“Mom? Where did you put the pictures from my graduation?” Snow called from the upstairs hallway closet. She was pulling photo albums and boxes from the top shelf and trying to find the pictures of her best friend for a collage. After all, Honey would be leaving for college in a few days and Snow wanted to do something special for her.
 

“Did you check the closet upstairs?” Her mother called from the bottom of the stairs.
 

Snow scoffed and rolled her eyes as she looked around at the mass of pictures surrounding her. Four yearbooks were open to various pages and piled on top of open boxes. “I'm in that closet and they aren't here.” she called back, trying to keep the mild sense of ire from her voice. It wouldn't bode well to get mad at her mother's suggestion. The woman didn't know her daughter was already knee-high in memorabilia.
 

“No? Well, go have a peek in my closet. Maybe they got mixed up with my stuff when I was cleaning. Just remember to clean up after yourself, Snowy.” was the sing-song reply that drifted up the stairwell.
 

Snow sighed quietly, both relieved and aggravated, for now she had to go searching through yet another closet for a handful of pictures. “Alright. Thanks.” Snow said just loud enough to be heard, and caught the muffled shuffle of slippered feet on the wooden floor, moving away.
 

It took another fifteen minutes to return the mess of boxes and albums to their place in the hallway closet, but then she walked down the corridor toward her mother's room. For most of her childhood, the room had been off limits. At twenty-five years old, Snow still felt a little awkward going into her mother's room, thinking she might find something she wasn't supposed to. After so long of seeing it as 'forbidden', it was a hard sense to shake, even with permission.
 

Steeling herself, Snow opened the door and flipped the switch on the wall, letting the light brighten the room. It looked just as it always did, with pale green plush carpet, cream and gold Victorian style wallpaper, and flowing, sage chiffon curtains that went from the ceiling to the floor over the two windows flanking the bed. It was a beautiful room, and very calming with a sense of elegance that her mother prided herself on, but to Snow, it was lacking in warmth.
 

The walk-in closet was the door on the left after she entered, and as Snow stood in the doorway, her honey-green eyes drank in the amount of clothes, shoes, and boxes filling the space. “Wish my closet was this big...” Snow mumbled to herself, then straightened her back and began skimming over the boxes in search of the one she needed.
 

An hour passed as Snow flipped through the pictures, enjoying the trip down memory lane. But some pictures stood out as particularly odd. Buried at the bottom of a box was a small photo album. The name on the front had been ripped off and the date was from the year Snow was about seven years old. Furrowing her brows, a frown marring her otherwise pretty face, Snow examined the album. “That's strange...I don't remember this one.”
 

Opening the album, the first picture was of her mother, round with child, smiling brightly, and standing with a man that was not Snow's father. Her father was a tall, pale-skinned man with auburn hair and bright eyes like her own, and wore square-framed glasses. Her father died in the line of duty as a police officer. The man in the picture was tall, too, but had rich black hair, narrow, almond-shaped eyes that almost closed completely with his smile, and he had his hand over her mother's growing belly.
 

“He looks familiar...Was he one of Mom's boyfriends?” Snow wondered aloud to herself, flipping the page. There were pictures of her very pregnant mother and the mysterious, handsome Korean man, and occasionally the little girl she used to be, giving strange looks to the large bump on her mother's abdomen. A few pages later revealed pictures of her mother in the hospital, holding a crying newborn with barely there black hair, just like the man's. “Mom had another baby?” Snow whispered, confused. “Did it die?”
 

Images of six or seven year old, smiling Snow, holding a tiny baby boy wrapped in a blue blanket caught her attention. “What the...?” Pulling the picture from the album, she narrowed her eyes at it. “I don't remember this...”
 

Standing up, Snow placed the album down and carried the photo downstairs to confront her mother. The woman was in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables for the stir-fry they would have for dinner. “Mom?” Snow said tentatively.
 

“Yes, dear?” her mother replied without even looking up from the carrots.
 

“What is this?” Snow asked, holding out the picture.
 

Her mother set the knife down on the counter and turned around with a smile. The moment her blue eyes met with the image, that smile faded. “Where did you find that?” she questioned with a hint of...was that fear in her voice?
 

“I found it in your closet while looking for the pictures of Honey and me...Who is the baby in my arms in this picture? Who was the man in the other pictures?” Snow asked, already annoyed that her mother had been keeping a secret from her. Secrets and surprises were never good things, as far as Snow was concerned. It was the same as lying to her.
 

Her mother reached out and took the photo, though it was obvious she didn't need a better look to know who it was. Her head tipped down to hide her misting eyes as she replied in a shaky voice, “I think you should sit down, sweetie. I should have told you about this a long time ago...”
 

