Yoon Hee was growing frantic, the thought of work pushing her closer to the edge of insanity where she knew she’d plunge head first if she didn’t pull her act together. Joon was due to arrive at any moment and she was no closer to finding an answer than she had been earlier that day and now there was only minutes before he would was due to show up and take her to work.

Cursing the cold weather and the simple fact that her neighbor was elderly and prone to getting sick she stalked across the tiny expanse of her apartment, her daughter’s eyes trailing her as she walked back and forth, chewing on her knuckle as she went. While she paced for felt a stab of guilt for thinking ill of Eun Mi when she knew the elderly woman couldn’t help getting sick. It wasn’t as if she had asked for such a thing and Yoon Hee felt a little mean for thinking such thoughts.

The problem was with Eun Mi sick she had no one to watch Soo Jin so she could go out to work and with the rent due in just over a week she couldn’t afford to call in and miss a night of work. Another stab of guilt pierced her as she remembered how snappy she had been with Joon earlier that day when he had called and offered to walk with her to work. She had taken all her frustration out on him, had become hysterical in her attempt to explain to him why she couldn’t call in as he suggested.

She paused in her pacing when she heard a knock on her door. Her heart sank with the knowledge that she was going to have to leave her seven year old daughter alone for hours just so she could pull together enough money to keep the roof over their head. She watched in dismay as Soo Jin leaped up and rushed to the door and then dropped open at the sight of all five MBLAQ members filling into her tiny apartment.

Yoon Hee’s eyes strayed to Joon and her knee nearly buckled at the reassuring grin he gave her. “What’s going on? Why are all of you here?”

Joon wrapped her into his arms and held her. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn’t find the words to do it so he simply held her while she trembled in shock. He knew she had had a terrible day, that her ill neighbor had left her in a bind where Soo Jin was concerned. When the call had ended earlier that day he had stared at his phone, at the blank display as the screen out and instead of getting upset that she had taken her problems out on him he began to think of a way to help her. The answer to her problem stood with the four men quietly settling onto the floor with Soo Jin.

“You needed a babysitter for Soo Jin and since I know you are well acquainted with anyone other than us and your neighbor I asked the others to come and sit with Soo Jin so you could go to work.”

While her eyes shimmered with gratitude panic welled. “But Joon everyone is so busy. Do any of them even have the time to waste sitting here with Soo Jin when there’s probably other things they could be doing?”

Seung Ho chuckled and drew Yoon Hee’s attention to him. “There’s nothing of the like to worry about. It’s just after the New Year and with the guest appearances out of the way and the next concert not for another couple of weeks we have some free time. Playing with Soo Jin seems to be a good way to pass the night away so you go on to work with Joon and we’ll stay here and have fun.”

Yoon Hee bowed at him, her gratitude plain to see as she wiped a tear away and stood so that Joon could help her into her coat. She bent and gave Soo Jin a kiss, ruffled her hair. “You be good for them Soo Jin.”

“I will Mommy. I like my MBLAQ oppas. If I’m good then maybe they’ll come back.”

Yoon Hee felt a trickle of unease slip down her spine as she eyed the four men, but their reassuring smiles and easy looks settled her upset and she smiled at her daughter as she straightened to stand. “Maybe they will.”

Joon ushered her out of the apartment and out into the winter night air. It was freezing and likely to get colder as the night moved on towards tomorrow. Their breath fogged as they exhaled into the cold air and Joon watched in detached amusement as it swirled into a foggy halo around them. He took a hold of Yoon Hee’s hand and felt a smile tug at his lips when she easily laced her fingers with his as they continued to walk through in the cold.

“Yoon Hee?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you continue to work at night when Soo Jin is in school? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to work during the day while she’s away than it would be to continue working at night when a babysitter isn’t always a guarantee?” 

She knew he was asking out of concern whether than being nosy and she wanted to answer honestly, but the truth of it was embarrassing. She sighed and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the icy air, the burn working to clear her head. “It would be easier, but I didn’t even finish high school since I was pregnant with Soo Jin. I did look for a job to work during the day, but they wanted to hire people who at least had a diploma, even many of the grocery stores I applied for.”

Joon was quiet as he absorbed the information. Yoon Hee really had had no other choice but to settle for a job where your true identity, the main facts that show people who you are, didn’t mean anything as long as you were willing to do the work. “Was there something you always wanted to do? Like when you were a kid what was something you wanted to be?”

Yoon Hee gave a dry, quiet chuckle. “I didn’t really dream of being anything. I just wanted to survive.” She grew silent. She knew it was time to finally open up to Joon, let him know about her. “My mom died when I was really young so I don’t really remember a time when I knew her and my father was a drunk and a mean one at that. I lived in fear every day and prayed time and time again that I would never have to feel his fist again, but it was a prayer that went unanswered.

For as long as I can remember my father beat me and so when I turned fifteen I left home. I moved in with the guy I was seeing at that time and for a while things with Tae Hoon were fine, but even happiness doesn’t last forever. I knew he grew restless with me there, sometimes even seeking the company of women much different than I was and I feared losing him so I gave myself to him in hopes of keeping him by my side.

When I found out I was pregnant I was happy and I thought that Tae Hoon would be too, but when I told him he ordered me to leave. The worst part of that wasn’t being forced from the only shelter I had, but the fact that he had laughed in my face with yet another woman on his arm. Anyway I left and an elderly woman took me in and I stayed with her until Soo Jin was six. I had no choice but to leave when the woman passed away and her children took over her house. I found the job with Hak Chan and moved into the tiny apartment I have now.”

Joon remained silent, his heart wrenching in two for Yoon Hee. She had had a harsh life; losing her mother, being abused by her father and being abandoned. He thought of her with a new outlook and he had to say he was proud of the person she became even under the worst circumstances. She had made a life for herself and for her daughter, had picked up the pieces and carried on even though times had been nothing but hard on her. He stopped beneath a streetlamp and when she stopped and studied him with a quizzical look in her eyes he didn’t say a word. Instead he reached out and pulled her tight against him, holding her.

She didn’t know what had gotten into him. One minute they had been walking and she had been pouring out the whole sordid tale of her life and the next he had her tight in his arms. She wasn’t complaining. Yoon Hee felt safe in the security of his arms, reveled in the steady rhythm of his heart as it beat beneath her ear, enjoyed the warmth of his body as it seeped into her own and warmed her. It was a moment she wished could last forever, but she knew that she had no other choice but to pull away and continue walking.

He followed her as the meandered towards the club, snow beginning to fall lightly around them in a spiral of flurries on the chilly winter wind. He could still feel her body pressed to his, her heat branding him in warmth. Joon wanted desperately to pull her into his arms again, but he forced the notion away as they walked. “Yoon Hee?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to worry about anything anymore. Somehow, some way I’m going to find a way to help you and Soo Jin.”

Yoon Hee stopped, grabbed his hand to force him to follow suit. She gazed up into his eyes, the dark brown depths shining with sincerity and she felt herself melt. She smiled at him before raising up on her toes and planting a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Joon you’ve already done more than enough to help.” She kissed his other cheek. “Just by being with us, being our friend you have given us more than we have ever had. I thank you for that.”

He lifted his hands to his cheeks and touched the places where she had kissed him. He could still feel the heat of her lips ghosting over his skin and at that moment he wanted nothing more than to whip her into his arms and feel the heat of those lips with his own, but as the thought rolled through his mind the club came into view. Now was not the time for kissing in the snow, there would be time enough for that later on and so for now, with a disgruntled sigh, he followed Yoon Hee into the club, his blood already stirring at the thought of her dancing.