Word Count: 4,422

Note: I'm desperately trying to keep all the chapters under 5,000 words, but long updates are good nevertheless, right? There's another surprise appearance by a member in this chapter, but just to clarify, this member will not reappear in later chapters of this story. And as always, feedback is appreciated. <3

~~

“Where are you?”

“I don't see you.”

“Are you out of class?”

Hwayoung’s eyes briefly graze over the messages from Jongdae adorning the screen of her phone.

“If you’re running away again, I will find you.”

Hwayoung rolls her eyes, before switching off her phone. It hadn't taken long for her to realize Jongdae had been tracking her location with her phone, which meant she rendered him useless each time she turned it off.

She hastily leaves her last class, smiling brightly when Minho catches her with his warm gaze.

“Ready to go?” Minho asks.

Hwayoung nods, hair bobbing up and down.

Minho leads her to a black car resting comfortably along the rim of the campus, and Hwayoung slips easily inside, greeting the chauffeur in the driver’s seat.

It's not twenty minutes later that the car pulls into Minho’s driveway and Hwayoung greets Minho’s parents.

“I made dinner for everyone,” Minho’s mother smiles as she leads Hwayoung into the house, the long dining table adorned with a clean white tablecloth and ceramic plates of warm food that make Hwayoung’s mouth water.

“Aren’t you going to join us?” she asks.

“I’m not feeling quite well right now,” Minho’s mother smiles sadly. “The most I could do was help cook a meal. I’ll be resting.”

“Please get better soon,” Hwayoung says, before watching Minho’s mother leave and seating herself at the table with Minho and his father.

It’s once Minho’s father takes the first bite that Minho and Hwayoung are busy with their utensils, chopsticks picking at everything and humming at the delicious taste. It’s been a long time since Hwayoung has had a homemade meal. After eating takeout and Chanyeol’s attempt at making pasta, eating a proper meal allows her to ascend to heaven. Hwayoung lets her eyelids flutter closed and the food melt on her tongue.

“How have you been, Hwayoung?” Minho’s father asks with an adoring smile on his face.

Hwayoung hastily swallows the food in and answers, “I’ve been well. Just tired from studying, as always.”

Minho’s father lets out a hearty laugh, stabbing his chopsticks in the direction of Minho, who is sitting right beside Hwayoung.

“It took me years to get him to study without throwing a fit,” Minho’s father accuses, and Hwayoung bursts into laughter at Minho’s surprised countenance. “I’m jealous that there's such a good student out there like you.”

“How could you say that about your own son?” Minho pouts.

“I always tell my wife how you would make the perfect daughter-in-law,” Minho’s father chuckles. He glances accusingly at Minho once again. “You’ve been friends for years, why don't you try to impress a fine person like her?”

“Dad,” Minho groans, “you’re making things awkward.”

It's after light conversation and heavy compliments about the food that Minho’s father finally talks about the subject Hwayoung’s been dreading.

“Hwayoung,” Minho’s father murmurs. “I’m also sorry about your father’s disappearance.”

Hwayoung simply sets down her fork and looks up to meet the male’s solemn eyes.

“Do you have a place to stay? You know you’re always invited to stay with us.”

Hwayoung shakes her head courteously. “I have a place to stay. I’m with some extended family.”

“Ah, so you managed to get in contact with your cousins,” Minho's father smiles with relief. Hwayoung simply nods, forcing a crooked smile upon her lips and crossing her fingers, hoping that the male won't notice the uncertainty in her voice.

It's before Minho’s father can carry the subject further that their meal is interrupted by a spindly male in a black suit. He hands some papers to Minho’s father, the two males whispering hastily before the skinny male leaves. Hwayoung has seen the male before, and she presumes him to be a personal assistant.

“I'm sorry about that,” Minho’s father sighs. “It's just that our company has been busy working on some legal cases against some groups. We’ve been trying to expose some of these guys for years with the help of my niece, who owns a law firm.”

“Really?” Hwayoung asks in disbelief.

“Yes, we’ve encountered some of these guys before, and we’ve had problems with them,” he sighs. “But they’re so good at clearing their tracks. I’m sure you’ve heard of some of these groups. Byun Baekhyun of Exo Credit Union and Jung Kyungmin.”

Hwayoung swears her heart stops for a moment and silence pulses in her ears. It’s in that moment where dread drowns out Minho’s droning and Minho’s father’s solemnity that a sudden idea emerges from the waves of panic that overwhelm Hwayoung’s sharp mind.

If she tells Minho’s father about her circumstances now, there’s a chance that he can pull Hwayoung from Baekhyun’s grasp and bring Exo Credit Union down once and for all.

But there’s yet another thought that brings light to the situation-

Does Hwayoung really want to leave Baekhyun and the others at Exo Credit Union?

“You don’t happen to know anything about these groups, do you?” Minho’s father asks, eyebrow dipped and lips rigid. Hwayoung doesn’t know if he’s being serious or not. She decides to purse her lips and remain quiet, simply holding her wavering gaze over his solid eyes. Minho’s father bursts into laughter, chuckling, “I’m kidding. There would be no reason for you to even know these people.”

