Jonghyun has left the apartment but there are people who have come over, keeping the place busy. Hannah is sitting by the kitchen table with her laptop while their maid Miss Shin is cleaning up and writing her grocery shop list after what is needed in the kitchen to prepare for the ladies’ arrival in the early morning and Manager Kim is lightly helping out by feeding the puppies.

“What are you making?” Miss Shin wonders when getting up next to Hannah, squeezing her eyes together to look at the laptop screen and then down at the piece of paper Hannah has been writing down on.

“This and that,” Hannah points on two pictures.

It is recipes she has looked up and ingredients for baking she has written down.

“We have all of this already,” Miss Shin points at the ingredients.

“Oh… All of it?”

“Yes,” the maid nods, “I can buy you more of these on the list and some milk too. Do you need any forms?”

Hannah blankly looks at her screen. Forms?

“For the baking, to make the shape,” Miss Shin easily explains for her and Hannah looks at the pictures again. No forms needed.

Hannah had asked first if she can come along to get the groceries, but in the end she stays at home preparing to bake. She wants to keep herself occupied and her stylist said she is not allowed to go to the agency (for two reasons, 1: it is 5 Pieces’ days off and 2: no one wants her to practice by herself). Who knows, she might have spent all these hours locked up in a practice-room if it wasn’t for Jonghyun. She loves to practice and to drown herself in things, to imagine herself being somewhere else and no matter how much she does live in a dream life she will always dream away to be somewhere else.

Manager Kim is out on a walk with the puppies and the maid is out buying groceries, and Hannah begins taking out what she need to make the chocolate marble cake. Miss Shin had helped her with what kind of cake tin and such to use, all Hannah does is to take out the ingredients and begin baking.

The manager comes back first, the puppies’ runs to the kitchen right away hearing Hannah being there and they are not leaving her side hoping for Hannah to drop something delicious on the floor for them – Hannah doesn’t.

“Why are you baking a cake all of a sudden?” Manager Kim is curious to know when sitting around the kitchen table.

Hannah shrugs her shoulders to answer, not even turning around from the kitchen worktop, and too busy focusing on what to do. She has the page up on the laptop of which order to do it all and she has written down the important things on a paper that she has next to her on the worktop. She likes her manager, Manager Kim is really nice and they have gone through things together, but she is not the person Hannah wants to open her heart for and say she is restless when not having her boyfriend or best friends with her. She isn’t really allowed to do anything so her final restlessness idea is to do something in the kitchen; baking. It took ten minutes for her to decide on the chocolate marble cake and scones to make, for no special reason at all other than it is easy to make.

Without a word she is baking, Manager Kim is talking a little about work and talking about that 5 Pieces have won for the second time with [Girls Power] on Inkigayo; the music program is not airing because of the Sewol sinking but the broadcast station has still announced this week’s winner. Hannah shows no reaction at all, but her brain is going crazy. [Girls Power] wins for the second week in a row on a music program that at the moment is not airing; the big deal is that the song is receiving a lot of different critic for being too strong or empowering and so on that she does not expect the song to be popular at all. She isn’t really sure if she expects anything of a song they aren’t promoting.

“It has topped the charts in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark…” Manager Kim is reading out, borrowing Hannah’s laptop to read her own mail about this and that. “It’s really popular. Billboard writes it is the most shocking comeback track of the century, powerful and meaningful… Proving 5 Pieces to be notable artists instead of in-the-moment idols”

The youngest shows no reaction and Manager Kim seems aware of it while talking and talking.

Miss Shin comes back too; Hannah helps her to unpack the groceries and continues with her baking while the maid begins her cleaning in the two-floor apartment. While Hannah’s cake is in the oven she begins preparing for the scones and after that does her own dishes and while being at it she looks through some of the things in the kitchen to find gifts from fans, like cupcake forms and such, getting ideas of more things to bake. Jonghyun texts her throughout the evening, just checking in on her, and Hannah sends a picture of the cake she has made once it is done.

The evening passes with the maid cleaning up and Hannah baking, and Manager Kim leaves after a while when making sure the puppies are fed and Hannah is okay. According to the manager, Hannah is just a little gloomy but otherwise okay. For the whole time Miss Shin is in the apartment Hannah is in the kitchen, making her cake and scones and she also makes cupcakes that she spends a lot of time decorating with chocolate frosting and whatnot.

Eventually being by herself, Hannah sits down with the laptop in her office, at first deciding on writing on some of her ideas (a book perhaps) but finds herself taking up a new mail to write to her grandmother. She doesn’t even realise her grandmother has passed away until she has started to write the mail for her, and then continues to write it either way.

