One week passes....

* Eve of Spring *

* Shin's household *

" Ah-ra...you're still upset with me? You're not going to talk to me? It's been a week..." Shinwoo sighs as he knocks on Ah-ra's room door.

Ah-ra throws her bag on the bed and immediately heads to her study table to pick up a sketch book and a pencil. She gingerly pushes the balcony door open and gently places the sketch book and pencil on the table. Without even listening to her brother, she was still mad at him for being a worry wart, for once she wanted to be alone.

" Wah...the weather is really nice. Haha...I wonder if Sandeul is home yet... Since I'm feeling good today, why not draw a portrait of Sandeul?" Ah-ra mutters those words to herself and proceeds to softly sketch on the clean paper.

* Ah-ra drawing at the balcony *

Shinwoo gives up on knocking and heads to his room to get something. For some reason, he was feeling a little bit unwell. His face and lips were blue. His heart was always fluttering for no utter reason.

" Must have overworked myself..." Shinwoo bit his lips as he held on to his chest.

Like the bear that he was, he slowly walks towards his office table. Papers were slowly starting to pile up. Although, the fashion show was three months away, since his father was on a vacation, he had to deal with the admin work. He slums on his black leather office chair and frowns. He was having a major headache, his chest began to contract bit by bit.

" Ok. Relax. Breathe in and out...phew...now it's gone." Shinwoo heaves a sigh of relief as the bitter feeling in his chest went away.

His hands unknowingly reaches out for the papers infront of him. Stacking the papers one by one, he decided to call it a day and stash them in his drawer. Upon opening his drawer, he saw the diary that he had kept away from everybody. Ah-ra's diary. Next to it was an old toy that he had made for his little sister. It was a simple toy made out of two yogurt bottles and a string attached to it. He made it to communicate with her whenever she was feeling upset and they didn't want their parents to hear their secret conversation. So every night, he would throw it up to her room balcony and wait for her to talk into one of the bottle and the other one for him to listen to.

" Hopefully...this will cheer her up. Aigoo...How many years has it been since I last used you?" Shinwoo lazily stands up and heads to the exterior of his house with the toy in his hands.

As Shinwoo walks out of the house to the vast garden, the cool wind greets him. That made him smile, the sweet smell in the air. The flowers were finally starting to bloom. Colors were finally starting to get restored. It was his little sister's favourite season. The reason why she loved spring so much was because of a simple reason, everything was much more alive. People would go out to admire the blooming trees and also chill with family and friends. The simplicity of her reason made him feel grateful that his little sister was someone who appreciated life. 

He was directly underneath the balcony. Using the strength in his arms, he swung the toy around and it directly hits the railing of the balcony. 

" Yes!" Shinwoo bends down and made a fist with his hands for throwing the toy successfully.

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" Oh?" Ah-ra who was drawing a portrait of Sandeul heard a soft noise coming from her balcony.

She immediately stands up to see where the noise was coming from. She slowly walks towards the edge of the balcony and grimaces when she saw her brother looking up at her.

" Pfft...What is it?" Ah-ra folds her arms as she watches her brother.

Shinwoo signals to her to the yogurt bottle that he was holding.

" Take the other side..." Shinwoo signs to her with his hands and proceeds to sit down on the grass.

Ah-ra scratches her head, she trailed the string and finally found the other yogurt bottle. Like her brother, she sat down and placed the yogurt bottle next to her ears. She could hear the heavy breathing from the bottle.

" Yah...are you still mad at me?" Shinwoo questions as he fixes his glasses.

" You could have called me you know." Ah-ra awkwardly speaks into the yogurt bottle and the next moment she was waiting for her brother to speak.

" Haha...Yah, you know what? We should go to the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival...It's beautiful there." Shinwoo laughs as he randomly starts a conversation.

" Why would I even go with you...go with your Jihae." Ah-ra coldly replies him, but in her heart she was smiling.

Shinwoo clutches his chest again and bit his lips as the uncomfortable feeling came back.

" Haha...you know I love you more than Jihae right?" Shinwoo breathlessly utters those words.

" Liar. Jihae onni is everything to you...tsk. Oppa,you should come in, it's cold..." Ah-ra peeks to look at her brother as she speaks.

" It's alright...I would like to stay like this for a little longer...it reminds me of the times when we were younger. I would always argue with you and we would end up getting separated from each other for squabbling too much. Then Omma wouldn't allow you to come out from your room and I specially made this so that I could throw it to you so that we could talk..." Shinwoo laughs as he was reminded of the times where he would always fight with his little sister but make up at the next moment because he missed her.

" Why did we stop doing this?" Ah-ra questions him out of curiousity.

" After the accident, you couldn't even remember me. I was sad. Very sad. There wasn't a time where I wanted to argue with you, all I did was to protect you from everything. Hence, this toy was no longer needed...cause we never argued anymore. I was afraid of losing you again, so I didn't dare to make you upset. I only promised to always make you happy." Shinwoo painfully smiles as he utters those words.

