“Home~ I missed you so much” I hugged the pillow on the couch once we got it the house.

Ha Neul stared at me raising her eyebrow and with a what-the- expression.

“We’ve been away for only a week, how can you miss your house this early?” with that she sat beside me, laying her head on the couch.

I looked at her closed eyes, she was breathing steadily and calmly. Eii~ she is just as tired as I am and here she is scolding me.
  It’s not that easy sleeping outside from your house on random places. On a huge field with mosquitoes hunting us and me trying to kill them. I promise it was like the hunger game but the mosquitoes were the winners.

Thankfully there was some small houses perfect for people like Ha Neul and me, who travel around, quite cheap too.

“I love my house, ok?” Aside from the fact that it was tiring I have to say that the places we visited were quite beautiful.

“Imagine how I feel” She got up from the couch, heading to the kitchen.

I got up as well, following behind her. She had opened the fridge taking some ingredients from inside.

“Are you gonna cook?” she nodded and started preparing the food.

From what I got it’s something she eats a lot in her country. That’s why I’m kinda curious to see what it is.

I waited for her to finish all the cooking and it turned out that all the waiting was worth it. The moment the spoon entered my mouth I felt amazing. Is it the fact that it’s been long since I haven’t eaten homemade food or that her cooking is awesome… that I don’t know.
  But one thing for sure, it was just perfect to my taste.

“This is so good” I claimed before diving in and eating all of it, without leaving a single spoon behind. “Where did you learn how to cook?”

“From my mom, she was the one to teach me Korean too.”

“Now that you mention it, even though you live away, your pronunciation is pretty good. Can you speak other languages?” she nodded her head with her hand started counting.

“English, Korean, Italian and German. I’m planning to learn Chinese too” Impressive… she knows like, four languages?  

“You’re so cool” she smirked nodding her head. “Anyway, where are we going next?” I asked looking at my phone.

It was turned off two days ago but I charged it the moment we entered the house. I turned it on, only to find 17 missed calls from my sister… what happened for her to call me like this?

“Well, next we will be going around. I want to have a road trip” she smiled staring at me and then at her map.

I still don’t know why she needs it, it’s not as if she reads that thing. Although I didn’t want to talk to my sister now, my curiosity killed me as to why she called me.
  I excused myself and called noona.

“Kim Jong In, why haven’t you answered your phone? Where the hell have you been?” why does she sound so worried? It almost feels as if something happened.

“What’s wrong?”I asked her only to get a scoff from her.  

“Ha Neul’s parents have been calling her and there is no reply from her. They even plan on coming to Korea!”I turned my head to look at Ha Neul.

She was still staring at her map, biting her lower lip and trying to work out how to read it properly.
  I turned my head towards the living room staring at the phone she didn’t even bother to look at.

“Ha Neul has turned off her phone, while mine was out of battery” I could hear noona sigh from the other side of the line.

“I’ll send you their number so she can reassure them… they seem extra worried” I nodded my head and hung up, receiving  a message almost immediately.

I approached Ha Neul, sitting beside her. She raised her eyes, looking at me with a wondering look on them.
  I handed her the phone but the questioning expression didn’t leave her face.

“Your parents are worried about you. Call them, even my sister is aware of it” she didn’t reply.

Looking at the number on the screen she got up from the chair and went out of my sight. At this point, even I don’t know what she is going to say to them.
  Will she get angry, or will she try to calm them down? I sighed, waiting for her to come back to the kitchen.

After a while she came back, handing me the phone. I stared at her, but she just avoided my eyes.

“What did they tell you?” she blinked, making some small tears disappear.  It must have been bad… for her to react like this. “You know you can tell me, I’m your friend after all” she nodded her head and spoke.

“They shouted at me, telling me that I should never do that and that they’ll come to Korea.” She paused wiping with her bare hands the small invisible tears in her eyes. “I was able to stop them of course, but the fact that they treat me like a baby is making me feel sick…”

I bit my lips together, patting her back as a mean of support. She really seems helpless with this kind of expression on her face.

