After completing his visit to the Hindu temple, Ethan Jones said his last goodbyes to Timo and secretly took a bus to Pokhara Airport to catch a flight back to Korea.
Thanks to the money he earned from a commercial shoot, Ethan was able to afford a business class seat back to Korea. He arrived at Incheon Airport, wrapped his face tightly with a towel, hat, and mask, and left the airport.
Since he hadn't announced his schedule in advance, no one at the Korean airport recognized him.
After leaving the airport, Ethan took an airport limousine home and gently caressed the body of his Harley Davidson that was still parked in front of his house.
"It's been two months, home. Have you been well? I'll start you up later, my dear."
Upon entering the main door on the first floor, Ethan removed his mask. Just to be cautious, he didn't take off his hat and sunglasses and pressed the button for the 22nd floor in the elevator. Right before the elevator doors closed, a high school girl rushed in through the automatic doors on the first floor and shouted as she saw the elevator doors nearly shut.
"Wait! Let's go together!"
Ethan instinctively pressed the open button. The high school girl, seeing the doors open again, hurried inside.
"Heh, thank you."
Ethan smiled and nodded, and the girl, seeing the light for the 22nd floor already on, turned to look at him.
"Do you live on the 22nd floor? I live there too. Must be the guy from the apartment across, huh? But I've moved here over two years ago, and we've never met before?"
The girl scrutinized Ethan's face, still partially hidden by the hat and sunglasses.
"Wow, he's super handsome? I wonder if his eyes are as small as buttonholes without the sunglasses."
Feeling her gaze, Ethan reflexively covered his mouth and chuckled.
"Ahaha, yes, nice to meet you."
The girl stood in front of Ethan, examining his face from different angles.
"My name is Han Ji-e. And you are?"
"Ah... I..."
Ding-
The elevator reached the 22nd floor just in time to save Ethan from further conversation. As the doors opened, Ethan quickly exited, saying,
"See you next time, Ji-e."
Ji-e watched Ethan enter the apartment across with curiosity. Watching him enter his password, she thought he didn't seem like a strange person. Just as she was about to enter her own code, a sharp female voice came from behind.
"Brother!! What's this? You came without contacting me? If you had told me, I would've come to pick you up at the airport!"
By the time Ji-e turned around, the door next door had already closed.
"Brother? The sister living next door is 21, right? So he must be 22 or 23 years old. Wow, a total hottie! Even with sunglasses on, his handsomeness is totally obvious!"
Ji-e, excited, rushed into her apartment, threw her backpack down, and called out,
"Sister! Sister!"
She ran into her sister's room without knocking and shouted,
"Sister! What are you doing?"
Inside, a woman with long hair, wearing a sky-blue tee and white shorts, was lying on the bed with her laptop. She seemed to be listening to something through her headphones. Irritated by the abrupt entry, she sighed and took off her headphones.
"Han Ji-e, I told you to knock before coming into my room, didn't I?"
Ji-e, still in her school uniform, jumped onto her sister's bed and said,
"Ah, I hate that! It feels like it's creating a distance between us!"
"You're in high school now. Why are you home so early? Didn't you go to the library?"
"Ah, come on! Is it not enough that mom pressures me about studying, now you too?"
"These days, if you don't graduate from college, you're treated like you're worth nothing. You won't even be able to get married."
"Oh, come on, is that why you never date and always stay home? Even though you attend one of our country's prestigious women's universities?"
Her sister pinched Ji-e's side as she replied,
"You little brat! Shut that sassy mouth of yours!"
"Kyahaha!! Stop, it tickles!"
As the two sisters playfully fought and chatted on the bed, their mother entered the room and exclaimed,
"Oh, it's so noisy! Han Ji-e! When you come home, you should greet your mother first, you have no manners, Han Yun-hee! And you, being a university student, should go out and do some activities instead of cooping yourself up at home after school. Are you a homebody?"
