Three; 

I saw that lights were on already in my house when I got back. Minseok must have gotten in before me. I sent him a message to let him know that Jongin's mother wanted to see me, then headed next door. When I knocked on Jongin's door, it was his brother who let me in.

"Inna, you're here. Mom's been waiting for you," Joonmyun said, face splitting into a sweet smile. He was much shorter than Jongin, but still had a handsome face. Jongin's dogs shot into the hallway like little darts and jumped at my legs until I bent down to give them all hugs. 

"Inna dear, I made you some seaweed soup for your birthday, for you and your brother. It'll be ready in a few minutes, so come in, okay?" she called from the general area of the kitchen. 

"How did she know?" I asked Joonmyun, a little surprised. It was really sweet of their mom, really. She often brought extra food over for Minseok and me every time she cooked something special, and she even took care of us that time when Minseok and I had caught the flu at the same time. 

Joonmyun led me down the hall way toward the kitchen, smiling at me over his shoulder. "Jongin mentioned it this afternoon when he got back from school."

Again, my heart gave a traitorous flop. So Jongin did remember after all. 

Other than Jongin's mother, who was standing guard over the soup by the stove, the rest of the Kim family was seated at the kitchen table. Joonmyun pushed me into his mother's temporarily vacated seated, across from Jongin. He was looking down at his rice, avoiding my eyes.

"Inna, I haven't seen you for a while," Mr. Kim said, eyes crinkling. "How are you? How are exam preparations going? Jongin mentioned that you scored top three in the last mock exams."

I was surprised to hear that Jongin talked about me to his parents. But then again, his parents probably didn't know how he acted to me at school. They just thought we had drifted apart from our childhood friendship due to the whole Script thing.

"I've been working hard," I replied softly. "I'm hoping I can get a full scholarship to a decent school. I think I would like that more than no scholarship to a SKY. I don't want Minseok to have to work so hard."

Joonmyun let out a little sigh. "Hyung's not going to buy that," he said at once. "Just do your best, okay? If you get into one of the top school, Minseok hyung is going to make you go, no matter the cost."

I bit my lip, knowing that it was the truth. Minseok was too caring, too willing to sacrifice himself for my sake. 

"If you need to earn money, how about you work for me at one of my restaurants this summer?" Joonmyun added. "Our branch in here in Gangnam and the Itaewon one are going to be short staffed soon. If you take one of them, I only need to worry about staffing the other."

Work at Kamong? I was planning on getting a job over summer break anyway, but I had been planning on asking Baekhyun about working at his friend's club. I had worked there for a bit in the past, doing promo work like passing out flyers on the street, because I was underage. This summer, I was hoping they'd let me behind the bar. If I optimized my schedule, maybe I could do both. 

With that thought in mind, I quickly agreed. 

"Work hard on your studies first, okay? I'll talk to the manager and have them contact you after your exams for training. Jongin is working there too, so you guys can keep each other company." Joonmyun had a twinkle in his eyes when I met his gaze with mild panic. Another summer with Jongin? But he wouldn't dare treat me badly at Kamong, though. If word got back to his brother, Joonmyun would probably kill him.

"Aigo, if only our Jonginnie studied as well as you." Jongin's mother was back, holding a plastic bag with several containers out to me. "He's doing okay in most subjects, but English…that boy is hopeless."

English was actually my best subject. I bit my lip for a moment, accepting the bag from her. She was doing something nice for me…I should return the favor, right? "Jongin can borrow my notes if he wants," I said finally, eyes flicking up nervous to at him. "I don't really need them anymore. I have a condensed version of the notes that have all the key points."

"Could he? Jongin really needs it," Mr. Kim added. He reached over and wacked his silent, sulking son on the head. "Get it from Inna at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Um, I'll bring it over tomorrow before school," I interrupted at once. I didn't want to give Jongin any more excuses to approach me in school. Things never ended well when that happened. "Thank you so much for the soup."

"It's the least I can do." I was waved off with a soft hug and kiss on the forehead from Jongin's mom and she shooed me toward the door. "I packed some extra side dishes for you and Minseok. Go now!" 

After another light smack by Mr. Kim, Jongin begrudgingly got up to walk me to the door. He waited as I slipped on my shoes, tapping his fingers impatiently against the wall. Behind him, I could still hear their voices – Jongin's brother, mother, and father. It was a bright chattered, filled with laughter and mirth. I wonder if my family would have been like that too, if only. 

"I heard you went to see Soo today," Jongin said. It was a statement, not a question. Kyungsoo must have told him. I wonder if Kyungsoo also told Jongin about the other café guy, the one who had asked for my number. Would Jongin even care? 

"I was on the way back from - " I stopped, turning away. "I mean, I was in the area."

I didn't bother saying goodbye to Jongin. Instead, I left him standing in the hallway in his indoor slippers, looking as if he had more unsaid words. 

Minseok was in the living room when I got inside, pulling candles and a lighter out of a plastic bag. There was a cake box on the coffee table, which made me smile. 

"Cake, after dinner," Minseok said at once, as if catching my hungry stare. I stuck my tongue out at him. Damn him for being so responsible. 

"Mrs. Kim made us some seaweed soup and side dishes," I told him, showing him the bag in my hand. 

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