School was over, and as usual, Mickey waited by the entrance for Rain. Rain skipped towards her cousin with eager, after coming out from the building.

Once she got close enough, she landed both her feet on the ground, making a loud thud, “So? How did it go, my dear brother?”

Still feeling uneasy about his encounter with Jungha, he answered, “I gave him the letter and left.” Mickey adjusted the straps of his backpack, “Did you want to go with me today to the market or are you busy?”

“Nope, I got nothing planned for today. I guess I’ll go and be a good girl. We can’t have one competent granddaughter while the other one is lazy.” Rain said sarcastically.

Mickey scoffed and walked away from the girl. Rain quickly tailed him while laughing, “Hey! I’m kidding sheesh, can’t you take a joke?”

The two teenagers walked side by side, their pace equally yoked with one another. While heading towards the market district, Mickey could not stop thinking about Jungha. He thought it was impossible that someone like Jungha, could be the same boy from the mall. The presence of the two were completely different, but they were indeed one in the same. This boggled Mickey the most.

“Uh…Rainie, does Jungha have a twin brother?” He shyly asked.

Baffled by his question, Rain replied, “If he had a twin, don’t you think you would’ve seen the other one at school?”

Mickey felt embarrassed for raising such an obvious question, while Rain kept rambling, “Of course, he doesn’t have a twin. I can barely stand one Jungha in class. The guy can be so obnoxious at times. Why do you even ask?”

Mickey shook his head, “Its nothing. I was just curious that’s all.”

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            The next day, Jiang was napping on his desk in class, his face buried between both arms. The delinquent never took his schooling seriously, always staying out in the late of night. The teachers had lost hope in trying to counsel the boy. They believed Jiang was a lost cause and would let him figure out his priorities on his own. This could be said the same with his family as well, no one at home had any influence over Jiang. One would think Jiang’s father would have set him straight, with the amount of respect Jiang had for him. But his dad was old and lost his touch at being a good father figure for his youngest son.

Not long after, Jiang’s slumber would soon be disrupted. A male voice could be heard calling out Jiang’s name over and over again, trying to wake him up. Jiang thought this was odd, for no one in his class would dare bother him. It could not have been Mickey, the tone in this voice was very direct and loud. Jiang grew irritated and looked up, his stare pierced at the person who awakened him.

“Aha… Sorry to bother you Jiang, but I wanted to ask you something.” Jungha said, with an awkward look on his face.

Oh, it’s just Jungha. What the hell does he want? If I wasn’t so sleepy, I would have thrown him out the window. Jiang muttered to himself.

Jiang adjusted his posture, now sitting up straight. He then cracked his neck to alleviate the stiffness from his previous position. Jiang’s facial expression was now his signature bored and aloof look.

“What do you want?” Jiang spoke nonchalantly.

Jungha took this opportunity and asked, “I heard that you have two cousins who enrolled in our school this year. Is that right?”

Jiang was somewhat insulted to be regarded as cousins with Mickey and Rain.

“Yeah, they did, but they’re not my cousins. They’re my older brother and sister’s kids.” He explained.

Jungha thought it was strange how Jiang put it that way, “Oh, so they’re your niece and your nephew.”

Jiang simply nodded.

Where is this conversation even going? If you want to know so much about them, then go talk to them yourself… Jiang thought.

Without hesitation, Jungha continued, “I’m already acquainted with Rain, but what about your nephew? What’s his name? Why did he suddenly come to this school, and did he always live here?”

The dark pupils in Jungha’s eyes dilated with each question he barraged at Jiang. No matter what clues Jiang gave to show that he was annoyed, Jungha did not care. He was determined to learn anything about the nephew. Jungha stood grounded, unwilling to budge until Jiang gave him the information he needed. Jiang could feel the air of determination coming from his classmate. He knew the only way to get rid of Jungha was to answer all his questions immediately.

“His name is Mickey.” Jiang said.

Overjoyed from knowing Mickey’s name, Jungha bit the insides of his lips, trying to repress a smile.

“Mickey…huh?” Jungha continued, “So, why did he decide to come here?”

Jiang paused for a moment, as he reflected on everything that has happened to Mickey. He pondered and realized his nephew had no choice. He had nowhere else to go, nor did he have any other family. The whole time Jiang had been resenting Mickey, for living with them, he never once wondered how his nephew felt. It wasn’t Mickey’s fault that he had to be here, in the end, it was something out of everyone’s control.

Jiang thought carefully on how to answer the question, and spoke, “He doesn’t have a mother or a father.”

Silence could only be heard afterwards; those words left a throbbing ache in Jungha’s chest.

No mother, no father, what does that mean? He wondered.

Jungha lowered his eyes, thanked Jiang, and left.

Finally, he’s gone! I knew saying something sappy like that would shut him up. Jiang chuckled to himself.