“I’m sorry for troubling you, Chanyong-sshi,” I could hear that she was worried at the time.
“No, it’s not. I’ll go to see him today,” I replied.
“Thank you,” she seemed relieved. “I called Jinhwan before, but you know, both of them seem so close to each other and they like to keep secret between them.”
Of course Jinhwan would do anything Hanbin told him. Since Hanbin kissed me at the time, I had never be able to see him again and he had to meet his father after the day. I didn’t know why but Hanbin seemed a bit surprised when his father called and they talked for a while before he left.
He didn’t even text me on Sunday and I was so busy with the presentation I should prepare with Joo Hyuk. He didn’t even show up when I left Seoul to be the representative from our school. So, it had been a week since last time I saw him yet he didn’t text me. I was a bit angry at the time until his mom called me saying that she’s busy with opening her new restaurant branch in Busan.
She said that Hanbin didn’t attend school for several days and she thought that it might be because of his father. She didn’t tell me why and I thought it wasn’t polite to ask her about their family’s problem. That made me forget my anger and felt worried about him.
“I’ll call you when I meet him. He must be just fine,” I tried to calm her down.
“Arasso. Ah, just in case he didn’t open the door, the password is 2210. It’s his birthdate,” she said.
I just realized at the time that I didn’t even know his birthdate.

***

I stared right into Jinhwan’s eyes as I sat right in front of him. He had been trying to avoid me before but I succeed in caught him. I had to ask him what was exactly happened to that b*stard.
“What was exactly both of you trying to hide?” I screamed out my curiosity.
“What are you saying? We didn’t hide…” he evaluated my face and knew that lying would not work on me. He released his breath as he motioned me to pulled off my body—I was a bit furious at the time so I didn’t realize that I had cornered him.
“Was he getting involved with those guys again? Is he hurt himself again?” I started to be worried.
“He didn’t,” Jinhwan’s firm denial indicated that he told me the truth. “He’s just sick. He barely eat since he met his father,” he added.
“What? But…”
“His relationship with his father isn’t good. You know, since his parents divorced, he barely talks to his father,” Jinhwan seemed a bit depressed. “I shouldn’t have said this.”
“Why? Is there a problem between them?” I couldn’t hold my curiosity.
“It was because long time ago, Bobby’s brother was caught to be one of the boys who broke into someone’s house. One of them is the son of the ministry at the time. The case was a bit strange since all of the guys said that they were forced by Bobby’s brother to broke into the house,” Jinhwan took a deep breath. “Seemed like they turned Bobby’s brother into the black goat.”
“But, why did it related to Hanbin’s dad?”
“He was the detective who caught them at the time. Bobby hates him since then because he didn’t do anything when there’s a conspiracy inside the police department. Now, you know why Hanbin and Bobby didn’t get along anymore.”
I was surprised by the fact that Jinhwan told me. I didn’t expect that their relationship would be that hard. It was so complicated that no wonder they couldn’t be as they used to be.
“So, they hate each other,” I mumbled.
“No,” Jinhwan smiled.
“What?”
“Hanbin acted like he used to do around Bobby. I saw him following Bobby wherever he goes. He was just like a pet and kept following his owner,” he said.
“Then how could…” I didn’t finish my words because Jinhwan interrupted me.
“Bobby couldn’t do that,” Jinhwan’s facial expression became sad. “His brother was in jail but their parents couldn’t even leave America because of economic problem. He was just a junior high school student at the time, it must be hard for him.”
I was so speechless at the time. He was just a child yet he had to go through something horrible like that. He didn’t seem like he had such a difficult time when I first met him. How could he still has such a cute and warm smile on his face?
“He must be suffered a lot,” I could finally find my words.
“And so with Hanbin,” Jinhwan added. “He didn’t even talk to his father ever since. I know that it hurts him to hate his own father. Then his parents divorced and Hanbin hasn’t seen his father since then.”
So, that was why he looked so uncomfortable at the time his father called him. He might have so much thoughts in his head at the time. But he managed to hide it from me. It made me wondering if he didn’t want me to know more about him.
“I know that Hanbin felt sorry and ashamed to Bobby because of her father. But, he likes Bobby that much so he doesn’t want to lose his bestfriend,” Jinhwan continued. “Bobby keeps push him away but Hanbin will never take a step back. He doesn’t want Bobby to mess up with his life.”
“But, why does Bobby trying to mess his life?”
“He is just trying to take his brother back,” Jinhwan stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“After got out from the jail, Jieon-hyung is involved with the gang and he can’t get out of the gang unless he wants to die,” Jinhwan replied. “Bobby is just trying to help his brother but it’s not easy.”
“And Hanbin is trying to help him?” I guessed.
“That’s what Hanbin has been doing in his life,” he nodded. “He has been trying so hard to pay his dad’s fault to Bobby.”
I felt my throat was so dry at the time. I didn’t know that Hanbin had spent his life with such an ironic fate. He didn’t do anything wrong yet he had to run into such a cruel destiny. He wasn’t deserve that.
“He didn’t say anything to me,” I felt a bit sad.
“He has not told it to anyone,” Jinhwan seemed a bit worried. “I was just there when it happened so I know it. But Hanbin likes to keep everything on his own, he’s that kind of person. That’s why I couldn’t believe that he has a girlfriend now,” he blinked at me.
“I can’t believe myself either,” I murmured.

***

Standing in front of Hanbin’s home, I took a deep breath. After Jinhwan told me everything, I just couldn’t see Hanbin as I used to do. He was just like a brand new person I didn’t know. I didn’t know what would I say when I see him and my heart still aching because I knew that he had been in pain at the time.
After decided to not ringing the bell, I typed the password of the house and went in. There was no sign that anyone live here for several days so I thought that Hanbin had been in his room all day long. It made me worried since Jinhwan said that he barely eat the food he brought for him. So, I walked up the stairs and when I arrived in front of Hanbin’s room, I fe