When Sun Woo opened his eyes all he saw was white. He tried to think back and the last thing he remembered was being held up by Jung Hwan. He looked to the left and the right to only be greeted with more white and some pale colors, the other boy was no where in sight. Did whoever was following us get him? He sat up to get out of the bed and was hit with a wave of lightheadedness, he waited for the feeling to pass before trying to get out of the bed. He realized that his movements were limited. He looked down at his arm to see a giant needle sticking out from his arm. What is this? Are they using this to keep me here? They underestimated me again... He paused with his hand hovering over the needle. Whoever 'they' are...

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sun Woo stopped with his hand on the needle and looked up, "Baro, what do you think you're doing? That has to stay where it is..."

"I was going to look for you Sandeulie." Sun Woo looked the other boy up and down and frowned at the other boy's appearance. The dirt smudges that were on his arms and face were gone and so were the ragged clothes that he wore everyday. His messy hair was also laying flat on his head and the faint smell of soap traveled to his nose. He scrunched his nose at the unfamiliar scent. "Where am I and what happened to you?"

"They wouldn't let me stay with my stench so I had to take a shower...they cleaned you too, before patching you up..."

"Before who patched me up?" Sun Woo noticed how Jung Hwan hesitated to answer his question, the other boy was fidgeting his fingers. Sun Woo looked down at the needle in his arm and started to pull off the tape.

"No, stop!" The tape was almost all completely off when Jung Hwan's outburst made him stop. He looked up at the other boy, waiting for an answer. "We're in the hospital…" Jung Hwan's voice got quieter as he spoke but Sun Woo heard every word loud and clear.

"Hospital, what do you mean hospital?!" Sun Woo finished pulling of the tape and bit his bottom lip as the stinging pain of the tape pulling off his arm hair overwhelmed him for a few seconds. "We don't have the resources to pay for this, I told you not to take me here...how are you even planning on paying the bills?"

"You don't have to worry about that, I've already had the bill taken care of." Sun Woo's hand stopped just as his fingers made contact with the needle in his arm. He looked behind Jung Hwan to see a familiar face. His name is Chan Sik...right? He didn't even attempt to hide the frown that appeared once he saw the other boy.

"We seem to be seeing a lot of each other...even though earlier in the day was when I first saw your face."

"Actually that was a week ago...you've been sleeping for a week." Sun Woo listened to Chan Sik's words but it took a few minutes for them to actually sink in. When they finally did he turned his eyes on Jung Hwan, hoping the other boy would get what he wanted without him having to say anything.

"I'm sorry Chan Sik." Jung Hwan turned towards the other boy, "Can you leave us alone for a little while, I'll explain the situation to him." Chan Sik nodded before turning and leaving the room, they both waited for the door to close and for the sound of footsteps to fade away before finally talking.

"A week? A week?!" Sun Woo couldn't believe such a minor injury could make him lose a week of his life. "It wasn't even that serious! Have you been okay on your own?" He looked up at Jung Hwan, "You've never been out on the streets alone, have you been able to find food for yourself?" Jung Hwan averted his eyes at the question and Sun Woo stopped talking, he just stared at the other boy for several minutes. "Where have you been sleeping?"

"Chan Sik let me stay in his home since his parents are rarely home..." Sun Woo wasn't sure why but once Jung Hwan finished speaking his quiet words he felt betrayed.

"Ah...that's right, you still remember your life before you were on the streets." His eyes moved away from Jung Hwan's face and looked up at the ceiling, "How inconsiderate of me, you probably miss it…huh?"

"No that's not what-"

"Don't worry about it...once I'm out of here I won't force you to come with me."

"That's not what I mean, Sun-" There was a knock on the room door and Jung Hwan quickly stopped talking. He turned to see a nurse walk into the room with Chan Sik following behind her.

"The doctor said that you're clear to go," the nurse said as she carefully removed the needle from his arm. Once it was out she threw the needle away and taped a cotton ball over the the needle puncture. "Even though you've been cleared to leave we need you to return here every two weeks for the next six months to make sure that head injury doesn't cause you anymore problems and to make sure that there's no permanent damage we didn't catch the first time."

I'm not coming back here...I'll disappear without a trace of me left behind. His eyes wandered around the hospital room. Everything was either white or a dull pale color, it also smelled too clean. He felt lightheaded just sitting on the bed. He wanted to get out. He wanted to be outside.

"I understand that you really have no place to call home." Sun Woo's eyes stopped roaming the hospital room and they stopped on the nurse. He didn't like what her words were starting to imply. "So this young gentleman-"

"No." He already knew what her next words were going to be and he cut her off before he had to hear them.

