-- Geum Min

"Will you tell me why you're so angry?"

A ragged breath tears out of me as I sit in the playground - again. Sighing, my brother seats himself beside me silently, knowing that I'll open up and answer his question in time. I just need to calm myself down.

But really, why am I so angry? 

Let's see, it could be a number of things... Jin Ae's disgusting behaviour, or maybe the fact that Min Woo let her cling to him, Skye's behaviour, or was it just that a number of things seem unfair? I knew the instant I saw Jin Ae and Min Woo earlier outside the ice cream shop that she was acting up again, flirting with him. But I couldn't explain why it hurt to see them together like that, despite knowing that it was all fake... Min Woo would never like her. I'm sure. He wouldn't. I know that. But I don't know why the mere thought of them together hurts me... 

And at that point, I couldn't take the sudden rush of feeling. I felt I just had to get away from there before I exploded and ran after them to separate them. What scared me the most, was how strong my feelings were. I've never felt that way before, not even to Jin Ae, although she's a right witch. I wonder... could I have been jealous?

No. I couldn't have been. I've never been jealous in my life.

But you felt jealous for the first time after seeing her fling herself on Min Woo.

I shake my head wildly to get the small voice out of my head. I don't have feelings like that for him. We're just friends - have always been friends. Besides, he doesn't feel the same towards me. All the same, I can't explain the feeling I had - the intense drive to run from that situation. I can't explain what drove me to my best friend's house, either.

And that's the other thing: why was she acting so weirdly? She's never been like that to me before, and it doesn't strike me that she's that type of person. From the impression I got of Skye before, I could swear that friendship means the world to her - particularly my friendship. I can't deny it hurt, lots, when she pushed me away like that. But this kind of hurt I can identify with - I felt betrayed. And upset. And angry. But I can't shake the feeling that there's something I don't know about. Skye was okay with us one day, and the next... Something must have happened to her. She wouldn't be acting this way otherwise.

But how in the world would I convince her to change her mind? If anything, I know that Skye is one stubborn girl, especially when she believes she's right. To get her back as my friend, I'll have to convince her somehow that it's okay to be my friend. But to do that, I'll have to find out what happened to make her like that in the first place. However, that's easier said than done. She probably won't let me go anywhere near her, especially after what happened earlier today. Maybe I should send someone else after her?

Suddenly I feel less angry, and more like talking. I turn to Kwang Min, who's been watching me silently, his eyes filled with worry. 

"There's something wrong with Skye," I say hesitantly, deciding to keep my issues about jealousy, or whatever it is, to myself.

His eyebrows raise. "Is she okay? She hasn't been around recently..."

"Exactly," I confirm. "I went to her house today."

I stop, and it's suddenly hard to speak. It's as if there's something stuck in my throat, and my voice refuses to go around that thing to my mouth. I end up mouthing a word, but I can't force a sound beyond my lips, I stop trying to speak.

"What happened?" Kwang Min prompts me, taking hold of my hand. I feel reassured.

"She pushed me away," I choke out.

"Pushed you away?"

I nod.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she refused to talk much to me. She claimed our friendship is over, and that I should just forget it."

"That's ridiculous."

I nod again, miserable.

"What... what exactly did she say?" my brother asks, and from his voice I know that he's forcing himself to sound calm.

Glancing at him, I realise that he's frustrated too. His gaze is fixed on a point somewhere in the distance, and his knuckles are white. He looks too tense. Startled, I wonder why he's so worked up.

"She told me that she thinks we're too different, and that we've never truly gotten along," I say slowly. "She told me that I imagined all the fun we had together, and that we should end our friendship now."

Kwang Min's gaze remains fixed on a point in the distance, but his eyebrows narrow. "Why?"

I shrug. "She never really explained."

"There's something going on here."

"How perceptive of you," I return sarcastically.

He glares at me. "I'm going to talk to her."

I gape as he stands up determinedly. "You can't be serious."

"Watch me."

And he's gone.

Min Woo smiles at me as I walk into the living room, hungry. I ignore him when I see Jin Ae conveniently materialise behind him. He frowns, puzzled. 

"Is something wrong?"

