5th➳

"Lee Jihoon," I managed to choke out. My eyes couldn't believe who was standing right in front of me. Who was here. Who appeared again after... a decade.

"Actually, it's Lee Woozi. I changed my name," he told me, shrugging casually, like it was no big deal. "Don't call me Jihoon. I don't know who Jihoon is anymore."

"How could you!" I just wanted to punch him by now. "How can you just disappear and reappear like it's no big deal? What are you, some magician? Where have you been all these years?!" 

Jihoon avoided my gaze and instead said, "You look good."

"Jihoon!" I said, stressed out. I can't believe he just appeared out of nowhere. Just when I finally accepted he was gone for good, he comes back.

"I told you! It's Lee Woozi! No more Jihoon. That boy you knew is now gone, Nari. Accept the facts," Jihoon told me. "How... have you been?"

"You expect me to welcome you warmly after all these years? You are unbelievable, Jihoon."

"Stop calling me Jihoon," he said, clenching his fist. "The Jihoon you knew is gone, Nari. He's gone. He's never going to come back no matter how hard you try. I'm a new person now. I'm Lee Woozi."

I scoffed. "You are unbelievable."

"I see you're still the same. Are you still the Peter Pan who've always claimed to be?" he asked me.

"Unlike you," I muttered, looking away as well. "Look, I don't know why you've come backㅡ"

"I wanted to see you again."

"Words," I huffed. With a smirk, I said, "They're only words in the end, now, aren't they?"

"Nariㅡ"

"You ran away thinking you could live a better life. How did that work out? Even when you heard your parents got murdered, you still didn't come back, didn't you?" I asked him, clenching my own fists.

"I didn't knowㅡ"

"Of course you didn't. You were busy running around, proclaiming you could live like... like..." I shuddered. "Like an adult."

"Do you despise adults that much? You're legally one, you know?" Jihoon, er, Woozi, meaningfully told me. "Stop thinking you're a kid and grow up already, Kwon Nari."

"Stop pretending you're an adult when you're nothing more than a teenager with a messed up life," I said back. "You used to be a great friend, Jihoon. I don't care if your name is Woozi or whatever. You're still Lee Jihoon. I don't care how much you've changed. You're still my friend." I turned my back to him and before leaving, I added, "Or at least that's what I used to think."

When I walked out of the room, millions of thoughts came flooding into my mind. Flashbacks started playing on their own, even when I didn't want them to. It was just a flurry of good and bad memories all over again.

I was stuck in a whirlwind of memories that I didn't notice that someone was leaning against the wall when I came out. I saw a glimpse of him and tried to walk away when he grabbed onto my wrist. "What do you want now?"

"Who... who were you with inside there?" Joshua asked, careful with his words. "I heard screaming then your voice and got worried."

I pulled my hand away from him. "It's none of your business."

"But still..."

"Hong Jisoo, stop it. You don't understand anything. You don't understand because you're busy trying to be an adult. You're just like him. You're just like everyone else!" I screamed, trying to calm down my breathing but I only ended up panting. Before walking away, I said, "Don't act like you care when you really don't."

♥

I hated how I always have to drag myself into the convenient store to see Joshua again after having a fight with him. I hate how my luck kept on playing with me this week. What have I done that was so wrong? I never deserved any of this.

I pushed the glass door open and ignored that Joshua was staring at me with concerned and worried eyes. I grabbed my apron and put my bag away to begin working. For the next two hours, Joshua and I avoided as much talk as possible. But coming close to four p.m, that was when it started.

"Are you okay? Who was that guy you were talking with in the music room?" asked Joshua as I walked past him to grab the cleaning supplies. Some kid dropped ice cream on the floor and someone's gotta clean that up. Apparently, I was the one who was assigned to do the job.

"It's none of your business, Jisoo," I told him in a soft mutter, carrying the mop and bucket out.

"But I have to learn from past mistakes. I do care for you, Nari. I'll keep caring and won't stop until you believe me," Joshua said desperately.

Ah, words continue to take a toll in my life. Little did they know, I was sick and tired of all these sweet words people throw at me. In the end, words backfire and create more than they're supposed to mean. I don't want that. I don't want any of that anymore. I've seen what words do before. I don't want history to repeat itself again.

Before proceeding cleaning, I told Joshua with my back facing him, "It takes more than words for me to believe such things, Joshua."