Their mother looked around Yun-hee's room and continued,
"Clean up a bit! What kind of man will take you if you're like this? Being a university student and all you do is hang up celebrity photos on the wall, grow up. Ji-e is starting to follow your footsteps, chasing after celebrities all day."
Ji-e sat up on the bed abruptly and protested,
"I'm not! I'm not some crazy fan. The kids in my class practically live in front of male idol dorms, but at least the people sister and I like are active abroad so we don't do such things, be thankful for that, Mom."
Their mother poked Ji-e's chest with a back scratcher as she teased,
"Oh, thank goodness for that. Thank you, Han Ji-e?"
"Kyahaha, that tickles, Mom."
"Come on, let's eat dinner."
The three women gathered at the dinner table and began chatting as they ate. Ji-e spooned up some soybean paste stew and said,
"But, sister. You know the sister next door?"
"Yes, Si-hwa? What about her?"
"Does she have a brother?"
Yun-hee tilted her head in confusion,
"No? I've never seen one. I thought only Si-hwa, her mother, and the real estate agent lived next door?"
"Right? Si-hwa is your school senior, and I've been so respectful towards her, she never mentioned having a brother."
"Yeah, she's close to me, but she's never talked about having a brother."
"I saw a guy with sunglasses and a hat entering next door in the elevator earlier. Even though half of his face was covered, he was really handsome, a real catch!"
"Really? Maybe just a delivery guy or something?"
"No, he entered the code to get in, and I heard Si-hwa's voice calling him brother."
"A relative maybe?"
"Can't we ask?"
"What will you ask, you silly girl? 'Who's that man entering your house?' That would be weird."
"But he was really handsome! Aren't you curious, sister?"
"I didn't see him, so no, I'm not curious. Let's just eat."
"Ah!! I'm so curious it's killing me."
"Girls!! Can we not have all this chatter at the dinner table? Just eat!"
The dinner table debate ended with their mother's shout. But their mother, too, couldn't resist joining in on the conversation soon after, breaking the momentary peace.
"Yun-hee, still no boyfriend?"
Yun-hee rolled her eyes,
"Mom, other parents tell their daughters not to date, but why are you so eager to ship yours off to some guy?"
"Because you're always cooped up at home, all you do is cling to that laptop, searching for news about that K or whatever his name is. Aren't you tired of watching his videos all day?"
Ji-e chimed in,
"What, sister? Is there a new video?"
Their mother hit Ji-e's head with a spoon,
"You should be studying, not following your sister and obsessing over that guy. Take down those pictures in your room! Not even proper posters, but sneaky photos, are you some kind of stalker?"
Ji-e touched her head, pretending to be hurt,
"Mom! K hasn't debuted yet, so there aren't any official posters! It's just fan-taken or journalist photos!"
"Then study now and buy his posters when he debuts, you little pervert!"
"Argh, don't interfere with my pure love! I'm not a pervert; it's a spiritual connection and communication."
Their mother sighed heavily, looking at Yun-hee and Ji-e,
"Your father has been working in Saudi for ten years, bending his back to support you, and here you two are, wasting your days away."
"Ah! Why bring up dad now?"
"Yeah, Mom. What does dad have to do with this? Don't overdo it."
"Ah, my daughters..."
Ding-dong, ding-dong-
The sudden ring of the intercom made their mother stand up,
"Huh? Who could it be at this hour? We're not expecting any delivery."
Upon checking the outdoor camera, their mother's face lit up,
"Oh my, Si-hwa's mom! What brings you here?"
Si-hwa's mom, Young-ha, showed something on a tray to the camera and smiled,
"Ah, I brought this for you to try. Are you in the middle of dinner?"
"Oh, but come in, I'll open the door for you, just a moment!"
After ending the call, their mother hurried to open the door, and Young-ha peeked in,
"I brought this so you can try it together with your dinner, Yun-hee's mom."
"Oh, what's this? Please, come in."
