A couple of days had passed since Maddie ran away and moved out of the house. Chunji had managed to get Maddie to go back to their apartment together and in the end, Chunji moved back home to live with his parents and L.Joe.

            “Hyung, are you sure this is good?” L.Joe asked as he sat on the chair in Chunji’s room as he was flipping through a book.

            “What do you mean?” Chunji asked as he looked up from his book to look at L.Joe.

            “I mean moving back home and leaving Maddie at the house by herself.”

            “Are you afraid for her?”

            “Aren’t you?” L.Joe asked. “Aren’t you afraid that someone might break into the apartment and harm her? I mean sure, women all over the world live alone, but this is your fiancée that we’re talking about. Shouldn’t you care some more about her?”

            “Are you saying that I don’t care about her?”

            “I’m not saying that, hyung. I’m just saying that you don’t look like you’re doing such a good job of protecting the one that you’re supposed to protect for the rest of your life.”

            “Don’t you have something to do?” Chunji asked. The questioning from L.Joe hadn’t stopped for days, ever since Maddie ran away. It seemed like L.Joe would just keep questioning him until he got an answer out of him that he wanted. Frankly, it annoyed Chunji to no end. He just wanted to keep living his life the way he was living it. Why did L.Joe have to keep questioning him?

            “Ah, I have to go meet Myungsoo,” L.Joe said as he got up from the chair and headed towards the door. “But hyung, are you really sure that you want to marry Maddie?”

            “Are you questioning my motives right now, Byunghun?” Chunji asked.

            “Maybe I am,” L.Joe sighed. “But I only question things that have a right to be questioned.”

            “Well I didn’t question what happened to you when you got a girl pregnant,” Chunji retorted back.

            “Really hyung? We’re going to go there?” L.Joe complained. He couldn’t believe that his hyung would bring up something that happened so long ago. Sure what happened the night Jaerin got pregnant wasn’t supposed to happen, but it happened and in the end, L.Joe regretted little about it, with the only thing he regretted being the fact that he had to be separated from his daughter. “Anyway,” L.Joe sighed as he figured that it probably wasn’t worth his energy to argue with Chunji, “Myungsoo is waiting for me. I’m going now.”

“Hey, did something happen? Why do you look like you’re thinking too hard?” Myungsoo asked L.Joe who was sitting across from him in the library.

            “No reason,” L.Joe said shaking his head. “Just some stuff going on with Maddie and my hyung.”

            “Is it bad stuff?”

            “Maybe…I don’t know. Maddie thinks that my hyung is cheating on her and I’m trying to find out the truth, but my hyung doesn’t even budge.”

            “Does he know that you’re trying to get the truth out of him?” Myungsoo asked.

            “I don’t know, my hyung is smart,” L.Joe started. “I mean, he knows a lot of things and he remembers a lot of things, too. If you want to beat him in a fight you should never mention anything about your past to him.”

            “Anything about your past? Why? Do you have something to hide?”

            “No,” L.Joe said shaking his head. “I just mean don’t say anything that you’ll regret because it’ll bite you in the .”

            “Okay,” Myungsoo said. There was a strange feeling inside of him that felt as though L.Joe was hiding something, but he didn’t want to say anything. L.Joe and Myungsoo didn’t have a friendship where they spilled each other their secrets. Both of them were mostly conservative guys who just said what was necessary for the conversation. They never really went deep into their personal lives, but they were close enough to be best friends with one another. It was a strange friendship for the two.

            “So Jaerin went back, right?” L.Joe asked breaking the silence between them.

            “She did,” Myungsoo said with a nod of his head, “we’re actually planning for us to go there during our break.”

            “Us?” L.Joe asked. “But you’re only one person.”

            “I’m talking about you, me, and Hwayoung, the three of us together.’

            “Ah, the three of us,” L.Joe said. Somehow the thought of all three of them going to visit Jaerin didn’t seem that pleasing. With Jaerin, there was Jocelyn and L.Joe was sure that by the time that Myungsoo step foot in Jaerin’s house he would know about their past.

            “Do you think that that sounds like it’s a fun idea? I mean, nothing is obviously set and done yet, but Jaerin brought it up.”

            “She’s the one that brought it up?” L.Joe asked. He was slightly shocked that Jaerin would be the one to plan things, but he guesses that she was probably serious about having L.Joe be a part of Jocelyn’s life. The only part that didn’t work was the fact that Jaerin still lived overseas with her and her parents.

            “Yeah, but our break isn’t for a while. I’m sure that we’ll have a lot of time to decide whether we’d like to go or not.”

            “True,” L.Joe said with a chuckle as he looked down at the homework that he was trying to complete. Suddenly it didn’t feel as though he should be worrying about his homework as much anymore. Sure it was important, but with the news that he might go to visit Jaerin and see his daughter, L.Joe’s mind wasn’t concentrating anymore.

            “But L.Joe, about your brother’s problem, are you going to try to help him?” Myungsoo wondered.

            “Why?”

            “Because you’re the one that seemed the closest to Maddie.”

            “I am?”

            “We are the same age after all, but I mean, it always seems as though you two rely on each other the most.”

            “Whoever told you such foolish things?” L.Joe asked as he picked up his pencil and attempted to read the workbook in front of him.

            “My eyes,” Myungsoo said with a smile, “and my eyes never lie.”

            That night, L.Joe returned home for dinner and saw Chunji sitting in the living room. Without saying a word, L.Joe walked right past and headed for the stairs to put his bag down. “Look,” Chunji said stopping L.Joe on the staircase, but L.Joe didn’t turn to look at him, “L.Joe, I’m sorry about earlier.”

