Chapter 5

My brother and I dragged our luggage into the airport while my mother waited with my father as he paid the cab driver. Since our flight was leaving early in the morning and we had to arrive about three hours before our departure time, my father refused to inconvenience any of our relatives by letting them drop us off.

The good thing about sneaking out even before the roosters awoke was that since it was still dark out, I really didn't get to see Seoul as I left it. If I'd been able to see the tree my brother use to keep me from climbing when I was a kid, or the bus stop right in front of the arcade I used to visit with Tae Ran and Na Young or the library I used to pretend to study at just to hang out with Min Ki, or any of the million things I no longer noticed because I'd become so used to them, I would have arrived at the airport in a soaked t-shirt.

As we approached the Continental Airlines check-in counter, I recognized a familiar figure clad in a red t-shirt and dark jeans leaning against it and bobbing his head around like he was searching for someone.

"What's he doing here?" my brother asked, vocalizing my thoughts.

Panic set in.

"Oh God, I'm dead. I am so freaking dead," I said between gritted teeth. I glanced back and saw my oblivious parents not too far behind us. I turned back to look at Min Ki and saw that he was still looking for us amongst the crowd. Glad that he hadn't seen us, I figured that it was time to make a quick getaway. Maybe I could run to the ladies' room and wait there till he left. Armed with my brilliant plan, I made a 90 degree turn but before I could get far, my brother quickly caught my elbow and dragged me with him.

"Oppa! Please, let me go," I whispered to him.

Instead of doing that, he kept his hand clamped on my arm and just laughed.

"What's so funny? If your father finds out about us, you know he's going to kill me, right?"

He raised his brow. "Meaning that I wouldn't have to share the inheritance with you?"

"God, you're so hilarious," I said sarcastically. I looked back at the check-in counter and caught Min Ki's smile. He waved as he walked towards us.

C.R.A.P. "Oppa, go away! Go away!" I mouthed. I shook my head vigorously. "Don't come here! Please, go! GO AWAY!" I mouthed with all my energy.

His brows furrowed in confusion but he kept walking towards us. Okay, so that fortune teller I'd spoken to was really a fraud? How in the world was I going to achieve international fame if my father killed me way before my seventeenth birthday?

Almost like it was in slow motion, I watched as Min Ki's figure grew bigger and bigger and he got closer to us. I glanced back and saw that my parents were almost walking in step with us so there was no way I could just drop my luggage and sprint out of the airport.

I looked at my father's face and saw him watching Min Ki curiously.

Yep, my life was over.

A cold shiver shot through my body and just as I was about to pee in my brand new dark denim skinny jeans, Dong Won jumped in between us and gave Min Ki a bear hug. "Hey you, you didn't have to come," my brother said cheerfully.

"What is this? Yuh-bo, what is this? Why is the Ha boy here?" my father asked gruffly.

"He wanted to see him off," my mother stated the obvious.

"But…what kind of relationship do they have?"

"I'm going to miss you so much," my brother yelled before he hugged him even tighter. Then he titled his head and it was obvious that he was whispering something in his ear.

I felt a little better because I was quite sure my brother was telling him to play along with his little ruse.

My father suddenly rushed forward and tried to subtly pry Dong Won off Min Ki. When they were separated, he looked at them with both a mixture of shock and uneasiness.

"Dong Won ah…," he started to say before turning to Min Ki. My father ran a nervous hand through his hair. "H-ha Min Ki, what brings you here?" he asked before looking disappointedly at my brother.

"What's going on?" my mother asked me. I shrugged and watched the scene with both a mixture of dread and relief. I was glad that my brother had intervened but I still didn't know what was coming next.

Min Ki bowed to my father. "Good morning, sir. I just came to say goodbye."

My father reached across to pat his shoulder, hesitated then dropped his hand back. "Thank you. But this wasn't necessary since we only saw you a few days ago. When two boys are friends…," my father started to say in a high pitched tone. He appeared to be going through some internal battle and his lips quivered like he didn't know if he should speak up or not.

Confused, I looked away and caught my brother's deadly look. That was when it dawned on me: my father suspected that they were gay lovers.

I covered my mouth to eliminate the sounds of my subsequent laughter then gave my brother the thumbs up. Hey, since the beginning of time, Oppas protected their dongsengs. In fact, it was something that was written in every single holy book. And so what if my father thought he was gay? Big deal. All he'd have to do was maintain the charade for the rest of the time – I was sure there were plenty of hot guys in America who wouldn't mind dating my brother. And was that a huge sacrifice? Nope. It was called taking one for the team.

Relieved that it might actually be possible for me to live long enough to be invited to Stockholm Concert Hall, I chuckled at my silliness, picked up my luggage then reminded my family that we had to get into the check-in line. After another long look at my brother and Min Ki, my father picked up his suitcase and led us to the line. I hung back a little so that my mother, then my brother, could line up ahead of me.

For the twenty or so minutes that we were in line, while Min Ki was killing time by speaking to my brother, I wanted to send him some kind of signal to let him know that I appreciated his kind gesture. The previous night, instead of returning to the party, we just sat together in silence till it was time for me to return home with my friends. It hadn't been easy parting with him and underneath all my fears, I was still happy to see him one more time. But every time I started to say something, my father glanced back and saw me.

When our luggage had been checked through and our boarding passes were firmly in our hands, my father sent one last uncomfortable look to Min Ki and said, "Thanks for seeing us off."

He bowed to him. "Please have a safe trip."

"You will try to maintain contact with Dong Won?" my father asked in a way that implied that he really didn't want him to.

Min Ki took a deep breath then turned to me. My heart immediately started thumping and even though I looked away to avoid his eyes, I could already feel my cheeks reddening. Why did he have to look at me like that?

From the way my father's eyes danced from Min Ki to me, I knew that later that night, he'd probably mark that day as one of the most confusing in his lifetime.

While Min Ki's eyes were still boring into me, even though I tried my best not to, I found my eyes slowly turning back to look into his dark brown ones. I averted my gaze for a second then looked back at him. I'm really going to miss you.

In response, he reached across, grabbed my hand then pulled me to his side.

Knowing that it would be both stupid and wrong to pull his fingers off my wrist, I smiled foolishly as I looked at the shocked expressions on my parents' faces and then frowned when I caught the amused one on my brother's.

I looked up at Min Ki and hissed. Did he really need to do that? All he'd had to do was send me a look that told me that he'd miss me too.

He smiled down at me then sighed. "Su Jin ah, we have to do this sometime, don't we?" Then he looked back at my parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Oh, I'll like to introduce myself as Su Jin's boyfriend."

Great. Thank God murder wasn't allowed on transcontinental flights. But what did American coffins look like?