You didn't get home until late that night, really late. You would only get a few hours of sleep, and you forgot to go to the store, to make it look like you weren't lying about where you went. So you go out and buy some food, and when you get back, your alarm clock goes off and you sigh in frustration. You have bags under your eyes and you probably look like a mess. You quickly put your groceries away and hop in the shower, you turn the water on cold. It shoots out and you jump and shiver, that woke you up a little bit. You try not to turn in warm, keeping it cold will keep you awake.

              You wash your face before getting out and head to the kitchen, you pack your lunch and look in your wallet, not enough money to give the kids, that means you have to make more time to make their lunches. You smack yourself, stay awake! You grab some dry rice and put it in your boiler, letting it cook. You grab some bread and put a crap load of peanut butter and jelly on all of them. You count, seven, you've made enough. Next, you throw some granola bars in, whatever, this lunch looks good enough. Not long after, the kids come in and scurry around for bowls and cereal and milk.

"Where's the spoons?" Ji Woo cries, he looks in the silver-wear drawer but don't see any. Please let there by some in the drying rack, you don't have any time for washing dishes this morning. You look over at the rack, there are a few spoons, thank god! 

"Over there," you say and Sarah runs over, grabbing everyone a spoon. You hear the sounds of cereal pour into the bowls and milk shortly after as you leave the kitchen and go into your room, you change your clothes and brush your hair, pulling out the tangles, ignoring the pain of the little strands being ripped out of your head. You don't even bother putting make-up on and stick your glasses on your face, haven't worn these in a while. You look yourself up and down in your full body mirror, this is gonna have to do. This morning's not been a good one so far. After grabbing your backpack and putting it in the kitchen, Jae Won's taking all of the bowls and putting them in the dish washer, you hear the stomping of Minho's feet as he runs past you and into his room, Chae Won five seconds later, they come back with everyone's backpacks. 

               "Hey," You say and everyone stops what they're doing and looks at you, the power that you hold in this house is thrilling, "it's time to go, I'll do the rest of the cleaning, you just get your stuff and get to the bus."

               "Are you sure?" Rain says, "We can help you, you know. We have to help out too."

You smirk a little bit, "I know, but you guy's will be late for school. If the house is still messy when you get home, then you can help out. But I can start on it," you mess up his hair when you rub it.

            "Okay," he sighs and walks over to his backpack and throws it over his shoulder, everyone else soon copies him and they pick up their lunches. You wave goodbye as they head down the street.

"Have you notices how stressed out she's been?" You can hear Lee Gak whispers to his siblings.

"I know! I don't like it how she does everything around here, she always looks tired. Have you seen the bags under her eyes!?" Sarah whispers back.

"It's because she's trying to keep us together, after Dad left, she's been out of the house nonstop," Chae Won says.

"I was thinking about maybe helping around the neighborhood. You know, mowing the grass for people, just for extra money," Jae Won would never be able to get a job around here, this neighborhood . The people are really weird. There is no way you're letting him help out if that's what he's going to do, no sir!

"How many jobs is she working? Five? That's a lot to do, and she has school to take care of. It's like, she barely has time to hang out with us. It was much easier when Dad was here and Mom was still alive," Sarah cringes when she says Mom. It brings tears to your eyes. You wipe them away.

               It's not because of the jobs that you're working, but because of what you've been doing these past couple of days, sneaking out, meeting with the Barefoot Clan, it's all been a lot of stuff. But it's not like you're in pain. You don't feel stressed out, not at all. But do they really think you're working too hard? You have plenty of time to homework, either at night or during lunch, when you get papers assigned. 

              The bus finally pulls up and the kids get on, you walk back inside and sweep a little before driving to school. Haha, it's kind of nice that the kids want to help out with you around the house. 

               You arrive at school and hop out of the car, you walk into the school and past the group of jocks you've seen in the same spot since the school year started and down the hallway until you get to your homeroom class. You sit down and stick your headphones in your hear, Tae Hyung and his friends are sitting and whispering around with each other. Ho Seok gets up creepily and walks out of the room. Nam Joon follows quickly after.

"Hey," Tae Hyung says as he walks over to you, "what's up?"

