“Where were you?”  

“Dad?! What are you doing here?”  Asked Eunji surprised.

Her father, Jung Jinyoung, was sitting, legs crossed in the living room.

“What a way to welcome your father! I came to celebrate your birthday of course.” He approached her and took a little box from his pocket. 

“Happy birthday!” 

Eunji reluctantly took the box and thanked him. 

“So, where were you?” he sat back on the sofa.

“I was hanging with my friends.” She took a seat in front of him.

“I think I heard it wrong, did you just say friends?” Sungjong, who were in the kitchen, came running, holding a soda can. 

“You heard it right.” 

The two men in the room widened their eyes in disbelief.

“You’re not playing us, right?” Sungjong asked again, just to make sure.

Eunji rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

“OMG!! It’s true!! You’re not a loner anymore!! Dongwoo will be devastated when he hears this.” Sungjong wiped an invisible tear, speaking of drama queen. His reaction made Eunji smile, ignoring the worried look her father was sending her.

“How’s you injury?” he asked, few minutes later.

“Healed.” She answered curtly.

“Did you tell Dongwoo?”

“That you sent me there again or that I got injured?” she looked straightly in his eyes, enjoying seeing him tensing up.

“Give it a rest, I didn’t tell him and the big mouth right here said he won’t tattle tell again.” She added, pointing at Sungjong.

“What was on that hard drive anyways?” she questioned.

“Very important files. I will send you a copy so you can check it out and save it in on your database. An extra copy is always needed, in case something goes wrong in the future.”

She nodded.

“From now on, I won’t ask you for any more favors. We will resume your activities after your graduation.” 

“Didn’t you say we’ll end everything after my graduation?” She raised an eyebrow.

“What if we don’t collect enough evidences?”

“Then there’s no need for me to take a break! Dongwoo doesn’t need to know about it!” she snapped at him.

“No, you go to school and live your life and in the meanwhile, my men will take care of everything.”

“Your men aren’t as good as me. It will take years for them to do what I did in few months. I’m the only person who can go in and out without rising suspensions and no one will dare to talk to me!”  

 “I know, I know. But you should start living as teenager, you even have friends now. Forget about it and leave it for me. You did more than enough.” He gave her a fatherly smile.

She didn’t like his decision, so she rose to leave.

“I didn’t do it for you!” she said between gritted teeth then left.

‘I did it to pay for my wrongdoings.’

“Knock, knock!” 

Eunji’s mood lightened the moment she saw Dongwoo entering her room with a big smile plastered on his face.

“I forgot to give you a birthday gift.” 

Dongwoo was always the first to congratulate her on her birthday, and his gifts were always very meaningful, not just expensive like her father’s.

Eunji excitedly opened the old looking box he handed her, but frowned the moment she saw its content.

“W-what is this?” she stammered, her fingers brushing the little pink shoes.

“Those are the shoes you wore when you made your first steps. I’ve been keeping them all this years.” he sat next to her on the bed.

“W-why are you giving them to me now?”

“Since you were little, I never let you socialize with people and encaged you. But even when I opened the door for you to fly, you stayed in your cage. Now that you have friends, I will think of it as your first step to freedom, to live the way you want and do what you want.” He explained, his eyes getting teary.

“Sungjong told you…” she smiled, touched by his words.

“Uhm… and I am very proud of you. Do you know how much I’ve waited for this moment?” he ruffled her hair. “One last advice.” 

“I know, be careful.” She guessed.

“I was going to say have fun…while you can.” He finished the last part with a sad smile. She gave him a knowing look. 

Dongwoo was eight years older than her, thus he was an overprotective brother. He knew what kind of society they grew in and how people approached them in hope of something, so he built a fortress around him and his sister, preventing her from befriending anyone. He thought it was a good way to protect her, but when he saw how cold she grew toward people, he started blaming himself for it.

Unlike their mother’s and Eunji’s father, he cared for her and put her wellbeing before everything else.

“Do I… like her?” that’s the question that kept bugging Sunggyu since the moment he walked Eunji home till morning. He barely had any sleep because of it and was a little bit out of it. 

It wasn’t his first time attracted to a girl, but never in such a short time and it was his first time liking a girl he used to hate. 

