Chapter 29 – Acceptance

Yonghwa stared out the window silently as they drove past the people of Seoul going through their morning routines. He was normally a morning person and the sunny weather would have put him in an excellent mood, but that day was different. Looking out the window with a depressed stare was the only thing he could do to keep himself sane. He didn’t even notice the busy people grabbing their newspapers from their mailboxes, walking their dogs, or rushing to catch the subway to get to work. The thought of Hyuna’s responses to their questions was the only thing on his mind.

Seohyun was also acting unlike her usual bubbly self. After so many years of dealing with mixed and twisted feelings in her heart, she felt like she finally deserved a much sought after peace. With Hyuna and Joon gone, her perfect job, and Yonghwa back in her life, she felt like she was at the top of the world. That foothold she managed to grab a hold of on the top of the jagged mountain of life crumbled in just a single morning. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself everything would be okay, she couldn’t bear to look Yonghwa in the face.

“We’re here,” Seohyun whispered when they arrived at Joon’s house. “Yonghwa?”

The dazed man woke up from his daydreaming to look over at his aching girlfriend. It tore him to shreds to see such a distant and dejected stare in her once bright and shining orbs. It was his fault that she was hurting. It was his fault that they were standing in front of Joon’s house to demand an explanation from his wife. If he hadn’t fallen for yet another of Hyuna’s traps, they would be happily munching on breakfast together and talking about how much they missed one another. “Seohyun ah,” Yonghwa whispered back. “Let me talk to them alright?”

“Yong…hwa,” Seohyun called his name in a ghostly tone. The way she said his name drove the dagger in his heart further in. She couldn’t even call him “Yong” like she always did. For some reason hearing his full name escape her lips at that moment seemed so foreign and wrong. “We are in this together.”

“No Seohyun!” Yonghwa yelled in frustration, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “I ed up! I messed this all up. Look at you. You can’t even say my name right. Why should you have to be punished even more than you already have been?”

Hearing him yell brought a pained smile to Seohyun’s face. Yonghwa was the one wronged in the situation, not her. She had no right to act like she was the only victim. For the first time since they spoke earlier that morning, she walked over towards him to give him an unexpected hug. “Pabo, we’re a couple aren’t we?” she asked lovingly. “I understand your frustration, but let’s do this together okay? I hate seeing you like this.”

“Seohyun, I’m so sorry,” Yonghwa repeated for the thousandth time.

“Don’t be,” she responded assuringly. “I’m in this with you. I don’t care what happened as long as you can forgive yourself. Don’t worry about me.”

Yonghwa broke away from the hug and smiled the same weak smile back at her. Seohyun had definitely been worth waiting for if she was being that understanding. Those 20 years of silently chasing her were definitely paying off. “Let’s get this over with then.” Seohyun skipped ahead to ring the doorbell since Joon would probably not be happy to see Yonghwa first thing in the morning.

“Yes? Who is it this early in the morning?” they heard Joon mumble through the speaker. The door opened a moment later, revealing a still half asleep Lee Joon in his pajamas. “Seohyun? What are you doing here?” Joon’s face became much more alert when he saw his newly professed enemy by his ex-fiancée’s side.

Yonghwa shot her a reassuring glance, motioning for her to continue. “We’re here to talk to Hyuna. Is she around?”

Joon furrowed his eyebrows and almost slammed the door in their faces. Yonghwa could tell exactly what was going through his old friend’s head at that moment. Joon warned Yonghwa more than once to stay away from his wife, and Yonghwa wasn’t adhering to that agreement. “Yeah she’s in the room still asleep. Why do you guys want to talk to her?”

Now it was Yonghwa’s turn to scowl at the situation. When he suggested they come see Hyuna, he hadn’t even thought about what to tell Joon. He couldn’t tell him that Hyuna drugged him, took him home, and potentially him. Nobody in their right mind would believe that crazy story, much less Joon. “Seohyun has something to talk to her about. I’m just here to drop her off. I promise, I’ve been keeping away like you told me to,” Yonghwa lied.

