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Chapter 16

On Sunday, Minwoo was pretty much all better. Minsoo still had the day off from work, so the two of them decided to go out today.

Eunbi wanted to hang out with them now that Minwoo wasn't sick anymore, so the first place they went to was her house. To their surprise, she still lived with her parents in an average-sized house near a variety of places. It was a perfect little home for someone like her.

Eunbi was the one who answered the door, and when she saw them, she knelt down and gave Minwoo a big bear hug. "I missed you guys," she said, smiling up at Minsoo. She picked up the 6 year old and invited them inside to meet her parents (who still didn't believe she was actually babysitting someone).

When they went in, her parents were sitting at their dining room table, finishing up their breakfast. By the kitchen sink, her twin brother stood cleaning up the dishes. He turned at the sound of multiple footsteps, and his face turned even paler than it usually was when he saw Minsoo.

"Good morning," Minsoo said politely, taking his little brother from Eunbi's arms, "I'm Minsoo, and this is my brother, Minwoo. Eunbi takes care of him during the week, and I'm sorry if that's bothersome to you all. I really wanted to thank you for letting Eunbi help me."

"Don't worry about it," her mother replied, a warm smile on her face. Her parents already seemed to like him.

From the kitchen, Euntaek had finished cleaning the dishes. He stepped into the doorway of their dining room and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention, "Hey, Minsoo. Can I talk to you for a second?" His voice was soft and somewhat hesitant, as if he were afraid of the brown haired boy.

"Sure."

Minsoo followed him out of the room and left Minwoo to entertain Eunbi's parents. They walked to the end of the hallway and stopped only when they reached the next wall. They were decently far from the dining room now, and they could barely hear the faint sound of voices.

Euntaek ducked his head so his blue bangs fell over his eyes, a gesture that he often did when he was nervous or uncomfortable, "Can you keep it a secret?"

He blinked once, confused.

He gulped, "The fact that I have all my classes in the beginning of the week and how I spend my weekends at the café... please keep that a secret."

Minsoo blinked again, twice this time, "Oh. Okay."

Euntaek stood there, waiting for the older boy to question him, to ask why he was lying to his family about such a simple thing. He was preparing himself for the question, but Minsoo never asked.

Actually, Minsoo hated the question "why?" He'd grown tired of asking it and getting no answer in return; he'd grown tired of hearing that word being asked to him. Nothing good ever came out of asking why.

Why are you taking care of your little brother instead of your parents?

Why are you working six days a week?

Why aren't you going to college?

Why did you drop out of school?

Why? Why? Why?

Everyone always wanted to know why.

Minsoo had decided long ago that he would never ask someone that question unless it was absolutely necessary. For instance, if Minwoo was crying, he would definitely ask why, but if Eunbi were crying, on the other hand, he would not ask why. It wasn't like he didn't care. He'd comfort her, of course, but if she wanted him to know why, wouldn't she just tell him? He didn't want to pressure people into telling him something they didn't want to tell; he'd been through that all too many times himself.

The word "why" had become just as deep a scar as all his others.

~*~*~*~

Monday evening, after Euntaek had finally made free time that day, he went straight to the café. It was a strange thing to do, especially because he wasn't planning on ordering anything nor was it the weekend yet.

The little bell jingled as he walked through the door, and he smiled politely at Minsoo, who always stood behind the counter, greeting everyone with a warm smile. It was around 10 o'clock, so there were only a few customers.

Euntaek sat down in front of Hyojin, smiling softly when the older boy gave him a confused look. He glanced at his phone, "It's Monday, right?"

"It is."

This only seemed to confuse him even more, "Then why are you here?"

"I have something to tell you."

Hyojin told himself not to get excited because it definitely wasn't going to be what he was hoping for. Instead, he just worked his jaw and said, "Go on."

Euntaek leaned back into the seat, focusing on his hands because it was easier to talk that way, "As you know, it's almost Christmas time, which means exams are coming up. Fuji and I won't be coming back here for about two weeks, and I wanted to tell you before I, like, disappeared."

Hyojin lifted his phone, "You could've texted me."

"Y-Yeah, but..." he could feel his ears burning, "I wanted to tell you in person." I wanted to see you one last time.

He smiled the smile he always had when he teased Euntaek, "Well, I'm glad you came. You'll be gone for two weeks, so it's better this way, isn't it?" A different kind of smile spread across his perfect lips. It was a warm smile, one that Euntaek had never seen on him before, "Good luck on your exams. You'll do great. Just make sure you come back because I'll miss you."

Something about his expression and his choice of words made Euntaek's heart ache.

Just make sure you come back, he'd said, I'll miss you. With a warm smile on his face, a loving expression, he'd said these words, and Euntaek had no idea how to feel about it.

Just make sure you come back because I'll miss you.

It was like he already knew what kind of awful things were going on inside his head.