"Kwang Min's gone out, and he won't be back until late. Is dinner ready yet?" I ask, deliberately avoiding his eyes.

Jin Ae prances up to me. "Geummie -" I feel like whacking the smile off her face - "do you want to eat some ice cream? Min Woo bought it for me, but you can have some!"

There it is - a flicker of light in the witch's eyes. She knows exactly what she's doing - she knows that she's riling me up. But seriously, Min Woo bought her ice cream? He bought her ice cream, and not me?

"Actually, it's for everyone," he mentions, awkwardly. "The ice cream, I mean."

"Don't bother yourself," I say in honeyed tones. "I'm not hungry."

His eyebrows draw closer together now, and he stares at me. It's as if he's trying to figure out a hard puzzle. Scowling, I push myself out of the kitchen and to the hallway, so I can climb the stairs to my room. I would have stayed longer at the playground if I'd known she was here.

At the door to my room, I change my mind, deciding that I don't want to be alone. Instead of heading into my room, I slip into my oldest brother's room. He glances up as I walk in.

"Ah," he smiles. "Yoo Min."

I stop in my tracks, stunned. Jeong Min never, and I repeat, never, mistakes us. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I have a theory," he claims, instead of answering my question.

He stands up and smiles mischievously at me. I swear he is such a kid. And Jeong Min logic is always flawed, and hard to understand, not to mention lame. I groan.

"Don't give me that look," he chides me. "Identical twins develop from the same cell, right? Well, that means that identical twins are just the same person! So you and Yoo Min are the same person! So you are Yoo Min, and she is Geum Min, and so you are both people at once! Only, you're actually one person."

My eyes widen. "That makes even less sense than most of your usual theories."

"It's true, though! Proof that theories are true is when they're hard to understand. You see all those characters in movies and books, all those wise people? They're all hard to understand, and that's why they're wise! So you see, when my theories are hard to understand, it's like the wise people's theories. So I'm wise!"

Nope! Those wise people give cryptic advice, not logic that makes no sense! You're not wise! 

For some weird reason, I hear Skye's voice in my head, rebutting what Jeong Min said. Often when she was around, she and him would have debates about his logic, and often they'd come to conclusions that were even more illogical than they were to begin with. And she'd have the weirdest explanations to her own theories as well. She used to find his logic funny, though.

I miss her.

"Geummie, what's wrong?" Jeong Min asks, seeing that I'm not laughing or responding to what he said.

Stumbling, I tell him all about what happened with Skye, how I want to change her mind, and how Kwang Min ran off to try and knock some sense into her. He starts frowning, and his expression suddenly becomes serious. In any other situation, I would have laughed.

"She likes him, doesn't she?" 

Confused, I look up at him. 

"Skye," he clarifies. "She likes Kwang, doesn't she?"

"I guess," I shrug.

He nods. "There's no better cure to a broken heart than love!"

"What?!" Jeong Min's exclamation is absurd, and he said it in English, too!

"It's a saying I heard on TV. But it's true, and fitting, don't you think?" he explains, his expression still serious.

This time, I laugh.

"Yah, is it really that funny?"

I nod, smiling. This is Jeong Min's trick - he always makes funny comments, like this random outburst of English, and then he'd pretend that he doesn't know it's funny. His serious expression never fails to crack people up even more. I know he wants to be an architect, but there is definitely an available career for him as a comedian.

All the same, he makes me feel ever-so-slightly better with his jokes. The worry about my best friend slowly slips away.

-- 

Kwang Min steps into the bakery, raising his collar and pushing his cap lower on his head so that people have less chance of recognising him. He approaches the counter, where a familiar girl is addressing another customer. Waiting in the short queue, he formulates what he's going to say to her. He must not scare her away, or frustrate her. All he wants to do is talk to her and find out what's wrong. Taking a deep breath, he shoves his hands into his pockets and waits.

He's known for quite a while now that Skye works in the bakery part-time. Her family isn't really well-off, and she likes to work in the bakery. A number of the cakes and goodies in the display are made by her hands, and they look good. He's seen her do some of the icing of the desserts, and he finds her concentration while doing that is kind of cute. Before this, however, he never dared to go to the bakery during her work hours. Unfortunately for him, she worked in the evening slot - the time when he's often got the most free time, and because he can't ever work up the courage to enter his favourite bakery with her inside, he's reduced to going elsewhere to spend his time.