‘Do you want to know what I have done? I have been baking for hours! I can send you a picture of the cake and scones and cupcakes I have made; I haven’t dared to try any of it, not sure if I will be able to stop if I do, but I hope my friends will like it when they come home in the morning. I’m all alone in the apartment now, just me and the pets we have. It’s so quiet compared to how it usually is here; living five girls makes it never quiet here when we are all together! It’s always fun… The girls are coming back from Sweden; they have been there almost all week now. I went too, you know, I wanted to surprise you. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted though, I ran away in tears and went back here, to Seoul where I have spent my past six years now. I had no where else to run, grandma. I thought I was going to pass out after visiting your house and being told by a stranger that you are … not here anymore. My friends wanted me to stay, they told me we could have fun with their families, that at least I would be at home. But … I don’t know, you were the last part that made it be home, somehow I couldn’t stand being there, surrounded by my friends’ happiness and my own fear that I might grow roots next to your grave. I wish I had visited you sooner. I wish I had been told. I would do anything to talk to you another time. This is the closest I can get, I guess, by writing to you like we used to do. Though I know you won’t read it, I can still know I have done all I can to tell you all I want to say. I don’t want to say much, I just want to talk, to tell you about my day and imagine you struggling to write me back. I have good memories with you, grandma; I want you to know it is precious for me. Even with my memory playing tricks on me at times I will always remember you.

I wish things were different, between me and my home, my family. Each time I have something to celebrate I get a little moody knowing no one will be there to hear me say it. But I want you to know that I am happy. After everything, in the end, I think I am happy. I have friends over here who make me laugh and let me be who I am, I have a boyfriend who takes in all my sorrow and comforts me, I have gotten a family of people I work with almost every day. You have no idea of how blessed I feel, that after all the darkness my mind imagines I am still able to live my life like this. At times it feels like I take on a challenge each time I open my eyes, that a new adventure is waiting for me to embrace. I am excited to live for once, I now wonder if my excitement to live is because I know life is not a game. It can end so suddenly, and I don’t want to waste it being stuck in an office doing what others want me to do. I am a singer, I am an actress, I am a writer, I am a person who lives life the way I want because this is the way it pleases me the most. You should see the faces of the people I meet; they see me as someone, expects me to be the person they see on stage facing thousand and thousand of people. I am overwhelmed with life, grandma. This is a dream I never want to wake up from, there is so much love next to my reality of sorrow.

Like always I end up writing like this. I’m sorry for doing so, I want to ask you so much, I want to know if you ever were happy. I would want you to send me a wish that I can grant. I want to give you the world, grandma, to show you things that can remind you of your own past.

We have a comeback coming up; it means we are releasing another album. I am terrified. It is a concept that frightens me, I don’t want the focus to be put on the wrong things, but writing like this to you now makes me realise that it is exactly what I want to do. I love to perform and surprise people with my friends; we put so much work in what we do. I am sure my friends are at the moment sitting on the plane imagining performing our new songs, thinking of all the details and how to use our voices…

I wanted to invite you to our comeback showcase, it will be in a month. I wanted to let you come here and see it, and I would spoil you on everything you wanted and even more, and let you see the showcase that we work so hard for to prepare. I wish you could come, grandma, I’m so sorry I am a year too late.’

After finishing writing a long mail, Hannah reads through it one time before sending it, just to not regret not sending it later. Who cares if she sends a mail to a dead person?

It’s true what she wrote; she is excited for their comeback, it is a month left for it and they have so much to do before that. They have a four-day concert in Osaka which is in two weeks, they will attend Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, they actually have to start practicing on the comeback for the showcase and music programs, they will film Good Sister… All of it in the up-coming month. She wants the whole month to pass through so she will stand there on stage, performing [POWER UP] with her members and not have her grandmother’s grave so fresh in her memory. Her first problem before that is to film Good Sister the day after the ladies come home, to face Kyung Ho and smile and be natural.

For hours she sits there. After writing the mail she is going through the mess she created the other day, now listening to music and going through papers and papers where she has written ideas for music and books and story-lines and whatnot.

In the mist of her inspirational look-through, Jonghyun calls her to say he is on his way – it’s after two in the morning.

Instead of staying indoors Hannah gets dressed and freshens up lightly and head outside when Jonghyun sends her a text. He is waiting in the car outside and drives off as soon as she has put on her seatbelt. They haven’t planned anything, they were texting each other earlier and decided to not stay inside the apartment and Jonghyun decided he will come pick her up when his radio ends, and here they are.

She is quiet when sitting in the car with Jonghyun, letting him talk and enjoying it. Her members starts texting her when they land at the airport around five, Hannah and Jonghyun have by then parked somewhere after driving around for a while, sitting there and talking, listening to music and looking at each other. When 5 Pieces are back, 5 Pieces will begin to work – every day they will work, she don’t know when she will get the chance to meet Jonghyun again. She enjoys the last hours with him, the last hours before she will have to return to reality and put her head straight. Though she longs to see her members, Hannah is not getting out of the car when they stop outside her apartment, Jonghyun even turning off the engine as if not expecting her to get out right away.

“Will you be practicing all day?” Jonghyun wonders. She has told him they are scheduled to practice today when the ladies have gotten some rest now in the morning; Hannah has no idea when they will go there though.

