“Hongbin! Oppa!” the very familiar voice yelled from across the store when she noticed us. I pushed Hyuk to get him to hurry and move back to the entrance as I wasn’t in the mood to talk to the girl who was yelling for me. Unfortunately, she caught up to us.

    “Hyomi, what the heck are you doing here?” I asked frantically when she pulled us back to her table and made us sit down. She giggled lightly and clutched onto the large pink bubble tea on the table.

    “Hyuk came back at last?” she changed the subject. Hyuk smiled brightly at her, finally recognizing who she was.

    “Yep, seven years later!” he chuckled and Hyomi joined him in the laughter. My mood wasn’t as much filled with mirth.

    “So, Hyomi, once again, why are you back in Ko--” I was cut off.

    “Hyuk, did you like it in Japan?” she asked, leaning over to talk to him as if they’d been friends for years. She was avoiding the question, which seemed really suspicious.

    “Yeah, it was great. I had a lot of fun, but it’s good to be back in Korea again.” Hyuk went over the same answer to the question as he always had. Hyomi smiled wide and continued on with the conversation, totally ignoring me and making sure Hyuk did too. I was growing angrier by the second. When Hyuk offered to go buy the drinks for himself and me, I finally got to ask Hyomi without being cut off.

    “Like I said a million times before, what are you doing back in Korea?” I looked at her straight in the eyes. Her large smile wasn’t wavered. 

    “Vacation,” she said simply and sipped on her drink. I raised an eyebrow. She was lying; I could tell. I knew her well enough to notice the little movements that she made when she lied.

    “Don’t kid around with me, Hyomi. Tell me what’s going on.” I demanded, tired of her . She just shrugged and once again took a sip from her drink. I’d had enough. I snatched the drink from her hand and put it on the ground beside my chair. She looked at me pleadingly, hoping I would give the refreshment back, but I wasn’t about to falter. I could tell she was about to say something but right at that moment, Hyuk returned. I mentally cursed Hyuk for being so fast with the drinks.

    Hyomi took this chance and made Hyuk get her drink back. I was fuming. How dare she evade my question? She should know that I wouldn’t stop until she answered it—even if it took days, maybe even weeks, but, knowing her, it wouldn’t be that long.

    Hyomi took out her phone and checked the time. She gasped (it was fake, might I add) and stood up quickly, bowing her head to us.

    “I’m late for something—I have to go.” she said hurriedly and ran out of the café. I scoffed. Hyuk looked at me, confused.

    “What was that for?” he asked.

    “What?” 

    “That scoff.” he pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

    “Couldn’t you tell she was avoiding my questions? She’s hiding something.” I commented, annoyed. Hyuk nodded slightly.

    “Yeah, she wouldn’t answer why she came back.” 

    “I bet she’s still after Leo-hyung. We have to follow her!” I exclaimed and jumped out of my chair, pulling Hyuk along with me. The street was filled with people, but luckily, she hadn’t gotten that far. 

    “Why would it matter if she’s after Leo-hyung? He’s not dating Hakyeon-hyung anymore.” Hyuk said as we were walking, trying to catch up to my cousin. I didn’t respond immediately, as I didn’t totally know the answer myself.

    “Well, I need to know what she’s hiding.” I explained. Hyuk nodded, understanding. I knew Hyomi couldn’t be trusted, so I figured that was my reason for chasing her.

    Hyomi eventually led us to an apartment building. This is where we stopped.

    “See, hyung? She’s just heading back home.” Hyuk patted my shoulder. I was thankful for him. He put up with this without complaining. We started to walk away when I realized that the apartment building was the one Leo lived at.

    “I was right!” I shouted suddenly, catching Hyuk off guard. He jumped in surprise and turned to look at me. I had a very happy expression on my face; I was overjoyed because I was correct about Hyomi.

    “How can you be sure? She could just live here.” Hyuk pointed out. I guessed he could have been right but I wasn’t going to be proven wrong so easily. I went up to the door and looked at the names labeled on the side. I saw Leo’s full name, Jung Taekwoon, written out but there was no Lee Hyomi. I smirked to myself. She was only there because of Leo. I showed this to Hyuk.

    “Is there any other name she goes under?” he asked.

    “Nothing.” I responded. By now, Hyuk had no other reasons as to why Hyomi would be here. I patted his shoulder. “Believe me, Hyukkie, I know Hyomi too well.” I chuckled and we walked back up the street, the way we came.

