Aww. Not much response for the previous chapter.

You guise hate me that much for separating Jaejoong & Hyomin? ):

...... you'll probably hate me even more at the end of this chapter

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It was nearly spring. All at once the cold air had turned dustier, flowers appeared in the woodland. The windows of the house stayed open. Hyomin's mother started singing again.

Hwayoung and Hyomin laid across their dad's bench, the remnants of a picnic at their feet, dozing in the sun.

Hyomin had half an hour before Joon was coming to talk to her dad about doing some work for him. Her dad's work had picked up again and he could afford the help.

Remembering she still had work to do for her approaching examination, Hyomin sighed loudly. She had avoided schoolwork as much as possible the last couple of weeks. She hadn't been able to concentrate on anything much but the flatness in her stomach. Hyomin felt deflated, as though someone had let the air out of her. Joon had been conscientiously taking her out driving, while her mother tested her on her theory. It was a distraction, but since it would be another year before she actually got to drive on her own, Hyomin had to force herself a little bit.

"What's the matter?" Her mum had asked her one evening as Hyomin stared into space at the kitchen table. "You're very quiet lately."

"I feel a bit flat, that's all." She stared at the back of the book her mum held up. "I don't know why."

But she di know. She knew the night she came home from the ball, arriving only an hour after she'd left, and running upstairs, tugging off her dress and stuffing iy unceremoniously into the wadrobe, and climbing into bed at eight o'clock. Hyomin felt as though something ha been taken from her. Something integral to her life, to her. And she was angry. With herself, with Changmin, with Jaejoong even. Something she wanted had been held in front of her and then taken away just like that. Her mum assured it was something to do with Joon and she didn't tell her otherwise. What on earth could she have said? Hyomin just stared out of the window for hours, telling herself that maybe it was for the best. That the dream had shattered. She needed to focus on reality now. She had her future to look forward to.

And she had Joon.

Joon was a little unpredictable and moody, but at least he only lived a couple of miles away. At least Hyomin didn't have to sneak around to see him. She should have been grateful to be dating someone like him, who made her feel hot and flustered and shy and confident all at once. She liked his hands on her. She liked his coolness. But ...

"But what?"

"Hyomin?" Hwayoung opened her eyes and sat up. She cocked her head to the side, observing Hyomin with a frown. "You're talking to yourself."

"What?" Hyomin grimaced. "God ... sorry." She stretched out her legs, realising her jeans were too short for her.

"You're all funny these days." Hwayoung snapped a leaf from the bush next to her and started shredding it with her fingers. "Like, moody and stuff." She looked sideways at Hyomin. "If that's what being in love is, it's really annoying for other people."

Hyomin laughed. "Who says I'm in love?"

"You're grouchy all the time, you don't eat anything and you can't concentrate." Hwayoung chucked the last of the leaf on the ground. "That's what happened to AhYeon's sister, Jimin, just before she got engaged to Jungmin. She said being in love was awful and it gives you spots." Hwayoung peered at her sister's complexion.

"Stop it." She shoved her lightly. "Maybe I am in love. I don't know."

"You must know." Hwayoung pursed her lips in concentration. "Do you think of Joon and get that squirmy feeling in your stomach?"

That was true.

"So..." Hwayoung rolled over on to her stomach. "Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad. I'm just ... distracted, i guess." Hyomin paused, wondering for an insane moment whether to tell Hwayoung about Jaejoong, about Nissilum. But telling her that vampires are not just the stuff of fiction, but real and living somewhere in another world, was plain foolish. She would have nightmares for weeks.

Luckily the sound of a car pulling over caught Hwayoung's attention as well as Hyomin's.

Hyomin peeked through the trees and glimpsed the familiar dark blue of Joon's car.

"Joon." She smiled at Hwayoung. "Let's go and say hello."

Joon was deep in conversation with her father at the kitchen table when Hwayoung and her walked in, but he lifted his head to smile disarmingly at her. It was extraordinary how she'd forgot what effect he had on her when Hyomin hadn't seen him for a few days.

"Hey, Hwayoung." He reached out his hand to give her a gentle high-five. "How's my favourite little sister?"

"Fine." Hwayoung was uncharacteristically shy, and their dad raised an eyebrow at the both of them.

"Give us half an hour, girls. Then he's all yours."

Joon gave Hyomin one of his looks. Slow, y ... his mouth unsmiling and his brown eyes intense.

