Monday after Monday passes. Minghao comes to class and sits next to her, and Billie, keeping her distance, switches seats with someone else. A month goes by of her picture being taken with Eight always by her side. Even though he always had a new girlfriend every day, rumors went around and she tried to ignore them. This Monday was different, though. Finally, a day where she would take the time off of working hard and skip all her day classes and spend the day with someone special. 

The wind blew through her clothes and it was cold enough for her to pull her jacket tighter around herself as she waited by the curb. Fall was coming, which meant winter was around the corner, and she didn’t like it all. There was nothing she hated more than the cold and wetness of snow. 

“Hey kid!”

Billie can’t help the smile that spreads across her face as the old car pulls up to her on the curve. He sets out and smiles back, his just as wide as hers. “Are you ready to play hooky?”

She nods and jogs to the car, ready to spend a day away from the drama of the Eight, and the headache of constantly studying.

“Oppa,” she says, getting into the car. She buckles in and looks at him. Even though it’s only been a month, she missed him terribly. It was different being in school and not being able to see him and help him work. Even if he always tried to run her away to go play or study, she knew he was glad to have her around.

“Oh, dongsaeng. Look at you.” ruffles her hair and she has to mack his hand away. “You put on a couple pounds. Looks like college is doing fine.”

She scowls at him as she pulls down the mirror to fix her hair. “I have not gained weight, thank you very much.”

He laughs at her and starts the older car, bumping along as it pulls off. She sits back, smiling, missing the smell and the feel of its rattle. And to think that she used to be embarrassed by the car. Now she just missed everything.

“I’ll treat you to lunch. What’s good around here?”

“Oppa, it’s too expensive around here. Let’s go home, and you can cook for me.”

She can see the smile slightly wane on his face before he puts it back up. “Don’t worry, I saved up enough money just for this. I’ll treat you to the most expensive lunch,” He laughs.

“Kang Dong Ho! You’re just doing this so you don’t have to cook for me, lazy.” She tries to smile to keep the situation from getting tense. “Next time, let's use the bus to save the gas—so we can do it how we used to be. Us together, taking hours to get where we need to go, having fun.”

“You’re in college now, and we have a little more money, Billie. Let me treat you, okay? Listen to Oppa and do as you’re told.”

“Okay, okay… I want chicken.”

“You always want chicken. Pick something else.”

“Do you know how long it's been since I had chicken? Let’s have KFC just like we used to, except I want all kinds. And I can pig out and really gain weight.”

“Anything for you.”

The rest of the ride is silent, but Billie is okay with that, just soaking in the moment of being able to be with her brother again. She’s missed this, missed him. But she made a promise to get into SNU, and study hard. He didn’t know it, but she planned to get the best job she could and make a lot of money, so he never had to work so many low-paying jobs again.

They grabbed a table at the restaurant they found and waited while the server took the order and then brought them the chicken. Billie looked at it all and wondered how much it cost, and what he sacrificed to get it. She knew he didn’t have that much money left over after sending her spending money every month. And no matter how many times she refused it, he always sent it to her. He worked a lot of jobs to get her extra classes and study hours to get through high school. Even sacrificing his own education. They might not have had the best, but they had enough, thanks to him. 

“Oppa… thank you for taking care of me, when you didn’t have to—”

“Na Areum.”

Billie looks up quickly, almost whipping her neck as she looks at him. “Shh! You’re not supposed to call me that anymore, remember. We can’t risk it.”

He reaches over his hand and grabs hers. “Na Areum,” he says quieter, “I will always take care of you. I’m sorry that we have to hide like this, but it won’t be long, okay. Big Brother has got a plan.”

She hated that look in his eyes, that sad one. So she smiled and patted his hand. “Oppa, let’s eat, okay?”

“Okay, Billie.”

They dig in, and though she’s enjoying the time they spend together and the taste of the food, she can’t help the feeling in her stomach, the fear. They ran away; they changed their name, but in the back of their mind they were always afraid of what could happen. Always being careful was scary. Being in the spotlight at school was nerve-wracking. 

Her phone dings, and she picks it up to see a text. She sighs and rolls her eyes as a picture of Billie and her brother shows up.

Jackie: Your picture is all over campus again. Who is this hottie that you skip classes for?

Billie: He’s my brother.

Jackie: Your brother? You two look nothing alike.

Billie: Adopted.

Jackie: Well, now the entire campus thinks you’re cheating on Eight

Billie rolls her eyes again and puts her phone down. She digs into the chicken again, trying not to alert her brother to anything wrong. If he knew her picture was going around so quickly, especially with a chaebol, they might have to move again, just in case they were found. And she didn’t want that. Not when her brother has worked so hard to get her into this school, not when she’s worked so hard to put him at ease.

“Look at you eating like a pig,” he says, thumping her on the head. “How am I ever going to get you married if you eat like this? You’re lucky you’re pretty.” 

He ruffled her hair again with a smile, and she smacked it away again. “I’m not getting married until after I find an amazing job and make a lot of money. Besides, who would marry me when I live with my brother.”

“Living with me?”

“Yeah. Even when we’re so old that we can’t take care of each other, we’ll be in the same assisted living.”

“First, I take care of you, not you take care of me. I’m a man. Second, what happens if I get married?”

“Then I live with you, easy.”

“Terrible child.” He flicks her on the head. “Eat your food, so I can take you back to school and you can study. Obviously your brain is rotting, and you’re getting dumber.” 

Billie laughs and sticks her tongue out at him, happy that they can spend the day together, before they both get busy again. 

“We’ll take care of each other.”

“Of course. Now eat your food.”