Snow's eyes narrowed at her mother for a moment before she moved across the kitchen to the small table where she took a seat and waited for the older woman to join her. When her mother sat down, placing the photo on the table between them, she began again, “Snow, after your father died, I was very sad and lonely. I shut out the world when I mourned for him. I loved your father very much, you know this...”
 

“Yes, I know. What I don't know is who is this baby, and where is he now?” Snow said a little more harshly than she intended, pointing to the baby in the photo.
 

“Let me explain. I'm getting to that.” The woman said, lifting her sad gaze to her daughter's face for a moment, knowing the secret had hurt her as much as if she had just taken away her pet. “Your father's partner on the force, Seungwoon Choi, was the only person I could talk to at the time. I didn't mean to develop feelings for him, but we fell in love. You were very young and didn't understand, so Seungwoon and I agreed to say we were just very close friends. When I got pregnant, we were both scared, because we weren't married and were worried what people would think. By the end of the pregnancy, he and I were arguing a lot over whether or not we should get married for the sake of the child. When I gave birth to this baby, I gave him his father's last name. Things only got more stressful after that, and six months later, Seungwoon and I decided to end our relationship. I was once more a single mother, working at a minimum wage job, six days a week, with one child already. I couldn't afford to take care of two on my own. It broke my heart, as it has every day since, but I signed away my rights as his mother and let Seungwoon have full custody. I haven't seen or heard from him or Junhong in nearly seventeen years. I only know they returned to South Korea.” By this point, Snow's mother was crying into a tissue with tears streaming down her face.
 

Snow sat quietly the entire time, listening intently to the tale, and though her stomach was twisted in knots over seeing her mother crying, there was the overpowering feeling that something precious had been taken from her, too. That feeling was both heart-breaking, and infuriating. “I have a baby brother....that I never got to know...because you gave him away?!” Snow's voice rose as she shot up from the table. Tears were burning behind her eyes, too, but they were out of frustration rather than simply sadness, as her weeping mother's were. “Why didn't you try to keep in contact with them? Why did you let them go? How could you deprive me of the only thing I ever wanted? Don't you remember how many times I would pretend my dolls were my baby brothers or sisters?”
 

Snow's hands flew up to her head, gripping the rich, dyed blue-black hair tightly in exasperation. “Oh gods...all those dreams of the baby being ripped out of my hands and a faceless man slamming the door...it all makes sense now.” Tears finally broke free from the young woman's black painted eyes as her hands fell to her sides and snatched up the picture from the table. “You may not have wanted him, mom...but I did. I'm going to find my brother and get him back...I'll call you when I find him.”
 

Turning on her heel, Snow walked out of the room and hurried up the stairs, mumbling a few choice Korean curse words under her breath. Though she herself had no Korean blood in her, she was grateful that her mother insisted that she learn the language growing up. Now it made sense as to why she had to learn it.
 

Once locked away in her bedroom, Snow opened her laptop and did a Google search for Junhong Choi in South Korea, and the results were surprising. “Why does Zelo keep popping up? Wait...isn't he? No...it can't be the same boy...The giant fetus...and my brother?” Snow said to her computer screen curiously. She spent most of the night researching every ounce of information she could find about the boy. It seemed that he was the one she was looking for, as his family history revealed that he only had his father, had returned to Korea from a 'location unknown' when he was only a few months old, and there was no information about his mother. “Well...that's helpful...” Snow sighed sarcastically, “But, it's the only lead I have to go on.”
 

In the morning, running on three hours of sleep, half a pot of coffee, and determination, Snow packed a suitcase full of clothes and necessities, her passport, and the printed plane ticket receipt she had bought last night, then headed downstairs. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table in the same place she had been when Snow stormed off. Guilt was setting in now, which would not help her situation, so she decided to make amends before running off in search of her estranged sibling.
 

Pouring a cup of coffee for her parent, Snow set it in front of the woman and smiled slightly, “Good morning mom.” She received only a nod in response. “Mom, I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday. I was upset. You know how I feel about secrets...and well...that was a big one. I still love you and I understand, a little, why you did what you did...but now I have to do what I have to do. I need to find him, Mom. I can't go the rest of my life not knowing my little brother. I've lived this long...not knowing who he is. Not being there for him...not teaching him...not being able to protect him and take care of him like I should have been. I will find him, and I think I know where he is. The bank account may be a little low because of this, but the insurance check goes in on Thursday so I'll be fine. I'm not sure when I will be back, but I promise I'll let you know how I am.”
 

