Chapter=41(Mum, who is that second-hand tourist?)

"..Moon..New…Moon!"

Newmoon heard the little humming sound from somewhere. The Gap between his eyes slowly opened and the faint figure of Aiden appeared right in front of him.

But before Aiden could speak and wake him up, newmoon soon fell asleep right away.

Feeling hopeless, Aiden leaned much closer and raised his hands.

"???"

Newmoon just blink twice in a puzzled face.

"Why are you stretching my eyes like this Hyung?"

"Isn't that obvious? To wake you up of course?"

With two fingers of each hand, he forcedly wide opens his eyes.

Retracting his hands, Aiden laid back while arguing throwing facts, "I had been calling your name for a straight 3 minutes. Every time you tend to wake up you collapsed right away. I was compelled to use these tricks on you-"

"HEY KIDDOS! How come you are still here?"

The driver yelled from the outside of the windows.

Aiden shrugged his shoulders with an expression of 'See?'.

"Hurry up and get down. I've to turn the bus around!!"

Listening to him, they quickly get off the bus, carrying their belongings.

A few miles away, there was a trail of an old bus lining the column.

Leading Aiden, newmoon walked up into the first bus of the line.

Inside the bus, the seat was almost packed. People and their goods were kept in a crapped way right in the middle of the path. However, they were lucky enough to find a seat in the last row. Both newmoon and Aiden walked further into the last seat lifting their legs, their concentration focused, carefully not to stomp on their belongingness.

After doing near to the high jump style Aiden mumbled to newmoon.

"Newmoon! Why don't we go on another bus? There seems to be empty!"

Aiden suggested in an uncomfortable tone.

Seeing it, An evil voice raised in newmoon's head. He almost spilled out 'Huh? Isn't this the reason why you were desperate to tag along with me?'

Fortunately, Newmoon shook his head, brushed the evil thoughts, and respond, "It will take half an hour to get filled with people and another half to finally get moved. Currently, this bus will be the first one to take a lead. That's why!"

To get home around dusk, they just have to ride on that bus.

"Most importantly, you should be lucky Hyung, within the 2 years, the government did a decent job in maintaining the road otherwise we would have had to walk a long way to reach home.

"Is it that far?"

Newmoon nodded, "Another 1 hour!"

Aiden made a long sound of 'oh'. He wasn't bothered by the fact of traveling such long hours, but by the fact, the surrounding was crammed, windows were jammed no oxygen was coming through, from one side, he was about to die from suffocation while on the other side, people and children's were crying and shouting as if there was a fight starting on the first seat area.

Newmoon and Aiden were trapped in the middle of the last seat. Big, bulky middle-aged uncle sat on each of them squeezing the thin bodies of teenage boys into a pickle.

As a citizen of the village, Newmoon was adapted to that sort of environment long ages ago. However, Aiden was the one having difficulties surviving.

5 minutes later, The bus rode off.

…

After a long hour of tiredness and scrammed in the same position afraid to get scolded by the random stranger mainly by those big uncles, they finally got off the bus.

Being free, newmoon stretched his body left to right and so was Aiden as well. For a first-timer, Aiden wasn't in a good shape.

"Hyung! Are you alright?"

"um!"

"Don't worry! Our house is right in front of us-"

He hadn't even finished his words, while Aiden dashed at the speed of light. In a second, it seemed like Aiden had almost recovered from the fatigue.

"Wait! Hyung, your bag-!"

Turning around, none of the single thread of his presence was left there.

Sighing out loud, newmoon walked ahead.

God knows from where Aiden received such energy to run away.

With an excited expression, Aiden rang the bell of the house.

Meanwhile, newmoon approached the house examining the surroundings and taking his time patiently.

On the way, he saw all the big, old trees has been cut off to its root, houses looked shabby, and the entire village was dry and drowned only in soil and mud. It is almost as if the original town was swept away by some natural calamities. In another word, it wasn't less than the 'dessert'.

Wondering what was the cause of it, newmoon continuously stepped forward. When he saw the tip of his house, his heart wrinkled a bit. To sum up, It only has been 2 years but the sensation of returning home felt as though he had been gone for a decade.

As he came closer, the yard of the house was surprisingly clean and tidy. Deep down, he expected it to be dirty, covered with moss, grass, and all. But fortunately, there wasn't a single trace of it. Back then, the grasses would always grow longer and faster to the point their main entrance door would get stuck because of it frequently. So he knew about it.

Newmoon lowered his chin and glance to the other corner of the edge.

That place too. Undoubtedly, it was flawless. A few centimeters up from the ground, there was some dark stain on the wall of the house as if someone had recently removed mosses from the wall. Finally, he figured it out, somebody has just worked their asses off for it.

