Jaeson came into the room and saw me on the bed. He started to laugh. "What, did it kill you?"

I smiled. "It was amazing," I said. I pulled myself up to a sit and met his gaze. I wondered if I should tell him about the voice. I mean, we shared everything with each other.

Jaeson was nodding. "I gave it a listen when it first came out. It wasn't bad. But the awkward English always makes me cringe."

"I find it cute," I said with a giggle. "I kind of picture it as they're pushing their own limits to try to impress me."

My brother guffawed. "Yeah. That's what they're trying to do." He took a seat on his own bed and unplugged his phone, browsing whatever it was he browsed. "Oh, by the way, have you been online yet? There are theories everywhere about what happened to you. The most popular one seems to be that you started dating J-Key and they had to put you in protection from the sasaengs."

I laughed. "Let's let them keep thinking that." I was kind of surprised that that'd happened. I knew I was popular online, mostly for my translating and subbing work, but I didn't realize it was to this extent. I opened my browser and clicked on the first "Frequent Pages" icon—tumblr.

I was perpetually logged on, a good thing because I had long forgotten my password. I had over 150 messages, and even that was conservative considering my queue had run out in a single month of the four I was away.

I started to type up a new post. "Hey guys, I hope you're all doing well! I haven't read them yet, but I do have a lot of messages, and I presume it's about why I've been away. I'll go ahead and say it's not because I started dating J-Key. (Although, a woman can dream.) It's actually because on April 13th, 2015, I got struck by lightning. Yeah, about four months ago, I was walking under the rain in the morning and I got hit. I was in a coma until a couple of days ago. I'm sorry if I caused any worry. I'm fine (and J-Key's still on the market as far as I know), so there's no need to be afraid anymore. Regular updates will resume shortly."

I hit post, and shut my laptop off. I set it down on the bed and went back to the kitchen where my parents were enjoying a cup of tea and a bowl of chips. My dad smiled at me and pulled me onto his knee. I felt like a little girl.

"We're so glad you're okay and safe," said Mom. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

Dad hugged me tight and kissed my right temple. "You're our one and only daughter."

Jaeson showed up in the doorway and leaned on the wall. "No fair, I'm your one and only son!"

Laughing, Mom extended her arms and he ran to sit on her lap. "Aigoo, you're so heavy! What have you been eating?" she asked. I reached over and popped a chip in my mouth. Mmm, all-dressed! My favourite!

"Yah, eomma! I'm a growing boy!" said my brother.

"Growing, my . You passed that stage ages ago," piped Dad from beside my ear. "Look at your sister, she pays attention to what she eats!"

I immediately stopped munching. At the moment I had nine chips in my mouth and I was going for ten. I gave a weak, stuffed-cheek grin to my parents and they laughed.

Jaeson got off of my mom's lap, much to her relief, and snatched the car keys from her cardigan pocket. "I'm going out to the mall," he announced.

I leapt onto my feet. "Can I come?"

He pretended to look annoyed, and gestured to the door with a nod of his head. "Let's go," he said with a smile.

I liked driving with my brother because he let me plug my phone in and play my music. "It's better than the stuff on the radio," he always says, but I think he secretly likes it.

With the windows rolled down, the wind in my hair, and my arm hanging out, I blasted Miss A's newest album.

"You keep listening to these songs about relationships, but you never go out and get your own," remarked Jaeson. "Why's that?"

"Because, I'm too cool for a boyfriend," was my simple reply.