“Are you kidding me? Do you know what happened last time more than one of your boyfriends came here? Or must I direct your attention to the bill I have to still finish paying from last time’s incident?” reprimanded Jaejin. Aae Li gave him a tiny grin in response and turned towards Kyungmi. The woman had moved back to her original position and leaned against the wall. Her eyes were looking at anything but Aae Li. The girl slyly moved beside her.

“Do I sense a brilliant plan storming in your brain?” she asked. Kyungmi refrained from rolling her eyes and took Jangsook’s hand. “No, you will not drag me into this. Now if you excuse us, I have more important matters to attend to.” She replied, and pulled the little boy away. He pulled out the earplugs and waved at the two in farewell. “It was nice meeting you Crazy-noona and ahjusshi!” he exclaimed. Aae Li let out a sigh in frustration and ran a hand through her tangled hair. She was officially doomed.

When Kyungmi found Changmin, he was finishing up his phone call with his father. And to her reassurance, he didn’t look nor sounded conspicuous at all. Changmin hung up, and upon seeing the two, he closed the distance between them with two long strides. He held up a yellow sticky note. “You owe me,” he gave her a crooked grin. Kyungmi snapped the paper out of his hands and read the address messily scribbled on it. She showed it to Jangsook. “Seem familiar?” she questioned. Jangsook raised his hands up in a rather deflated manner. “I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s my address right?” he replied. Kyungmi looked back at Changmin who nodded his head in return. “Yes, my dad said that a distressed mother called him not long ago. Said her kid named Jangsook was missing, last seen at a park yesterday.” He said. Kyungmi beamed. That was the exact predicament she had found Jangsook in.  Changmin nudged Kyungmi in the ribs. The towering man tapped her nose teasingly. “You owe me, and I could use a ride to get out of here. You know, before things get messy.” He hinted, as if to appear that he was still scarred from Aae Li’s boyfriends’ last visit. Kyungmi giggled and nodded her head.

“Alright, we’ll get out from the back. I don’t think she’d be desperate enough to lock us in here.” Kyungmi stated. Jangsook did a double take. He tugged on Kyungmi’s arm in a somewhat pleading manner. “Is she that insane?” he whispered. His eyes darted from side to side, as if frightened by the very presence of Aae Li. Kyungmi opened to reply, but Changmin cut her to it. “Pretty much.” Kyungmi glared at him. “Don’t worry, he’s just lying. Come on, let’s go!” said Kyungmi. She took Jangsook’s hand again and led the way out. But when they reached the back exit, they were surprised to see it boarded up from the outside. A whimsical tune filled the air. Changmin slowly turned around as the other two hid behind him. Aae Li stood in front of them, one hand on her hip, and the other holding a hammer with a murderous glint. She grinned.

“Why so serious?”

The lights flickered.

“Okay, what the hell Aae Li? You locked us in, but have you ever thought about how they can easily break us free as well?” Jaejin appeared behind her with a flashlight in hand. The trio on the other side sighed in relief. The woman of topic pouted and dropped the hammer on the floor. Jaejin visibly flinched at the thought of a dent, but she just ignored that.

“I don’t know! You guys refuse to help me and that seemed to be the only reasonable thing to do! Besides,” she threw her hands up in exasperation. “I’m scared.” Changmin hastily snapped the hammer off the ground and eased the other two towards Jaejin’s direction. “Should of thought first before dating two guys in the first place, eh?” he smirked. Aae Li scowled and kicked him on his shin. This did nothing to him.   The scowl deepened even more if possible, but then, she suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hey Kyungmi, wanna know what’s funny?” she choked out. Kyungmi shrugged. “Sure, what’s funny?” she replied. Aae Li pointed a finger at the Changmin. “His face!” and she fell to the floor. And if they could, the remaining three would have a sweat drop on the back of their heads. “So…strange.” Jangsook murmured. The others nodded their head in agreement. Jaejin sighed.

“Aiight,” he began. Changmin raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you say ‘aiight’?” he questioned. Jaejin shrugged, “Just not, but anyway, we can get out by the front. Miss Player here didn’t hammer them properly, so with a kick or two, I’m sure we’ll be able to get out without harm.” He said. And they did just that.

. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-f_cIaZ2p0&feature=related

Walking down the beaten path, an arctic wind softly billowed through the passing trees whilst the duo walked towards the forlorn mansion. One was a little boy wearing clothes that were obviously too big for him, and the other was a woman. Given the small similar features, they could have passed to be siblings or mother and son. But that wasn’t the case.

Finally, they reached the door. Jangsook raised a pale hand to press the doorbell, but the wooden door flung open before he could touch it. A blur whisked him into its arms. Kyungmi fell back a step in shock.

“Jangsook! Umma was so worried for you! Don’t you ever do this to me again, araso?!” Soonhye exclaimed. She put Jangsook down and held his small face between her palms. She pressed her lips against his forehead before she rose to her feet and wiped the tears from her eyes. She noticed Kyungmi. Silence ensued between them.

“Umma, meet Kyungmi noona. She is the nice lady that found me and took care of me when I couldn’t find you, yesterday. There was also this ahjusshi, but I never really learned his name.” Jangsook rambled. He seemed to be oblivious to the tension and kept telling his mother about his recent adventure. Soonhye finally motioned for him to be quiet. “Come in?” she stammered. Kyungmi glanced behind her before nodding. She followed them inside.

“Noona! Noona y – “

“Jangsook, go upstairs and knock on your nanny’s door. Kyungmi noona and I have some things to discuss, alright?” Soonhye cut off. With a pout, the boy obeyed his mother’s orders, but the heavy footsteps on the staircase were an evident indictment that he wasn’t so pleased with them. Kyungmi took this opportunity to glance at her surroundings. The lavish entrance made her go in awe, but that was quickly snatched away from her with Soonhye’s cough.

“Thank you,” she whispered. A small smile laced on Kyungmi’s lips. “You’re welcome. He’s a really nice kid,” Kyungmi conversed. She wandered if Soonhye was still spiteful with her, but quickly dismissed that upon seeing the sincere smile on her face. “Quite cheeky too, but I guess I have myself to blame for that,” she chuckled softly. “But really, thank you. I was close to losing it if you hadn’t brought him home. Although, that’s not why I invited you in at all.” Soonhye snapped her fingers, and before Kyungmi could count to ten, two butlers appeared with dainty chairs. They set it on a particular side before pulling out a foldable table from a closet. The two women sat down.

“I want to reconcile, and apologize for everything. I know this sounds ridiculous, I mean, we haven’t seen each other for years, but from what I hear, that’s not really concerning to you now.” Soonhye winked whilst Kyungmi’s face flushed. Of course she would have heard of her marriage. Junho made sure that everyone in Korea knew. “Anyway, I’m sorry. During the time after Jin Woo’s death, I’ve reflected on my life – a lot.” She chuckled again. “And I regret what I did. Everyone deserves a good life, or so, my husband had taught me.” Her voice quieted down at the end. Kyungmi watched as Soonhye repeatedly blinked her eyes. “You’re married? Well con-“

“Widow. He died serving for our country. His unit stumbled on an old bomb, and it unexpectedly went off.” Cut off Soonhye. Kyungmi’s eyes widened and she reached out towards her old rival. She held her hands. “I’m sorry,” she consoled. Soonhye smiled, despite the news she had passed on. “Don’t be. I already lost Jin Woo, so I’m pretty much used to this.” She joked. Kyungmi frowned. “No one should be accustomed to death, Soonhye.” She said seriously. Soonhye’s smile faltered, but she remained keeping her positive attitude. “I know, but it’s life.” She rose from her chair. “You should get going now, it’s late, and so, do you forgive me?” she asked. Kyungmi walked towards her before embracing her into a hug. “I do. You and Jangsook take care now, alright? Tell him I said goodbye, too!” she exclaimed. Soonhye hugged her back. “Promise. Oh and,” she winked again. “Jangsook is Jin Woo’s son. Just so you aren’t confused.” She whispered before pushing Kyungmi out the door. 

.

.

.

"Yoboseyo?"

"Kyungmi, don't freak, but our parents are here." it was Junho. Kyungmi furrowed her eyebrows.

"Of course they are. They do live in the South Korea, do they not?" she replied.

"They do, but right now, they're at 2PM's dorm..." Kyungmi stomped on the brakes.

"Bwoh?!" But it was someone else who answered her back.

"Kyungmi ah~~~ Shall we be expecting babies any time soon?"

She fainted, right there.