When the rays broke the night sky, Jiyong's eyes slowly peeled opened. His nose had detected a scent of toasty eggs and some rice, just like the ones Jieun made when she had stayed at his home. He thought that he was dreaming, but when he thought about what had happened last night, there was no reason for him to think that everything was just a dream. He quickly sat up, only to find Jiho and Minah still sleeping, while Jieun had gotten up early to make breakfast for their aching bellies.

Jiyong quietly rubbed his eyes, trying to think about what had happened last night. Last night, after he had closed the store, he remembered trying to bring Jiho to the hospital, but Jiho kept insisting to stay at his house. He also remembered how Jieun asked him if he could stay over since she could help Jiho's wounds and she had nowhere else to go (after all, her boyfriend did ditch her just a while back). He didn't know why Minah wanted to tag along, but he supposed that she joined in because she didn't trust Jiyong, especially since he would be in charge of a girl and an injured boy. He remembered hesitating, not wanting to bring the kids over, but when Minah called her parents and already told them that she would be having a sleep over, they left her in his care. 

So, while giving Jiho a piggy back ride and having Jieun and Minah tag behind him, he had brought three kids to his small home.

"Good morning," Jieun whispered, noticing that the older man was awake.

Jiyong rubbed the nape of his neck and drowsily stared at the girl standing nearby him. "Morning. What's all this?"

"Breakfast. I figured that you guys would be hungry when you wake up. This time, I actually used some supplies from your fridge. I left some money on the counter to repay you for the ingredients I used," Jieun said, pointing to the cash sitting on the corner of the counter.

"You don't really have to do that," Jiyong said. But thanks anyway.

"Did you sleep well? You looked like you had a nightmare," Jieun told him.

Nightmare? Jiyong thought hard, but he couldn't quite remember if he dreamt something or not. He did feel cold sweat staining the back of his shirt, but he assumed that it was from the heat from the floor.

He shook his head, while Jieun just nodded her head. She placed a perfect circular fried egg on a plate, and handed it for Jiyong to grab. He got up on his two feet, carefully walked over the two other's sprawled arms and legs, and managed to arrive in the kitchen with just two or three large steps. He grabbed his plate, and went over to the rice cooker to scoop out some rice on his plate.

"So when does school start for you?" Jiyong asked, leaning against the wall. He wasn't going to sit back down, especially since the two could kick him unconsciously.

"Um, it starts at eight, but then I arrive school at around five."

"Five? Why so early?"

"I have to do some tasks at school, so I go there early," Jieun said.

"When do students usually go to school?"

"Maybe six? Some of them still arrive at five like me, except they just study."

"Do you go to school with your boyfriend?"

"No…I go earlier alone. He knows that I head straight to school and sometimes straight back."

"Do you make his breakfast and lunch like this?"

"Yes. I've been doing all the cooking. He used to like my food, but now he's tired of eating the same thing."

"Have you cooked something different?"

"Yes, but he says that I don't cook with fresh ingredients, which is weird cause I always buy the food the night before or in rare occasions, early in the morning."

"So what does he want you to do?"

"Stop making the food."

"Do you like cooking?"

"I guess. It's fun to watch people eat my food," Jieun answered.

For quite some time, it was mostly Jiyong asking the questions while Jieun took the time to answer them. Jiyong didn't feel like it was a problem, but he did realize that his questions seemed to bother her. He could tell that she tried to be vague with her answers, but then Jiyong managed to get some little detail from her answers.

After a while of talking, Minah got up. For a second, she looked confused and scared, wondering what she was doing in such an unfamiliar room. She first saw Jiyong, and almost screamed until she recognized Jieun. As if she thought Jiyong was going to do something to her, Minah glared at him and wrapped herself around with the blanket.

"Uh, morning," Jiyong said, unsure if it was okay for him to greet her or not.

"Did you do anything to me last night?" Minah asked quickly.

Jiyong widened his eyes. "What? I—"

"I'm pretty sure you did—"

"Kid, I don't know—"

"—If you did, I will call the co—"

"I—"

"Minah," Jieun interrupted them. Minah turned around to Jieun and closed , hesitating to talk to her. "Here. Have something to eat."

