As I was walking to meet my friends for lunch, I knew that it was time for me to go in a new direction. It was time to leave the painful past behind and start a new beginning. I met up with my friends: Kim Jun, Lee Min Jung, Kim So Eun, Kim Bum, but there was a new person that caught my attention, she was beautiful.

"Hi Kim Hyun Joong" everyone except the girl said. "Hi everyone how are you" I said. "We’re fine, you?" everyone said, “and your brothers?" Kim Bum added. "I'm fine, and my brothers are fine too......" I was so sad because my brothers didn't get to spend a lot of time with mom and dad as much as I did; I miss them so much and I wish that day never came.

"Hyun Joong, I want you to meet my sister, Koo Hye Sun" Kim Jun said.

"Nice meeting you, Koo Hye Sun-ssi" he looked into her eyes and he knew that Hye Sun was someone special.

"Nice meeting you too, Kim Hyun Joong-ssi" Hye Sun said, she felt strange for a second because the moment he was looking at her, her heart skipped a beat. There was something about him that was different from the other guys she met. There was sadness inside his eyes, and there was some kind of warm feeling that she felt every time she looked into his eyes.

"How come I never saw you before?" I asked, "I lived apart from my family, so I wasn't around for about my whole life" she said while laughing.

They sat at a table to eat, Hye sun sat left to Hyun Joong, Kim Jun sat right to him, Kim Bum came after, and then So Eun and Min Jung sat left to Hye sun. They were talking about what they wanted to do with their lives, and everyone got to know Hye Sun better-- especially Hyun Joong who was interested in her.

Hye Sun was talking to Hyun Joong about what she wanted to become.

"What are you planning on doing? Here in Seoul." asked Hyun Joong. "I'm thinking of opening a small clinic because I like helping people “You?" 

"I want to get out of this country, I want to start again. The problem is... I have no idea where to start." he said with sad, almost teary eyes. Hye Sun wondered what he meant by that; she wondered why he wants to leave this place and start a new beginning. Did something bad happen to him? Did he love someone and that person hurt him? She had a lot of questions to ask about him, but she doesn't want to bring tears to his eyes because it looks like this topic hurts him more than anything, so she decided to change the subject.

After they finished eating, it was almost 10pm. Kim Bum and So Eun went the same direction, Min Jung went a separate direction; Kim Jun, Hye Sun, and Hyun Joong were walking together in the same direction. 

They were walking in silence, Hye Sun in the middle, when Hyun Joong asked Hye Sun, "How long are you staying in Korea?" She paused a bit before answering, “I think it's enough for me to be away from my family, I think I had enough and I'm going to stay whit them forever." She replied smiling.

"I'm really glad you said that Noona" Kim Jun said to Hye Sun while smiling warmly a her. Hye Sun returned his smile and asked him "you miss me that much? I thought you were glad that you have mom and dad all to yourself." Kim Jun teased his big sister for a while before he answered her, “I missed you so much that every night before I slept I would look at the moon and imagine your face to comfort me." "And I was happy that I had mom and dad, but I would be happier if you were with us Noona." Both siblings looked at each other with emotional eyes.

Hyun Joong broke the silence, "since you're going to stay here for the rest of your life, I would like to show you around Seoul tomorrow; how would you like that?"

"I would love that actually, thank you." Hye Sun said. "Then I'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning, 7am sharp; what do you say?" he asked her. "I'll be ready at 7." She smiled.

They gave each other their phone numbers and said their goodnights.

That night Hyun Joong went back to his house, but no one was there; he was extremely worried. He waited for them and they came an hour later. 

"Where have you guys been? I've been worried sick" Hyun Joong asks

"We were with our friends playing baseball." Hyung Jun says.

"Please, next time; don't be out this late. Something might happen to you guys too." Hyun Joong said as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Don't cry, Hyung" Kyu Jung said

"We promise to not be out this late ever again; just don't cry anymore." Young Saeng said as he tries to hold back his own tears to keep his older brother from crying even harder.

"You know, Hyung.... our parents wouldn't be happy if they saw you like that. If they were still here....... they would be really sad because you are crying Hyung." Jung Min said. "They liked you the most because you're the most responsible and the strongest among all of us; did you know that? So please don't let them down and be even stronger and more responsible. For them..... For them to rest in peace." Jung Min said crying.

They all hugged each other for a long moment, and went to prepare themselves for bed.

I was walking down the street to go and get my younger brother from school, Hyung Jun, when I suddenly saw what was happening to my parents in front of my own eyes.....

"You said you didn't want to work with us anymore?!" a person yelled at them. "Well, this is what you get for saying those words!!!" 

He watched his parents get beaten up, unable to move, he just stood there and watched them bleed and scream. He couldn't move; he froze in his place as he saw his parents die in front of him. He couldn't hear well from the shock, but he heard weak sirens and watched them being dragged away with covered bodies.

Hyun Joong woke up crying, he blamed himself for just standing there and not doing anything. Watching them get beaten to their death and not being able to move a single muscle or do anything to at least try and help his parents. He looked up to see his siblings standing there looking at him; just like every day. 
"Did you have that dream again Hyung?" asked Kyu Joong as he knew the answer to himself. 

It was 1am; Kyu Joong was lying on his bed when he heard screaming from Hyun Joong's room. He ran to Hyun Joong’s room and saw everyone running toward their brother's room. 

Ever since mom and dad died, Six years ago, Hyung had the nightmare every single night, and worse, he blamed his self for their death. Everyone knew that he had nothing to do with it; no one knew that their parents were involved in a deadly gang and they wanted to quit it but it was too late. No one was at blame for anything except for that bastard. I would've done the same thing if I was him; not being able to move or do anything.