Upon hearing those words, Ah-ra throws away the yogurt bottle. She hurried out of her room and when she got to the stairs, she skipped two steps at a time. As soon as she got to the garden, she was right. Shinwoo was tearing up and sobbing.

" Oppa! I knew it! Don't talk about it if it pains you so much..." Ah-ra grabs his hands and sat beside him.

" I'm not crying...it's because of the stupid wind. It's making me teary." Shinwoo curse the wind and tilts his head to the side.

" Oppa...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you cry. I promise, I won't do bad things anymore...Please forgive me." Ah-ra rubs her eyes as she tries to stop herself from crying.

" I'm such a crybaby...give me ten minutes. Just ten minutes for me to cry..." Shinwoo bit his lips as he painfully cried into his lap.

" Araso. (Ok). Let me lend you my shoulders... Don't think about it...Let's not think about bad things." Ah-ra places her brother's head on her shoulder for him to cry on.

* 30 minutes later *

" Oppa?" Ah-ra tilts her head to the side to only see her brother dozing off on her shoulders.

The cooling breeze whistles pass the two siblings. As if to comfort the both of them. 

* Ah-ra's phone vibrating *

" Sandeul?" Ah-ra pouts as she gently places her smartphone next to her ears to answer him.

Sandeul: Ah-ra! I'm home! Yah... did you see those posters? How about going on a date tomorrow? 

Ah-ra: Why the random outing? Haha... 

Sandeul: Meet me at two tomorrow! I'll see you at the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival tomorrow! Don't be late.

Ah-ra: Alright. See you soon. Sandeul-ah, number 12. Haha.

Sandeul: 12? Oh... your brother is next to you? I love you too. Bye!

Ah-ra laughs as she puts down the phone. Number 12 was a code to indicate that her brother was there so she wasn't able to say as much as she wanted to say to Sandeul. Lest, Shinwoo finds out that she was dating another person.

Dal-rae who was returning home from school, coincidentally overhears the conversation between Ah-ra and a person that she suspected was Sandeul. She rolled her eyes at seeing Shinwoo and Ah-ra resting their heads on each other. That made her green with envy. She stomped her way into her bedroom. Threw her bag and sat down forcefully. She bit her lips at the thought of Ah-ra going out with Sandeul.

" I have to do something..." Dal-rae pulls her hair out of frustration and clenches her hands into a fist.

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" I'm home!" Jinyoung excitedly enters the house and places the bouquet of flowers on the dining table.

" Oh...you're here. Help me with this. Place it on the table." Jinyoung's father passes him the tea kettle to be placed on the table.

Jinyoung walks over to the living room. Carefully, he places the tea kettle on the table. His mother was smiling at him, that made him happy too.

" Omma! Guess what? Ah... your handsome son bought you something..." Jinyoung reaches out for the flowers and places it behind his back. 

" What? What? I didn't hear you...what?! Ah...if you're curious. Give me fifty cents!" Jinyoung jokes around the ritual table as if his mother was alive.

Jinyoung's father couldn't help but laugh at his son's antics. 

" Yeobo. Ignore him. Here, let me give you those flowers." Jinyoung's father snatches the bouquet of flowers from his hands and places it on the ritual table.

" Yah! I was going to give it to Omma... Haiz. Omma, look at your husband..." Jinyoung showed his gums at he lightly hits his father on the shoulders.

Mr Jung turns to look at his son. He was indeed a filial son, he couldn't help but think that he had indeed raised him up well. He was now an aspiring composer and the future ahead of him was bright.

" Yeobo... Spring has come. Look at our son. Thank you for blessing us..." Mr Jung utters those words and bows to pay respects to his late wife.

Jinyoung could only look at his father with pity. How much his father must have been missing his mother. The thought of it made him feel lonely. He wanted to do better for the sake of his father, since he was the only person that his father could turn to.

" Yeobo, Jinyoung is going to marry Ah-ra Ahgasshi after two winter passes. He'll be 25 then. Please bless the both of them." Jinyoung's father rubs both of his hands together as he utters those words.

Jinyoung immediately changes his attention to the memorial picture of his mother. She was smiling. As if, blessing him. He couldn't understand why his father could easily utter the word 'marriage'. To Jinyoung, the word 'marriage' wasn't something that he was fond of, the thought of it made him cringe in grimace. Having to take full responsibility of his household, wife, children. The thought of that made him nauseous.

" Marrying Ah-ra is more like giving birth to a foolish daughter. Minus the point that I can't give birth. That's a relief." Jinyoung thought to himself as he stared into his mother's eyes.

* One hour later *

" The wind is strong tonight. Perfect for writing songs. In the wind?" Jinyoung squints as he looks out of the window.

He quickly reaches out for his laptop and began composing songs. 

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" Sandeul! Sandeul-ah! Open the door! Open the door!" Baro frantically knocks on the door.

" Why?!" Sandeul laughs as he heads to the door.

