2: SO FAR AWAY

Soohyun has been staring at the ceiling for who knows how long already. She glances at the digital clock at the side table—3:06 AM, it says. Her stomach grumbles once again. Because of what happened with her father earlier, she forewent dinner and went straight to drinking in the club.

            When her stomach grumbles again, she gets up and goes out of the room quietly. The lights are dimmed, and the hallways are quiet. She’s not sure if the other members are home already.

            Without making a noise, she proceeds downstairs to the kitchen. She opens the fridge to check for foods. It’s full of mineral water bottles, yogurts, vegetables, fruits, and spreads. She made face at how light those foods are going to be in her stomach.

            “Hungry?” a low, manly voice comes from behind. Soohyun jolts and immediately slams the fridge close. She turns around to see an unfamiliar face. The guy smiles at her and walks to the fridge to get something. Soohyun steps aside to give way. “Is kimchi fried rice okay with you?” the guy asks as he scan the foods inside the fridge.

            Soohyun blinks, then gulps at the thought of kimchi fried rice. She heard the guy chuckled. “Kimchi fried rice it is,” he says when he noticed that Soohyun looks really hungry.

            The guy took some ingredients from the fridge, then he went to the island table and do his thing. Soohyun watches quietly at the side.

            “I’m Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo,” the guy introduces himself. He glances at Soohyun as he turns on the stove. “You’re Kim Soohyun, right?”

            “Yeah,” Soohyun mutters.

            Kyungsoo looks at her and gives her a smile. “I got home at midnight, but I’ll leave in two hours again.” Soohyun gives him a confuse look. “I’m doing promotions for my upcoming film,” he explains to her.

            Soohyun nods. “You’ve only slept for three hours, then? Aren’t you still tired?”

            Kyungsoo shakes his head. He starts cooking the fried rice. “When you’re doing this for a long time, you’ll eventually get used to being tired.”

            “Physically?” Soohyun softly asks.

            Kyungsoo gave her a small smile. “Sometimes.”

            Soohyun is tapping her fingers at the table, hesitating to say her next question, but she goes on. “Does… Junmyeon gets tired a lot too?”

            “Yeah,” Kyungsoo nods. “Among us, Junmyeon hyung was the one who went through a lot before we debut. Some of us only trained for a couple of years, some months, but Junmyeon hyung trained for seven years.”

            Soohyun went silent after that.

            While Kyungsoo is cooking their food, Soohyun sets the table. They start eating while Kyungsoo throws questions at her.

            “I heard from Jongdae that you ran away from home?” Soohyun nods in response. “Then, why are you here?” he adds.

            Soohyun shrugs. “Junmyeon has my necessities.”

            “Like…?”

            “Cash, cards, and passport?” she retorts.

            Kyungsoo chuckles. “You have the guts to run away from your parents when you can’t even stand on your own without their money.”

            Soohyun frowns at him. “Hey, that doesn’t make me feel better.”

            “I don’t intend to make you feel better,” he sternly affirms. “If y