“Why in the hell do I have to do that if I’m only staying here for six months?!” Jung Hwan had a hold of Sun Woo’s arm to keep him from doing anything he might end up regretting later. He noticed Sun Woo getting angrier when Chan Sik didn’t react to him at all.  The young master of the house just sat on the couch with a cup in his hand, not showing any reaction to Sun Woo’s outburst. He just calmly drank from his cup.

“The maids aren’t comfortable with you two staying here by yourself.” He paused as he took another sip from his drink before continuing, “Since my father is the headmaster of the school he’s willing to provide you with uniforms and allow you to attend school for your six month stay with us.”

“I don’t live to make your maids comfortable.” Sun Woo easily pulled his arm from Jung Hwan’s grip, the other silently questioned himself about taking a hold of Sun Woo once more. “If that’s the condition for staying here then I’ll happily leave, I never wanted to come here to begin with.” Sun Woo left the room in a fit of rage and Jung Hwan looked between Chan Sik and the hallway Sun Woo fled down several times before bowing apologetically towards Chan Sik and running after his friend.

Sun Woo tried to ignore the hateful glares sent his way as he slowly walked through the seemingly endless hallway; his anger from earlier had completely dissipated already. He wasn’t even sure why he got so angry in the first place. As he kept walking he felt like he was suffocating, like the walls were closing around him.

He tried to ignore the whispered conversations filled with words like ‘that street rat’ and ‘who does he think he is’. He couldn’t stay trapped in the house anymore, it’s been days since he’s last been outside. He needed to feel the breeze against his skin.

He moved towards a nearby window and tried opening it, to no avail. He checked for latches or locks that would’ve prevented the window from opening. He found none.

He knew walking out of the house by himself wasn’t an option, especially after his previous outburst; they consider him a high risk runaway. He really needed to go outside, the feeling of suffocation was becoming too much for him to bear. He raised his fist to try to break the window when a hand grabbed his hand and stopped him. His whole body tensed until the stranger spoke. “Baro…let’s go outside, okay?”

Jung Hwan took a hold of Sun Woo’s wrist and started to pull him back the way they came from. The younger boy didn’t have the energy left in him to resist the older boy's pull. When the reentered the living room Chan Sik was already gone, instead there was a maid cleaning up what he left behind. “Excuse me.” The maid looked up as Jung Hwan spoke, “Can you point us in the direction of the gardens.” She frowned as she pointed in the same direction they were heading. “So we just keep walking this way?” Jung Hwan pointed in front of him and the maid just nodded. “Thank You.” The maid bowed to them before returning to her work, Jung Hwan continued to pull Sun Woo along.

It felt like hours had passed before they finally found the back door, when, in reality, it had only been a few minutes. “This house is unnecessarily big,” Jung Hwan said as he pulled open the back door and pulled Sun Woo outside. Once he felt the sun on his skin and the soft breeze blow pass him, he felt as if he could breathe again. Jung Hwan let go of Sun Woo’s arm as the younger boy took in a deep breath and smiled. He missed the feeling of being outside, especially after being confined within the walls of a house.

“I’ve missed being outside,” Sun Woo said as his eyes swept over the expanse of the backyard garden, “I felt like I was, literally, suffocating in that house.” He started to walk with Jung Hwan following him. As his eyes scanned the garden he felt his smile slowly turning into a frown, he felt as if he had been in the garden before.

“I think we should take up their offer of going to school.” Jung Hwan took no notice of his friend’s rapidly deteriorating mood, “I mean it’s not like their expecting you to do well and if you think about it you’ll get to go outside whenever you want-” Jung Hwan didn’t realize Sun Woo had stopped walking, so his words were cut off as he ran into the other’s back. He backed away a little bit as he rubbed his nose, finally noticing the frown on his friend’s face. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Jung Hwan said with a pout, “It was just a suggestion.”

“It’s not that.” Jung Hwan watched as Sun Woo took a few more steps before stopping again, “I feel like I’ve been here before...I’m not really sure why but this place feels familiar.”

“...does that mean Chan Sik’s mom wasn’t lying?” Jung Hwan lowered his voice as he moved closer to Sun Woo, “Maybe she knows where they disappeared to or at least what happened to them.”

“She doesn’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“She said it when we first met, 'they disappeared without a trace'.”

“But that doesn’t mean they don’t know what happened...well maybe Chan Sik doesn’t but his parents might know something.”

“You think they know something?” Sun Woo’s voice was no louder then a whisper.

“Think about it, Sun Woo.” Jung Hwan was also whispering, “You don’t remember anything from before you were six, right?” Sun Woo nodded, “I highly doubt the face you had as a toddler is the face you have now. How did she know who you were as soon as you walked through the door?”

“So you’re saying whatever answers I’m looking for might be in this house.” Jung Hwan nodded, “I guess I should be trying my best to stay under this roof right?” Jung Hwan nodded again and Sun Woo let out a sigh, “Fine…let’s go find the young master.” Sun Woo started heading back to the house with Jung Hwan following after him. “Jung Hwan, I hope your right about this,” Sun Woo said as they reached the back door, he took a deep breath before grabbing the handle and heading inside.