Minah kept quiet, and she continued to stare at Jieun. "You're Chanyeol's girlfriend, right? The introvert?"

"U-Um, y-yes…"

"Hmph. You don't seem as all as he says you are," Minah told her.

"W-What does he say?" Jieun asked curiously, her voice getting smaller by the second.

"He says that you're perfect and you do whatever he wants you to do. He says that you two don't need to talk anymore to understand how the other partner is feeling. He says that just with one glance, you guys understand each other." Minah kept quiet. "He also says that you're a delinquent and fight a lot."

"A-A delinquent?" Jieun repeated.

Of course no word is needed for them. It's basically the boyfriend glaring at the girlfriend and the girlfriend understanding the message. He only needs words to force her to do something. A delinquent? He's probably using that to cover up the truth of why she has bruises on her face, Jiyong thought, realizing that Minah now saw Jieun's bruised eye.

"There's no way that Jieun's a delinquent," another voice said.

The three looked over to Jiho, who was slowly rising from the floor. The boy had an extremely bad morning hair, but everyone kept quiet. He glanced over at Minah, who was startled and looked down at her hands. Then, he looked at Jieun, who was still holding a plate of food in her hands.

"Can I take that?" Jiho asked.

"O-Of course," Jieun said, nodding her head as she went over to give Jiho the food.

"Thanks," he replied, taking the plate and the pair of chopsticks she handed up. 

Jiyong looked down at his plate, and noticed that he was done eating. He walked over to put them in the sink, where Jieun stood next to him. She was just about to offer to put it away from him, but he managed to swipe away his plate to show that he was going to do his own task alone. 

After putting his plate away in the sink, he looked over and leaned against the counter, staring at Jiho, who was eating, and Minah, who was receiving her food from Jieun.

"So when are you two planning to go to school?" Jiyong asked.

"When Jieun goes," Jiho told him.

"Then you literally leave in thirty minutes," Jiyong said.

"I-I'll go when everyone else goes!" Minah managed to say.

"It's the same for you, too. You guys have to hurry and eat," Jiyong said, turning around to wash the dishes.

Minah pouted, but then looked at the meal. Her stomach growled loudly, and she blushed. She looked at the food once more, then handed it to Jieun in an apologetic manner.

"Sorry, but I'm on a diet," Minah said quietly. "I skip breakfast. I only eat at lunch."

"How about dinner?" Jiyong asked, raising his voice so that she could hear him through the runny water. He slipped on some rubber gloves and grabbed a sponge, ready to rinse and soap the plate. 

"I don't eat dinner, either."

"Is that a healthy diet? I had a friend who was on a diet, but she ate everything early; she had three meals a day, and she exercised a lot. I think it was around two-hundred jump ropes daily?" Jiyong paused, then glanced at Minah. "Well, I'm not a diet expert, so I can't say much."

No one said a word for the next ten minutes. Jiho quickly finished up his breakfast, and gave the plate to Jiyong. Minah, seeing this, quickly got up on her feet to grab her bag. The three went to the door, slipping on their shoes, ready to head to school. Jiyong watched them, quickly finishing up the remaining plates. When he was done cleaning, the girls and the boy were ready to leave. They respectfully bowed at him.

"Have a fun day," Jiyong told them. He saw all of their little bodies flinch at his encouragement. Without another word, they disappeared, ready to head back to school.

Jiyong heaved a heavy sigh, then locked the door. He looked around the room, seeing the messy blankets and pillows laying all over the floor. He had a lot of time before work started, and he was kind of glad waking up at such an early time. With the mess the kids made, it would take forever him to clean up!

As Jiyong got to work, he remembered how Jieun mentioned about if he had a nightmare. He thought long and hard on her question, wondering if he could possibly remember a nightmare. Of course, he couldn't remember all of it at once, but little bits of flashes popped into his head.

He dreamt of three birds again, except this time they were all in a cage. He forgot what exactly happened, but he remembered how helpless these birds were. He wasn't sure if he helped the birds or not, but he knew that he dreamt about his previous lifestyle…

He stopped himself before he could remember any more. Nightmare or not, he didn't want to deal with such a tough memory.

