“Unnie? Heeeey....unnie?”, I heard a little girl's voice whisper in my ear and I opened my eyes slowly. There was one of the orphans to my right, shaking my arm in order to wake me up. I remembered that she had told me her name was Namjoo.

“What is it?”, I grumbled, still half-asleep as I yawned to my hearts content until I realized I wasn't at home. I had sat down on a chair next to Zelo's old bed and I guess I had fallen asleep there, my head resting on the soft mattress as he was sleeping soundly.

“It's getting late, shouldn't you be going?”, the girl asked with a frown. “JunJun never stayed much longer than until 5pm, you know?”

I glanced at my watch – showing me 5:30pm – then at the still sleeping Zelo and back at Namjoo with a smile. “Let him sleep for now, please. He needs that right now... Why didn't he stay any longer? Are there only some certain times when you're allowed to visit or why?”

“That's not it...He just never stayed longer”, the girl replied with a shrug and took my hand in hers with a bright glimmer in her eyes. “But now that you're here, do you want to eat with us? You can help us with the food if you want to!”

I was surprised at the nice offer and thought about it for a moment. “I don't know. If JunJun never stayed that long, maybe we should-” I couldn't end my sentence, because the puppy eyes Namjoo showed me were invincible. It was obvious what I would do this afternoon and I sighed. “Fine, what are you eating today?”, I asked the young girl and she started smiling like mad before grabbing my hand.

“I don't know, but let's ask the ahjumma!”, she stated cheerfully, skipping towards the stairs and leading me into a big kitchen. “What will we eat today?”

The old lady that had left to buy groceries earlier turned around and scanned me with a frown as I shyly raised my hand to wave at her. She really didn't see me but only Zelo back then, did she? “Hello. I'm Kim Soora and I'm...JunJun's friend. Sorry if I disturb in any way, we can just go home if-”

“No, no, it's fine if you're with him. He spent a lot of time here in the past and we like him very much, you know?”

I nodded with a knowing expression. “Yes, he told me a little bit about himself. Fortune wasn't in a good mood when she decided over his luck and future, I guess...”, I mumbled, which earned me another smile from the lady. “But say, Namjoo wants us to stay and eat, what are we going to prepare?”

“Today's nothing special. If I knew we'd have guests I would have prepared something else, but today is semolina pudding, nothing else...” She looked a little bit embarrassed and I glanced at Namjoo to see that she was making a disgusted face.

“Again? I feel like we have that every Friday...”, she grumbled and my mind quickly thought of a solution.

“Uhm, you didn't already start, did you?” The woman shook her head and I smiled at her, hiding my relief. I didn't like semolina either, I completely understood Namjoo. “Good, because I wanted to ask if I could order some pizza for everyone here? My treat of course.”

The woman's eyes widened while Namjoo jumped in surprise and it was obvious that they both couldn't believe that offer. “There are sixteen children in this orphanage, plus Jun...Jun, you and me! That's too much, we can't accept-”

“Believe me, I know what I'm doing. Let me do this, just this once, please, ahjumma.” I bowed politely and she seemed quite happy now. That would make 19 pizzas, it's not that much and I'd just tell Dad that I was out with Daehyun, Jongup, Zelo and Sohee later, because he'd give me the money back anyway. I glanced at Namjoo and winked at her. “Go tell the others they should decide what flavor they want, okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically and ran off towards the main room of the building, screaming everyone's name and telling them the news. I chuckled silently, taking out my phone to check for the menu online and decided, I would take a pizza with spinach. I wondered whether I should invite Yongguk or not, but thought that Zelo had already endured many difficult things, like telling me about himself, and I was afraid he'd collapse if there was just one more thing he didn't expect.

It took the kids some time to choose and they were kind of hyperactive, knowing the news. I turned around after writing down all the orders – mostly pizzas without anything, because the kids couldn't decide – and looked at the ahjumma. “What does JunJun want?”, I asked, but she just shrugged.

“Just choose anything, he'll eat it.” I looked through the menu and took the first thing that seemed tasty. If he didn't like it, I could eat it and he could eat my flavor, I wouldn't mind.

After ordering everything – I have to admit, the man at the other end of the line seemed a little overwhelmed by the quantity of the food – I told the children to wait for thirty minutes, before I went upstairs to wake up the stick-figure called Zelo. He was still lying there, eyes closed and a silent smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Peaceful.

I stepped closer to the bed, hunkering down to match his eye level before moving a strand of his hair out of his face. “Zelo-yah, time to wake up. You won't sleep tonight if you don't wake up now”, I whispered, but he didn't even move the tiniest bit. “Zelo~ I ordered food.” This always worked with Daehyun...but not with him. He just lay there calmly and I sighed in frustration before deciding to wake him up by force...I guessed that he would be mad later on.

