"Cut it out, Cha Hakyeon!"

The seventeen-year-old stared wide-eyed at his mother in surprise, his mouth hanging open partially due to the fact his words had been interrupted and partially because his mother had shocked him with her yelling. He closed his mouth but continued to gaze at Cha Cho Hee in confusion and hurt.

The older woman sighed heavily, her eyes shimmering. "Don't you think this is enough? Isn't it about time you stopped all of this nonsense?"

Hakyeon furrowed his brow in disbelief. "What are you--"

"Do you realize how painful this is for the people around you? For me, your father, for Jin Ae's parents," Cho Hee took a deep breath, her hands tightly clutching at each other on the kitchen table's surface. "Most likely for your friends, too. When was the last time you actually spent time with them outside of school?"

The boy remained silent.

"I can't take this anymore. I've gone through two years of this, but I'm at the end of my rope. I know you think Jin Ae is still out there, but do you really think she would want to come back now?"

That one question caused Hakyeon to scowl at her, his mouth opening to argue.

His mother continued on, not giving him a second to reply. "After experiencing whatever it was she did, do you really think she would want to come back to that? She--"

"I know Jin Ae, and she definitely would. There's no way she wouldn't want to come home because of a bad experience; she's tougher than that. And even if it was too hard for her to come back here..." Hakyeon trailed off for a second, looking outside of the kitchen window in a way that made Cho Hee think he was remembering something from long ago. "She would call, write, something. Jin Ae can only be tough if we're by her side. If we're not together, then she loses her reason to be tough."

"Damn it, Hakyeon-ah..." 

Hakyeon worriedly rushed over to his mother, wrapping an arm around her when he noticed her shoulders were shaking. Her head was bowed, her chocolate brown tresses shrouding her face in shadow so that it was difficult for him to see her expression. Judging by the sounds coming from her and her trembling body, though, it was obvious that Cha Cho Hee was crying.

"Why can't you let go? I hate seeing you chase after her. I hate it so much," she breathed out shakily. "You're only seventeen."

The teen just kept his arms around his mother, merely listening instead of trying to argue. It wouldn't do either of them any good at this point.

Cho Hee in a breath, holding onto her son. "Please let her go, Hakyeon-ah. I can't stand seeing you like this."

Hakyeon wished he could have answered his mother's plea, but how could he?

~HeNeverGaveUp~

The red-haired man bounced his leg impatiently as he sat in the cafe by the dance studio, clutching his coffee cup but not once taking a sip from it. An annoyed sigh escaped his lips as he checked the time on his phone for what had to be the twentieth time, and soon he was looking through the cafe's window and at the busy street.

"What is taking him so long? He should have been here fifteen minutes ago..." Hakyeon asked himself, now becoming slightly concerned for the younger man who he was supposed to meet that day.

However not a second later a blonde man came running into the shop, his breathing heavy and labored as if he had just run a marathon. Hakyeon waved him over, standing up and straightening his dress shirt and slacks as he waited for the younger man to sit down. Once both were seated, Hakyeon gave the man opposite him a look.

"I'm so sorry, Hyung. My sister is sick, so I had to take care of her while our parents were out. But I do have good news for you,"

The older male perked up. "You mean..."

The blonde nodded, a satisfied grin gracing his features. "It's a match. The blood from that Jane Doe at the hospital and Jin Ae's matched."

Hakyeon didn't know how to react at his friend's words. He was so happy, so relieved... All he could do was smile.

This meant that he had been right. All these years of searching for someone everyone else believed to be gone forever-- he had been right to do it. Jin Ae was alive. She hadn't died that day seven years ago, and now he could find her, bring her home, show her mother that she was just fine. He--

"I'm not quite sure where she is, though. I guess she was filed as an orphan when no one came for her, and from what I could get from the hospital, they didn't see anything about her being a missing child when they checked. I'll have to go to the orphanage that took care of her to get more information on where she is now."

Hakyeon nodded, now a bit more calm knowing he wasn't as close as he had thought. "They probably checked before the police released their report," the thought of how things had been handled last year still made him upset. "Thanks, Wonshik-ah."

"It's no problem, but do you have to call me that?" the blonde groaned. "Can't you call me Ravi like how I asked?"

"That's not your real name, though."

"But it's my preferred name. Come on, Hyung!" Ravi gave him an exasperated look.

"Wonshik, Wonshik, Wonshik-ah~!"

"Hyung!"

"What's wrong with me calling you that? Your sister calls you Wonshik."

"Well," Ravi became quieter. "She's my sister."

"You're so adorable when it comes to her~"

"Just be quiet, Hyung!"

Hakyeon just laughed at Ravi's embarrassment, finding it cute that his deep-voiced companion was so easily embarrassed when it came to his sibling. Even if Ravi was someone that gave off a manly feel, he was still adorable as all get out if you brought up his sister.

"Hyung," at the serious tone Ravi's voice had unexpectedly taken, Hakyeon immediately ceased his laughter and met the blonde's eyes. "You do realize that Jin Ae... She might not remember anything. You realize that, don't you?"

The red-head glanced down at the table. Yes, he had considered that numerous times. Jin Ae wasn't the type to leave her family and friends behind for her own sake, and if she had never found them even though they never moved, then it was the only reason Hakyeon could think of as the reason why. There was a part of him that wished she did remember everything and that she was the type to leave them; he didn't want to find out she had forgotten her parents, her friends... him. There was another, larger part, however, that hope she had lost her memory and that Jin Ae hadn't left by her own choice. He would much rather deal with making her remember him than deal with the pain of knowing his friend had done such a thing.

"I figured she wouldn't. Why else wouldn't she come home?" Hakyeon finally replied, giving Ravi a smile that seemed a bit half-hearted.

"I'm sorry about the situation," Ravi frowned. "I wish you didn't have to go through this."

"Me, too, but just think about what Jin Ae must've gone through... This much I c