“Hey… KIM HIM CHAN!”, YongGuk beamed brightly and ran towards that guy. “Wow… long time no see”

“Hey my friend, how are you? Oh gosh! It’s unbelievable that I’ll meet you again!”, HimChan gave YongGuk a big embrace. He still couldn’t believe that he was talking to his childhood friend.

“I’m doing well… You see. I’m a gardener now. How about you? What are you doing here?”, YongGuk and HimChan sat down on the stairs in front of the house so they could talk to each other.

“Well… this is my girlfriend’s house…”, HimChan smiled sheepishly and looked away.

“Oh my god. Really? HyoSung-sshi is your girlfriend?”, YongGuk slapped HimChan’s back slightly.

“But she’s a little bit haughty. I’ve been chasing her for three years but still can’t catch her…”, HimChan ruffled his hair and sighed.

“Oh I see… I heard that your family’s company is very successful now…”, YongGuk turned into another topic so HimChan wouldn’t be awkward with his complicated relationship.

“Ah yeah… After we moved here, my parents met a great co-businessman… So, do your family still stay on Ijak Island? Or they also moved here?”, HimChan stood up, put one hand in the pocket and used the other to signal YongGuk to go inside.

“My grandparents still stay there… They ask about your family sometimes…”, a noise cut YongGuk off.

“Is that HyoSung’s laughter?”, HimChan turned back and looked at YongGuk with a can-you-confirm-that-for-me look. “I’ve been trying to make her laugh for three years!”, then HimChan quickly stepped into the living room. “HyoSung…”

HimChan saw a girl sitting next to HyoSung on the couch and talking with her. They both were laughing a lot because of some funny stories. HimChan couldn’t believe in his eyes but they really looked alike. Somehow, looking from their back, HimChan thought that they were twins.

“Hello… Sorry for disturbing your chatting…”, HimChan suddenly felt awkward as they stopped talking and stared at him.

“What are you doing here again? I said that I didn’t want to see you in a thousand years more!”, HyoSung stood up immediately and pointed at HimChan.

“I came here to tell you a good news. By the way, who is this girl?”, HimChan put both of his hands in the pocket, which made him look so cool.

“She’s my sister…”, YongGuk also came from behind HimChan. “HimChan, this is my sister Bang HyunAe. She was born after you had moved so you don’t know her right?”, YongGuk stepped towards HyunAe and introduced both of them to each other.

“YongGuk-sshi… you know him?”, HyoSung rolled her eyes and glanced at HimChan.

“We’re childhood friend. We were really close to each other…  Aish, but it’s not the matter now! I have this good news for you”, HimChan moved closer to HyoSung with a bright smile, “A relative of mine said that she had information about HyoMi!”

“HyoMi…”, just the name of HyoSung’s sister could make her heart bounce strongly.

“My cousin, she lives in Ijakdo, near the area that the accident occurred…”, HimChan stopped his step right next to HyoSung.

“I-jak-do?”, HyunAe tilted her head, “That’s our hometown!”, and blinked her eyes with YongGuk.

“Kim HimChan, what does she know about HyoMi?”, HyoSung dashed towards HimChan and held his elbow.

==

HyunAe stepped into class and walked to her seat without even a look at DaeHyun and YoungJae who were sitting in front of her. Then HyunAe took out a piece of sandwich and had breakfast while reading book.

“Yah…!”, DaeHyun nudged and whispered to YoungJae, “Let’s apologize to her…”

YoungJae shook his head and sighed, “But it’s too awkward…”

“C’mon!”, DaeHyun gritted his teeth, “It’s our fault…!”

YoungJae dug his fingers into his hair and ruffled it then bit his lips and told DaeHyun, “Okay! Let’s do it together…”

“JEONGMAL MIANHAE HYUNAE AH”, both DaeHyun and YoungJae turned back to the desk behind them and said sorry to HyunAe. She was choked by their sudden action but then she pretended that she didn’t hear anything and continued eating.

“HyunAe ah, we really feel sorry for what happened that night. We know that we’re such bad friends!”, DaeHyun and YoungJae joined their own palms together and begged for her forgiveness.

HyunAe picked her head up, looked at each of them and then looked down at the book again. They got no sign of forgiveness from her.

“What should we do now?”, DaeHyun shook YoungJae’s shoulders. “HyunAe hates us for sure!”, they disappointedly turned back to their desk and lifted their cheeks with their palms thinking.

“I lost my favorite hoodie!”, HyunAe said to them but acted like she was talking to someone else or to herself because her eyes didn’t move away from the book.

DaeHyun and YoungJae turned to her again, “We’ll buy you another. Will it be counted as an apologize gift?”

“I’m not talking to you!”, HyunAe madly closed the book and went out of the classroom.

==

 “Unni, I’m so scared! I don’t want to be alone. Unni, please save me!”, HyoSung saw a little girl crying loud and begging her not to leave.

“HyoMi… HyoMi… HYOMI!”, HyoSung suddenly sat up and woke up from her bad dream. She was so scared that she sweated a lot and was out of breath. HyoSung grabbed her necklace while trying to steady her breath, “HyoMi… where are you?”

“Mr. Kim, please… You know my Mistress will not forgive you for…”, the butler failed stopping HimChan from storming into HyoSung’s room again.

“JEON HYOSUNG! Why haven’t you answered me? Do you want to go to Ijak Island or not?”, HimChan stood next to HyoSung’s bed and yelled at her while HyoSung laid down and rolled inside her blanket, acted like she didn’t see HimChan standing right in front of her.

“I told you I would think about it. You gave me a day. And now it’s not even 24 hours yet!”, HyoSung yelled out from inside the blanket then murmured to herself, “What kind of guy that keeps storming to a girl’s bedroom?”

“Then wake up and think! Laying there can’t solve anything!”, HimChan leaned down and snatched her blanket away.

“YAH! KIM HIM CHAN! HOW DARE YOU…”, HyoSung sat up immediately and embraced herself with both of her hands crossed at her shoulders in order to protect herself if HimChan was going to do something…

HImChan was also dumbfounded for a moment then his eyes blinked with the surprise to his own action. “GET OUT OF YOUR BED!”, HimChan shouted at her and left the room quickly because he also felt so awkward doing that. His face had gone red all of a sudden.

==

“You don’t go to work today?”, JiEun was locking her door as she left for work and saw YongGuk watering the plants in front of his door, which was opposite with her house.

YongGuk nodded, “I don’t have to take care of the plants everyday… You know these days they have those watering machines…”

“Ah, HyunAe is going to have her winter-break next week right? Are you going to Ijakdo like often?”, JiEun walked to YongGuk to talk to her neighbor and also her bestfriend.

“Of course. Especially this time, my grandma is sick. We have to go back and take care of her… Wil you go with us this time?”, YongGuk turned the water off and put the tap back to its own place.

“Aniah… I have a date… I can’t go with you like last year…”, JiEun stuttered because she was so shy announcing that she were dating.

“Yah JiEun ah… Do you have a boyfriend? Why haven’t you told me!”, YongGuk hit JiEun’s shoulder slightly.

“We’ve just started dating recently…”, JiEun couldn’t finish her sentence because a car came and its horn reminded her of something. “Well, he came. He takes me to work today. Talk to you later!”, JiEun hurriedly ran towards the car and waved to YongGuk.