“Yah, stick-figure, wake up, will you? I'm hungry and the food arrives in about 20 minutes.” I bent over the bed and squinnied before poking him in the side as powerful as I could. A big mistake. Zelo's eyes flew open and he grabbed my wrist out of reflex as if to defend himself, staring at me with wide eyes as he tried to recognize who I was. He was panting all of a sudden and I could just stare back at his anxious eyes. Did he think I was going to hurt him? “Shh, you're safe, it's me. Soora.”

His grasp loosened and he closed his eyes again, rubbing his temples. “Sorry for overreacting”, he mumbled with a hoarse voice, but I just shook my head even though he didn't see it.

“No problem. Did you have a nightmare?”, I asked casually with a little frown. Zelo yawned and stretched his back as he sat up.

“It's the first time I didn't in many years”, was his reply as he looked at me. “My dream was peaceful and calm... Maybe that's why I overreacted just now. It was too nice to be true.” The stick-figure shrugged and rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes. “All I know is that it was something about food.”

I had to grin a little as I heard that. “I ordered pizza just now. It will arrive here in 20 minutes”, I explained while I was about to leave the room and Zelo followed me, almost stumbling, because he still wasn't completely awake.

“Wait, you ordered pizza for yourself?”

I turned around to glance at him in confusion. Did he think I ordered one pizza? “Yeah, and for the kids too, why?”, I asked, explaining the situation a little more.

He shook his head, showing me that this was not what he was asking for. “No, no. I meant: You eat fast food?”

That made me stop and glare at him with my 'Are-you-serious-glare'. “What am I, an alien?”

The words just came out of his mouth without him really thinking about it, I guessed, judging by what he said next. “No, but you're rich and don't have to buy that cheap food-”

“Just because I don't have to doesn't mean I'll melt or explode when I do.” I mean, was he still this prejudiced when it came to me? I wasn't some average snob! I was a little angry.

“I thought rich people didn't eat it...”, he mumbled, staring at the ground and I'm sure I could see his ears redden in embarrassment.

“Would you have told every average rich person what you have told me earlier?”, I asked then, raising an eyebrow as I poked his chest and it seemed to work. He was quiet, probably reflecting about what he had just said. Still, the anger had faded when I saw his expression that showed regret, but it was replaced by a hint of hurt and disappointment. Was I just some rich person to him? Even now? I wanted to be friends with him, why didn't he get it?

“What did you order for me?”, he asked in order to break the awkward silence that surrounded us.

“I don't know. I think something with pineapple and ham or something like that...But if you don't want it, we can switch...”, I answered quietly, not wanting him to hear the bit of disappointment that was part of my voice, but he bit his lip nervously, showing me that he did notice it. Still, he looked surprised at the same time.

“How did you know it was my favorite flavor?”, he wondered, causing me to look at him with the same surprise he had on his face.

“I...didn't”, I replied before clearing my throat and walking down the stairs to the children, leaving a puzzled Zelo behind.

Namjoo ran up to me as soon as she spotted me. “Soora-unnie!”, she exclaimed and I chuckled at the happiness she showed whenever I appeared in her field of vision.

“Just call me Soora. I feel old if you call me unnie”, I corrected her, laughing as all the other kids followed her to clutch at my arms and legs. My laughter soon turned into a mixture of screams, because I lost my balance, and more laughter, because of the adorableness that surrounded me.

Namjoo took my hand in hers, looking at me with sparkling eyes. “Soora-unn....ehem. Soora, tell us something about you! What do you like to do?”, she asked as she sat down on my belly, making it hard to breathe and I had to lean against the wall and take a deep breath before replying.

“I love photography”, I explained and the kids stared at me with big eyes. “I'm often walking around the city, taking photos of random people.” They weren't that random, like I had explained to Zelo when he started living with me – they were special in their own ways – but I thought it would be too much for the children to understand.

One of the boys raised his hand. “Do you have pictures you can show us?” I thought about it for a moment before taking out my phone and opening the gallery.

“This”, I showed them a picture of Jongup. “is my best friend, Jongup. We have been spending our childhood together and he is very fun to be around.”

“His hair is purple!”, Namjoo exclaimed and I smirked as I kept scrolling through the pictures.

“Then look at this”, I replied and showed her a few pictures of Daehyun with his changing hair colors. “That is Daehyun. He tries out every single hair color until he finds the one that fits him the best. He didn't have something rainbow-colored yet, I should ask him to do that once.”