“Excuse me.” After looking around the house for twenty minutes they decided that it’d be easier to ask the first maid they saw, “Do you know where the young master is? Baro would like to apologize for his behavior earlier.” Sun Woo frowned but didn’t say anything to Jung Hwan’s explanation, she smiled at them.

“Since it’s just before lunch you can find him in his father’s study.”

“Where can we find that?”

“All you have to do is head upstairs and turn to the left, it should be the fifth door to the right.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She bowed to them before continuing her work. Jung Hwan grabbed Sun Woo’s wrist and pulled him upstairs. When they reached the door to Chan Sik’s father’s study Jung Hwan pushed Sun Woo forward to knock on the door. He looked back at his friend with a slight pout before turning back around and knocking on the door.

“Come in.” When that voice answered his knock he suddenly wanted to turn around but when he tried to Jung Hwan’s hands were on his back.

“Remember our goal.” Jung Hwan pulled the door open with one hand and pushed Sun Woo into the study with the other. When they entered the study they saw two walls just lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with books. Their was a large desk placed to the back of the room  that had a few book piled on top, that’s where they found Chan Sik sitting. When he looked up at them he was surprised to say the least, it showed perfectly on his face.

Jung Hwan had to nudge Sun Woo’s back, making the other stumble forward a bit. He threw a glare back at his friend but the other just stared him down mouthing the phrase hurry up. He turned back towards Chan Sik and gave a light bow, “I came here to apologize for my earlier behavior and I’d like to take you for that offer you gave me earlier to go to school.”

“What made you change your mind?” Chan Sik looked at Sun Woo for a second before looking at Jung Hwan, “Did Sandeul tell you  why you behavior was uncalled for?” Sun Woo bit his lip to bite back a comment and gave a small (forced) smile while nodding.

“Sandeul helped me…see the errors of my way.” Sun Woo showed his teeth as he smiled, “So I’m sincerely hoping that the offer is still open for me.”

“Of course it is,” Chan Sik said with a smile as he placed his elbows on the desk, interlaced his fingers together, and rested his chin of the back of his hands, “It wasn’t really an option anyways.” Sun Woo’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance and Jung Hwan choose that moment to jump into the conversation. He took a hold of Sun Woo’s shoulders to try to remind him of the main reason they were doing this to begin with.

“Thank you for your kindness Chan Sik.” Jung Hwan bowed to the younger boy, his arms on Sun Woo’s shoulders making the other follow the respectful action, “We’ll be sure to be ready to head to school in the morning.” He smiled before dragging Sun Woo out of the room, the other boy resisting just slightly.

“Why didn’t you let me say anything,” Sun Woo whined the question just as they entered Jung Hwan’s room, the older boy closing the door behind them.

“Because we can’t burn any bridges if we want to,” he lowered his voice, “Find out about your past. Since this family has some ties to yours this is the best place to start.”

Sun Woo crossed his arms around his neck, “I can’t believe I used to play with that kid, all he does is get under my skin.”

“Just hold in your temper,” Jung Hwan said to him, “We can’t afford to piss anyone off until we find out the truth.”

“Does that mean I have to be a good boy at school tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Jung Hwan said as he plopped down into his bed, “We can’t have you getting into fights on the first day.”

“What if that tries to start something again?”

“Then ignore him.”

“After he tried to leave me for dead in an alley?”

“Sun Woo, just leave it. I’ll let you get your revenge after we found out what you’ve been dying to know for years.”

“Fine.”

“Good night, Sun Woo.”

“Good night, Jung Hwan.” Sun Woo watched as Jung Hwan crawled under his cover before leaving the room and heading next door to sleep in his room. He wasn’t looking forward to what the next day would bring.

-

They walked down the halls of the school with hushed whispers following their every step. Sun Woo had a permanent frown set in place while Jung Hwan pulled him along, hoping that by pulling him he could remember to keep his temper down. He pulled the other boy up towards the roof to escape the other students.

“You said this is was going to be a good idea,” Sun Woo said once they entered the room and the door closed behind them, “I think this is the worst thing we’ve ever done.”

“Just bare with it for six months,” Jung Hwan begged him, “Only six months, we should take this as a chance to find out what we can.”

“Fine but I'm tired of dealing with these people acting like they're superior.”

“Then ignore them.”

“What do you think I've been trying to do,” Sun Woo asked him with a cocked brow, “Do you think I want to pay attention to their words and then want to beat them up on my first day here?”

Jung Hwan didn't want to answer Sun Woo's question so he changed the subject, “We still have some time before class, lets go to the library and do a little research on the computer.”

“I don't know how to use a computer,” Sun Woo said as he and Jung Hwan started to head towards the door.

“I remember a little bit about computers before I ended up on the streets,” Jung Hwan said as he reached for the door handle, “I hope that's – you have to be kidding me.” Jung Hwan tried to turn the door handle but it wouldn't budge, he jiggled it. Nothing.

“Are we locked in here?” Sun Woo looked between the door and Jung Hwan, “Please don't tell me that we're locked on the roof?”

