The nostalgia of standing in front of my old high school was nothing more than a longing to go back. To roll back time, to when things weren’t so complex and the only thing I had to worry about was when school ended.

I leaned against my black Porsche a block away from the school, waiting for the one thing that kept bringing me back to such a place.

“Hyung!” I looked up from my phone to watch my little brother come running towards me. His hair flying up and his backpack bouncing up and down against his back, he was the essence of an innocence I lost a long time ago.

“JongMin!” I slugged my arm around his skinny body and ruffled his hair.

He was my half brother, we shared the same dad and by the look of our facial features the similarities were uncanny.

“So, what’s with you coming to pick me up today?” He asked blatantly as I drove through Seoul straight for my apartment.

I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel and turned my head to him with a smile, “I can’t spend quality time with my little brother?”

“Dad’s in trouble again isn’t he?” JongMin scoffed, already knowing the secret I wasn’t allowed to tell.

“He called me this morning and said that you should stay with me for awhile till things get cleared.” I gripped the steering wheel tighter and pressed my foot on the gas a little harder.

Our father had his issues, one was his women and two was his money. He could never keep a hold of either of them.

“I guess this shouldn’t be the time to tell you I got in trouble at school today,” JongMin fiddled around with the ends of his blazer before looking at me, “I have to meet with my guidance counselor and talk about my anger management.”

“Tsk, anger management? You? When do you ever get angry?” I chuckled knowing very well my brother was not one to get angry over anything.

“I went off on this guy that said something about my family…he mentioned you…and our dad. He said we were a messed up-“

I stopped the car abruptly as the light turned red causing both of us to jolt forward, “Don’t worry about him. He doesn’t know anything.” I growled and hit the gas as soon as the light turned green.

~*~

The next morning, JongMin and I walked down the halls early in the morning. Students were lazily walking to their lockers or just hanging by the classrooms not taking notice that a hooded celebrity was walking down their very halls. I smiled to myself when some girls looked at me but shyly looked away when I turned my head in their direction.

“I have to warn you, Mrs. Choi is kind of,” He stopped and was about to say something but shook his head, “You’ll see.”

He led me down the hall towards a room that was located at the end of the long walkway. When we approached it, a plaque was pasted on the door with a name that sounded oddly familiar, Choi Eun Neul.

JongMin gave a quiet knock against the metal door when a soft voice spoke from the inside, “Come in!”

As he was about to open the door, I pushed him back and smiled, “I’ll go in first.”

I slipped my hood off and slicked back my hair before walking in. The office was small but contained a large bookshelf, a desk, a couple of chairs, and a sofa that sat against a window. A woman no taller than five foot four stood by her desk organizing papers, when she looked up at us.

That mysterious click set off once again in an unknown place inside my body and the shiny black hair that caught my attention before was now swept back into a tight ponytail. The same twinkle in her eyes sparkled as I looked into them. Her expression dropped for a moment in surprise as we met glances but she regained her composure when JongMin stepped out from behind me.

“Ah, JongMin you came with,” She took a pause and looked at me. My lips parted to say my name when Jong Min spoke first, “my brother. My dad is um, busy.”

 She smiled and motioned for us to take a seat as she did the same.

“Well, thank you for coming in his place Mr. Kim.” She looked at me with an uneasy smile as I grinned back at her, taunting.

“JongMin about yesterday…I talked to the other boy and he said that it was his fault for causing the trouble so you aren’t going to be punished but I would like to talk to you or at least both of you about counseling.”

My smile left my face and I felt a defensive wall start to build up at the mention of that word. How many times people have told me to seek out counseling when I didn’t need it? I glanced to JongMin who was sitting straight in his seat with his head down and hands in his lap, “He doesn’t need counseling.”

I defended and looked at the woman straight in the eye, “He’s perfectly fine.”

“I think you should reconsider and just try it. We could have weekly sessions where-“

“I told you, already. It won’t be needed.” I stood up and patted my brother’s shoulder signaling for him we were done. I headed for the door when a hand stopped me. I turned back to see Jong Min holding me back, “I think she’s right.”

He let go of my arm and walked back to Eun Neul’s desk, “When can we start?”

~*~

I left Jong Min at school and drove off to my next schedule. I was bothered by what had happened earlier and cursed the thought of someone finding out our families dark secrets that were never meant to seen the light. They were issues that were meant to be solved between those that were involved and any outside interference would blow our situation out of proportion.

I let out a groan in frustration as I turned the car around abruptly and headed back for the school.

I stormed onto the campus not caring about the looks I got from the students that I passed by. I headed straight for her office, ready to give her a piece of my mind.

I walked in uninvited and found her back faced towards me as she scanned her filled bookshelf for something, “May I help you?” She asked without looking back but instead grabbed a book and began flipping through its pages.

“Cancel the counseling sessions with JongMin.” I breathed out as my chest rose up and down with heavy breaths that were fueled by adrenaline.

The woman turned to me with a curious expression on her face, “Why would I do that when clearly he wanted them?”

“I say he doesn’t.” I argued and made a move towards her when she shut the book in her hands and headed towards her desk, “I say you don’t want them. You’re afraid that what he tells me is not for my ears to hear. Am I correct?”

She sat down in her seat and began to look over paperwork as I stood their defenseless. She already knew.

“Look, what he decides to discuss with me will between us and no one else. I only want to help him. He’s always so distant from the other kids that it bothers me.” Eun Neul mused causing me to look up into her eyes.

They were sincere as she spoke those words but I asked, “What interest do you have in my brother that you care so much about him?”

“He’s already told me about your father and his mother. I see the distress in his eyes when he has to leave these gates. He’s scared.”

“How do you know this and I don’t. He’s my brother.” I argued back but she only sighed, “Yes, but a brother that he barely gets to see and a public figure that only get him bullied. Do you even know that the other kids about having a famous older brother?”

I sat back in the seat baffled. Why wouldn’t he tell me these things?

Eun Neul stood up and continued, “You don’t him at all do you?”

She was about to walk out when I grasped her wrists and pulled her back, “And it seems like you know a whole more about me than I do about you, Eun Neul shi.”

My eyes wandered up to hers as they stared down at me, “Don’t think I don’t remember you,” I scoffed and stood up so I was now staring her down,” or your friend.”

I fixed her name plate that rested on her chest and smirked, “Choi Eun Neul, hmm? Or is this your friends too?”