Seohyun caught onto the plan and nodded silently. “I’m sorry to come here to early. It’s about her grandmother. She keeps asking me about Hyuna and I have no idea what to tell her,” Seohyun continued the lie. “I think the elder is sick and she needs Hyuna by her side. Please, let me talk to her.” Joon, not actually being the villain he was making himself out to be, stepped aside to let his new guests into the large foyer.

“It’s the second room on the right,” Joon pointed out as he motioned towards the upper floor. “I think she might be up now.” Seohyun nodded while following his directions. Yonghwa was surprised Joon was being so pleasant since he had been quite the psychopath last time he interacted with him.

Seohyun made her way into the room where Hyuna was shaking off the sleepiness of the night before. Luckily, Joon hadn’t caught her when she came back late at night. Even though Joon said that he was going to be gone for the weekend, he hadn’t actually left. She supposed he was just testing her loyalty by pulling a stunt like that. Thankfully for her sake, the guards also kept their mouths shut for a few extra won on their paychecks.

“Hyuna,” Seohyun greeted. Hyuna turned around quickly to meet the owner of the intruding voice.

“Ah, Seohyun I was waiting for you. I didn’t think you’d come by this early in the morning though,” Hyuna nonchalantly stated. Seohyun felt her blood boiling after just a few minutes of being in the woman’s presence. The arrogance in her rival’s voice disgusted her to the point where she felt like throwing up at the sound of it. “So, are you going to talk?”

“If you were expecting me, then you obviously know what I’m here for,” Seohyun snapped back in a heated voice. “I’m not even going to beat around the bush. What exactly happened last night with you and Yonghwa?”

Hyuna’s haughty laughter shattered Seohyun’s eardrums repeatedly after asking the question. The laughing woman was lucky she was in her own home or else Seohyun probably would have already completely lost it. “Oh Seohyun… my darling best friend Seohyun,” Hyuna mocked in a sweet voice. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out from your lover. I don’t kiss and tell.” The giggle the disgusting woman let out after her sentence would have made Seohyun throw up had she been able to have breakfast that morning.

Seohyun forgot all about feeling sad and dejected over finding out that her boyfriend had with Hyuna. The only thing she could feel was rage building up inside her. She was truly worried about how this would affect Yonghwa emotionally, yet Hyuna was sitting here mocking both of them. “You’re disgusting. I don’t even know how a person like you exists on this earth,” Seohyun spat out in the most acidic tone Hyuna had ever heard. Even she hadn’t ever been able to sound that nasty to anyone else.

“Is it so wrong to be in love with someone Seohyun?” Hyuna asked, slightly taken aback by the malice in Seohyun’s attitude. “Is it!? I deserve a shot at what I want too Seohyun! I’ve never had what I wanted and you always do. Perfect little Seohyun always gets what she wants, but Kim Hyuna has to work hard and barely scrapes by. Well you Seohyun! you and your perfect life!!” Hyuna lashed out. Her chest was heaving up and down from how agitated she was. Seohyun’s rage subsided and transformed into the most sincere form of pity a person could feel for another.

“You’re such a sad soul Hyuna. I take it all back,” Seohyun began. “You don’t even disgust me anymore. Kim Hyuna, you’re just a sad and pitiful human being.” Hyuna only grew even more enraged at the tone Seohyun was using with her. At least if someone hated you, it meant you were worth getting angry at. If someone pitied you however, you were worth nothing more than the gum stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoes. “I still think you’re just putting on a show here.”

“A show? This is a pretty bold claim after having Yonghwa wake up in his bed with my sitting there along with him,” Hyuna tried to justify. “You’re an idiot if you still don’t believe what happened between us last night.”

Seohyun scoffed at the pitiful woman’s remarks. Now it didn’t matter to her if Yonghwa had gone all the way with her. It wouldn’t be his fault. All fault would rest on that soul- leech of a girl that everyone had the misfortune of meeting. Now more than ever did Seohyun regret having picked Hyuna of all people to be someone she trusted with all her secrets. At first she felt disgusted by Joon’s behavior as of late, but now she even pitied him for being caught in this web of deceit she had spun. “You win Hyuna.”