After all, he promised to never remember the past. To Kwon Jiyong, the past was just a joke.

* * *

It was six in the evening, and students flocked into the store, purchasing snacks or their early dinner. Some came to buy some magazine, while others took their time to flip through the pages. The manager took care of those who spent their luxurious time reading magazines instead of purchasing them, so Jiyong had it easy today. All he had to deal with were any troublesome students who made a mess in the shop.

However, there was a peeved atmosphere when Jiyong was working. He noticed the same three delinquents—Kyungsoo, Wonshik, and Changshik—staring at Minah, who was finally taking responsibility and working alongside Jiyong. She was dead embarrassed about her situation, especially since a lot of people from her school noticed her quickly. Some of them came over to , but she would only brush it off, saying that she needed the experience or some other excuse.

At first, Jiyong thought that the boys had some kind of crush on Minah. They way that their eyes didn't shift one bit from Minah made him think that they were examining her or having strange thoughts about her. It took him a while to understand that they were glaring at her, despising her for being so close to their admirable "king". Jiyong wondered if their gazes were bothering her, but she didn't seem to care too much about it. 

It had been at least an hour since Minah was working, and she still wouldn't get comfortable. She stood behind the counter, stiff and still, unable to do anything except watch Jiyong take the orders. It was clear that she was nervous, but Jiyong didn't know how to ease up the tense atmosphere. He tried to chat with her, but Minah would only glare at him, disliking the fact that she was being pitied. So, he kept quiet, waiting for Minah to do something other than standing still and watching him work. 

"Hey! Criminal Devil!" the manager finally hollered. "I told you to work your hours!"

"I am!" Minah protested.

No, you aren't, Jiyong thought, clicking his tongue.

"We have two registers: one for Jiyong, and one for you. Use it! He taught you how to use it yesterday, right?" the manager asked.

"I know, but it's hard!" Minah complained. "There's too many buttons!"

"You literally need to press this button to open the register, and these buttons to calculate the cash," Jiyong said, showing her the ropes.

Minah shot him a glare. "I know that!"

"If you know it, then work!" Manager Kim shouted.

"Geez! That old man doesn't know anything. He's just mean and grumpy to teenagers. I hope he suffers later in life," Minah muttered, taking over the register like she was told to.

"Now, now. Manager Kim might not like teenagers, but he has his reasons for that. You can't judge someone like that without knowing that they've been through," Jiyong said. "If I remember, he has a son who's just about to be a teen."

"Oh, that's going to be one heck of a world for him. I pity his son," Minah said.

Jiyong chuckled and glanced at his watch. By now, Jiho would be running into the store, shouting at the boys that it was time to go to cram school. However, he didn't see Jiho anywhere. 

He must be running late or something, Jiyong thought, watching the boys build a tower with some chopsticks.

After a minute passed by, they heard a group of students enter the shop. Minah and Jiyong looked up, and they were deliberately surprised to see Chanyeol and his friends. Chanyeol looked at the counter, where Minah and Jiyong were standing. Fortunately for Minah, she was fast enough to duck behind the counter, hiding from her friends.

Oh heck no, Jiyong thought, biting his tongue. What do I do with this guy now?

He was alarmed to see Chanyeol look away, his face pale just from the sight of Jiyong. A smirk unconsciously formed on Jiyong's lip, signaling that he was victorious over the teen. It seemed as if his other friends were struck with fear when they saw him, too. They kept looking away, acting awfully awkward while grabbing the items they wanted.

Jiyong looked down to his side, where Minah curled herself into a ball. "Shouldn't you get up and work?"

"No, no!" Minah whispered. "I do not exist, okay? I am not working here!"

"Is it because your friends are here? Oh, come on. They got you into this mess. They told you to shoplift. Are you really going to hide from them?" he asked her.

"Yes! There is no way that I'm going to have them look at me like this!" 

"But—"

"Jiho! Dude, what happened?" Wonshik cried. Jiyong looked over to the entrance and saw Jiho with more scratches. He stared at Chanyeol, who quickly dropped his bag of potato chips and raised his trembling hands.

