Lia was quiet for the rest of dinner. Once they’d cleaned the table and everything and the boys decided to chill and relax by playing on the Xbox, Lia went out to the rooftop in Ji Yong’s room.

She smiled, feeling the warm cool breeze upon her face. Many stars were out, shining brightly in the night sky.

“Hey.”

She turned around to see Tae Yang smiling from inside. She smiled back. “Hey back.”

He climbed out and sat next to her. “I was wondering where you went.”

“I was thinking,” she said softly.

“Lia, we don’t want you to decide now,” he said. “We just want to let you know that you have options.”

She shivered. “I know.”

Tae Yang touched her and felt Goosebumps all over her. “You’re cold.” He took his jacket off revealing his white long-sleeved shirt and put it around her. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She pulled them closer, sinking in the oversized jacket.

He wrapped his shoulders around her. Lia leaned against his shoulder and they sat there in comfortable silence.

Ji Yong came in his room to get a video game. He saw his window was opened and went to close it but stopped when he saw the two of them outside. He smiled. “Hey, Bae, you’re not planning to steal my girl away from me, are you?” he asked playfully as he climbed up to join them.

They turned around. “Awww, shucks. You spoilt my plans,” Tae Yang replied, grinning.

Lia just laughed as Ji Yong came to sit on her other side. She placed her free arm around his waist as he took her hand. He looked up. “There seemed to be a lot more stars tonight than usual,” he remarked.

The others nodded.

Meanwhile outside the other three were wondering why it was taking Ji Yong so long to take the game out.

“Eh, Dae Sung, go check on him,” TOP said to him.

Dae Sung got up and went inside the room. “Hyung?”

“Out here,” Ji Yong said from outside.

Bemused, he followed his voice and had to smile when he saw them out there.

Lia turned and smiled. “Join us,” she said. “It’s a beautiful night.”

He climbed up. Ji Yong moved in front of Lia and lied down, his head on her lap so Dae Sung could sit at his spot.

“This is a nice hangout,” Dae Sung said, looking around. “Hyung, you always get the best view.”

“I’m the leader,” Ji Yong replied.

Lia pushed his cap down so it covered his head. “Hey!” he said, laughing. He took it off and handed it to Lia. “Help me put it inside?”

“I’ll throw it off,” she threatened.

“Don’t you dare!”

She giggled and threw it inside.

“Ow.”

She turned to see who the unlucky person to get hit by the cap was. “Oh, Maknae Oppa, I’m so sorry!” she laughed.

He joined them, sitting behind her. “You did that on purpose,” he said jokingly. He put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze. He massaged her for awhile. “I think hyung is wondering where we all are.”

“Oh, let my brother wonder,” Lia said, waving her hand. “He’ll join us sooner or later.”

“Talking about me?” TOP said, appearing at the window. He climbed out and Seung Ri moved to make space for him. Soon Lia was in the middle of all five boys.

“You must be feeling pretty lucky, having five K-Pop hot stars surrounding you,” Dae Sung said, breaking the silence.

Lia laughed. “That’s funny because that was exactly what I was thinking,” she replied. “I am lucky to know you guys.”

“And we’re lucky to have met you,” Tae Yang said softly, kissing her cheeks.

She smiled back, her heart thumping as the six of them lapsed into silence once again. She looked up to the sky. Yes, she definitely felt lucky.

She didn’t want this moment to last, ever.

Lia went back home. She hadn’t decided yet but she needed to go home first, to talk to her adoptive parents about it. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not yet.

Luckily no one knew about her connections with Big Bang except for the people who saw her with them in church. They had kept quiet and she was thankful.

But Ms. Payton expected an explanation for her two weeks of absence. “Where did you go?” she bombarded her the moment Lia came back to school.

“I went to Korea. One of my close relative got into an accident so I had to go to see him, make sure he’s okay.” It wasn’t a lie, since TOP did get hurt.

Ms. Payton nodded, accepting the excuse. “Next time you tell me first, okay?”

“Okay.” Lia hurried to her table, avoiding all eye contacts. She wasn’t ready to face them just yet.

Ned Blankenship came and set down next to her. “You missed a lot while you were gone,” he said.