Hwayoung hopes she knows how to keep a secret.

~~

“Next time you go to your friend’s house, just let me know instead of running away,” Jongdae says with his arms crossed over his chest.

She had gotten Minho to drop her off outside the apartment complex when night had blanketed over the sky, managing to sneak into her apartment without anybody noticing. It had been after sleeping in on a precious Saturday morning that Hwayoung had woken up, not even a foot outside her apartment when she had seen Jongdae waiting in the hallway, arms crossed in obvious disappointment.

It was before she could run away once more that the male had her by the arm, pulling her to the office.

“How'd you know where I was yesterday?” Hwayoung asks with disbelief.

“Princess, I told you, I'm the best tracker here,” Jongdae rolls his eyes. “Which means I can find you whether you turn your phone off or not. Your only other friend is Choi Minho, which means you were probably with him. I also saw his car going in the direction of his home. And I know where he lives because we’ve had business with his father before.”

It's before Hwayoung can scold the male about stalking her that the door to Chanyeol’s office is thrown open and a furious Baekhyun stomps inside, eyebrows furrowed and fuming. She hasn't seen him all day today, and it seems as if his anger has only accumulated, the red in his cheeks matching the bleeding red of the sunset.

“Where the hell were you yesterday?” Baekhyun growls. His voice grumbles from behind clenched teeth, nearly lashing out into a roar. Perhaps he would have been a bit less angry if those guys had just promised to give him the money without trying to run away. It gets rather tiring sometimes, holding weak men by the collar until they beg.  “Who the said you can run off anytime you want like that?”

“Jongdae found out where I was,” Hwayoung says, “it's not like I could run away.”

“That's not important,” Baekhyun hisses. “You openly went against my instructions, and you didn't even care to tell anybody where you went. Not to mention, how would we ever know why you went to go see your friend? Jongdae told me that your friend is Choi Minho. Now listen, princess, our relationship with the Choi family isn't that great. How can I be sure that you weren't trying to sell us out?”

It's with every word that Baekhyun takes a step forward, his steely gaze getting nearer and nearer to Hwayoung, until she can feel the puffs of his warm breath on her hair.

“How can you even accuse me of that?” she nearly shouts back. “I have the freedom to choose which friends I hang out with. How many times do I have to tell you? You don't own me.”

Jongdae clears his throat, attempting to wedge himself between Baekhyun and Hwayoung before the bickering escalates to throwing objects and breaking down the door, which has happened before with Baekhyun. Jongdae tries to pry Baekhyun away from the tense staring he has engaged in, but he’s interrupted when the door reveals yet another lanky figure.

Chanyeol hops in the room, cheerfully exclaiming, “Guess who’s back?”

It’s only when he sees Hwayoung and Baekhyun angrily glaring at each other while Jongdae has an arm around Baekhyun to pull him away does he realize what's going on.

“Sorry about the bad timing,” he murmurs. His arm snakes out the door and pulls in another male. “But look who’s back!”

A male with a handsome smile and puzzling, glimmering eyes with dark hair stands at the door. His lips are pulled into a smile, his hands resting in his pockets.

“Suho?” Baekhyun asks in disbelief, scurrying away the bickering and bounding to the dark-haired male waiting at the door to Chanyeol’s office.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Suho chuckles, slapping a hand into Baekhyun’s back and smiling warmly at him.

Even Jongdae forgets about the sudden panic and goes to the male. It's only then that Hwayoung can actually get a glimpse of the dark-haired male at the door. Their eyes meet, and Hwayoung’s lips part in recognition. She swears she has seen the male somewhere before.

And perhaps the dark-haired male feels the same way, because his crinkled eyes and bright smile quickly settle into a baffled countenance when he sees her.

“Suho is back, which means we’re all here,” Chanyeol cheers. “You know what that means, boss.”

“Dinner outing,” Jongdae smiles, elbowing Baekhyun, who is still upset over the fight, playfully. “Now, let’s forget about that argument and bring everyone out for dinner.”

“I’m not going,” Baekhyun grumbles, eyes hidden beneath the hair hanging over his forehead.

“Why the hell not, boss?” Chanyeol pouts.

The office is suddenly full of whining that rings in Hwayoung’s ears. Jongdae and Chanyeol tug at his sleeves, and Suho puts on a pitiful smile, until Baekhyun groans, “Fine.”

Jongdae and Chanyeol high-five each other.

“You’re coming, too, princess,” Chanyeol announces, pointing at Hwayoung with his childish grin. “You’ve been with us for almost three months, which means you’re officially one of us now.”

“She has to study,” Baekhyun says too quickly, and Hwayoung can't believe how obvious it is that he doesn't want to talk to her. “Let her stay.”

“Boss, it's been like a week since she finished midterms,” Jongdae rolls his e