---

    Hyuk and I were sitting on a bench by a small river running through a park. There were lots of other people walking by but we were focused on the river in front of us. Every now and then a family of ducks would swim past and Hyuk would run over to the edge and watch them excitedly, like a little kid. 

     I watched him as he did this and wondered if he ever really grew up or he was just going to act like a five year old his whole life. Hyuk was digging through the backpack he was carrying, looking for something to feed the ducks. Before we came here, we stopped at a bakery and bought some food, since we were getting hungry by then. He pulled out a piece of bread and broke it into pieces before throwing some into the water for the ducks. They scrambled to eat it and Hyuk looked back at me with a big smile. His attention was soon back to the water fowl, though and I just sat on the bench silently.

      Suddenly, someone snuck up behind me and hugged me around my neck. I yelled in surprise, but calmed down when I saw it was only Hakyeon. I wondered why he was here as well. Was today the day everyone decided to visit Hongdae? I guessed we would see Ken next.

     “What are you doing here?” I asked, laughing lightly. He sat beside me and slid his arm around my shoulder, casually. I thought nothing of it. Hyuk hadn’t noticed he was here yet.

     “Meeting Ravi.” Hakyeon put simply. I blinked. Ravi was coming too? 

     “You better hurry up and meet him then.” I commented, not to intent on the idea of seeing Ravi while I was here.

     “I have fifteen minutes left. I’ve been walking around for a while, so I’m just going to take a break now.” Hakyeon explained. 

     “And bother me?”

     “And Hyuk too.” Hakyeon said, yelling to Hyuk. Hyuk looked up and his eyes widened. He came running over and sat down on the other side of me. I felt like I was the filling in a sandwich; they were all scrunched up against me. 

     “Hyung, what brings you here? We just saw Hyomi. Such coincidences.” Hyuk chuckled. Hakyeon laughed a bit as well.

     “Going to see Ravi.”

     “We should all get together, right, Hongbin?” Hyuk looked at me and I shrugged. I was hoping to give off the impression I did not want to do that, but of course, these two being as oblivious as they are, thought I was agreeing.

     “Great, let’s go!” Hakyeon jumped up and pulled me up with him. Hyuk followed. I unattached myself from Hakyeon and walked beside Hyuk, not too excited about the idea of seeing Ravi for the second time today.

---

     “Hakyeon, what are they doing here?” Ravi asked when we arrived at the restaurant. Hakyeon arm was securely around me as we were walking and Hyuk was pushed in the back by the older hyung. Ravi was sitting at a table for two but Hakyeon quickly got him to move to a bigger one to accommodate us. 

     “We should really get going,” I started to say, standing up.

     “No, no. Sit down.” Hakyeon pulled me down harshly in the chair. I looked over at Hyuk with pleading eyes. He finally understood I did not want to be here, though, I could tell he didn’t know why. He just shrugged his shoulders, telling me he was defenseless against Hakyeon as we all were.

     Ravi was obviously just as uncomfortable with the fact that I was here as well as I was with the fact that he was. Hakyeon didn’t notice any of this. When the waiter came, Hyuk and I didn’t order anything except some water, since after eating the food we bought earlier, we weren’t that hungry anymore. Ravi and Hakyeon, on the other hand, ordered big meals. They talked with each other mostly, while Hyuk and I just stayed in our little corner together.

     After a bit, I once again attempted to get out of the dinner, telling Hakyeon that we really did need to get back home. Hakyeon tried to fight it, but thankfully, Ravi told him to let us leave. We hurried out and when we got out of the dark restaurant, we both started laughing.

     “God, that hyung is insane!” Hyuk said amusingly. I nodded.

     “He really is.” I answered. We started walking toward the bus stop to head home and when it arrived, we boarded it quickly. 
Hyuk fell asleep on the bus, so, although I wanted to do the same, I had to stay awake, so we wouldn’t get stuck on the bus forever. I woke him up when we arrived at our stop.

     “Hyung, can I sleep at your place? It’s closer.” he asked, sleepily. I didn’t think that would be the best idea, but I couldn’t turn him down. I brought him up to my apartment and let him sleep in my room, while I slept on the couch. 

     As I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, I thought about the days leading up to his departure to Japan and I smiled, wishing I could use a time machine and go back.