“Excuse me?” I tried to burst their bubble.

They were still suppressing their obvious laughter when Minwoo’s phone rang when he was about to answer my question.

“Hello? Nana?! He’s back! He’s finally back!” Minwoo screamed at the top of his voice bouncing up and down of his seat.

“Hey! Let me speak to her too! Hand me the phone!” Andy snatched Minwoo’s phone and spoke too on the speaker loudly and clearly. “Kris made it! Kris made it!”

I looked at them still lost at the moment. What exactly is happening? And all of a sudden, Minwoo gave me the phone and asked me to speak freely. I heard Nana’s voice on the other line, loud and clear.

“Hello Kris? My child, are you there?” Nana asked steadily when two of them were on celebration mode already.

“Yes? Hello? Nana? What’s happening? I can’t understand. Everything is chaotic here with Andy and Minwoo jumping all over the place. They look like they were celebrating.” I almost shouted on the phone because they were giggling around me loudly.

“You did it my dear. You paid back the debt even before you knew it.” Her words didn’t match my logic at all. I can’t comprehend the possibility when I just found out everything today.

“Look here, I’ll be there tomorrow. See you soon.” And she hanged up; leaving me not even able to react properly. I stared at Minwoo’s phone to double check if she really did and the line died exactly the way it would when somebody puts down a call on the other end.

What have I done that I am not aware of? I still have so many questions to ask. Does this mean that my vacation ends now? This can’t be. I cannot go back yet. Now, that I am finally getting a grip of my lost memories. I still need to figure out how I lost them but how?

I rested my fork on my plate while having an extreme blast of probabilities when I noticed Andy’s hands waving in front of my eyes. I’m almost spacing out.

“Kris, are you okay? Kris?” Andy finally noticed my mental breakdown and he started to explain.

“You said that he sent you random emoticon messages right?” Andy reconfirmed.

“Yes.” I answered briefly.

“Eric only sends those stuff when he’s in the mood to play like a cutie pie. He used to do that long ago too with you but both of you used notepads instead. You will stick it wherever you like and reply randomly as well. He also does that to us but stopped doing it when you left. It goes with the same reason why he’d like to give you a pen for a remembrance. It’s because he would love to receive letters from you even if you’re far away from us.” Andy explained.

“I think he’s at home now and not fishing as how we predicted. We didn’t have a clue that he resurrected already but it’ll be best for you to rest first since it’s already late.  Nana will be coming here tomorrow too to give you a reward for sure. So let’s finish our meals now. We still have to catch up with the loach. HAHAHA!” Minwoo sounded fairly more excited than I am.

I decided to follow their advice and I am looking forward on what Nana has to offer me for a prize out of this surprisingly unusual vacation that she gave me. This is something that I never imagined in my whole life of existence. My world suddenly turned upside down with all the revelations that have been concealed from me since I was a kid.

Minwoo got the cake from the refrigerator as soon as he saw our empty plates, he began to give us slices of it. He called out to Laura and stuck his head outside the kitchen’s door while she was busy opening the mini lamps on the path way and even told her to have a slice as well if she wants to. She just waved her hand to him and resume on what she’s doing.

It’s an oreo cheesecake and the mini label on its box was with a “Healthy Grounds Café” logo. Minwoo enjoyed every piece of the cake while Andy and I just finished half of it. It’s too sweet to endure.

“Kris, I know there are plenty of things that you’d like to ask us and even Nana right now. I’m sorry for all these sudden tsunami of information but one way or another, you will know about this later on and you’ll never wish any other process of knowing about it than this.” Andy comforted me randomly. He is such a sensitive guy. I appreciate that.

“Thank you Andy.” I meant it.

Both of them left right after Minwoo finished washing the dishes. I told him not to but he just continued doing it anyway. He said he’d like to do something since Andy cooked for dinner. They were so caring to each other. I wondered if I was the same towards them before.

They asked me to just rest right away and they will manage to go home without too much fuss of walking them out of the Villa’s gate. I obeyed politely and proceeded to my room to wash up.

It was refreshing. I haven’t done so many things for a long time. I haven’t been to the beach and be sun-kissed naturally. I am guilty of pushing back my tears when I’m having a hard time and most of all, caring for other people became my lowest priority in life. I valued time so much that I was not able to appreciate life more than I should. I valued it so much that I forgot its essence.

With my sleeping suit I’m all set for a good rest when I decided to watch the video that I took earlier with the Birds, the phone’s resolution made justice to their perfect looks and the receiver recorded their voices the closest as it can be. I tried to check the phone’s memory and was surprised to find out that it has 128 GB of capacity. What am I supposed to do with that for a short stay in this town? On a second thought, maybe Eric anticipated for all of these to happen, all of the activities to be recorded securely for additional purposes.

I lay on my bed and got the clarinet playlist ready for my lullaby; I wrapped myself with my fluffy comforter and submerged under my pillows.

I woke up with the shouting alarm tone of my cell phone on the lamp table. I forgot to turn it off last night and I don’t have any other choice but to do my best reaching for its location in the midst of my adjusting senses.

I turned it off and checked how many times it snoozed and saw that it’s just 7:30 in the morning. There were new messages from them. I tried to read it one by one while my eyes were still blurry and can only read at a close distance. I started from the bottom and got surprised to see Eric’s name registered on it.

Eric: I saw you went out with Hyesung and Jinnie at the beach! You didn’t even invite me! o(T﹏T)o

Andy: You home?

Eric: ／(･ × ･)＼ if I ask you to play hide and seek with me will that be fine?

Eric: ／(･ × ･)＼ or would you like to ride a swing instead? I’m here at the school now. Bored.

Eric: ／(･ × ･)＼

Eric: ／(･ × ･)＼

Eric: ／(･ × ･)＼

Dongwan: Kris! Don’t forget your meds! ~ ^^

Hyesung: Hello ~ I hope you enjoyed a while ago~~~

Junjin: I’ll teach you how to ride a bike next time :D

Minwoo: I’m going there at the Villa! ^^ what cake would you like to have? Hmmmm..

Eric: V○ᴥ○V good night ~ from Yaku

Dongwan: Good morning sweetie ~~~ Let’s see each other later! It’s my day off today! Yeah ~ ~ ~

Their messages are totally not related to each other but it appeared that someone is a loner. I smiled as I think of him. I wonder what he is up to right now.  While thinking about it, I reviewed the doctor’s message. My brain repeated his words multiple times and it just sank right now.

HE IS COMING!!!    HE IS COMING!!!    HE IS COMING!!!    HE IS COMING!!!

I rushed to the comfort room to wash my face and brush my teeth and just then, I heard someone knocking on my door.

“Just a minute!!!” I almost shouted with bubbles erupting from my mouth like a lava and suddenly heard Nana’s voice calling out “Kris, it’s me! What are you doing?”

It just dawned to me. She told me that she was coming too but I didn’t realize it until now. There were too many things that happened yesterday and it felt like my life suddenly went on a fast forward set up.

I gargled hurriedly and tried not to trip as I reached the door knob.

Nana’s face happily greeted with morning elegance while mine was something that cannot be compared to her. My thick hair was with varying curls designed by my bed when I slept last night. It was still damped and I got too lazy to dry it. I put it on a tight messy bun while Nana entered slowly in my room wearing a turtle neck beige pull over complimented with a brown smooth shawl hanging on her shoulders.

She sat on my bed comfortably and I sat beside her idly and put my arms around her to give her a tight hug. She responded by holding my wrist right beside her shoulder and pressed it with her warm motherly hands.

“You’ve been through a lot my child.” She whispered softly.

“It’s all worth it Nana.” I responded.