“What?” Hyuna spoke up in a startled voice.

“You win,” Seohyun stated in a blank tone. “That’s what you wanted right? You wanted to ruin my life? You wanted to finally have with Yonghwa and have all the money you get from Joon. You have everything you wanted. You win don’t you?” Seohyun even let out a triumphant smirk towards Hyuna’s surprised face. Even though she was admitting defeat, she  couldn’t help but feel victorious. Hyuna wanted to feed on her misery and tears. If she gracefully admitted defeat, she would effectively counter all of Hyuna’s efforts to do so.

“No!” Hyuna desperately cried out. “No, you can’t just give up. We’re too far into the battle for you to give up. Seohyun, I will have Yonghwa. He will be mine no matter what you do. I will not stop until he’s making love to me every night while you sit in your house alone remembering how you defied me today, wishing you hadn’t.”

Seohyun could hardly recognize the monster in front of her. Now more than ever did she realize what kind of a sick and twisted person she had become. No more restraint would be exercised on her behalf. From now on out, any form of companionship and mercy Seohyun felt for her was out the window. “You really will never learn will you?” Seohyun continued to calmly argue. “Let’s say Yonghwa becomes yours somehow. He will never love you. Even if you have with him, it will never be ‘making love’ since he loves me. The only person Jung Yonghwa will ever give a loving gaze to is Seo Joohyun. You’ll have his body, but you’ll never have his soul.”

Hyuna knew Seohyun was 100% right about her claims. She knew all too well that Yonghwa would never be hers. Tears were brought to her eyes at the realization that just came to her. Still, that wouldn’t stop her from completely destroying Seohyun’s perfect life. Even if she would never have Yonghwa’s spirit, she would have his body, and that was all she needed. “Get out of my house now Seohyun. I don’t want to see your goody-two-shoes face longer than I have to,” Hyuna growled.

“I was planning on leaving even if you hadn’t told me to,” Seohyun politely agreed. “I’m glad we had this talk. I know everything’s going to work out just fine now. Thanks for the warnings, I’ll be on my guard. Later.” Seohyun was acting so calm and collected, only making Hyuna burn even more in anger. If there weren’t people around, she would even have the guts to push Seohyun as she traveled down the flight of stairs.

Meanwhile, Joon and Yonghwa shared an awkward silence while they waited for their respective partners to finish their conversation. No longer was the brotherly bond there where they could just sit there comfortably in silence and be perfectly fine. No, Joon had thrown that away long ago. Yonghwa couldn’t even bring himself to hate Joon for what he had done, but at the same time, he had too much pride in himself as well as Seohyun to bring himself to reach out to the traitor. “You want something to drink?” Joon awkwardly offered after so long.

“No thanks, I’m sure we won’t stay any longer,” Yonghwa replied quietly. As if Seohyun heard what he had just said, they heard the familiar footsteps descending the stairs slowly. “We’ll be going now Joon. Sorry to have bothered you so early in the morning.” Joon nodded in their direction and let the couple exit the house without any further conversation.

Yonghwa gave Seohyun a shy smile and received one right back. He was dreading the moment she came down from her little talk with Hyuna the entire time he was waiting. In his mind, they didn’t even need to talk to Hyuna, he was sure his memories weren’t failing him. The images were much too strong for that. “So what happened?”

“What do you mean?” Seohyun asked. “You mean with Hyuna just now or last night?”

“Both,” he responded in a simple manner.

“Let’s get home and get breakfast first,” Seohyun suggested. “I’m too hungry for this right now and I haven’t had a moments rest after coming back from that business trip.” Yonghwa nodded silently and held open the door to the car. He hated himself for causing Seohyun so much trouble in just a few hours, but he couldn’t do anything else about it but be supportive.

