So-mang: "Hello!"
Haoyi: "We know you are home, answer the door!"
So-mang: "Haoyi, you think he'll ever answer?"
Haoyi: "Yes, we told him that we would be coming, and I even brought my sister with me...."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "Brother, how long are we going to wait for this friend of yours?"
Haoyi: "For as long as it takes, sister."
So-mang: "Indeed, we shall make him answer the door by continuously knocking on the door."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "We should not force him, though."
Haoyi: "Do you think he heard us knocking? We've been at it for ages!"
So-mang: "If he's home, he definitely heard us. Maybe he's just ignoring us."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "Maybe he's busy playing video games or something. That's what my friends do when they don't want to be bothered."
Haoyi: "No way, his mother doesn't allow him to do that in the early morning."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "Ohhh okay then.....but still isn't it wrong to force him to come out if he does not want to?"
So-Mang: "No way, why would he even stay at home every day, always boring, and his mom told us we are free to use force as long as we get him out of the house."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "What kind of mother does not respect the privacy and choices of their child?"
Haoyi and So-mang were about to retort to the young girl when the door creaked open, and an older woman who was not the young boy's mother and a little girl came out.
They had initially thought that the little girl was his sister, but the young boy mentioned he had no siblings.
The Older Woman: "Ohhh my, who are you, boys?"
The Young Girl: "Y-yeah, w-who are y-you?"
The mother was standing there while the daughter hid behind her, feeling shy about meeting new people.
The two boys then stared at each other, and their faces were a mix of confusion and shock.
So-mang and Haoyi, along with Haoyi's younger sister, whom He is gently pulling along, began to huddle together.
Haoyi: "You think she is some trespasser posing as someone who lives here?"
So-mang: "No! But we probably got the wrong address."
Haoyi: "Calm down, So-mang!"
So-mang: "Sorry, she just reminded me of my sister."
Haoyi: "So, what do we say to her now?"
So-mang: "You think we should call the police on her?"
Haoyi: "Yeah....we need to make sure."
Haoyi's Younger Sister: "Do not call the police!"
So-mang: "Your sister is cute when she is mad."
Haoyi: "Now I know how Ren feels...."
So-mang: "What does that mean?"
Haoyi's younger sister then dispersed from the huddle and went to her mother's daughter.
Both the younger sister of one of the boys and the daughter of the mother looked into each other's eyes, then decided to approach each other.
"Hello....my name is Nanami"
"Hi...I am Ningyi"
The two younger girls both introduced themselves to each other with a nervous tone and a calm expression, then they both shook hands.
The Older Woman: "Wow....Nanami, you have made another friend.....ohhh, why are you hiding again after I said that.....hehehe, my cute daughter is so red."
Nanami: "Mom! Stop teasing me!"
The older woman then cleared her throat and spoke
"I am Lunette, and you must be his friends."
"Yes, I am Haoyi. Nice to meet you, ma'am."
"I am So-Mang, and who are you to him?"
Lunette: "I am his next-door neighbor, and this here is my daughter."
Haoyi: "Ningyi here is my younger sister, she was a little bit shy though, seeing her now..."
Nanami: "Come in! Ningyi, and you two as well!"
So-mang: "Will she ever want to hear our names?"
Haoyi: "She heard it already when we introduced ourselves a while ago, now let's go!"
Nanami's voice sounded so cheery and excited with them, unlike how she acted with the young boy.
They went into the house, astonished by how clean it all looked, then they all sat down in the living room, and Lunette urged Haoyi to talk about his sister.
Lunette: "So, is she your younger sister then, Haoyi?"
Haoyi: "Yes."
Lunette: "Ohhh."
Haoyi: "Ningyi is my third sibling. Since she is the first daughter of my family, she was coddled a lot but not spoiled, more like it was impossible for her, as her younger brother Xiang would always mess with her because of his energetic nature. This trait of his annoyed her, but she is unable to tell our parents because of how much they are supporting her second-oldest brother, Haoran, with his shows since he is a child actor.
Nanami: "Ohhh, what, your brother is an actor!?"
Ningyi: "Yes."
Haoyi: "Yes, well, anyway, Ningyi here has a kind nature, and she seems to look up to me as, in her words, I was always kind and caring to her."