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t realize he was back in the same spot where he left her the previous night. And as fate played its game, Eunji came out of the gate, ready to go to school in her extravagantly styled uniform.

“What are you doing here?” She was confused when she found him still standing there.

“What do you mean what I’m doing here? I pass by here every morning to go to the bus stop!!” he stuttered, embarrassed for being caught. 

She hummed, not the least convinced by his lie.

“So, I was thinking, since we live in the same neighborhood and euh… we go to the same school, maybe we should euh…”  Sunggyu started stammering on their way to the bus station.

“We should what?” she asked, not really noticing his obviously flustered face.

“We should go and come…together.” When he said that, Eunji looked at him, making him more embarrassed. “You know since we’re friends and that’s what friends do.” He quickly added. 

“Okay.” She answered, amused by his ‘being friends’ excuse. 

Sunggyu didn’t know why he was very embarrassed by asking that or why her short answer were enough to make his day. He didn’t want to blame it on his fluttering heart, yet. It was so early for him to confirm his feelings.

But the fluttering was getting serious. His days became full of Eunji.

Classes for him became the sitting-with-Eunji-and-secretly-chatting time; lunch became 'eating with Eunji and the gang'. Assignments and homework were replaced by 'practicing with Eunji'. All of his days started evolving around her.

But what really scared him and made him deny his feelings very hard, was the uncontrollable heartthrobbing he had to deal with whenever she was around, like even the tiniest geture she made was enough to drive him crazy. 

Usaully, he was the one responsable for the talking part and she would just listen. Her answers and senteces are always short and sometimes he could sense that she was refraining herself from talking much, but he didn't mind it. He was happy with the little progress in their relationship, regardless of the fact that she never showed any real emotion in front of him. She was the real definition of a cold-blooded girl. It really made him wonder how she could manage to limit her facial expressions between annoyed, angry, bored and wickedly amused.

Well everything about her made him wonder…

Ailee rushed in the dimly lighted bar, eyes searching for a specific person. She found him by the bar’s counter, hardly sitting, head resting on his hand and eyes closed.

“How childish! Come on let’s go!” she growled at him. 

He opened his eyes little by little until his vision focused. He smiled widely.

“I really love drinking… it makes me see her every time. It’s much better than stalking her when she goes shopping or running.” He giggled. She sighed.

“Yah Dongwoo! Stop calling me whenever you get drunk! AND STOP DRINKING FOR GOD’S SAKE!” she yelled at him, stopping him from taking another shot.

“She’s fierce in my imagination too! I’m starting to like this!” he giggled again, before his head slumped on the table. She sighed again.

With the help of one of the bar tenders, Ailee managed to drag the drunk Dongwoo to her car. 

This wasn’t his first time doing it. Dongwoo wasn’t an alcoholic, but when he gets really stressed and he starts to miss her the most, he resolve to drinking. As anyone else, he had his bad drinking habits. When he gets really consumed by alcohol, he calls her and starts talking about his problems, she would listen. And every time she ends up dropping him home.

“Don’t you have anything edible? I’m starving here!” Sunggyu questioned, slamming the fridge’s door shut.

“That’s because you eat like every two minutes, you emptied the whole kitchen!” stated Eunji sarcastically.

“I’m sorry I burn too much calories when I’m dealing with you!” He stuck his tongue out, teasing her.

“If you hate dealing with me that much then why are you staying in here instead of going home?”

Sunggyu became like another family member. He spent too much in her apartment and got closer to Sungjong and Dongwoo, gaining their trust. The latter would teach him few dance moves or techniques from time to time, while Sungjong would and pester him every now and then, or was it the opposite.

“Because I won’t find anyone there, it's boring. But we have Sunhjong here.” He grinned evilly, before he resumed searching for something to eat in the placard.

Eunji knew what it feels like to go back to an empty house, thus she knew that even if he said it as a joke, it made him feel sad. 

A phone buzz cut her over thinking. She opened the new message she just received.

From: Ailee

   I brought Dongwoo. Meet me in five minutes.

Sunggyu peecked over her shoulder to read the message, and then looked at her. Even if it wasn’t that obvious, he noticed that her mood changed.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” She stood and was leaving but he followed her.

“I’m coming with you.” 

