I watched Nara slowly fall asleep in my arms, her breathing evening out and her eyes getting droopy. Softly I called her name and when she didn't reply I was finally able to close mine and let my body rest. When we saw her break down, neither Seung Hyun and I had the heart to push her any further. Whatever sadness she was experiencing, it multiplied tenfold for me so all I could do for tonight was to let her go. Tomorrow would be a new battle, an uphill one, for all three of us. Nara and I were going back to the house and Seung Hyun had to take a flight at night to prepare for the concert at Saitama the next day. The realisation that he wouldn't be near suddenly struck me.

I got up, covered Nara with a thin blanket, and quietly opened the door.

After knocking twice at the guest room he took, there was no answer. Something drove me to come in anyway. The room was a little smaller than Seung Hyun's own bedroom, but large nevertheless. A low bed bordered with dark timber sat in the centre, two eccentric lights on either side of the headboard. On a small table in front of a love seat were some scribbles on paper scattered on top of a sleeping laptop. There were a few phrases here and there, but most had been crossed out, the paper a little crumpled as if it were a forsaken idea. I picked one up and tried to make sense of it.

"A young lady shouldn't be in a man's room this late at night," a voice said behind me. I snapped around, dropping the piece of paper and suddenly felt guilty. Seung Hyun had just come out of the ensuite bathroom wearing a fluffy, white robe. His face was covered with a white towel amid drying his wet hair.

"I couldn't sleep," I told him. He smiled, a little cheeky.

"Maybe you'll have better luck sleeping here."

"You and I know neither of us would be able to sleep if I stay here," I commented in passing. Seung Hyun's eyebrows were raised in surprised.

"I'm willing to test out your theory," he quipped. I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped my lips.

"Alright, alright you win," I said, shaking my head in defeat. "I can never get the last word in." Seung Hyun sat down at the end of the bed, continuing to towel dry his hair. I walked over and stopped him, letting Seung Hyun drop his hands on his lap as I slowly took over.

"Thanks for today," I said.

"There's nothing you need to thank me for."

"It still needs to be said. I don't think I'd know what to do without you."

"Even if I wasn't there, you'd find a way to talk to her," he said, certain. I slowly moved the towel behind his ears to the base of his head as Seung Hyun just sat there like a well-behaved boy.

"How long are you going to be in Japan for?" I asked him.

"Just a little short of ten days. It'll be two concerts in Saitama then two in Fukuoka."

"You're not returning to Korea in between?"

"Do you want me to return? he asked. I shook my head.

"No, don't waste your time. Have fun."

"I always do." I looked into his eyes, slightly covered by his unruly hair after my fantastic drying procedure, but his gaze wasn't lost behind it. No, they pierced right into me and I couldn't pull myself away. Carefully I pulled the towel down so they fell over his eyes.

"I'll wait for you to come back home," I told him and bid him goodnight.

When a child runs away from home, parents have every right to be angry and mad. But it's true what they say; once their child returns the only thought that runs in their head is 'thank goodness you're safe'. When Nara, Seung Hyun and I walked through the doors of the Go household, we were firstly greeted with Imo's bright smile and glittering eyes. She didn't ask any questions and instead told us to wash up, wind down and get ready to have a hearty lunch in the dining room. Dad would be joining us as well having taken the day off. While the two of us made our way upstairs, Seung Hyun went to see the man himself in the office on his own accord. I peered over my shoulder as I went upstairs, Nara holding my hand and dragging me, to see him disappear through those doors. I'd have given anything that moment to be a fly on the wall in that room.

"He'll be fine unni," Nara said.

"What on earth could they possibly need to talk about?" I asked her.

"Who else? You, of course. Maybe a little bit of me as well."

"Why?"

"Because, silly, they both care about us," she explained. Up until I know I still don't understand what exactly changed in their relationship dynamics in the past few years. I couldn't imagine them both somehow getting close or keeping in contact, there would be no reason to. Seung Hyun didn't outright hate my dad, no that was my sole doing, but he regarded him like any other person; maybe to the point of a little indifference even. That's all changed now it seems. Something made them both change.

As lunch progressed in the sun lit dining room, the polite conversation that weaved in and out of the sound of chopsticks hitting bowls and plates began to slowly kill me. Everyone ignored the humongous pink elephant that was in the room, stomping around and blowing it's trunk in my ears. It was as if Nara had never run away and Seung Hyun somehow always belonged in this household. I bit my chopsticks in exasperation and just stared blankly at my rice. This is what this family was renowned for, pretending, but I can't sweep things under the rug anymore. I've run out of room. As my furrowed eyebrows started to worsen more and more, I felt a hand slide onto my lap and grab the fist that I had made on it. I turned to Seung Hyun who shook his head ever so slightly, but his unheard words reached me instantly.

"Not now. Let's have some peace even if just for a moment," they said. And I listened to him for Nara's sake.

It was my dad who broke the quiet silence over fruit after dinner. After they had received a brief report on Seung Hyun's activities as part of Bigbang, he addressed her directly.

"Nara, your mother and I, everyone in this room wants what's best for you. You know that right?" he said. Nara just nodded submissively.

"So we'll postpone the surgery for now. I get that you need some time, so use it wisely." The smile that appeared on Nara's face was priceless, the shocked expression on mine even more so. My dad never just let things go, he never let time just take its path. Nara came up to my dad and hugged him, wrapping her arms around as best as she could

"Thank you, dad," I heard her say. "I love you." My dad closed his eyes and sighed, returning her hug affectionately. It almost felt uncomfortable seeing him like that because it was such an unfamiliar sight to me. 

I walked Seung Hyun out of the house towards his awaiting van that had parked in front, it's headlights lighting the small white rocks which made up our driveway. Evening had already settled in and his flight to Japan was in a couple of hours. We heard the echoes of Nara and Imo's laughter that came from the sitting room, and I looked towards the sound. Slowly, I folded my arms in front of me.

"Seems like we handled it well," Seung Hyun said, smiling.

"Yeah..." I somewhat agreed. "You said something to my dad didn't you?"

"What could someone like me possibly be able to say to your dad?" he asked me. I side-eyed him, knowing full well he was spouting bull, but decided to let it go. He just gave me a dorky smile like usual, pretending to be oblivious to everything.

"Fine then. Have fun and stay safe," I told him, turning around to go back inside.

"Wait, wait, wait."

"What? Don't you have a plane to catch?"

"I do, but that's it?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"It's not exactly words that I want..." Seung Hyun's eyes trailed down to my lips and I smacked him in the arm.

"Go. Bye. Safe flight." All he did was laugh as he let me push him towards the car. He stopped in turned around however, his eyes shifting a little as if unsure whether to say it or not.

“1203.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“December 3^rd was the day I met you for the first time.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s also the passcode to the apartment,” he said.

“I don’t get it…”

“I’m saying that I want you to have a place that you call home.”

"What?"

"That apartment, I didn't just buy it for myself. To be honest, it was bought and renovated with you in mind. The ideas we had when we were kids."

"Right..." I breathed.

"So I want you to think of it as your home as well."

"I couldn't," I said, shaking my head. "That's something you worked hard for. I can't just do that."

"No, it's something we both sacrificied for." He looked up at my dad's mansion, scanning the building from top to bottom. "And I know sometimes you need a place to breathe."

"I'll keep that in mind," I told him. I saw the exasperated look of Byung Young from the car window and smiled. “You better go.”

“Yeah. I should.”

“I'll see you when you get back.” Quickly, I reached out for his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Of course.”

I watched them drive out of the estate, tail lights bright red as they to the street and sped away. It was the immediate silence that followed, only the sounds of rustling leaves and distant birds, which almost made me run after him. I’m used to the quiet and even found comfort in it from time to time, but it’s never made me lonely. Though at this point where I'm left alone on the doorstep of this giant house, an empty driveway in front and a full house behind me, I'm wracked with nothing but loneliness. What unnerved me was how much this was all due to Seung Hyun, Seung Hyun and the subtlety in which he had taken over me.

The rough sounds of led on paper reach my ears and I hum as I begin my third masterpiece. It gets boring being in this cramped recording studio all day, it's basically the new hub for amateur artists to record anything close to high-quality tracks at a reasonable renting rate, which means it's always crowded as well. The regulars come here, I see the familiar faces of Seung Hyun's friends each day as they drop by just to check out each other's work. I don't have the heart to pull him away from here, not with how far I see he's fallen into his music, so I spend the time doing homework or doing random things, like designing our future house.

I don't want to live in the middle of the city, somewhere metropolitan but not too busy and I want a place that feels like I'm on vacation. I draw a little indoor graden filled with pebbles and tropical plants and in my layout I put a big open kitchen which flows into the living space that is bordered by giant windows overlooking the town. At least that's what I had planned to design. Instead, my pictures turn out like distorted, grey sketches of my vivid imagination. Nothing looks like what it's supposed to be. Maybe I need a ruler.

"What's that?" Seung Hyun asks me, peering over my shoulder.

"A house."

"For people to live in?"

"Not just people, us."

"Who, me? I'm not living there. I want doors that can open and walls that are actually perpendicular to the ceiling."

"It's a concept sketch... geez. See, it's nice and open planned, everything's very stripped down and natural." He listens to my detailed explanations, nodding along and adding bits and bits from time to time.

"It's nice and all Shin Ae, but which room is my mum and sister going to stay in?" I freeze and look at him, unsure of what to say.

"I-uh..." He looks at me expectantly, waiting for my reply while my brain begins to fry and my lips start quivering from a loss of words.

"You're adorable," Seung Hyun said, then leaned forward to give me a peck on the lips. "I was kidding."

"Oh..."

"We're going to live right next door to them anyway, they won't even need a room." I raise my eyebrows, waiting for him to tell me it's just another joke he thinks is oh-so hilarious. The punch line never came.

AN: Next chapter! I'm on a roll. A huge thanks as always for tuning in!