So-mang: "It is true auntie Lunette, Haoyi here likes to be the doting big brother with all of his siblings, but he especially coddles Ningyi, always protecting her from Xiang's antics."
Lunette: "Hahaha."
Haoyi: "You are laughing too much, ma'am."
Lunette: "No, sorry, it is just nice to hear about siblings....I have not seen my sibling in a while. She is alive, do not worry, but is just out of the country."
So-mang: "Ohhh?"
Lunette: "Yes, she has gone abroad elsewhere....she is a teacher."
So-mang: "Ohhh!"
Haoyi: "I see, I see, I see....well, good for her."
So-mang: "Yeah i mean good for her indeed, all the teachers in our school just yell at the noisy students and act all strict with us."
Lunette: "Well, you are attending that school, so of course they are training you, although harshly."
Haoyi: "Yeah, but they could at least....."
Bam!
Goes the upstairs door, and all five of them shoot their eyes onto the oncoming presence.
"Auntie Lunette...yawn....good morning, have you seen...what!?"
The young boy who had bed hair, still wearing his pajamas, and looked as if he had just woken up, has arrived, coming down the stairs.
He was then shocked to see Haoyi, So-mang, and Haoyi's sister, Ningyi, already sitting down inside his house, inside his living room, talking with Auntie Lunette and Nanami.
Then he thought back to the day before yesterday.
That was the day he met up with So-mang and his siblings.
The parents of So-mang were not present at the moment because they were working all the time.
So-mang had an older sister who was four years older than him and was out because she was attending her duties as a secretary in the student council of her middle school; he also had a younger sister, who was about five years younger than him.
So-mang, Haoyi, the young boy, as well as Ren, were currently ten years old, having finished their fourth year and are moving into the next year.
Despite So-mang's older sister being out, his younger sister knew who Haoyi and Ren were since she was four years old, but she did not know who....
So-mang's Younger Sister: "Brother, who is that.....an intruder?....intruder?.....ahhhhhh there is an intruder!?
So-mang: "Shhhh! no he is not!"
The Young Boy: "Uhhhh."
Haoyi: "Hahahaha."
....the young boy is.
The young boy stood there in the entrance of So-mang's house with a laughing Haoyi, shocked by the screams of So-mang's younger sister.
He had already been to Ren's house in the middle of his fourth year and Haoyi's house after the end of the first week of his summer vacation, so now he wanted to come over as well, but was met by So-mang's sister at the door, who was screaming!
The fact that he is being called an intruder by a younger girl made him mad, but So-mang blocked us from her view, wrapping his arms around her, and then he turned to us.
So-mang: "You guys just come in, give me some time to deal with her."
So-mang also looked annoyed but not mad at all, acting all big brotherly to her, just like Haoyi and Ren were with his younger siblings.
Haoyi: "Come on, dude, let's go."
Haoyi led the young boy into So-mang's room, which was filled with books.
The Young Boy: "So....do we wait for So-mang to....?"
Haoyi: "Yes....well...do not worry....she did this as well to Ren and me a few years ago except....she called Ren a thief and me a kidnapper."
Haoyi was laughing a lot, unable to properly say the words because of the number of times he was laughing.
Haoyi: "So-mang's older sister, Sena, blames So-mang for letting her watch too many action movies that she is not allowed to watch yet."
The Young Boy: "How old is she now?"
Haoyi: "Five years old....hahahaha"
Both of them waited for about one hour.....which is what the young boy thought....."
Just then, the door opened, and So-mang entered.
So-mang: "I tucked her to bed."
The Young Boy: "Isn't it still afternoon?"
So-mang: "Yeah, well, she needs a nap.....I want to nap later...tucking her to bed is so tiring."
The Young Boy: "Okay."
So-mang: "So, you are officially part of her group, as you can tell by the nicknames In-ah gave you."
Haoyi: "Yeah."
So-mang: "I am sure you heard it from Haoyi about his and Ren's encounter with her a few years ago."
The Young Boy: "Yup."
So-mang let out a sigh as he went for the book shelves and began to rummage around there, and then Haoyi scooched over to the young boy and whispered to him, glancing at So-mang to make sure he was not listening in.
