The lighthearted expression dropped off his face. It was as obvious as the answer in his eyes. Jongin caught Namjoo’s stare, yet he still turned away to avoid answering. Hands dropped to his side when he turned to head back into the room. Namjoo followed.

“What’s with the reaction?” Namjoo wondered.

Following tradition, he and Chorong had been matched up ever since he was in high school. He had been ok with everything then until his senior year of university when he encountered Chorong’s background classmate, Namjoo. It had been a satisfying sight seeing her clash with a drama student over who had dropped some drumming equipment. Namjoo lost but it was she who held the limelight. Despite what may have led up to now, everybody knew Chorong’s father held the biggest stakes at the university. And everybody knew about him. And everyone knew about the former loner, Oh Sehun.

That was how they met. Through Chorong. They became casual acquaintances up till the wedding. Right now they were in the phase of falling out. Oh Sehun was no longer his friend. No one was his friend if they couldn’t respect his wishes.

Jongin didn’t want Namjoo to know of anybody who might chuck knives behind her back.

But Sehun?

How was that name able to come out of ?

“I was just wondering,” Namjoo added during his silence. “I met him this morning.”

Hearing that had him wheeling around. Unintentionally, he accused bitterly, “Is that the friend you met?”

Namjoo broke out into a boisterous laugh. “Why would he be my friend? It turns out his father belongs in my mother’s circle.” Stepping toward him she hugged his arm and sweetly leaned against him. Planting chin against his shoulder she said, “We just had breakfast. If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that,” he apologized. “He belongs to Chorong’s party. It’s better if you don’t meet him again.”

“Yes, handsome,” she cooed before grinning.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

Namjoo was right about one thing, he should have gathered all the luck he had before settling down with his mother at her gathering. Though food was plentiful – the only thing worthy of his presence tonight – the men were also plentiful. It was a disturbing sight to see that his mother was the only female head there. Joonmyun didn’t think he’d seen so many men in his life before, gathered in one room. Not only were they obnoxiously roaring with laughter, the eyes that belonged to only men shot jolts up his spine.

How many weeks a month did his mother have to put on a show by exhibiting herself to the men like this? How many times had his sister sat here with his mother, under the ogling eyes of these elders whose daughters were her age?

Nearly two hours later, Joonmyun finally heard his mother bidding farewell to the last of the rowdy guests. Good riddance. He had felt like the gathering would last all night, had even feared that more entertainment would walk in through the front doors. Joonmyun had thought it over the five glasses of wine he had shared after dinner with the men whom chattered non-stop that he needed to talk with his mother. He was also 100% sure that under his scrutinizing eyes feigning calm that if he weren’t here tonight, they would have acted out of the box on his widowed mother.

“That was exhausting, wasn’t it?” his mother’s eyes glistened when she started down the corridor toward him. “Did you enjoy yourself, Joonmyun? Oh, I thought the story about Secretary Jang’s nephew was just hilarious. What’s with the look on your face? You don’t think it was funny?” there was a slight pause before she asked, “Are you drunk?”

With a deep breath Joonmyun asked, “Mom, what are you doing?”

The slender woman stared back at him. Foolishly grinning she asked joyfully, “What are you talking about? Oh, you must be tired. Should I get one of the housekeepers to run a bath for you?”

“Oh, come on, mom,” Joonmyun withheld a sigh.

The woman’s eyes turned firm but with remained with humor. Pursing her lips she crossed her arms, “It was a simple gathering, that’s all. In other words, Namjoo would call it a -up-to-me party. Have you come up with a name for it as well?”

“I don’t like it,” he expressed his disapproval. “This,” he threw his arm out to show his mother the messy leftovers in the room, “just what is this? Is it really necessary to do this?”

“Don’t be upset,” his mother lightheartedly tried. “It’s just a thing I do once in a while. You know when work gets too tough, you need some rewarding. Food and drinks do it.”

“Mom, you’re not a hostess. You’re my mother,” Joonmyun emphasized. “There’s no need for you to throw these dirty parties just to keep these men who dominates father’s company on your good side.”

“I have no intention of being a hostess, Joonmyun.” his mother told.

“No, and you won’t be one,” Joonmyun sternly stared at her. “From now on, you’re never entertaining them like this again, do you understand?” with an angry huff he brushed by and headed up the stairs to his room.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

The room was dark. Jongin’s arm was still cushion to her head. She should’ve been deep asleep. A second later she found out what had woken her. Her phone was vibrating noisily, lighting the room up with a blinding ray.

Joonmyun was calling.

