HyeYoung fell asleep on the swings, managing to keep on as her fingers were still wrapped around the chains that held the swings together. Her head was slowly sliding down and she begun twitching in her sleep.

"Umma, where--where are you?" She shivered as she walked around the house, trying to find her mother. It was very windy and the sky that had once been blue was now dark gray and filled with clouds. Panting, she began to run and look everywhere for her mother. Light came from an open door, catching HyeYoung's attention. After taking a deep breath, she slowly walked closer, putting her hand on the door to push it open. She then walked in and looked around. There were candles and all of then were lit. They lit a path that seemed to lead far. Not sure of what to do, HyeYoung looked up and saw the portrait of a hooded woman holding a cane. What was all this stuff? She didn't really want to know. Brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, she walked down the path, the path that seemed to lead to nowhere. A sharp crack was heard and it frightened her. Her insides were twisting, forming ridiculous knots; there was only one thing she had in mind.

To run.

Soon she was in another room and this time there were no candles. It was just darkness. She felt a presence behind her and turned around, squinting her eyes to try to see who was there beside her. But it seemed so...empty. With a sigh, HyeYoung dropped her hands to her sides, tapping them gently. She then heard cackling, the bitter laugh of an old woman. Turning to see who it could be, she then saw a black figure.

A hooded woman. The woman groaned as she reached her hand out. Her index finger then pointed to the left. To a…box?

HyeYoung walked closer and with each step she took, her heart skipped a beat. She gulped and leaned her head close, observing that it wasn’t a box after all, but more like a coffin. The small window was fogged up, but after HyeYoung wiped a bit of it to see what there was inside, she gasped.

Her…mother?

Sudden thoughts rushed her mind, taking control.

It was your fault that your mother died. You left her just to forget a boy when you went to the United States. You never even got to say goodbye!

HyeYoung backed away, shaking her head furiously, not wanting to believe ANY of it. Her mother had already been old and it wasn’t her fault. She really had wished she could have seen her mother before. Her foot then collided against a small object and she felt as if she were falling, falling down a huge hole that never ended.

----------

HyunJoong sighed as he kicked a pebble across the street. Yuri’s words were repeating themselves in his mind.

“I’ll be the best girlfriend ever~!”

“Aish that girl. Of all the times she could have shown up, of all the people too, why her? Why now?”

He looked up to see the central park with a grin. There were children running around across the park. A little girl with pigtails that held a brown teddy bear was crying. Curious, HyunJoong walked up to her, one soft step at a time. The girl looked up, her big eyes still flowing with teardrops as she gazed into his eyes.

“Wae are you crying?”

The girl pointed at a swing set in the corner.

“You want to go on?”

She nodded slowly and opened to mutter, “Ahjussi…SooMi wants to swing, but I am afraid of what will happen to my teddy. What if he gets lost?” The girl clutched her bear tightly, afraid that it could be yanked off of her any second.

“Your name is SooMi?” The girl nodded again with a faint smile, “What a pretty name for a pretty girl. Ahraso, I’ll push you. And I’ll even take care of your bear.”

“Kahmsumnida ahjussi.” She opened to form a genuine smile, exposing her two front teeth. HyunJoong couldn’t help but grin and held the child’s hand, guiding her to the swings.

-----------

Jaejoong walked to the house, looking up and down to make sure it was the right one. He then lightly knocked the door, waiting for it to open and for HyeYoung to show her smiling face. But minutes passed, and she still didn’t answer. Yet the lights were on…

“How odd.”

He heard the swing of something and what seemed like muttering. He went around the house, looking at the backyard, but not expecting to see anything special in particular. It was only until he heard sobs that he realized it was HyeYoung and she was shaking her head, left to right, and her body was wobbling. In any second, she could end up falling onto the floor, something Jaejoong didn’t want to see. He jumped over the fence that had been placed around the yard, lifting one leg after the other. Her hands let go of the swings and her body swayed forwards.

As quick as he could, Jaejoong ran to her, catching her in his arms. The tears on her face were there and Jaejoong frowned at seeing them. He wiped the off with his fingers and sat on the grass, letting her head rest in his lap. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes, jumping up. She brushed her hair back with her two trembling hands and another tear fell from her eyes.

“There, there don’t cry.”

Jerking her head up, she realized Jaejoong was there, that her head had been in his lap. “What—what are you doing here?”

“I can’t come?”

“No, it’s just. Oh forget it.”

“Why were you crying?”

The question caught HyeYoung completely off guard. It reminded her of the dream, those dreadful scenes repeating themselves all over again. She held her head, shaking it furiously. Jaejoong put his hands over her two shoulders, making her look him straight in the eyes. Her eyes gazed deep into his and Jaejoong was surprised when he saw the terror in them. HyeYoung then looked away, not wanting to tell him anything. He sighed and let go of her. Instead he stood up and reached his hand out to her, offering to pull her up. Reluctantly, she put her hand into his and stood.

