

"The noble prat, this one," Hoya teased, repeatedly patting him on his back. Sunggyu felt like his lungs were slowly being knocked out with each hit, but even so, he managed to lock eyes with Woohyun. Only the two knew that his words had a deeper, more literal meaning to it.

Woohyun scoffed at Sunggyu's pathetic attempt of a wink, knowing perfectly well what the guy wanted. The nerve. Is he actually asking me for a bonus?

<<<< >>>>

"Could you sign this 'Thank You' card please?"

"What for?"

"It's for the village. I'm planning on sending something to them, and I thought it would be nice to send a card along with it."

It was Day 1 back home and they spent the day in to settle down. The kidnapping threat had been quelled almost immediately, considering it was a false alarm, with the perpetrators properly apprehended for their little 'joke'. They didn't think that it would be taken seriously by Lee Jungyeop in the first place. Eventually, Sunggyu didn't have to worry about the fancy party anyway, because they completely missed it, secretly to his and Woohyun's relief. Also, everyone was doing double time on their respective classes to make up for their absences.

He jotted down a short message before handing the card back to her. "What are you gifting them with anyway?"

"You might want to look out your window."

Sunggyu did as he was told, pulling aside the curtains before freezing on the spot as his eyes landed on her so-called gift. "A bit pricey, but I had help from Abeonim in getting that. It's also his way of saying thank you for their hospitality," she told him.

"Now you're just being weird. You signed it with a simple 'Lee Seulbi' with the intention of keeping your status as heiress secret, but I don't see how those people aren't going to connect the dots when they see your gift. Besides, you should give yourself more credit."

Seulbi merely shrugged. "Blessing from the farming gods or gift from an heiress, I'll leave whichever they want to believe to their disgression."



"They really were heaven sent, those two youngsters!"
"This just goes to show that a little act of kindness goes a long way!"
"I'm keeping that in my yard tonight!"

Everyone crowded around the shiny, brand new four-wheel mini tractor that had been dropped off earlier that day, with nothing but a signed thank you card to identify the senders. Lee Seulbi and Kim Sunggyu, it read.

A/N: The sheer amount of fluff in this had my toes curling so much, I can't believe I wrote that. The least bit of fluff affects me this way, I just hope it wasn't too sickeningly sweet for you readers. And before I sign off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM SUNGGYU! I 100% ship SunggyuxFood. GIF spam underway.