“Oh well.” She paused, thinking. “Ned, if you were given a chance to have a life you could have had over the life you always had, what would you do?”

He shrugged, thinking about it. “Um . . . I would choose the life I’ve always had because I’m comfortable with how my life is right now. I don’t want it to change.”

“Think of it as a . . . challenge.”

He shook his head. “I will still choose the same. I’m not daring so yea, call me a chicken.” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. “I do call you a chicken, dumbs,” she shot back.

“Wow, you’re so freaking mean,” he remarked, shaking his head.

She titled her head, smiling hugely and gave him a peace sign. “You know it.” But she felt disappointed. It didn’t help.

“You okay?” he asked her.

She looked back to see a worried look on his face. Somehow it reminded her of the boys. They always had that look on their faces whenever she’s quiet. She brushed it off. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. She turned back to her work. “You should go before Ms. Payton tells you to go back to your table.”

Ned sighed, getting up. “See you.” He patted her head before walking back to his table.

Her heart ached. The boys always do that to her too whenever they finished talking to her and walk off to do their own things.

She buried her head. “Ugh, stupid,” she muttered under her breath.

Then she felt a sharp pain on her head.

She looked up, glaring at the stupid person who’d whacked her. “I hate you,” she snapped at Dylan Chiu.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, sitting behind her at the score key table.

She sighed. She grabbed her book, turning her chair around. She pretended to score. “I’m just thinking,” she told him.

“You’re always thinking,” he snorted.

“That’s why I’m so smart,” she replied and he rolled his eyes. She sighed again.

“You want to talk about it?”

He sounded sincere but Lia wasn’t sure if she could tell him. But, she has no one else to turn to anyway. So she spilled the beans, only leaving certain things. All she told him was that Big Bang offered her a life in Korea and she wasn’t sure if she should take the offer or not, despite wanting to.

When she was done, he asked, “Do you want to live with them?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Then go,” he told her. “You have a chance to live your life. Take that opportunity or you will regret it.”

Lia pondered over it. What he said made a lot of sense but . . . “I can’t leave you guys. My friends in my church. . . .”

He shook his head. “I think sometimes you need to stop looking at the past to look to the future. The past is what’s stopping you from living the future.”

“This is more of the comfort zone, you know. It’s the changes I’m afraid to make.”

Dylan shrugged. “Don’t let it affect you then. Things change all the time. Nothing lasts for-ever.”

She nodded. “I get it.”

He studied her. “Do you miss them?”

“One heck of a lot,” she sighed. “I don’t know. I feel so comfortable when I’m with them. It’s like I belong there, you know? Have you ever felt so out of place somewhere but feel so at home somewhere else? It’s like them with them.”

“Then you should go, Lia,” he said softly. He stood up and left her feeling more confused than ever.

That night in a really long time, her parents were home for dinner. Her dad was the Police in Chief and her mom was a lawyer so they usually worked until late at night. But that night they were home. Lia and her three brothers were glad.

They sat down at the table cheerfully but Lia was still lost in deep thoughts that she did not hear what Jessica said.

“Yo, Lia, earth to,” her eldest adoptive brother Sam said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

She blinked. “Huh?”

“Are you okay, dear?” Jessica asked. “You seemed a bit off tonight.”

“She’s probably thinking of Big Bang,” Jeff sneered.

“At least I don’t have to waste my time by listening to your voice,” she snapped back.

“Enough,” their dad Samuel scolded. “Lia, is there anything on your mind that you’d like to share with us? We are family after all.” He smiled warmly at her.

She gulped. Would he still say that after she asked them to release their adoption on her? Everyone stopped eating to look at her. Well, everyone but Michael the pig. “Er.” She took a deep breath. “Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you.”

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Samuel suddenly asked sharply. “Your boyfriend did not impregnate you, right?”

“Mwo?” Where did he get that idea from? “Anni — I mean, no,” she hastily said. “It’s about my trip to Korea a year ago. I didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth about what happened.”

“What is it?” Jessica asked concernedly.

“I found out some things about my past,” she said, her voice shaking a little. “I — I found my real parents. And that TOP the rapper of Big Bang is my big brother.”

Awkward silence filled the room. Even little Michael had stopped eating.