19th✯

MJ 

"Are you sure this plan's going to work?" MJ asked Eun Woo. 

Eun Woo checked his phone for any replies. "Shh, I'm sure it'll work somehow. We need to do something for Rocky."

"Um, what are you two doing?" a voice then asked, as the two froze in their position. 

Both MJ and Eun Woo flinched and froze in place when they heard a voice. 

The first thing that came out of MJ's mouth was, "Hide!"

Then MJ descended to under the table, covering both his ears with his hands like a little kid that was afraid of the thunder. Eun Woo only face palmed after he saw the oldest hyung freak out like that. 

Eun Woo's head moved towards the door and saw Jin Jin leaning against the door frame with crossed arms, smiling like some dad as he watched the two of them. 

"Hyung!" Eun Woo said, surprised with his eyes gradually enlarging. "What are you doing over here?"

"I came to check on what you two idiots have been doing." Jin Jin nodded his head towards the table, where MJ was still hiding under. "What's wrong with him?"

Eun Woo sighed and dragged MJ out from under the table. Once MJ and Jin Jin made eye contact, MJ nervously smiled and waved at him. "Hi, Jin Jin."

"What are you two up to this time?" Jin Jin teasingly asked. 

"Nothing, hyung. We were just thinking of surprises for our AROHAs," Eun Woo calmly replied with a sweet smile. 

Jin Jin entered deeper into the room and sat down with them. 

MJ was jittery and he still couldn't stop smiling nervously at Jin Jin. Any more of that, Eun Woo would have face palmed again. 

"Y-yeah! What Eun Woo said," MJ stammered with, once again, another nervous smile of his. 

Eun Woo tried not to sigh at MJ's horrible acting. "Anyway, hyung, what brings you here? Weren't you last seen trying to write lyrics to our new title song for our comeback?"

Jin Jin shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "I couldn't think of anything so I came back here and found you two... What were you two doing again?"

"We were totally not trying to contact Aerim again, if that's what you're thinking!" MJ suddenly blurted out. Once he realized what he has done, he slapped his hands against his mouth.

All Eun Woo did was sigh. 

This hyung... he thought, slightly punching the surface of the table. 

"Sorry," MJ muttered to Eun Woo, his gaze directed to his thighs. 

"What do you mean by that? Contacting Aerim again? But she left," Jin Jin told them. "And why are you trying to contact her again?"

"Since he already knows, shouldn't he just get in on it?" MJ asked Eun Woo in a whisper.

Eun Woo hissed under his breath for a second before he closed his eyes and nodded. "Keurae. Tell him."

MJ smiled and slapped Eun Woo's arm before facing Jin Jin and explaining, "Have you ever noticed the strange way Rocky has been acting these days?"

"Rocky?" Jin Jin echoed back and thought about it before he nodded. "Keurae, he's been acting really strange these days. Do you know why?"

"That's where Aerim comes in, hyung," Eun Woo contributed to the conversation. 

Jin Jin paused for a second. "Wait, what? Aerim? Wait, do you mean..."

"He likes her," MJ helped finish his sentence. With a grin, he said, "We're trying to get them to meet each other. Rocky can't stay this way forever. It's hard to see him this way."

"Would our CEO even accept this?" Jin Jin asked in a whisper. 

"That's why we're trying to do this in secret, pabo-yah." MJ slightly knocked the side of Jin Jin's head. "We're just trying to figure out how to do this properly."

"Okay, I'm in."

"Wait, what?" both Eun Woo and MJ asked, facing their member and leader.

Jin Jin leaned back in his seat and said, "You heard me. I said I'm joining in on this. What are we supposed to do?"

MJ and Eun Woo exchanged looks before breaking into grins as they leaned in closer to Jin Jin and discussed the plans they had. 

"Now we're just waiting for Aerim to reply to our message," MJ told Jin Jin, flipping the phone in between his fingers. 

"Can I see the message you sent?" Jin Jin asked, extending his hand out. 

MJ handed the phone to Jin Jin, who then skimmed through the message they had sent to Aerim. 

hey, aerim! ^^ you left and all and we didn't get to say our proper goodbyes :( so, let's meet up!! *^^* sha sha sha~ let's go to brownie cafe! text me when and what time you want to meet, arasso? :D

Jin Jin face palmed and handed the phone back to MJ and asked, "Seriously? You like Twice's Cheer Up that much?"

"Ah, wae? Everyone loves them these days, okay?" MJ argued back, keeping his phone into his pocket. 

"I wonder how Rocky's doing," Eun Woo suddenly wondered with his eyes fixed on the floor and his arms crossed like he was filming a drama. 

"Yeah, where is that boy?" MJ asked, standing up from his seat. 

"Leave him be, hyung. He needs time to calm down too," Jin Jin told MJ, as he was about to leave the room. 

"Jinjja?" MJ's hand held on the door's knob as his thoughts flicked from left to right. "A-arasso."