" The patbingsoo (Shaved ice dessert) is melting! You idiot! Open it now!" Baro held up the plastic bag to his face as he prayed that the patbingsoo was still intact.

As soon as Sandeul heard the word 'bingsoo', he immediately swings the door open. He was excited every time Baro brought food home.

" Yah, bring two spoons here. Quick. It's nicer when we eat it cold." Baro heads to the couch and places the food on the table.

With both of his hands, he unlid the patbingsoo from the container and waited for Sandeul to come with the spoons.

" Here." Sandeul passes one spoon to Baro and held the other one in his hands.

" What are you waiting for?" Baro points to the dessert and widened his eyes at Sandeul.

Without wasting much time, Sandeul quickly attacks the dessert. It was his favourite, well he ate everything well. He wasn't picky about his food and he trusts Baro when it comes to food. Whatever that Baro bought, was always delicious. 

" So...how was school today?" Baro questions Sandeul as he scoops a spoonful of patbingsoo into his mouth.

" I'm finally done with my project. I have more time for Ah-ra now. I'm going on a date with her tomorrow." Sandeul absent-mindedly answers Baro and shoves another spoonful of the cooling dessert into his mouth.

" Oh? Really? Then I'll be meeting you again tomorrow. Haha..."  Baro comments as he places his spoon down. He was done eating.

" Why is that so?" Sandeul questions Baro.

" Cause...I'll be sending Ahgasshi there. I'm her bodyguard, remember?" Baro sticks out his tongue as he teases Sandeul.

" Pfft...what a spoiler." Sandeul pouts as he continued eating.

" Where are you bringing her?" Baro questions him as he stands up.

" Hampyeong Butterfly Festival. They sticked up posters about the festival. Ah-ra will definitely like it there." Sandeul smiles to himself as he answers Baro.

" Ah...of course. She's your first love right? Flowers, Spring, Butterflies. Deul-ah...I didn't know you were a sentimental type of guy. Alright, I have to get home. Enjoy your food. Annyong!" Baro waves goodbye to Sandeul and left the house after saying those words.

" I never thought of that...but now that he mentioned it. She is my first love!" Sandeul hits his head on the table as he finally realises that fact. 

*10 pm *

Sandeul shakes his head as he picks up his yellow jacket. It was too feathery so he chucked it aside. The yellow t-shirt was fine, but it was too casual. The yellow pants was too bright. He was going to attract the attention of everybody. 

" Ah...what am I going to wear tomorrow?! Why is it so difficult to even pick some clothings?!" Sandeul kicks his wardrobe door as he got frustrated with himself.

He calmly sat down on the floor and faced his wardrobe. For some reason, he was having a difficult time trying to choose his clothing for the outing tomorrow. Carefully, his eyes scanned all of his outfits. 

" It's not as if Ah-ra is going to judge me right? Maybe this cream cardigan and the scarf that Ah-ra bought for me. Done. Now...time to sleep." Sandeul finally made his decision and swiftly closes the door.

He gingerly walks towards the couch and hugs his pillow. 

" The lights!" Sandeul yells as he pushes himself up to switch off the lights.

As he turns to his side to sleep. He was facing the direction of the window. He could see the bright light coming from the lamps. The trees were finally growing, the weather was starting to become warmer. Everything was perfect, except that he was alone. He missed the warmth of his mother. Every year without fail, during Spring. His mother would be bringing down all of the insulators down from the walls and also remove the plastic from the windows. It represented the end of Winter. Not forgetting the abundant of food that filled the dining table. Japchae, Kimchi Fried Rice, well-fermented kimchi. The thought of it made his stomach feel warm. 

" I'm really Lee Sandeul... Sandeul. Junghwan is just your past. Yes. That's right, you should tell noona that you love Ah-ra and maybe noona will change her mind too. Omma, you'll watch over me right?" Sandeul whispers those words to himself as he stared into space. 

As the night grew deeper, he fell asleep thinking of good thoughts and memories. Spring was definitely a comforting season for him. Like the proverb 'time will heal all wounds', that was exactly what Sandeul felt before he fell asleep. 

* Sandeul dreaming*

" Where am I? It's so dark..." Sandeul squints in the dark as he tried to thread his footsteps.

It was really dark, it was as if he was going around in circles. 

All of a sudden he could hear the sobbings and mournings of people. It was frightening, the cries got louder and louder. Out of the blue, he sees a coffin being brought down into the ground. At the side he sees Jinyoung crying and waving around in despair. Trying to reach out for the coffin. Even Gongchan was there. His mother was there too.

" Omma?" Sandeul calls out for his mother.

" She's dead. She's in peace." his mother softly speaks and left the scene.

" Who? Who is dead?" Sandeul follows her and tries to catch up with her.

" Her." his mother points to him a picture of a girl.

Before Sandeul could even get a good look at the girl, he wakes up.

* Sandeul wakes up *

" Thank god...it was just a dream. What time is it? 3 am? Gah...back to sleep." Sandeul mumbles to himself as he reaches out for his phone to check the time. Then, he went back to sleep.