“Mhm,” Hannah nods, “Probably, anyway. Why?”

“Just curious,” Jonghyun answer and smiles softly at her. He has no reason to ask other than wanting to give her a reason to stay by asking questions, Hannah smiles back understanding that.

“Do you want to come upstairs?” Hannah asks, “It’s just the ladies up there…”

Though he would want to spend another hour with her, Jonghyun shakes his head. It’s not that he has to work, it’s because he thinks Hannah could need to go in without him; it would be weird for him to be there when the ladies probably have their comfort to give, Jonghyun would just be in the way. But he has enjoyed these days with her, he thinks it has recharged him in how they stand in this relationship, without a doubt they belong together

After sitting in the car outside the apartment for twenty minutes, Hannah finally gets out. Not until she has opened the door to the building does Jonghyun drive off, and Hannah isn’t sure if she is hurrying her steps because she doesn’t want to think too much on the way inside or if she can’t wait to embrace her members and burst out asking them about their week at home.

Carefully she opens the front door, and the silence she has heard in the apartment for the past days are completely gone and now filled with noise from loud ladies shouting at each other about this and that. She can hear Maria bark loudly at Carolina to not touch anything, and Hannah follows the voice of their leader to the living-room, seeing Maria kissing and hugging on to their cat Ace. Carolina asks the leader from the kitchen if Hannah won’t be back soon, and Hannah manages to slink by Maria to reach the kitchen, quietly walking up to Carolina.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to eat cake in the morning,” Hannah whispers to Carolina when getting up to her friend by the kitchen worktop where Hannah has filled her things in a corner. She surely has been baking a lot.

“Oh, Magnae, can’t I just try one? A cupcake at least?” Carolina starts to beg as soon as she spots Hannah, almost drooling from looking at it.

“Take one,” Hannah laughs, hugging Carolina lightly before heading back out. “I thought your voice would be hoarse from screaming too much with your family.”

Maria turns around and gapes at Hannah; she hadn’t heard her at all. “Baby!” Maria cries out and embraces Hannah for a hug, making sure to not squeeze Ace between them, and she holds on to Hannah for a long time, not saying a thing. She holds on to the hug a little too long, making Hannah mumbling her name but Maria just tells her she doesn’t have to talk and keeps hugging her in silence.

“Maria, let the cry-baby go,” Emelia sighs, coolly coming downstairs to see the leader not letting go of Hannah who is awkwardly hugging her back. Emelia then takes Maria’s hands off so she can put her arms around Hannah. “Have you gotten any sleep? We have two hours before we have to go to the agency, let’s go sleep, okay?”

And with that she takes Hannah with her to the stairs, Maria going to tell Carolina to not eat up everything and go to bed instead.

“Where’s Julia?” Hannah asks, following Emelia up the stairs.

“She fell asleep a long time ago.”

Hannah isn’t very tired, and she can’t lie still when she gets under her quilt. She sighs and rolls around until she sits up, just staring out at nothing. She had expected to be met by four talkative members, but it seems like they all had prepared going to bed while she was away, probably tired.

In the end Hannah has gotten ready for a day in the practice-room and she is lying on the floor by her door, cuddling with Ryo who is the reason she lied down there to begin with.

No one is talking about Hannah’s day in Sweden when they head to the practice-room; Hannah is too busy questioning them about their time in Sweden that no one even wants to get in a bad mood bringing up Hannah’s time. Hannah gets a text message from Jonghyun though; he writes that Maria thanked him for being with their baby for these days, and Hannah just smiles at it. She is certain neither Maria or Emelia would’ve let Hannah go back to Korea by herself the way she did if they hadn’t asked Jonghyun about his schedule and asked if he could see her at every possible chance; that he was with her all the time beside from a few hours every night is something none of them expected though.

Hannah is wearing a pair of black drop-crotch print pants and a logo print sweatshirt in black, and to cover her face she is wearing an embroidered baseball cap (also black), matching Emelia with a leather jacket and when nearing up to the agency she is preparing herself by lowering the cap. It feels like a long time since they met fans, it feels like a long time since they have been together at all. Hannah is nervous seeing the big crowd outside the agency, knowing it is fans of different artists in SM Entertainment and like always she has no idea of how they will be like; haters or lovers, will they curse at 5 Pieces’ arrival or bless it? She really don’t want to find out, but the van pulls up to park as close to the building’s entrance as possible and she can hear Manager Lim talk without really hearing what words he says.

All she knows is when they start getting out, one by one, with their manager blocking fans to let the ladies walk along the van to the front to sneak over to the building’s door. Hannah jumps out last, a hand held out to her and she has to look up to see it is Emelia’s hand, which she gladly takes before being pulled forward along the side of the van. Her head stays low and she moves closely to Emelia to hold on to her friend’s arm as well as hand, when reaching the wall she finds herself hiding behind her friend following the others to the door.