Haoyi: "Hey, ummm, so you want to escape?"
The Young Boy: "Escape?"
Haoyi: "You know So-mang is the bookworm type, he reads too many books from his home country every day."
The Young Boy: "Ohhh."
Haoyi: "Well then, you want to escape."
The Young Boy: "What!?....again tell me, what you mean by escape."
Haoyi: "He will blabber on and on and on and on about his hobbies, so I want to see if there is a way to pretend to be here so he will not scold us."
The Young Boy: "Isn't that wrong to abandon him?"
Haoyi: "What is wrong, huh? You already abandoned us for a whole week, so you owe me just this once."
The Young Boy: "..."
Haoyi: "Are you nervous? Do not worry, I have a plan. Watch this, okay."
Just then, Haoyi turned to So-mang
Haoyi: "So-mang!"
So-mang: "What!"
Haoyi: "Both of us will go to the bathroom, we will be right back."
So-mang: "Fine, but return quickly when you are done!"
Haoyi: "Okay!"
Then both of them left the room, walking down the hall until Haoyi pulled him into a room.
Haoyi: "Whoops, I think I pulled us into his younger sister's room."
The Young Boy: "What? Didn't So-mang say she was sleeping? Should we go now?"
In-ah: "I-In-Int-t-Intruder!"
Both of the boys turned to see a five-year-old girl clutching her blanket tight and pointing her finger at the young boy, and Haoyi pounced to cover her mouth."
Haoyi: "Shush, In-ah, we are trying to hide from your brother."
In-ah: "Haoyi hyung?"
Haoyi: "Please be quiet for us."
In-ah: "Okay."
The young boy looked at her nervously but still flashed a smile and introduced his name.
In-ah: "Nice to meet you, ahjussi."
Haoyi: "No, call him hyung, he is a friend of So-mang too."
The Young Boy: "Hello."
In-ah: "O-okay then, ummm, Hyung."
The Young Boy: "Okay, so do we leave here or something....I do not want to disturb her."
Haoyi: "No, hold on, I have an idea, and we can use his sister."
In-ah: "No way, I do not want to betray my hyung!"
Haoyi: "We shall give you biscuits."
In-ah: "Okay."
The young boy was shocked by this, while Haoyi was muttering the word 'easy', and then he started to tell his big plan, which was for the young boy to stay in In-ah's room while Haoyi stayed with So-mang.
Haoyi: "So-mang!"
So-mang: "What!"
Haoyi: "In-ah found us when we were walking by and dragged him to her room to play with her."
So-mang: "Huh, did she seriously do that?"
Haoyi: "Yes."
So-mang: "Why?"
Haoyi: "well you know how it is....she found another hyung to play with him while you and her noona are busy doing your business."
So-mang: "Okay then, I guess....wait, so you did not convince her to....?"
Haoyi: "Nope....because you know she might scream and shout at me and...."
So-mang: "Okay, say no more, let's just get right to it."
Haoyi: "Yeah."
Then Haoyi looked at the door thinking.....I am such a good friend, sacrificing myself so he would not get bored.....Haoyi could not believe that this strategy happened yet again.
During that time, Ren would get bored with So-mang and complain to him about wanting to play outside, and then So-mang would get physical with Ren, so Haoyi concocted this idea to help Ren avoid boring time with So-mang by using his younger sister as an excuse.
Haoyi was also bored but was willing to do this for his friend, plus he was half interested in what So-mang was interested in and talking about.
In-ah, meanwhile, decided to play video games with the young boy, who seemed to lean her head unconsciously on him while she played.
In-ah: "Huh ohhh sorry hyung I always do this with So-mang hyung, and I was just....."
The Young Boy "It is okay, In-ah."
The young boy was not bothered, or rather, he did not want to admit it, because it was so wrong.
Later, In-ah made the young boy help her with her homework, to which he complained, but then she threatened that she would get So-mang hyung to beat him up for getting away from hanging out with him, and so he complied, afraid of making So-mang angry and getting hurt by him.
In-ah: "Hyung, you are so kind, yet a while ago you were so childish."
In-ah, who was five years old, calling someone five years older than her childish was nothing out of the ordinary for the young boy, as he was even aware of that logic.
The Young Boy: "Yeah."