Sanha

Sanha looked up at the apartment building, his fists clenching tightly. With his hoodie up and his mask concealing half of his face, no one could recognize him as Astro's maknae. He wanted to enter the building, but at the same time, he didn't want to see her. 

What good would that do? He needed explanations too. 

He fished out his phone from the pocket of his hoodie jacket and dialed her number, pulling the phone close to his ear. He waited for her to pick up but all he heard was the lady's voice that would play when a call wouldn't be received. 

"Aish, why isn't she picking up?" Sanha muttered under his breath, removing the phone from his ear to check the screen of it. Then he looked back up at the apartment. There was still the option of visiting her himself. 

Ignoring every warning she's ever given him about visiting her, he walked into the building and pushed the button of the elevator. Once those doors opened, Sanha boarded in a silent manner, continuously keeping his guard up for any fans. It could be a big trouble since he was doing this behind his members', manager's, CEO's and company's back. 

Finally, he reached her door. He rang the doorbell and stood there, trying to look presentable. Then the door opened and he was greeted, not by Aerim, but by an middle-aged woman. 

"Yes? May I help you?" she asked, examining his odd choice of outfit. 

Sanha immediately removed the mask and bowed with a kind smile. "Annyeonghaseyo, Yoon Sanha ibnida. I'm part of Astro. I'm sure you might heard of me from Aerim. Anyway, is she in?"

The woman did not reply. Instead, she hold a hostile expression on her face but remained calm. She couldn't help it—Yoon Sanha was standing right in front of her front door. 

"I think you need to leave," she said, about to close the door but Sanha immediately stopped her. "What do you think you're doing, young man?"

"Are you sure Aerim isn't home?" Sanha asked in a desperate manner. "Please, I need to talk to her."

"I think you've got the wrong apartment door," she said. 

Sanha looked at the door once more and made sure it was the right door. "No, I'm pretty sure this is the same apartment door I visited last time. Is Aerim really not in? I need to talk to her."

"I don't know an Aerim, so you better leave—"

"Ahjumma!" Sanha said with a high pitched voice. 

"Oh? You're still not leaving? I will call the security desk at this rate. Leave! Hurry up and leave!" she yelled, trying to push him away. 

"Eomma?" a voice was then heard behind the semi closed door. 

Both of them stopped moving and the woman turned around to only find Daeul curiously staring at the scene before him. 

"Daeul-a!" the woman said, surprised to see him witness this. "What are you doing out here? You should go in and pla—"

"Hyung?" Daeul ignored his mother and approached the tall hyung by the door and smiled cheekily. "It's hyung! Hyung from convenient store!"

"Oh, it's you!" Sanha was surprised to see Aerim's little brother standing there. And the ahjumma said this wasn't Aerim's house. Why was she lying?

Daeul was smiling happily as he waved at him. "What hyung doing here?"

"I came to visit your noona. Is she here?" Sanha asked, crouching down so they would meet each other's eyes properly. 

Daeul frowned and shook his head. "Noona out. Don't know where she go."

Sanha's smiled dropped as he heard that. "O-oh? Keurae? She isn't picking up her phone. Is something wrong?"

"Daeul, that's enough talking." The woman carried Daeul and glanced at Sanha. "Please don't visit us anymore. Don't even see Aerim anymore. Arasso?"

Sanha was confused by this. What did he do to make her mom hate him? 

"Nae?" Sanha asked, confused. 

"Arasso?" Her voice raised ever so slightly as she was determined to get an answer out of him. 

"A-arasso." Sanha had no other choice but to reply with an agreement. 

Then the woman closed the door in front of his face and left Sanha yet to wonder... was there more to her bitter feelings towards him than he knows of?

Aerim 

The plastic bag filled with assorted ice creams were held tightly with one of my hand. Right, just like the girl I read on an online book, I eat ice cream when I'm depressed. 

Lately, the more I think about Rocky's confession and the more I remembered I won't be seeing him anymore, the more I became sad for no reason. I was confused with my own feelings that I try to push them away, but they're like a ghost that continues to haunt me everywhere. 

I knew the ice cream was going to melt if I didn't pick up the pace now so I began jogging back to my apartment flat with the sun shinning down on this beautiful day. Correction: on this normal day. There was no such thing as beautiful right now.

On the way, I bumped into someone and fell down backwards, on my butt, with the plastic bag of ice cream slamming onto the pavement. It was a good thing solid don't break easily. Not all the time, at least. 

"Yah! Can't you watch where you're going?!" I screamed like a girl on her period. 

"Juseonghabnida," the voice replied. 

Wait. 

That voice. 

I looked up and caught the shine of something. 

Braces. 

"Yoon... Sanha." His name unintentionally escaped my lips as my eyes were mesmerized with the features I almost forgot about. 

"Aerim!" He immediately helped me up. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you!"

"It's fine," I told him, still unable to look away. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

He let go of me and nervously scratched the back of his neck, even smiling nervously as his eyes darted from place to place. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

Sanha's smile disappears as his voice turned more serious. "I need an explanation, Yoon Aerim."

I knew this would happen. He's just like me. At the same stage I used to be. I guess no matter how much everyone tries to pull us away and apart from each other, there's this strong force that keeps us together. We're in this together and we're just as close as any set of twins out there in Seoul or South Korea. 

"Let's talk somewhere more quiet," I told him. 

Sanha snapped his fingers and smiled. "I know a place we can go to."

"Where?" 

"You'll see when we get there."

✯~✯~✯

Turns out Sanha was talking about a bridge farther inside a park, where less people walked and played. You could barely hear a soul breathe here, then there were the two of us, trying to have a conversation here. 

"Okay, somewhere quiet. Now, would you care to explain, Aerim?" Sanha asked me. 

I paused, wondering if I should really explain to him. I mean, for one, even I don't know anything that was happening. Not properly, at least. 

Sanha's eyes flickered as he leaned against the handrail of the wooden bridge, overlooking the lake that surrounded us both North and South in direction. "You caught my attention, my heart and then left. Even without an explanation after telling me we're cousins. You're so selfish."

I winced at his words. What he was saying was true and I felt guilty. 

"You're not even gonna spare me a few details?" 

I looked at him and sighed. "It's a complicated story, Sanha."

"If you're doing this just to spare my feelings, don't need to try. Just tell me, Aerim. I don't want anything sugarcoated either," he said. 

Well, if he wanted the truth, then I'll give it to him. From here on now, it was his decision. I was only fulfilling what he wanted me to do. 

I began, "Like I said before, we're cousins. I don't know how, but we are. I also once wondered why I couldn't remember you. That's because of a car accident that lead us to having amnesia. Though there's a dark secret to that car accident. It wasn't some accident. It was intentional—planned." 

Sanha stopped me for a moment. "Wait, what? Seriously? Who could have done such a thing?"

I shrugged. "You wanted the blunt truth and that's what I'm doing right now. And to answer your question, I don't know."

I had to lie to protect him. I guess this was how Dad broke the truth to me. 

"Arasso, arasso. Continue."

I went on, "My parents told me to stay away from you, saying you're dangerous and everything. I don't know why; they keep leaving holes in their information. That's all I know. I'm also still confused."

Sanha was having a hard time trying to process what I have told him. I left out the part about Mr. Yook being the one who planned to kill us when we were young, since he didn't know who he was in the first place. Seeing that he looked like he was suffocating, I stayed quiet for a moment. 

After a while, Sanha asked, "Is... is this real? All of this? Everything? They're not a made up story?"

I frowned. "Why would I lie? It's not like I could make up such a great story like this. No, this is real. This is happening and I don't know how, but we're involved in this. Directly or indirectly, I don't even know. We need to be careful from now on and... I don't even know what we'll find out at the end of this."

"Aerim." The way Sanha called me, he sounded sad or like he regretted something. Or felt bad, I wasn't sure.

"What?" I asked him. 

"I knew it. You were going through something on your own this entire time. And it's scarier than I imagined it to be! I'm so sorry, Aerim. For not being there when you needed someone. I promise I'll be here from now on."

I glanced down at my hand, where Sanha was tightly clutching with his own. I had no words right now. 

"You trust me, don't you?"

I looked into those eyes of his. He was just as lost and scared as I was, but he was trying to look brave so that I would have someone to depend on. Question is, who will he depend on?

"Yes," I ended up replying. 

"Then run."

"What?" 

He didn't explain anything but only held onto my hand tighter than he originally did and yelled one more time, "Run!"

"Yah, Yoo—" I couldn't even yell his name because he covered my mouth with one of his hand as we continued running away. From what? I wasn't even sure. 

Sanha pushed me down behind a thick, tall bush and told me to keep quiet. I did as told but I was still confused on why we suddenly ran.

Then Sanha pointed ahead, where I saw a head not too far from where we were hiding, which made me shake in fear. 

"Where did those two go?" a low, husky voice asked. It resembled to a boxer's. 

"We don't know," answered one of the probable many there. 

"Find them! Hyungnim won't be happy with this," a familiar voice said. 

Chaebong. 

Sanha held me close by wrapping his hands around me, providing me a safe place to be. He whispered directly in my ear, "Just stay still and wait until they're gone."

I was whimpering right now but reminded myself to stay as quiet as I could. 

I heard them approach closer and I tightly held onto Sanha's hand, probably squeezing it too hard. Then a sound of a twig crunching was heard, not too far away from here and the footsteps stopped and moved away from where we hid. 

"Over there!" one of them yelled before running into another direction.

They ran into another direction, far away from where we hid and I let out a sigh of relief. Both Sanha and I stood up from crouching behind the tall bush and found ourselves facing someone familiar right in front of us. 

"Rocky?" the both of us asked. 

~Author's Notes~

I had to rewrite this one because the first draft was gone. I was frustrated but decided to rewrite this because you guys deserved an update :) 

Hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying to end this book as quickly as possible for secret reasons you might find out in the future ;)

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung