"What's going on?" Rin's voice changed.

"Jaejoong hyung has been in the hospital for the past weeks." Kris said solemnly.

"Hospital?" Rin's face paled out. "Is he sick? Is it serious? Which hospital? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She shouted angrily at the taller boy.

"Hahaha! Calm down!" Kris laughed. "Jaejoong hyung will be very happy to see you being so concerned about him."

"Yah! Don't make me kick you at your throat!" Rin hissed, causing the boy to shut up immediately.

"Don't worry. Jaejoong hyung is fine. It's his father who is sick and there was once a period when he was in a critical stage so hyung had to stay in the hospital to look after him."

---

The hospital was full of people.

Rin hurried into the hospital and ran up to the second level, heading straight to the ward that Kris had told her.

Room 205.

She adjusted her breathing and opened the door gently.

"Click!"

Right after Rin entered the room, she came face-to-face with a slightly plump middle-aged woman who was holding a basin in her hand. She looked at Rin and a smile appeared on her face.

"You must be Rin. Come in!" The woman turned to look into the ward. "Jaejoong, your girlfriend is here."

Rin tensed up immediately but she continued to follow the woman further into the ward.

There were four beds in the ward but only one of them was occupied and Jaejoong was sitting next to the occupied bed. When he heard his mother calling him, he stood up and turned to see Rin standing behind his mother.

She was staring at him with her big eyes. Although he looked a little haggard than before, he didn't look sick. Rin heaved a sigh of relief.

"Why are you here?" Jaejoong frowned.

"Kim Jaejoong, how can you talk to your girlfriend like this?" Mrs Kim scolded her son. "Rin, take a seat. Jaejoong pour a glass of water for your girlfriend. I'll go wash the basin."

"Omonim, let me do it. Go accompany ahjussi." Rin took the basin from the woman and made her way to the washroom.

After knowing Jaejoong father's condition was under control and was going to be discharged, Rin started cleaning the ward like it was her house.

"Omo! This ward is so clean!" The doctor commented when he entered into the ward.

Standing next to the doctor was Dongwook and when he saw Rin washing the cups in the washroom, he went over to her side to talk to her. "You knew about it already?

Rin gave him a look and went back to washing the cup.

"I'm sorry." Dongwook apologised.

"It's okay. Not your fault, sunbaenim."

After the doctor-in-charge briefed Jaejoong about his father's condition, he led the group of doctors out of the ward.

"Rin, you should take a rest. You have been cleaning for the past half an hour." Mrs Kim said.

"Come with me." Jaejoong snatched the cloth from Rin's hand and pulled her out of the ward.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you that I would go look for you?"

Rin looked away and stared at the window at the end of the hallway.

"What are you angry about?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rin stared back at him with her red teary eyes.
Jaejoong's heart tightened when he saw those eyes. "Am I not your girlfriend? Before I even became your girlfriend, I tried my best to do whatever you told me to do. No matter how difficult the task was, I would try my best to finish it. Not because you are my senior, it's because you are like my family and friend. Whatever you told me to do, I know it's always for my own good. But what about now? I am your girlfriend but you chose to keep this from me. Am I not good enough to share this burden with you?"

Tears started streaming down Rin's face and Jaejoong couldn't take it anymore, he pulled his girlfriend in to hug her.

"Silly girl, why would you have such thinking?"

"I can help to share your problem with you. You don't have to do this on your own!" Rin muttered into his chest and her tears had already wet his shirt.

"I can handle it myself. I don't want it to affect your studies." Jaejoong explained.

"These will never affect my studies." Rin said as she backed away from the hug . "Do you not have any confidence in me?"

Jaejoong smiled and wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs. "Okay. I promise you. I will tell you everything in future."

Rin nodded. "That's more like it."

---

The holiday period has just begun and Rin would wake up early everyday to finish up the chores at the dojang before she headed out to the market. After marketing, she would bring some home cooked food to the hospital for Jaejoong and his parents.

At times she would see Kris and Dongwook in the ward, and Kris would always by calling her hyungseo-nim since she behaved like a daughter-in-law of the Kim family.

After visiting the hospital for a period of time, she has become closer to Jaejoong's parents. Jaejoong's father was the quieter one while his mother was the friendlier one. One day, his mother was sharing some of his childhood stories with Rin.

"When Jaejoong was still a kid, he saw the neighbour hyung learning Taekwondo and fell in love with this sports immediately. He started learning from the hyung and when the hyung lost to him in a sparring session, the older boy brought Jaejoong to Sung Bok Dojang. Chief Instructor Lee saw him and asked if he wanted to learn Taekwondo." Mrs Kim said while cutting an apple. "That silly boy said no because he knew our family is poor and did not have excess cash for him to learn Taekwondo so he would secretly climb up the wall to watch them train."

Rin was stunned.

"Chief Instructor Lee knew about it but he had never chased him away. Half a year later, Sung Bok was having their mini competition for the junior disciples so Chief Instructor Lee pulled Jaejoong in to fight and he won every single round." Mrs Kim continued with a blissful smile on her face. "That was when Chief Instructor Lee came to look for us then we knew about this matter. We asked if he wanted to learn Taekwondo; if he wants to learn, we would let him learn even if we were to borrow money. But the silly boy said no. He has been a very obedient and understanding boy but this made us even guiltier."

Mr Kim patted his wife on the shoulder while Mrs Kim wiped the tear off the corner of her eyes.

"That was when we decided to work hard for him. We want to earn more money so that he won't need to suffer with us. We started off with a small business and so we have to go to the other cities to do our business. This was why he has been alone for most of the time. Thanks to the chief instructor who helped to take care of him while we were away. He even taught him Taekwondo during his stay at Sung Bok. In the end, the time that Jaejoong spend in Sung Bok got longer when we only came once or twice each year. Two years ago, we wanted to bring him back home but he said he didn't want to go." Mrs Kim sighed. "Anyway one must know when to repay the kindness that was once given to him or her. Chief Instructor has been very kind to Jaejoong so it's also time for Jaejoong to repay this kindness. This boy is just like his grandfather. Stubborn is the only word to describe him. Although he has never told us, we both know that Taekwondo is his life and he hopes to become a national champion and even world champion."
Mrs Kim paused and looked up at Rin with a smile. "How is his Taekwondo skill? He hardly tell us anything about Taekwondo. We only knew he had participated in some tournaments in the country so has he proceeded on to the international level?"

Rin's heart felt heavy the moment she heard that question because she had heard it from Rosie that Jaejoong's name was not on the list of people going to China for the summer camp in Chang Hai. She wanted to ask him but he just brushed her off with other things.

"Omonim, is ahjussi going to be discharged tomorrow?" Rin asked.

"Yes, tomorrow morning."

"Will ahjussi be staying in Seoul to recuperate?"

"No, doctor had already certified that he had fully recovered. Actually he was supposed to discharge two days ago but Jaejoong didn't feel safe so he insisted his father to stay for another two more days for observation. We would go back Gongju tomorrow because we couldn't leave the shop closed for weeks."

"Will Jaejoong sunbae be going back with you guys?"

"No. We have to go out o