“There are so many pictures of him”, Namjoo noticed, confused by all the colors, and the girl to her right, I believe her name was Lami, seemed to have an idea.

“Soora?”, she whispered as she came closer. “Is he your...you know...your boyfriend?” Her ears reddened and she grinned shyly, but I was taken aback for a short time.

“What? No! Dae-oppa and I-”

“She called him Dae-oppa”, the secretary stated, seeming a little bit amused as his mask of seriousness cracked.

“That's because we're friends! Very good friends!”, I explained in a hurry, causing the kids to shoot me suspicious glances. Daehyun was just a friend, why would they think something like that?

Lami shrugged. “Well, I just noticed that yo have more pictures of him than of the purple-haired man”, she explained. I scrolled through my own gallery in disbelief, noticing with a blush, that there really was more Daehyun than Jongup. Well, he had more hair colors! That's probably it, I assured myself, but Namjoo and Lami weren't finished with me yet.

“But why are there no pictures with JunJun?”, Namjoo asked with a frown that deepened while she was looking through the pictures. “Isn't he your friend too?”

I froze for a second, glancing at the staircase, where Zelo was still standing without having moved the tiniest bit. “Well...JunJun doesn't really like taking pictures, I think. Now that you say it, I didn't notice it...”

I heard steps coming down the stairs and the kids only seemed to notice Zelo now, turning around and running towards him the way they had done it with me before. It was the boys' turn to ask the questions now. “JunJun, why are there no pictures of you with Soora?”, they asked in unison, causing him to look at me with intense eyes as he looked for a reply.

“Uhm...” Was his voice a bit hoarse? “I don't look that...good on pic...tures...I think.” He swallowed and averted his gaze as I didn't. “I never thought about it though-”

The big front door opened, letting the cool air of the afternoon in, and the smell of fresh pizza came along, causing Zelo to shut up. “Excuse me?”, someone shouted from the hallway and I made my way towards the entrance to pay the pizzas. The young man looked at me in surprise when I offered him the whole money in cash and I looked at the bunch of bills in my hand.

“Is something wrong?”, I asked as all the kids came after me, clutching at my legs again.

“No, it's just rare to have someone buy this many pizzas, I'm sorry. Enjoy your meal with your...children then. Have a nice evening!” He took the money, left and I shrugged his reaction off casually, my lips as I took the huge bag of pizzas into the main room of the orphanage.

“Kids, please, don't push me like that!”, I shouted, having difficulties while balancing the giant package to the table, but they didn't listen and I almost stumbled forward, when I felt someone helping me with the heavy food. I looked up in surprise to find Zelo looking at me.

“Don't try to carry what you can't”, he scolded me and took the bag away to put it on the table by himself, leaving me puzzled and empty-handed. Why was he like that? Cold and warm at the same time, who was I to understand these mood swings?!

However, Zelo gave everyone what he had ordered and we sat down on the floor, around the table – anywhere as long as we could find a place between all the kids and the ahjumma that took care of them. Namjoo was overly happy, so were Lami, the secretary-boy and all the other children. It was heartwarming to see how they enjoyed every single bite as they devoured their food like little monsters.

I had sat down next to Zelo – on purpose, of course – and looked at him as I thought about his past once more. “Z- I mean, JunJun, I've got a question”, I mumbled between two bites of pizza and he looked at me in sudden agitation, but managed to get himself together in the blink of an eye.

“Then ask”, he replied with a shrug and took his next slice.

“What's your brother's name? I'm kind of curious.” A short, uncomfortable silence spread and I had almost given up on getting a reply, when he swallowed and whispered something, too silent for me to hear. “Huh?”

“Jin. His last name was Choi and I called him Jin, that's all I remember. Maybe it was only a nickname, but it would...That's why...I mean...”, he stuttered before falling quiet.

I frowned until I finally counted one and one together. “Is that why you asked about Jin-oppa the other day? It's...not very likely the same person.” Still, somewhere deep down in my heart, I compared Jin to Zelo's brother over and over again. Same age difference, both had been in America for some time – I remembered the time when he left for the big country. I had been crying so hard – same name...I believe he was called Kim Seokjin, not Choi, and he never mentioned anything about being adopted, but what if...? No way, Soora, don't be unrealistic.

“I know it's not him.”

“You do?”, I looked at Zelo in surprise, but the way his eyes flickered made clear that he didn't believe his own words at all. There was the pain he had experienced in the past sparkling in them as well as hope and fear.

“Or maybe I don't want to know it.”

I patted his arm, glad that the kids didn't notice our conversation as they were eating. “I should still have a picture of him somewhere... Do you want me to look for it when we get home?”