“If Maria doesn’t notice that she forgot her cell phone in the car within ten minutes, I will throw it over the floor during practice,” Emelia whispers to Hannah with a smile, distracting her from hearing the crowd of fans calling out their name to get a picture of them. “She will never know I took it.”

“If you keep saying it she will hear you,” Hannah warns her and they both look up when reaching the door that is opened, the other ladies already walking in. Emelia laughs and bounces up the two steps to walk through the door.

“Maria wouldn’t hear me if I so was screaming it out,” Emelia chuckles happily. She’s probably right.

They head straight to the practice-room where their dance teacher is waiting for them, showing them the set list as soon as they enter. Maria sighs, asking if they can at least greet each other before starting to work. They will begin practice for their Osaka concert, a four-day concert for their Japanese fans with their Japanese hit songs. Hannah likes their female dance teacher because she is warm and friendly but she is focused on work and is right on with what has to be done.

What’s great with a concert like this is that everything is prepared when 5 Pieces arrives. The set list has been prepared, all 5 Pieces has to do is to study it and practice each song like that, and they are told what to do – there is no thought behind it, just do it. Hannah likes it. She goes straight into idol-mode, putting her cap and jacket on the side and starts stretching while going through what songs they have on the list, everyone doing the same thing. They stretch and warm up from top to toe, maybe a little more than usual just because they have all been lazy for a while, and then starts to go through each song part by part, to know the choreography mostly. The ballads are pushed aside as they take it in order; dance, lyrics, singing. Today it is just dancing, to be reminded of the choreographies for thirteen of the twenty songs.

There are no dancers practicing with them today, and for most songs it will just be 5 Pieces performing too so it’s not important to practice with the dancers on the first day. It’s quite easy to remember the songs since they had the Japanese tour a year ago, and the ladies quickly get back into the steps and routine and somehow it isn’t difficult at all. Hannah isn’t the only one who has been troubled if she will be in a good condition to just jump right back into their daily routines after the past two weeks, the other members expect themselves to be tired and not in the right mind to focus on the practice after being in Sweden for five days – but no one seems to have a problem getting into their routines.

For hours they practice, focused on their mirror reflection and quietly impressed by how focused they all are. The ladies are impressed, their teacher sees it differently.

“What’s up with all of you?” she asks with a chuckle hours in on the practice. “You’re all quiet and just doing what you’re told. Where are the talkative ladies I always meet?”

She says it in a light tone, meaning it as a joke, but Hannah glances at her members as if a secret bubble is being pressed close to popping. She thought she had done well, all of them had focused on themselves and thought they were focused on practice and doing well, while their teacher saw it strange to see 5 Pieces not commenting or chatting or correcting each other, just dancing what they have been told. The ladies seem to realise it all together by their teacher’s comment, and surprisingly it is Julia who answers, saying they are jet-lagged. If four of them use jet-lagged as an excuse, Hannah prepares to say she is just following the other’s mood, but no one asks what her bad excuse will be.

“As long as you all remember what we’re going through today,” their teacher warns them and claps her hands together to prepare to keep dancing. “[You Said a Lie], cue.”

She presses the play button of the small remote control to the stereo in her hand and the Japanese dance pop track. Hannah starts dancing as soon as the music begins, seeing in the mirror-reflection the others doing exactly the same. They have gone through the song a few times already, so they have been reminded of the choreography and parts in it. Moving to the song, Hannah can’t help but to get in other thoughts because of what her teacher said. 5 Pieces tends to always have opinions and comments, most of all they love to correct each other, but today they are just quietly doing what their teacher says, not saying against or adding a comment to one another. She hadn’t found it odd at first but once it has been mentioned she can see that her members all seem to be in other thoughts.

Their visit home has been good. Maria and Emelia hadn’t told Carolina and Julia about Hannah’s grandmother until they were on the way back to Korea, just to not make them enjoy the trip home any less. Emelia thinks Hannah has been horrible on keeping them updated about how she has been, Jonghyun has been the rapper’s life-line during this trip because he has kept her and Maria updated on their youngest member. The only reason Emelia let Hannah go back to Seoul is because she knew Jonghyun would be there for her, and she does appreciate that Jonghyun has been with Hannah the whole time. It was easier to enjoy the trip knowing that; Maria and Emelia have both said it to each other. They have worried how things would be once they returned, if Hannah would be as lost as she was in Sweden or if she would pretend nothing has happened, and they haven’t dared to mention it because when Hannah came home in the morning she had smiled at them and she looked to be okay. When practicing they are reminded of their time at home, Maria thinks of what Jen had told her and how to approach Hannah with it, she is thinking of all the happy relatives she has met for these days and how nice it was to just lie down in the sofa with her parents and fall asleep to some movie on the TV. For sure 5 Pieces are in other thoughts even if they are focused on their practice, yet they all think things are quiet okay. They aren’t fighting; they aren’t awkward; they just are like this for now.

In the evening, after spending the day in the same room, Hannah is going through some steps by the mirror by herself while waiting for dinner to arrive. Maria is standing next to her; step by step they go through the routine together.