"Come on." Hyomin nudged Hwayoung's arm. "Come and help me tidy my room."

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Upstairs, Hwayoung lounged on her bed, while Hyomin attempted to pick up the trail of clothes that had lain untouched for a few days on the floor. The wadrobe was part open, and she glimpsed the blue satin dress. Melancholy stole through her. She didn't want to look at it. Hyomin walked across and pulled it out, clumsily reaching out for a hanger.

"Ooh." Hwayoung looked with interest at what her sister was holding. "That's pretty." She sat up, blinking. "When did you wear that?"

"This?" Hyomin shrugged casually. "I just tried it on ... it was Mum's." She smoothed out the skirts, somehow reluctant to put it away now, and the movement caused something to flutter to the floor.

The photograph.

Hyomin had completely forgotten about the photograph. Not looking at Hwayoung, she picked it up and put it on the top of the chest of drawers to look at it later. But Hwayoung's eagle eyes were on it. She rolled off the bed and padded over to take a look.

"It's nothing, Hwayoung. Leave it," Hyomin said a little sharply.

She ignored her and held it up to study it.

"A picture of a boy," she said, looking quite disappointed. "Why have you got this? Who is it?"

Feeling unprepared, Hyomin snatched it from her.

It was Changsun. He looked about fifteen in this one. The same red-black curly hair, the perfect nose. He wasn't smiling -- in fact he looked angry, scowling into the camera, his eyes narrowed.

Hyomin studied the picture for a few seconds longer before putting it back on top of the chest.

"It must be something Mum had and has forgotten about," she said vaguely. "I'll ask her about it..."

Thankfully, Hwayoung had lost interest and was busy taking apart the Russian doll by the dressing table. Hyomin finally got the dress on to its hanger and hung it on the outside of the wadrobe.

"That's enough tidying up for today," Hyomin said, looking at her unmade bed. "But thanks so much for your help." She swatted Hwayoung over the head, just as there was a knock on the door.

Before Hyomin could speak, Hwayoung had rushed to answer the door.

Joon's eyes widened melodramatically.

"I finally get to see Park Hyomin's bedroom ..." he said, in exaggerated awe. He stepped inside, sweeping the room. Her unmade bed, the clothes piled hastily on her chair, along with the books, and trainers on the floor.

"I see you haven't had a chance to tidy up yet," he said, grinning at Hyomin.

"We got distracted." She coloured slightly, willing Hwayoung to take a hint and leave the room.

Predictably, she didn't move.

"Hwayoung," she said, through slightly clenched teeth. "Don't you have any homework ... or something?"

"Great room," said Joon, walking over to the window. "Amazing view." He turned back to her. "I'll bet you spend a lot of time in here, right?"

"She hardly ever used to come out," said Hwayoung. "But things are a bit different now." She eyed Joon.

"Good." He patted her head. "Mind if I spend a bit more time alone with your sister?"

As if by magic, Hwayoung transformed into a model of compliance.

"Of course." She skipped to the door. "Be good." She trilled as it shut behind her.

Hyomin rolled her eyes, but she was laughing now and so was Joon.

"She's so sweet," he said.

"Yeah ..." She agreed. "Though she drives me crazy sometimes."

"Little sisters," he sighed. Hyomin glanced at him, resisting the urge to say something damning about Hyuna.

Joon walked over to where she stood with her back to the window, in front of the chest of drawers. He wore all black today and he'd had a hair cut. His skin still lightly tanned even from the scant sun they'd had the past week.

He smiled with his beautiful mouth, putting his arounds around her waist. Hyomin felt herself melting, pushing her hips out to his, she nestled her head into the nape of his neck.

"Are you okay, jagi?" he said softly. "You seem a little quiet."

Hyomin pulled away. "I'm just a bit preoccupied," she found herself saying. "With schoolwork ... I have big exams coming up ..."

"You need me to help you?" he asked, ruffling her hair. "I could test you," he grinned. "Tutor you. But definitely not on maths. You do not want me to be teaching you the multiplication table."

Hyomin let out a chuckled as she bashed his arm lightly. "I bet you would. I'm not sure I'd be able to focus .... with you as my teacher."

"Maybe you need a break." He her hair. "Spend more time with your boyfriend."

Hyomin batted away the inexplicable discomfort she felt then. "You're probably right," she sighed, and watched his eyes wander to settle on something behind her. He frowned.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." Joon smiled. "I just saw a bird ... out of the window."