Zelo's eyes were now staring into mine and the hope was almost transferred to me. But then, to my surprise, he shook his head. “No.”

“No?”, I asked to make sure I had heard correctly and he shook his head again.

“At least not yet. I'm neither ready to find my brother nor to be disappointed because I don't. Let's stop this for now, okay?” Zelo swallowed and took his last slice of pizza.

Okay, I would let him be. Maybe he would be ready one day, but I understood that it was not today. His mental breakdown had been bad enough and didn't need to be intensified by a picture of Jin – whether it would be positive or negative. I took another bite of pizza before getting an idea to change the topic. “How is your pizza tasting? Let me try it!”, I ordered, taking his slice before he could dig his teeth into it.

“Yah!”, he exclaimed, looking angry, but his eyes were the mirrors of his soul, reflecting the relief he felt deep down. “Give me my pizza!”, he growled and reached out for the food, but I quickly took a bite to make him lose interest. I didn't think pineapple would taste good on a pizza, but I was wrong. It was awesome!

“Woah, this is daebakk!”, I exclaimed, raising the slice as if it was holy and Zelo scowled.

“Of course it is. Now give me some of your flavor in return, you owe me a whole slice!” He grabbed the remaining piece that was in the cardboard box and took a bit. “Not bad”, he admitted, “but mine was better.”

“Sure, keep dreaming, stick-figure”, I replied, rolling with my eyes and a sarcastic smile.

We spent the rest of our meal, which wasn't much anymore, in silence, munching each other's flavors without saying another word and when I looked at my watch, it was already 7pm. Hye-sun would hate me because I didn't say anything... “JunJun, we should get going... Sorry kids, but we have to go home!”, I stated loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Do you have to go?”, Namjoo whined with puppy eyes as she snapped out of a conversation and took my hand.

I smiled apologetically. “I'm afraid we have to...JunJun, let's go, okay?”

The ahjumma finally raised her head after she had been munching her food quietly this whole time. “You're free to come visit us whenever you like. Remember that, okay?” I nodded with a happy smile and she returned it, creating that motherly aura many old women have. I stood up to stretch my back and put on my jacket, walking into the corridor.

I had just informed Jongmin that we would like to be picked up at the end of the street, when I felt Zelo stand right beside me and I flinched in shock. “Aish, you scared me!”, I exclaimed, but Zelo looked uneasy, causing me to frown. “What is it? You look like you want to ask something.”

Zelo scratched the back of his head nervously. “It's just...well...” He glanced back at the group of complaining children that wanted us to stay a bit longer. “Do you maybe...want to take a picture of us all? I just...only if you don't mind. They never gather in one place like this and I don't have a photo yet and...” He lowered his gaze, hiding his reddening face from me. God, who would have guessed that he could look this cute?!

Wait, no.

I smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Sure! Kids!”, I shouted walking up to the small group again. “Let's take a picture before we leave, okay?” The happy yells were overwhelming and I chuckled to myself, taking out my phone and holding it up, but Zelo interfered again, taking the phone out of my hand as soon as I was within reach. “Hey, I thought-”

“Your arm is too short, you won't capture them all”, he teased with an amused smile and I pouted.

“As if your arm was much longer than mine”, I grumbled, but sighed in resignation, posing for the picture. We took 3 of them, because the kids were always fooling around and Zelo had to take it with his uninjured, left hand, but when we finally managed to take a good one, I looked at the children and bowed while Zelo put my phone into my jacket's pocket quietly. “Thank you for the good time today, I promise I'll come back!”, I shouted and the kids waved as a good bye while I turned around to leave the house.

Just when the door closed behind us, I glanced at Zelo, who was smiling to himself. “You look calm”, I said lightheartedly and he tried to control his expression again.

“Sorry for bothering you”, he mumbled, closing his eyes with a now serious face.

I stopped, looking at him while taking a deep breath. “Stop doing that.”

“What?” I could hear a bit of confusion in his voice.

“Apologizing all the time. Acting as if you were burdening me. You're not and I like spending my time with the kids. Is there a problem with that?”

“It isn't...yet. Just...don't do anything stupid, okay?”

I frowned, approaching him by running a little and showed him my pinky finger. “Sure... Same goes for you, okay?”

He chuckled at my reply, but didn't want to link fingers as his hands were buried in his pockets while we kept walking towards the meeting point with Jongmin.

“I'll try, but I won't promise anything.”

Happy new year everyone! \o/

Any resolutions for this year? I want to graduate from high school and finish this story, what about you? :D

I just want to tell you that this chapter made this story 100 pages long! And there's still a loooong way to go, so stay tuned for more!

Love you all~

Kirin