Narrator

“So what do you think of this entire homeschooling thing they got us into?” Jungkook yawned, stretching his arms. He watched as Sera stood up and fixed her things.

She shoved them all in her bag and shrugged. “Better than those people in school bothering us.”

He nodded thoughtfully, meaning to ask her another question but she was already heading to the door.

“Ya! You’re leaving?” He crossed his arms and playfully raised one brow. Sera wanted to reply with her usual snarky remarks, but she held back and gave him a tight smile.

“I started working at the company, Jeon. I forgot to tell you.”

He stood up, brows now furrowed. “H-how did that happen? We were supposed to graduate first before we help in the company. Did Uncle Park assign you to some project?”

He frowned when he noticed that she was focused on her phone, typing away some message. “Sera.”

“Oh, what was that?” She glanced at him for a second and proceeded to texting. He sighed and shook his head.

“Nothing, sweetie. I was—“

“I really need to go. I’ll see you around.” She hurried out, not even sparing him another look. Jungkook stood there, dumbfounded and confused.

Sekyung smiled as Haena rambled about how her day went. When she was finished, she fell down beside her best friend, smiling. “I miss telling you about everything, Kyung.”

There was no response so she sat up and looked at Sekyung. The latter was leaning her head on the headrest, eyes closed. It would be stupid to ask her if everything was okay, because she knew it wasn’t. During their university days, people used to joke about the two of them being duplicates of each other. She used to laugh it off, but she knew they were right.

She could read Sekyung like an open book, no matter how much she tried to mask it.

“I’m really sorry, Kyung.” She whispered. There was still no response so she went on. “I knew I put you in a difficult situation with Junghyun. I’m really sorry. When you left, I was practically living a routine life. I had no one. You know how my family is so busy with business.” She chuckled bitterly, wiping a tear that escaped her eyes. “Anyway, Junghyun… he was there, you know. I tried to tell you, but…”

“I’m fine, Haena. You don’t need to explain.”

Haena noticed that her eyes were still closed, so she took her hand and squeezed it lightly. “I’ll do anything. Anything, just… forgive me.”

Sekyung finally opened her eyes. “I can’t prevent two people from falling in love with each other.”

She stood up and sighed, walking to the window. “I admit, I was devastated when I heard. You know how he… how he promised to marry,” She stopped pinching the bridge of her nose. She tried to erase whatever memories she had with Junghyun and the diamond ring. “Anyway, I just needed time to let it all sink in. I’m okay now.”

Haena was already standing beside her with teary eyes. “Kyung…”

She smiled and hugged her friend. “I’m telling the truth. I’m happy for the both of you.”

“I don’t deserve you as a friend, Kyung.” She sobbed, and Sekyung hugged her tighter. Honestly, she was tired of all the drama. She just wanted to stop thinking about all the negativity and find herself.

“Don’t say that. I may have taken it negatively at first, but I realized I… I have other things to worry about, other people to worry about.”

Namjoon walked inside the lounge and saw his cousin busily working on some documents. She was biting her nails, skimming through some papers as she frowned.

“So you cut your teenage life short and joined the company?” He started. Sera glanced at him, her face void of any emotion. “Do you need anything?”

He sighed as he walked to the couch. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad? Sera—“

“Stop.” She closed the folder she was looking at and pressed her lips into a thin line. “I have no time to talk about nonsense right now. If you have nothing work-related for me,” she stood up and wore her coat. “Don’t waste my time.”

Namjoon looked at the door closing behind her, holding his breath. He felt his chest tighten.

There was no denying, she was not just mad. She was completely shutting him out.

The elders settled down on their seats as the servers started placing plate after plate of appetizers. Junghyun shortly arrived with Haena, and the conversation diverted to their upcoming wedding.

The mothers bombarded Haena with questions about the wedding arrangements while Junghyun filled the fathers with his plans to start working in the company.

“That only seems fitting. I’m happy for you.” Mr. Park commented, and Junghyun smiled. He looked around and his brows slightly furrowed. “Where’s Sera and Jungkook?”

Mr. Jeon wiped his lips. “Jungkook called me that he’s on his way. I’m sure they’re together, I mean, they always are.”

The statement made everybody smile, knowing the close relationship that has ensued between the two over the past few months.

“Anyway, our Sera started working in the company. She went to talk to me yesterday. I was hesitant at first, but she’d been training herself for this her whole life. She wanted it so I deemed it best that she should have it.”

