Hello, hello
Anybody out there?
'Cause I don't hear a sound

***

There had only ever been a handful of times that Suzy had ever been to church. Rarely because she had wanted to. She observed as others around her placed their hands together, eyes closed as they whispered prayers. She was never sure how it worked. Praying and what not. She wondered if prayers were like wishes.

She overhears some of them. An older lady praying for her mother to get better. Another praying for her son to succeed in his exams. Another praying for success. Suzy remembers the last time she was in the church. It was also the first time she was there by choice. It was in the tiny chapel when she was back at boarding school, the night before she was to return home to Korea.

“Let’s go,” Sehun pulls her out of her reverie and Suzy unclasped her hands she hadn’t realised she had clasped before. The church choir finished their final note and the priest had left the church already. People were beginning to exit, rushing out in out blur as if it was a race. Sehun leads the way through the empty chapel outside to where she sees children gathered outside, adults surrounding a table exchanging pleasantries, sipping hot beverages to keep them warm. “I’ll go get someone to talk to you.”

“Wait, Sehun,” Suzy grabs into the sleeve of his jacket and he stops. Suzy doesn’t loosen her grip so easily. “What if this is a mistake?”

The nerves were beginning to creep in and take over. Sehun loosens her grip on his sleeve and grabs her at the shoulders. “Don’t be nervous,” he can tell by reading the expression on her face. “This is only the start. There’s no guarantee you’ll find her today. We’re just asking questions.”

“I know nothing about her except—”

“We’re just asking, Suzy, whatever information we get today is meant to help look for her.” Sehun tousles her hair, “We’re not expecting to find her today.”

“I guess not.”

Sehun leaves her by herself but Suzy just stares stares, noting their wide toothy smiles and laughing along with ease as the kids toppled over each other playfully. A lady wearing a black habit greets her with a warm smile. “Can I help you child?” she approached her from behind. “Are you a volunteer here?”

Suzy raises her hand immediately and shakes her head, “Oh no, I’m not.”

“Then?”

“My name is Bae Suzy, sister,” Suzy greets her with a handshake and nervously continues, “I was wondering if I could talk to you about someone who was placed in your care twenty years ago.”

The nun pressed her lips into a thin line, “Unfortunately I’ve only recently moved here,” and with that Suzy immediately feels deflated. “However, there’s someone else who might be able to help you.”

Suzy’s eyes light up, and she leaps a bit closer, “Could I please talk to them?”

“I’m not sure how much she’s able to help though, but of course I can take you to her.” With a warm smile she welcomes Suzy into the chapel, “Do you pray?” she asks and Suzy shakes her head. Following closely as she observed the giant statues that towered over her.

“Not really. I don’t know how to,” she says and the nun offers her a weary smile.

“It’s not hard,” she says but before she can explain a much more elderly nun walks out with Sehun and greets her. “I was just looking for you,” the young nun exclaims in shock.

“Seems like I’m quite popular today,” the older lady covers her smile.

“This is sister Maria,” she introduces, “This is Bae Suzy, sister, she wanted to ask about someone who was left in the care of our church twenty years ago.”

The elderly nun looks on curiously but nods her head, “Take a seat, please excuse us, Sister Anne,” she says to the other nun who simply offers an assuring smile to Suzy before walking back outside. They take a seat on the long pews, right at the edge and Suzy’s nervous again. “So, tell me about this person,” Sister Maria ushers for Suzy to continue.

“It was a baby,” she begins “My sister,” and Maria’s eyebrows furrow together.

“Unfortunately we used to take in a lot of babies, and it would be hard to keep track of where they ended up or where they are now. It might be out of our reach. Do you have a name? Was anything left on the child?”

Suzy nods her head but remembers the only thing that her mother would tell her. “It was a baby with a freckle at the on the right side of her eyebrow.” As minute as the piece of information was in her mother’s attempt to prevent Suzy from finding the girl it would be something that she would hold onto.

She hesitates for a second, there were many children who were left behind back in the days. Without anything substantial beyond a tiny freckle it would be hard to narrow someone like that down.