"No, no, go on with your meal."
Yun-hee's mom lifted the cloth to reveal the contents and exclaimed,
"My, what is this? It doesn't look like Korean food?"
Young-ha smiled and replied,
"It's Nepali food, called momo. Think of it as Nepali dumplings. It's made with buffalo meat, which you can't usually find in Korea, haha."
"Oh, such a rare treat, but how did you come across Nepali food, Si-hwa's mom?"
"Ah, my son brought it back from his travels."
"Your son? Was the man Ji-e saw entering next door your son?"
"Yes, haha. He's just returned home after a long time."
"No way, how long was he traveling for? We moved in two and a half years ago and haven't seen him once."
"Haha, he went straight on a trip after being discharged from the military. Before that, he was studying abroad."
"Oh, you must be delighted to see your son after such a long time. Your face is all brightened up, absolutely."
"Hoho, indeed. Enjoy the momos, and I'll come by for a visit next time~"
"Sure, thank you so much. I'll wash the tray and return it."
As their mother brought the tray of momos to the dining table, Ji-e's eyes widened in amazement upon tasting them.
"Wow, this is really good. Sister, try this."
Yun-hee also picked one up, and liking it, started to eat more enthusiastically. Their mother watched them eat with a smile, then said,
"After dinner, Yun-hee will do the dishes. Ji-e, take the tray back next door."
"Got it!"
After dinner, Yun-hee helped their mother with the dishes. In the midst of washing, their mother handed a cleaned tray to Ji-e, who was eating watermelon, saying,
"Go next door and make sure to say thank you."
Ji-e eagerly took the tray and headed to the front door, with her mother calling after her,
"Change out of your uniform! Why do you always run around in your school clothes after coming home?"
"I'll change when I get back!"
Ji-e, stepping out of the house, took a deep breath as she approached Ethan's door.
'I might see him if I go now. Surely he won't be wearing sunglasses at home!'
With another deep breath, Ji-e rang Ethan's doorbell.
Ding-dong-
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Jie."
"Oh, wait a moment, Jie."
After a while, the front door opened, and she came out. Jie, smiling, handed over a tray and said, "Please tell mom thank you for the delicious meal. It was really good, hehe."
"Really? I'm glad you enjoyed it."
She handed over the tray and looked curiously at Jie peeking inside the house.
"Why? Looking for something?"
Jie, startled, twisted her body.
"No... Sister. Did brother come?"
She crossed her arms and looked Jie up and down with a smile.
"Yes, but why? He's not home right now."
"What? I heard he just came back after a long time."
"Yes, he said he couldn't start his motorcycle for a long time, so he went out for a bit."
"Oh... I see."
Jie sent a disappointed look, and she laughed, showing her teeth before closing the door.
"Brother's motorcycle is always on the first floor."
After the door closed, Jie, standing dumbfounded in front of the door, realized the hint in her last words and laughed heartily, jumping to the window half a floor down.
Opening the window and looking down at the first floor, she saw a man in front of the motorcycle putting on a helmet.
"There he is!"
Jie frantically pressed the elevator button. The elevator coming up from the 18th floor seemed incredibly slow today.
Tapping her foot impatiently, Jie rushed into the elevator as soon as the doors opened and furiously pressed the close button. Looking up, she fixed her gaze on the elevator floor indicator lights and dashed out as soon as it reached the first floor.
As the automatic doors opened, Jie saw a man starting a motorcycle, wearing a German military helmet with three stars and sunglasses.
Wearing a black leather rider jacket, a white T-shirt, and black pants, brother looked tall and suited the magnificent motorcycle perfectly.
Seeing him reversing the motorcycle, not just starting it, Jie yelled.
"Oh, brother!"
The man in sunglasses turned his head toward the sound. Jie, seeing him notice her, twisted her linked hands and stepped forward.
"Uh, brother. It's Jie. We met earlier, right?"