            “That’s alright,” L.Joe monotonously said as he started to climb the stairs again, but Chunji began speaking.

            “I forgot about everything that happened and how painful it must’ve been. That situation and the situation about my marriage are on two completely different levels. I must’ve hurt you when I said it. I mean I didn’t mean for you to get mad at me or bring up hurtful memories—”

            “Hyung!” L.Joe slightly yelled interrupting Chunji as he slowly turned to look at him. “It’s alright, just…just stop.”

            Without waiting for Chunji to say anything else, L.Joe went up to his bed and lied down on his back. He didn’t know why he was suddenly acting like that. L.Joe figured that maybe Jaerin’s sudden appearance as Myungsoo’s girlfriend made him start feeling weird things. He never expected to see Jaerin ever again. Once she left, L.Joe thought that she was gone for good, but then she came back as his good friend’s girlfriend.

            While L.Joe was in his thinking process about why he had gotten so mad at Chunji, his phone rang on his bed. L.Joe wanted to ignore it, but it kept ringing, bothering him. “Hello?” L.Joe asked.

            “Byunghun,” Maddie said on the other line.

            “Ah, Maddie,” L.Joe said immediately sitting up in bed. “Why are you calling?”

            “I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to the apartment. There’s some creeper guy that keeps looking at me lately.”

            “Oh, um…” L.Joe said as he began to think. He wondered if it would be alright for him to head over to the house. Would it betray Chunji?

            “Listen, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Maddie quickly said. She didn’t want to make L.Joe feel as though he was being pressured into doing anything.

            “No, I’ll come over. Did you eat dinner yet?”

            “No.”

            “Okay, then I’ll pick up something on my way over there, alright?” L.Joe asked.

            “Sure.”

            “Okay, I’ll be over quickly,” L.Joe said as he hung up the phone and began going downstairs to inform his mother. “Mom, I’m not going to be home for dinner.”

            “Why not?” she asked.

            “Um…Hwayoung wanted to meet me,” L.Joe said quickly thinking up a lie. He couldn’t tell his mother that he was going over to Chunji’s apartment to visit Maddie, his mother would take it the wrong way. Instead, Chunji decided to go with the safe idea and just use Hwayoung, but he was going to have to tell Hwayoung about his lie just in case his mother contacted her.

            “Oh, well is it for something good?” his mother curiously asked.

            “I…I don’t know,” L.Joe said. “But I’m going to get going now.”

            “Okay, be safe,” his mother said as she waved him goodbye.

            Hurriedly, L.Joe slipped on his shoes and grabbed a light jacket as he left his house and went to quickly pick up some food before arriving at the apartment. L.Joe also managed to inform Hwayoung of the situation and to just tell his mother that they were helping each other with homework in case she was curious as to what they were doing.

            “Are you sure it’s a good thing to lie?” Hwayoung asked.

            “It’ll be fine. I can’t have them knowing that I went to visit Maddie.”

            “But what if they find out?”

            “They won’t find out,” L.Joe assured. “After all, you’re going to help me, right?”

            “I guess,” Hwayoung sighed. “But this better only be a one time thing.”

            “Don’t worry, don’t worry,” L.Joe said attempting to alleviate the worries Hwayoung had. “Okay, I’m going to hang up now. Thanks, Hwayoung.”

            “You’re welcome,” Hwayoung said before she hung up.

            “Ah, Byunghun, you’re here,” Maddie said as she opened the door as L.Joe was closing his phone.

            “Yup, and I brought some food,” L.Joe said as he held up the bag.

            “Good, I was getting hungry,” she said with a chuckle as she opened the door wider for L.Joe to come in. “You can just place it on the table.”

            “Got it,” L.Joe said as he placed it on the table and as he was about to turn around, he felt a pair of arms entwine themselves around him. “Maddie, what are you doing?” L.Joe asked shocked.

            “Just let me stay like this,” Maddie said as she hugged onto L.Joe even tighter. She rested her head on his back and closed her eyes.

            “Maddie, is there something wrong?”

            “Is this okay?” she wondered aloud.

            “Is what okay?” L.Joe asked, but Maddie didn’t answer, she just continued to hug him. “Maddie, I don’t think you should hug me for too long.

            “Right,” Maddie said getting her act together and dropping her arms from around L.Joe. “Let’s eat.”

            Dinnertime was peaceful. L.Joe made jokes to Maddie who was happy to be able to laugh despite everything that was happening around her. It felt lonely being in the house and she had hoped that Chunji would come back by then, but he made no effort to try to apologize for his wrongdoing. Even if it was a misunderstanding, he made no attempt to try and clear the misunderstanding. With every passing day, Maddie was slowly starting to feel the reality that maybe Chunji was cheating on her.

            “What are you thinking about?” L.Joe asked as they were sitting on the couch together.

            “Nothing,” Maddie sighed as she rested her head on L.Joe’s shoulder. L.Joe could see through the lie, but he figured that it was no use questioning it, that maybe he should just let it be.

            “Maddie,” L.Joe said as he looked at his watch, “I think I should start going home. I think my mom might worry about me.” L.Joe was only met with silence and as he looked over, he saw Maddie sleeping on his shoulder.

           Sighing to himself, L.Joe slowly raised his hand and gently brushed a piece of hair away from Maddie’s eyes, but the touch caused her to lightly react and grab onto L.Joe’s arm.

            “You sure make it hard for a guy to get over you,” L.Joe whispered as he watched Maddie’s sleeping figure.  

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Will L.Joe be able to get over Maddie? Is Chunji actually cheating? Will L.Joe, Myungsoo, and Hwayoung go to visit Jaerin? Will L.Joe see his daughter?

Here's Chapter 10. Hope you enjoyed :D