Sister Maria nods and offers her a smile which Suzy reads as one of pity. “Come, I’d like to show you something.”

***

“So I heard that my little brother was dating a Kang?” Chorong waltzes into the room a little bit too chirpy for Jongin’s liking at this hour.

“You might want to recheck your source because we’re not dating,” Jongin takes a bite of his bagel and continues to scan his phone.

“Regardless, I’m surprised you got in. You know how the Kangs like to keep to themselves comparative to anyone else. You won’t even find them in the tabloids they’re that quiet… or boring.” Chorong takes a seat in front of her plate of food. “So what are they really like?”

Jongin narrowed his eyes, “What’s it to you?”

“Aren’t you interested? You’re the one dating her.”

“Not dating. And even so I’d only be interested in her because she’s my friend not her family.”

“I’ve had the displeasure of running into her brother before. He’s as much of a snob as you’d expect them to be.”

Jongin smirks, “Doesn’t that answer your question then.”

Chorong shrugs her shoulders, “I’m honestly mostly interested because you’re moving on from Bae Suzy so quickly.” At the mention of her name, Jongin stiffened. “What happened?” Chorong probes, noticing the discomfort on her face. “You don’t blame her do you?”

“I’d rather not talk about this.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s none of your business,” Jongin snaps. His temper was running short these days.

“It sort of is, Jongin, especially since you’re being an to her for something that was out of her control.” Chorong crosses her arms, straightens her back and leans forward. “You know that I’d never intervene with your business—”

“So don’t start,” Jongin grimaces and glares back at her but it does little to deter her from finishing.

“…despite how much you like to stick your nose into my business. Every time something happens between you and Suzy instead of dealing with it you self-destruct and end up running to someone else. Last time it was Soojung and this time it’s someone else.  It’s like you keep thinking that all these girls are somehow going to turn into her and you’ll get your happily ever after. It’s neither fair on you or them.”

Jongin rolled his eyes, “Cause you’re such a relationship expert what with your steady relationships? Should we talk about that? How you can never seem to find a guy who likes you enough to stay around longer than an hour or two?”

“Kim Jongin!” Chorong shouts, slams her palm on the table which causes the table to tremble sending things toppling over onto the floor. Jongin and Chorong glare at each other till Jongin gets pulled by the wrist and dragged upstairs.

***

“Noona!” Jongin protests as he breaks free from her grip.

“Who are you?” Ara asks and Jongin rolls his eyes.

“Not you too,” he grimaces.

“Did you hear yourself back there? Did you hear what you said to your oldest sister? Do you hear anything you’re saying at all?”

“She started it.”

“How old are you?” Despite the fact that he towered over his sister, Jongin found it hard to look her in the eye. Ara notices this and sighs, “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you? I heard that dad wanted to kick you out of the house for not attending classes?”

“I’m asking you to not give me the third degree. Dad, mum and even Chorong noona have given it to me and I need you to be on my side for a second.”

“Ok, so what? You want me to tell you that it’s ok to skip classes, not come home till early morning and be rude to your older sister?” Jongin keeps his lips pursed, feet planted and hands balled into a fist by his side. “Jongin, everyone here is on your side. Whether you see it or not. They’re all asking about you because they care. It would be so much easier for dad to kick you out of the house and Chorong? When has Chorong ever outed you? Do you remember the time she caught you breaking dad’s expensive vase and helped you hide it? Or that time she caught you sneaking dad’s old whiskey into your room for your friend?”

Ara looked up at Jongin and noticed the bags around his eyes. She wondered when her little brother had grown up so much. It wasn’t uncommon for them. People like them, people like Jongin wilt much faster. Expectations weighing them down when he was meant to be growing, blossoming into something beautiful. But here he was a shell. Hollow and Ara sees the cracks which she had tried so hard to ignore since she returned. They were bigger now and Ara wondered when it had gotten so bad.

“Noona,” Jongin sobs, and she pulls her little brother into an embrace. She his head and pats his back and he’s little again to her. Her baby brother, Jongin.

