They all grabbed their things while Ji Yong turned to Lia and said with a little teasing smile, “My offer to carry you still stands.”

She blushed. “Haha,” she mumbled back to him. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Don’t leave anything behind,” Tae Yang was saying. “Dae Sung, that means you. Don’t forget your phone.”

He rolled his eyes. “If there’s something I never forget to take with me, it’s my phone,” he said.

“He’s going to forget his phone,” Seung Ri muttered from behind Lia. She turned around to grin at him. She had to stifle a laugh.

They went down to the parking lot. They were taking Dae Sung’s minivan so that it could fit all of them inside. He patted his jeans pocket for the car keys when his eyes suddenly went wide and he gasped. “Omo, I forgot my phone!” he exclaimed.

“Looks like you were right,” Lia said to Seung Ri as Dae Sung rushed back upstairs to take his phone.

Tae Yang sighed, shaking his head. “I did remind him.”

A while later they were on their way. Tae Yang rode in front with Dae Sung. Seung Ri and Ji Yong sat in the middle and TOP and Lia sat at the back. The journey to TOP’s hometown was two hours so half an hour later on the road, Lia fell asleep.

She rested her head on her brother’s lap. TOP smiled, happy to have his baby sister with him again. He placed at hand on her shoulder and realized she had Goosebumps. He quickly took his jacket and covered her with it to keep her warm. He began to sing a little lullaby to her.

Ji Yong looked at the back and smiled when he saw TOP dozing off and Lia sleeping again. Seung Ri turned and smiled as well.

“She’s so tiny,” Ji Yong remarked.

TOP smirked. “I have no idea where she got her short genes from, though.”

“But she’s cute like this,” Seung Ri said. “Lia wouldn’t be Lia if she wasn’t short.”

“I agree,” Ji Yong said.

TOP looked at him. “Do you like my sister, Ji Yong?”

He blushed. “Well, your sister is very sweet and very cute. I do like her a lot.”

“Do you love her?”

Seung Ri turned back. He didn’t want to be part of this conversation anymore. He quickly plugged his earphones into his ear and began playing the music real loud so he wouldn’t hear Ji Yong’s answer.

Ji Yong shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s too early to tell. All I can say is that she’s not like any other girls I’ve gone out with. She’s different and that’s a good thing.”

TOP nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Good,” he said. “Let me tell you something: you can date my sister, but mess with her or hurt her and use her as a playmate for , and I’m beating you up.”

“I know, but I won’t hurt her like that. I promise.”

When they arrived at the hometown, TOP woke up and directed Dae Sung to his parents’ house. Lia was awake by then and was starting to feel stressed.

Ji Yong noticed. He then climbed to the back to sit next to her and put his arms around her. “I’m here,” he murmured to her, kissing her gently.

“Thanks.”

TOP gave him a grateful look. It was so good of him to help Lia out like that. It showed that he really cares about her.

“We’re here,” Dae Sung announced and Lia tensed up. She made a small whimpering noise to show that she was scared.

“It’s okay,” TOP said softly as everyone got out of the car, kissing her on the forehead. “It’ll be fine.”

 Before Lia could move to go, Ji Yong kissed her on the lips. “Hwaiting,” he said to her. It meant ‘fighting’.

“Stay close to me.”

“I will, Lia baby.”

She smiled. “I like that,” she said softy and he said it again and again. She giggled and he kissed her.

They stopped in front of the gate. “I’ll go in first,” TOP told the others who nodded. “The rest follows later. Lia, you will come in last. Ji Yong, stay with her, okay?” He went inside the house. “Annyeong, eomma and appa! I’m here! Where’s Noona?”

“Noona isn’t able to make it,” a man’s voice said. “She has some new project going on and isn’t able to make it back on time.”

“At least our son is able to come back,” a woman’s voice said.

“Ah, about that,” TOP started. “I hope you don’t mind me inviting a couple of friends. And, I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh, did you bring your friends from your group?” Mr. Choi asked. “That is good. It has been a while since we last saw them.”

“Yes. They came along with someone else. Guys?”

Tae Yang and Dae Sung walked in. They hugged Mrs. Choi and nodded politely at Mr. Choi whole smiled at them.

“Good luck.” Seung Ri hugged Lia before going in to greet TOP’s parents with a cheery smile.

“Oh, Maknae, it’s always so good to see your smile,” Mrs. Choi said.

“Annyeong, ajumma!” he said brightly to them. “Annyeong, ajeossi!”

“Where’s Ji Yong? Didn’t he come?” Mrs. Choi asked.

