I stumble back from the strange man who called himself my brother.

“Brother? But I’m an only child…” I struggle to comprehend the situation. Kevin looks at Mark sadly.

“I got erased?”

“Yep, sadly. She can’t even remember us yet.”

“What?” I say, extremely confused.

“Jieun, go get some rest. We have some catching up to do. Plus we have volunteer work tomorrow.” Mark leads me back to my room, where I struggle to fall asleep. After another few minutes, I manage to drift off to sleep

-The next day-

My eyes slowly open to see bright sunlight pouring into my room. I sleepily start to feel around on my bedside table, trying to grab my phone.

“Here you go,” I hear a voice and my phone ends up in my hands.

“Thanks,” I mumble. My eyes snap open. “Huh?”

I look next to me to see Kevin, sitting in a chair and smiling at me.

“Morning Jieun,” he says brightly.

“Uhm good morning,” I glance at the clock on my phone. 9:45AM. Oh no, I’m gonna be late! I shoot out of bed, startling Kevin. “Sorry, I’m gonna be late!”

I quickly run into my closet, where I change into a purple top and a skirt to match, put on a pair of white sneakers, and run to the bathroom, where I quickly brush my teeth and run my brush through my hair. Kevin stands in the kitchen, holding a piece of toast for me.

“Only Jungkook and Daehyun can go volunteer today. The rest are busy with some business.”

“Thanks for the toast, I’ll see ya later!” I grabbed the toast from his hands and rushed out of the door. I barely managed to catch the train to the library, where I signed in only 5 minutes late. Pinning my volunteer’s badge onto my shirt, I checked the job board (“please shelve the carts that are full of books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, or audiobooks”) and looked for the carts, finding them all empty. I finally found Jungkook and Daehyun in the children’s area with a cart full of books.

“Dae oppa! Kook oppa!” I greeted them.

“Hey Jieun, morning,” they both greeted me with a smile and continued their work. I grabbed a few books and began to shelve with them.

“What time did you guys wake up? You left without me.”

“Sorry, we tried waking you up but you just covered yourself with the blanket instead,” Daehyun explained.

“Plus you threw the shell pillow into my face when I started to lean close to your face to see if you were actually sleeping,” Jungkook chimed in.

“Sorry about that…” I sheepishly apologized, embarrassed.

“It was just a pillow. It’s all good,” Jungkook smiled as he continued to shelve books.

“So we got Kevin to try to wake you up,” Daehyun continued. “I’m guessing it worked.”

“But I woke up on my own though? That’s weird,” I realized that was how Kevin ended up in my room this morning. To wake me up… how silly. “Well, I’m awake now so it’s all good.”

Daehyun grabbed the last few books and forced them into the shelf. “All done.”

“You guys shelved all the books and stuff?” I asked, surprised at how fast they worked.

“It was easy,” they shrugged.

“Since we’re all free now,” Daehyun said as we walked to sign out. “Let’s go to the park near here?”

“Sure!” Jungkook and I agreed.

We signed out, unpinned the badges off our shirts, and walked to the park that was nearby. Luckily it was empty, we had it all to ourselves.

“Race ya to the swings!” Jungkook ran off first. I quickly followed after and heard Daehyun right behind me. I sat on the seat and began to gently swing myself. Daehyun stood behind me and Jungkook and pushed us higher until I felt like I was touching the sky.

“I always wondered what it’s like to live in the clouds,” I dreamily sighed as I looked up at the fluffy looking clouds.

“Maybe you can live there soon,” Jungkook looked up at the clouds as well.

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping on a cloud all day,” Daehyun joked as we all laughed. I got bored of swinging and jumped off. I ran to the horizontal bar, where I just hung onto it for dear life. Jungkook came over and began poking my sides as I laughed and tried kicking him away. He ticked my stomach and I lost my grip and fell right into Daehyun’s arms.

“Thanks oppa,” I pat Daehyun on his head as he gently lowered me onto the ground.

“You okay?” Daehyun looks at me with worried eyes.

“I’m fine,” I beamed up at him and jumped up and down. “Look, no broken limbs!”

