"Who... Who are you..?" Prinseung's speech was slurred as soon as tears rolled down. She had so many questions in mind; 

Who are you? 

Why was I with you?

Who are you to me?

Where are you?

          Prinseung's heart clenched when she saw the picture. Something about it hit her straight into the heart, causing her to cry.  Her body felt heavy, in contrast to how her head seemed to be floating in the air. The girl lost her balance and fell lying on the cold floor which was damped by her tears. Even before the elephant bursted open, Prinseung's world grew dark. 

"Where are you going?" Prinseng asked the silhouette that was getting dissappearing by the second. 

"I'm right beside you."

"Who are you?" 

"I'll be there."

          The man in Prinseung's dream vanished and the light from her bedside lamp woke her up. Nothing much was to be seen in her bedroom since it was exactly the same as before; closets, shoe racks, a study desk, a mini chandelier, a white screen in front of the bed, a projecter sitting on the bedside table. Everything seemed normal except for the fact that she rememebered that was was previously in the attic. How she got to her bedroom, she is still left to find out. More than anything, Prinseung recalled what she had found in the attic. The picture. The picture of her in her early teens and some other person whom she does not know...yet, at least. 

           The damsel in distress sat up the bed and panicked after noticing that the photo was no longer in her hands. It's somewhere else. Or rather, with someone else. The picture was her nearest information about her past so losing it wasn't exactly a desirable option; she ramaged through her white silky covers first, and as if it was her lucky day, she found it right beside her under the covers. Prinseung heaved a relieved sigh. Then, she remembered;

"You didn't have friends back then." This was what her father told her the other day. 

But seeing the picture, it was clear enough to Prinseung to understand that he might've lied to her. Her mother didn't object either. Nor did Taecwoon. How would you react if the whole world was a lie? Because Prinseung decided to do nothing else but trust her parents 'cause of a reminder her brother had given her a few years back when Taecwoon was having issues with his friends Hak Yeon and Jae Hwan, the two were animatedly talking behind her brother's back, causing a problem to arise; despite this, Taecwoon told her;

"You can choose trust anyone in this world. You can trust even strangers. Because trusting someone is a choice."

          In this equation, Prinseung thought that it might be better to trust her brother and mother, but not her father. Assessing the conversation last night, Prinseung knew that the lie started from her father as she carefully observed her mother and brother's reactions; they, too, seemed appalled by what Jiyong said. 

'Don't let me see you as an enemy, Pa.' She thought.

           Prinseung looked back at the picture in her hand but the door to her room opened before she could think a thought. 

"Ma." She acknowleged her mother's presence.

"You alright? Your brother said he found you in the attic." Dara walked closer to her daughter and sat on the bed facing her. Prinseung, on the other hand, thought that this would be the best oppurtunity to find out about the guy in the picture. She lifted the photo with her fingers to show her mother even though it might be awkward since the picture is not the type a parent would like to see, but she had to do it if she wanted to find out about something.

"Who's that?" Dara was startled by the old picture. 'I thought I threw that out?!' She worried anxiously of how mad Jiyong would get if he found out the picture was now with Prinseung. But Dara hated how Jiyong was hiding everything from their only daughter, to her, Seung had the right to know everything about the past. And now that fate had given her the picture, there's no way to lie about it now. "You know him, right?" Prinseung asked.

"You know him. Very well." 

"Who is he?" Prinseung's eagerness to find out the identity of that person made her so impatient. 

"Your best friend'." Dara took the picture from her and looked at the boy's face. She missed that boy so much; he was like a second son to her back in the day. "I wonder how he is now. I bet he's all grown up now." She smiled. But Prinseung didn't. 

"So who is he? What's his name?" 

"When you see him around, tell him I miss him." Dara returned the picture. "That's your best friend, Yien."

"Yien?"

Dara nodded. "You guys were the closest of friends. Back in the day, he used to come over a lot, and you to his house. I'm surprised this picture still exists after all those years." She mumbled, but the abrupt change in her tone was noticeable when she spoke louder; "Hide that picture. Hide that from your father." Dara now held Prinseung's hand, begging her to do what she asked.

"Why?" Prinseung, of course, was not so surprised by her mom's words, but she had to check and see what her father might be doing. 

"Just hide it from him. Ask your brother for help and look for Yien. But don't ever show that to your father." Prinseung just nodded and Dara kissed her forehead lovingly. 'Please don't let your father catch you, please.' Dara thought, 

"Ma. What's there in the attic? Why was my drawer empty? Why was this the only thing in there? And it didn't even seem as if I was meant to find it." Prinseung asked, but the door opened again, revealing the worried Jiyong, causing Prinseung to cover the picture underneath her covers, far from her father's sight. 

"Darling, how are you? I'm sorry I came late! The office was quite busy today. And I brought you that prridge you liked a lot from ManiSeoul." Jiyong came in and hugged his daughter tight, but Prinseung just couldn't return the same feeling anymore. 'Thanks' was all she said to him and he immediately invited the two ladies down to the dining area for dinner since it was already seven. 

          After everyone was asleep, the Jung siblings were wide awake. Well, Prinseung was keeping her brother awake, bugging him about the picture. 

"Ma said his name was 'Yien'. But I really don't remember him. She also said he used to come over a lot. you must be knowing him." Prinseung loooked at her brother. 

"Yeah, I know him."

"Really? Great!" Prinseung became as happy as a farmer who just grew beautiful crops after the drought season. "Do you know where he lives? Ma told me to ask you if you knew anything about him. Thank goodness you do! I feel like everything's gonna fall into place soon!" She smiled. 

'But if i tell you, you'll find out everything!' Taecwoon thought. 'If you find out about him, everything will get messier than it already is!' "No, I don't know where he lives anymore. This picture is from ages ago." He lied. 

"Then help me look for him. He's probably just somewhere. I'm sure we'll find him. And you have connections with Zitao gege. He must be able to find him with a blink of an eye!" Prinseung reminded him. 

'I told myself I'd help her.' Taecwoon remembered how he said fate would be in charge of everything, Just when he was about to open his mouth to speak up. a memory of his phonce call with his dad flashed back into his mind; 

"Pa. I found Prinseung in the attic, on the floor. She must've fainted."

"Did she find anything?!" Taecwoon could hear the panic in his voice. So he chose to lie.

"No, she didn't." He said. Taecwoon refused to tell his father about the picture he found with Prinseung when he lifted her off the floor to lay her on her bed. 

"Good. Tell me if she finds anything or remembers anything."

"Why?" 

"i'll make sure no one gets to her." 

           Something told Taecwoon that his father must be having some sort of hdden agenda. Taecwoon was fond of Yien like he was his own sibling, but of course they weren't as close as Yien and Prinseung were. For this, Taecwoon thought that nothing should harm Yien. He was a good guy. Even though he was young during that time, he took care of Prinseung well; she would usually come home happy from hang outs with his and would very often tell Taecwoon about what they did and how Yien protected her from guys. He was a good guy. 

"Zitao's out of business. He went back to China for his family." Another lie was born. 

"Then get someone else to look for him." 

"I don't have that many connections, you know."

"But you still have connections." Taecwoon knew that arguing with her would lead them to nowhere so he just nodded to her request, even though it would be hard to pretend as if he really is looking for someone. But he had to protect Yien. And maybe... Prinseung. 

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Credits to the owner of the picture I used. ^^

I'm gonna be really busy real soon, so I'm really sorry about the late updates. 

nevertheless, hope you like it!

Don't be silent readers, please!