Chapter four:

IU’s POV:

I woke up in the middle of the night. Looking to my left, I saw Kikwang oppa sleeping soundly.

Awwww…he looked so cute when he was sleeping, like a little puppy.

But he really looked very uncomfortable. Maybe…

Using all my might, I pushed him on the mattress. Luckily, he was a very heavy sleeper.

“Hmmm?” He suddenly said in his sleep. “Dukbokki~ Kimchi fried rice~”

I couldn’t help but giggle. What a silly boy! Dreaming about food! Aishhhhh…

I lay down on the floor beside him and tried to fall asleep.

Yoseob’s POV:

Ahhh~ It was so comfortable.

I didn’t know that sleeping on the floor would feel so soft and nice.

Wait…

I opened my eyes. It was still dark.

I was lying on the mattress while Ji Eun was lying on the hard floor beside me.

Aishhh…this girl. I sighed and gently lifted her onto the mattress.

“Mmmm?” She yawned. “Kikwang oppa?”

“You silly girl, why did you change places with me? Remember our deal?” I scolded her.

She smiled. “You looked so uncomfortable! Anyway, what time is it?”

I looked at the clock. “6am”

“Oh good, we’re up right on time!” She got up. “It’s time to go to the food street to sell the yummy kimchi fried rice I made today!”

“Don’t you mean WE?” I coughed.

“Yeah,yeah sure…” She laughed. “Don’t forget who your teacher was!”

IU’S POV:

After breakfast, we left for the food street, carrying the kimchi fried rice we made yesterday.

Kikwang oppa kept trying to sneak bites of the kimchi fried rice throughout the bus ride.

“Yah! You!” I whacked him playfully after catching him trying to eat the food behind my back.

“I can’t help it,” he whined. “I’m hungry!”

“You just ate breakfast, you!”

“But…but that was half an hour ago…” he looked at me with puppy dog eyes.

“No, that doesn’t work on me! Now shoo! Stay away! Bad oppa!”

He spent the rest of the bus ride sulking.

Yah…what a baby!
We arrived at the food street and started to set up the food stall.

The business was even worse than usual, probably because it was still early. I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Kikwang oppa asked.

“No one’s buying the rice.” I sighed again. “Probably a bad day…”

Kikwang oppa suddenly ran up to a woman walking past the stall.

“Annyeonghasaeo miss! You look hungry! Come try our kimchi fried rice! I guarantee it’s good!” He flashed a adorable smile. “And I made it!”

The lady couldn’t resist his aegyo. “Aww…you did? In that case, I’m totally trying it! How much?”

Kikwang oppa spent the whole day attracting customers, particularly female ones, with his adorable aegyo. They all practically melted at the sight of him.

The business was extremely good today. Even on a good day, I didn’t even sell half as many bowls of kimchi fried rice as I sold today. By the end of the day, I had sold about 100 bowls of kimchi fried rice, earning about 200 dollars.

“Ahh…” I smiled as we walked back home. “200 dollars,Kikwang oppa! I’ve never earned so much in a day before!”

“Thank me!” Kikwang oppa said in his adorable aegyo voice. “My cuteness attracted almost all of the customers!”

“Oh please!” I whacked him. But I couldn’t help smiling. It was true. Almost all of our customers were crazy over him.

“I can’t believe a few of them even wanted to take pictures with you!”

“Well, duh!” He puffed up his cheeks. “Especially when you’re this cute~”

“Aishhh…you!” I rolled my eyes playfully.

Yoseob’s POV:

For the next week, it was the same schedule. We would sell kimchi fried rice in the food street until evening, then head back home for dinner. After dinner we would make kimchi fried right together and go to sleep. The business was getter better and better. The customers, especially female ones, were attracted by my aegyo and they kept coming back for more of our delicious kimchi fried rice. They introduced it to their friends and relatives too. On a normal day, we would sell at least 100 bowls of kimchi fried rice, and have almost none left. My cooking skills were always improving! Even Ji Eun admitted it!

As the days passed, I got to know more about Ji Eun. Spending time with her was amazing. When we weren’t busy selling kimchi fried rice, we would talk. A lot. At first, I got to know about her interests, likes and dislikes. But, as the days passed, I got to know even more about her.

-FLASHBACK-

“Ji Eun ah,” I asked her, when we were about to sleep one day. “Why are you living alone? Why don’t you live with your family?”

She suddenly looked really sad and sighed.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, “Was it the wrong thing to ask?”

She shook her head slowly. “Aniyo…I’m just….sad…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say it…”

“No, it’s fine. I should tell you anyway.” She took a deep breath. “Ever since I was young, my parents always loved my little brother more than me. He was smart, talented and so adorable, who wouldn’t like him over me? I mean, I’m just a useless, plain girl.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but decided to let her continue.

“Anyway, when I was fifteen, I brought my little brother out to the park to have a picnic. We were having so much fun when suddenly…” She stopped halfway. I could tell she was trying hard not to cry.

“When suddenly, he fell into the river! I swear, I had no idea what happened! He was drowning, and I never learnt how to swim, so I couldn’t save him. I was calling for help, but there was no one there! All I could do was to watch him drown…right in front of my very eyes!”

She couldn’t help it. She broke down.

“It…it was all my fault! Why…why didn’t I save him? I just watched him die! I…I’m a murderer!”

I couldn’t help it. I gave her a hug.

“Then…” she continued, sniffling, “when I told my parents what happened, they didn’t believe me! They…they thought I pushed him in! They thought I murdered him! But…in a way, they were right…I murdered my brother. My adorable, sweet, kind brother! So.,,so they kicked me out. They never wanted anything else to do with me!” She sobbed.

I hugged her even tighter. I couldn’t help it. She looked so guilty. I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, and that she could never be a murderer.

“Kikwang…” she whispered.

“Yes?”

She shook her head. “Aniyo. Kikwang was the name of my brother…I named you after him because you…you remind me of him. So much. You both have the same smile, the same laugh and the same aegyo! When…when I first saw you in the hospital, you reminded me so much of him…so…so I took you in. It was already bad enough that I caused my dear Kikwang to drown…I didn’t want you to suffer. I…I wanted to protect you…”

She couldn’t stop crying. She kept going on and on until she fell asleep. I her head gently and lay her back onto the mattress.

Poor Ji Eun…I thought.

How could her parents abandon her at such a young age?

How could they blame her? She must have been ridden with guilt for the past six years…

It’s not fair! Ji Eun doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

It was the end of the week. We just finished business and were packing up, ready to leave.

“Kikwang oppa ah,” Ji Eun suddenly said. “I think we worked hard enough for the week! Do you want to go out to have fun this weekend?”

I nodded immediately. A day out with Ji Eun sounded like so much fun!

“Ne! But where should we go?”

“You’ll see! Outings don’t necessarily mean spending money! There are lots of fun things we can do without spending much!” Ji Eun twinkled. “Like, for instance, I always wanted to go for a picnic! We could go to the grocery store to buy ingredients tonight!”

 A picnic? Of course, I had no recollection of going on picnics before, and I couldn’t wait to have it with Ji Eun.

“A picnic!” I nodded excitedly. “I wanna go! I wanna go!” I started jumping around.

Ji Eun giggled. “Come on, oppa! Let’s go buy the groceries!” 

--------

Aww...poor Ji Eun D:

Anyway, continue reading on as I'll be posting a new twist to the story really soon (: 

Thanks for subscribing <3 love you guys :D