"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" Chanyeol cried out, grabbing the attention from everyone. When Jiyong continued to stare (in his defense, he was just staring; it wasn't an intimidating glare or anything), his friends jumped in to defend Chanyeol.

"He didn't do it! We swear!" one of Chanyeol's friend claimed.

"Yes! He was with us all the time! We didn't beat him up!" another of his friend added.

I didn't accuse you guys of anything yet, Jiyong pointed out in his mind. Still, he remained quiet until one of Chanyeol's female friend began to burst into tears. She went on her knees, folding her hands as if she was praying to him.

"He didn't do it! He didn't hurt him! We swear!" she wailed.

The manager looked up at Jiyong, who only shrugged his shoulders. He walked over to the employee, then firmly put his hand on his shoulder.

"Jiyong, you have no idea how proud I am. You really know how to deal with kids. This—" The manager turned around and pointed at the crying group of friends. "—is a beautiful sight. Well done!"

"But manager, I—"

"They didn't do anything," Jiho finally said. "I was with Jieun and she saw a cat on the tree. I went to save it but it ended up scratching my face. Then I fell off the tree and when I told Jieun that it had a collar around her neck, she went off to chase it. I tried to follow, but then I lost her and I found myself back at this store."

"Hold up. You were with Jieun? Why?" Kyungsoo asked, helping Jiho sit down on a chair.

"I asked if we could walk home and she said that we could." Jiho looked at Jiyong. "Of course, we were going to stop by at your house."

"My house? Kid, I'm not home until it's almost midnight," Jiyong said.

"Well, you better go now. She might be waiting…and it's snowing."

* * *

After receiving permission from his manager, Jiyong was able to run back home. The dark gray clouds covered the sky, touching every corner and inch of the world above. Soft snow sprinkled to the ground, but it hurt Jiyong's skin when he ran against the falling fluff. He panted hard; wearing a thick coat while running in the thick snow was quite difficult. His legs heaved up and down, his foot unable to meet the surface anymore. 

What on earth was Jieun thinking? If anything, she could've came to the store. Heck, that would've been a lot more convenient for him!

The wind howled, almost screaming at his thoughts. A blast of cold hit his face, causing Jiyong to shiver in the freeze. His home wasn't too far from the store, but he didn't know why it felt like he was walking for nearly an hour. Perhaps it was because he was tired of walking, or maybe it was because he was slightly annoyed at Jieun for making such a decision. 

By coincidence, a blanket of snow fell from a tree above as if nature was telling him to cool down. The cold pile of snow almost froze his head, but he managed to quickly brush off the white particles off his brown hair. Just like how he cleaned up his hair, he cleaned up his act and found himself standing at his apartment. 

The apartment he lived in had doors outside of the building, like a run-down motel. There were two stories; he was on the second floor. At the front of his door, he spotted a familiar person rolled up into a little ball, playing with something on her lap. Jiyong sighed and blew his short bangs to the side. He walked up the stairs, his shoes crunching against the thin layer of snow on the open stairs. This seemed to have caught the girl's attention; she looked up from her lap with a rather surprised look.

"Don't you have work?" Jieun asked.

"What are you doing here?" Jiyong questioned her, changing the topic.

"I was going to wait…" She slowly got up, carefully wrapping her arm around an odd object. "I didn't know if your shop allowed animals to come in. I couldn't just leave the poor thing out in the cold, so I decided to wait here."

She revealed a small black kitten with bright yellow eyes. Its paws were dipped in a pure shade of white, just like the snow below them. It let out a soft "meow" while squirming in Jieun's small, cold hands. 

"Have you ever considered the idea that my apartment might not allow pets?" Jiyong asked, crossing his arms after approaching Jieun.

"But they do allow pets…I saw two dogs come out of the neighbor's apartment the other day, and the neighbor below has a parrot," Jieun mumbled.

She had a point there. The landowner wasn't too picky on pets as long as they didn't interrupt the neighbors.

"Okay, fine, but why did you just wait? I don't come home until it's late," Jiyong said.

