"Hey." He mumbled quietly standing next to her on the balcony. He was exhausted. It was the night of Kyungsan's birthday, and just like any other eight, no, nine year old, Kyungsan was practically jumping off the walls.

JiAh and Hoya happened to get stuck with all the work load. Neither mind though, it was for Kyungsan.

"You should be inside. What if they need you?" She mumbled softly as she stared down the balcony onto the buildings around them.

"I'm sure my mother can handle it. It is my mother after all." He replied. As expected of his mother, she had began bugging in halfway through the birthday planning. She insisted that Hoya didn't have the skills to put everything together and that JiAh was simply too nice and couldn't order people around. She had pushed both Hoya and JiAh aside, claiming herself as the new birthday planner. Both JiAh and Hoya were fine with that. The Chairwoman did know how to throw a party. Even if it was for children.

"Let's go on a walk." He insisted. She shifted her gaze to him. Her eyes were wide and curious.

"What?" She murmured softly.

"Let's go on a walk, come on." He repeated, grabbing her wrist carefully.

"Where are you going?" Chairwoman Lee asked as they two walked through the living room. Most of the kids from the orphanage were here, playing amongst themselves. The room was decorated with balloons and on Kyungsan's personal request, airplanes.

"On a walk. Be back in a few." Hoya answered. The Chairwoman was going to rebutt back, but her attention was diverted elsewhere before she could say anything.

"Noona, can I get a small piece of the cake first?" Sungjong asked sticking his head out from the kitchen. A pout was lit on his face along with puppy eyes. Hoya rolled his eyes.

"Stop being such a kid, Sungjong." Hoya groaned.

"Tell that to Sungyeol hyung." Sungjong whined before disappearing back into the kitchen where the rest of the guys were.

Hoya ignored everyone else as he and JiAh left the apartment. As they walked, the streetlights reflected on his face, illuminating his features in the dark. Blues, greens, and purples from lighted street signs danced around them. Seoul was crazy, it usually was, with people mindlessly walking about.

The two walked slowly, Hoya's hands unconsciously held onto JiAh's. He was scare if he let go she'll run off again. He had to tell her something. He had something to ask of her. And though he had no right to ask, he still needed to. She was the only one capable of doing what he wanted to ask. But he was scare of her answer.

"Are you cold?" He asked her catching her attention. He had scared her, he could tell from how she jumped when he spoke.

"No. I'm fine." She replied. It was the beginning of spring. No more snow, the cold wonderland of crystal and white had vanished. It would soon be replaced by the blossoming colors of spring. But it was still breezy and the air was chilly.

JiAh was dressed comfortably, and he was scare she would be cold, especially this time of the night. He doubted that the purple cardigan she had on would provide much protection from the cold.

"Did you want my jacket?" He asked as he began taking his jacket off.

"No. I'm fine, really." She intervened, stopping him. He nodded as they began walking again. It was silent for most of the way. They were basically walking around the street the apartment complex was on and circling back.

The silence wasn't awkward, it wasn't weird. It was relaxed, oddly enough.

"Thank you." He whispered when they began circling back. They could see the complex up ahead.

"For what?" She asked.

"For being here. Honestly I didn't think you would come. But then again, its for Kyungsan and I know you really love him." He explained. That wasn't the only reason she had said yes to coming back, but he didn't know that.

"And I'm sorry. Sorry again, but I have another favor to ask." He said slowly and nervously.

She looked at him cautiously holding her breath. This sounded serious. He avoided looking at her, knowing that if he looked at her he would get too scare to speak.

"My father is transferring me to America. Its for business expansion." He said, and JiAh could feel her heart drop and crash onto the floor. "Honestly I don't want to go. I don't want to leave at all. But its my father, and he's stubborn. My mother even intervened. And trust me, usually when my mother intervenes things go her way. But not this time so-"

"Where are you going with this?" She cut in stopping his rant. Her eyes were still on him as they slowly walked. The apartment complex was now only a few feet ahead.

"Kyungsan's staying in Seoul. He has school, and the orphanage. And I was wondering if you would look after him. I know you will either way, but I mean, watch him while living here. At our apartment." He asked. "If you need help, my mother's always around. And you can keep working at the library, I can make one of the guys drive you there and pick you up every day so you don't have to worry about traveling back and forth. Plus, the guys like you so they wouldn't mind, and-"

"When are you leaving?" JiAh questioned as she pulled her eyes away from him and onto the flashing signs.

"Three days." He answered. She exhaled deeply letting her eyes fall onto the ground. Three days, he was leaving in three days.

"How long will you be gone?"

"That depends. Three, maybe four months. Six at the most." Hoya answered. She still hadn't answered his initial question and he was getting nervous with all the questions she was throwing.

"If its too much, it fine. I just thought it would be best to have you with Kyungsan. Legally I'm his guardian, but I know that-"

"Yes. I'll care take of him." She answered. Hoya let go of that breath he didn't even realize he was holding. They approached the steps of the apartment complex.

"Thank you. For everything." He said. And both knew he wasn't just talking about this. Over the last few days, while planning Kyungsan's party, Hoya had done nothing but apologize for everything he did in the past. He had done nothing but looked over her and taken care of her. She was truly touched by this. At first she was uncomfortable with his new behavior but slowly grown to it.