-------

Yuri smirked as she walked into the office, pushing the door open. A short, stubby woman rushed to her side holding a clipboard. In disgust, Yuri scoffed, “Yah, why are you always so slow? I specifically told you that I wanted a meeting with the manager of DSP entertainment. Why wasn’t that possible?”

“Yuri-shi—”

Yuri turned in a quick movement and walked towards the woman. “What did I tell you about calling me that! It’s agasshi. Stupid woman.” She then pushed the woman aside, storming into another room, making sure the door closed behind her. She then twisted the lock so no one would be able to enter.

“Why are you always so cruel to every woman I assign to you?”

“Because they’re all stupid and can’t do anything right. I couldn’t even talk to the manager of DSP entertainment to set up the date. I want everything to be done as soon as possible.”

“And it will. Aish, why are you always so damn impatient?”

“It better be soon. The last time didn’t work out with Jaejoong. You guys messed up everything. And he had already fallen for me too!”

“Aish Yuri. That was your fault and you know it. Who had to get tangled up in an affair with—”

“SHIKURO! I’ll do it right this time. So stop being all high and mighty. Thanks to me you even have this position.”

“Thanks to me you have a second opportunity! You’re lucky I owed your parents a favor. This is the only reason why I am helping you. I don't even know why you need to do this so badly. Just because you're running low on money and attention from the public...”

Yuri groaned and turned, reaching for the door. She looked back and exclaimed, “Don’t underestimate me uncle. Don't.”

The man sighed as he curled his fingers together, balling them into a tight fist. “I’m only helping because of what her parents did for me. Only because of that.”

------------

HyunJoong pushed the girl on the swings, feeling happy to hear her soft giggles every time she went up in the air. Her brown teddy was clutched to his chest tightly by one of his arms. SooMi was still laughing to herself, lost in her own little world as she kicked her legs up to bring them back down, swaying the swing back and forth. HyunJoong saw this as the perfect time to confirm everything. He took out his phone and dialed some numbers. Placing it against his ear, he heard the soft rings. A gruff voice then answered, “Yeobosayo.”

“Sir?”

“Ah HyunJoong! What are you calling for?”

“Well I heard you made some arrangements for me to come out on public with Yuri. Is it…true?”

“Yuri, from So Nyeo Shi Dae?”

“Ye.”

“Anniyo. What are you talking about? I wasn’t told any of this. You probably wish for that to happen, eh?”

“Chincha? So you haven't been told anything? And no, I don't wish for that. Pfft.”

HyunJoong closed the phone with a frown, “How odd. Was she…lying then?”

“Ahjussi~!”

He turned his head to see the girl standing right beside him. Her arms were out and she was standing on her tippy toes, pointing to the furry plush in his hand. He grinned and gave it to her, “Here you go SooMi. Well, I have to go now. It was nice meeting you. Anyeong~!” She waved at him and ran off with a huge openmouthed smile. HyunJoong chuckled and looked at his phone again to see the time. It wasn’t too late…he could still see HyeYoung in her house if he hurried. It was then when his mouth twisted into a scowl. He smacked his forehead with his palm, “Aishh!! I forgot I had arranged to meet her in that restaurant. Now she’s probably wondering what was my reason for leaving her like that. Good thing I at least let her know that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. Not like in those dramas when the girl ends up getting stood up and that whole…crying scene,” he shuddered at that thought, he never liked seeing girls like that since he never knew what to do in those situations but feel out of place, “But what am I going to tell her when I get there?”

-----------

HyeYoung sighed as she pushed the door open, brushing past Jaejoong.

“So you’re not going to tell me then?”

Muttering with her eyes closed, “Everything is so darn complicated I swear.”

“What is?”

“It’s amazing how when one can finally get over one thing, another comes. How it was my fault that she died…” A tear fell from her eye, dripping down her face. Jaejoong’s eyes widened to see her that way. She laughed bitterly then, “I am rather selfish, am I not? Leaving my mother behind to avoid the very person that I ironically ended up running into when I returned.” He looked at her, not exactly sure of what she meant. With her hand, she wiped away the tears and faintly smiled, “So, what brings you here? Weren’t you avoiding me?”

“Me?” He pointed at himself, questioning her last words.

“Yes you.”

“I just thought of dropping by and saying hello. It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

---------------

The manager hummed as he typed on his computer, writing business letters and proposals. He had been pleased at hearing the opinion of the audience regarding SS501’s performance at Music Bank. He heard a light tap on his door and looked up. Taking off his glasses and leaving them on his desk, he stood up to go open the door. One of his secretaries poked her head and cleared ; “There’s a call for you on line 3.”

“Ah. Kahmsumnida.”

He smiled and picked up the phone, “Yeobosayo—Bwoh?” His eyes widened at hearing what the other person was saying. “Chincha? Waeyo?” He nodded his head and wrote down some notes on a yellow post-it. “Ah, ahraso, yes I’ll tell him. No, it’s no problem. Kahmsumnida~”

Whoa, I still can't believe I'm featured. Well thanks everyone for the nice comments and congratulations. ^^ Hope you like this chapter. Comments are greatly appreciated. I'll try to update again this week.

Oh and to the new readers, hope you like this story :)