Reaching for her phone she turned it off and placed it face down. For a while she lay there staring up at the dark ceiling. Star lights were lively outside the window. How they glistened prettily beside the moon a hundred times their size and still managed to look more beautiful was something she’d never understand. For an entire lifetime since her father’s death, she’d stood in front of the entire world and still hadn’t managed to look good.

Without waking Jongin she grabbed her phone and bag and quietly left the room. As she drove down the dense streets she pondered over her 3AM thoughts. She so often heard that her father was a loyal man and that she looked just like him. Hearing so, Namjoo wondered if she had subconsciously picked up after her father’s personality. She was loyal, more than anything, to her mother – the only person who had painlessly shielded her from the cruel outside. In the absence of male authority Namjoo, at a young age, had been forced to put on armor against spikes. Those spikes only got sharper when she grew into a woman. Who had known that the face of a girl had been the safest to possess. 

Earlier when she’d promised Jongin not to meet with Sehun again she had deliberately lied. Once she had her mind set, she would go all the way. Sehun’s mother had attacked her mother, not just with words but with force. Namjoo wasn’t one to seek vengeance personally, but she guessed this time around she was just that bad. She was going to be shallow this time. As stupid as this whole thing sounded, she was certain she had the upper hand when it came to Sehun. Men, she often saw, were easily swayed when tempted by a woman.

The lights clicked on when she turned down the direction of her bedroom. Namjoo flinched, nearly blinded by the lights.

“Where’ve you been?” her older brother crossed his arms from beside the light switch in the corridor.

“What the heck,” she mumbled. Catching the drive of determination to get an answer in his eyes she excused, “I’m tired. Lets talk in the morning.”

“Two nights, Namjoo,” Joonmyun said. “For two consecutive nights you slept of the house.”

“Two?” she repeated then pointed her finger toward the ground, “Aren’t I home? To sleep?”

“Who is he?” Joonmyun demanded when she turned away to walk off. This time around he didn’t sound curious or happy that she had someone she wanted to be with. It was the angry voice of an elder brother who disproved of what she did and who she went with.

Her eyes fell flat and without answering she continued walking off toward her bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind her. At this phase in her life she wasn’t going to fall under control, especially to not her brother – the grown man who would become the head of the household.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

“Your father said that?” Sehun asked.

It was Wednesday morning. Sehun had woken early and headed right over to Rise n’ Shine. He hadn’t been able to sleep anyway and nothing mattered more to him than his precious café. It was, he believed, starting to gain popularity these days. Recently he’d been seeing new faces. Obviously, Chorong wasn’t one of them. Though a regular customer she was also a regular intruder in his kitchen. Here she was, making herself at home behind the counter at his stove and complaining about her father.

“Funny, my mom says just the opposite,” he muttered setting her fresh cup of coffee down. “Three bucks.”

“Seriously?” she asked with disbelief.

“It’s to be fair or else,” he glanced out toward the lobby, “everyone would be getting a free cup of coffee.”

“You’re so stingy,” she complained underneath her breath before flipping her omelet. “Whoever created your kitchen should have built it behind closed doors. It’s no wonder rumors fly around.”

He eyed her dubiously from the side, “Maybe your father would say less about us if you stop treating my kitchen like your own. You know, like, coming here every day.”

Chorong just shrugged, “I like your café. If not for me it wouldn’t still be standing today. Am I right or am I right?”

Sehun’s brows fell flat before Chorong ordered him to get her a plate. He caught the barista laughing at him when he walked by. The door opened when he turned to start back toward Chorong. The friend’s eyes darted toward the door when Sehun held the plate out to her. When she didn’t take it he opened his mouth to talk but the glaze in Chorong’s eyes had her tensely saying, “Well look who’s here.”

At once his eyes darted toward the door and he in his breath.

Namjoo.

Chorong turned to glance at him with interrogating eyes, “You expecting her?”

No. He wasn’t. The person who’d been the cause of his lack of sleep had been the last person he’d expected to show up here.

Namjoo really came.

“Don’t mess this up,” Chorong whispered before dumping her omelet onto her plate. “Good luck. You got this.”

He wasn’t so confident about that when she walked out of the kitchen.

≈≈≈≈≈≈

Would you look at that was what Chorong thought to herself when she slipped into a booth by the corner, so that she wouldn’t easily be seen and watched Sehun approach the dark cloud of her life. Though she despised the fact that another man, her friend, was coming onto Namjoo she was yet appeased by the truth that Sehun meant none of which he was attempting. She had to wonder, though, why he looked like a simpleton in front of Namjoo. What the hell was he nervous about?

Turning attention away she bitterly bit onto a spoonful of her food. Only when she was halfway through chewing her first bite did the idea hit her. If she could show Jongin this he would once and for all leave Namjoo, because who the hell dated a cheater?