Then for the next two hours, business was slow. If only more customers came. I wouldn't have to be stuck having Joshua stare at me for most of the time. If there were customers, our attention would be stuck on them and not the petty thoughts that rummaged through my mind. No thoughts about the past. No thoughts about Jihoon. And especially... no thoughts about Joshua Hong Jisoo.

♥

"Noona! You're home!" a happy little Hoya said like a three year old boy as he ran to the front door to give me a big hug.

"Woah, Hoya. Calm down. You're sixteen now, pabo-yah," I told him, lightly flicking his head and smiled.

"Mwoya? But you're seventeen, noona! And you act like you're six!" Hoya said back, trying his best not to sound like a whiny kid.

"Wae? Noona can do it." I gave him a subtle wink before putting my bag down on the seat by the dinning table. Then I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed some food. I was starving after working there.

"Noona, you're a meanie weirdo," Hoya said but chuckled afterwards.

"Don't you have anything better to do? Like studying?" I asked him, taking out the container of Oreos and a carton of milk. Every kid'sㅡand teenager'sㅡfavourite.

"But I don't want to study," Hoya whined, letting out a sigh.

"Go study. Your brother's studying, so why can't you?" I asked him.

"Well, Jaemin is Jaemin!"

"He's also a trouble maker, yet, he studies well. What's with you?" I cocked at eyebrow as I opened the cookie up so I could lick the cream before eating it. It was always the best way to eat an Oreo.

"Fine," Hoya grumbled, heading into my room which the three of us share. As usual, Mom hasn't made an appearance in days. I wasn't as worried as I used to be. Growing up could be one of the cause, though, I'd tell myself that it's the way of a kid. A child doesn't care about their parents if their parents doesn't care in return or in the first place.

The phone on the table started ringing. I always leave my phone lying around because I didn't see the use of it. I didn't know what to do with it. Plus, no one contacts me.

But when I saw that an unknown number was calling me, I wasn't sure whether to answer it or not. Despite the unknown number calling me, I ended up accepting the call. I had a gut feeling about it.

"Yeobosaeyo?" I asked, putting the cookie in the free hand of mine down. 

"Yeobosaeyo? Is this... Kwon Nari-sshi?" a gruff voice asked on the other line. In the background, I could hear phones ringing up.

"Nae, it is. Who is this?" I asked. I don't think I recognize this voice or this number. Who could this be?

"I'm Officer Seo. I'm from the Gangnam Police Station. Your mother..."

The moment I heard him mention my mom, the Oreos in my stomach didn't seem to sit well anymore. What did Mom do now? A police was actually calling me now.

"I'm sorry, officer-nim. I can't help whoever you are speaking of. I don't know her," I said, pulling the phone away from my ear. I really didn't want to help my mom. It's her fault that she got in trouble but it's not my responsibility to get her out of it.

"Who was that, noona?" Jaemin asked, entering the kitchen as well. "Were you talking to an officer? Is it that officer that interrogated me? Is he asking for the debt again?"

I shook my head. "An... aniyo."

"But you said officer-nim." Jaemin sat down on a high stool next to me. He opened a can of soda and drank it up. "What's going on?"

"E... eomma got in troubled and is now at Gangnam Police Station. I... I just don't know what to do with her, Jaemin-a. She's a total wreck who can't even walk on her own two feet," I stressed out, drinking up my milk in one shot like those adults drinking to soju on TV.

Jaemin was quiet for a while but he patted me softly on the back. "Noona, it's fine. One day... just maybe... she'll go back to actually being your mom."

"It's been eleven years, Jaemin."

"Don't you believe?" Jaemin caught me there.

With a hint of a small smile, I said, "All we need is faith, trust..."

"And a little bit of pixie dust." Jaemin smiled at me. "There you have it, noona. Always trust your hero to come and save the day, huh?"

I laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess."

♥

Just as I was about to call it a night, the same unknown called me again. That number has been leaving missed calls in my call logs for forty five minutes now and it's getting annoying.

I was just about to decline it but I thought that if I did, they'll just continue calling. Sighing, I swiped the answer button, "Ibwasaeyo.. (look here...)"

"Kwon Nari-sshi, your mother is being forced to court."

~Author's Notes~

Mianhae! It's a short chapter! :((

Anyway! And the winner is...

But *gasps* what happened? Why's Nari's Mom being forced to court?

Find out in the next chapter ;)) 

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung