“Oppa?” a girl’s voice from up front a bit questioned Hyunmin.

Hyunmin took a good look at the girl.  She pulled off her hoodie.  “Haeja…”

“Omo…” Haeja hugged Hyunmin.  “I haven’t seen you in such a long time.  How are you oppa?”

“I’m good.  What are you doing here?” Hyunmin asked politely.

“Ah,… uh… my friend and I are visiting Japan.  Last time I called Suhoon,” Haeja looked back to her friend and whispered to Hyunmin, “Where’s Suhoon?  Is he with you?”

Hyunmin shook his head, “Aniyo, he’s back at the hotel with Jihae.  Waeyo?”

“Who’s Jihae?” Haeja shot a glare at Jade. 

Hyunmin laughed, “Jihae’s a friend of …Haeja, introduce me to your friend.” Hyunmin looked over to Haeja’s friend who happened to be sitting in the front of the bus.  He keeps looking at me like he’s going to eat me.”

Haeja looked back at him, “Ah, … He’ll stop soon.” Haeja laughed and changed the subject, “So who’s this Jihae girl again?  Should I be worried?”

Jade seemed to see what Haeja was doing.  She butted in the conversation, “Jihae’s Mika’s girlfriend.”

Hyunmin was shocked, Haeja’s eyes widened.  “Mwwwoh?”

Hyunmin held Jade back and tried to calm Haeja down, “S-she’s just …”

Haeja’s voice started to rise, “She’s what? She’s what, Hyunmin?!”

“She’s … “ Hyunmin looked around and noticed that Haeja’s friend was walking over to them.  “She’s my girlfriend’s …”

“Yah, jagiya…” the man said as he approached Haeja.

Hyunmin looked at the man and then back at Haeja, “Jagiya?”

Haeja’s facial expression was now changed.  She looked flustered and confused.  She’d just been caught cheating.  Her boyfriend was now confused, “Haeja, who is this man?”

Jade was really amused and butted in once more, “Hyunmin!  Also known as Haeja’s other boyfriend’s friend.  She’s a two-timer.” Jade nodded as Hyunmin lightly pushed Jade to her seat.

Hyunmin sat down next to Jade and Haeja tried to explain herself, “Hyunmin oppa.. It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not what he thinks?  What’s he thinking? What’s going on, jagiya?” the man asked.

Haeja turned to the man, “Oppa, I’ll explain later.” She turned to Hyunmin, “Oppa…answer me.  I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Suhoon oppa… I’m begging you.  I know you’re both great friends.”

Hyunmin wasn’t buying her words.  He just sat there, looking forward.  Jade stared at Haeja in disgust and mumbled, “He’s been depressed about such a pest.”

“Mworago?” Haeja’s voice was loud.

Hyunmin looked at Haeja and blurted, “This whole time, you could’ve just left hyung and you decided to play him like a fool.  He stayed late nights, hoping you’d at least call.  If you didn’t call, he was hoping for just a simple text explaining how you are.  But instead, you’re out here, having fun with your boyfriend.  Which… I don’t think he even knows of hyung. How long have you been keeping this from us, Haeja?  Because the last time you and hyung had a date was eight months ago.  You never call on your anniversary, you never even called on his birthday.” By now, Haeja was in tears and Jade wanted to hold Hyunmin back before everyone on the bus recognized him.  “Yah Kang Haeja…you’re really something.  Don’t let me see you around Suhoon ever.”

Haeja’s boyfriend stood behind her as she turned to sit down.  “Haeja…is what he said true?”

Haeja couldn’t speak.  She lightly nodded, “Mianhe oppa.”

Her boyfriend shook his head and sat down far away from her.

Jade looked at Hyunmin, who was now in the verge of killing someone.  Jade was concerned, “Yah, …Hyunmin…Don’t be like this.  Apologize to her.  I know what she did was wrong but----“

“Hyung loved her so much,” a tear rolled down Hyunmin’s cheek.  “I don’t even know how to tell him.”

For the first time, Jade felt sympathy for Hyunmin. She grabbed a hold of his hand and held it tight, “Be strong for Suhoon.  He’s going to need you to be strong for him.”

Hyunmin turned and saw Jade’s smile.  It assured him that she understood what he was feeling.  He could see in her eyes that she really felt sympathy for him.  He smiled and wiped the small tear off his cheek.  “Don’t tell hyung I teared for him.” He laughed.

Jade laughed a little.  “Your secret’s safe with me.”

When Hyunmin and Jade finally reached Tokyo, they were so hungry; they had to stop in a nearby restaurant to eat. When they sat down, a couple girls had recognized Hyunmin.  They giggled and watched Jade and Hyunmin.

Jade ordered some sushi and Hyunmin order some udon noodles. 

“Yah, ordering hot noodles on this kind of day?”  Jade laughed at Hyunmin.  “Here, try some of this.” She handed Hyunmin some sushi.

Hyunmin tasted the sushi, “Mmmm. Delicious.”

Jade ate happily, and then she started to really wonder what was going on with Haeja.  “Hyunmin…oppa.” She knew that if she called Hyunmin oppa she would most likely get an answer out of him.

“Neh?” he slurped his udon noodles.

“What’s up with that girl from the bus anyway?  You don’t have to tell me, but I’m just wondering.”

“Well…” he finished the last of his noodles and looked up at Jade, “What happened was…Mika hyung met Haeja about a year ago when we were promoting ‘lady’.  Mika hyung really liked her, but he couldn’t approach her because we were in Inkigayo when he saw her.  After doing some shopping one day, we were returning back to OpenWorld building.  He saw her and thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask her on a date.  She accepted and things went well for a couple weeks.  Then after a while, she went to study in Japan…here.”

“Ah, the communication lacked?”

“Ani…we were also promoting in Japan.  But she always shot him down.  Then suddenly she started only contacting him once every month.  He slowly stopped being lively.  It’s just kind of hard for him and we all watched him deteriorate.” Hyunmin sighed, “I’m just upset that he wasted so much time on her.”

After their talk, they walked back to the hotel and ran into Jihwan and Minji.  They said their goodbyes and the boys walked away.

“Hyung! Minji’s so perfect,” Jay said.

Hyunmin smiled, “Is she?  Don’t fall too hard.  We wouldn’t want you to get hurt in the future.”

Suddenly, Jihae bumped into Hyunmin, running out of their room.

“Oh, mianhe.”

Hyunmin walked in, “What was that about?”

Jihwan stared at the girls and then back at the boys and closed the door.  “Why does she look so nervous?”

Injoon and Karam squealed while Mika leaned back and sighed.

“I think hyung’s in love,” Injoon said.