“It’s alright Ha Neul” I took her in my arms, knowing this is one of the most relaxing things a person can do to you when you’re sad. “You don’t have to feel sad about this, even if they talked to you as if you’re a child, you still convinced them to not come, right?”

She nodded her head, wiping the now obvious tears.

“So now don’t cry like this and instead enjoy your summer vocation… next month you’re leaving anyway”

“You’re right…” she pushed me lightly staring at me with a wide smile.

Her eyes sparkly from the tears that had finally stopped as she cleaned her stained cheeks with a napkin I gave her.

“So, let’s plan for our next destination” I took some food with my chopsticks from the plate and handed it to her. “We must have a great time, like we did this week, ok?” she nodded her head munching on it.

I smiled at her sight. To be honest the more I spend time with Ha Neul, the more I realize she is just like a small child.
  A child that need the help and support of others to feel right, or else she might feel guilty and sad, for things she doesn’t even have to.

//

“Do you think we need this?” Ha Neul asked showing me a small fan.

We were preparing our backpacks since we were leaving in less than an hour.
  I looked at her, asking whether she was kidding or now.

“I guess we need this” I shook my head, deciding to not stop her on whatever she was thinking.

Soon, we were done with the bags and just like before, Ha Neul had filled hers with food, water, a lot of bottles of soda and just like the last time a bottle of whiskey.
  I still wonder why she takes it when we are definitely not going to drink it.

After a while we went out from the house, on our backs carrying the heavy bags. To be honest I learned something about trips… I should take everything with me, you never know when you’ll actually need it. And this time I’m definitely taking the spray against mosquitoes.
  This time I’ll definitely be the winner.

“Hey Jong” Ha Neul called me. I’ve now give up on trying to make her call me Kai.

Instead she found her own nickname. Jong… That’s how she’s been calling me eversince we came back from out previous trip, which makes it almost four days.
  I looked at her with a desperate look on my face. I just want her to call me Kai… is it that hard?

“What is I Ha Neul?” she smiled staring at me with a kind of lost expression.

“I want food” what? We literally ate like an hour ago!

“We have a trip to make right now, it’s impossible” she pouted and just kept walking to the car in front of us.

From what I got, it’s like a special car where it takes you outside from Seoul. Something like a taxi, but inside were two other people aside from us and it took you to way better places.

Our bags were on the truck, Ha Neul and I sat beside each other, I on the middle while she on my left side.

On my right side there was a guy. Korean indeed. Probably looking to have a nice time, a seeker just like us.
  On the front seat there was a girl. She looked like your typical innocent-like girl. Braided hair and rosy cheeks with red lips. She is probably going to have a vacation with her grandparents.

“Jong, where do we stop?” Ha Neul asked, still trying to figure out that map.

“Don’t worry, I have everything under control. That’s why put this thing inside and let me lead you.” She tsked giving me the map and crossing her arms.

“I’ll just trust you then” she hit my arm lightly with a slight smile.

It’s good to have her put all her trust in me. IT really feels as if I’m a responsible human, which I’m really not.

The ride soon started. Ahead of us there was awaiting us a three hour ride. It might be tiring for me, but for Ha Neul this might be just one more thing to make her extra happy.
  I was proven right, since after a long time, Ha Neul had her head out from the window, the wind blowing her long curly hair inside, almost hitting me.

I laughed at the sight of her, once again reminding me of an excited puppy.

After a while she pulled her whole body out from the window, which made me hold her from the waist, so as not to fall or anything. I could hear her shout her lungs out, as if letting her whole helplessness get out from inside of her.
  After a while of doing that she sat properly on her seat.

“Jong! Come and try this” she pulled me making me get my head out from the window. “I finally found out why dogs like to have their heads out the window” she said as we now b