In the end, Jae ended up with a luggage and 4 boxes. She would take her luggage with her on the bus and the boxes were to be shipped. It was a particularly chilly and very early in the morning so Jae was all bundled up, wearing a jacket, a beanie hat, and a scarf. She was standing by the front door, her sisters surrounding her.

“Jae Unnie, I’ll miss you! Who will protect me from Mi Unnie’s nagging?” Jung sniffed and wrapped her arms around Jae’s waist. Ae frowned and smacked Jung’s shoulder. Jae just chuckled. She would miss her younger siblings’ banter.

“YAH it’s my turn!” Ae clung to Jae’s arm. “Jae Appa, what will we do without you?” Mi let out a cough.

“She can’t be the appa. She should be the baby. She acts like the baby.” The three other girls turned to look at Mi. Jung released Jae and hugged Mi.

“Mi omma, you’re very sad, aren’t you.” She snuggled into Mi’s side. “You’re sad that appa is leaving.”

“Aniya. If anything Ae acts more like the dad than Jae.” Mi patted Jung’s head and looked Jae up and down. “You sure you have everything you need? I know you. You always forget something. Do you have socks on?” Jung giggled and Ae knelt down and rolled up Jae’s pant leg to make sure. Jae freed her leg and rolled down her pants, which were slightly baggy today.

“Yes, yes, I’ve got socks on.” She waved. “I’m going to be late, so I better get going.” She grabbed her luggage and dragged it out the front door. “I’ll come back in a month. I’ll miss you, sisters. Saranghae!” she turned her back and started walking to the bus stop, sniffling as she kept her head down. Suddenly, Jung yelled.

“UNNIE WE’LL COME VISIT YOU I PROMISE!” Jae turned to see her sisters standing at the door waving, Mi smacking the back of Jung’s head.

“Idiot, it’s 4AM. Keep your voice down.” She hissed. “Call us when you get to your dorm and you’re settled in.” she nodded and shivered, pulling Ae closer to her side so she could keep warm.

“Araso…” Jae sniffled again and waved. She started walking again and this time tears fell from her eyes.

What am I doing? She was having second thoughts.

Is seeing Minhyuk worth all of this? Can I pull this off?

She hugged her coat closer and leaned against the bus stop.

How did I even plan to do this? This was dumb…

Sticking her hands in her pockets, she felt something cold. Gasping, she pulled her hand from her pocket. What in the world… she thought to herself as she stuck her hand in her pocket again and pulled out a bracelet. It had three little charms on it: a teddy bear, a bow, and a heart. Jae tried to blink away tears.

“If I cry, my tears will turn to ice…” she sighed. She slipped the bracelet on and shook her wrist, watching the charms jingle.

“You’re right. They will turn to ice. Is that from your girlfriend?” a chuckling male voice came from her right side. She glanced over and standing at the bus stop with a luggage of his own was Kyung. His dark hair was a bit messy, sticking out of the hood he was wearing. His hands were also in his pockets. “It’s cute.” His smile was brilliant. He hadn’t changed at all, even after eight years. Jae pursed her lips and gulped.

“Uh, it’s a gift from my sisters. I’m leaving home for the first time.” She coughed, trying to make her voice deeper.

“Where are you off to so early?” Kyung started to come closer to her and all she could do was pull her beanie on tighter. Kyung stopped. “Oh, mianhae. I just came from the states. I guess I’m being too friendly, huh?”

The bus was coming around the corner and Jae let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. She went to grab her luggage, but it wasn’t there. Kyung had already taken it to the front of the bus.

What is going on right now? She tugged at her beanie again, making sure all her hair was concealed and sighed.

“Yah wait up!” she shuffled up behind Kyung and grabbed her bag. “How did you know this was my bus?”

“You have the school name on the tag. I’m going there, too. We’ll be classmates.” He chuckled as he paid the fare for the bus and took a seat. Jae flashed her bus pass and nearly got past Kyung when he grabbed her arm.

“You should sit next to me.”

“Uh, sure, I guess.” She felt her stomach lurch when he touched her. Jae plopped into the seat and put her bag on her lap. “So, what’s your name?” she asked, trying to keep up the façade.

“Park Kyung. I’m a first year.” He nodded and nudged Jae. “You look like you’re a first year too, am I right?” he flashed a smile. Jae nearly melted. Keeping her composure was difficult, and getting harder.

“You’re right. I applied late, so I don’t know who my roommate will be.” She confessed. “It was pretty sudden and last minute.” She fiddled with her bag, trying to open the side pocket.

“I applied late as well. Maybe we’ll be in the same room. I came because my friend Ji Ho said this school was the best. I’ll introduce him to you.” He glanced out the window and then stared at the side of Jae’s face. She was still trying to open her bag.

“Yah, I still don’t know your name!”

“Ah, well…” Jae looked up and tried to avoid his face. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I’m Kang Jae.” In the end, she couldn’t think of anything. I’m caught for sure, she thought. Jae just turned to her bag and finally got it open. She reached in and pulled out a steamed bbq pork bun.

“Kang… Jae?” Kyung’s voice went up about an octave. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.” He rubbed the top of Jae’s head. “You know, you could maybe even look like the Kang Jae that I know. I haven’t seen her in a long time either.”

“Oh, that’s… nice.”

Oh my god I dodged a bullet, she thought.

She was trying to sound uninterested so the topic would change, even though she was really curious.

“That Jae… I wonder what she’s up to right now.” He looked up at the roof of the bus and tilted his head. Jae tore off a piece of the steamed bun and shoved it in .

If only he knew, she snickered to herself.

“Did joo wunt thome?” she offered the bun, chewing the large piece in . Kyung took a bite of the bun and ripped off a small piece. He then proceeded to take out his headphones and put them in.

“Kamsahamnida, Jae Hyung.” Kyung leaned against the window and closed his eyes. Jae just stared at her bun and bit her lower lip. If she ate the rest, she would have an indirect kiss. Wait… an indirect kiss? She looked at Kyung’s sleeping figure then back to the bun.

Eun Ae would probably murder me if I keep eating this, she thought.

“WAIT I’M NOT YOUR HYUNG!” Jae glared at Kyung, but he was deaf and apparently asleep. Jae leaned over, trying to check if his eyes were open or closed. Just then, there was a bump in the road and Kyung’s position shifted. He was now leaning on her shoulder.

“Are you kidding me right now?”Jae muttered to herself. “Of course this would happen to me. How am I going to survive this?” Her heart was racing. The only part of Kyung she could see was his lips. They were a pale pink and looked so soft. Jae shut her eyes tight, trying to block out strange thoughts that were popping up in her mind, but closing her eyes just made it worse. She opened her eyes slowly, hoping that Kyung had moved, but he was still in the same place.

This will be the most agonizing two hours of my life.

The rest of the long ride was uneventful, but Jae was still and let Kyung rest on her shoulder. Even though she was tired, she didn’t want to close her eyes for fear of Kyung waking up and recognizing her. It was also really hot on the bus, but Jae was scared to move and wake Kyung. She had a boy on her shoulder, a bag on her lap, and she was wearing her coat, scarf, and hat. She felt like she was in a sauna. When the bus came to their stop, Jae nudged Kyung.

“Kyung, we’ve arrived. You need to get up.” She nudged him again, but a little harder. He was limp. Frowning, Jae pulled out his headphones and he was suddenly awake. He sat up, wide awake and alert.

“Jae Hyung, let’s go!” he was awfully perky. “I’ll call Ji Ho.” Jae winced as she got out of the seat and she watched Kyung put his headphones back in his pocket and pull out his hand phone.

Oh god, no, don’t call him, please, she was mentally yelling at him. Jae got off the bus quickly and took off her hat and scarf and shook her sweaty hair out. After she was done packing, she had dyed her hair a light shade of dirty blonde. No one knew except for Eun Jung, who had helped her.

“Yah yah, Zico, come find me. I’m at the bus stop…” his conversation with Zico continued.

Jae looked around at her surroundings as the bus left. There was a sign saying they were in front of the girl’s school. This should have been where she was going, but she didn’t register as a girl. Instead, she registered as a boy. It probably wasn’t one of her brightest ideas, but Jae was desperate to see Minhyuk. The boy’s school was further away, apparently. Sighing, she turned to see Zico bounding down the road, hitting his shoulder into Kyung’s. She jammed her beanie back on her head and pretended to look busy with her bag.

“Yah, chingu!” Zico laughed. “Did you find your way ok?” he looked Kyung up and down. “You look exactly the same from when I last saw you eight years ago.” Zico’s hair was wavy and combed to one side instead of being in a ponytail like the last time Jae had seen him.

“You think so? Well, you look crazy. What’s with your hair? It’s pretty cool.” He laughed and pulled off his own hood and shook his hair out. It was shaved on one side more than the other. Jae couldn’t help but stare at Kyung as she played with her bag’s zipper. It really had been a long time and her feelings were getting stirred up.

“Is that who you were talking about on the phone?” Zico stalked over to Jae and put his arm around her shoulder.

“Looks like we have another person who is our age in the dorm.” He laughed. “You’re a pretty short guy.” He put his hand on top of her head and moved it straight out. It reached his chin. “Or are you super smart? We’ve already got one of those in the dorm. He’s actually alright. Most of the time.”

“Ah, okay.” Jae looked down at the ground and tried not to make eye contact with Zico. He was the only one who had seen her with her short hair so she was sure he would recognize her.

“Well, let’s go to the dorm then!” Kyung had already scooped Jae’s bag up as well as his own and was walking the way Zico had come. “I want to drop off my stuff and look around the school.”

“You don’t even know where we’re going!” Zico yelled at Kyung. He looked at Jae, who was still looking down at her shoes. He whispered in her ear, “Noona, let’s get going.”