“We’re only wearing one set of clothes through the whole show,” Maria comments while carefully doing the routine with her body, her voice clear next to Hannah’s low muttering to the lyrics. “Like an upgrade of [Run Out]. They said it is 5 Pieces’ style in Japan until our next album.”

“Mm,” Hannah ends up saying, not very talkative today. She stops muttering the song and just moves to the routine, but Maria gets lost as soon as there is no melody keeping her up to what they are doing.

“Seriously,” Maria sighs and sits down on her heels, staring at Hannah’s mirror-reflection, “I can’t stop staring at your abs, baby.”

It is probably the weirdest thing Hannah has ever heard Maria tell her, and Maria laughs when seeing the honest shock in Hannah’s face-expression.

“Each time you lift your arms the sweatshirt lifts too and I see a glimpse of your stomach. I can’t stop staring at it. Have you been working out while we were away?”

It makes her blushes right away because she hasn’t been working out; she hasn’t done much at all. Barely eating, barely leaving the apartment – but she has kind of done something else, than involves the body… – Maria bursts out laughing seeing Hannah’s response, the leader falls on her laughing and Hannah hushes her out of embarrassment.

“Well…” Maria laughs, smiling up at the youngest, “It’s a good thing he has kept you in shape while all I have been doing is to eat and eat and eat…”

“You look good even if all you do is eating,” Hannah compliments her and Maria laughs some more.

“My body is skinny. You always look hot,” the leader tells her and gets up, pulling up her tank top to look at her skinny stomach in the mirror-reflection, a stomach that always is complimented. Maria is always given compliments about her body, for being skinny and looking like a model, while Maria has more liked that Hannah has had some fat on her bones, a curvy body. Hannah lifts her sweatshirt up just a little, just to see what Maria possibly could’ve seen when they were dancing.

“Ya, what are you weird ones showing off to each other?” Emelia laughs when entering the room with some food, and within seconds the room smells like chicken.

Hannah leaves the mirror right away by the idea of eating. She is really hungry after practicing, she hasn’t eaten anything all day and she knows her members are hungry too by the way everyone runs like hyenas to eat the chicken bits Emelia has come with.

Their teacher is sitting with them on the floor, all six of them eating the delicious food and four of them keep about how good food is. Hannah actually smiles seeing how hungry they all are, but they are quietly eating their meal. Chicken is delicious, it will always be, and Hannah enjoys eating it with her members in a comfortable silence. She is sure they are all thinking of their own things, and Hannah is only thinking of the chicken in hope she will not go into the wrong kind of thoughts. The smile disappears as she focuses on eating, slowly eating so she doesn’t have to eat as much, and Maria is eating surprisingly fast, looking like she is competing with Carolina of who eats the most.

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The next day the camera crew for Good Sister is surrounding the apartment. 5 Pieces have spent the morning in the practice-room and head home for two reasons; to film the show and for another schedule. Hannah is wearing a u-neck striped t-shirt in black and white and a pair of distressed skinny pants, rushing around barefoot in the apartment with the cameras filming her and Ryo happily coming along too.

“What about this one?” Hannah asks when coming inside the kitchen, showing something written on her notepad to Emelia who is eating some cereals now in the afternoon. Emelia scans the paper.

“Ya, you can’t use that,” Emelia points at the paper. “This part here is a no, the rest of is it good.” Emelia looks up at Hannah’s hand, and Hannah gives her the pen she was holding, just for Emelia to add something and draw over the wrong one.

The ladies are all up to their own thing. Carolina is being unsocial, locked up in her office working on music; Maria is looking through clothes on the second floor, Julia is washing up and the two ladies in the kitchen are eating and going through things for their schedule in Japan tonight. Hannah and Emelia have an event to attend in Tokyo, and they have to go in an hour or so. Hannah looks at what Emelia writes and mumbles it in Japanese before she takes a seat to keep on writing.

“Unnie texted me to say we need to call a radio to promote the concert while we’re there,” Emelia tells Hannah. “And take photos too.”

“Mm…”

Emelia smiles at Hannah’s short answer, something she has started with recently. Emelia glances up at a camera when taking a spoonful of cereals in , smiling back at Hannah when saying in Swedish; “My mom and dad said they want a video call some day, they were upset they didn’t get to spend more time with you. So we can call briefly at the way home after the event, okay?”

Hannah nods, glancing at her friend. Emelia’s parents are great, Hannah loves them a lot, and now on the after hand she realises she must have treated them badly for not wanting to stay there. She nods another time thinking of it, wondering if she can make up for it somehow.

“Ah,” Hannah sighs and gets up with her paper in hand, deciding to take a look for something to drink, “I’m all shaky for some reason.”