Snow's mother looked up and nodded tearfully, then stood up to hug her daughter. “You are your father's daughter, my Snow. Take care of yourself, baby. Be safe and call me if you need anything. Remember to be respectful to those older than you. Love you.”
 

Snow hugged the woman tightly and glanced at the clock, seeing she had just over half an hour to get to the airport. “I'll talk to you soon. Love you.” And with that, the raven haired girl grabbed her things and got into the car, heading to the airport.
 

The flight was long and tiresome, but at least she had her mp3 player, Kindle, and the paperwork she'd printed out about Junhong Choi to keep her occupied. Apparently, there were a couple of teenage girls behind her that noticed the pictures and started giggling. After a while, Snow turned around and looked at the two fourteen year old Korean girls with curiosity, “Something amusing?” The girls stopped snickering then and pointed to the picture of a silvery blue haired Junhong.
 

“Aren't you a little too old to be Zelo Biased?” one girl asked.
 

She fought the urge to roll her eyes at the girl, and instead, cocked a brow at her, “By about seven years, to be exact. Aren't you a little young to be disrespecting your elders?”
 

That shut the girls up, so she turned back around in her seat and drifted off to sleep, listening to the songs of B.A.P. When she arrived at the airport, Snow was a little overwhelmed. “Boy, I hope you're worth the trouble I'm going through to find you...” she mumbled, hailing a taxi. She gave the driver the address of a hotel close to the approximate dorm location. For security purposes, the dorm's exact address wasn't listed on any website.
 

Once Snow was checked in and unpacked, she grabbed her mp3 player, a map of the area, her camera, and a picture of Junhong, and the photo of them that she had found tucked inside her wallet. “Now's as good a time as any to go on the hunt...” she mumbled to herself before heading out to wander the streets. It was a flimsy plan at best, but she had to start somewhere.
 

Four hours of walking around aimlessly lead to nothing but sore muscles, tired, aching feet, odd looks from the locals, and a rumbling stomach. Sitting across the street from the tall building she could only assume was the dorm, Snow looked up the windows that still had their curtains open. “It'd be so much easier if I knew which room was yours, Little Brother...Please...come to the window...” But her quiet pleas went unheard to the boy in question.
 

She sat outside for another hour, until the sun had set and the street lights came on, illuminating the area. “So much for that...” Snow said to herself, standing up and stretching. “I guess there's always tomorrow to find you, nam-dongsaeng. Goodnight, Junhong.”
 

On the way back to the hotel, Snow happened to glance over and spy a poster advertizing that B.A.P. would be holding a fan meet in a couple days. Ripping it from the wall, Snow smiled brightly to herself, “This is perfect...I just hope I can get in.”
 

With a new pep in her step, Snow went to the hotel to sleep. The following two days were spent much like the first, sitting across the street from the dorm building, staring up at the windows, just hoping to see a glimpse of the boy she'd spent the last seventeen years, unknowingly, related to, but the results were the same, too. There was no sign of the boy with the silvery hair, or any of the other members for that matter. It was troubling, making her wonder if she had the wrong building all together, which, in all possibility, wouldn't be that surprising.
 

The day of the fan meet, Snow slipped into a pair of black faux-leather shorts with detached pants sleeves, that had corset-style lacings up the front and back and three over-sized buckles on the upper portion of one leg. A plain white, fitted, babydoll tshirt with a black, tail-coat style vest was added, and a pair of white, platform creepers to complete the look. She fluffed up her hair a bit and clipped in the white extensions before adding a bit of eyeliner to her lids.
 

Grabbing a piece of paper, she took up a pen and wrote a quick letter to Zelo, then tucked it in her pocket for the time being.
 

Dearest Zelo,

 

It recently came to my attention that I may not be as alone in this big, wide world as I had once thought. The chances of this coincidence is astounding and a bit unbelievable, at best, but after doing a bit of detective work, it seems I have a younger brother. A brother, with your name. Now, I don't doubt there are many Junhong Choi's in Korea, and the world over, but none that match the gathered information quite as well as yourself. If it's not you I'm searching for, then at least I got to meet a wonderful, talented, handsome young man with a dream as big as my own. Keep fighting for your dreams and never give up.

 

-Snow Morte

 

Looking at herself in the mirror, Snow nodded to her reflection, “This is it...I hope he likes me...”
 

Snow stopped by the store to pick up a photobook of the group, a stuffed Elmo doll, a pair of masculine earrings, and two face masks that had vampire fangs on the front. Putting one mask on, herself, she placed the other gifts in the bag, along with the note she wrote earlier.
 

