I thought that Sehun was really handsome when he drove. There was just a vibe when he was behind the wheel, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on my knee. He was also the only person who was not in my family that I let drive my sports car. Not even Yixing got to drive my baby.

“Why can’t I have a go?” Yixing had grumbled when he found out. “I haven’t gotten into any accidents yet, have I?”

“Your forgetfulness scares me,” I told him. “I’m taking preventative measures by banning you from driving my car.”

Sehun, on the other hand, was a smooth driver. Whenever we took road trips, I usually just let him drive because he was a better driver than me by far. 

In the middle of autumn, just as the leaves were beginning to fall, Sehun and I took a road trip to the mountains in my car. Seoraksan’s national park was considered most beautiful during the autumn for a reason. The trees were shades of red and orange and turned the entire place into a magical wonderland. 

Of course I should have known that everything was too perfect to be true. 

The papers were sitting on the kitchen table two weeks later when I woke up early one morning. There were half sticking out of a manila envelope, and of course, I opened them with curiosity. Then, my eyes widened. 

“Joonmyun oppa?” I called, frantically flipping to another page.

“What?” My brother ran into the room upon hearing my yell. He seemed to have just gotten up as well, and had a groggy look about him. “What is that?”

“It was just on the table,” I mumbled. 

“It wasn’t there when I woke up earlier,” he said, walking closer. “Are you okay, Naeun? Your expression doesn’t look good.”

“It’s a copy of a contract,” I said, holding out the papers out. “It looks like…is it what I think it is?”

There was a moment of tense silence as Joonmyun flipped through the documents as well, lips set in a grim line. 

Finally, he let out a sigh. “Mom has offered to buy Kris Wu’s garage,” he said finally. “She’s offered them an insane amount of money, maybe triple of what the place is actually worth, on the condition that they leave Seoul by tomorrow. She bought them tickets back to Jeju for this afternoon.”

“By tomorrow?” Was this why Sehun was acting weird that day when Kris called? Had Kris just been meeting with my mother?

“I can’t believe she would – this isn’t right,” Joonmyun growled.  

This was the second time my mom had used her money and position to try to ruin something that was important for me. It had worked the first time, when Kim Jongin walked out of my life. Was it about to happen again?

“You don’t think Sehun and Kris would…do you?” I asked. 

Joonmyun’s look told me everything. With the amount of money my mom had offered, anything was possible. 

“I need to go see him. I need to talk to Sehun.”

I was a nervous wreck on my drive to the garage. Why had Sehun not told me about the offer? What about Kris? Was I going to find them half packed and about to abandon me when I got there? Why didn’t they trust me enough to tell me what was going on? 

I pulled into the garage parking lot but didn’t bother to park properly in a spot. Tears were running down my face and I was sure I looked like a real mess. 

The garage was empty inside – no one was working. Where was everyone? Could they possibly be gone?  

“Kris? Sehun? Yah, Oh Sehun?” I yelled. My voice echoed in the empty garage, painfully hitting my ears on its way back. I sounded hysterical even to myself.

“Naeun?” The door to the stairs that lead up the apartment opened and Jongdae poked his head out. “Are okay?”

I pushed past him, eyes wild as I scanned the apartment. Everything was still there – nothing had been packed. 

“Why is the garage empty? Where is everyone?” I asked.

“We finished the last car last night so it’s an off morning. What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo had also appeared. He took one look at my crying face and turned back around. “Sehun? Get out here! Kris? It’s too early in the morning for me to be dealing with all this!”

A moment later, Sehun came sprinting down the last of the stairs, hair sticking up all over the place. Had he been sleeping in?

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