Ailee sent the message to Eunji and tried waking Dongwoo again. She was already in the parking lot, but waking him up always took too long. 

“Woo-ahh, wake up.” She called. Her words magically worked as he pried his eyes open.

“I must be really dreaming… for you to call me like that again.” He forced a pained smile.

 “Are we really over?” his voice came out as a whisper while a tear rolled down his cheek.

Ailee tried to prevent her fingers from caressing his cheek and whipping the tear away, but she failed. Even when she sensed his face getting closer to hers, she didn’t push him away. Instead, she leaned in until their lips finally touched. 

The kiss was soft, slow and full of longing and alcohol.

“I miss you…” he mumbled when they parted. 

Ailee’s face darkened and stormed out of the car. He followed her out, confused by her act.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MISS ME WHEN YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LEFT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!” she snapped, pointing at him.

“Do you know how much I waited for you that day?! I told you my flight was at three, but when you didn’t show up I refused to get on it and booked the next one, and kept doing the same till the next day! That’s TWENTY FOUR HOURS OF WAITING! But you never showed up!” her voice lowered and her eyes became teary when she said the last part.

Dongwoo’s tears kept flowing, remembering that day and imagining how hard it was for her to wait for him.

“For five whole years, I kept giving you excuses like maybe he didn’t see the letter or something bad happened and I almost forgave you for abandoning me. But here you are, not even trying to give me a reason.” When her tears started dropping, Dongwoo took her in his arms, apologizing repetitively.

 “A SORRY WON’T FIX MY BROKEN HEART NOR VOICE!!” she started hitting his chest, both of them becoming a crying mess.

Eunji and Sunggyu reached the parking lot to find the couple in that state. They stopped few meters away, giving them time and privacy to continue what they were doing.

“One day, I will tell you everything.” Dongwoo promised when they both calmed down, caressing her back.

“Just one question.” Ailee freed herself from his hold.  “If you get a chance to go back in time, would you come and find me at the airport, that day?” she asked, still having hope he will tell her something.

“No… Even if I live that day hundreds of times again, I won’t come.” He answered sincerely after few seconds of silence.

Ailee slapped him, before she resumed crying.

“I thought you loved me…” she spitted before going back to her car and driving away.

Dongwoo stood there helplessly, hand on his tear stained cheek. Eunji was the one who approached him first and hugged him to comfort him.

Sunggyu on the other hand was confused, not understanding what just happened in front of him. He kind of guessed that Ailee and Dongwoo had a past but he didn’t think it would be that serious and complicated.

He felt bad for Dongwoo. He sensed that a lot happened during the day they were talking about; to make him not stop the one he loved from going far away from him. So he just hoped that everything will get settled for them.

Sunggyu watched Eunji sighing for the umpteenth time that morning. She was barely focused during the whole class, head resting on hand and eyes staring at nothing. Even when the bell rang she didn’t respond to it and was the last to pack her things. Sunggyu decided to wait for her outside the class. 

“Ailee.” He heard her call Miss Lee. It was her first time addressing her that casually. He just kept himself hidden, to hear the conversation. And no, it wasn’t eavesdropping.

“It’s Miss Lee here.”  Ailee answered, without lifting her head from the papers piled in front of her.

“Whathever, I just wanna tell you something.” Eunji said seriously. “Maybe I can’t tell you the reason why he didn’t show up that day, but I’ll tell you this: it was because of me. Dongwoo didn’t have a choice.” She continued.

“Don’t give me the ‘because of me’ bull! I’m so sick of you and your brother! How bad are the things that happened that day that no one is willing to say a single word about it?” she snapped at her, eyes flaming with anger.

“One day you’ll know! Can’t you just wait for it?” Eunji pleaded.

“How much more do I have to wait? Huh? Another ten years? Twenty? Just how much?” Ailee's voice was desperate this time.

“After my graduation. I’ll be the one telling you about it, then, since it’s purely related to me, Dongwoo was just dragged in the matter.” She promised her.

‘Why then? What’s going to happen after we graduate?’ Sunggyu didn’t have a good feeling about it.

“You’re not lying to me to cover for him, right?” Ailee asked hesitantly, sounding calmer than before.

“I never lie to people dear to me,” said Eunji.