As Snow waited her turn to approach the long table where six inhumanly attractive boys sat, smiling and waving to the many fans that came out to see them, she pulled the picture of her holding the baby boy from her wallet. She had no idea how to ask him about whether it was him in the picture without seeming like a creepy stalker in front of the other members, but as always, she decided to do what came natural.
 

Yongguk greeted her cheerfully with a look that was simply too precious for words. He signed her photobook and shared a short conversation about their recent tour. Himchan was equally pleased to see her, going so far as to compliment her outfit. It was enough to bring a pretty blush to her face behind the mask as he signed her book, rather than stamp it as he was prone to doing. Daehyun joked that if Snow could sing, she should become an idol, since she already had the look for it. YoungJae was side-eying Daehyun as he , but smiled sweetly when it was his turn to sign his name. Jongup was pretty quiet until Snow smiled, asking, “Is it nice in space?” He looked at her with a look of utter confusion, making her giggle, “You were staring blankly. Is everything alright?”
 

Jongup smiled, finally understanding and nodded while signing his name in her book, “Yeah, I'm sorry. My mind runs off without me sometimes.”
 

“It happens to the best and brightest of us all. Thank you.” Snow said as her book was handed back to her. Smiling, she moved to stand in front of the boy she had been wanting to see the most. He looked up at her and smiled the cutest smile she could imagine. He greeted her first as she giggled softly. “Hello Zelo.”
 

Snow opened her photobook to Zelo's page, then covertly slipped the baby picture at the crease. The book was placed in front of him so he could sign his name as per normal. He was about to sign the page when he paused, noticing the baby picture. At first, he didn't seem bothered by it but when he picked it up to take a closer look, his eyes widened. He looked up at Snow curiously, “Miss? Who is this in the picture?”
 

“According to my mom, it's a picture of me, holding my baby brother...” Snow said as casually as possible, watching the boy's reaction. She set the bag with his gifts on the table before removing her face mask. “His name is Junhong Choi...and he was taken away from me seventeen years ago when our parents separated. I only just learned that he exists, and I've come all the way from America to find him.”
 

“That baby....it looks just like...me.” Zelo stuttered, and kept looking up at her and back to the photo, “What is your name?”
 

“My name is Snow Morte.” Snow replied hopefully.
 

“Snow...what a pretty name. You know, my real name is Junhong Choi. Crazy coincidence, don't you think?” Zelo laughed, but kept looking at the photo in his hand.
 

“I know. That's why I sought you out first...to find out the truth...” Snow said, looking into Zelo's precious face.
 

The girls behind her were getting annoyed that they were being made to wait so long to meet Zelo while he was talking to Snow. The staff grew impatient and noted that she needed to move along. Before Snow had to leave though, she smiled to the boy, “My cell phone number is on the back of the photo. Please call or text me later tonight. I'll be in Seoul for a while, but the sooner I find him, the sooner I can start making up for lost time.”
 

Zelo looked up and smiled, then noticed the bag she had placed on the table while handing the photobook back to her. “I will try. I want to help you...Thank you, Snow.”
 

Snow was ushered away by a member of the staff, and took her place back in the crowd. With her camera ready, she took multiple pictures of the group, each individual member, but mostly, she took pictures of Zelo. Even if he wasn't the boy she was looking for, she wanted to remember him.
 

When Nine o'clock rolled around, Snow lay on her stomach on the bed of her hotel room, nibbling on some sweet crackers. Her eyes hadn't left her cell phone since she left the fan meet. She was admittedly nervous to hear from Zelo, but so far, it had been silent. “I'm probably asking too much of him, asking him to call me...putting him on the spot like that.”
 

Just then, her phone vibrated and began to play 'Never Give Up', making her bolt upright with a squeak. Snatching up the phone, she opened it and spied the unfamiliar number. Pressing the 'send' button to open the call, she lifted the phone to respond, “Hello?”
 

There was a pause before a shy male voice answered, “Hello? Is this Snow?”
 

“Yes, this is Snow. Junhong?”
 

“Yeah, it's me. Uh, I'm not really sure what to say. I've never been in this kind of situation.” he said sheepishly.
 

“I'd be extremely surprised if you had been, to be honest. I'm glad you called though. Is this a number I can save in my phone so I know it's you calling next time, or...” Snow trailed off.
 

“Um...It's the group's phone, but I guess you can save the number. Just don't give it out to anyone.” His voice was hushed, as if he were trying to keep the conversation a secret from the other members. Snow could even hear the slight rustle of footsteps, as if he were walking from one room to another.
 

“I promise, I won't give it out, and I'll even delete the number if you want me to.” Snow said, chewing on her bottom lip. “This is so awkward on the phone. Is there any way we can talk in person?”
 

“Tonight?”
 

