“You’re coming over then?” Hyemi turned to Jaehyun. “We can study together then ace the test on Thursday.”

“Sounds good.” he nodded as they were leaving the campus.

“Unnie!” they heard a younger girl exclaiming.

Hyemi stopped her tracks and turned around. She was familiar with that voice all too well and hearing her here in Seoul definitely meant trouble. The running girl stopped right before Hyemi and was gasping for air. Jaehyun peeked at Hyemi, as if asking if she knew the girl in front of them. She answered his unspoken question when she called the girl on her name.

“Haewon-ah? What are you doing here on a school day? Are you with your parents? Are you here to visit Haechan?”

The girl grinned widely and her answer proved Hyemi’s growing suspicion of trouble.

Haewon was sitting on the couch in the shared apartment, with Tofu in her arms, caressing the cat gently. In front of her stood a furious Haechan, behind him the other four busybodies. Haechan folded his arms as he examined the girl, eyebrows knitted together. 

“So?” he asked in a cold tone.

Haewon looked up at him with her lips stretched into a satisfied smile. “Oppa, I ran away from home.” she announced proudly and Haechan’s jaw dropped.

“You did WHAT, you brat?” he shrieked.

She leaned back, Tofu jumping off her lap startled by the sudden loud voice. Haewon dramatically crossed her arms after brushing her hair out of her face as she repeated herself. “I ran away from home. I don’t want to live the chaebol life anymore.”

“Lee Haewon!” Haechan snapped at his little sister, the veins on his forehead bulging from his growing irritation. The others were watching them curiously. “This is not some Thursday drama! You ran away? Where will you sleep? What will you eat? Stop this bull! Get up!” he ordered and grabbed his jacket and car keys from the coffee table. “I’m taking you home right away, before mom and dad track your phone and send their bodyguards after you.”

“I’m not stupid!” Haewon retorted. “I didn’t bring my phone!”

At this point Jaehyun wasn’t sure if the scene escalating in front of him wasn’t a drama out of tv. He peeked at Hyemi who was trying so hard to hide her smile. Haechan massaged his temples when his sister refused to stand up and even refused to look at him. Nari walked to the kitchen-nook and brought a few glasses and a bottle of water, giving one to Haewon. She accepted it and gulped down the liquid then started blabbing about how she would stay there for a few days until she finds a proper place. Haechan questioned the sixteen-year-old how would she do that on her own, without money. Haewon tapped her chin, saying she didn’t really think about the details and she only brought one bag with her with the few things she could fit in. 

Johnny let out an exhausted sigh. “Is this house a motel for the Lees? There’s no room for more people! Why don’t you bring her to your ing mansion?” he shot the question to Haechan.

“Yah! Language! She’s a minor.” he stepped closer to the grinning Haewon and put his hands on her ears. Johnny wanted to fight back, saying he’d just told her to stop her bull but his words were caught in his throat when the girl stood up and dashed to hug his waist tightly. 

“I don’t want to get married to some old folk, I want to marry Johnny!” she cried out and Nari puffed out an irritated sigh. 

“There she goes.” she tried to peel her off of Johnny but Haewon didn’t budge.

“What are you talking about?” her brother asked as his thoughts were busy searching for information about a marriage. He didn’t remember their parents mentioning anything close to that in the past weeks or months. There was an agreement between them that they would leave them alone until they would graduate, so Haechan was the next in the line of responsibilities, not his sister.

“I heard them talking about this guy, but he’s so old. And they were talking about how good fit he would be to our family. He’s 34!” she screeched and tightened his grip around Johnny’s waist, the man yelping from the sudden suffocation. “I can’t marry a 34-year-old coffin dodger!”

“A coff…” Haechan started but stopped midway when she spoke up again.

“I can just sleep on your couch, right?” she asked Johnny and buried her face against his body.

“You can’t just sleep on people’s couch as you wish!” Haechan roared and Johnny had to scoff.

“Oh, really? Rich coming from you.” 

“I had planned my whole life.” Haewon continued. “You will take over the family business, I will marry Johnny and Hyemi will be my sister-in-law. We have vacations together and live happily while you’re working for our parents.” she blabbered. “I know my plan is ruined since Simon oppa is sadly no longer here but I can’t give up on Jonny!” she whined and Hyemi felt her body tense up.

“LEE HAEWON!” Haechan shouted at her and she dropped her arms, frightened, letting Johnny go. 

Everyone peeked at Hyemi, worried what would happen next. Haewon gasped when she realized what she’s just said and covered with her palm. 

“Sorry Hyemi unnie, I didn’t want to…”

A conflicted smile made its way on Hyemi’s face as she spoke up. “Excuse me for a moment, I have to use the bathroom.” she set her eyes to the ground and hurriedly left to Johnny’s bathroom.

“, I ed up.” Haewon glanced at Johnny who groaned in frustration. Haechan smacked her head because of her language and Nari shot a displeasing look at the younger. Haechan dropped to the couch and closed his eyes tiredly, murmuring incoherent curses.

Jaehyun’s eyes followed Hyemi and a sudden rush of uneasiness crept in his stomach. A few minutes passed with Haechan scolding his sister and trying to reason her to just go home and talk with their parents. Nari went to the kitchen counter, pulling Jaehyun with her. She opened a cabinet and pulled out a couple of frying pans and pots. She then moved to the fridge and picked out ingredients to cook a nice dinner to at least feed the stubborn teenager. Jaehyun just stood there without a word when Nari stepped beside him and nudged him with her elbow. 

“Go check up on her.” she suggested but he shook his head.

“I don’t know, maybe she wants to be alone.”

