"Oi, Jongin-ah."

Jongin threw a scowl her way. Yerim snorted at it, "You remember Dae Oppa's birthday, don't you?"

He nodded, biting his lower lip, placing one good layer of chili sauce on top of his noodles. Yerim looked away from his plate instantly because she was never a fan of any kind of sauce. Even though Jongin clearly knew it, he poured half of the bottle right in front of her eyes. At these moments, Yerim would forget about the three year difference between the two of them and always feel like strangling him.

As if sensing her discomfort, he smirked like the jerk he was. "It's tomorrow, I know. Are we planning a surprise?"

Yerim nodded at his word expressionlessly. "It's not actually a surprise by now. Because he's been getting this surprise every ing year."

"We could do something different this year. Rather than turning lights on when he enters and then yelling happy birthday at him." Jongin shrugged, clumsily stirring the noodles on the plate to mix them with the sauce. Yerim frowned, not at all liking that smell. It got on her nerves, made her want to vomit. And she wouldn't be still there if it weren't for the birthday.

Jongin looked at her plate and observed the chopped and boiled vegetables, "I wish you ate so little from when we were kids. Would've saved a lot of food for me," he remarked with a straight face.

"It's not like you never had the bigger share," Yerim retorted. "You ate half of the cake alone on my birthday, I still remember. And I swear I so wanted to choke you that day."

"Well," Jongin raised his brows with a smile. "You can eat half of my cake on my next birthday, then. We'll be even," He went back to his food, leaving Yerim to glare at his head. He very well knew she wouldn't be able to that because of her diet and that was what that cunning smile was for.

"Why you deiting again? To make yourself look less ugly?"

"Jongin!" Yerim raised her fork, ready to plunge that at his face. Jongin chuckled, catching her arm right before it committed any kind of harm. He loved riling her upand no matter how older they get, he would never get tired of it. "There hasn't been a single second in my life that I didn't want to rip your head off."

"Same," he winked at her, letting her hand go. Looking down at his food, he continued eating again. Yerim watched him for a while, finding it weird that his mouth wasn't running about. And then suddenly, he lifted his head off. Yerim clenched the fork in her hand, expecting the worst.

"You want this!" Jongin was suddenly trying to shove the noodles at her face using his fork. Yerim screamed with eyes closed, she really couldn't stand the sauce. Jongin giggled, having the time of his life. The odor tickled her nose in the dirtiest way possible. Yerim gagged at the smell and before she knew it, she was on her feet, running away from it.

"You're gonna eat this today!" Jongin exclaimed happily as he followed her around the kitchen. Yerim sputtered some curses at him, dodging some of the maids around her as she made her way out of the kitchen. Jongin was right on her steps, his happy laugh ringing in the hallways. Yerim didn't know why but at some point, she started laughing too, maybe it was the adrenaline in the veins or perhaps old memories being triggered, she found it very funny. She made Jongin go around the fountain, and then zigzagged her way towards the garden among the tall grass.

"Kim Yerim!" Her brother yelled. Yerim slapped a hand on her lips, keeping herself from making any noise as she remained hidden behind on fat tree. "I'm going to find you and make you eat this!" He warned her. "You'll have to eat this today. There's no other way~" He informed her in his singy songy voice.

This was a game between the two since she had discovered her hatred for sauce. Yerim had thought he had forgotten this game but turns out, he hadn't. Yerim's stomach hurt for laughing so much. She swiftly moved away from the tree towards a bush when she thought she could feel his presence near her. But that's when Jongin saw her and they were running again.

"You're not fast enough!" Yerim shouted back at him over her shoulder. She sped towards the piano, going around it before she realized Jongin had been smart enough to memorize her moves and was standing right in front of her with his devilish smirk.

"," she muttered under her breath before dodging his arm and escaping again by pushing him against the wall. The next thing she knew was that she was hitting a wall that she never knew existed. Her eyes widened and lips trembled. Two hands came in the view seemingly trying to grab her and make her stand but then she fell down.

