Chapter 15

 “Without you I’m eyeless; My day is sightless – Eyeless”

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Mom. It’s me.”

“Younghyun-na, oh my, how are you?”

“I’m doing fine, Mom. How’re you and Dad doing?”

“We’re ok. We call your Manager from time to time to get news on you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m still in Japan, at a ski place north of Tokyo.”

As decided by the team, they were keeping Young K’s whereabouts as much of a secret as they can.

Currently, only JYP, the boys and their Manager knew exactly where he was.

“Sorry I couldn’t get in touch sooner.”

“It’s ok, we understand. But your father has been very worried.”

Young K grimaced knowing what a worry wart his strict father can be. This incident will only add to the list of ‘Why The Entertainment Business is Not Good for Younghyun.’

“Have you been eating well?”

His mom, however concerned was more level headed and understanding of the two.

“Yeah,” he grinned into the phone, suddenyly missing his mother’s cooking. “Momo and her parents are feeding me well.”

“Momo?”

“Oh, she’s the daughter of this hostel owners.”

“She?”

“Ma…”

“Is she pretty?”

“Does it matter?”

Her mother laughed softly.

“You mentioned her specifically. Like you’re hinting.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” he laughed at his mother’s astuteness.

“You’re a smart boy, Younghyun, but I’m your Omma.”

“Well, let’s leave it between just you and me then, huh,” Young K smiled again, before they launched onto another topic of conversation.

***

“My omma sends her regards.”

“Omma? You called your mother?”

“Yeah.”

“She must miss you.”

“Yeah, as much as I miss her.”

“Was it lonely? As an only child?”

“Yes and no. Sometimes, maybe.”

The hostel has a small group of elementary school kids on board, and Young K was helping Momo lay they the tables for next day’s breakfast that night.

“You must make her proud, yes? You must promise,” Momo wriggled her finger at him. “Study really hard. Not just have party student life all the time.”

“I don’t lead a student party life,” Young K argued. “Is that what you think I do?”

“How else you end up not dressed in another country?”

“Oh my god, seriously,” he frowned. “You think I ended up here in the snow, because I was drunk partying?”

“Uhuh.”

“I guess that would be a good assumption,” he concurred dejectedly. “But I wasn’t, you know.”

“Wasn’t?”

“Drunk partying, I mean.”

In low a voice, he went on to at last explain what happened to him a month ago, leaving the part out that he was really in Tokyo to perform with the band.

“Then, that is more scare,” Momo said in alarm, her hand that was folding some paper napkins, paused.

“More scary,” he corrected her automatically again. “Yeah, I know. What’s more scary is that they left this chain on my neck intact and sent me my wallet back to my apartment.”

Young K hooked out his normal looking silver chain to show her.

It somehow felt good to at last come clean with her.

For the past month, Momo has been his new best friend, all his four brothers combined into one. They talked and argued, but her thoughts matter a lot to him.

“What is special about the chain?”

As he expected, her query was again spot on.

Momo may be young, but she was definitely smart.

“It was a going away present from my friends back in Canada.”

“They know you well, then. These people who are trying to shame you.”

Momo suddenly looked across the table at him.

“Could it be your friends in Canada?”

“Why? They don’t have any reason to do such things.”

Young K was suspecting someone from the industry, really.

His band was slowly gaining momentum, though not enough to step into anyone’s turf.

In fact, apart form the cult following they have from the college music scene, his band was not famous enough to scare any competitors.

So, even suspecting anyone from the industry seemed far fetched.

But still, anything was possible.