“Maybe she says she wants to be alone but I know deep down she just needs someone to hold onto. It was Johnny before, but I think she needs you right now. So go.” she pushed him a little towards Johnny’s room.

After his first session of chemotherapy Simon was drained of energy and spent a lot of time in bed. His attention span shortened, his body was sore all over, head always spinning so he was mostly sleeping. Hyemi was beside him in his bedroom almost every day. She didn’t care if it was her first year at college since all she could think about all day was Simon. 

Simon woke up, a painful expression shadowing his handsome features. He saw Hyemi sitting at his desk, probably studying so he tried to stand up silently but his body didn’t want to cooperate, he couldn’t even manage this simple task on his own. Hyemi hurried to him, asking him what was wrong and how could she help. 

“I feel like throwing up.” he grumbled and with the help of Hyemi he went to the bathroom. As soon as he knelt in front of the toilet he started vomiting with teary eyes.

Hyemi patted his back, softly as she gulped down her tears. Seeing your loved one being so vulnerable really hurt. It took Simon all the strength he had to stand up, he flushed the toilet and rinsed his mouth with water. He leaned on the tap, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he looked in the mirror and studied his features for a brief moment just to look away in shame. Hyemi stepped closer, her arms making their way around his waist, her face nuzzling against his back as she murmured that everything would be fine.

The following weeks weren’t better either. By the beginning of his third week of therapy, Simon had lost most of his hair and eyebrows. He would always feel tired and worn out, he would shiver and have fever. He’d lost so much weight that the smallest physical activity felt like hiking the Mount Everest. In Hyemi’s opinion the worst side effect was vomiting. He would vomit at least 4 or 5 times a day, so he didn’t want to eat. What’s the point, he said, he would throw up everything in the end. 

His sickness got the best of his family too. Mrs. Suh tried to seem strong in front of him, but ended up crying every now and then. Mr. Suh worked until late night so he could provide financial help for his family, but he would be angry and grumpy all the time. Johnny, however, was unexpectedly cheerful. He would always joke around and lighten the mood, so his brother wouldn’t be depressed. Simon hated when people pitied him, so Johnny made sure he wouldn’t showcase such emotions. At college, no one knew how much he was suffering, since he didn’t show any sign of that. He was positive, he said his brother was strong and he would fight this illness and he would be healthy again in no time. Only Hyemi knew that almost every night Johnny had cried himself to sleep.

“Here.” she put a new beanie on Simon. 

“You’re literally making fun of me.” Simon looked in the mirror Hyemi was holding and snorted. On the grey beanie there were two small bear ears. Hyemi clasped her hands together and grinned at him lovingly.

“You’re so adorable.” she beamed and throw herself onto Simon to give him a tight hug. 

They were lying in bed, facing each other as they were lost in each other’s eyes. Time flew fast and Hyemi had already turned 19. She caressed his face gently as Simon closed his eyes. Hyemi examined his features. His chiseled face, his sharp eyes, his plump lips, the mole on the side of his nose. She wanted to remember every little part of his body. She snuggled closer to him and buried her face under his chin. 

“I love you so much.” she whispered and Simon pulled her closer in his dreams.

Jaehyun let out a worried sigh and took a few uncertain steps towards the room, looking at Johnny. He nodded as if giving him permission to enter his room so he opened the door and went inside. He stood in front of the bathroom door and held his hand to knock on the door but hesitated at first. He didn’t hear noises behind the door, he didn’t hear crying or sobbing, it was an alarming silence. He knocked and asked if he could enter. A few seconds later Hyemi said yes. He opened the door slowly and peeked inside. She was sitting on the floor, back against the bathtub. He walked towards her and sat beside her.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently and she nodded.

“Yeah, I just needed a minute.” 

“Should I leave?”

“No. I’m glad you’re here.” she answered and leaned her head onto his shoulder. They let the comforting silence engulf them as they were seated on the floor. Jaehyun held her hand and ran his fingers across her palm in circular motions. “She has a crush on Johnny since she was like, six or something.” she said, looking at the door in front. “She would always run after him and hug him while he would struggle to break free.” she chuckled at the memory and Jaehyun was listening patiently her every words. “When I'd started dating Simon, she was blabbing about how I would marry Simon and she would marry Johnny and we would be a big happy family. She liked these kind of fairy tales.”

“She’s brazen. She really is Haechan’s sister.”

She let out a laugh at his comment and nodded. “Yeah, they’re quite alike in some aspects. Haechan was always protective over her, you know. He would always stand up against their parents so they would not put much pressure on her. Haechan took all the responsibilities as the eldest son in the family.”

“Despite acting like an idiot, he really is mature and trustworthy.”

“He is.” 

She let Jaehyun caress her face then pushed herself up and stood up. She reached her hand for him to hold then pulled him up. 

“I’m fine. We can go back.”  she said and before walking to the door she engulfed him in an embrace and initiated a quick kiss. “Thank you for being with me.”

“Thank you for letting me be with you.” he voiced and pecked the top of her head.

When they went back they saw everyone being busy in the kitchen nook. Haechan and Haewon sat across each other and were peeling and cutting vegetables, Haechan continuously telling his sister what she was doing wrong. Johnny was dipping zucchini into an egg-mixture and put them into the frying pan which was handled by Nari.

“Should we set the table then?” Jaehyun suggested, Hyemi nodding in agreement. 

“It’s too thick! You can’t even cut onion at the age of sixteen?” Haechan snapped and his sister didn’t hesitate to fight back.

“Why sorry, I have other hobbies.” she mocked.

“I bet you’re served all day. Fancy chefs and maids all the way, anything for Princess Lee.” he rolled his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at her. “When I was a child…”

Haewon cut in immediately. “Oh spare me! When you were a child you’d been