“Just tell them a part of the truth, when needed.” Ailee finished for her. “You still remember.” She smiled. Eunji nodded and smiled back.

Unlike them, Sunggyu was having a mental breakdown, goose bumps invading his skin.

‘That was the quote my father used to tell me whenever I or Minggyu lied! How do they know it?!’

‘First Eunji and now Miss Lee, what kind of connection do they have with my father?!!’ 

Countless questions were running through his head and drown him in a dangerous silence. No one dared to talk to him till the end of the day, everyone sensing the dark aura around him.

Even when Eunji kept asking him if he was okay, he waved her off, not daring to ask her a thing.

‘No one is going to answer my questions. I need to find the answers for myself.’ 

So the first thing he did when he went back home was to invade his father’s office and search for any clue.

His father kept his old folders at home, making it easier for Sunggyu‘s research. The problem is that Sunggyu didn’t know where to start and the office was huge. His eyes landed on the pictures on the wall of his father with few of his honorary students.

“Ah right! They could’ve been his students.” An idea popped in his head.

Sunggyu actually doubted that many times, but the way Eunji hated his father made him rethink his guess. It wasn’t a normal hate case. Especially that his father stopped his teaching career ten years ago, which means Eunji was only seven, while his father never taught anyone that age.

Hours passed and Sunggyu was still sitting on the floor, looking in the lists of his father’s students. No familiar name came in his sight.

“Ah this is the last one!” he slammed the folder closed. “Why can’t I find them?!” he ruffled his hair in despair, lying on the carpet.

Few seconds of silence passed before he abruptly stood up, eyes widening up. He rushed to his father’s safe and tried to unlock it. He tried his father’s birthday then his mother’s, it didn’t unlock. 

He entered another date and it opened.

“Of course it’s Minggyu’s birthday.” he said in triumph.

He searched between few folders until he found his target, the VIPs clients’ folder. He remembered how many rich people pleaded his father to give their kids’ private lessons.

The folder wasn’t that thick, his father didn’t accept many offers anyways, so it didn't took him long to find the familiar names.

Amy Lee and Jang Dongwoo, the very last students his father ever had. He taught them for five years but their last course was marked by his father as ‘my last lesson as a music professor’.

The file didn’t have anything suspicious about it. Ailee and Dongwoo were ideal students from their marks but Eunji wasn’t mentioned anywhere. He kept flipping until he noticed something really weird. His father was a very neat and organized person, but after a year of teaching them, his comments started getting weirder. In fact, his comments were the same, but it looked like some kindergartener liked doodling on his work papers. 

Little colorful and clumsy drawings were everywhere on his reports. 

“And he would get furious whenever we entered his office, letting some kid using his files as a drawing book!” 

“What are you doing here?” 

Sunggyu was so startled by his father’s voice, he almost threw the papers in the air.

His father walked furiously in his direction, forcefully took the file from his hand and looked at it, his eyes widening.

“What do you think you’re doing? Who allowed you to touch this?!” he yelled at him. Sunggyu didn’t budge.

“You were too busy to answer my question, so I thought of finding the answer by myself.” He kept his calm.

“I told you to stay away from this girl! You’re only getting yourself in trouble! The more you know the more dangerous it will be!” he yelled again.

“But her name wasn’t mentioned there, was she really your student?” he smirked when his father realized his slip of tongue.

“Just keep away from that girl.” He repeated, vexed by his son’s response.

“I won’t. And that girl is my friend, her name is Jung Eunji, well you already know it.” Said Sunggyu, before he slammed the door hard and went to his room.

‘So not only Eunji but even Dongwoo hyung and Ailee were really his students! But why no one is wanting to admit it?’ he kept thinking.

“This is so confusing!” he cursed. 

‘But I’m getting closer to the truth, right?’ 

Sunggyu decided to keep the matter for himself in the time being, not wanting to bring it up to Eunji yet. He was hoping he will get other hints from his father and even if he didn’t want to admit it, he was afraid of ruining his relationship with Eunji by bringing that up.

Tests were approaching, so Sunggyu and his gang found themselves in an endless routine of going to school and then going home to study. All of them were top students, so they were trying really hard to maintain their spots. 