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The entire ride back home was awkward to say the least. Yonghwa felt so dirty and disgusting that he couldn’t bring himself to go within a meter of Seohyun. Even though it wasn’t his fault and he was set up, having with Hyuna made him feel so defective. Yonghwa almost likened himself to broken merchandise that nobody wanted to take from the store. “You alright?” a voice called out, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, just a little dizzy from all this commotion,” Yonghwa whispered back. “I’m sorry Seohyun. This is all too much for you to handle at this point in your life. I can’t believe I let this happen.”

Seohyun didn’t give him another chance to have even a single further word of pity for himself. She walked straight up to him and gave him a gentle, yet powerful kiss on the lips. At first he found himself flinching at the contact, not wanting to even let his dirty hands touch the angel in front of him. Yet, he was kissing her back with as much passion as he could find within himself. He had missed her lips, her skin, her taste, and her gentle touch.

“I love you Yonghwa,” she whispered to him as they pulled back just enough to not have their lips lock. Her warm breath tickled his lips, further tempting him to steal another from her. “I don’t care that any of this happened. I love you.”

“Seohyun…” Yonghwa whispered back painfully. “I love you too, but…”

“But what Yonghwa?” she laughed back. “But you’re upset that Hyuna put us in this awkward situation? her, she’s a .” Yonghwa was surprised at the vulgar words that came out of Seohyun’s usually clean mouth. “That’s what she wants you idiot. She wants to break us up. Hyuna knows you are too good of a person to let this slide. She’s using your own weaknesses against you.”

He let his mouth open in surprise when he finally realized what Seohyun was talking about. She was right about everything. Hyuna knew he was too much of a nice guy to not tell Seohyun what happened. She knew he had too big of a conscience to not be upset about this. Usually Seohyun would be too much of an emotional wreck to be able to deal with this. Hyuna had them right where she had them. “How come it’s not working for you then? If she knows us so well, how come you’re okay with this?”

“Do you want to know why she can’t get to me? Do you know why I’m fine with this?”

“No, tell me,” he ordered desperately.

“Because that doesn’t know how much I want to be a part of you. She doesn’t know a thing about how much it hurts me to not be able to kiss you throughout the day. Hyuna will never know how cold I feel when I’m not in your arms. She thinks she knows me but she doesn’t,” Seohyun assured him with the most confidence he had ever heard in a person. When she put it that way, he knew she was right. “Am I right?”

“Yeah you are,” Yonghwa smiled back. “I couldn’t have put it in better words myself.” Seohyun was giving it her all to get through this and all he had done was cry like a loser. If she was willing to throw away everything for him and only him, why couldn’t he do the same? “Damn Seohyun… you are something else. You don’t know how much I want to eat you up right now. Even when I’m kissing you and hugging you I want more. I’m getting dizzy just thinking about how fast my heart beats when you’re next to me.”

The girl let out a shy giggle at the words coming out of his mouth. Now things were starting to get awkward again. A cute blush formed on her cheeks when she realized that he said he ‘wanted more from her.’ It took Yonghwa a second to realize what he had said, forcing him into a blush as well. “Um… yeah me too,” she mumbled.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Yonghwa jumped back away from her as if she were made of fire. “I really didn’t. I mean… I do think about it. A lot actually. But right now that’s not what I meant! Wait! You weren’t supposed to know any of that! Ughhhh!”

Seohyun only laughed more as she had to listen to his cute rambling. “I got what you meant silly. Don’t worry about it, I didn’t take it any other way.” Yonghwa shyly scratched the back of his head and went over to the kitchen to get breakfast started. While facing away from her he let out a deep breath to clear his mind. Just a few hours ago he was in bed with Hyuna and now he was thinking about doing that with Seohyun too. He hated feeling like a ert, but he couldn’t get the thoughts out of his head.

“Um, this is going to sound really awkward but…” Seohyun trailed off. “Do you feel weird at all? Like different? I mean, they say you feel like a different person afterwards. Not that I care!”

Yonghwa knew what she was referring to and strangely enough he felt fine. He felt massively hungover, but apart from that he didn’t feel a single thing. He was sure he would feel something in any part of his body if last night actually happened, but he didn’t. Sure he wasn’t a woman, who would most definitely feel pain somewhere, but even still, he felt normal. “I don’t feel different at all. I just feel really tired still. Whatever it was she used to drug me was really strong.”

