Luhan got in his car and drove to the address that Cheonsa texted to him. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far from his office so he could reach it in about ten minutes.

He saw Cheonsa standing inside a bus station. The bus station was packed with children--maybe there was a kindergarten class going on a trip. He pulled down his window and waved at Cheonsa.

She smiled when she saw him and approached him. “You can park your car over there,” she said, pointing to a parking area.

Luhan got confused. “Aren’t we going in my car?”

She laughed. “Of course not. I doubt your car could fit thirteen children. We’re going on a bus.”

“Thirteen? Do you mean them?” Luhan asked, indicating the pack of noisy children.

“I'll explain it to you later. You better park now before the bus comes.”

Although still confused, he obeyed and parked his car in the parking area. He didn't notice that a small part of him was dissapointed that he wouldn’t get to spend his time alone with her.

When he finished, he headed over to the bus station. It was such a hopeless scene; there were too many children and Cheonsa had to handle them all alone. Nevertheless, the smile on her face never wavered even the slightest at their childish antics.

Cheonsa was too busy separating a fight to notice him come up to her. As Luhan got closer, he asked, “Need any help?”

She smiled at him and clapped loudly, attracting the children's attention and silencing them.

“Kids, this is Uncle Luhan and he would join us on our trip today!”

Some of them clapped while a few eyed him suspiciously.

“Luhan, this is Leeteuk, Kangin, Heechul, Sungmin, Kyuhyun, Shindong, Ryeowook, Hankyung, Siwon, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Yesung, and Kibum," she said, pointing to each child when she said a name. "Kids, say hello to Uncle Luhan.”

“Hello, Uncle,” they chorused.

“Hi.” Some of them scoffed at his lame greeting. He sigh inwardly; he was never good with children.

“We’re going to Lotte World by bus. I hope you don’t mind helping me take care of these children.”

He couldn’t say no to her when she looked at him with pleading eyes. “No, I don’t mind at all. I like children.”

Thank goodness Oh Sehun was nowhere to be found because he would surely laugh hearing him say that.

The bus arrived and they civilly boarded. Well, ‘they’ meant Cheonsa and a few kids whom obeyed her order. The rest of them were loud, rowdy, and bad-mannered. Luhan, being the gentleman he was, decided to appoint himself as the ‘gang’ caretaker.

It was exhausting. A boy named Heechul was persistent to sat beside the bus driver. Another boy named somewhere between Kyumyun and Kyuhyun was pulling a prank towards one of his crybaby hyung. Eunhyuk wouldn’t want to be separated from his twin. And the last annoying kid was Kangin. Luhan swore he only acted frustating just for the sake of annoying Luhan.

He was already worn out by the time they had arrived at Lotte World, but when Cheonsa smiled at him, he was suddenly renewed with energy.

“Thank you for helping me with taking care of them. They can be annoying sometimes, but they’re actually good kids.”

Annoying was a bit understatement, but Luhan nodded nonetheless. “No, I’m glad to have helped.”

“They're orphans who live at the orphanage at the outskirts of town. I visited there a few days ago and decided to bring them here.”

Luhan softened. He didn’t know that they were orphans. He had a soft spot for orphan kids, for they were too young to live without their parents' love.

“Noona, go and buy the tickets,” said one of the kids.

“Okay, Wook-ah, let’s go buy them now.”

As they walked to the ticket stand, Luhan paid extra attention to the ‘gang’ in fear that they would be separated from the group.

Five hours later, Luhan’s feet were aching because of the endless chasings after the kids and his throat was sore from constantly screaming after them. Despite his attempts at chaperoning, the children didn't share his feelings of sympathy as they continued to create havoc for Luhan.  If it was Cheonsa, they acted like sweet, docile, little lambs. But when it was Luhan, they instantly transformed to little wolves that bared their fangs at him.

Fortunately, Cheonsa decided to eat ice cream at a cafe and Luhan was able to rest, even if it was just for a second.

“Can you watch them for a minute? I need to go use the bathroom,” Cheonsa stated while the kids were busy with their bowls of ice cream.

Luhan nodded and she left. As if they were using the chance while Cheonsa wasn’t around, the gang of kids began fighting again.

Heechul slammed his comb on Kyuhyun’s head, almost making him spill his ice cream onto Heechul's head, but the ice cream fell on Kangin, unintentionally starting an ice cream food fight.

Luhan swore he had never hated ice cream as much as that moment.

“Stop!” he shouted, but no one listened to him. He shouted again, but they were too busy fighting. The rest of the kids continued with their activities, not paying much attention to the fight as if this kind of thing usually happened.