"But-"

"No." He watched as a frown settled on her face, she didn't seem to appreciate the fact that she was cut off twice.

"I'm sorry about him." Jung Hwan finally decided to speak up, "Do you think you can leave us alone for a few minutes?" The nurse looked between Sun Woo and Jung Hwan several times before turning around and leaving the room with Chan Sik in tow. He waited for the doors to close before turning his attention towards Sun Woo.

"No."

"This isn't really a time to be stubborn." Jung Hwan frowned as Sun Woo crossed his arms over his chest. "We're talking about your life here."

"So," Sun Woo asked him, "Chan Sik's little friends said it before I was left to die in the alley, 'he's just a street kid, no one will miss him if he's dead' my memory may be a little foggy from the hit to my head but I'm pretty sure that they said that."

"So prove them wrong," Jung Hwan told him, "I've never known you as the type to give up. Why don't you just do what you need for the next-"

"Why don't any of you understand?" JungHwan was a little thrown off by the sudden question so he couldn't respond. Sun Woo didn't even give him the chance to respond. "The streets are all I know. The freedom of living under an open sky and the ability to fight for what I need. I don't have the confidence to live under a roof, live surrounded by walls. I don't want to live a life were things are handed to me and none of it was earned because I worked hard for it. I don't...I just don't."

"But it's only temporary," Jung Hwan informed him in the hopes of calming the other boy down.

"I don't care if it's for a short while or for a long time, I don't want to lose the only thing I know."

"I understand that but don't you want to live long so you can find out..." Jung Hwan's words trailed off as he pulled a yellowing piece of paper from his pocket. Sun Woo knew what that paper was even before Jung Hwan carefully unfolded it and handed it over. Sun Woo gently held the paper in his hands, his eyes looking over all the rips and stains that it gained over the years. "He has better resources then us too, if we go it'll be like killing two birds with one stone. In six months we can find out everything we need to, maybe even more."

"Where'd you get this from?" Sun Woo was careful as he folded the paper and held it gently in his hands.

"I managed to save it before they threw away your old clothes."

"Threw away my old clothes...?"

"That's not the point," Jung Hwan said with a slight frown, "To find out what you want to know won't you go to Chan Sik's home and do what your supposed to?"

"Why are you trying to get me to stay with that boy?"

"Isn't that simple? I don't want you to die. We met seven years ago and even though you told me to leave after I healed, you didn't complain when I stayed. For seven years I felt ashamed of the fact that I had nothing but even though you were the same as me you held your head high and just proved those who looked down at you wrong. I don't want my strong best friend to die..." He covered his face with his hands, obviously embarrassed by his own words. Sun Woo couldn't help but to laugh.

"You said it yet you're embarrassed?"

"Be quiet..."

"Only six months, no longer." Jung Hwan looked up from his hands and gave the biggest smile ever.

"You promise?" Sun Woo nodded and Jung Hwan couldn't help but to jump a few times in joy. During Jung Hwan's celebration the nurse and Chan Sik reentered the hospital room.

"Have you made your decision?"

"He agreed to stay-"

"For six months only." Jung Hwan turned and sent a quick frown Sun Woo's way before turning back to the others with a smile. They continued to talk while Sun Woo sat on the bed with his legs crossed. "Am I allowed to leave now?"

"Ah, that's right." The nurse looked at Sun Woo for a second before turning her attention back towards Jung Hwan and Chan Sik, "He can't leave here still wearing his hospital gown..."

"Don't worry about it." Jung Hwan moved towards a chair that was placed a few feet from Sun Woo's hospital bed and grabbed a bag from it. "I have a change of clothes for him, right here." He looked at the other boy with an amused smirk. He heard the nurse leave and Chan Sik said something but he paid it no mind.

"You weren't really planning on giving me the option on going to that house were you?"

"Guilty," Jung Hwan said as he pulled the clothes out of the bag.

"And the other street kids didn't believe you could be mean. Oh how I with they could see this."

"How's this mean?" Jung Hwan gave Sun Woo the change of clothes.

"I like my freedom." Sun Woo got off the bed and started shuffling towards the bathroom, "So telling me that I have a choice only for me to find out I never really had a choice to beginning with. Kind of cruel, don't you think?"

"He has a point." He heard Chan Sik's words before he closed the bathroom door behind him and started to change. Even though Jung Hwan handed him a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt he had trouble putting them on. He was so used to wearing clothes that he found on the street, most of the time the clothes he found where so big that his frame swam in the oversized wear. The form fitting clothes were foreign to him, the feeling of clothes that fit him was an alien one.

