The next day, Minseok went to visit Saehee to check on her. His mother dropped him off as usual like any other regularly scheduled piano lesson. He told her that he had a lesson; she had no clue that Jonguk had left for a week. "Thanks Umma. I'll be done at the usual time."

"Alright," his mother responded, brushing Minseok's bangs to the side, and then patted his cheek lovingly. Minseok smiled at his mother. The car drove away before he made his way to the gate. The guard was standing professionally on the side of the closed gate. "Hello," Minseok greeted the male guard who he was familiar with.

The guard looked up at Minseok's voice. "Oh, Minseok-ah, Saehee requested to not let you or your friends in." He spoke up. Minseok furrowed his eye brows. "Why's that?"

"She didn't say," the guard answered.

"I see." Minseok didn't argue with the guard. "Can I wait here until I get picked up in an hour?" The guard nodded, yes.

Minseok took a seat on the concrete driveway in front of the gate. Saehee, he thought. He was worried about her. He regretted not chasing after her the day before. He understood why she ran away though. And he felt guilty for not doing anything about it. But he really thought not telling his friends about her mental disorder would be the best way to go.

---

"What am I going to do?" Minseok lay stretched out on his bed. He called his friends over to his house for advice on how to approach Saehee. The teens were separated into different parts of the room: Luhan was on the floor with his chin resting on the edge of the bed; Kris was sitting on the work desk with his laptop; Tao was sharing the chair with Kris, nosily looking over his shoulder at the laptop screen; Jongdae was listening to music; and finally Lay was practicing dance choreography on the empty side of the room.

"Hyung, how about you confess to her?" Lay suggested while twirling around. Confessing wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It’s not unusual for people to feel better after being confessed to with love.

"No way, it's too soon to confess." Minseok immediately crossed out that suggestion. He didn’t want to burden her with one-sided feelings. He was already sure that Saehee did not feel the same way about him.

"Remember that maid that caught us climbing in through the window? Contact her and have her let you in the house." Luhan said. Minseok abruptly sat up, an idea popping up in his mind. "That's good. Then I'll be able to talk to her privately." Luhan brightened up at Minseok's compliment for his idea.

"I wonder why that maid looked so...I don't know. She looked hurt at the mention of Saehee." Jongdae mumbled. He took out one ear bud to join the conversation.

"Wow, Jongdae analyzing people? That's a first," Kris teased. The group laughed at Jongdae looking offended at Kris' comment.

"I can be observant when I want to." Jongdae defended himself.

"It's true, though. I also wondered that. I mean, she's a maid, but it seemed like they have some sort of special relationship." Luhan added. Jongdae rushed over to tackle Luhan with a hug. "See, I'm not the only one thinking that."

Minseok pondered the thought of their relationship for a minute before casting the idea away. I need to focus on Saehee, he reminded himself.

---

"Saehee, aren't you hungry?" The bunny-like figure happily jumped up and down on Saehee's bed.

"No." Saehee sat on the floor in the corner of her bedroom. She buried her face into her knees. After the events of yesterday, she stayed in her room, skipping three meals. She just sat there, thinking. She was disappointed and embarrassed for her actions. Saehee had practiced so much and still failed. She embarrassed herself in front of Minseok’s friends who she really wanted to meet also and become friends with.  The thought of scaring them away tortured her.

"Saehee," Eunjung called, "You have to eat." She had been knocking on her door every few hours to check on her.

"No thank you, Eunjung-shi," she would mumble each time, knowing that her voice won't be heard.

Eunjung sighed for the nth time after not being answered. She pressed her back against Saehee's door, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She returned to her private room in the house. She began working as Jonguk's house maid six years ago when Saehee was only ten. She was quieter than the other workers who all freely chatted with one another. Eunjung kept to herself most of the time; she would finish her day's duties, and then return to her room to rest.

After a few moments of standing beside Saehee's door, she left for her bedroom on the opposite side of the hallway. She walked straight to her walk-in closet, and then pulled out a small shoe box tucked behind a few other objects. She dropped to her knees in the middle of the closet. Exhaling, she opened the lid of the box and stared out its contents. Inside there were photos of couple and a baby girl. She took out a family photo. The couple was happily smiling with the baby in the middle of them.

"I want to see my Saehee," she whimpered while gently pressing the worn out photo onto her cheek. Eunjung broke out of her daze once hearing her cell phone ring. It was the main guard out next to the gate who called. She quickly composed herself before answering. "Yes?"

"Eunjung, hello, I have Minseok out here. He asked if he can talk to you." The guard explained. Eunjung eyes widened, immediately putting the shoe box back in its place. She made her way out to the gate, and as the guard said, Minseok was out there waiting for her.

"Eunjung-shi, I know Saehee requested for no one to see her, but please understand that I have to talk to her. Tell the guard to let me in." Minseok told her in a serious tone. Eunjung was taken aback on why he went to her to talk about this. She didn't know if letting him in was a good idea or not. Even so, from what she had observed for the past few weeks, Minseok was for a fact important to Saehee. Her concern for Saehee’s comfort was her top priority. But if she wasn’t able to be by Saehee’s side, then she was going to allow Minseok to be there in her place. She had to put her personal feelings aside. “Follow me. Saehee’s in her room.”

(updated: 12-19-13)