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine last night? You might call me stupid and really cheesy, but you feel the same Yonghwa. You don’t feel different to me,” Seohyun confessed. “There’s a little voice in my head that tells me you are the same idiot that I grew to love. Call it women’s intuition or something, but there’s something telling me that Hyuna didn’t do anything to you.”

Yonghwa thought about it, and sure enough, Seohyun was right. Even for him, there was something really fishy about the story. He too heard a little voice inside that denied everything. At first he thought it was just his guilty conscience trying to deny everything, but now that he heard Seohyun felt the same way he was starting to think it was something else. “Yeah you’re right. I feel normal and the little voice inside my head tells me I’m fine.”

The pair just smiled at each other and went about getting ready for the rest of their day. Even if something had actually happened, they both knew they could overcome it. Assuming Hyuna had gotten to Yonghwa, she hadn’t gotten his heart, only his body. In the end, that’s all that really mattered. If Seohyun was still the only woman in his heart, there didn’t seem to be a problem.

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Interaction was still slightly awkward, regardless of how many times they told themselves not to worry about it. However, at least everything seemed to be fixed for the time being. The day went by just like it always did. They both went to work and came back home to enjoy a little quality time before going to bed. Nothing seemed to be different. Everything was perfectly the way it had been before Hyuna pulled any of her tricks. Yonghwa was quietly reading a report on the meeting they would have tomorrow while Seohyun typed away on her laptop before being disturbed by someone at the door. “Coming!” Yonghwa yelled through the door, not bothering to use the camera and speakerphone.

“Heyyyyyyyyy!!” yelled Jang Woo and Eun Jung in unison.

“Oh hey there guys,” Yonghwa greeted in a less enthusiastic voice. “What brings you to our place unannounced?”

“What is this ‘our’ business?” Jang Woo questioned. “Last time I checked, you lived here alone.”

The couple walked into the living room and were greeted by Seohyun’s bright smile. They both gave each other a sly look and giggled a bit. That’s what Yonghwa had meant. “So you guys are living together now? That’s how it all begins…” Eun Jung pointed out. “You guys might as well get it over with now.” Jang Woo let out a laugh and gave Yonghwa a slap on the back.

Seohyun and Yonghwa looked at each other in confusion, wondering what those two weirdos were laughing at. “What do you mean?” Seohyun naively asked. “What the heck are you two laughing at?”

“You guys have a big house to yourselves. I’m sure you guys can make use of every single room if you really tried,” Jang Woo replied in a suggestive voice, complete with a bit of wiggling of his eyebrows. The clueless couple caught the hint and resumed their massive blushfest as they always did. No matter how many times the subject was brought up, the reaction was always the same.

Yonghwa cleared his throat before trying to collect himself once more. “I know you guys didn’t come here to just try to get us to have like rabbits in every room of our house. What’s up?” Seohyun took a seat next to Yonghwa as the couple mouthed something to each other before nodding in agreement. Eun Jung stuck her hand out, forcing everyone in the room to focus on the lustrous band on her finger.

“Jang Woo proposed tonight and I said yes!” Eun Jung squealed. “We’re having the wedding in two months.”

Seohyun and Yonghwa couldn’t form any words at first, but quickly got up and congratulated the newly engaged couple. Hugs and laughter were shared in the house that definitely needed some in the past few hours. “Wow! I can’t believe you guys are going to get married. It’s about damn time,” Seohyun joked. “You guys skipped over that step and went on to do other things.”

“Yah! We’re not that bad. Trust me, once you get your hands on that,” Eun Jung began to explain while motioning over to Yonghwa. “You’ll never want to get out of your bed ever again.” Jang Woo burst out laughing when Yonghwa almost choked on the air he was breathing after Eun Jung’s comment. Seohyun’s blush came back with a vengeance, leaving her incapacitated for a second or two.