Jongin tells her everything on his mind. The story starts from the night of the party to the moment Suzy almost drowned. Jongin carried the blame himself and moving away and on from Suzy was a decision he made himself for the both of them. It was better if she wasn’t in his life and him in hers.

“Noble idiocy doesn’t get you anywhere, Jongin.”

“Everything bad that’s happened to her was because of m—”

“Soohyun,” Ara squeezes his hand. “Soohyun is the one to blame.”

“But he did it because of me. Because he was jealous of me.”

“If you wanted to play this ridiculous blame game then technically three generations of our family should’ve been responsible for what happened to Suzy that night. But Soohyun is an adult. He is responsible for his own feelings and actions. You couldn’t have known how he felt about any of this. We’re all his family and none of us saw this coming. How was Suzy supposed to see that?”

***

Sister Maria takes Suzy for a walk around the church. At the back of the church was a huge plot of land which they had built a small cottage on and Suzy wondered if for a second Sister Maria knew. “You see the cottage there, it was built to help with the housing. Your friend Sehun was one of the few that helped with that.” Suzy nods. “He comes here regularly, especially of late to play with the children. He’s mentioned you a few times. He speaks fondly of you, and your friends. Jongin and Soojung.”

Suzy smirks and glances over at the children all jumping on Sehun after he lets the ball through the goal. Sehun laughs, and Suzy finds it odd but refreshing. She’s always figured that there was more beneath the surface than what he always gave off.

“We have a lot of children finding their way back to us once they’ve sorted themselves out. We count each blessing to have them as a part of the community and a part of the family.”

“Family?” Suzy utters a bit too loudly.

“Well after all these children were abandoned. There’s always a part of them that feels as if they don’t belong. Even after they’ve settled in with their new families. They don’t feel that way here.”

Suzy thinks she understands Sehun a whole lot better now. She nods in agreement and follows closely behind as Sister Maria walks over to the children. “Any news?” Sehun huffs and dusts off the dirt off his clothes.

Suzy shakes her head and Sister Maria smiles again and Suzy thinks it's the same pitiful smile she offered her before. “Is Joohyun here yet?”

“Joohyun noona? Why?” Sehun asks breathlessly but the cheers of the children answer it for him.

They all turn around to find the children swarmed all over the girl. Tugging on her backpack and pulling her in for hugs. Sehun chuckled and Suzy observed curiously as she glanced up quickly and waved in their direction. “Noona!” Sehun calls back and Suzy stops for a second and eyes Sehun suspiciously.

“Sister, you said that Sehun’s been coming here a lot.” Sister Maria nods, “Has he been spending copious amounts of time with anyone in particular?”

“Ah well, everyone loves Sehun around here.” Suzy nods, unsure if she should pursue the question further, especially with an elderly nun. “But Sehun and Joohyun have been joined at the hip of late.” Suzy hears the teasing in her voice.

She grins and nods her head approvingly. She was pretty. Long brown hair cascading down her back, eyes round and bright. The children follow her, they adore her as each one of them tug at her like they wanted a piece of her to themselves. Sehun breaks them a part jokingly, huffing and protecting Joohyun and Suzy observes all of this.

Joohyun looks to the ground and covers when she laughs but Suzy notices how it reaches her eyes like crescents. Joohyun was beautiful. “Good morning, sister,” Joohyun bows respectfully and turns around to the kids. “I brought you cake,” Joohyun says and the kids all cheer. She fishes out a box from her bag and hands it to the tallest and presumably oldest boy and whispers for him to make sure everyone gets a piece. He nods and she pats his head. In the blink of an eye the kids disperse, following the older boy and the box of sweets.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late today,” Joohyun purses her lips into a thin line.

“It’s alright, I know you’re busy working a lot.”

She nods her head, loose strands of her falling across her face makes Joohyun reach for them and tuck the loose strands behind her ear. Suzy notices it immediately. A freckle right beneath her right eyebrow. Joohyun. Suzy laughs to herself, Bae Joohyun. It sounded perfect. Almost too perfect. Jihyun’s first daughter. Even their names were similar. Joohyun whom Sehun was interested in. How much more messed up could this get.

