Chapter 1 – Coming back home
She entered the house early in the morning. Manager Ma asked her to make a surprise for the guys, so he gave her the keys and now she was doing what she thought was one of the worst thing in the last three years. She wasn't ready to see him again, for sure.
It was really early for them, especially in their day off. She was sure that no one of them was awake. She sighed and put her hair behind the ear, they had grown longer in three years, they were just under her shoulders.
«Maybe... I should wake someone up...» she guessed, while entering the house and trying not to make any sound. Mi Nyu took a look at right and left, just to be sure that she was completely alone. The room was silent and she realized that she couldn't just sneak in someone's house without nothing to say and wake up its inhabitants. What she was supposed to say, anyway? Hello? Did you all spent these last three years well? And, on top of all, would they be happy to see her again?
She shook her head and decided that the best surprise for them was to find breakfast ready, and smiled.
After half an hour, she heard a door shut, and freezed. She wasn't ready to meet him at all, and who else could it be? He was the only one that woke up earlier than all the others. She looked around when she heard some steps coming towards the kitchen and decided to hide under the table. Maybe he wouldn't notice her, if he was still sleepy.
«God...» she whispered, kneeling down and hoping not to be seen. «help me.» It would have been simpler with any other member of the group, except him!
The man yawned and frowned in the exact moment he opened his eyes properly, and looked at the kitchen. Something was wrong. It was his turn to clean it, the evening before, but he didn't do that, and there were no dirty dishes or glasses around; he doubted that the others would have done it in his place. Also, breakfast was ready and it had a great smell. Something was definitely wrong. They were arguing during all the dinner about their turns of cleaning, so there was no possibility that one of his friends had cleared the room. He was thinking of other possibilities, when he noticed a shoe, near the table. It was surely strange and and what was even more strange, was that when there are shoes, there are also feet, but who could have been? There were no women in their house, and no one of them had a girlfriend or make the other know about a woman. He tilted his head to look under the table.
«What are you doing down there, dummy?» he asked, facing her with his most confused expression. Then he smiled and offered Mi Nyu a hand to stand up. «Come out...»
She was embarrassed to death: how was supposed to explain why was her under a kitchen table? «G...» she tried to say, looking at the ground, after she got out of the table and stood up. «Good morning, brother...»
He looked at his twin sister. «What are you doing, here?» asked, not believing to have her just before his eyes.
«S... surprise...» she responded, smiling weakly. He laughed and embraced her.
«I missed you, sis.» he confessed. «We all missed you.»
She was surprised. «Really?» asked, in fact.
«Why are you laughing like a fool at nine in the morning, Mi Nam? Are you crazy, boy?» Jeremy yawned.
«Sorry.» he apologized, not really sorry for that. «I found here my sister, so...»
He immediately opened his eyes, not sleepy, anymore. «Y-your sister?» he asked, in panic. He was wearing only his pants! «WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?» he run to the bathroom to make himself presentable. She laughed and cried out:
«Good morning to you, too, Jeremy!» he greeted her from the bathroom. «Breakfast is ready, when you're done.»
«What's going on, here, guys?» asked Shin Woo, slowly entering the kitchen. «What's all this noise?»
Mi Nam sighed. «Just Mi Nyu, Jeremy is exaggerating.» explained.
«I'm not!» he cried, still inside the bathroom. «I was in my underwear!» they all thought he had no problem to show himself, at the beginning, when he thought she was a man, too.
«Understood.» Shin Woo shook his head: that was unbelievable. He glanced at Mi Nyu and smiled. «Welcome back!» he embraced her too.
«Thank you, Shin Woo...»
«Are you staying here for long?» her brother asked, beginning to eat. «Because your breakfast is way better than ours.»
She laughed. «Less than two weeks.» she answered, just after Shin Woo let her go.
«You're definitely staying here.» he decided, continuing to eat.
«I have booked a room in a hotel.» she informed him.
«I couldn't care less! There's space here, and I haven't seen you for a long time. Just call the hotel and tell that you don't want that room anymore. Tomorrow you're picking your luggage and bring it here, until you have to depart again.» it was all decided, then...
«I agree.» said Shin Woo. She couldn't believe it... and that was all thanks to breakfast.
«Okay!» interrupted Jeremy, finally out. «My turn!» he embraced Mi Nyu too. «Are you really Mi Nyu? Your hair grew longer! You really look like a girl, now!»