You pull out your hear buds and look his straight in the face, "I'm not going with you."

He stutters a little bit, "I- er- You're not going anywhere, and I'm not going to take you anywhere."

"Then why are you over?" 

Stuttering still, "I wanted to talk to you, you know, since we're friends and all."

"Then maybe if you could make your friends stop staring at us, that would br great," You lean over so you can stare at his friends and glare at them, they're so stupid.

"Seok Jin, take the guys to go get some coffee," Tae Hyung says to the cute one that's always looking in the mirror.

"Fine, whatever," he never looks up from his mirror when he motions the guys out of the room. You two are alone now.

"You're not going to prank me that easily, and I didn't bring extra clothes, just so you know."

"Ha, wait and see, Je Seok, just wait and see."

               You hear your phone go off, you look at it. You freeze and zone out Tae Hyung's voice. It's Yoseob, he's calling.

"Shh!" You hiss at Tae Hyung and press "talk" on the screen, you slowly put the phone to your ear, "Hello?" you say shakily.

"Who is it?" Tae Hyung asks, leaning in.

"Shh!" You hiss again, "Hello," you say again.

"Hey, Je Seok, it's Jonghyun, umm. . . Well, we. . . Sorry, I don't really know how to say this- But, we found something you REALLY need to see, like now."

You're face goes pale, they finally found something, "I'll be right over," You push past Tae Hyung and swing your backpack over your shoulder. Running as fast as you can down the hall, you feel two guys grab your arms and stop you dead in your tracks. Next, you see Tae Hyung's friends come out with other students with eggs in their hands and a bucket of flour. Great, perfect, you don't have time for any of this!

               You think of who's pulling the hardest, the guy on the right. You lean in to him and collapse your elbow, he looses his grip on your hand, you do the same thing to the other guy, back and forth until your arm's are free. Without thinking, you grab the guy who was holding your right arm and lock his arm behind his back, using him as a shield as you run past everyone. While their trying to throw eggs at you, they're missing every shot. When you're finally out of the crowd, you shove the guy away from you and take off down the hall until you hop in your car. You start the engine and peel out of the parking lot. You aren't going to let a group of high schoolers stop you from meeting with the guys.

               You speed down the highway and don't let up on the gas until you reach the factory, you run inside and don't even bother knocking before entering. You're out of breath when you walk in.

"Hey," Yoseob says, "glad you're here, sit down," he pulls up a chair for you to sit in. You thank him and pull it closer as you sit down. He pulls some maps out and lays them across the wooden table. 

He starts to explain everything, "Okay, you see these dots here? These are where he's been since your mom passed," he hesitates on the last word, "anyways, I was taking a look at these right before I called you, it turns out that every one of these dots in order are five miles apart. See? Here, this was were he was first," he points to the first dot, in Busan, where you last saw Mom, Yoseob points to the next one, exactly five miles apart from each other, then the next, and the next. He's right, these are all five miles apart, so where ever Bo Kyung's going to strike next, it has to be in a five mile radius.

"That's not all we've found. Well, we've known this for a long time, but everywhere his victims have been found, their eye's were popped out of their sockets, and the victims have always been found a street that starts with an M."

You imagine the victims with their eyes popped out, you wince. Gross. And there are thousands of streets that start with an M. 

               You're about to open your mouth when you hear a big crash outside. You stand up, becoming more alert every second, "what was that?" Jonghyun comes through the door with gripping Tae Hyung's arm, he throws him on the floor in front of Yoseob.

"Found him looking through a window outside, probably a spy sent from Bo Kyung."

"Who?" Tae Hyun pushes himself off the floor and looks at you, "Why on earth are you here?"

"Why are you here?" You feel the heat rising inside of you, what if he tells people at school.

"I asked you first," he glaring at you so intensely.

"Should we tell him?" Yoseob asks you.

"Tell me what?" Tae Hyun steps a little bit closer to you, softening his eyes a little when he looks into your eyes, "what's going on?" His eyes are so pretty, you have to admit it, and his lips-

               What are you thinking, Je Seok. Get a hold of yourself, you barely know the guy!

"I. . Uh, well. . ."

