" Wow" Yunhee gasped in horror when she finally arrived at the daycare centre. It took her a really long time to find it and when she did, she really wished she just stayed at home, comfortably cuddled in her bed at this time.

Right in front of her eyes wasn't the bright building fully painted with cartoon's murals on the wall, instead she saw a condominium, a huge condominium. Her heart started to pang in sorrow, the daycare centre was no longer here. That's what she could tell herself. It has been 21 years since she left, it's not impossible for someone to wreak it down and build a skyscraper building at the same place.

Thinking about it, the whole town didn't look like what it was in her memory. The first time she got here, there was no variety of shops as it's there now. The town only had one convience store which was held by Jin's parents and a small bustop that has three vending machine. That was the only place where the residents could treat themselves. There was no restaurants, no bookstores, and let alone gadget stores.

But right now, the town was practically like Seoul. There was skyscraper buildings everywhere, ruining the precious memory in her head.

" What are you doing here, dear?" someone patted her shoulder. Yunhee turned around and saw a woman. She was old and weak, but that didn't hide the friendly smile on her face.

" Oh, I..." she stuttered a little. " I was searching for a daycare here"

" Oh, the Sunshine Daycare Centre?" she asked.

So that was its name.

She didn't even know the daycare's name. Shame of her.

" Yes..."

" I'm afraid you won't be able to find it. It got replaced by this condominium six years ago"

" Yeah, haha " she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. " I think I'll get going then"

" Wait!" the woman said hurriedly. " Why not come to my house? I'll offer you tea"

Yunhee never trusted people easily. But the old woman was radiating a very warm energy, as if she was sitting in a garden, with the sun blazing beautifully. The woman had a gleaming look in her eyes, as if she really wanted her to come with her. Yunhee could not bring herself to say no.