“Eun Jung ah, stop teasing these kids. They don’t know any better right now,” Jang Woo commented in a haughty voice. Being the first couple to hit a home run as well as to get married gave the WooJung couple a sense of superiority over the newly formed couple. “They’ll learn in due time.”

Yonghwa rolled his eyes before throwing a punch at Jang Woo’s arm. The boys shared a laugh while Seohyun continued to admire the stones on her engagement ring. She was so happy that Eun Jung was finally getting what she wanted after so many years. She may have never said it, but she had wanted to tie the knot with Jang Woo since they graduated high school. Everyone knew the ert was too much of a free spirit to let himself get tied down so this engagement was a complete surprise for her. Seohyun only wished that she and Yonghwa could get to the point where they would be showing off her engagement ring.

The night went by with Yonghwa and Seohyun offering their two good friends to stay for dinner in celebration of their engagement. They happily agreed since they were in need of a good group meeting even if Joon and Hyuna were no longer part of it. “Hey Seohyun why don’t you give Soo Jung a call? I’m sure she would love to hear the good news.”

“Who the hell is Soo Jung?” Eun Jung asked coarsely.

“My sister..?” Yonghwa stated in a disbelieving voice. “Oh wait, I’m sorry! I meant ‘invite Krystal.’ There that good enough for you?” Eun Jung made an ‘ohhhhh’ face and gave herself a facepalm for being so stupid. Yonghwa rolled his eyes as he continued to fry a mixture of kimchi and rice.

Seohyun took out Yonghwa’s phone from his pocket and dialed the number labeled ‘Brat,’ which brought a chuckle out of her. She called not only once, nor twice, but three times before giving up completely. She found it strange that her phone was on but she was not responding to the calls. “Hey, Yonghwa she’s not picking up.” For some reason those words made Yonghwa’s heart sink, forcing the same feeling out of Seohyun as well.

“You don’t think…” Yonghwa began. “No there’s no way…”

Jang Woo and Eun Jung threw up a confused expression, wondering what it was they were whispering about. “What’s wrong guys?” Eun Jung asked while dropping the knife she was using to cut a few onions. “Is everything okay?”

Yonghwa gave Seohyun a nod before hearing her sigh. He went into the living room to try to get ahold of Krystal’s phone once more before jumping into unnecessary action. Seohyun gave Jang Woo and Eun Jung a rundown of all the things that happened with Hyuna in the past few weeks. The story seemed so unbelievable that they almost wanted to call her out for joking in such a dark way. Now everyone realized why Yonghwa was so worked up by the fact that Krystal wasn’t picking up her phone. Hyuna could be pulling another one of her tricks yet again.

“Hey, Sulli, this is Yonghwa,” they heard Yonghwa greet over the phone. “I’m wondering if you’ve seen Soo Jung anywhere around. I’ve been trying to reach her and she’s not responding.” The girl over the phone said she had just left with a friend to go back home a few minutes ago. A sigh of relief escaped his lips before thanking her for the help.

Yonghwa called Krystal’s phone for the thousandth time that night, only this time getting an answer from him. “Oh my god oppa I’m so sorry,” answered Krystal in English. “I had my phone on vibrate and didn’t hear it. I was at the gym with Sulli and we couldn’t answer it.”

“That’s why you’re so out of breath? And you’re with Sulli right now?” Yonghwa questioned nonchalantly. “You had me worried sick about you. Next time, don’t wait until I call a million times. Also, I just called Sulli so I don’t buy your excuse. Think of better lies next time.”

“Well I said I was with Sulli but now I’m going home…” Krystal lied in hopes to recover from her screw up. On the other side of the phone was a now sweating Krystal and her male friend giving her a questioning glance. He mouthed something to her before she motioned for him to keep driving the car. “I’ll be at the dorm soon so don’t worry about me.”

“Come over to my house. There’s something I need to tell you,” Yonghwa ordered gruffly. “I’ll be waiting for you here.”

Krystal grimaced at the order. “Oppa, you know we’re kind of far from your neighborhood and I don’t want to make my friend drive all the way down there.” Yonghwa’s angry sigh could be heard through the phone. “No we’re not Krystal. We’re pretty close actually,” the male voice pointed out.