She laughed. «Does it mean I looked like a boy, back then?» asked, playfully. «This is what every girl wants to be told!»
«I didn't mean it that way!» he immediately responded. The other two guys looked at each other and burst in laughs. «By the way... why are you here?»
«Yeah...» it was Shin Woo speaking. «something wrong?»
«Oh, no!» she said, smiling. She was really happy to be with all of them, just... «I was thinking of making a surprise. I really wanted to see all of you... and I came here, on Manager's suggestion.» she looked around, searching for him.
«Searching is useless. Not here.» her brother told her. She blushed, feeling like she was caught.
«I'm not looking for him.» she answered, trying to be believable. He smiled like he knew everything.
«Of course not.» he smirked. «In fact I've never talked about someone.»
«But you were thinking about Tae Kyung!» she protested, blushing even more.
«Now we're reading thoughts, milady?»
«We argued just yesterday... because of cleaning in the kitchen. He was really mad about it, he said he had always to do it, because we were never going to.» explained Jeremy, eating his breakfast.
«And... where is he... right now?»
«We use that house when we don't want to be found by the reporters... I'm sure he's there. The keys are not here anymore.» Shin Woo said, looking outside the window.
«He always goes away when he's angry with us.» Mi Nam yawned again. «I'm going to sleep again.»
«But...» said Jeremy. «but your sister has just arrived!»
He smiled. «Line 36, third stop, then take number 25, sixth stop. Walk for 40 minutes, on the left, and you're arrived. Good luck, sis. Good night, everyone.»
Shin Woo shook his head. «Just do as he said, and you'll be lost. Please, it's line 36 the fourth stop.»
«Thank you. I'll be back for dinner, and I'll take him with me, no matter what. I'll prepare all your favourite dishes! Just wait for me, okay?» she smiled, and thanked him with a nod. He winked, while Jeremy was eating peacefully.
«Just tell him that we all are sorry.» he reminded her. She nodded and went out again.
She did has Shin Woo said. She got off the bus at the sixth stop and she found herself in front of the sea. It was the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. She turn left, just to see other street again. She thought that walking on the street and on the sand would make a great difference, so she decided to take a walk near the sea. The air was good, and there was something that was cheering her up.
She didn't know if he was still feeling the same, after three years. What she knew was that she did, and also that she didn't know what to say or what to talk about. With the others that had been simple, but... what about Tae Kyung? He was really different from his friends.
Her phone began to rang. «Hello?» she answered.
«Mi Nyu!» it was Manager Ma. «I wanted to know if you arrived safely!»
She blinked. «Oh...» she noticed someone sitting on the seashore. «I'm doing great.»
«Yeah... but... you're at guy's home, right now?»
«No..» she narrowed her eyes. His features were familiar. «I'm at the sea... I'm looking for...»
«Tae Kyung, he must be there.»
«Yes... Tae... Kyung...» her heart skipped a beat when the wind took his hair away. It was him. «Ahem... Manager Ma... can I call you back... later?»
He laughed softly. «Understood. Found him, yeah? Okay.» and he hung up.
She stayed still, only looking at him, quite frightened by his possible reaction. She grabbed the edge of the shirt and squeezed it. How was supposed to begin to talk? She stared at the sea for a moment, as if it would give her the right words. When she looked back to him, she saw him moving towards her. Her heart begin to run faster. She looked everywhere but directly to him, trying to find some courage. What... how... hello?
«What are you staring at, girl?» he asked, coldly.
She frowned. Wait a moment... what did he say? «I can't believe it.» she answered, not really surprised. It wouldn't be him, without his bad moods. «You haven't changed a bit.»
He stared back at her, confused. «What?»
«And you don't even recognize me! This is really disappointing.» her tone was carefree, but she was really a bit disappointed about him not recognizing her. She feared he had forgotten all the moments spent together. He titled his head a bit, narrowing his eyes.
«It's impossible...» he declared, with decision. «You're not her.»
«Her who?» she asked, crossing her arms to her chest. «I'm Go Mi Nyu! Am I that different from three years ago?» He looked really lost. She thought she did wrong to go to him. «If with her you mean me... well, I think I'm the person you're talking about.»
He smirked. «Why are you sure I'm talking about you, miss?» he asked, teasing her.
«I'm not sure at all. That's why I'm asking!» she said and he laughed a bit.
«You haven't changed too, Mi Nyu.»
«Oh, right!» she said, remembering Shin Woo's words. «They say they are sorry.»