“That’s our cue,” Ji Yong told Lia.

She froze, unable to move. “I — I can’t,” she said, panicking.

Ji Yong nodded. “Yes, you can, Lia,” he encouraged her. “You can. It’s going to be okay.” He took her by the hand and pulled her toward the door. “I’m here, everyone is here. We are all here to help you, remember?”

“Oh, right. Ji Yong, you can come in now!” TOP called back, leaving his parents confused. He turned back to them. “Eomma, appa, I have brought a surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

Lia entered the room timidly, hiding behind Ji Yong. She peeped out from behind a little bit, smiling shyly.

“Oh, who is this?” Mrs. Choi asked. She looked at Ji Yong. “Your girlfriend?”

Ji Yong blushed. “Anni, ajumma.”

“Is it your girlfriend, Seunghyun?” Mr. Choi said, turning to his son.

“Anni. Eomma, appa, this is her,” TOP said happily. “This is Jun Mei. She’s back.”

Mr. and Mrs. Choi looked shocked as they stared at her. Lia wasn’t sure what to say so she just kept quiet.

“She was adopted by a family and grew up there for the last ten years,” TOP went on. “Her school has a field trip here so one day we accidentally bumped into her and her friends and yesterday we realized who she was.”

“It’s true,” Ji Yong and the others said. “We were there.”

“Lia?” TOP said softly. “Come over here. Don’t be scared.”

With a little push from Ji Yong at the back, she walked to her family. Her parents were staring at her, still in a daze.

“Do you remember the necklace I made for her fifth birthday?” TOP asked their parents. When they nodded, he touched her necklace. “This is the one.”

Everyone held their breath as the news sunk into Mr. and Mrs. Choi’s minds, both looking back and forth from Lia and TOP, occasionally at the necklace.

“Jun Mei!” Mrs. Choi finally cried out. She rushed to her daughter and hugged her tightly, her tears pouring out.

Mr. Choi hugged her too. “She’s back! It’s my daughter! She’s back!”

Lia began to cry, her fear of rejection gone. She was relieved, happy and feeling all sorts of emotions at the same time.

Ji Yong, Seung Ri, Dae Sung and Tae Yang all stood at one side of the living room, feeling very awkward yet happy the Choi family were finally together after being separated from Lia for so long.

After everything, all of them settled down to eat lunch. They laughed, joked and had a great time. Lia was really happy. Her parents were cool and really understanding when she told them that she has to settle everything with her adoptive family before they can decide whether she stays with them or not.

The other four members have never been to TOP’s house before although they have met them at several concerts before. The house was a cozy place and it was also the house TOP and his big sister grew up in.

They looked around the living room and saw pictures of TOP when he was a baby and growing up as well. There were pictures of his big sister too. Then there was this huge picture of all three of them: TOP and his two sisters. They looked happy.

“Hey, Lia, you look so cute here,” Seung Ri said, grinning.

Lia went over to where he was standing and blushed. “Ohmaigoose, I was so small!” she exclaimed. She hid her face in his shirt, wrapping her arms around him. “Ugh. I don’t remember ever being that small!”

He was surprised but happy. He liked the feel of her arms around him like that. He looked at Ji Yong to see what his reaction was but Ji Yong just grinned, looking at the picture.

He poked Lia. “What you mean you don’t remember? You’re still small!” He laughed, looking back at the picture. “Awww, you’re so cute, Lia baby,” he cooed and Lia extended an arm to hit him on the arm. “Ow!”

Mrs. Choi nodded, looking at where they were looking. “Oh yes. Jun Mei was a small one. Appa here used to call her small fry.”

“Oh, yes, tiny little thing she was,” Mr. Choi nodded.

“Aaaiiii,” Lia wailed, getting even more embarrassed.

“Hey, I like cute, small girls, remember?” Ji Yong said, pulling her to him and Seung Ri immediately missed her arms around him.

Lia blushed even harder, if that was even possible. She was red as a tomato now.

“I remember she used to give us a lot of trouble because of her heart problems, right?” TOP spoke up.

Mr. Choi nodded. “She was born with a hole in her heart,” he explained. “Everyone thought she wouldn’t make it, but she does, with a lot of asthma attacks.”

Lia nodded. “I gave the family in Australia a hard time too, with my asthma problems,” she said. “But now my attacks have stopped.”

“That’s because the hole has closed after your heart developed as you grew bigger,” her mother told her.

“Ah, right.” Lia grinned sheepishly.

TOP couldn’t stop smiling. He was just so happy that they were finally together again.