He nodded slightly and smiled, and Jie, examining the motorcycle, said, "Wow, is this your motorcycle? My friends have always been jealous of it sitting here. It's really expensive, isn't it?"
He rested his chin on his hand and said, "Hmm... It probably is expensive."
"What? You don't know the price of your own bike?"
"Oh, it was a gift."
"Wow! Who gives something like this as a gift? Amazing, I wish I had someone like that!"
"Haha, just someone I know. See you around."
As he started to reverse the motorcycle, Jie rushed over and gripped the handlebars, pleading, "Brother, just one request! I've never ridden a motorcycle before, could you please let me ride behind you just once?"
He scratched his cheek, looking slightly troubled, "Well... I was just going to start it and go back in, but I was thinking of taking a ride around the neighborhood..."
Jie clutched the handlebars with both hands, making the saddest face possible, "Brother, just once. Please, just once?"
He looked at Jie for a moment, contemplating. A cute high school girl with long hair tied in a ponytail style and bangs cut to her eyebrows looked at him with eyes as pleading as a cat's. He chuckled and nodded.
"Then, hop on."
"Yay! Thank you, brother!"
Jie, thrilled, took out a pin from her pocket and clipped it in the middle of her uniform skirt, turning it into pants as she got on the back seat. He asked, "If you've never ridden a motorcycle, how come you're so adept at clipping your skirt with a pin?"
Sitting behind him, Jie laughed awkwardly, "Ahaha, I just thought it might be dangerous to sit sideways... Ahaha, it's not because I've ridden before, ahaha..."
Seeing Jie's flustered expression in the side mirror, he chuckled and said, "There's a helmet in the side bag that she used to wear. Put it on and hold on tight, it's dangerous."
Jie put on the helmet and grabbed his waist, her eyes widening, "What? There's not a single flabby bit on brother's stomach. Is it because he was recently discharged from the military? Oh my, look at those abs!"
He, feeling Jie hug his waist tightly, instinctively straightened and tensed his stomach when she touched it.
"It tickles, haha. Don't touch too much."
"Ah! Sorry, brother. It was definitely not intentional."
"Haha, it's okay, just hold on tight."
The monster bike, a Harley Davidson Road King Classic Custom model with 1,690 cc, roared to life, its black and massive body vibrating. It shot out of the apartment complex onto the road, barely touching the accelerator but taking off like a bullet. Jie, feeling the wind tickle her cheeks, laughed joyfully.
"This feels so different from the vf that Jin-kyung's brother let me ride before! Listen to this sound, amazing!"
Passersby focused their attention on the roaring bike as Jie, full of pride, raised one hand and yelled.
"Yee-haw! This is so refreshing!"
He looked in the side mirror to see Jie excitedly bouncing on the back seat and smiled. The American off-road style Harley made a big loop around the neighborhood. Jie caught sight of her school, still busy with evening self-study.
"If we rode around the schoolyard, the girls would go crazy, wouldn't they? Seeing this motorcycle would cause a commotion, and if they thought brother was my boyfriend, that would really stir things up, hehe."
Jie pointed at the school and said, "Brother! That's my school over there, wanna take a look?"
He glanced at the school Jie was pointing to. Lights were still on the fourth floor of the square, five-story building, indicating students were still studying.
He nodded slightly and steered towards the school gate. Jie was thrilled when he turned towards the school, but the motorcycle stopping in front of the gate left her feeling disappointed. He dismounted and said, "We shouldn't disturb the students still studying, so let's leave the bike here and just take a short walk. One round around the sports field. Deal?"
Jie, excited at the suggestion, raised her hand high.
"Deal!"
They quickly got off the motorcycle and stood side by side. Jie, matching her shoulder line with the tall brother, sized him up and said, "Wow, brother, you're so tall. How tall are you?"
"187 cm. Haven't grown a centimeter since third year of middle school."
"Wow... 187 since middle school? That's incredible."