In-ah: "But....you were nicer than Ren hyung
The Young Boy: "Why? Did he do something wrong?"
In-ah: "No, he just always wants to play video games every day and doesn't let me study."
The Young Boy: "Okay."
In-ah: "Hey, ummm, hyung."
The Young Boy: "Yeah."
In-ah: "You want to hang out with me again when you are visiting again, as well as to secretly avoid So-mang hyung's hangouts."
The Young Boy: "Sure."
In-ah: "Hehehe yeah I have another hyung....I can not wait to tell Noona when she gets back."
The Young Boy: "Okay."
Later that afternoon.
So-mang: "Remember, we will head to your house in a few days, okay, so be ready."
Haoyi: "I shall bring my sister to visit and meet you again."
The Young Boy: "Ohhh yeah, Ningyi....she did not want to swim because of Xiang splashing around."
Haoyi: "Yeah, well, do not worry about her, okay, as her older brother....I watched over her!"
So-mang: "Yeah, you did do that anyway, you guys so you bye!"
Haoyi: "Bye!"
The Young Boy: "See you later, So-mang!"
He never thought that today would be the day that they would come in and see his house, and if he were to be honest, he still felt this aching, uncomfortable feeling deep inside and before he could refuse.
The young boy's eyes that glance on Nanami and Ningyi, who were talking too much in the chair, and as the young boy saw it, he felt a new feeling which arose in him, and he wondered what it was.
The feeling felt foreign to him.....he wondered what this urge was to give Nanami more attention and compliment her, what exactly was this urge to give Nanami more attention and compliment her as well as to show off to Ningyi about how cool he is, despite his being cool at all?
The young boy looked on at Nanami, whom he saw as a younger sister that he never had, with a hint of pain in his chest and heart.
The young boy then approached Nanami and Ningyi
The Young Boy: "Hey, Nanami, you want to play video games again later?"
Nanami: "Yeah! ohhh Ningyi, you can join us."
Ningyi: "Are you sure you want me to....?"
Nanami: "Yes...ohhh, you guys can join too!"
So-mang: "Told you, Haoyi, she does not remember our names!"
Haoyi: "Hahaha!"
The aching feeling in his heart never stopped.
During their breakfast, Haoyi and So-mang sat between the young boy, as Ningyi sat next to Haoyi, and Nanami sat beside Ningyi as she happily spoke to her.....as if she was not shy at all.....as if she was always a talkative...as if this is her true colours all along.
Haoyi, So-Mang, and the young boy kept on looking them happily.....well the young boy felt happy but weird the feeling rose again and so his first instinct was to ignore them....and he did just that focusing on food and not listening to Auntie Lunette talking about the breakfast with a motherly tone, Haoyi and So-Mang discussing and wondering how many days Ren would return from his vacation, Ningyi complimenting the food, and Nanami talking about how much she enjoys a certain game the young boy and her played together the day after they met.
Which was about a few weeks ago.
The young boy and Nanami spent time together alone without even realising how many weeks had passed, and so he missed the days when he hung out with her alone.
Auntie Lunette: "By the way, his parents are out on duty, so that is why they made me look after him."
So-mang: "Ohhh, so that is why Mr. Isaac and Mrs. Colette are not here."
Haoyi: "When will Auntie and Uncle come back?"
Auntie Lunette: "Maybe until late in the afternoon, so until then let's entertain this young boy!"
So-mang: "Yeah!"
Haoyi: "Let's do it so he will not feel sad!"
The young boy did not hear since all he could focus on was the food, which made him happy, but only temporarily, and so he did not care, nor did he mind what Nanami was doing or what the other four were talking about.
They all finished breakfast, and all of them were in his room playing video games with the young boy just watching them on his bed as they all spoke and messed around together.
He wanted to join them but did not know how. He was unable to join them because, usually, with others, they just walked up to him, and so he never made any effort in approaching others, because they usually did it for him, but now he is given a chance to make an effort, yet is unable to know how.
He spent a few minutes figuring it out until.....he gave up trying.
The young boy then left the room without any of them noticing and found Auntie Lunette just reading something downstairs.
The Young Boy: "Hey, ummmm, Auntie Lunette..."