--

"Make a wish." Chairwoman Lee exclaimed to an excited Kyungsan. Kyungsan, with a big breath of air blew out the candles, rendering the room in darkness before Sunggyu turned the lights on.

The room was surrounded with claps and cheers. Kyungsan's smile couldn't be any bigger. Chairwoman Lee than began cutting the cake, with assistance from Sungjong and Sungyeol, who in all honestly, just wanted the first pieces of cake.

"What did you wish for?" Hoya whispered to Kyungsan. Kyungsan shook his head.

"Not telling" Kyungsan replied. Hoya chuckled before nodding and moving over to the rest of the guys.

JiAh stepped next to Kyungsan who was still seated on the chair.

"Did you like the party?" She asked sincerely. He nodded with a bright smile.

"Thank you noona." He thanked and she felt herself smile.

"Noona, can I tell you something?" Kyungsan whispered making sure no one else heard. Everyone's attention was on the cake though.

"Sure, what is it?" She asked leaning her head in closer. Kyungsan rose his face to her ear and whispered,

"Do you know what I wished for...I wished for noona to be happy." He whispered. She felt herself smile and frown at the same time. This was the birthday wish a nine year old had made. It was selfless and she felt a tinge of pain cross her body, followed by happiness, knowing that Kyungsan cared so much.

"Noona's happy if you're happy." She whispered back to him with a small smile.

JiAh's eyes unconsciously moved to Hoya who was stealing the frostling off of Sungjong's piece of cake. She smiled seeing the sight. A piece of her heart ached knowing that in three days time, he would be leaving. A part of her didn't want him to leave.

Kyungsan who caught JiAh staring smiled to himself. "I know noona. I don't want him to leave either." Kyungsan interjected shifting JiAh's attention to Kyungsan.

--

"Let me help you with those." Hoya stated as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. JiAh was busy washing the dishes. The house was quieter now. All the kids had left. Hoya's mother left just now, along with some of the guys. Dongwoo and Sungjong were still there, stuck on cleaning duty while Kyungsan ran around freely, playing with his new presents.

"Its fine. There's only a few left." She replied. That was a lie though, according to the two stacks of plates that were set on the counter.

"Come on, go rest. I'll do it." He insisted stubbornly.

"No its fine." She countered even more stubborn than Hoya.

"JiAh. Let me do the dishes." He repeated with a smile on his face.

"I said its fine. I can do them." She stated. He playfully rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. He stepped beside her and placed something on the counter, careful not to get it wet.

"Did you want to scrub or rinse?" He asked. She turned her head towards him.

"What?" She asked softly.

"I can rinse the plates, you scrub them eith soap." He said.

"Its fine." She rejected.

"No really, I'm helping." He said grabbing the plate in her hand as he began rinsing it clean of soap. "I really can't believe we're fighting over dishes." He joked. She smiled.

"My parents used to fight over the dishes all the time, the difference was that neither wanted to do the dishes. I always thought that-" She paused realizing that this little moment between them reminded her a lot of her parents.

"That's nice. They must have a good marriage." Hoya mumbled noticing how she paused.

Her eyes shifted to him, then onto what he had placed on the counter.

"My notebook. You kept it." She said gently. A part of her had always assumed her would had thrown it away. She thought he must've had. He never mentioned after he found her. Until now.

"That's why you left it right, for me to find it." He stated. When he saw her washing the dishes alone the passage she had wrote in her notebook entered his mind. The one about her parents and their marriage. A marriage. She had wanted a marriage, the kind her parents had. He couldn't give her that. There was so much he couldn't give her. But he could try to give her what little he had.

"Yeah." She said softly not wanting him to hear her small confession.

"Come on. Let's finish washing these dishes." He said breaking her stance.

"Thank you Hoya." She said softly not noticing the toothy grin that lifted onto Hoya's face when she said those short words.

--

Hoya was saying good bye to Dongwoo and Sungjong. The place was finally clean. Everyone was exhausted. Even the birthday boy himself.

"Noona, I want to have a hundred more of these." He stated. She smiled.

"Then eat healthy and exercise and maybe you will." She answered as she leaned her head down on the pillow.

"Noona, are you really going to watch over me when hyung is gone?" Kyungsan mumbled. The thought of Hoya leaving entered her mind again. He was really leaving. It still hadn't soaked in. She was bothered by how much his leaving affected her heart and mind.

"Yeah, I guess I am." She answered. She was going to watch over Kyungsan either way, with Hoya here, or without. But knowing that Hoya would be halfway around the world made her heart ache.

"Noona, can I tell you something" Kyungsan whispered softly as he turned his head back to make sure that Hoya was still saying good bye to Dongwoo and Sungjong.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Noona, I really want to make hyung happy." He said. JiAh cracked a smile. Of course Kyungsan did, he wanted to make everyone around him happy. "Noona, did you know that Hoya hyung is happy when you're happy. So noona, try and be happy."


 

I finally got the last few chapters together. There's only a few left. The ending is still kind of unclear though. Again, thank you to all readers.