“Julia said she was shaky this morning too,” Emelia chuckles, and then laughs as she remembers something. “After yesterday’s practice, probably…”

She is interrupted by someone entering the apartment through the front door, a voice calling out that he is back and Hannah is fast to drop her things and rushes after Ryo to the hall. As soon as she runs in the hall Kyung Ho starts laughing seeing her that he backs in his manager before Hannah gives him a hug. Kyung Ho keeps laughing himself hoarse while Hannah happily hugs him and Michin runs inside barking too.

“Has it gone well?” Hannah asks Kyung Ho’s manager standing tightly against the door; she is smiling because Kyung Ho is wiggling in her arms.

“It has gone well,” the manager nods. “I thought you would be in Japan now.”

“Ah, Emelia and I will go soon,” Hannah politely tells him, “I have asked Maria to help Kyung Ho with his homework while we’re away… He doesn’t have school tomorrow, right?”

“We’re going to play tomorrow,” Kyung Ho tells her, hitting Hannah on the leg before squatting down to greet the happy puppies. Hannah is in a serious conversation with his manager to keep up with Kyung Ho’s schedule, talking with him for minutes while Kyung Ho drops his things in the hall and runs inside with the puppies, going to greet Emelia who is humming his name.

The manager leaves after that and Hannah walks back in to search for her little brother. “Kyung Ho, go take your bag upstairs so we can say hi to Maria.”

She knows he wouldn’t do it if she told him to take his bag upstairs, but the mention of Maria the boy rushes to the hall to take his bag and he follows Hannah up the stairs. Going up he is calling out for Maria, laughing when hearing her from across the apartment, Maria making weird sounds that makes Kyung Ho ask Hannah where she is. Hannah walks straight to the room they usually do the interview-parts for Good Sister in, at the moment it is just filled with clothes, including what their stylist came with the other day. Maria is sitting on the floor, packing a beauty bag and as soon as she sees Hannah she lifts up a lipgloss, asking whose it is.

“I don’t know,” Hannah answers, Maria barely hearing the answer as she is too busy loudly cheering KYUNG HO as the boy comes inside to give her a hug.

“It’s you and me tonight,” Maria tells Kyung Ho, giving him a high five. “Let’s watch movies and eat snacks the whole time, okay?”

Kyung Ho looks at Hannah as if asking for permission and the two girls’ laughs, Hannah telling him that Maria is just joking with him and then the girl leaves the room to go to her bedroom. Maria whispers to Kyung Ho that they can do whatever they want – after finishing the homework. Kyung Ho goes after Hannah when he is done chatting with Maria, peeking inside the youngest girl’s bedroom to see she is across the room in the small bathroom. There is no camera set up in the bedroom or bathroom, a camera-man is standing around the corner in the bathroom to film Hannah and two more camera-man are in the bedroom turning back and forth filming Kyung Ho and Hannah.

“Nuna,” Kyung Ho starts off saying when walking inside the bedroom, taking a seat on the bed when Hannah comes inside with nail-polish in her hand. She and Emelia have a box in the bathroom of nail-polish they share. He is making a grimace watching her. “Nuna, we need to have a serious conversation.”

He looks like a child when putting his arms over his chest to try look seriously at her, and Hannah laughs when giving him a glance.

“Really, about what?” she smiles, not taking him serious at all.

“You never went to Sweden,” Kyung Ho answers and the smile she had is quickly lost, she even glances at the camera-man. Last year in Life of Pieces she spoke out about her difficulties with her family, how she fought with her mother over the phone backstage at the concert and what bull her sister had said. She is not doing it for Good Sister. She hasn’t told Kyung Ho what happened in Sweden, she is terrified if she even will tell him yet, she don’t think she is ready for it.

“I did go. I came back earlier,” Hannah whispers and sits down on her heels in front of him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he pouts, all of a sudden it looks like he will start crying. Should she tell him? But the cameras are around, Hannah isn’t sure if she wants to tell him now and tell them to edit it later, she is worried they will somehow sneak it in anyway.

“Can we talk about it later?” she asks in a whisper, “I promise to tell you, just not now.”

“Did you see your family?” Kyung Ho whines.

She can’t stop shaking her head when trying to hold his arms for him to not lie down. He is upset, and Hannah whispers at him that they will talk about it later. She caresses her hand over his head, in a low voice saying she will tell him later and she repeats it until he agrees on it. Hannah keeps looking at Kyung Ho, to read his expression, and she realises that this is exactly what Jonghyun has been doing; he has looked at her so much to read her expression, to know if she will start cry or not. She takes her hand to his cheek. “Should we go back downstairs? Do you want to try sneak up on Emelia?”

At first he shakes his head with a pout, but then he nods deciding they should and Hannah pats his cheek before getting up. She can’t stop looking worried, wanting to talk to Maria that Kyung Ho is sensitive now, that Hannah has to tell him when she comes back. Going downstairs, she plays with Kyung Ho when trying to sneak up on Emelia, and for a while she waits until Kyung Ho has gotten into other thoughts and she can go talk to Maria about it.

