**********

Youngbae carried Chorong to the living room and laid her down on the couch as Eunji got some blankets for her.  Youngbae took those blankets and covered Chorong so that she’d be even warmer than just having his jacket.

“So what happened, hyung?  Isn’t it noona’s birthday today?, Seungyoon asked as he and Hayoung watched Youngbae and Eunji tend to Chorong.

“Close, it's tomorrow.  She was with Mino today for like a pre-birthday date, until something happened between the two of them,” Youngbae said as he finally thought that Chorong was warm enough.  “She was crying when I first found her,” indicating to the kids what might have happened.

“Crying?,” Hayoung asked from behind Seungyoon, still unsure of the stranger who had brought her unnie.  Youngbae just nodded towards her.

“Anyways, what are you guys doing up so late?  There’s school tomorrow, right?”  Before one of the kids had time to respond, Hayoung’s stomach started to growl.  “You guys didn’t eat yet, I guess?  I should get that taken care of first, then, huh?,” Youngbae asked before heading to the kitchen.  “Is kimchi fried rice still Hayoungie’s favorite?,” he asked on the way there.

“How does he know that, unnie?  I know he seems familiar, but how?,” Hayoung whispered to Eunji, who sat near Chorong’s sleeping body.

“Yah, that’s Bae appa, remember?  He used to play with us when we were younger.  Chorong unnie and oppa would act as your parents whenever we played,” Eunji explained.  Hayoung finally figured it out and walked swiftly to the kitchen, as Eunji and Seungyoon slowly followed curiously.

Hayoung entered the kitchen, where Youngbae was preparing to cook the kimchi fried rice.  Hayoung went up to him and gave him a small backhug.  Youngbae chuckled before saying, “I guess you finally remembered me, Hayoungie?  You’ve gotten taller since the last time I saw you.  I didn’t want to say this earlier, but you’re a lot taller than Eunji now, haha.”  Eunji yelled in disagreement as she and Seungyoon entered the kitchen.  Meanwhile, Hayoung strengthened her hug, before Youngbae turned around a bit to hug her back.  “Okay, you can let go now, Hayoungie.  Let me cook you guys some food to eat first,” to which she let go and smiled back to him.

“But since you still have to wait for everything to finish cooking, when did you come back from university, and why?,” Eunji said curiously as she read over her song lyrics.

Youngbae was mixing the kimchi in the cooking pan, before responding.  “About that.  Well, you know how I went overseas to pursue music with Jiyong?  Well, it was a great time as we had lots of first-hand experience, but then out of the blue, we got recruited to an entertainment company called YG back here in Seoul.  Apparently, Jiyong and I, as well as the rest of our group, had the skillsets they were looking for.  Jiyong was recruited for his music producing, and I was chosen for choreography.”

“Really?  That seems like such a lucky chance!  YG is a pretty popular company over here and it gave you the chance to come back home,” Seungyoon exclaimed.

“But I thought you went overseas for song producing?  Not choreography?,” Eunji asked.

“Yeah, I did.  They were sure of Jiyong’s skills, but still unsure of mine.  That is, until some of the dance teachers caught me dancing in a practice room with Seungri,” Youngbae replied as he added the rice to the pan.  “They felt that my song writing and producing had potential.  However, my dancing skills, both actually dancing and making dance routines, was a sure thing to them, so they made me focus on that instead.”

“Then how old is this song that you sent me?,” Eunji asked, lifting up her song lyrics.

“Yeah, did you give up on song producing, oppa?,” Hayoung asked, hearing more information of Youngbae’s life since he was last in Seoul.

“On the contrary,” Youngbae said as he scooped the kimchi fried rice out of the pan into a clean plate.  Placing the fried rice on the table along with bowls and chopsticks, Youngbae continued.  “I actually kept writing songs in order to prove that I’m just as great at song producing as I am at dancing.  Also, the contents of that particular song may consist of old thoughts, but the song was newly made just for Eunji.”

“What do you mean, hyung?,” Seungyoon asked before taking a bite of the freshly made fried rice.

Youngbae sat down next to Eunji and watched happily as hid dongsaengs ate his fried rice well.  He took the song lyric sheet and explained what he had meant.  “When Eunji sent me that message to make a song for her audition a few weeks ago, it was when I came back to Seoul and moved in with Jiyoon.  I didn’t have a schedule with YG at the time, so I thought that writing this song for Eunji would be a good use of my time.”

“Thanks again, oppa!,” Eunji said, hugging him from her seat.

“Yah, finish chewing your food first,” Youngbae scolded jokingly.

Hayoung, who sat on the other side of Youngbae, read the song lyrics for the first time from his hand.  “Wait, from old thoughts?  This Ain’t It is the song name, and it is about what if you meet an old girlfriend.”

“Basically,” Youngbae responded calmly.

“I was meaning to ask you as well, but who, oppa?,”  Eunji asked, finally finishing her food.

“Let’s go check on her, shall we?,” Youngbae said, getting up from his seat and heading back out to the living room, leaving the three kids to realize who he was referring to, before following him.  “Still sleeping, huh?  Well, I guess it makes sense after what she did today.”

“Oppa!  You mean that this song is-,” Eunji started.

“About Chorong-ie?  Definitely.  As are all the songs I’ve made and recorded recently.  Even a couple of songs I made just before Mino called me,” Youngbae revealed, tossing his phone to Eunji.  It was unlocked to his music files, showing at least 20 different songs whose titles seemed to follow a sad trend.

“B-but why, hyung?,” Seungyoon asked as he looked away from the phone.

“My way, or I guess my attempt, at moving on from my feelings,” Youngbae said as he fixed Chorong’s blanket from falling off.  “When Mino called me today though, I felt as if all my work I did to move on was for nothing,” he smiled with a bittersweet emotion.

“Wait, you and unnie dated?!,” Eunji asked as she read her lyrics once again to make sure that the song was actually that.  She didn’t pay a lot of attention to the story behind the song until after Youngbae’s confessions.

Youngbae sighed before responding.  “Yeah, we sorta did for a while, but she ended it after a couple months.  Told me that it felt it would be best since I planned to go overseas within the year.”

“Ahhh, well that’s reasonable, though, oppa,” Eunji said, trying to comfort him..

“Also said that it felt weird dating someone she’s thought of as an older brother,” Youngbae continued.

“….Ohhhh.  But what about noona and Mino hyung?,  Didn’t he ask her out before you left though?,” Seungyoon asked cautiously. 

“Well not many people know this, but Chorong-ie had asked me about Mino instead of the other way around,” Youngbae answered.  “It hurt, but what could I do?  You know how she is.  When she wants something, she’ll do anything to get it.  Good thing that Mino had wanted to date her as well, or it would have worse,” he said chuckling, trying to make the atmosphere less awkward.

The three kids were silent as Youngbae sighed again and wiped some dried tear streaks from Chorong’s face.  “But what happened with her and Mino oppa?,” Hayoung asked, breaking the short silence.

“A disagreement between the two.  Not an argument of where to spend their day or what to eat, surprisingly,” Youngbae started.

“Then what, oppa? What made Chorong unnie fight with Mino?

 Youngbae thought for a bit, as it seemed that he was remembering what he had been told earlier.

“Actually, Mino said it had something to do with me.”

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What's a story without some cliffhangers?  I dunno, but it seems to be a cliche writing style of mine, and it probably irks a few people when something gets good haha.

Anyways, anticipate another update for this story as well as WGM: Big Bang & Apink edition within the next week!