Hyomin turned to find nothing but the swaying treetops. "I don't see it."

"It's gone," he siad brightly, but he let go of me and moved over to the chest, where he briefly examined his reflection in the mirror above it.

"Let's go out," he said, in a different kind of voice. Higher, nervy.

"Joon?" Hyomin stared at his back, catching his eye in the glass. "What just happened?"

She saw his expression change, trying to relax. He rubbed his tembles and turned back to face her.

"Nothing happened," he said dismissively. "You're so sensitive."

Hyomin stared at him, hurt and confused. "I was only asking --"

"Let's go out," he repeated, refusing to catch her eye. "You'll need a cardigan or something ... It's going to be chilly later."

"Fine." She riffled through the clothes on her chest, feeling flustered and flat at the same time. She found a crumpled black cardigan and stuffed her arms through the sleeves, aare of Joon watching her though she had her back to him.

"Okay, I'm ready now." She had no enthusiasm for going out, and was wondering whether to comfort him, but Joon always seemed to empty her head of all the questions she wanted to ask.

Hyomin felt his hands on her shoulder, heard his breathing as he slid them down and round her waist from behind.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit moody, I guess," he said into her hair. "I can't explain it. I just get a sad feeling sometimes."

He sounded so remorseful that she wriggled gently out of his grasp to face him.

"And I'm sensitive," she said, scanning his face. "We make such a fine pair."

He grinned then. "Never a dull moment at least," he said.

Hyomin smiled back, but she felt unsafe. A part of her wanted to push Joon on to her bed and give way to the strong attraction she felt for him. Another part of her wanted something more steady, more reliable, something she could trust. But she leaned in and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Walk? We can take the dog."

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Joon and her ended up on the other side of Jongamno, much to Bobby's delight, but to her slight trepidation. They were a little too near to Joon's house for her liking. She wondered if he was going to engineer one of his 'goodwill' missions and take her home to bond with Hyuna again. But he showed no sign of it, though he seemed lost in thought as he walked.

Hyomin was putting on a good show of relaxed contentment, but thoughts, questions were gathering in her head. She started thinking about the cuttings she'd found in Joon's car that night. Wondering if his mood shifts had something to do with that ... But she didn't know how to broach the subject. Hyomin was wary of him. But until she knew, Hyomin couldn't feel easy holding his hand, chatting to him. it seemed like a secret he had, and she was beginning to discover that she didn't like secrets. Not one bit.

Eventually, the cluster of cottages that line one side of the road out of Jongamno stopped them in their tracks.

"End of the road," she said. "I'd better be getting back."

"Wait," he said abruptly. "Not yet."

She frowned slightly. "Why?

He hesitated for a moment. "I'm thinking ... i'm wondering ... how you feel about me, I mean ... if you really like me, or are you just bored and I'm like a distraction?"

"Of course not."

He shifted his feet awkwardly. "I don't get attached to people. To girls." He looked hard at her. "It's not something I take lightly."

"I know." Where was he going with this? "And I really like you. But we've just started going out ... It's all a little early ..."

"Sure," he said. "It's just I'm sticking around for the summer because of you ... I can't work out whether you see this as casual, like a short-term thing, or whether you want me to stay ... longer."

Hyomin opened , taken aback. Only a few weeks ago she'd seen his cynicism towards relationships. All this stuff about choosing to love. What he was saying now didn't make sense.

"What do you want me to say?" Hyomin wrapped her arms around her body. "I hardly know you ... There are so many things I don't know about you ..." She took a step closer to him.

"Like what?" A couple of lines appeared on Joon's forehead. "I've told you everything about me."

"You haven't told me about why you ran away? You kind of just skimmed over it."

He drew in his breath and the silence was prickly. "You really want to know?"

"Of course I want to know."

Hyomin didn't want to bring up what she'd seen in the back of his car. He'd think she had pried. Gone behind his back.

"You must have felt quite strongly ... to just disappear," she said. "I mean your mum--"

"She didn't care," he snapped. "She put on a good show, I'll give her that. But she was lost in her own world. Her boyfriends. The alcohol she got through every night. She didn't even notice I was there most of the time."

"So you ran away ... to get her attention?" She said, tentatively.

He shook his head and gave a strange humourless laugh.