"But what else was I supposed to do with this cat?"

"Animal shelter? Keep it at home? I don't know. I never had pets myself."

"But it has a collar and I'm pretty sure that it didn't run off too far!" she claimed, showing the pink collar around its neck. Indeed, it had the cat's name, an address, and a phone number.

Jiyong fished out his cell phone and flipped open the cover. He pressed a few buttons, mumbling the phone number displayed on the collar. A stranger's voice finally followed after a series of ringing.

"Hello?…Yes, are you looking for a lost cat?…Uh-huh…Yes, yes, I have your cat—No, she's not orange. She's black and has white paws…Yes, Oreo is her name…Yes, yes…Okay, thank you. Goodbye." Jiyong hung up the phone. He turned around, and saw Jieun anxious staring at him. "Well, we found the owner."

"What did the owner say?" Jieun asked, petting the kitten's head.

"She doesn't want it," Jiyong blurted.

Jieun gave him a puzzled expression. "What? Why would she want to abandon this poor little creature?"

"That kitten was supposed to be a birthday present, but they eventually replaced it when it ran away. Now that they've got another cat, they don't know what else to do with this one," Jiyong explained. "They told us that we could keep the kitten."

Jieun gave the animal a pitiful look. "That's so sad…"

"Come on, let's go," Jiyong said, turning around.

"But what about the cat?"

"Bring it. I'm sure that one of the guys might want a new pet," Jiyong told her, referring to the three delinquents. "Besides, they told me to do whatever I wanted with the cat…"

* * *

Eyes sparkled when the black kitten purred and rubbed the side of its paws against its face. It curiously looked around the table, poking its head into empty boxes that had nothing inside. Like Jiyong predicted, the three delinquents were especially interested in the new creature.

"What's its name?" Kyungsoo asked. He gently grabbed one of its paws and shook it.

"The owner said that her name is Oreo."

"Are you sure it's a girl?" Changshik asked. He raised the kitten's two front paws, showing its belly and its gender. "Yep, it's a girl."

"King Kwon, since when did you want a cat? That's not like you," Wonshik commented.

"I don't. I can't really take care of an animal. I was hoping that someone would want to adopt it," Jiyong said, the cat's fur. It turned to him and hissed, baring its tiny teeth. Jiyong flinched and pulled his hands to his chest, alarmed. "Plus, it hates me."

"Hey, kitty! King Kwon saved your life and you repay him like this? How cruel," Kyungsoo said, poking the cat's forehead. 

"This guy is going to be our mascot," Wonshik said, raising the cat with his palm. "We're going to rename this kitty after you!"

"Dude, no! King Kwon's name is precious!" Changshik said. He took the cat into his hands. "We're calling it 'Boss'. Yo, Boss!"

"Boss? Isn't that like a guy's name?" Jieun asked softly.

"So? Who cares! It's our mascot now!" Wonshik said, sticking his tongue out at Jieun. "I'm going to raise it!"

"Heck no! I'm going to take it," Kyungsoo said, glaring at Wonshik.

"You can't take it! I'm next to do something good for King Kwon!" Changshik argued, holding the cat closer to his chest.

The bickering went on for quite some time. Jiyong watched in amusement, while Jiho gave him a disgusted look. He walked over to the crowd, and took the kitten away from Changshik's hands.

"Damn, you guys are noisy. I'll take care of it," Jiho said. He looked at the cat, but it started to hiss at him. He frowned and scrunched his nose when it tried to lunge forward to scratch his face again.

Jiyong smirked and crossed his arms. "I guess it doesn't like people like us."

Jiho frowned. "Like us? How am I like you?"

"In many ways."

"That's offensive."

"Is it? Take it as a compliment."

"That's definitely not a compliment," Jiho said, shaking his head. He gave the kitten back to Changshik. "You know what? You take care of it. Your parents even own a pet shop and your uncle's a veterinarian. Maybe they can sell the cat or something."

Everyone looked at Jiyong for an answer. Jiyong shrugged his shoulders.

"Take it. It has nothing to do with me now," Jiyong said. 