"I feel weird," he announced as he walked out of the bathroom in his new clothes, the hospital garment hanging at his side in his hand.

"The nurse said you can leave the clothes on the bed." Sun Woo turned his eyes on Chan Sik but before he could say anything he felt the garments being pulled from his hands and he turned to see Jung Hwan throwing the clothes on the bed.

"Let's get going," Jung Hwan said happily as he took a hold of Sun Woo's wrist and started pulling him along, "Half of the day is gone and I wanna be done before sunset."

"You just want to eat dinner in peace." At Sun Woo's words the other boy mumbled something along the lines of isn't that reason good enough?. He didn't even bother to hold back the laughter at the other boy's words, "Food's always a good reason for you."

"Of course, how do you not like to eat?"

"I've said this before but I'll say it again, I saved a boy with a black hole for a stomach."

"The car is this way." They both stopped and turned to see Chan Sik pointing in the opposite direction. Jung Hwan just gave a sheepish grin before pulling Sun Woo along after Chan Sik. They walked in silence and once they reached the parking garage Sun Woo was starting to resist but Jung Hwan kept pulling him along.

When they finally reached the car Jung Hwan had to push Sun Woo inside and got in next to him to make sure the other boy didn't escape. Once Chan Sik was in the car it started and Sun Woo couldn't help but to feel a little trapped as he watched the scenery outside blur pass the car.

The awkward silence that was starting to fill the car was replaced by music and a few seconds later by Jung Hwan singing along to the songs that played.

"We're here." The car came to a stop beside a elegant looking two story house and Sun Woo felt his stomach twist at the thought of staying in the house for six months. Chan Sik was already out of the car and was walking towards the house while Jung Hwan fought against Sun Woo, trying to get him out of the car. After a few minutes Sun Woo finally gave in and let Jung Hwan pull him out of the car.

"Six months will fly by." He knew Jung Hwan's words were supposed to be comforting but they only made him regret his decision even more. When they reached the door Sun Woo was trying to dig his feet into the ground to slow himself down, but the concrete made it impossible.

The door to the house opened as Jung Hwan approached it and despite all his efforts he was pulled inside the house, into a world completely unfamiliar to him. The first words he heard was, "Sun Woo…" They both froze and turned to see a woman, she was staring at Sun Woo and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Sun Woo?" He moved back a little bit before his eyes noticed Chan Sik walking into the room behind the woman.

"You know that can't be Sun Woo, mom." Sun Woo blinked a couple of times before his brain kicked in. They're talking about someone else...Sun Woo could be a common name. "This is Baro, he'll be staying here for the next six months." Something flashed in her eyes and it was so quick that Sun Woo barely caught it.

"I'm sorry about that, you just look so much like him." She said with a smile, "The Cha's were our friends but quite a while ago they disappeared without a trace. Chan Sik and their little boy used to play together a lot when they were younger. Even if our social status were completely different we were all so very close." Sun Woo was shaking just slightly and his mind was spinning.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but we just got back from the hospital, is there someone who can show us to Baro's temporary room."

"No need," Chan Sik told him, "It's right next to the room your using."

"Ah, thank you." He turned towards Chan Sik's mom and smiled, "It was nice meeting you." He tightened his grip a bit before pulling him off towards his temporary room. His head was still spinning so he didn't put up a fight. When he heard the door closing is when words started pouring out of his mouth.

"She knows my name...which means she knows my parents...which means she could give me clues to the first six years of my life. She also said I was friends with that boy...does that mean he knows something too? Wait...does that mean that this family has the answers I've been searching for for the past nine years..."

"Take a breath." Sun Woo stopped talking and looked at Jung Hwan, "This is really strange...the boy who saved your life apparently knew you before you were left to live on the streets but he doesn't seem to realize it's you. Wouldn't this be called fate?"

"Don't call it fate." Sun Woo pretended to gag, "It was just a coincidence."

"Well whatever you wanna call it they still know something you don't. So I think it's best if you get on their good side and find trying what we can in the six months that we're their guests."

"And for now I'll be Baro and only Baro, I don't want my real name said at any time."

"Okay, we'll start everything in the morning then." Jung Hwan and Sun Woo shook on it before Jung Hwan left to go to his own room. Sun Woo turned towards the bed and cautiously approached it. He climbed into the bed and tried to make himself comfortable but the feeling was so foreign to him that he ended up laying on the cold hard floor with a thin blanket. It was the closest he could get to the familiar feeling of sleeping outside with only a piece of newspaper to protect him from the cold. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.