Three weeks later…

End of school.

“ Oppa! Jinyoung oppa!” Ah-ra chased after him and pulled his bag to stop him.

He didn’t turn around, instead he slightly turned his body.

“ What is it?” he harshly answered her.

She confusingly stared at him, why was he acting this way. He hadn’t been talking to her for weeks!

“ Oppa… why haven’t you been talking to me after helping me? Oh? You’re scaring me. Are you alright?” Ah-ra stammered as she tried to think of anything that she could have done to upset Jinyoung.

“ You came all the way here to say that?” he replied.

“ What?” she reacted, astonished by his reply.

“ As you can see, I’m doing fine. As you know, I’m a busy person.  Now that you know, go. Don’t worry about my well-being.” He coldly responded.

Ah-ra stood there in shock and tried not to get angry. Yoona was already waiting for him. She didn’t want to waste his time, but she just couldn’t get any words to come out from after hearing Jinyoung say that.

“What? Is there anything left to say?” He looked at her.

“ Do you really mean it? These harsh words. Is there something bothering you?” Ah-ra  retaliated.

“ What is it that you want? The words; I’m upset; I have a problem? What? Were you expecting something like that?” he coldly responded.

“ Why are you being like this?” Ah-ra answered and bit her lips in disappointment.

Jinyoung nervously gulped and tried to hide the tinge of hurt in his voice. He opened his mouth slightly to answer her.

“ I’ve woken up to reality, that’s all. My future is much more important, I don't want to trouble myself with your problems.” He gave a simple reply.

Ah-ra nodded her head and swallowed her pride.

“ I get it. I understand now. Pretending not to see me, not wanting to see me…You’re saying that you really meant it. So to you…” before Ah-ra could even finish her sentence.

“ A parasite that I want to get rid off.” He responded.

Ah-ra smirked but at the same time felt hurt by his sharp words. The word ‘parasite’ left a huge scar in her heart.

“ You’re cruel, Jung Jinyoung.” She threw those words at him and started to tear up.

He shifted his eyes to look at her. He tried his best to look stern and distant.

“ No. I’ve always been this kind of person. I just pretended that I wasn’t to make you happy.” He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

“ Fine. I’m leaving. Take care.” Ah-ra got a little bit offended and left.

Jinyoung tightened the grip around his bag as he saw her left. Inwardly, he felt very sorry but he had no choice. He didn’t want to leave any emotional attachments between himself and Ah-ra. So he had avoided her for the whole three weeks. He drowned himself with endless of song compositions to keep himself busy.

“ Jinyoung-ah. Let’s go.” Yoona called out to him.

“ Umm.” That was the only thing that could come out of his mouth.

She hooked her arms around his and happily talked about her day in school.

Ah-ra turned around to see Jinyoung in Yoona’s arms. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous.

“ Pfft. Is it so difficult to just say you found someone new?” Ah-ra complained and turned to see that Sandeul was folding his arms.

“ You left me again.” He pouted and quickly hugged her.

 Gongchan covered his eyes and mumbled to himself. Ah-ra struggled to free herself, she was embarrassed.

10 minutes later…

“ Bye! See you tomorrow Gongchan!” Ah-ra waved to him.

“ You’re not going to say bye to me?” Sandeul questioned her and widened his eyes.

Ah-ra turned to look at him. She was smiling from ear to ear to hear that coming out from him. She had always liked it whenever Sandeul got jealous. It was cute. There was something charming about him whenever he tried to act like he was jealous.

“ Bye…” she blankly said those words to him and changed her attention to Baro who was already waiting with the car.

Baro bit his cheeks and placed his hands in his pockets while trying to keep a distance. Ah-ra and Sandeul had gotten unusually close to each other, they were by now inseparable and there was never once they would go somewhere without one another.

“ So you have to go home now?” Sandeul pouted and kicked the ground.

“ Yup. My dad and mom are probably home by now. I’ll see you tomorrow. “ she replied and turned her back towards him.

Before she could leave, he grabbed her arms and widened his eyes.

“ Two more weeks till your birthday.” He winked and took two steps closer to her.