"Hyung! Come this way! Let's go from the back door. The bell of the main entrance door has been broken for a long-!"

With a 'Creak' sound, the door opened. And not from the back door but from the front one. A young lady which seemed to be in her mid-20s came out of the door. As she looked up, she defined facial structures stand out the most along with her medium blond hair which added a more charismatic appearance to her. It wouldn't be wrong if somebody assumed she was an interracial person. Her unique features made Aiden's jaws drop.

Never in a dream, he had thought he would be meeting a captivating lady in a countryside area.

"Pardon me but who are you?"

She asked firmly.

Just when Aiden was about to open his mouth at the same moment, newmoon rushed over out of blue.

"Mum?"

Aiden, "Mum?"

The word stabbed right through his heart.

"Ohhh!!"

Mum widened her eyes in enthusiasm.

"I was expecting you but the fact this gentleman was standing in front of the door, I thought another-! Anyway leave that aside, you must be a little Aiden."

Mum slightly bowed her head as if she was apologizing for not recognizing him.

"Excuse my behavior for not noticing you, now please come in first."

One thing was sure. Jina noona must've spread the news beforehand.

"No- No! Aunt! No need for that. For a moment, I was shocked too..that you are jina's, newmoon's mum too! You don't look like though?"

Keeping the luggage in the space of the sitting room, mum broke out in laughter, "You sure know how to flutter somebody's heart Aiden! Now..our home isn't much lavish but kindly make yourself at home."

"No, aunt it is already enough that you and Jina noona approved me as a guest. I'm truly humbled."

Aiden thanked mum honestly.

From the other room, A middleman came out. Seeing him, Instantly afterward, Aiden bowed his head,

"Good evening, Mr. Kim. I'm Song Aiden. Nice to meet you!"

It was no surprise it was indeed Mr. Kim, newmoon's father. Father who seemed in his 30s looked exceptionally younger than he thought in his imagination. But this time, he uses his logical side more than appearance.

"Haha! You can drop your formality here. No need for that. Go easy."

Dad smiled.

Newmoon's gaze struck with the line of the fine wrinkle that appeared under his father's eyes and at the corner of his lips when he smiled.

His dad has started to age.

Other than that, he looked alright from the physical body.

His glance shifted to mum as he noticed how her hair was blond from its root. There were no faint traces left of her black hair which meant she recently bleach her hair. It was not unusual for mum to see in that form cause she frequently either bleached or highlighted her hair. Why?

"Looks like blond color suits you perfectly, aunt! You almost look like a top actress that I know in the UK!"

Aiden complimented her.

Mum blushed as she brushed her hair hesitantly,

"Haha! I doubt that! However, to talk about hair color, I'm not fond of it but I'm compelled to!"

"?"

As it turned out, mum had premature gray hair. Her hair turned white ever since she was 16-18 years old. In their youth, she was excited about it and kept it white for long years until she hit 35! Maybe if age roles play a vital or some psychological facts, she developed the insecurities naturally from it. The more she climbed the ladder the more she felt it to the bone.

To prevent the aging factor, she began to highlight hair to cover the gray hair ever since.

…

Having been not familiar with the long travel, they left Aiden to rest on the couch for a while. As time passed, newmoon opened the window of the sitting room as if to let the fresh air in.

Giving Aiden his time and space, newmoon, on the other hand, went to the kitchen and began to give a hand to mum and dad.

"Btw, mum where is john? I don't see him. Is he still in the school?"

Newmoon asked randomly.

"Probably he is on the way."

"Oh!!"

The entire kitchen fell into a deep silence. Only the sound of oil splashing, frying, cutting, and sharpening knives were heard. Both of them were deeply immersed in the cooking recipe. Newmoon silently monitored the whole atmosphere.

Recalling the past conversation with john, newmoon analyzed a few conclusions in his head, "They seem to have talked and made with each other. I wonder what was the thing though?"

With a long 'Creak' door opened again.

"Oh! It must be john! Go and bring him here straightly newmoon! He is unaware of your arrival and who knows how he might react and spill some harsh nonsense seeing Aiden right in the living room?"

Mum ordered with a worried face.

"And you honey! Go and serve some fresh snacks to him. He must be dying of hunger!"

"Ok! Ok!"

As soon as John saw the long-seen face of newmoon, he commented lazily, "Woah! What a rare face to witness tonight! The rapper is here!"

Hearing the word 'rapper', newmoon's eyes twitched twice. He quickly defended himself, "Yaa! Is that how you respect your Hyung? What's up with your tone and attitude too? You sound like somehow you're unpleasant..to see me?"

Turning a deaf ear to him, john entered the door. The first thing he saw then was the foreign face of Aiden.

Meanwhile, Aiden who was eating snacks that dad recently bought him, he instantly cut it out and waved his hand at john.