So she nodded.

~~~

" You have a very nice house, halmeoni" Yunhee said as she made herself comfortable on the pillow. The woman smiled as she proceeded to make tea. The house was small and warm. There was only one small table in the middle of the hall, with pillows simetrically arranged on the floor. She had a white cat with her, who was comfortably sleeping in a cozy basket.

She smiled and offered to help the woman to bring the two cup of teas back to the table. The woman mummbled a small thank you before taking a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

" I'm sorry I have nothing to feed you" she said.

" No, this is enough. I love cookies" Yunhee said, helping herself with one. The woman chuckled looking at her.

" What's your name, dear?" the woman asked.

" Shin Yunhee" she said without a second thought. The woman frowned when she heard her name.

" Yunhee?"

" Yeah"

" Why were you searching for the daycare?"

" Oh, I wanted to see my friends who went to the daycare" Yunhee replied, sipping her tea. The woman smiled brightly when she heard her answer.

" Yunhee" she called. " Do you know who I am?"

" Huh?"

" I'm Mrs Im, the caretaker" she said.

Yunhee's eyes almost popped out of her sockets when she heard that. She was the caretaker? As for, the Mrs Im? 

" Oh my! I'm sorry I didn't recognise you. I was to preoccupied with them that I forgot-"

" Calm down, dear. I'm not mad " Mrs Im said. Yunhee did exactly what she said, calming herself down. Mrs Im walked towads her and hugged her tightly. " I wondered why you looked familiar"

" How are you Mrs Im?" she asked after breaking the hug.

" Living" the woman said sadly. " I was really heartbroken when the daycare got closed, it has too many sweat memories"

" Why, what happened?"

" Your friends did something bad" she said, but this time she was smiling, as if she was proud of what they did. " The other residents thought that I was a bad influence  and stopped she ding their kids to my daycare centre. It went on for a few years and I have to eventually got shut down.

Mrs Im was reached for a cupboard beside her and pulled out a box. Yunhee looked at it and asked a question she really wanted an answer for.

" Where are they now?"

" I'm afraid I don't know. All of them went away one by one without leaving any traces. I doubt they don't even know where the other's are"

She then took a photo album and gave it to her. Yunhee cautiously took it and turned it open. Without knowing, a smile creeped to her face. There they are, her friends. Hoseok, Yoongi, Jin, Jungkook and Namjoon were hugging each other, at the edge of falling down while beside them were the two boys, showing peace signs.

" This was before you come here, Yunhee" Mrs Im said. " Gosh, they look too young"

" These two?" Yunhee asked, pointing to the two boys, one of them wearing the red jacket.

" Oh, that's Jimin and Taehyung" she said, pointing them as she told their names.

" Taehyung" she whispered as she carressed the photo. " Why were they always alone?"

" Ahh..." Mrs Im streched her legs. " Both of them are actually cousins and you can say they came from a well-mannered family. Their family controlled their lives, not letting them to talk to anyone they think as bad influence and planning their futures without their concern. It was really pity, watching them see the other kids play around while they are forced to do homework"

Yunhee didn't know what to say so she flipped the album in her arms. Her friends in the album grew up the more she turned the page, she came in the picture and she went away, leaving the boys in their own world.

" I thought Jimin and Taehyung will live up like their parents, become doctors or engineers" Mrs Im said out of a sudden. " But then they turned 13 and..."

" And what?" she asked, curious.

" The both of them ran away with the help of the others. God, the chaos they created" she laughed as it was the funniest thing in the world. " I was blamed, you know. Their family blamed me telling that I was the one who influenced them but I wasn't angry at all. I was happy, I was really happy when I get to know those two dorks managed to run away"

" They didn't come back?" Yunhee asked.

" They didn't. Jin told me that they left their phone so none of us can even communicate with them"

" What about the others?"

" The others?" she smiled again, but this time, Yunhee could see the sorrow in her eyes. Mrs Im can surely pass her emotion to others with her eyes only.

" The five of them were heavily criticized by Jimin and Taehyung's parents after they helped them run away. The Park's and Kim's were quite influenced here, so they banned the five of them in almost everything they could in Busan. They couldn't even further up their studies because of them"

Yunhee nodded. Not being able to further up your studies when you want to is one of the most painful thing to happen.

" The criticim they went through and the absence of Jimin and Taehyung had a great impact on them. Slowly, the boys stopped talking and having fun together like they used to do"

" Why though?" Yunhee asked. " Why did they risked everything for Jimin... and Taehyung?" telling his name sent butterflies to her stomach.

He was no longer the boy in red jacket. He has a name now and it was beautiful.

Mrs Im laughed. " That's what you think, dear. That's what everyone think. But the truth is, they all were already close to each other before you even came here"

Yunhee was confused. Her mind was not working anymore.

" You mean..."

" They all were already talking to each other although they were forbidden to do so. They just made sure no one find it out" Mrs Im said. " And as they grow older, the more closer they get to the point that they don't care about their surroundings sometime. Soon, rumour started spreading in the town about them hanging out together but no one has seen them being together. They boys were hideous"

Yunhee was speechless. She never really thought they would hid something from her. But thinking about it again, she was only there for a week. No one would trust someone in such a short amount of time, not even a kid.

" So they were really broken after Jimin and Taehyung left. Then after two years, Jin moved out following by Namjoon. The both of them didn't tell anyone, since it could affect their future if the Kim's and Park's knew. Then  there was only Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook. Jungkook was only 14 when they left and it really hurt him. He also got a new brother and was negleted by his parents, so he seek comfort from Hoseok and Yoongi, especially Yoongi"

" Jungkook has a brother?"

" Yeah, Jeonsan would be seven by now"

Yunhee nodded, gesturing Mrs Im to continue.

" I thought that the three of them will finally be in peace. It was really hurting to see the boys sad and moody all the time. The three of them got really close, maybe even closer than they were before. I still remember, we once met and they told me they are not moving, although it was really hard living here for them and I trusted them. Then one day, Jungkook's parents died in a car crash, living the boy alone with his 2 years old brother"

Yunhee saw a single drop of tear dropping from the woman's eye. She reached forward and gently wiped her tears. She smiled at her, showing that she could take her time if she wanted. Mrs Im wiped her tears before continuing.

" Jungkook stayed with Yoongi for two days. He was hurt and kept losing control of himself. It was horrible, you know. Seeing the once sweet boy shouting at everyone and blaming his parents for his misery. Hoseok and Yoongi were the only one with him and Jungkook slowly started to come to his senses. Just when everyone thought it would be okay, Jungkook dissapeared, together with Jeosan"

" What?! Why?!"

" No one knew why. Even Yoongi who was really close with him. He was devastated that Jungkook left him.The two of them actually. They got tired of people constantly leaving them. Comparing to the others, Yoongi was the one the Kim's and Park's hate the most and that made his life harder than Hoseok's

" Why do they hate him?"

" He locked them in the convenience store the day Jimin and Taehyung run away"

" Oh, wow" Yunhee said. Yoongi did that?

" So yeah, the Kim's and Park's made the two boys more miserable than the boys could handle. It become really worse that the two boys couldn't even get out of their house without being hit by rocks and insulted by the people the family rented"

" That's really harsh"

" Yeah, it was. And then they moved out too, without leaving a trace, just like their friends"

" So, none of them are here anymore?" Yunhee asked, not realizing her voice cracking.

" I'm sorry that you went a long way to come here, Yunhee dear. But they're not here and I don't even know where they could be right now"

" Do you think, that they could be together right now?"

" No, they all went separate way, Yunhee. I don't even know if I could tell you confidently that Jeonsan is with Jungkook right now. He really hated him, believing that Jeonsan is the reason he lost everything"

" He won't do that" Yunhee said, but deep inside, she doubted that too. It has been 21 years, Yunhee. They could change, they must have changed. No one stays the same for 21 years, especially if they went through something that can hurt.

She wanted to tell the woman infront of her that she know where Hoseok and Yoongi were, but she decided not to. It would be better that way, no one in the town should know where they should be.

Yunhee tried to suck the aching feeling in her heart. She was having mixed feelings. She came here with the thought she could finally find her friends, or at least see the daycare centre, but she definitely didn't expect this. So many things had happened, so many that she couldn't believe some of them. They are no longer together, none of them, expect for Yoongi and Hoseok.

She angrily wiped her tears. No, she shouldn't cry. It has been 21 years, 21 years since all of these things happened. She should accept the truth, that the moment she stepped out of the town, all the memories she had was as good as dead. She should have locked them up earlier, not live with it like now. Her phone suddenly rang, signalling she just got a new message. She mindlessly took it out to check.

Alex : You there?

*Nervously sweating because I haven't start writing the next chapter yet*