Ah-ra’s cheeks flushed and she hit his chest lightly. She gave him a tight hug and was swung around in his arms. He didn’t let go of her immediately but instead continued to stay in her arms for a moment. This time it was a sincere hug, he felt as if he couldn’t breathe at the thought of letting her go. He wanted time to stop so that he could spend more time with her.

“ I will miss you.” Sandeul tucked her hair behind her ears and expressed.

Ah-ra rubbed her face into his shoulders and tightened the grip. She felt secured this way.

" I can't believe a semester has passed. I will miss you too... Sandeul-ah." before she could continue any further, he gave her another hug.

" Shin Ah-ra. The name that I now love. I'm really blessed." he pursed his lips and lovingly stared into her brown eyes.

" No. I'm much more blessed to meet you!" Ah-ra retaliated and buried her face into his chest.

Baro who couldn't watch anymore decided to stop the two lovebirds. 

" Yah! I think I could vomit blood from watching the two of you. It’s not like you can’t see each other during the holidays." he sarcastically voiced out.

Sandeul raised his fists slightly at Baro but stopped as he didn’t want to spoil the mood. He knew it was time and he had to make the first move. Since it was the eve of summer break, he wanted to make it a memorable one. He gently grabbed her shoulders and gazed into her ravishing eyes.

“ What are you trying to do?” Ah-ra stammered and blinked her eyes.

He lifted her chin up and held her now blushing face.

“ Your face is as red as a peach.” Sandeul commented and laughed.

Ah-ra clutched her chest and tried to breathe. This wasn’t the time to have a panic attack. She strained to try not to get flustered. Maybe it wasn’t what she was thinking of, but all of a sudden.

His lips were very soft. She could feel his hot breath on her face. Her grip around his waist loosened and she reached for his hands that were on her face.

“ Your forehead is really shiny.” Sandeul joked as he removed his lips from her forehead.

Ah-ra looked down and awkwardly ran away from him. Before entering the car, she glanced at Sandeul again and beamed. Then, entered the car. Baro gave a thumbs up to Sandeul and mouthed the words ‘I’ll see you later.’ And drove off.

Jinyoung who was waiting at the bus stop with Yoona had witnessed everything. He felt bitter for the first time. He didn’t know why he felt that way.

Sandeul approached the bus stop feeling very high. He couldn’t hide his happiness. He kept on touching his lips with his fingers. Although, it wasn’t a kiss on the lips, he felt extremely delighted. It was as if he was standing at the edge of a cliff with a bungee attached to him, or sitting on a rollercoaster ride. It was that same thrilling feeling, the butterflies in his stomach. 

A common disease that anyone would catch; the love virus. A virus that would cause a person to unknowingly smile or laugh on his own, constant happiness, unknowingly talking about him or her.

Sandeul shook his head and grinned to himself. He tried to hide his happiness and bent forward to see whether the bus was coming. The lights shone in his eyes blinding him for a few seconds. He happily boarded the bus and greeted everyone. He took a seat and as he was about to sit down he finally saw Jinyoung and Yoona. They were both sitting together on the waiting bench.

“ Oh. Am I that blind to not realize they were there? So he has not been talking to my Ah-ra because he found a new friend? More like he found a  girlfriend. Too bad Gongchan.” Sandeul tilted his head to the side in confusion but couldn’t help but feel sorry for his close friend.

The bus drove off in the direction of his house. It was just a normal trip back home, he took out his mp3 player and shoved in the earphones to his ears. He played the most depressing song that he had.

“ This makes me seriously happy. I’m on cloud nine!” Sandeul thought to himself and looked out of the window while enjoying the music.

Time went by very fast and soon he was already climbing up the stairs to his house. Once again, the wind greeted him and the street lamp shone brightly as if greeting him. Again, that made him giggle. He stared at his shoes and walked towards the door.

“ Sandeul-ah” a familiar voice called out for him.

He raised his head and was taken aback by Dal-rae.

“ Noona. What are you doing here?” he asked and looked around. She was alone.

“ I missed my little brother. That’s all…” she said with a soft and gentle voice.

Sandeul observed her and saw that she was a little bit out of sort. She didn’t seem to be in a happy mood. After all, he hadn’t been contacting her ever since she foiled his date with Ah-ra.

“ Noona…”

“ Sandeul-ah. This is an invitation card to my little sister’s birthday party. Make sure you come. See you there.” Dal-rae passed the card to Sandeul and left the scene.

He turned the card over and saw a baby picture of Ah-ra.

“ That’s creative. How cute… hmm…I’ll try to make myself free.” Sandeul took off his shoes and entered the comfort of his house.

He slumped onto the couch and laughed to himself. All of a sudden he stood up and started to sing, his self-composed song, ‘Crush’. He wanted to gift it as a present to Ah-ra since there was nothing he could gift her with except for his love and his stunning voice.

--------------------------------

“ Aaaah!!!” Ah-ra screamed and covered her face.

Baro shook his head and pointed at her to come closer.

“ Pfft…” she complained and walked towards him.

“ I think you have to act like you’re vulnerable, like a scared little girl you know. It’s…it’s too fake.” Baro commented.

Ah-ra looked around the dark alley and it was only the both of them. She became skeptical.

“Yah. Who would even want to kidnap me? I’ll just have to bite them and that’s it!” she expressed herself and turned to walk back home.

Baro locked the car and followed her from the back. He was still unsatisfied, he wanted to teach her some skills that she could use to protect herself in times of danger.

“ Let’s just say, a bad person tries to kidnap you. What would you do?” Baro was talking when all of a sudden Ah-ra turned around to face him.

She took three steps forward and grabbed his shoulders. She got into position, grabbed his arms and tucked her arms under his armpits. She punched his chest with her elbow and bended her knees, she dropped her waist and lowered herself so that she could shoulder throw him to the ground.

Baro cringed on the ground and hugged his chest. Ah-ra wiped her hands together and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“ I told you. Even before you came, my oppa…Shinwoo oppa…taught me how to shoulder throw a person. Lucky for you, you’re my first victim.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and headed to her house.

Baro watched her walk away in disbelief. She was really strong.

" I'm home." Ah-ra announced and gingerly headed to the living room.

Her parent's were already waiting for her. The coffee table were filled with presents and souvenirs from their trip. 

" Appa!" Ah-ra ran over to him and gave him a huge hug.

" Aigoo...my princess. How are you? You seem to look very happy." her father commented and passed her a gift.

She fiddled with the box and slowly unwrapped it.

“ Appa. About Ah-ra’s engagement…” Shinwoo stated.

“ Ah. We’re doing planning to do it on her birthday right?” his father continued.

Shinwoo nodded and turned to look at Ah-ra. She was busy unwrapping the present. Her mind was focused on the gift. He couldn’t help but smile at his child-like sister.

“ It’s going to be a small event. Maybe we’ll invite family and friends? Since it’s only an engagement, and you know our Ah-ra doesn’t really like attention…so…” Shinwoo discussed.

“ Small event?! What are you thinking? This is for our Ah-ra.” Shinwoo’s mother remarked and widened her eyes.

Ah-ra who heard this couldn’t help but feel resentment towards her mother.

“ Our Ah-ra…” that statement rang in her head.

“ Omma. Listen.” Shinwoo tried to explain.

“ No more. You listen to me.” His mother butted in.

Mr. Shin who saw the tensed situation tried to calm the situation by saying something.

“ Ah-ra. Why don’t you say something? This is your engagement and your birthday party as well. You should be the one having a say to it.” Her father stated and took the box of chocolates away from her.

She turned her head slowly to face her brother, mother and father. She guiltily gulped at the thought of getting engaged to Jinyoung. What about Sandeul?

“ I…I don’t want to get engaged to Jinyoung oppa.” She commented and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone.

Her father gently nodded his head and observed his daughter. Her mother on the other hand burst out in a rage.

“ See? You’re always thinking about yourself. Isn’t it about time that you lived happily? Oh? Everyone here knows how much you loved Jinyoung. As a mother, I want you to be happy! Why are you always making decisions that aren’t worthy of yourself? Don’t you want to be happy?” her mother chided her.

Mr. Shin tried to stop his wife and told her to stop. Dal-rae came into the house at a perfect timing. He was at least able to avert his attention to his other daughter.

“ Oh. Dal-rae-ah, come here and sit. We bought you something.” Mr. Shin smiled from ear to ear and passed her the present.