"Yes?" You just can't lie to him, after all, he has helped you kinda, in a way.

"It's- I-"

"What is it? I know I was eavesdropping, and I'm sorry, but Bo Kyung, victims, your mom, are you involved in something here?"

"I'm investigating my mothers death. I just found out a few days ago, and these guys were part of my mom's squad."

               You watch as his eyes go wide, as shock fills him in. You lead him to a chair as you explain everything to him, when it started, the pattern, everything. This is a lot to take in, you know it from experience, and you're glad as you see the colour slowly return to his face. He's calm down enough for everyone to get back to work. You stay with Yoseob and Tae Hyung awkwardly stand slightly behind you, listening carefully. This is so bad for him, what if something happens to him in the process, what if you catch Bo Kyung and somehow he ends up escaping and Tae Hyung just so happens to be in the way. What if what happens to your mom happens to him?

"So," he says very slowly, "does that mean I get to join you guys on this? I mean, I can't just pretend this didn't this happened, and this is serious stuff."

"Is he in?" You look at Yoseob.

"You're call, Je Seok. It's always gonna be your choice."

You look at Tae Hyung, he's so stupid for coming here, "okay, if you're in, then you can join the group, but. If anything happens, if anything bad happens, then you're going to have to leave for a little bit. Okay?"

"Okay," He says, regaining courage.

"Cool!" Yoseob says and walks over to him, "welcome to the Barefoot Clan, Tae Hyung!"

 

                After everything dies down and you've told Tae Hyung to stop touching things non stop, he just started to stand and be awkward.

"Do I just stand here and do nothing?" He asks.

"Pretty much," you joke, but when you look at him, he looks so much like a lost puppy. Not sure where to go, what to do, or think, or say. You sigh, "or you could come and help me with the pictures. Immediately, his face lights up and he trots over to you, the corner of his mouth curls up into a cute pleasant smile, he pulls up a chair real close to you and picks up a picture.

"What do I do?"

"Look for evidence or something."

"Evidence, something? Like what?"

You sigh, this is like teaching a first grader how to skin a snake, "like, look for anything that ties these murders together, technique on weapons or something like that."

"Like this?" he points to murder victim #5 and #7, "on both of the rectus fernoris, there's similar slashing marks, probably stabbing first, then dragging down slowly. And here," he points to the same spot of the remains, "on the femoral artery, it looks like it's been cut, probably from the wound on the rectus fernoris, but look at the end of the artery, at the tip, it's darker than the rest. This probably means that it was clamped down in order to stop the blood flow."

"Meaning?" You know what he's saying, but you're not following where he's going.

"Meaning," he restates, "that since this stopped the blood flow, that means the victim didn't bleed out, and that means that judging by these injuries, the cuts, slashes, my guess is Bo Kyung kept his victims alive while he tortured them. Cut stuff out, like in here," he points to the stomach, "normally, the stomach would be full and round, but there is an indent in it, so I'm guessing he cut out something like their liver's or maybe their spleen."

               By now everyone's stopped working and is now listening to Tae Hyung speak. He went from stupid high school boy to genius.

"How do you know all of this stuff?" You're looking at him in awe, it's amazing how you've been judging him the wrong way for a while.

"Would you believe me if I said I watch a lot of cop shows?" He joked, but no one laughed, he still kept his smile, "my dad's a doctor, he knows all about human anatomy, I use to go with him to work all the time because I was home schooled for so long and I had no one to babysit me, so by dad just took me along and I got to watch him work, it was cool."

"And you learned all of that, just by watching?" Your jaw drops.

"Well yeah, it really wasn't that hard, I didn't even realize it until like, just now. I guess all of that really paid off!" He laughs a little bit.

"Je Seok," Yoseob calls your name, you quickly turn to him, "keep that boy, he can be a lot of help," he grins. You laugh and look at Tae Hyung, he's smart and cute. 

               And totally not for you, Je Seok. Get a hold of yourself and stop fantasizing. It's not even romantic to be thinking about this stuff inside a warehouse while tracking down a psychopath.

"Hello?" Tae Hyung's waving his hand in your face, he's been doing it for a minute and you didn't even notice.