Chorong felt like cackling to herself. She was a manipulative genius. Pulling her phone out she quietly snapped a picture of Sehun and Namjoo in his kitchen, nearly grinning when she saw Sehun pull a move. Boy, she hadn’t known Sehun to be so flirtatious before. Quickly snapping a picture of him teaching Namjoo how to cook she snickered to herself then sent the picture to Jongin. A picture spoke a thousand words and because of that this one image could be interpreted in my ways.

Her phone buzzed few minutes later. Picking it up she answered.

“What are you doing?” it was Jongin and he sounded very unhappy. Just as expected. Chorong’s heart fluttered with thoughts of success. It didn’t quite matter what she came up with now, because Sehun would vow for her later. If he claimed Namjoo came onto him then Jongin was the loser here. Once he broke up with Namjoo she would have her chance with him again.

Well, that was the plan.

“Aren’t you curious?” Chorong asked into the phone. “What your girlfriend is doing with a friend of yours?”

A moment of silence. She expected Jongin to heatedly interrogate her for details and readily accuse Namjoo, but all he said was, “I have a meeting, lets talk after that.” Then he hung up.

Her irritation heightened when her eyes shot up to see Sehun and Namjoo. She swore again under her breath that she would make Namjoo regret for the rest of her life for intruding on her very perfect life. If not for that pathetic woman scorned by the world Chorong would be happily spending three weeks of her honeymoon in Dubai right now.

Gathering her dish she got up to throw the rest of her uneaten meal away. She’d lost her appetite. All she waited for now was to meet with Jongin and show him Namjoo’s true colors. Just as she began scooping food off her plate a hand popped out of nowhere and unexpectedly, she dumped food on him. Chorong about readied to apologize when whatever he’d thrown in hit the empty bottom of the garbage bin. tightly closed when she recognized the man she once dumped coffee on. The irritating man. Only this time she hadn’t dumped coffee on him, but her food.

Crap.

Chorong watched him shoot her a you-should-know-better stare before shaking his hand to cleanse it of the filth of her food.

“You never look around when you do something, do you?” he calmly asked, but she could tell he was annoyed, which as well antagonized her even further. If today got on her nerves just a tiny bit more she may have to end her night with a few drinks.

“It’s not worth apologizing for,” Chorong loudly set her plate down on the compartment above the trash. If he was going to nag at her she didn’t even want to hear him breathe. “Call it your luck for running into me again.”

≈≈≈≈≈≈

Joonmyun scoffed when the woman brushed by as if he was the one who had wronged her. Just what the heck was with her? He was going to brush her off and say he was going to go wash his hands anyway. Goodness, it wasn’t like he was having a perfect morning either but he wasn’t going to get all heated about it. He watched her stomp down the walk then turned to head toward the restroom.

This morning his mother had childishly nitpicked at him, telling Namjoo, “Honey, why’d you come home so late? Lets try not to upset the prince hmm?” and then she had taken to letting Namjoo leave the breakfast table without inquiring about where she would be and with whom.

“Aren’t you worried at all?” he had chided his mother.

“Don’t be silly, Joonmyun,” his mother had waved him off, “trust her, won’t you?”

“How can I trust her when I don’t know anything about her?”

“She’s an adult, Joonmyun, she won’t share everything with you,” she had pointed out. “There will be instances where she won’t need you or me. Just think that right now is one of those times. Now you wouldn’t want your privacy invaded, would you?”

Maybe his mother was right. He had left when Namjoo was just a young teenager. She had grown up without him by her side. Of course things would be different. He didn’t expect any less, but he still wanted to dote on her. He still hoped that Namjoo would tell him just a little about her adult-self and let him step into her grown world. As a brother he was curious what went on around her. Was she still interested in the things she used to find fascinating? Or had she moved onto other things?

It felt like Namjoo was rarely at home and now that he was back he would have to start working in the company, which also meant less time at home for him. He wouldn’t be able to see the face of his only sibling. Joonmyun didn’t want to live forever like this.

Sighing, he walked out of the restroom. Later in the afternoon he had to go introduce himself at a joint corporate meeting. Oh Haejin, his mother’s friend, would be there waiting for him his mother had said. Just who this reliable friend was intrigued him and why he was so close to his mother. She had spoken so highly of him. Joonmyun was both curious and suspicious.

Walking up to the counter he said while digging his wallet out, “Can I just get an espresso and a fresh baked muffin to go?”

“Yes, sir,” the young cashier rang up his order. Grabbing his receipt he headed toward the side to await his order. Again, he thought about how much he admired the interior of the café. That was when his eyes caught sight of a couple by the kitchen stove.

What was his sister doing back there?

***I AM BACK!! =DD Thank you for waiting!