One Missed Call | ✓

CHAPTER ONE

The Victorian-styled bungalow seemed picturesque among the other houses. Given the simplicity and the homey feeling it gave off, it stood on its own, as if it was worthy of a glance or two. The front yard, with the grass neatly trimmed, was quite spacious. Evergreen shrubs, lilac bushes, and magnolia flowerbeds outlined it. At the front, two wide windows were placed, the front door located in the middle of them. The gray vinyl siding walls looked repainted since the color looked fresh, not a trace of fading or even a sign of ugly, black waterlines running down, just like on their run-down apartment.

She knew she saw it plenty of times before. Once, during the open house, thrice at the pictures the realtor sent them, and countless of times in her sleep. No matter how many times she convinced herself, she couldn't shake off the feeling of hating a new place to settle in. It may look nice, a completely better upgrade from their old residence, but it still feels... foreign for her.

"How you holdin', sis?" Jaewon asked as his warmth beside her signaled his presence.                                                                                                     

Glancing at her brother for a while, she noticed the forming sweat on his forehead. His blue, buttoned-up shirt was rolled halfway to his arm and his slicked-back hair was slowly disintegrating from its neat form.

"Good," was her response.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I say we need your help to move your things inside your house?"

"I wouldn't mind. But I'd probably not obey you either."

"If Jinwoo hyung's not busy with work right now, he'll say the same. The difference is, you'll listen. Even if I'm the rebellious one, doesn't mean you have to ignore what your other brother says."

Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "I'm the family's princess. That's why you're here. You wouldn't want the princess to break bones carrying heavy boxes, would you?"

"Break bones, my ass. You're married, for goodness' sake. Start acting like a grown-up."

She hummed and put an arm around his waist, leaning her head on his chest as she did so. Naturally, he returned the gesture by enveloping his arm around her shoulder.

"Until the time you're here, I don't want to. I love to be babied by you."

"That's Jinwoo hyung's job." As an afterthought, he added, "You just love being smothered by two adoring brothers, do you?"

"Yup," she replied.

His sister could feel his chest reverberate with a heavy sigh, his thumb subconsciously swiping over the fabric of her lilac blouse. As she glanced up, she could see his eyes lose the vibrance it had moments ago. She looked away immediately since she knew why.

"I hate it when you make me hope you returned to who you were before."

Jisoo went out of his embrace and put a safe distance between them. The playful atmosphere turned into a darker one, with Jaewon bringing up an untouched topic. Even her husband didn't speak of it freely.

"Jisoo... please come back to us," he continued, as if he wasn't aware she wasn't comfortable talking about it.

"It's not that easy," she replied, her jaw clenching tight. "You wouldn't understand because you haven't lost someone yet."

Surprise filtered through his eyes, until it came back to the haunting look he gave her before. "I feel like I already did."

Finding it hard to reply to that, she quickly turned away and marched towards the back of Jiwon's white SUV. Maybe it was finally time to help.