“Joohyun this is B-”

“Suzy, just Suzy!” she cuts in and Joohyun looks at her oddly, curiously and maybe a bit frightened. Sehun grins.

“She’s my friend, noona.”

Joohyun nods her head, “Hi,” she says, shy and softly.

***

Soojung sits at the dinner table, staring at the foie gras in front of her which her mother insisted she eat. It was prepared especially for her return to France. “The house has been so quiet without you around.”

Soojung rolled her eyes, “I didn’t realise how noisy I was…”

“Not like that,” Sooyeon offers to break the tension between them. It had been awkward since Soojung had returned home with the intention of telling her mother that she wanted to return to Korea to stay. “So how was Korea? Are you ready to return back to school?”

“About that…” Soojung started. “I was thinking about returning to Korea…permanently.”

Sooyeon gripped onto her chopsticks. “Why? Who will you live with?” she asks.

“I don’t feel comfortable in France and Suzy has offered me a place at her house.”

“You’ve been here for two months Soojung. I’m not going to let you live with your friends. What kind of mother will I be?”

“If we’re being honest, Suzy might as well be family. We’ve known each other long enough.”

“But you used to dream about France—”

“Well dreaming about it is different than being here. I have nothing here. No friends and you’re always out working or attending meetings. All my old stuff—”

“You have San and you’ll make new friends!”

“Mum!” Soojung pleaded, “If you would just let me speak before interrupting!”

“I am! But all I’m hearing is you wanting to throw away all the opportunities that are waiting for you in this new country! For what reason? Because you’re homesick? Because you miss those friends of yours? Look at what they’re doing with their lives Soojung. You’re a crystal. You’re better than that.”

Soojung falls silent. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she needed to give France a try before running back to Korea. “This is why I didn’t want you going back to that country.” Sooyeon stabs at her meal in front of her in frustration. “Nonetheless, you won’t be going back.”

Soojung looked at her mother in shock, “You can’t stop me from leaving.”

Her mother met her defiant gaze and it was the first time in a while Soojung had felt this unease. Like a child who had been caught red handed. Soojung knew she was about to be in trouble.

***     

Suzy isn’t sure why she’s certain that this is her. For all she knew Joohyun could’ve been any girl that coincidentally had a freckle beneath her right eyebrow. But Suzy sees her mother in Joohyun. The long hair, the pretty smile and even her eyes. Joohyun looked more like Jihyun than Suzy ever did.

Joohyun turns her head towards Suzy, feeling the younger girl’s gaze on her and offers her a nervous smile. They sit in silence, the distance of a table between them. Sehun brings them over glasses of juice from the lunch table and sits himself beside Joohyun. Of course, Suzy rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “So you guys are friends.”

“You could say that,” Sehun says with a smirk.

“Well we go to school together, so I’m stuck.”

Joohyun laughs, “How long have you been friends?”

“Feels like a life time,” Sehun sighs.

“Unfortunately it almost has been.”

Suzy doesn’t want to tell her. Not just yet. She wants to be sure before she dragged more people into the situation. But the only way was to get a DNA sample and Suzy wasn’t sure if asking her to kindly give her a strand of hair, or some spit or worst yet a vile of blood would make for good first impressions. She shook her head. She shouldn’t be thinking like this. She had only started searching. What were the chances she’d find her so soon? It had to be a coincidence. Could someone have heard her prayers?

“So you were – uhm, the same as Sehun.” Joohyun looks back at Suzy, wide eyed, and confused again and Suzy wonders when she became so incoherent. She was nervous and beating around the bush.

“Yes, Suzy,” Sehun cuts in. “She was orphaned.”

Suzy kicks Sehun under the table and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, twenty years ago,” Joohyun takes a sip of her orange juice.

Suzy grimaces, there was no way. “What about you?” Joohyun asks with a playful lilt in her voice, “Are you like Sehun too?”

Suzy laughs, “Would you believe me if I told you I wished I was?”

“Why’s that?”

“My parents don’t really make for the best parents.”

“Well we always focus on the bad things.”

“If you had a chance,” Suzy began to ask, “To know your parents, would you? Even if they were possibly bad people?”

Sehun looked over suspiciously at Suzy but she ignored his attention. Joohyun is silenced by the directness of the question. Mostly because she had thought about it for the longest of times and had never really came to a conclusion. “Well, on one hand they abandoned me… it’s not like they’re sitting in my good books.”

“Right,” Suzy says feeling her cheeks flush from embarrassment.

“But I’d like to meet them. I want to know why they did what they did. Maybe it was for a good reason. Maybe not. But I’d feel like I’d need to know if it was my fault or—”

“You were a kid, of course it wasn’t your fault,” Sehun says in a low voice, “If they were anything like my parents who were greedy enough to leave me behind then it was definitely not your fault.”

“Thanks, Sehun,” Joohyun smiles and Suzy’s nails dig into her thighs.

Suzy nods her head and downs the rest of her orange juice. It wasn’t liquor but it would do to take the heat off her. “So what brings you here today, Suzy?”

“Oh she’s—” Sehun was about to explain when Suzy cut him of.

“I wanted to see who Sehun has been spending his weekends with,” Suzy says. Sehun shoots Suzy and glare and she gives him a smug smile and a slight wink.

“The kids love him,” Joohyun says sweetly and pinches Sehun’s cheek teasingly. He pouts and Suzy tries her best to supress a manic laughter. The only other person who had ever done that to Sehun was his own mother. Suzy wonders if Joohyun knew about who Sehun actually was and his reputation. No other girl would dare treat him as such.

Maybe it was because she was older that Joohyun had so much power over him. Or maybe it was because Sehun was trying to get into her pants that Joohyun had so much power over him. Nonetheless Suzy was relishing in this development. 

During their little brunch gathering Suzy learns a bit more about Joohyun. She lives in a tiny apartment in Seoul with a roommate who was barely home. She works in a café part time to pay her bills. 

The young nun whom Suzy recognised from before came waddling over cheerfully, waving to them as she came closer. “Joohyun!” she greets the other girl with a squeeze of the shoulder.

“Sister Anne!” Joohyun chirps.

“Sister Maria told me and I had to see for myself!” Suzy tensed and looked at Sehun helplessly but he was just as confused as Joohyun was.

“Told you what?” Joohyun asked, eyebrow raised and lips slightly apart. They were curious as to what the nun had to say.

“She said you were with your sister.”

“My sister?”

Sehun snapped his head back to Suzy, eyebrows knitted together. “She said your biological sister came to look for you.”

“Sister, no one’s come to look for me,” Joohyun laughs.

Before further confusion could ensue Suzy cleared , “Actually I did. I came here looking for you.”

***

Listen, listen
I would take a whisper if that's all you have to give

This development was a long time coming. I was trying to check when this idea manifested and the document which I jotted notes for this chapter was dated back in October as being created. The introduction of Joohyun (and Seulgi) had been a long time coming, it was just a matter of when and where. Honestly it was also the motivation for me to keep updating especially when I had my writer's block which happens frequently. I took so much delight in reading people's comments about guessing who the sister was and I applaud those who picked up the clues and guessed the right one too. Although I guess the main one was the introduction of Seulgi.

I know you guys are very passionate and vocal about your shipping but I'm still very much in the middle of exploring all relationships before I start nutting out the main/end game ships although it is getting clearer as to who I want and who I don't (more so the latter). I always appreciate it when people talk about other things other than who should be end game becaise it helps a lot with story developing. Things that seem transparent to me might not be to the readers and it's something I have to work on to clarify. That being said if you're ever confused or want to see me word barf my thoughts behind something I wrote just drop a question/comment and I'll get back to you. (Except not if it's who's end game because I still can't tell you exactly who but I can word barf on relationships. Also if it's something that's going to be answered in the next few chapters.)

Thank you all for reading, always. I hope you enjoy and please leave a comment.
xo