“See your friend even knows you’re a little liar. Bring him along too, the more the merrier.” Before Krystal could try to weasel herself out of this one, Yonghwa hung up on her. The only thing she could do was glare at her partner while grinding her teeth. He knew he screwed up and he was not going to enjoy having Krystal mad at him.

“What?” the boy asked while driving into Yonghwa’s driveway.

“You’re a dead man when we get out of here,” Krystal threatened. “You’re so dead.”

The newcomers rang Yonghwa’s doorbell, forcing Krystal to put a more appealing mask on her face. When nobody seemed to be coming to let them in, Krystal punched the numbers into the key code and walked right into her brother’s house. The sound of laughter and the smell of the food assaulted Krystal and her friend’s senses, immediately attracting them to the kitchen. “Oh hey you’re here!” Eun Jung squealed. The two girls shared a hug as the new face just stood there awkwardly waiting to be introduced.

“What’s your boyfriend’s name, Soo Jung?” Yonghwa asked without even having to look up at them.

“Yonghwa oppa!” Krystal cried in exasperation. “Stop being so embarrassing. This is Choi Minho.” The tall, skinny boy with large eyes bowed respectfully as he was introduced. He seemed like a quiet boy, making everyone wonder what he saw in a loudmouth tomboy like Krystal. Everyone was sure he was much better paired up with a quiet and shy girl like Seohyun.

“Sorry but we’re not dating,” Minho shyly pointed out.

Yonghwa dropped what he was doing to walk over and examine Minho. He let out a small chuckle as he gave the boy a glance from head to toe. Everyone was surprised when he came in to give Minho a creepy sniff. “You guys have to work on your lying. Next time don’t try to pull this one when you are covered in my sister’s perfume. Also, I think you should wear a scarf. Those lipstick marks on your neck give you away.”

Minho just looked down in embarrassment, having nothing to say to his girlfriend’s brother. “Oppa!!! Why are you so embarrassing!??” Krystal cried. “Yeah okay! We’re dating! Is that what you wanted to hear.”

“Congrats little sis,” Yonghwa laughed out. “He looks like a good kid so don’t scare him away.” Minho continued to blush shyly before going over to give Krystal’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Ah… so that’s why you guys were so out of breath when I called. Tsk, tsk, Krystal… I hope you guys aren’t moving too fast.”

Krystal whined loudly while stomping her feet as if she were a five year old that didn’t get the toy she wanted on Christmas. The entire group roared in laughter before Seohyun went over to pinch Yonghwa’s arm. The look she gave him was telling him to not embarrass her even further. Soon enough the food was ready and the group of six sat down to trade stories with each other. The girls cooed at the ring Eun Jung now wore. The boys all wondered how the bachelor party would be like.

Even though it seemed like things were going to take for the worse in the morning, everything seemed perfect. In fact, the incident with Hyuna seemed to have made the trust Seohyun and Yonghwa held for each other even stronger. The laughter and happiness being shared at their dinner table was something that they both wished could stay forever. However, they knew that this was temporary. They knew that a day, a week, a month, or even years later, Hyuna would strike. All hell was going to break loose eventually and they wouldn’t even be prepared for it. For now though, they would milk moments like these for all the happiness they could. That’s all they could do; just live their lives like they normally would.

Author’s note: Wow it feels soooooo weird to be back. Well, the first thing I’m going to do is apologize for being gone for so long. I feel so crappy because I started updating once a week, then once every two weeks then left you guys without even a warning. Sorry everyone!! I shouldn’t have promised that I was going to finish the story if I was just going to go on an unannounced hiatus. Anyways, for now, I can’t make any promises. I don’t know how constant my updates will be so I apologize for that in advance.

Anyways, so I’m glad that I don’t feel awkward writing this. It picked up right where I left off and I feel pretty good about it. The end is near though. I don’t know how much longer I give this story, but I think I have five or less chapters left in it. This chapter was definitely on the more happy side since I write too much angst haha. I’ll see you guys in a later update!!