Finally, Luhan slammed his hands on the table, made a load sound that made them stop.

“Stop fighting! You’re disturbing other people!” he shouted exasperatedly.

“Are you finally showing your true self?” said Kangin, smirking.

“What?” Luhan asked, perplexed.

“Yeah, you’re not the only one you know. We’ve dealt with people like you before,” said Kyuhyun.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re the kind of person who tells us you love us but you don’t. It’s just acting and fake pity,” said Hankyung, speaking up for the first time.

“Wh-”

“We hate that kind of person the most!” Heechul cried.

All the kids started to speak their minds and all thirteen of them became noisy again.

“Kids, please listen to me for a second,” Luhan said loudly, but not enough to be screaming.

“I don't hate you. Not one bit,” he said, taking turns looking at each of them eye-to-eye. “I admit that you're all a little annoying--”

At this, Heechul raised an eyebrow.

Luhan sighed. “Okay okay, you’re super annoying. But still, you’re just kids; it’s okay to be annoying. I don't hate you for that. I don't pity you at all. I know it’s hard to live without parents, and I respect you all because up until now, you've all survived and live on happily.”

“What do you mean you know how it feels? You know nothing. You live in a big house and have a mommy and a daddy who loves you,” accused Eunhyuk.

“Yeah, what do you know about living without parents?” said Leeteuk, joining in.

“My dad passed away when I was seven years old,” Luhan said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Silence suddenly enveloped the group. The kids all stared at him with an undefinable expression. Then, the youngest of them, Kibum, got up from his seat and approached him.

Luhan was just about to ask what he wanted when Kibum patted his head.

A pat.

“I’m sorry to hear that, hyung.” he said.

Luhan faintly smiled. “It’s okay, it was a long time ago.”

The rest of them continued to eat their ice cream as if nothing happened. But Luhan knew from the way Kyuhyun and Kangin bowed their heads low until they almost touched their ice cream and the way Heechul and Eunhyuk occasionally glanced a him that they were beginning to accept him.

He smiled again--he hadn't felt this happy in a long time. Just then, Cheonsa returned from the bathroom.

“Did they cause any problems?” Cheonsa asked as she sat beside him.

Luhan caught Heechul's eye and he smiled, subtly sending the boy a wink. “No, not at all,” he said.

∞

After walking around for a few minutes, they decided to take a photo using Cheonsa’s phone beside the Lotte World sign. They had just taken one picture when Luhan's phone started ringing. He excused himself from the group and walked a few steps away before answering the call. It was Sehun.

“Hyung, where are you?”

“I’m at Lotte World. Why? Are there any problems?” he said and waved to Cheonsa who waved back at him

“No, I’ve already called Suho hyung to handle your meeting for today.”

“Good, then why are you calling?” Luhan asked, his eyes never leaving Cheonsa.

“What? I’m not allowed to call my best friend?”

He rolled his eyes. Sehun could be such a drama queen at times.

“No you’re allowed to but I...”

Suddenly, his breath hitched as he forgot all about the conversation he was having with the younger male. He was speechless, his jaw left hanging open as his eyes couldn’t move away from the breathtaking gaze in front of him.

It was her.

She was only laughing, but it took his breath away.

She was carelessly laughing while talking with the kids. Her hair fluttered from the wind, but she didn’t seem to mind at all. Her eyes were crinkled and twinkling, and her rosy cheek contrasted with her fair skin.

This was the moment where Luhan realized that she was the one.

There was no other reason why he couldn’t breathe, why his heart was hammering inside his chest. There wasn't another reason as to why his eyes were captivated just by the mere sight of her, why his mouth was open but no sound had come out, and why his mind had deeply ingrained every second of this moment into memory, just so that he could later play it again and again.

As he looked at her, he realized that he was such a fool for not realizing it earlier.

“...Hyung? Are you there?” Sehun interrupted him.

“Sehun-ah...” Luhan said weakly.

“What hyung? What happened?” the younger male asked, panicking.

“I think...I’m falling in love with her.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized.

NO.

This was wrong.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

They were supposed to say no to this arrangement.

But how could he say no when his heart was screaming?

How could he say no to the person he wanted the most in this world?

How could something so wrong feel so right at the same time?

He felt lovestruck and heart-broken in a matter of seconds.

He clutched his chest, this time knowing why this feeling arose.

He had just fallen in love and he would have to reject the marriage arrangement between him and the woman he loved the most.

Live was such a cruel joke sometimes.