"Yes! I'm in charge!" Changshik said, pumping his fist. He wrapped the kitten with an old towel that Jiyong found in the store and took off, followed by Kyungsoo and Wooshik who also wanted to take care of the animal. 

Jiyong glanced at Jieun, who had been staring at him for quite some time. He wasn't sure if he should wait and see what she had to say. When he was sure that she wasn't planning to say anything any time soon, Jiyong clasped his hands together.

"Well! Problem's solved!" Jiyong said. "Do you want to go to the hospital to check out those scratches?"

Jiho narrowed his eyes, and went ahead to walk out of the room, eventually leaving the shop.

Jiyong honestly thought that he was getting a bit closer to Jihowith the boy, but his actions just now showed him that he was going nowhere . He heaved a sigh and went out of the employee's room, walking over to the counter where Minah was finally working. Jieun followed behind him, but she stopped briefly when he showed signs that he was going to work.

As he stood behind the register, he noticed that Jieun wouldn't move from her spot. She stood still, staring at Jiyong with round, distant eyes. Unsure of what to do, he flashed her a small smile, causing her to gasp and look away. 

"Don't you have cram school or something?" Jiyong asked.

"Y-Y-Yes," Jieun stuttered, nodding her head. She his her face with her long, scraggy hair. "I-I'll be on my way…"

"Yep. See you," Jiyong said, waving his hand while she walked out of the store. He continued to stand next to Minah, who stood still and quiet.

When half an hour passed, the store was empty. The manager went to the employee's room, calculating some last minute pay checks while checking the inventory. Minah sighed and leaned against the counter, stretching her arms and rotating her neck.

"This is so boring," Minah finally said. "There's hardly anyone here and there's nothing else to do."

"Really? I enjoy this place. It's quiet and it gives me time to think," Jiyong said, disagreeing with Minah's complaint.

Minah scoffed. "Well, I'd assume that you would complain about this place. I mean, you live at this really small apartment and work at a low-paying job. Do you have other jobs?"

"I did, but I decided to work here. The payment is decent. I'm satisfied with it."

"Is that all you do? Work and go home?" Minah tilted her head. "You look pretty young."

"Yeah, I am young. If I was a proper kid, I'd be in college."

Minah paused and gave him a long stare. "Hold up, back up. You're a college student?"

"No, but I would be qualified to be one. Anything wrong with that?"

"No. Why didn't you go to college? No money?"

"Nah, I had plenty."

"Doesn't seem like it."

"I said that I had plenty."

"So why aren't you in college? What happened to the money?"

"I went to college for a while, but later it got dull. So, I abandoned my luxurious life as a college student. The money? I threw most of it away and only brought a few cash with me to start my new life," Jiyong explained.

"Why would you do that?" Minah questioned him. "That sounds dumb."

He paused, and rubbed his chin as he started at the other side of the wall. "I don't know why. I just did it, and I can't go back. My old life was too boring. I didn't have a purpose."

"A purpose?"

"Yeah, a purpose. I had no dreams, goals, or ambitions. I had my parents choose my life, friends depend on me, and I had a few burdens on my shoulder. There wasn't a single thing I did for my life except for following orders and getting bossed around. I was almost molded into a society where everything was settled for me. All I had to do was keep walking with my head up." His expression softened as he continued to remember his past. "I knew that if I kept following that path, I'd regret something. I'd regret going on that path. So, I stopped myself and turned back." He glanced at Minah, who listened with a frown. "Do you have a dream?"

"A dream? Of course I do," Minah said, nodding her head. 

"What is it?"

"I can't say. I can only say that I'm going to be waiting for that opportunity to come," Minah replied.

"Waiting?" Jiyong laughed. "You can't wait for the dream. It's the other way around. The dream waits for you. It's just waiting for you to chase after it and grab it."

"Nope. I'm sure that if I expose myself out there, the dream will come to me," Minah said firmly, turning her body to face the register. "You just wait and see. I'll prove you wrong—everyone will be wrong!"

Seeing how she wouldn't get his point, Jiyong said and looked away, staring out the window as the snow continued to fall at a steady, slow pace.