"Hello! You must be john. I'm song Aiden. Nice to meet you!"

The whole family's genes were no joke. Everybody except new the moon was captivating. At least Aiden jumped to that conclusion.

Compared to newmoon, john was much taller and more handsome. Though they share common similarities, for some reason john's aura was mysteriously magnetic and more intense than newmoon.

That was a big difference.

"Nice to meet you too! Hyung! Please feel free to make yourself at home!"

Saying that in a respected tone, he bowed and walked ahead into the kitchen directly without knowing newmoon's messages. Seeing his behavior, it looked like john has much to ask his mum by himself more than his mum herself.

"Mum, who is that second-hand tourist?"

John exclaimed.

"Shhh! Where are your manners?"

Mum lowered her voice and give him a few warnings and in the end explain the situation to him.

"I don't see any reasons to come this far for a mere sightseeing thing. Hah! I doubt there is anything left here!"

John turned around with a disappointed look. Moving forward, he let out his inner thought aloud enough to be heard by someone close..while passing through newmoon pretending to mumble to himself,

"Hah! Some people are dying to visit the small dead town, while some are dying to go to Seoul. This world~ I've nothing else to say!"

"…"

Newmoon could only curse him internally.

Before john goes upstairs, he steals a few glances at Aiden.

"…"

…

Being the one and only relative of the sons-in-law that has ever stepped into their house, both mum and dad tried their best to provide hospitality and care to Aiden. After all, he was the first-ever guest from Jina's laws.

Half an hour later, john walked down the stairs, wearing casual clothes. All of them were in the sitting room too. Turning to mum, he announced, "Mum, I'm going out to buy some stationary materials first. Eat without me!"

"Right now?"

Mum glanced at the clock which was hanging right on the top of the wall. It was 9;00 clock at the time.

"Be sure to return fast!"

John nodded.

Just when he took the first few steps towards the door, Aiden stood up all of sudden and requested,

"Um, Aunt if you don't mind, Can I tag along with him?"

"?"

"I mean, I want to "

"Of course! You can! We didn't think through much that you were bored!"

Dad agreed.

"It's nothing like that uncle. I just wanted to take a stroll around in the nighttime while talking with our john."

With a pause, john remarked,

"I'm afraid there is a place for sightseeing, especially at night!"

"…"

Everybody's heart skip a bit when they heard john's words. In a panic, mum quickly drifted in john's direction and secretly pinch him on his back as if she was hinting to him to shut his mouth.

"D-Don't mind these foolish words, Aiden! Sightseeing is more beautiful and pleasant at night! He doesn't know anything. S-So let it be! Haha! Now go already or else it'll be late!"

"Um, Ok!"

Mum pushed Aiden gently while aggressively to john with big red eyes glaring at him at the same time too. The phrase 'take care of him well or otherwise' were shooting through her eyes.

Pouting his mouth, he walked out.

They looked up at them until their figure disappeared into the dark surrounding.

Mum couldn't help but sigh deeply thinking about his son's sentences.

"Haa-? Wait?"

Mum flinched as if she realized something in her mind.

"Shit!"

"Mum, what happened?"

Smacking her hand on her forehead, she regrets, "I wonder if Aiden would be alright?"

"?"

…

Meanwhile, both Aiden and john were pin-drop silent even though they have come passed a certain turning road. The path even felt longer now that nobody was taking initiative to talk first.

The path john led was full of ups and down. It was a narrow pitch lane and a dim light was installed on every 60 meters. Being unfamiliar with the path, Aiden could only follow john's steps. Between the heavy silence, only the whistling sound of the wind was heard.

Reading the room, Aiden tried to start the conversation several times but failed due to the invisible wall that john created from his aura.

Aiden muttered to him, "Um. Jina noona, newmoon, and john! Come to think of it, all of your siblings have an English name. Now isn't that interesting?"

…

A few moments later, john nodded,

"Um! My mum used to be a big fan of English movies back then. Though she doesn't know English!"

"Ahh! She must have seen it through translation. So cool, I see she must be a hardcore fan!"

Aiden made himself clear.

"That's why she named her children based on movies?"

"No! she knew one-day Jina noona would end up getting married to one of your aunts! That's why she named it in advance!"

John sarcastically replied.

He turned around and smiled gracefully, "Now, Isn't that a great coincidence?"

With a pause, Aiden smiled back at him.

"I know right!"

…

Once again, their conversation came to a dead end. The suffocating environment returned. However, Aiden give his best to approach him as well but who knew each of Aiden's questions were end up becoming a rapid-fire question?

"Student? Which class are you in?"

"High school student, year 3!"

"Which one?"

"XXXX"

"Your dream?"

"I haven't figured it out yet!"

"Your hobby?"

"Being silent!"