The last twenty minutes at home are simple, and Hannah keeps her eyes on Kyung Ho. Several of times she feels bad that she doesn’t tell him now, that she has to go to Japan for a few hours, that he will be asleep when she comes back, she doesn’t like that she leaves him when her little brother was on the verge of tears thinking she had stayed in Korea but told him she was back in Sweden for a few days. When Hannah and Emelia are about to leave, Hannah picks Kyung Ho up in a hug (he is nine years old but so tiny that she can still lift him up at times) and Kyung Ho tells them to hurry back.

As soon as they have left, Kyung Ho looks upset. He doesn’t mind spending time with Maria; Carolina is still in her office and Julia is preparing to go out and hang with some friends. Maria is fun, she can play with him but she knows the limit. Maria brightly asks Kyung Ho if he will help her prepare some food, saying it will be something simple, and Kyung Ho quietly follows her inside the kitchen.

He saw online that she had gone to the beach with Jonghyun, and it hurt him because he thought she was in Sweden but out of nowhere she is out having fun with her boyfriend instead. It definitely made him sad, that she wanted to have fun without him – that she had to lie to him.

“Let’s eat kimchi ramen,” Maria says with her eyes searching for the kimchi. “Hey Kyung Ho, my kimchi ramen is delicious. Oh, we have chicken too…”

Meanwhile, Hannah and Emelia are heading to the airport, busy talking about Kyung Ho. Hannah is groaning about what to do with her little brother, what to tell him and how to tell him. Emelia gives her some advice, but Hannah can’t get it together. She even calls Jonghyun to whine that Kyung Ho must’ve seen the pictures of them at the beach; she understands right away what she has done wrong to Kyung Ho. They are too alike in too many ways. Jonghyun says that too, telling her to simply explain to Kyung Ho why she went home earlier and why she didn’t tell him. They are still on the phone when reaching the airport. Hannah jumps out of the van and starts walking to the doors right away, wearing a leather jacket and having a shoulder bag with her too. Emelia is walking in front of her, letting Hannah being on the phone with Jonghyun.

“Do you miss taking care of me?” Hannah teases when he has been teasing her that she probably can’t sleep when he isn’t there anymore.

“Are you asking because you miss it?” he is fast to back. “We could take an hour to meet after my radio if you want.”

“I have to solve a misunderstanding with my brother tonight,” Hannah says as an excuse, smiling at Emelia who turns around to look at her. Jonghyun can hear over the phone that she is inside now, the big Gimpo airport is echoing of sounds. “You didn’t answer my question though.”

He chuckles handsomely over the phone. “I always miss you, and I miss taking care of you. Hurry, get rid of the cameras so I can come,” he chuckles to her. Hannah smiles happily, nudging Emelia’s arm when the rapper gives out a teasing sound. “Is she making fun of me?”

“You heard it?” Hannah laughs and Emelia leans closer to tell through the phone that she doesn’t have to hear to know he is saying cheesy things to Hannah.

She talks to him for a few more minutes, randomly commenting that there are suddenly quite a lot of people at the airport (a bunch of cell phones are suddenly turned their direction, 5 Pieces always gathering attention whether they are two or five members) and Jonghyun comments that he is yawning a lot. Emelia can’t stop smiling when hearing the unnecessary comments Hannah says, guessing Jonghyun is doing the same.

The trip to Tokyo is pretty fast. The flight takes the longest; two hours there, and then they get to transform for the event.

They look stylish for short event appearance. Emelia’s long honey brown hair is wavy, a lock at each side put up and she has thin red lips to the black and dark-green outfit, a yellow ribbon for the ferry incident finishing up her look; Hannah matches her in a black outfit, a white v-neck t-shirt and the yellow ribbon too, her hair put up in a stylish bun with a few locks hanging down at the front and she has light lip-gloss on. The event is the store opening for a popular beauty brand, a lot of Japanese celebrities come too and everyone makes their entrance by standing in front of a sponsor screen for photos, journalists flashing the light of their cameras when taking endless of pictures. A tiny crew for Good Sister has come with 5 Pieces, filming when Hannah and Emelia makes their grand appearance at the event.

The two ladies stand closely together, arms linked and looking most of the time at the same directions, looking stylish and pretty. Emelia’s long hair looks great to her leather jacket, black/dark-green dress and leggings, her lips red and eyes smoky. She has a heavier eye make-up than Hannah, but she looks gorgeous. Hannah’s v-neck t-shirt looks great on her, the leather jacket has shorter sleeves but they match each other perfectly. Emelia moves her hand to Hannah’s back and Hannah does the same, standing closer together and Hannah looks wherever Emelia looks.

Thinking they are done when coming inside, they get to take more pictures, in every picture standing closely together and receiving looks from everyone around. They aren’t the only foreigners there actually, a Chinese singer is there and some stylists from France are there too, and as soon as Hannah and Emelia are officially there, they keep being presented and introduced to people. No matter who you are in here, it doesn’t matter that it is a beauty store opening with a lot of people in that business present or that there are a lot of Japanese celebrities there; 5 Pieces’ two members receive the most attention during their one and a half hour there. They meet two actresses they know, so with a drink in hand they sit down to talk for a bit but other than that it is mostly just greetings and polite words exchanged. The camera captured how good they looked for the journalists and they take some brief shots of 5 Pieces’ popularity when selling themselves among stylists and celebrities.