Surprisingly, Eunji joined their study group at her own will. She was the most chilled one out of them, of course. And since she knew all the lessons like the back of her hand, she kept helping them and giving them advices about many things. 

‘Even her way of tutoring is the same as my father’s, how couldn’t I notice it earlier?’ Sunggyu noted when she was explaining something to Krystal. 

Apparently, he kept starring until she noticed.

“What? Are you having a problem with something too?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Who? Me?” he pointed at himself than laughed in disbelief. “I learned this when I was six, I should be the one explaining it to you.” He proudly said, pointing at the music sheets.

“I learned it when I was four, so…” she shrugged her shoulders haughtily, he huffed in disbelief.

“When I was four I didn’t even know how to right my name…” Sungyeol noted, mouth gaped.

“Don’t even try to compare yourself to them, they’re both music prodigies.” Krystal advised, tapping his shoulder, she too astonished by them.

“Study harder and you’ll be at their level, idiots!” Bora scolded, startling them. 

The room went back to being silent. The only sounds heard were the one coming from the radio and the moving of pens.

A rock song came out and Sunggyu unconsciously started humming to it, but he wasn’t the only one. Eunji started humming as well. Soon enough, they both fell in a beautiful harmony, drowning the attention of the others. The thing is, none of them paid attention to the other, not even realizing they were doing it together. Sungyeol took his phone and started filming them.

When they reached the chorus, Sunggyu started singing the lyrics, that’s when Eunji realized it and looked at him, and their eyes met. But instead of stopping, she too started singing with a big smile. And what started as a mere humming turned in a beautiful duet.

When they finished, Sungyeol, Myungsoo, Bora and Krystal started clapping for them in admiration. They noticed the way both of them kept smiling at each other proudly so they took it as a chance to tease them.

“What was that? A sign between lovers?!” Sungyeol said dramatically.

“You’re right; I can smell the love in the air!” Bora started sniffing around.

“You’re ruining the romantic mood! We should leave them alone.” Myungsoo joined them in the tease.

“Yah!! Are you done!!?”Sunggyu yelled, ears flashing red.

He peeked at Eunji but their eyes met and she gave him an amused look, she too having a pinkish shade decorating her cheeks.

‘She’s actually blushing!! So cute!’ he squealed in his mind. 

  Eunji  was just embarrassed by their words and didn’t realize she was blushing . She never thought about liking anyone before. It was like a taboo in her life. True, she was closer to Sunggyu than anyone else, Dongwoo and Sungjong excluded, but thinking of liking him in that way was a thought that never crossed her mind.

“You’re a fan of Nell too?” she asked, saving the mood from getting more awkward.

“A fan is an understatement in my case.” He answered, happy to find someone that actually knows them.

“What’s Nell?” questioned Sungyeol dumbly. Making everyone in the room face palming themselves.

Eunji came back home to find Sungjong laying on the couch, watching TV and eating pop corn.

“I like seeing you come late at night for a completely safe reason. Even Dongwoo hyung started going to sleep with an easy mind.” He noted.

“Shut up! You’re no better than me!” she throw a pillow at him. 

“I heard you went out earlier. Was it my dad?” she plopped next to him. 

“Hmmm… I sent you last time and tonight’s files in an e-mail. You should check them up. It’s totally messed up.” He gave her a serious look.

Eunji needn’t to be told twice. She went straightly to her room and opened her laptop to see it for herself.

The first file was full of management reports, fees and contracts. Although they seemed normal at first sight, the illegal acts implied in them was obvious as the sun. 

“This alone is anough to put half of Korea’s businessmen in jail… !” 

She opened the second file. It was about a murderer case.

“What does it have to do with…” she stopped midsentence when she read the names involved in the crime.

'It can't be...' she continued scrolling down.

“She killed her own parents?!!” Eunji gasped, a shiver running down her spine.

‘No wonder she tried to kill me before…’

SURPRISE !!!

So, what do you think of this chapter? It's shorter than usual but I'm strating to reveal a few things. So as I told you, it's getting more serious.

Actually, it was longer than this but it was way too long so I devided it into two chapters and I added a few scenes.

Next chapter will be updated in less than three days and there is a very big surprise *winks*.

Thank you for reading my story and keeping up with my slow updating speed!! LOVE YOU GUYS