“Okay…” he let me run over to Jungkook, who was hanging upside down on the bar. I began taking photos of him as he made derp faces at the camera, making me laugh. He got down from the bar and dragged me to an ice cream shop he had seen while upside down, where Daehyun reluctantly paid for our ice cream cones.

“This is really good!” I said as I ate my mint chocolate chip ice cream.

“We should come here more often,” Jungkook said happily while eating his vanilla ice cream. We both look at Daehyun, who had finished his cone before any of us.

“Finished?” I ask.

“Finished,” he repeats.

“He’s a food monster that’s why,” Jungkook muttered under his breath, making me laugh.

“What’d you say?” Daehyun luckily didn’t hear the comment.

“Nothing hyung,” Jungkook smiled as innocently as he could while I tried to hold in my laughter. After the ice cream, we caught the train back home, chatting and joking around with each other. Kevin greeted us at the door when we got home.

“Hi Daehyun. Jungkook. Hi Jieun!” he greeted us happily.

“Hi…” I answered back, still a bit suspicious. I saw his smile falter a bit, so I quickly smiled at him. “Thanks for making my breakfast.”

“It was no problem, I didn’t know you were going to be late, I would’ve tried harder to wake you up…”

“It’s fine, I was only 5 minutes late…” I walked into the living room to find to Mark, Myungsoo, Ren, and Minseok watching some soccer.

“HOW DID HE MISS IT WHEN THE GOAL WAS RIGHT THERE?” Xiumin screamed at the TV.

“Calm down, the other player was in his way…” Mark tried calming him down.

“Hi oppas!” I cheerfully greeted them and stepped in front of the TV.

“Hey Jieun,” the boys chorused. Ren turned off the TV.

“How was volunteer work today?” Minseok asked.

“It was just shelving books, Daehyun and Jungkook finished most of it even before I got there so I was only able to do a little bit.”

“What did you guys do after?”

“Ice cream!” Jungkook and I said happily at the same time.

“And I had just enough to pay for all 3 of us,” Daehyun gloomily said.

“I’ll make it up to you oppa!” I clung onto his arm and smiled up at him.

“It’s okay Jieun, I’ll just give him more money later,” Mark patted my head and went upstairs.

“So what did you guys do today?” I asked as I looked at Ren, Minseok, Myungsoo, and Kevin, who all avoided my eyes.

“Um... just some business stuff…” Ren slowly said.

“What kind?” I questioned as Minseok and Myungsoo left the room, leaving me, Kevin, Daehyun, and Jungkook.

“Stuff…” Ren answered, refusing to give me an answer. I sighed, knowing I won’t get anything out of him. I look at Kevin. Maybe I should start warming up to him, we do look alike the more I look at him.

“Kevin, what’s your full name?” I ask.

“Ahn Kevin. Why?” he replies. Definitely my brother. But how?

“Kevin, we should go to the ice cream shop one day, the ice cream was really good!” I beamed at him and he beamed back just as wide.

“Sure, that sounds good.”

Mark comes back into the room.

“Jieun, you hungry?” he asks.

“Nope, not yet. Are we eating at home?”

“Sure, if you want. I can make something for us to all eat.”

“I’ll make dessert!”

“That sounds great Jieun! Will you make your famous chocolate chip and vanilla cupcakes?” Kevin asks excitedly. I nod at his question.

“Extra chocolate chips, just the way I like them!” I answer happily.

“I should start prepping for dinner,” Mark left to go to the kitchen, leaving me with Kevin because Daehyun and Jungkook had left to go wash up before dinner. I stare at Kevin, who stares back. Finally, after a few more minutes, Kevin breaks the silence.

“Do you really not remember me, Jieun-ah?” he asks sadly.

“I’m sorry, I really don’t… but I’ll do my best to remember!” I try to cheer him up.

“I’ll make sure the guys to help you. At least you know I’m your brother.”

“Yeah, I always felt like something was missing in my life…”

He gets up and hugs me. I melt into the hug, as if he was trying to make up for all the lost time we never had. He pulls away and looks me in the eye.