After the event is done the two ladies go outside to head to the airport, just that they have to give a radio call first to promote their four-day concert a bit, and they are standing outside the van by the street waiting to call.

Since it was known that 5 Pieces’ two members will attend the event, fans have been outside and the fans are currently watching them from a distance, slowly and carefully taking a step closer when no one is looking.

“As soon as you have called, we have to get going,” Manager Lee tells them strictly, leaning coolly against the van with his arms crossed and giving warning glances over at the fans bouncing several meters down the street.

“It’s still at least five minutes left,” Emelia sighs, stepping back and forth being restless. She sees Hannah smile at someone behind her and Emelia turns around, and both girls greet a Japanese make-up artist who they have met during a photo shoot before, who now had attended the event.

“Oh, it’s 5 Pieces,” the stylist laughs and comes up to them with her hand stretched out to greet them brightly. “I keep telling my friends how jealous I am of your stylists, Yong Hyun is always boasting about you all too. Next time you need a make-up artist, please give me a call.”

It is a brief meeting as the stylist seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere, but they wave goodbye. Yong Hyun, 5 Pieces’ clothing stylist, is popular in Japan for his connections and for working with 5 Pieces. After making the radio call, brightly speaking in Japanese, the two girls’ waves to their fans and thanks them for coming and hoping to see each other soon again, and then they head to the airport to go back to Korea.

Maria and Kyung Ho have had fun most of the evening together; Julia has been out and Carolina has spent her time in her office working. Dinner went well, homework went well, they played well, but when Maria saw what time it was and told Kyung Ho he should go to bed, it went south. He didn’t want to go to bed because Hannah wasn’t there, and the apartment is filled with complains when Kyung Ho runs away from Maria. An hour later, Maria rushes up from her seat hearing someone enter the apartment.

“Ya,” Maria sighs seeing it is Hannah and Emelia.

“How did it go?” Hannah asks.

“He is so crappy upset,” Maria sighs at her and Hannah pulls off the leather jacket to head inside, “He hasn’t brushed his teeth but he is in his room. Everything went well beside from that.”

Hannah nods and hurries upstairs. She is still stylish from the event, only the leather jacket downstairs was her own as she changed it before the flight. Ignoring the cameras, Hannah drops her bag outside the room before opening the door to peek inside. He is lying on his bed in the dark, and Hannah steps inside, closing the door after her. There is a camera in the room, but even with night vision the view is bad, and she hopes they won’t catch their conversation. Quietly she steps inside; asking if he is awake and when seeing him moves on the bed she decides to sit down next to him, a hand on his back. As soon as she touches him the boy starts whining out a sentence that she can not understand and she lies down next to him, hushing her brother to calm him down and let him repeat what he said as she could not hear. He got more upset when Maria told him to go to bed while he was waiting for Hannah to come back; he didn’t want to sleep and miss her explanation.

She whispers to Kyung Ho, hoping no camera catches it, caressing his back. He is crying now when she has come, she had no idea he got this upset at her, and Kyung Ho just hides his face against the wall.

“I went home for a few hours, Kyung Ho, to see my grandparents, you know that,” Hannah is whispering. She feel like she is too aware of the camera up in the corner, and she is worried a camera-man will step inside the room to try capture them or if Maria might come in to try help. “Sssh… I found out that my grandmother’s dead, that’s why I came back.”

He stops crying right away and lift his head up to look at her, and Hannah finds her own tears arriving. It is the first time she has said her grandmother is dead, the first time she has spoken the words, but she needs to tell him that.

“She died half a year ago,” Hannah whispers, now probably caressing his back to try calming herself more than him. “I ran back here because I couldn’t stand it and I went to the beach to get away from everything. I’m sorry for not telling you, I didn’t want to bring it up at this time…”

“She’s dead?” Kyung Ho sobs, more from his previous tears than from new ones.

Hannah moves her head to look at him better in the dark, doing her best to hold back her tears. “Are you still upset at me?” she asks. He isn’t, and Hannah nods, asking if they can go brush their teeth now and apologize to Maria for their behaviour. Hannah says ‘we’ and ‘our’ instead of just him, she surely knows that he would not want to do it if he has to do it alone. Hand in hand, they head downstairs to apologize to Maria who just smiles and holds out her arms for a hug. She didn’t take it personal because Hannah had explained it before leaving earlier, and everyone can go to sleep in peace.

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Monday, Headline 28th: 5 Pieces & Kim Kyung Ho Paints Creatively With Their Hands For Korean Pop Magazine

 

Headline 29th: 5 Pieces’ Hannah & Emelia Look Like Sisters Attending An Opening Event In Tokyo This Evening

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X. devonalias