"Guys, this semester, you must give it your all. The class for today has ended." Aera exited the class and went straight to Shin, "Shin, Shin..."
"Have you eaten?"
Shin replied, "Not yet."
They stroll down the Street, "Why aren't you talking to your father still? It's been a long time, so let go of your hostility towards him. Get along with him. And your bro—"
Shin stops her, "Aera, stop it. I'm tired of hearing things like this. The father and son relationship ended when my mother died. Don't bring them up again. I have you and that's enough for me."
"Okay, I'm not going to bring this up again. Don't get mad"
"Why wouldn't you go on blind dates again?"
"Hey, I don't have time to go on blind dates," Aera said uneasily.
"Why?"
"If I go on blind dates. Jimin would be alone at home."
"Who's Jimin?" Shin asked her, blankly.
"What question is this? Stop kidding."
"Aera, I don't know about Jimin, who's that? Is he your new friend?"
"Hey, how did you forgot about him? He arrived on our campus when you became sick from rehearsing all night. Then, four days earlier, he arrived on campus, again with Jenny and Bo-ra."
"Yes. Jenny and Bo-ra only came, but not that person who came."
Aera becomes agitated, and pulls his hand away, heading to Jenny's restaurant. "Jenny, Jenny…" She screamed loudly.
"Hey Aera, why are you yelling so loudly? Don't you have eyes, that customers are eating their meals?"
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized to everyone. She continues, "But, I am not the one who has no eyes; that's him. Four days before, you, Bo-ra and Jimin came to our campus to look for me. This jerk asked me who Jimin was." Aera smirked at Shin, "Tell him, who Jimin is."
"Who is Jimin?" Jenny asks, suspiciously, glancing at Aera. "I came but Bo-ra alone, but not with the person that you mentioned."
Aera gets confused, "What are all these people talking about? Jimin, Jimin…. Why did you all forget about him?"
As she said Aera left the restaurant and rushed to her apartment. She opens the door, yells, "Jimin, Jimin..."
She checked all of the rooms and Jimin's clothing racks, but she couldn't find Jimin's dress. She walked to the bathroom and looked at the mirror shelf; there was only Aera's brush on there.
"He placed the Teddy bear here, but why it isn't here?" she wondered as he looked at the living room wall shelves. "Where is Jimin?" as she said, she fainted.
Then she suddenly awoke from her sleep, and gazed around her. Jimin was sleeping next to her. She then took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh. She was sweating profusely all over her face and neck. "Ahh… Dream. That is just a dream."
She opened the fridge and drank some cold water. She exhaled, "What a bad dream? I was on the verge of passing away because of that dreadful nightmare."
She lay down again and stared at Jimin before slowly grabbing his T-shirt bottom and falling asleep.
The next morning, he awoke, looked at Aera, and hesitantly approached near her face. He then abruptly turned away and looked down at his T-shirt, where Aera was grasping the bottom of his shirt, firmly. He smiled and snatched her hand away from his shirt.
Aera slowly opens her eyes, "Ahh…. Why does the sun rise so early every day?" as she said she moved her hand and got shocked. "Where is he? Is she really gone? Jimin, Jimin…"
Jimin emerges from the bathroom, wiping his head with a towel. He doesn't give any reaction, just walked away.
Aera chuckled, "He won't even care about me, if I am gone."
Aera's getting ready for the class. On the sofa table, she noticed a box. When she opened the box, she saw a pair of shoes. "Did you buy these shoes for me? I know you bought these for me. This is the size of my shoes."
As she said she looked at him, but he didn't even look at or hear her. "You are not going to talk to me, right? I'll see, how long are you gonna stay like this?" While Aera phone rings.
"Mmm... Shin, what is the matter? Tell me quickly, I have a lot of work. Today's night? Yes, I am free. Night 9 at BB2 club? Okay, I'll come." She hangs up the phone and walks away.
"Club… 9.00 PM," said Jimin.