“ What’s this?” Dal-rae sat down on the sofa. The whole family was gathered.

“ Aigoo…my daughter. You look so beautiful. How was your day? I missed you so much. Is everything going well?” Mrs. Shin ruffled her daughter’s hair and showed much more affection towards Dal-rae than Ah-ra.

Ah-ra casted her eyes on her feet and breathed out slowly. Her hands reached for the box of chocolates that her father had bought for her. She stood up and went to the kitchen to eat. She sat down at the dining table and made sure that her back was facing her family. Tears started to form in her eyes as she thought about all of the things she had to go through.

“ Ah-ra yah…is it delicious?” her father called out to her from the living room.

She blinked her eyes to stop the tears and only nodded her head. As the conversation went on between her family members, she hugged herself to comfort herself. She felt so alone in the warmth of her own home.

“ Yah!” Shinwoo pushed his little sister’s head and snatched the chocolate box from her.

She rubbed her head to relieve the pain.

“ What.” She pouted.

“ What do you want for your birthday?” Shinwoo asked curiously and gazed into her eyes.

“ You won’t be able to find it.” Ah-ra remarked and snatched the chocolates away from him.

He pursed his lips and hugged her from the side.

“ Getting engaged to Jinyoung is the best birthday present right?”

Ah-ra blankly stared into her brother’s eyes when she heard that.

“ When you were 8 years old. You wittingly confessed to everybody that you were going to become Mrs. Jung. That was your childhood dream… I couldn’t help but laugh at your naïve words.” Shinwoo chuckled to himself.

She stuffed herself with chocolates trying not to think about the past. Her heart wavered at everything that her brother was saying. Her heart wanted to scream at her to not talk about it.

“ Not anymore. Why would I even marry someone I barely remember? Oppa. How can you leave me with someone I don’t love?” Ah-ra commented and searched the answers in his eyes.

“ It’s because you don’t remember it. He’s the only person that can aid you in the journey of getting your memories back. It’s weird that no matter how many times I bring you for a check up, the doctors are always saying that there is no problem with you. There must be some blood clot in there or maybe you were too traumatized?” Shinwoo tried to explain himself.

Ah-ra stood up and faked a smile.

“ Oppa, I’m going back to my room. I’m a little bit tired today.” She expressed herself.

Shinwoo grabbed her hands and gave her a hug.

“ Cheer up. Omma… she just wants the best for you. Don’t hate her and Dal-rae so much.” He whispered those words into her ears.

Ah-ra blinked her eyes and walked off to her room. The hot bath calmed her down and with the towel wrapped around her head, she took out the diary from her drawer. She headed to the balcony with a pen and the diary.

As she was about to open up to write, the diary fell off from her hands and dropped to the ground floor. Frustrated, she threw the piece of paper in her hands and sighed.

“ Ah-ra”

Ah-ra turned around in shock and gazed into her older sister’s eyes. She immediately ignored Dal-rae and walked out of her room to head to the garden to pick up her diary.

“ Ah-ra.” Dal-rae called out to her again.

She followed her little sister to the garden.  Ah-ra picked up her torn diary and kept quiet.

“ Shin Ah-ra.”

“ What is it?” Ah-ra bit her lips but didn’t turn around to look at her sister.

“ Thank you.” Dal-rae uttered those words.

“ For?” Ah-ra replied and hugged her diary.

“ For not telling mom and dad about that incident where I almost drowned you.” Dal-rae grabbed her little sister’s hands.

Ah-ra shut her eyes to control her emotions. She pushed her sister’s hand away from her.

“ Lee Sandeul.” Dal-rae continued.

“ Stop it. It’s already enough. I had enough already… Onni. When are you going to stop torturing me. Oh? Isn’t having everything that I have enough? Why can’t you just stay away from me? I’m already stressed enough… what are you going to do next? Frame me?” Ah-ra tried not to cry as she argued with Dal-rae.

Mr. Shin who was coming out from the door, saw his two daughters and overheard the conversation.

“ I’m willing to give Jinyoung back to you. I broke up with him a long time ago.” She confessed.

Ah-ra stood there in disgust and her heart ached at the untimely news.