"Not exactly. It was her I was running away from. Her fits of anger. The fact that she didn't get out of bed till midday and our house was dirty and squalid and no matter how many times I cleared up, by the next day it was all filthy again."

"I'm sorry," Hyomin said, thinking how she took her own mother for granted. "What was wrong with her?"

"Depressed," he muttered. "But wouldn't do anything about it ... Not untill she suddenly realised I was gone ... And then she got frightened and started acting like the concerned parent. I guess she wanted the attention. She even got to be on TV in Japan." He shook his head. "Everyone thought she was a saint." He looked at Hyomin. "You'd think that, if you met her. She can be so "normal" when it suits her."

Hyomin took hold of his hand, which felt freezing for some reason. "Joon, I can see how you'd be weird about relationships. I mean ... I've never been involved with a boy before a few months ago. I have no idea what I'm doing. But I do know I am incredibly attracted to you. And I admire you ..." She paused. "I think you're kind of moody sometimes, but you have your reasons for that I guess. Your family ..."

Joon gripped her hand tightly. "I've got you now, though. You're like my family ..."

Hyomin smiled as brightly as she could back at him, but his intensity and the responsibility hat came with his last statement felt heavy and oppressive. She knew she'd never fall for a regular laid-back type, but was Joon more than what she could cope with?

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Hyomin left Joon in town and walked back with Bobby. She should have been skipping home, ecstatic that someone like him felt that way about her. The freak. But instead Hyomin felt anxious. And in a corner of her heart, Hyomin felt a sort of homesickness.

For Jaejoong. Who made her feel neither of those things. She had no idea how love was supposed to feel, and she guessed that it isn't about feeling at home with somebody or even being understood. That's what friends are for. Being in love is about excitement and challenge and your heart wanting to burst out of your chest.

Wasn't it?

The house was quiet when she got back. Her dad was working outside as she came to the end of the track and he waved at Hyomin, whistling to Bobby. Her mum was doing something in the ktichen and Hwayoung was engrossed in something on TV. Hyomin slipped upstairs to her bedroom and stood staring at herself in the mirror. She felt about a hundred years older than she had felt before she'd met Joon ... and Jaejoong.

She glanced down, to find the photograph -- her souvenir from Nissilum. But it was not where she'd left it. Hyomin frowned. She needed that picture.

She went out on to the landing and stuck her head down the stairwell.

"Hwayoung!" She yelled.

"What?

"Can you come up here for a sec?"

She heard Hwayoung's feeble groan in protest, but she appeared out of the living room, a semi-quizzical, semi-annoyed look on her face.

"I thought you'd gone out with Joon?" she said, craning her head to check out Hyomin's expression. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," She waved dismissible, then dropped her voice in a loud whisper. "Did you take the photo?"

"What photo?" She screwed up her nose. "You mean that weird photo of the boy? No." She rolled her eyes. "What would I want with a photo of a boy?"

"Fine. It doesn't matter. Go back to whatever crap you're watching on TV."

Hwayoung rolled her eyes again and turned back into the living room.

Hyomin stayed where she was, listening to the TV, to the sounds of her mother in the kitchen. Then she went back into her room and got down on to the floor, looking under the chest, under her bed. Nothing.

She growled in frustration. That photograph was her connection with Jaejoong, with a world that otherwise she could easily believe she had only imagined. Hyomin sat back on her knees, shutting her eyes. Her reality seemed so blurred in that moment. Trying to feel connected to a human boy, someone who was willing to let down his barriers for her. But instead missing a boy whose very existance she couldn't prove to herself, let alone anyone else.

Her head felt thick, clouding up, like the worst headache was about to come. She put her hands over her ears, as if that would help. Though the fog in her brain, Hyomin could hear words circling, indistinct. She closed her eyes , trying to focus on them.

You're not safe.

Clear as a bell, the voice spoke in her head. Hyomin opened her eyes, looking around her.

There was no one there.

He is not safe.

The same voice again. Her heartbeat was accelerating and she put one hand to her chest.

"Who is it?" She said weakly into the silence of her room.

I can't find you.

"Jaejoong," She whispered. "Is it you? Are you here?"

She could almost feel his hands, gently holding her shoulders as she sat, still crouched on the floor. And Hyomin put one hand up to take the one she was sure would be there.

But there was nothing.

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/jengjengjenggggg~

For those who figured out the clues from the previous chapters, this is one of the major hints.

Have fun solving the puzzle :3 

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