As they walked through the empty, dark sports field, Jie kept chatting, looking at him from the side.
"What's your name, brother? You didn't tell me earlier."
"Gun. It's Gun."
"Gun? Jong-gun? Kang-gun? What kind of Gun?"
"Just Gun. It's a single character."
"Oh, I see."
Jie continued to chatter away, never imagining Gun could be the star she admired. Gun smiled, watching her lively figure.
"I heard from your mom that your dad is in Saudi Arabia?"
"Yes, he went there for work. 10 years ago."
"10 years? Don't you miss your dad?"
"He comes home once a year, so it's fine."
"I see."
"Ah, it's awkward... Just speak informally to me. If you're sister's brother and older than me, it's only natural. How old are you, brother?"
"24."
"Then, can I speak informally to you? I'd be more comfortable that way."
"Haha, sure. Why not?"
"Hehe, isn't that great? We're like neighbors."
Jie, with her effortless charm, quickly became as familiar as a younger sister. Gun, who was loved dearly but slightly feared by his own sister, smiled at this different yet familiar sibling-like feeling. Jie stared blankly at Gun, smiling beside her.
"Ah... He's really handsome. I wonder what he looks like without sunglasses? Wearing them even at night, he might have some complex or maybe a scar. But with his looks, any scar would be fine. It'd be a total surprise if he had tiny eyes."
After making a large loop around the sports field and returning to the main gate, Gun suggested, "Should we head back?"
Jie looked disappointed but nodded.
"Yes, brother."
As Jie got on the back, Gun handed her the helmet. She smiled happily, feeling his touch.
"Huh? What's this, Han Jie?"
Hearing the sudden voice, Jie turned with a bright smile.
"Jin-kyung!"
A short-haired high school girl with glasses approached, looking alternately at Gun and Jie. Jin-kyung was stunned by the monstrous bike.
"What's with this monstrous motorcycle? It looks expensive... Oh? Isn't this the bike always parked in front of your house?"
Proudly, Jie nodded.
"Yes! That's the bike. The one your brother was so envious of."
Jin-kyung looked at the bike with envy, then at Gun sitting on it with sunglasses, and gasped.
"What? He's so handsome! Could he be Jie's boyfriend?"
Jin-kyung quickly whispered to Jie.
"Who is he? Your boyfriend?"
Jie's cheeks flushed red as she covered her face with her hands, giggling, "I dunno, teehee."
"You! Where did you meet him? He seems really handsome. Which school's brother is he?"
"Don't know, don't know, teeheeheehee."
Gun, overhearing the absurd conversation from the back, let out a discreet chuckle. Jin-kyung, not getting a proper answer from Jie, stepped aside and made a gesture as if she was typing on a phone.
"Text me later!"
As Gun slightly bowed his head and started the motorcycle, they took off with a roar. Watching the Harley disappear, Jin-kyung murmured, "Brother said even the base model of that bike costs over 30 million won. If it's a custom limited edition, it might be over 70 million won... Ah, I wish I could ride something like that just once..."
Having left the school and quickly arrived back at the apartment, Gun turned off the Harley's engine and took the helmet Jie handed him, storing it in the bag. Watching him, Jie then joined him in the elevator.
"Brother, thanks for the ride. It was really fun."
"Haha, sure. If there's a chance, I'll take you for a ride again."
"Really? You promise? For real?"
"Yes, I promise."
Jie extended her phone towards him, "Could I have your phone number?"
Gun hesitated for a moment, recalling a past stalker incident, and then declined with a wave of his hand, "Sorry, I have my reasons for not sharing my number. If you really need to contact me, can you go through her? She mentioned she has your number."
Jie's face fell slightly, "Oh... I see. I have her number, she's my sister's school senior."
"Good, if you need to contact me, do it through her. I'll be home for a while. Take care. You have school tomorrow. Sleep well."
"Yes, brother. You too, sleep well~"
Hiding her disappointment, Jie turned and walked away.