You shake your head, "what?"

"I was asking you if you could drive me home, I sorta rode my bike down here and it took a very long time and muscle strength. I just don't have the energy to peddle all the way back to Seoul. Please?" He bats his eyelashes at you. You crack up laughing.

"Dork!" You joke, "arreseo, I'll take you home."

"Yay!" He wiggles in his seat, "gomawo!" 

"Yeah, don't mention it. Please." You tease. 

               You continue working with him. When he isn't looking, you peek at him. He's adorable, the way he's so focused is really interesting, his eyebrows furrow and he reads and when he says he found something and explains it, he his eyebrow up. He blows his lips out like a puffer fish when he thinks, pushing the air back and forth in between his cheeks. He's just. . . So. . . Perfect. And you're so not, you have split ends, you drool in your sleep, you have really bad breath in the morning. You just know that a relationship would never work out.

"A relationship wouldn't work out with who?" Tae Hyun asks, glaring at you with those soft brown eyes.

"What?" You say startled, "how did you know I was thinking that?"

"You were talking out loud, I just heard you say that little bit. So who wouldn't work out?"

Those darn innocent eyes are so beautiful, "nothing important, I think about a lot of off topic stuff. I was just thinking of my little sister and her friend, they wouldn't work out together," you lie. Nice save.

"Oh, well don't judge people too much, you never know. Your sister and that guy might happen. Even though they may not look good together, they could be happy with each other."

               And I could work out with you, but we all know that that idea is just too mainstream.

 

               The sun sets and the moon rises, night fell way too soon. Everyone leaves and Tae Hyung puts his bike in the trunk of your car. You drive in silence until you get back into town.

"Hey, want to get something to eat?" Tae Hyung asks, "I'm starving, I haven't eaten at all today."

"Me neither," you respond.

"I'll pay."

You think for a little bit, "okay, sure. I'm out of money anyways. Where to?"

"That one!" He points to a food cart down the road. You pull over and you two get out and get some fish on a stick. They taste so food, and greasy. 

               After eating, you drive Tae Hyung home and he gets out and walks over to your side of the window, you roll it down.

"So, about this 'Kim Bo Kyung,' when are we going back to the warehouse? I liked it there, even though it was all dusty and dark. It was cool to work with you, I mean. All my friends have been doing is pulling pranks on you and stuff. . . Oh! That reminds me. If you come to school tomorrow, be careful. They're planning on throwing you in the pool, stay alert, okay?"

"Okay," you laugh, "but they won't get very far, did you see what I did today? I used some guy as a human shield. Totally awesome, never did that before."

"I know! I saw that, it was awesome," he leans against the window and kicks his legs out, so his chin is resting on the door, "Je Seok?" His voice goes calm and sweet.

"Yeah?" So does yours.

"Do you miss your mom?"

"Yeah, everyday, I think about her. Wonder what we'd be doing right now if she were still here. I probably wouldn't have met you, that's for sure."

"That would've been tragic," he jokes.

               You two stop talking, it feels as though time and space has stopped, there are no cars on the road, the frogs and birds are chirping like crazy. Tae Hyung is looking into your eyes like before. They're glistening in the darkness, making the mood beautiful. And you can swear he's about to kiss you. He's inches away, just inches. He's so close you can feel his breath on your face, feel the warmth coming off of his, his hair is messed up and sticking straight up in the air from his running his fingers in it too many times. Cute.

"Tae Hyung!" You hear someone call and he backs away immediately, his mother is standing in the doorway of his house, "quit flirting with the girl and come eat dinner!" 

Tae Hyung's cheeks go pink, yours do too.

"I'm not even hungry," he whispers to you, joking. You smile, "see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"Bye," he says as he walks backwards away from you and finally turning around and trotting in his house. He waves before he shuts the door. You wave back.

               You pull out of his drive way and go home, that's the closes you've ever been to a boy other than your family. He smelled like cologne and something else you couldn't quite put your finger on. But whatever it was, it made him smell like heaven. That'll probably be the last time he'll ever look at you again. He was so embarrassed. You'll see him again tomorrow though.

Tomorrow, you repeat his voice in your head.

"Tomorrow."