Auntie Lunette: "What! I thought you were playing with the four of them. Why are you here?"
The young boy was caught off guard because he did not have any reason besides wanting to go downstairs, and so he racked his brain and thought of an idea.
"I wanted to....hang out with....ummm....you?"
Auntie Lunette: "Okay.....I guess so....."
The Young Boy: "What are you reading, Auntie Lunette?"
Auntie Lunette: "This is just a book I found at the bookstore."
The books were meant to be a fantasy, but the young boy did not focus on the contents, such as plot, themes, or the messages of the story, but rather focused on the illustrations that are found in some parts of the book.
The number of illustrations was not a lot, but to the young boy, they were so captivating and colorful.
The illustrations, he said, had feeling in them that allowed you to imagine the world the book establishes more clearly.
The many illustrations it was filled was a bright castle that had sparkling lights that shone in every window.
The book also had the design of the characters, enemies, setting, and scenes.
Despite all that, he read the book, but only the parts that describe the illustration shown in the book.
He was so mesmerized that he could not help but smile.
Auntie Lunette looked on at how much the young boy was captivated, yet was kind of concerned by how much he was more focused on the illustrations rather than the story.
The Young Boy: "Auntie Lunette, please tell me the story for me."
Auntie Lunette: "What!?"
Auntie Lunette could only remark: "As I see it, what is it that compels him to ask her for the entire story?"
Auntie Lunette" "Ummm.....why do you want me to tell you the story?"
The Young Boy: "Eh? That is because, well, I want to know what is happening in the whole story."
Auntie Lunette: "Yeah, that is because you only read the text that the illustration is well illustrating."
The Young Boy: "Ohhh."
Auntie Lunette: "I mean, I can tell you the whole story since I have already finished this story multiple times."
The Young Boy: "Yeah!"
In the end, the young boy, instead of hanging out with Haoyi, Ningyi, So-mang, and Nanami playing video games and laughing together in the young boy's room, was sitting in the calm living room listening to Auntie Lunette talk about the story he found interesting.
His own eyes sparkle, and his smile began to widen as he kept on listening on and on an on and on until she finished the whole story.
The Young Boy: "Auntie Lunette, that was an amazing story!"
Auntie Lunette: "Ohhh, ummmm, I am glad you like it."
The Young Boy: "Yeah!"
Suddenly, footsteps were going down.
Haoyi: "Ohhh, this is where you were."
So-mang: "Yeah, when we turned around, you were gone."
So-mang and Haoyi were the ones making those footsteps as they were going down.
"So-mang, Haoyi, you should have been here."
Haoyi: "Why would we have been here? My sister and Nanami needed to be looked after, of course."
The Young Boy: "Because you both missed the best part!"
Haoyi: "What?"
They both turned to Auntie Lunette, feeling so confused.
Auntie Lunette: "I just told him a story from this book I bought at the bookstore."
So-mang: "Hey, I know that book."
Auntie Lunette, Haoyi, and The Young Boy: "What?"
The young boy, Haoyi, and Auntie Lunette all asked, surprised that So-mang knew that book.
So-mang: "Yeah, I have the manhwa version of that....it is after all a South Korean fantasy book that dictates a protagonist having to deal with reincarnating in the body of the villainess, having to avoid death flags, and having to deal with her neglectful family."
The Young Boy: "Wait.....what is a manhwa adaptation?"
So-mang: "Well, it is like those comic books from the West, but manhwa comes from Korea."
Auntie Lunette: "I thought they were called manga?"
So-mang: "No, that is comics from Japan, comics from Korea are called manhwa.....my older sister likes to read them a lot."
Haoyi: "So that is why."
So-mang: "Yeah, this is why I was interested in it and talked to you about it, along with Ren, except after we had that fight, he seemed to hang out with In-ah whenever we visit my house."
The Young Boy: "So you mean to say there is a book like this, but it has pictures instead of words?"
So-mang: "No, there are no words, but there are definitely a lot of pictures."
The Young Boy: "Can I borrow some of them?"
So-mang: "Of course, well, I was supposed to show it to you when I brought you and Haoyi to my house a few days ago, but you hung out with In-ah all day during that time."
The Young Boy: "Well..."
Haoyi: "Yeah, let's all discuss that later."