“ Return Jinyoung back to me?” she confusingly replied.

“ Yes. I broke up with him so that you can get engaged to him. I’ll bless the both of you.” Dal-rae continued. She hid the fact that Jinyoung now hated her.

Ah-ra smirked and couldn’t believe it.

“ Bless us? Onni. Jinyoung is a human being with feelings, not a toy. Who he belongs to, isn’t for us to decide while standing here. After meeting you, he decided to be in a relationship with you. You should appreciate your own happiness instead of coming here and telling me all of these. No matter how much I used to like him, I’m just Shin Ah-ra to him.” Ah-ra voiced out.

Dal-rae nodded and didn’t want to talk much. She had been warned by Jinyoung to not hurt Ah-ra anymore.

" I just wanted you to be happy." Dal-rae spoke out before heading back into the house.

As Dal-rae headed to the door, she saw her father. She panicked. However, Mr.Shin gave her a smile and pretended to act like he had seen nothing.

" Oh? You were outside. What were you doing?" he asked.

" Umm. No-no-nothing." she stammered and quickly entered the house.

" Happy? Haha... You're telling me these only now?" Ah-ra laughed to herself and shook her head.

Mr.Shin approached his youngest daughter. Seeing her in pain made him hurt. 

" Aigoo...what are you doing here in the cold?" he raised his voice to make sure that his daughter was aware of his presence.

She quickly wiped away the tears from her eyes and turned to look at her father.

" Come here. What's wrong? You dropped your diary?" he commented and held the damaged book in his hands.

" Appa..." Ah-ra proceeded to embrace her father. He had very broad shoulders and just by his presence made her feel secured. 

" It's so late...what is it that you want to tell me?" her father looked at her and questioned her.

" Nothing... I just want to hug you. That's all." Ah-ra tightened her grip and snuggled into her father's arms.

" Childish...you're a already so big and you still act like a baby." Mr.Shin slightly sighed looking at how much his daughter had suffered.

" I know...but today...I really want to be a child." Ah-ra pouted and whined.

Her father couldn't help but smile and hide his pain at the same time.

" The world has given you troubles, hasn't it?" her father replied looking at her actions.

" Just a little bit..." 

" Daughter... two weeks from now, you don't have to get engaged to him." her father answered her.

Ah-ra lifted her head up to look at her father. 

" If you really don't want to marry him, then don't marry him. If you feel that after these troubles, you still do decide not to do it. It needs to be because you yourself don't want to do it. You don't have to care about what others want you to do. If say, you grow old and still not married, don't worry. Your dad will take care of you." he added on.

" It's not a bad idea to have a father to take care of me. I can stay with my family all my life. Thank you, Dad." Ah-ra grinned at the thought of it.

" Since you were little. Your mother had always told you; not to argue, not to tell anybody, that Dal-rae is our adopted child. Not to fight with her about your things. We were worried that Dal-rae was going to be uncomfortable. We also thought that it was fair for everybody. But I have never expected looking back, it has always been you receiving all the troubles. Ah-ra...what dad want to say today is...to go back and look for what you've always wanted. To follow your heart." Her father revealed his thoughts and expressed his regrets.

Ah-ra held her father close to her and tried not to break into tears.

“ Follow my heart?” she asked.

Mr. Shin nodded and held his daughter tightly.

“ Remember. In this world, everything else you can let other people take. But only love, if you don’t want others to snatch it away from you, then don’t let them take it away from you. Follow your heart and find your love.” He counseled her.

“ Appa. I have to go now!” Ah-ra yelled and hugged him before running out of the house.

Mr. Shin smiled weakly.

“ Go. Go and find him. It’s time to end those 10 years of suffering. My precious. For being such brave person, filial daughter, kind person. Your life will only be blessed from now on.” Mr. Shin shook his head and walked back into the house.

Ah-ra ran as fast as she could. She didn't bother to even cover herself up with a jacket. All she thought of was the person that she had loved so much. Even if a million years were to pass, there was no way she could forget him. She now understood the reason why the bell rang. It was the same person. Even if she tried to convince herself that she no longer loved him, it was still him. 

(A/N: Haha...I know her father is seriously a sweet person. Who do you think Ah-ra is going to find? :D )