"Hey, why are you here in our campus? You own a restaurant, go work there. Wait a minute… Are you here to see Eugene?" Aera asked Jenny. "Just get out of here."
"Hey, why are you always defending her? I have no idea why you are doing things like these. I won't harm her today, just wanna ask some questions. Once I get an answer, I'll leave."
Aera give some thought and said, "Okay, I will allow you. But you must speak with her in a polite way. Understand?"
Both were talking, Eugene crossed them. Suddenly Jenny shouted at her, "Hey Eugene, come here… Eugene…"
Aera closed Jenny's mouth with her hand and left the place.
"If today Eugene gets caught in my hand, she will die," angrily, said Jenny.
"Stop it and eat these," they were both eating in the campus cafeteria.
"Why are looking at me?" asked Jenny.
Aera sighed, "Stop complaining about Eugene. We became accustomed to being alone from the beginning because no one was on our side. At the same time, Eugene has everyone Father, Mother, Sister, and Elder brother. But she was completely alone. It's not fine to be alone without anyone; on the other hand, it's even worse when everyone else is around, still you are all alone. In some ways, Eugene and I are same."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. Put an end to your nagging about her. I will handle Eugene on my own."
Jenny paused for a moment and sighed, "Okay. Do as you wish, but be careful. And one more important thing."
"What?"
"Don't eat anything here. Your stomach will get upset, the taste was awful too. After you finish your work, come and eat at my restaurant." Aera laughed at her.
Outside the BB2 club, Aera and Shin were waiting. Sadly, both are seated on the same bench, back to back. "What time is it right now?' Aera asked.
"It is 9.30."
"9.30," abruptly Aera stands up, Shin fall backwards, "Ahh… Why did you get up so quickly? Ahh… My back hurts."
"It hurts? Wait, I will show you how really, really hurts." As she said, she smacked him in the head with his hand bag.
"Stop, it hurts."
"You are the one who gave me this idea. Time is 9.30. Why has he not arrived yet?" vehemently asked Aera.
"This is men's psychology. If they like a girl, they won't let their girl go to the club with another man. That's why I said that. But why isn't he here?"
Aera came closer to Shin, "What are you doing? Go away."
"Pinch my cheeks."
"Huh? What? Why?"
"I want to figure out whether this is a dream or not. We are not in a dream, right? You can all see Jimin, he's real, right?"
"What on earth are you talking? Have you lost your mind?" he pinched Aera's cheek harshly.
"Ahh... Stop it. No, I am all fine. Forget about it."
Shin noticed at the time, "It's getting late. It's time for me to return to my dormitory. Bye."
"Hey, stop."
Again, Shin came back and grasped Aera's upper arms. "Why did you come back? Leave my hand."
"Listen carefully. I think our plan worked."
"What…? Is Jimin here?" Said brightly as she pushed away Shin. Jimin has his arms folded and is positioned near to a tree.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about what happened that night." Aera says as they walk through the streets together. "That was..."
"I am the one who apologized to you."
Aera says, her face flat, "No. I am the one who apologized to you. You are mad at me because of not telling you what happened that night."
They both came to a halt. Jimin said, "I am not mad at you. I'm mad with myself for not checking you properly. I arrived at your college the other night, but I didn't check you properly. After that, I visited Jenny's restaurant. If I checked you properly, I have found you early."
Aera laughed madly, "Wait a minute. You are mad at yourself because you didn't check me properly." Again, she laughed loudly. Jimin staring at her strangely.
Aera was searching for something along the sides of the road. He asked, "What are you looking for? Have you lost something? Wh….why are taking that big stone?" He ran quickly while Aera pursued him.
"I am going to kill you tonight."
"Cheers." "One more Soju bottle please." Bo-ra and Han-na were drinking at the Tent bar.
"I haven't had alcohol for a very long time since starting a job," said Bo-ra.
Han-na smiled at her and asked, "Are you with your parents?"
"No. I am single and live alone. We don't have parents."