“Jieun, I—“

“DINNER’S READY!” Mark’s deep voice boomed around the entire house, making me and Kevin jump. Mark pokes his head into the living room. “I made my specialty stir fry, come on.”

Kevin and I jump up. Kevin sets up the table while I scoop rice out for everyone. We both take a seat at the dining table. Soon after, the rest of the guys had grabbed a seat around the table, eager to eat. Mark comes out of the kitchen, holding 2 plates of delicious stir fry. He carefully sets the plates down and takes a seat. “Well? Dig in.”

I look at the stir fry. Beef, lamb, chicken, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and bell peppers. Not bad. I help myself to some of the stir fry.

“Is it good Jieun?” Mark looked anxious for my answer.

“It’s… delicious oppa!” I smile at him as he breathes a sigh of relief.

“After dinner, I’ll start making the cupcakes.”

“Can’t wait.”

I finish before the rest and but my bowl in the sink. I find all the ingredients I would need in the pantry and fridge and set it all out on the counter. I take out the cupcake pans and a bowl for mixing. I combine the butter and sugar together until it was light and fluffy. Then I beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. I mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl, then mixing it all together. I put in 1 cup of milk and carefully measure out 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence. Then I put in 2 and a half cups of chocolate chips. Just as I was about to mix it, Jungkook comes into the kitchen.

“Need any help Jieun?”

“You can help me mix the batter while I preheat the oven.”

“Okay,” he says as he grabs the bowl from the counter and begins to stir the mixture. I preheat the oven and begin to line the pans with the cupcake papers. When I had finished, Jungkook was finished mixing. I sent him off to the living room after thanking him for mixing the batter. I scooped out the mixture into the cups as evenly as I could, then popped the pans into the oven. While it was baking, I whipped up a chocolate frosting and a vanilla frosting. I scooped it into the piping bag so it was ready for the cupcakes. Mark came into the kitchen, holding a pile of bowls and plates.

“How are the cupcakes getting along?”

“It’s looking good so far…” I peeked into the oven. The cupcakes were slowly rising, which I took as a good sign. “Here, let me help.”

I grabbed the sponge from his hand and began to wash the dishes. Knowing he would want to do it himself, I quickly said, “When the cupcakes are done baking, I’ll stop.”

He sighed and let me wash. He rinsed the soap off and put it on the drying rack. When I was halfway done, I heard the oven’s ding! sound and let Mark take over the dishes. I opened the oven to find perfectly round cupcakes. I slipped on the oven mitts and took the pans out. I let the cakes sit for a minute before gently easing them out of the pan. I grabbed the piping bag and began to slowly squeeze the frosting onto the first cupcake. Mark finished the dishes and sat down in front of me, silently watching as I frosted each cupcake with the chocolate and vanilla frosting. When I was finished, Mark presented me with a pretty tray to put the cupcakes on. We quickly put as many cupcakes as we could onto the tray. When I was almost done, he walked into the living room.

“CUPCAKES ARE DONE!” I heard his voice boom. I put the last cupcake on the tray and walked into the dining room, where the boys had all assembled. I put the tray down slowly and watched as each of the boys took a cupcake. After a few more seconds, I asked, “Are they good? I didn’t put too much chocolate chips did I?”

The boys didn’t answer at first, still chewing on the cupcakes. Kevin answered first.

“These are really good Jieun! Tasted just like how you made them back in the days.”

Everyone agreed with his comment. I felt proud.

“I’m glad you oppas like it,” I beamed at them all. After the cupcakes, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I sat down on my bed, Kevin came in with a small box.

“Hey I wanted to give this to you, maybe it’ll help you remember something.”

“What is it?” I ask, taking the box from him.

“It’s a pendant.”

I open the box and see a small black circle with a crescent moon on the side attached to a thin gold chain. “Wow! It’s beautiful!”

I look at up to see Kevin looking at me. He tilts his head.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing…”

“Maybe… soon then.”

He gently takes the necklace from my hands and hangs it on my jewelry rack. He gives me a hug before softly closing the door behind him. I turn off my lamp and lay my head on my pillow, staring at the necklace as it twinkled in the bright moonlight. I slowly drifted off to sleep.