Hyung was still in 9th grade when it all happened. Hyung Jun was still in 5th grade, Kyu Jung was in 7th grade, Jung Min was in 8th, and Young Saeng was in 6th. Now Hyun Joong was 20 years old (second year in college), Jung Min 19 years old (first year in college), Kyu Jung 18 years old (last year of high school), Young Saeng 17years old (junior year of high school), and Hyung Jun 16 years old (sophomore year of high school) Hyun Joong raised all four of us on his own. It was sad seeing him like this.

We sat next to him and tried to comfort him; finally, he slept in peace.

It was 1am; Hye Sun was lying down in her bed; unable to sleep thinking of what Hyun Joong said. Why was he about to cry today? Why did he want to leave Korea for good? She wanted some answers and she knew where to find them.

Knock, Knock!!

"Come in" Kim Jun said

He saw his sister coming in and asked her "what are you still doing up late when you're supposed to get some rest because tomorrow’s going to be a big day for you." she simply answered him with "I couldn’t sleep"

"Kim Jun-ah..." she said

"Hmmm...” he asked

"Can I ask you some questions? And can you answer me honestly?" she asked

"If I can and if I know the answers to your questions, go ahead." he was curious about what she was going to ask.

"Why did Hyun Joong have a sad look in his eyes? And why was he really sad when Kim Bum-ssi asked him about his brothers? And why was he about to cry when I asked him what he wanted to be after he finishes college? Most importantly, why does he want to leave Korea and start a new beginning? Did something happen to him? Or to his family?"

Kim Jun was speechless; he didn't know how to answer some of the questions that his sister asked because it was the first time hearing about some of them.

"It was back when we were in high school, six years ago; we were only in freshman year when it happened." Kim Jun sighed a long sigh and continued, "Hyun Joong has four younger brothers: Jung Min, Kyu Jung, Young Saeng, and the youngest Hyung Jun; he's the oldest. His younger brother is now a sophomore in high school, but when it happened his younger brother was only 10 years old and he was in 5th grade. He was sick that day and he didn't want to go to school. His parents weren’t home and he always picked up Hyung Jun from school, so he was on his way to pick him up when he saw both his parents get beaten up in front of his own eyes, but he was frozen right on the spot; he couldn't move, and he blames himself for not moving, for not doing anything to help them out. He watched his parents being beaten up to death by the gang; they wanted to quit, and we found out that they were beaten to death because they wanted to live a clean life; they didn't want to be involved with the gang anymore" Kim Jun felt the pain that his best friend was going through, "....and that is why Hyun Joong is sad all the time."

Hye Sun was lost for words; she couldn't imagine what Hyun Joong felt like. It all makes sense now. Why he wants to run away, the sadness in his eyes, and the shame that he felt. She was really shocked at what she just heard.

"It's not possible for him to be sad all the time, he has to be happy from time to time.. right?" she asked her brother with teary eyes.

"Since that day, we never saw a real smile on Hyun Joong's face; he doesn't even allow us to get involved when it comes to this story. He didn't even want help from us with his brothers. He wanted to live alone with them; he even tried to quit school just to work and keep them safe but we didn't allow him to do that."

"Thanks for telling me all this Jun-ah" she said with a sad smile, "I won't mention anything to him, trust me."

She left her little brother sitting in his room while she went to her own room to get some rest.

Hyun Joong woke up at 6am. He was getting ready to go pick up Hye Sun. He left the house at 6:30am, and he met up with her at 7am. They went to lots of places and they had a lot of fun. They talked about their lives and they became really close to each other through this short period of time. They were really tired but enjoyed each others’ company; unfortunately, it was 8pm. Hyun Joong invited Hye Sun to meet his brothers and they went to his house.

The house was neat. She saw a teenage boy running up to Hyun Joong crying. He looked at her then he smiled, and asked his brother "Who's the pretty lady?" Hyun Joong's cheeks were red and he introduced her to Hyung Jun.

She met his brothers, and they were really nice. They all had a really sad look in their eyes, all of them, she knew why they had that look.

It was time for Hye Sun to get going, so Hyun Joong walked her to her house and said goodnight.

Hyun Joong went back home, and he had to answer lots of questions.

"Soooo... is she you're girlfriend?" Hyung Jun asked teasingly.

"No..... we're just friends." He replied glaring at his youngest brother.

"Sure, after we saw how you were looking at her today, we'd say she's your wife; not a friend" Jung Min teased.

"Leave me alone guys and go to sleep. Don't bother me anymore." Hyun Joong said with blushing cheeks.

He then went to his room to get some rest. He tried to sleep, but Hye Sun couldn't get off his mind for some reason. He was attracted to her and, after thinking about it for a long time, he decided to ask her out the next time they were alone.

Hye Sun was so happy. She was in her room when her brother came in.

"So Noona, how was your day?" he asked.

"It was fantastic. We had a lot of fun and I even met his brothers." she said happily.

"Can I tell you something Jun-ah?" she asked her brother with an embarrassed look.

"Sure, go ahead, you can tell me anything." 

"I think that I like Hyun Joong, are you okay with it? But the problem is that I'm a year older than him."

"It's okay Noona. I don't mind you liking him, besides, if he starts to have a girl in his life he could change and you can change anyone Noona; you're special. And it doesn't matter if you're a year older than him. If you like someone, you should like them for who they are on the inside, not for their age or looks. I'll be more than happy if you date my best friend, I like to see the old Hyun Joong; I think it's time for him to be back." he told her with a sad smile.

"Thank you so much for telling me that; I needed to hear those words, and I promise you that I'll try my best to bring him out of his misery." 

They talked for a couple more minutes then they went to bed.