"We?" Han-na gave her a blank stare.
"Yes. Jenny and I have no parents. Aera has parents, however she's alone like us. She has a complicated family. We met at Happy Home, orphanage. We went together to Elementary school, Middle, and High school. We three, like family, like, to share all our things. I haven't had a job in the past three years, but Jenny fed me, Aera gave me an allowance."
"That's the story of my life. Simple and short, right? Tell me about yours. About your father and mother?"
"This is where I was born. We migrated to China when I was ten years old."
"China! But why did you come here again?" fervently asked Bo-ra.
He said with a smile, "I have my reasons. I only have one piece of advice for you; don't get too close to Mr. Lee. Because he's been keeping something..." as he said he looked at her, she's been sleeping.
"Hey, get up. Why are you sleeping in this place? Get up now." He tried to wake her up, but she hasn't wake up.
After a few minutes, Jenny came, "Han-na, thank you. When she drinks, she easily becomes dizzy."
"It's okay. Are you sure you'll take care of her on your own?"
"Don't worry, Bye" Jenny got into a cab with her.
Aera lying beside Jimin, staring at Jimin while he is sleeping. She doesn't even blink her eyes for a few minutes. And as she turned around, shifts her gaze to the other side, suddenly she hears a voice, "No, face this side." She abruptly turned around and stared at him.
He opened his eyes and said, "Face this side."
"You haven't had a sleep yet. I thought you were sleeping."
"No, I haven't slept. You've been staring for 15 minutes, right?"
Aera is startled and stare at him, her cheeks gradually turning red. Jimin noticed her expression, "Don't blush again, next time I won't be able to merely lie alongside you and do nothing."
Aera promptly covered her face in bedsheets. "Stop talking and go to sleep." Jimin smiled at her.
Jenny entered the restaurant joyfully humming a song. "Before that, you appeared exhausted when you returned from Yoga. But these days, Mam, you've been so much happier. What happened, Mam?" Inquisitively asked by Jenny's worker-girl.
"It has nothing to do with yoga," as she said she noticed some boys photographing girls who are dining at her restaurant. She yelled at them before approaching him. "What are doing now? Hand over your phone to me."
"Aunty, why should I give you my phone?" audaciously spoken by a gang member.
"Wait a minute. What did you just say? Aunty…?" She erupted in laughter. She struck him across the face, the one who yelled aunty, all of a sudden. When the other man tried to punch her, she stepped back, grabbed the other man's shirt from behind, and smacked him in the head. Then she smacked them all in the face. She tripped one of them to the ground with her leg, and he fell to the ground.
"Cool," "Awesome," "She nailed it," everyone in the restaurant said as they raced away.
"This is Park and Jeong, from Criminal branch. They will assist you in this instance and obtain the source from the police." To Bo-ra and Han-na, Lee said.
"Okay, Mr. Lee." Said Bo-ra and Han-na.
"Park, go and get… Bo-ra fetch the files from a named Jeson on my desk."
Bo-ra went to Lee's cabin to look over the files. She noticed that Lee's computer was still powered on. She looked around, but no one seemed to notice her, so she looked into Lee's computer.
"What is this?" as she opened a folder named Anderson. Her eyes got dilated and she rushed to Han-na.
She grabbed his hand and came out of the office, "What's the matter? What?"
"When I went to Mr. Lee's room, I saw something regarding Anderson."
"What are you talking about?"
"Yes, I saw Anderson named file. We've been looking for a 50-year-old man who isn't Anderson. He is, nonetheless, a Mafia."
"Be calm and tell me properly."
"On August 18, a 50 year-old-man was waiting to meet some girl. On the same date, Anderson was seen by some thugs in Jungnim Street and they beat him up too. Lee's been searching for Anderson with the help of us."
"I have no idea what you are talking." Han-na was confused.
"Han-na, come here quickly," Park urged him.
"I have important work. I will come back soon. Bo-ra don't share this with anyone. Wait for me." As he said he walked away.