That small fact didn't get beyond the observant ahjumma who owned the bakery, however. She grins at him now, as he queues for the counter. Her face gleeful, she points at Skye's figure, then at him, and then she gives him a thumbs-up. Sometimes, like now, he wishes she weren't so shrewd.

"Excuse me?" Skye asks just then, and he whirls to find that it's his turn. "Wait, Kwang Min?"

He swallows the lump of nervousness in his throat at the shock in her voice. "Yeah. Hi, Skye."

She gives her boss, the shrewd ahjumma, a sidelong glance, then looks back at him, her cheeks burning. "Uhm, what would you like?"

"When do you get off shift?" Kwang Min questions her directly.

Her cheeks burn harder as she gives the ahjumma another glance. Surprisingly, her boss has moved nearer to the counter, and she looks like she's about to say something. "Skye, dear, are you feeling quite alright? Your face is so red!"

"Actually, I'm okay," Skye stutters back, looking a little out of place.

"No, dear, you should take a break now. Kwang Min-ah, can I trust you to take good care of her for a few minutes? I'll give you one of your favourite donuts for free!" the ahjumma addresses him, giving him a subtle wink, which Skye completely misses.

The girl actually looks a little flustered, but Kwang Min is relieved. The ahjumma saved him from having to somehow convince her to talk to him for a few minutes. He nods, and the ahjumma kindly nudges Skye out from behind the counter. She deliberately pushes her a little too hard, and Skye ends up awkwardly falling on the boy. The ahjumma cackles behind her.

"Sorry," Skye mutters, her face a bursting tomato.

"You should take a walk, dear," the ahjumma suggests, looking pointedly at Kwang Min. 

He nods at her, and then walks out of the shop with Skye. She follows, glaring at the ground as if willing it to swallow her up.

"We need to talk," he starts, turning down the street to the park that's nearby.

Skye closes her eyes, sighing. "What about?" she asks, her voice tight.

"Has anything been bothering you lately?"

"No," she replies, her voice falsely light. 

He frowns at her. "You're lying."

She looks perplexed. "All of you think you know when I'm lying, don't you? Well, if you're all that smart, maybe you should figure out for yourselves what's bothering me!"

Kwang Min is stunned at her sudden outburst. Looking shameful, Skye bites her lip, but she turns away from him and hurries her steps. 

"We'll never know unless you tell us, you know," he tells her, quashing the feeling of hurt that rose up in him when she yelled at him.

They remain quiet for a while, Kwang Min keeping pace with her as they walk over to the park. The silence thickens, becoming unbearable, the closer they get to the park. Skye wanders into it, finding a small bench near the entrance, where she plops herself down. Her eyes are closed when he drops himself into place next to her, waiting.

"I'm sorry," she whispers finally.

He remains silent, studying the bed of red leaves at the bottom of a tree next to them. It's autumn, and the colours are magnificent. 

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" 

Curious, he turns towards her, catching her gaze. As he locks his eyes with hers, he can see a flash of sadness. 

"I promise I won't tell anyone, but you have to let me help you," he counters.

She closes her eyes again, frustrated. "Alright, although I can't see how you can help me."

"Try me."

Taking a deep breath, she starts. "It's... this person. She -"

"Wait," Kwang Min interrupts. "You have to tell me the full story. That means you have to tell me who this is, because if you don't tell me, I can't help you."

She regards him silently for a few minutes, and he can nearly see the gears working in her head. 

"Fine," she relents. "Jin Ae. It's Jin Ae."

"How did I know you were going to say that..." he mutters, cursing under his breath.

Skye buries her face in her hands. "She threatened to hurt you if I didn't stay away from your family."

A/n: Haha, what a long chapter, right? Things are getting more interesting now! :D I hope I cleared up all the confusion about Jin Ae and kidnapping, haha. Sorry about that! Anyway, tell me what you think about this, alright? Hope you enjoy the long chapter! Happy Easter, as well, and have a lovely day my amazing readers! <3 Thanks heaps for reading! :D