As weird as it sounded, she couldn't feel an ounce of pain. As if the floor was made of some cusion. She heard her father's voice calling out Jongin's name in his strict tone.

"Hey, a-are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of Sehun underneath her. "Aish," her eyes widnened like saucers. She quickly got off him, clumsily grabbing her glasses that had fallen somewhere else. Sehun helped himself up, a dumbfounded expression he wore on his face. "I'm so sorry," she eyed him apologetically.

"Dad, she didn't die!' Jongin talked back at his father with a what-did-I-do expression. "She said mean things to me, Dad!"

"What are you? Five?" His sighed. "Stop bickering all the time. I'm hearing it for twenty years now!"

"We were actually having fun, you know," Jongin added, "Dad, we're not that old," he jutted his lips together before opening them to push the noodles that he had been chasing Yerim with in his mouth. "Honestly, this house is already dead. And the people too are dead inside. I hate that we are becoming like this, Dad. We used to be so happy when Mom was still here--"

"Jongin, that's enough!" His father shut him up before looking down at Sehun. "Come on, get up, Sehun."

The guy was jerked out of his trance. He had been looking at Yerim all along and quite astonishingly, she had been staring at him too. Not with any disdain in her eyes, however. But with a spark of realization. As if something had suddenly hit her and she was seeing him in a different light. But deep down, he knew it wasn't true. She wasn't seeing any thing more in him than what she had already. Perhaps it was all an act she was putting up to confirm her escape. Sehun stood up before offering her his hand.

Yerim heard the pounding footsteps of her father up the stairs. She took Sehun's hand and let him pull her up. "Thanks," she mumbled, instantly letting go of his hand once she was on her feet. Sehun nodded, following her father up the stairs. The two siblings were left alone with a defeaning silence. "You brought Mom up again," Yerim sighed.

"I was just...it just came out. I've been thinking about it," he looked sideways at the open garden, going two steps towards it with the fork in his hand.

"Yeah?" Yerim smiled, deciding to stand next to him. "You have the time to think about anything else other than which girl to ?"

Jongin frowned, "Don't ruin this," he said in a soft warning voice. Yerim observed his face from close, taking in the way his brows knitted in worry. "Don't you ever wonder where Mom is? You only had her for two years so you wouldn't remember much. But I've seen her for five years and then, one day, she was gone. Mom was gone and you were crying in Jun Hyung's arms. I asked him about her and he told me she left."

"That's what everyone told me. She left," Jongin sighed. Yerim listened carefully, prolonging every word in her head because Jongin seldom spoke like this. LIfe was all fun and games to him, or so it seemed. But at the end of the day, he still missed his Mom and wondered about her whereabouts. "It must've affected me the most. Perhaps if she were still here, I wouldn't be the failure I am today."

"Jongin, you're not--"

"Perhaps I could be an engineer or an architect or a doctor. Because that's what Dad wants, right? That's why he doesn't see me the way he sees all of you," his shoulders dropped significantly. Yerim touched his arm, passing him a worried look. "You all are great people, Yerim. What am I?"

"Jongin, stop speaking like that. Doesn't go with you," Yerim sighed, "You--you're not a failure. If Mom had been here, she would be proud of you, just like she would be proud of Jun Oppa, Min Oppa, Dae Oppa and me. You are hella successful, dude. You are on the billboards, you are on the magazines, every channel, every newpaper, every ing day. People know you, people love you. If you ever say those words again, I'll seriously rip your head off your neck."

Jongin smiled weakly. "Those are the kindest words you've ever said to me."

"Don't get used to it," she said, smacking his arm before walking away towards the kitchen. Jongin sighed, following her. They still had food to finish.

Wendy stood before the polished wooden door, brows knitted together as she heard the soft tune of the piano playing. Clutching the violin case to her chest, she stood there, frozen. Her heart bloomed with a different flutter when