Junghyun frowned a little. “Are you going to make it public, Uncle?”

“We’re planning a dinner by the weekend with only our closest partners and friends. You will be with us, right?” Mr. park smiled at Mr, Jeon, who clapped his back. “Of course, we’re family!”

Just then, the doors opened and Jungkook walked in. He paid his respects to the elders and pulled a chair beside his brother.

“Where’s Sera?” Junghyun instinctively asked. Jungkook looked at the inquiring gazes all around the table and he cleared his throat.

Of course they’d be expecting us to come together.

“Oh, she got a bit stuck in traffic. She had to pass by somewhere.” He smiled, waiting for their nods of understanding. He closed his eyes briefly after, finding it odd. Actually, he tried calling her several times to pick her up, but she hadn’t returned any one of them.

When Sera finally arrived, she paid the usual respects and proceeded to sit beside him. “Where have you been? I have been trying to reach you.” He hissed, squeezing her arms lightly. She glanced at him and shrugged. “I was stuck in traffic.”

“Perfect.” He rolled his eyes. “My excuse matched with the real situation. They got taken aback that we did not come together.”

She nodded and took a bite of her food. “Well, we don’t need to be together always.”

“What?” He asked, not taking his eyes off her.

She went on eating and replied. “We’ve had enough publicity. And with your brother’s wedding on the corner, the attention is turned to them.”

He blinked. “Yeah… I mean, you’re right.”

They wordlessly sat there side by side as the dinner dragged on. He wanted to ask her so many things, or just annoy the hell out of her, but something was off. She wasn’t being herself and he hated it.

When the elders started standing up and bidding them goodbye, Jungkook took the opportunity to be alone with her.

“Can I drive you home?” He asked, but she shook her head. “I forgot to tell you, I got my license yesterday.”

If he was surprised, he tried to mask it. “You forget to tell me a lot of things recently, honey. Are you okay?” He teased, slinging an arm around her shoulders. She just kept on walking. “I’m just really busy.”

“I feel neglected.” He poked her tummy and she jumped a little bit. He chuckled and pinched her cheeks. “Can I come with you to your house then? I’m bored. We can order pizza and watch gore movies.”

When he looked at her, he noticed that she was already putting her bag inside the car. She faced him and gave him a small smile. “I had a lot of work today, Jungkook. I think I should rest. I’ll see you.” She slipped inside the driver’s seat and sped away, leaving him for the second time, confused and bothered.

Jungkook?

“What happened to ‘Jeon’?” He muttered, looking at her car speeding away.

He had a bad feeling that it wasn’t just the car leaving his sight.

“Young Miss—“ Jang hurriedly followed Sera as she walked towards her room. When she opened the door, Kai was standing there with a crestfallen expression.

She threw Jang an annoyed look to which the old man muttered. “I told him you didn’t want to see anybody….”

She brushed past Kai and entered her room. Kai sighed and gave Jang an apologetic smile before closing the door behind him. “Sera, we need to talk.”

She ignored him and went to her desk to start working. Kai sighed again as he slowly approached her. “Sera.”

He heard her shut the folder close. She turned to him, her eyes cold. “Will it be too difficutl for you to leave me alone? I have a lot of work to do.”

“It’s not fair, Sera. You can’t just ignore the situation. You have to—“

“I’m not ignoring the situation, Jongin.”

“Then what are you doing?” He exasperatedly said as he raked his hair with his fingers. She crossed her arms. “I’m completely aware of how you dragged Jungkook between us when clearly, he should be out of this. I like you, Kai. A lot. And knowing that you like me too should be rainbows and ing unicorns for me. But no. I don’t know why, but no.”

He looked at her desperately, but she didn’t budge.

“Why are you so mad that I mentioned Jungkook, Sera?” He asked, noticing how her jaw clenched at the mention of the name. “Okay.” He flung his arms up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait. I’m sorry I’m rushing you, and I’m sorry for accusing Jungkook of sabotaging what we could have. But that doesn’t mean we should just ignore our feelings for each other, right? I love you, Sera. Please.”

She turned her back on him. “Just leave me alone. If you value our friendship, please leave.”

When she heard the door close, she held herself tightly and closed her eyes.

I’m Park Sera, and power is my middle name.

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sorry i was out of town. I'm writing more chapters~