«What?» he asked, not understanding what she was talking about.
«The guys! I came... home, before. And... I asked about you and they said you were here, they are really sorry for yesterday.»
«And they sent you because they knew everything would be like before?» he couldn't believe it, they were really the worst.
«I don't know.» she answered. «Is it that way? Can't you just come back with me and tell the others they are excused, then?»
«But they are not!» he retorted. «More important, you said you were searching for me.» she blushed at his smirk: he remembered. «Why?»
«Just to greet you and let you know I came back for a short while.» she answered fast. Maybe too fast.
«How short?»
«Just ten days, that's all...» she fell suddenly in silence, and so did he. Both of them didn't know what to say. She looked at the sea again, just not to feel the heavy atmosphere that was there.
«Do you...» he began, sighing. «This is ridiculous! Let's take a walk.»
«O-okay.» she looked down at her feet, not knowing what to say.
«Just tell me... what did you do all this time?» he really wanted to know.
«I met a lot of people, and experienced a lot of things. Now I really know what Mother Superior tried to tell me, before it all started, I mean before I became my brother. She said something about experience the world. I think that... travelling is the best way to know about the world. Other countries are really different from here. The world has an amazing culture. This is why I want to continue to travel, when you know more, it seems like everything has a place to belong.»
«And you?» he asked, looking at the sky above them, but said nothing more.
«Me what?» she looked at him, waiting.
«Do you have a place to belong to?» she widened her eyes. What did he mean? She thought about it for a while. What kind of response did he want? How was she supposed to know?
«Well...» she began, unsure. «I think a person doesn't really have a place like that. Not a real place, however.»
«What do you mean?»
«I mean...» how could she explain what she was trying to say? «I think the most important thing for a person is to be with the people he or she loves. Just knowing that they love him or her too, is enough, or at least... I think that way. It doesn't really mind where, but who.»
«Poetic point of view.» he commented. She couldn't really say if he was serious or not.
«Just don't laugh about it!» she protested. She smirked.
«I didn't.» he assured. «Do you want to see something?»
«Something like...?» she tried to hide a smile. Where was he thinking to bring her? He smiled and made her heart skip a beat, again. She thought this was really hard to handle.
«It may be something that would made reconsider your theory about feelings and places to belong to.» she was nicely confused. This could be really interesting.
«It's not so simple, dear.» she teased.
«Let's see, then.» he offered her a hand, but not in a romantic way, even if she would have liked it, but like he was challenging her.
«Okay, but... I ask you to go easy on me, bec...»
«It's not because you're a girl, right?» he interrupted her. She smiled.
«It's part of it, I have heels, and I'm not really keen on it, so please, let's walk slower than before.» he looked at her like she was a fool.
«You're telling me that you decided to go for a walk on the beach with heels?» he was a bit surprised.
«You didn't... notice?» the sand was really wet so the heels didn't fall into it. She was a bit taller, he didn't even see that. She sighed.
«Sorry if I wasn't looking at your shoes.» he responded, sarcastically. He snorted. «Just relay on me, then.» he offered her his arm. She looked at it, with a strange look. «It doesn't bite, I promise.»
She smiled again. «Can I trust your words?» she asked, playfully. «You won't bite when I least expect it, right?» she grabbed his arm quietly.
«Maybe.» he answered, cryptic. Suddenly, she didn't know what he was talking about, it didn't seem like he was referring at the arm thing. She didn't say anything more. «Now, milady, just close your eyes.»
«W-what?» she asked, looking around. There was no one.
He rolled his eyes. «It won't be a surprise anymore. Just close your eyes, Mi Nyu.»
She let out a sigh of relief, she thought he was going to kiss her. She wasn't ready for that all of a sudden, even though a small part of her was muttering for disappointment. «Surprise... oh, right! Okay.» she obeyed and strengthened grip on his arm just not to fall.
«Good girl.» he commented. They were near the house, he considered all that grass their garden. He asked once Mi Nam to tell him about flowers and his answer had been very useful. He smiled looking at the girl stuck at his arm. He looked straight and he noticed they have arrived. «Now, you can look.»
«You sure?» she asked. It was a really pleasant feeling to be with eyes closed and let him guide her wherever he wanted. «Can I really open my eyes?»
«Are you asking because you're enjoying your time or something else?» she blushed and he noticed, knowing he was right.
«I'm opening, then...» and as she did... «Oh...»