chapter ten; leaving

Baro's POV

“She's like her mom.” GongChan snickered.

“You shouldn't say that.” Did I really say that? It's the right thing, isn't it? “We don't know her mom, so...”

“She's going to leave.” Sandeul joined us, pouting. “But, JinYoung hyung told me that her house is a few blocks away from our dorm.”

Is she really going to leave? I should have been nicer to her from the start. But, she's the one who started. Should I apologize?

Okay. Here I am, standing in front of her room. What will I do next?

“Baro-ya! Let's go! We're going to leave you here.”

Soobin's POV

I knelt down on the floor, packing my things. What if I'll leave some things here so I can come back? Mmmm... But, Umma is right. I'm just a bothersome here. Uncle has another kid to worry. Five boys are enough.

I wake up in the morning, as usual, alone. I quickly get ready and find decent clothes to wear. Aunt EunHi's house is a mansion so you should really wear nice clothes. They are really lucky, but my mom told me that we are luckier.

I brought a bag of clothes. So when I got the keys, the bags I'm going to get are reduced.

Omo. Their house has gotten bigger. I stood in front of the large iron gate and went to their guard house beside the smaller gate.

“Is Song EunHi home?” I asked.

“Yes. Can I get your name?” The guy has a very husky, deep voice.

“Tell her it's Yoon Soobin, her niece.”  I beamed. He nodded and talked to someone with his black walkie-talkie. A few seconds later, there's this girl running towards us, Hwang JooYeon, my cousin.

“Soobin unnie?” She excitedly squealed and pulled me into a hug.

“Hey.” I smiled. I feel awkward. We weren't that close.

“When did you come back? How's L.A.? Is it fun? Did you see Taylor Swift? I like your skirt and boots.” She asked so many things while we walk towards the door.

And there we are. A lot of hugs and kisses on the cheek. I just faked smiles and hugged my three cousins back.

“We missed you.” Like I missed you. How close are we?

“Soobin is that you?” Aunt EunHi came down their stairs. “Omo. You are so pretty.”

“Annyeonghaseyo.” I bowed.

“When did you come back?” She sat in front of me.

“Yesterday night,” I lied. “I just stayed in a hotel.”

She nodded and smiled. She's so talkative these days, that's why I feel so uncomfortable. She told me about their business, bragged about JinHo oppa's, my cousin, audition for acting, and lots of things. I want to say, “Actually, I just came here for the keys.”

“JiEun, show her your room. I'll need to fix some things.” She turned to me. “Just get the keys later before you go home.

“Come on. I've got tons of things to say.” She dragged me upstairs. She asked different things about my life and I answered like on an interview. She's such a huge fan of Korean Pop music. Yikes. She asks so many things that made me bored except for one.

“Do you know B1A4? I'm such an avid fan. JooYeon and I.” And speaking of JooYeon. She entered the room and jumped on the bed.

“B1A4? What a weird name.” I said innocently. “Are they aliens?”

Then JiEun unnie faked a glare at me. “Yah! They're so cute, especially Sandeul oppa and JinYoung oppa. Kyaaa!”

“And, ShinWoo oppa and GongChan oppa.” JooYeon added. “Most of all, Baro oppa is so hot!”

Oh gosh. Baro? I want to puke. How could they drive these girls crazy?

“Try to search them in the internet. You'll love them.” JooYeon nudges me. I've already searched for them, meet them, and talked with them. “Unnie and I are dying to meet them, but mom won't let us go.”

“Why don't you run away. Let's do a little rebellion.” I grinned while the two of them just stare at me.

“It's easy for you because you grew up in States. That means, there are a lot of rebels there.” Hey! I'm not a rebel. I'm just encouraging you to get some fresh air.

“Not really. Anyway, why are you so crazy about this group?” And they gasped.

“How could you?”

“They're so georgeus.”

“I can't get married because of them.”

“My boyfriend got jealous because of them.”

I couldn't help to smile and giggle a bit. Seriously? I want to tell them that I'm friends with the four.

“Yah! Soobin-ah.” Jinho oppa joins us. “How's States? Do you have any vices? Like, drugs, smoke?”

Eeeww... How could he ask that? I may be a California girl at heart, but I'll never do those things. Lemme tell you something. I never smoked, try drugs, had , and I never got drunk. The one and only drink I had is a one small strawberry daiquiri when I turned eighteen. Steph forced me.

“If I were you, I'll try all those things.” He joked while I frowned at him.

“Do you want to stay here?” JiEun unnie asked. I shook my head. “Just for one night?”

I told them a lot of excuses but it didn't work.

My patience is running out. They should really stop praising me, or my things.

“Hey, uhmm.” I said while we were eating lunch. “I think I’m not going to stay overnight here. I have, uhmm, something to do. Really, important and urgent.”

“Why?” JiEun unnie pouted. Aish! Why do I have to be stuck in here?

“It’s really important. Maybe, I’ll just come back. So, after this, I’m really going to leave.”

“Why don’t you stay a bit?” Aunt EunHi asked. Uwaaahh!

“It’s really urgent.” I smiled, trying to be patient. “Oh. I’m done.”

“Come to my office.”

 “What are you going to get? The SUV or your convertible?” She asked.

 “I’ll just get my convertible.”

As I got at Uncle’s home, I waste no time in bringing my things at my car.

Wow. The house is still like the same. Pink curtains, swirly iron staircase. Ceiling-to-floor glass windows. Wow. This is life. I looked at the kitchen. There’s a note. It’s a day before.

 ‘I already bought groceries for you.’

How thoughtful of Mom. And she even got me a credit card, with a Post-it.

 ‘Be responsible.’

Oh yeah. I’ll be.

At 6:00 p.m., I went out of the house for dinner. I’m too tired to shop in grocery so I think I’ll just eat outside.

Omo. It’s raining. I forgot to bring an umbrella, which I don’t really have. I should have used my car. I quickly dashed to the nearest shed I see.

 “Ouch!” Cried a boy I knock too. I think he’s busy running here.

 “You should watch where you’re going.” I said.

 “You’re the one who should−“ When we saw each other’s face, he stopped.

So, who do you think the boy is?