“I won't say anything then,” Jung Hwan said with a nervous laugh as he turned around and looked at Sun Woo. The other boy was staring at him with an open mouth before turning around and heading towards the edge of the roof. “What do you think your doing?” Sun Woo ignored his question as he pushed the small fence forward so he could look over the sides. He started climbing. “What do you think your doing?!” Jung Hwan ran forward and grabbed onto the back of Sun Woo's uniform.

“What does it look like,” Sun Woo asked as he looked over his shoulder, “I'm gonna jump for it.”

“Are you trying to kill yourself?!”

“I can't die from jumping from this height,” Sun Woo told him as he pushed the other boy's arms off, “There are bushes right there and, if I time this just right the most I'll get are a couple of scratches and maybe even a bruise.” The older boy wasn't going to let that happen as he pulled Sun Woo off the fence. He started listing off all the things that could go wrong with Sun Woo's plan while the other boy told Jung Hwan to share any of his bright ideas. They weren't sure how long their little fight went on but it was interrupted by someone's obnoxious cough. They both turned to see a girl standing at the entrance, holding open the door as she stared at them.

“I'm sorry if I interrupted something,” she said as she looked between the two boys, “I just heard something and I thought I'd come check it out.”

“It's our savior,” Jung Hwan said as he happily made his way towards the girl and the open door, “Come on Baro, I think there's still time to go to the library.” He turned towards the girl, “Is there?”

“Me?” She pointed at herself and Jung Hwan nodded, “There's only a few minutes before the bell rings, almost everyone is already in class.”

“Well use the next chance after this class ends,” Sun Woo said as he noticed the frown forming on Jung Hwan's face. He turned towards the girl with a smile, “Thanks for opening the door, if it wasn't for you we'd probably be stuck up here forever.” Jung Hwan said his thanks before dragging him off to their next and only shared class.

“To the library,” Sun Woo said but Jung Hwan caught his wrist before he could make it out the door. He looked back at the other and he was frowning.

“I'm hungry.” Sun Woo thought back on it and the last thing Jung Hwan ate was breakfast, which was a few hours ago.

“We don't have any money to buy lunch Sandeul.” He started to pull the other towards the library.

“If you don't have anything to eat you can share with us.” Sun Woo and Jung Hwan turned at the offer to see the same girl who opened the door to the roof with an unfamiliar face with her.

“Your the girl who opened the door earlier.”

“I'm Amber,” she said before pointing towards her friend, “And this is Hyun Ah.” The other girl waved and Sun Woo cocked one of his eyebrows at them. He was about to say something when Jung Hwan opened his mouth.

“Really?! You'll share with us?” He looked at them and they both nodded. He jumped so high in joy that Sun Woo didn't bother to hide his laughter. Jung Hwan's mood did a complete one-eighty. “It's nice to meet you two, I'm Sandeul,” he said as he eyed their food, “And this is Baro.”

“Come one let's go to the cafeteria to eat.” Sun Woo groaned internally at the thought of being stuck inside beside a bunch of other kids that were trying to eat in the amount of time they were given.

“Let's eat outside.” Sun Woo looked at Hyun Ah as she bounced on the ball of her feet, “It's such a nice day outside.” She said with a laugh as she gave a little twirl, as if to prove her point.

Amber turned to look at them, “Is that okay?”

“I'd prefer it that way,” Sun Woo said with a smile as he ran to catch up with Hyun Ah, “Just lead the way.” People were looking there way but Sun Woo didn't care as he let Hyun Ah pull him along, he probably found the only two decent people in the school. Jung Hwan happily followed along for the food while Amber silently wondered to herself, what did I just get myself into?

“Hyun Sik!” A boy looked up from his spot underneath a shady tree as Hyun Ah called out, “Amber found two more friends!” She moved back and grabbed both Sun Woo and Jung Hwan's wrist before pulling them towards the boy, “They didn't have lunch so we offered to eat with them.”

“No wonder you suggested sitting outside,” Amber said as she slowly approached the small group, “It's so rare to see you at school Hyun Sik, what brings you here?”

“The doctors said I should attend school for a few days before being locked up again.” Sun Woo looked at him in confusion while Jung Hwan just stared at the food that Amber was pulling from her lunch box, he was basically drooling.

“Locked up for what exactly?”

“I have a heart problem,” Hyun Sik told him as he found a comfortable spot on the ground and sat, “It's nothing I can die from but to be safe they want to keep me in the hospital for observation. I'm rarely allowed to come to school because they worry that too much stress could worsen my condition.”

“I think it's more stressful to be locked inside then to be able to go outside.” Sun Woo said as he gladly took the offered food from Hyun Ah.

“Thank you,” Hyun Sik said with a laugh, “I'm begging you to help me convince them of that, I hate being stuck inside all day.”

“Oh right,” Hyun Ah looked at Hyun Sik, “This is Sandeul and Baro.” Hyun Sik stared at Hyun Ah with a confused looked on his face before looking at Sun Woo.

“Really,” the boy asked as he continued to stare, “I thought his name was Sun Woo.” Jung Hwan froze with the food in his mouth while Sun Woo froze with his food on the way to his mouth. He locked gazes with Hyun Sik, why do so many people seem to know my name?