“Yeah. Now if at all possible.”
 

There was another pause, which made Snow rather nervous, but when Zelo replied, she breathed a sigh of relief, “I don't know how far away you are, but do you know of the little park across from the McDonalds?”
 

“Yeah, it's only a block away. I'm staying at the hotel near there. Meet you there in a few minutes?”
 

“Yeah. I'll see you there. I'll be hanging up now.” Zelo replied then clicked the phone off.
 

Snow couldn't contain her smile as she quickly saved the phone number into her phone, grabbed her new mask and wallet, and slipped a B.A.P. hoodie on, then left the room.
 

It took her less than five minutes to walk over to the park, and with no one standing around, she climbed up on a large boulder to wait. Sitting there with her face mask on and the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up to hide her hair, were it not for the shine of the street lights reflecting off the buckles of her pants, Snow would have blended into the night.
 

After a few minutes, a tall figure walked tentatively through the park entrance, looking around cautiously. Snow stood up and lowered her hood, freeing her long dark hair. Practically leaping over to him, she smiled brightly when he jumped nearly out of his skin. “I'm sorry I scared you, Zelo. I'm just really happy you agreed to meet with me. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting you to call.”
 

He stared at her, squinting in the darkness, but recognized the mask she wore and pulled the one she gave him earlier that day from his pocket. That was also when she noticed that he was wearing the earrings, too. 'Precious little ...' she thought silently, grinning behind her mask.
 

“It's okay. I just have the biggest urge to help you. You seem so familiar and then...that picture.” he finally said, pulling the photo from his pocket. “So, what can I do?”
 

“Well, my mother told me that the boy's father was a cop, the partner of my father. When my dad was killed, my mother got close him. She said his name was Seungwoon Choi. They dated for a while but split up when my brother was around six months old or so, when he came here, to Korea. I've done my research as well as one can, and well...not to freak you out or anything, but you are the closest Junhong to fit that description.” Snow said, removing her mask and tucking it into her hoodie pocket.
 

Zelo looked absolutely astonished with his eyes wide in his face. “My...my father is Seungwoon Choi...Can this really be true? Are you really my sister?”
 

“We can get a DNA test if you want to be sure, but really, the coincidences are pretty uncanny, if you ask me.” Snow noted, leaning back against the boulder.
 

“Yeah...it's just a lot to take in, you know?” he said gently in a whisper, still in obvious shock.
 

“I know. You should have seen how I reacted when my mother told me I had a brother.” Snow commented, sighing as she tipped her head back to look up into the night sky above. “I've always wanted a little brother, you know? I wanted someone to protect, love, guide, and teach...someone to grow up with, and play games with...someone to fight with, but at the end of the day, they know I'm forever in their corner. I never understood why I had such an empty feeling in my chest growing up...”
 

Zelo's full focus was on her as she spoke, his eyes watering in the darkness. “It's like you're reading my thoughts, Snow...” His hands were trembling slightly so he stuffed them into the pockets of his hoodie, thinking she didn't notice, but she did.
 

“Please call me Noona...Junhong. I've waited my entire life to be called 'sister'...and please let me put to rest any concern you might have before it even becomes an issue...I have absolutely no interest in riding your coattails into the limelight. My only objective was to find my baby brother,” Snow paused, stepping toward the tall boy, who had tears streaking down his angelic face, and she gently reached out to brush away the drop of tears collected on his chin with the cuff of her sleeve. “and I found him. I'm so sorry that I haven't been there for you growing up.”
 

The dam that Zelo was trying to hold strong against the tears finally broke at those words and he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking. Snow immediately stepped in and wrapped her arms around the boy's shoulders, despite him being more than six inches taller than her, and hugged him tightly. In that one embrace, she poured forth years of love, understanding, regret, heartache, and affection for the brother she never knew existed. He clung to her in return, crying into her shoulder and hair. He tried to speak, but words failed him, so she simply caressed his hair and coo'd comfortingly, “Shhh....I know.”
 

Her own tears were falling silently as she looked up to the sky again, as if silently thanking the Gods for returning this boy to her life. “I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all these years....but I'm here now...I'll protect you, Little Brother. I promise.”
 

Zelo lifted his head to wipe the tears away as he sniffled and he looked into her face again. “I'm the guy. Shouldn't I be the one protecting you?”
 

“Do I look like I need protecting?” Snow asked with a smirk despite the tears that slipped from her eyes again.
 

The boy stepped back at arm's length to look her over, “Protection from my Hyungs, yes. I saw the way they were admiring you at the fan meet, Noona.”
 

Laughing, Snow hugged her baby brother again, “So it begins...”