[n i n e t e e n]

♤Chapter 18♤

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♧Ji-Rae's P.O.V.

"Ji-Rae, come on! What are you doing? We might get late for the flight!"

"Sorry brother! I'm coming!" I immediately stood up once I heard Leeseong's voice and hurried down the stairs. I saw all of them in the living room, sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

"Where's big brother Baekjun?" I looked around, noticing Baekjun wasn't there.

"He had to get something. He'll be back quickly"

"Oh" I replied and sat down on the couch with them.

"I can't wait to see the sunset while we're on the plane" Joonsung smiled.

"Me too! I've always had a love for sunsets. Then we might even get to see the stars and the moon"

"I can't wait til we get back to Finland from Korea" I heard Seongjun say.

"Or an even better idea, we leave you here instead with your salty attitude and come back when we have our own families" Leeseong retorted, to which I snickered.

"I was kidding" Seongjun rolled his eyes.

"Our flight is almost up… Why isn't Baekjun back yet?" Joonsung sighed wearily, gazing at his wristwatch, then to the front door.

"I'll look for him outside. He might be just around the corner" Man Weol said and stood up from the couch, going outside to see if Baekjun really was just around the corner like he said.

We waited for a minute or two until we heard a scream outside. I was the first to immediately spring up from the couch and speed walk to the front door and outside where Man Weol was.

"What happened?!" I exclaimed. I heard other footsteps quickly following behind me. I looked at Man Weol and saw his eyes were as wide as plates and he was holding his hand up to his mouth.

I looked to where he was looking at and also found myself lost for words. I felt a lump form in my throat and I felt my eyes go wide.

There, standing in front of us, were mom and dad.

"M-mom- I- You- How- When-" I heard Joonsung stammer from behind me.

I couldn't believe it… They were finally home.. After so long…

Not a second had passed and I lunged forward to finally come in to hug my mom after so long. They were finally back. Mom smiled and gladly opened her arms to bring me into a hug.

'I missed the feeling of mom hugging me. It's like a dream come true'

"I missed you so much"

"I did too, honey.. Look at you! You're so big now! You look just like me

when I was younger"

"Mom… I'm glad you and dad are back"

"We're glad to be home"

I saw dad from the corner of my eye, standing beside the car they were in when they came, a smile on his face.

Mom noticed something and she called the others to come join her. "What? Are you just gonna stand there and not welcome me? Oh my, I did teach you proper manners right?" she joked.

And as if on cue, I felt the others collide with the two of us and practically squeeze us to death.

"But mom I thought you were-"

"I'm here. Let's go" we heard Baekjun's voice say from a few feet away. I saw he was looking down on his phone, appearing to be focused on something. He was spinning the car keys on his finger when he stopped and looked up from his phone.

His jaw almost fell off and he looked beside him to see dad.

"Son, long time no see, no?" Dad smiled and Baekjun immediately collided with him in a tight manly hug.

" 'Let's go'? Where are you going?" mom asked, recalling what Baekjun had said earlier.

"Mom… we're.. flying to Korea today.." Man Weol replied.

"Why is that?"

"We applied to a college in Korea, and we got accepted.. We also plan to finish and graduate in Korea too.."

"So.. you're leaving? We'll be separated again then? But we just got back, now you're leaving?" mom asked, her eyes appearing to be glossed over.

'This is certainly some turn of events… Everything is getting so emotional'

"Mom.. we're sorry. We didn't know you'd be coming back today… If we knew we never would have planned on leaving"

I stepped away from them, keeping my distance. I thought it would be better to let them discuss. I didn't want to be part of the ordeal for some reason.

I sat down on the floor and sighed…. 'They just came back and now we're leaving… What happens now?'

I frowned, sighing yet again and closing my eyes.

A beeping sound from the speakers was heard and I quickly stood up, too quickly that I felt the rush of unsteadiness waving through my body and my vision.

"Ji-Rae? Are you feeling alright?" Leeseong asked, his voice faint, but it's there.

"I'm...yeh, I'm feeling fine. Just lightheaded." I muttered, though I don't know if he could hear it.

Another muttered voice from him, then a hand grabbing my arms, helping me to stand up.

"We have to go…flight's…'' I yawned, "flight's gonna be in ten minutes, we're gonna be late..."

"Flight- Ji-Rae, what flight?" His voice became clearer, and so did my vision. "Our flight isn't until later afternoon"

I heard a faint ringing from my ears, which made me squint my eyes a little. But I paid no mind to it as I patted Leeseong's shoulder.

"Come on, say goodbye to mommy and daddy." I waved my hand slowly, smiling faintly as if in a daze, then I felt a grip from my brother's hand.

A grip of reality suddenly washed in.

"...she alright?" I heard another voice growing nearer. Seongjun. "What happened?"

I froze. They were talking about something but they were blocked. Familiar halls and objects are what I've seen in front of me. My brothers in their usual at-home clothes, and the sight of the sunlight showering from the windows...

"Lee, what time is it?" I urgently said, slightly pushed him away and regained my balance by leaning on the wall.

He looked through his phone for a moment, "seven o two am." he read.

It's morning…

It's morning and I was back at my home.

'What the...'

"Is everything okay kultaseni?" I heard a voice come closer. I looked up. Joonsung.

"I'm fine. I'm just.... in a daze I guess" I held my head, trying to recall all the evnets that happened in order.

I felt the hand's grip on my shoulder again and I looked up to see Seongjun looking at me seriously with a hint of worry and concern.

"What the hell is happening with you? You're getting me worried. Are you really okay?" Seongjun lightly shook me.

"I said I'm fine. Stop shaking me, my head hurts" I squirmed and he let go of his grip on me.

"You better be sure. We saw you sleep walking for the first time. We didn't know that you were sleep walking until we saw you walk in here with your eyes closed. We thought you were just closing them for a bit or something but then you started muttering random words" Seongjun rambled, his hands on his hips.

"....sleep walking?.."

"Yes, sleep walking. If this happens again, I swear I'm sleeping in your room now" Seongjun huffed. I didn't listen to the rest of his rambling as I kept silent, trying to piece everything together. My grip on my head got tighter as I had difficulty with trying to understand what had exactly happened before all this.

"Do you want to sit down for a bit?" Joonsung broke me away from my thoughts. I shook my head and just turned away. I silently made my way to the stairs and to my room.

I shut the door and went to my bed, rubbing my head.

"How come they don't remember about mom and dad coming home yesterday? Leeseong said our flight isn't until later afternoon... did they reschedule it?"

"I don't understand.... it all felt so real.. maybe they're just messing with me..."

"...or maybe.."

"Could it be that..." I sat down on my bed and leaned on the headboard, staring up at the ceiling, "It was all just a dream?"