Drinking Coffee ♦

   "She looks beautiful and. . . yeah." Myungsoo said, his eyes glued on the young lady-- who was glowing under the faint light of the chandelier.  The boys nodded their heads, agreeing on what Myungsoo just said. "Wait, is this the first time we've seen her wear those kind of clothes?" Sungyeol asked while scratching the back of his head.

"Its the nth time for Woohyun." Mrs. Nam answered, making everyone transfer their gaze to her. "I have?" Woohyun cluelessly asked, making Mrs. Nam giggle. "Yes, dear. You've seen her wear lots of dresses before. . . . when her father was still here." Mrs. Nam's voice trailed off as she said the last part. 

"What do you mean 'when her father was still here'?" Sungjong asked while doing finger quotations. Mary's, Mrs. Nam for short, face was glum and troubled. How can she forget that day? That day when Lauren was broken, miserable and heavyhearted. 

"U-uh. . . It's nothing." Mary nervously laughed as she started avoiding their gaze. "C'mon Aunt Mary! We're getting curious and stuff! Please tell us." Dongwoo clasped both of his hands and gave her pleading eyes. "Boys, I can't tell you. It's quite personal and I don't want to hurt..." She paused as she glanced over ~~~~'s direction and said, "~~~~. She has no clue on what happened to her father and she doesn't even know the whereabouts of her own father."

The boys fell silent after hearing what Mary just said. As if it was on cue, ~~~~ finally finished. She stood up and walked towards their direction. "How was it Mrs. Nam?" The young lady asked, earning a smile from Mary. "It was beautiful, honey and call me Aunt Mary. You don't have to be formal and besides, I'm your godmother." Mary gave ~~~~ a wink and placed an arm on her shoulder.

"So you're saying ~~~~ is my childhood friend?" Woohyun asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Mary and ~~~~ looked at Woohyun. "Yes, dear. You two are childhood bestfriends." Mary also placed an arm on her son's shoulder. "Whaaaat?" The boys and ~~~~ gave Mary a 'are-you-kidding-me' look. 

"You two are childhood bestfriends, okay? I have to go and greet the other guests. And Woohyun, honey?" 

"Yes, mom?"

"Lead your friends to the table." 

"Yes, mom."

"Good boy and honey, you can ask me anything later." Mary then left the kids and started greeting the guests. Woohyun then faced the boys and ~~~~. "Well then, let's go--" "Hi kids." A guy with a baritone voice interupted Woohyun.

"Hi Mr. Nam." The kids chorused and bowed. "You don't have to be so formal, kids. Call me Uncle Andrew." It was no other than Woohyun's dad. "And boys, can I borrow ~~~~ for awhile?" Andrew asked as he placed an arm on ~~~~.

"Yes, you can Dad/Uncle Andrew." The boys chorused while looking at the smiling Andrew. "Thanks boys! Now, let's go ~~~~." Andrew said, leaving the boys with ~~~~ beside him. "Where are we going Uncle Andrew?" ~~~~ asked as her fingers fiddled. "Someone want to see you." Andrew said with a grin plastered on his face.

​Someone wants to meet me?  ~~~~ thought  and said, "Why would someone want to meet an ordinary girl like me?" Andrew chuckled and ruffled the young girl's hair. "You're no ordinary girl, ~~~~ and besides you're a hot topic in your school." 

"Am not." She disagrees. Who wouldn't be attracted to this girl? Even one of Myungsoo's friends like her! "Yes you are and you better not disagree with me. I have my sources." Andrew said while smiling proudly. He greeted the visitors as they pass by.

"Sources?!" She squeaked, making Andrew laugh. "There's no need to worry, dear. And besides there's no need for you to get all squeaky." He reassured the young Lee and halted in front of a big, white door. 

"We're here." ~~~~ stared at the big door right in front of her. What a ginormous door they have.. ~~~~ thought as she carefully obeserved the details of the door. Andrew was going to push the door open when Mary suddenly exclaimed.

"~~~~, dear!" Mary called out, shuffling towards ~~~~'s side. "What now, Mary?" Andrew asked with an irritated tone. Mary gave him a glare and ignored his question. "Come with me, darling. The party is now starting." Mary said-- pulling ~~~~ with her as they left Andrew dumbfounded. ~~~~ was also dumbfounded by the situation.

Well, let's just say that she is so dense to notice those types of situations. Mary pulled her until they reached the venue. They stopped right beside the piano. "Uhm, Aunt Mary, the other guests have not yet arrived." Mary grew flustered at what the young Lee just said. "Ahe. . . my my, they're still on their way. Um, excuse me for a sec." 

Mary strides towards Woohyun's table-- which was also his friends table, and excuses Woohyun from his friends. "Hi dears, can I talk to my son for a moment?" She asks. "Yes, Aunt Mary." The boys chimed, flashing her a toothy grin. She gives them a sweet smile and excuses Woohyun and herself. Sh then turns toward Woohyun and asks, "Has the Lee family arrived yet?" Woohyun tapped his chin and said, "I don't know. I'll go and call Hyuk if they're on their way."

"Why don't you look for them instead?" "But mom, today is my birthday and you're going to make me search for them? It should be your job to look for them rather than the birthday boy's job." Woohyun complained with a pissed look. Mary just sighed and muttered something that only herself could hear it.

"Good riddance."

"Did you say something, mom?" Woohyun looks at his mom with an eyebrow raised. "Nothing dear. Run along now, I'll go search for them instead." Mary then leaves Woohyun with lots of thoughts running through her mind. What is Andrew up to now? She thought. 

"What did Aunt Mary say?" Sungyeol asked the young Nam, who just came back from his Mother and Son discussion. "It’s about mom whose ordering me around." He grumbled as he makes his way towards his seat. He sits down with an unexplainable expression.

"You guys better not do something to rile him off." Sunggyu looked at the boys with a warning look, which made the other boys look at each other. Meanwhile, ~~~~ then walks out of the venue with the music sheets on her hand.

She then looks around, starting to get curious. Why is this place so familiar? It's like I've been here before. She thought as she walks with her eyes roaming around, observing every single detail of the hallway. As she continued observing, she noticed that her feet brought her towards the garden. 

She gasped at the beautiful sight in front of her. "What a beautiful garden." She whispered as she walks toward a tree. "It would have been as impossible for such feeling to find a root, as it would be for myrtle trees to effloresce." ~~~~~ stares at a beautiful tree right in front of her. 

She then turns her back and starts looking at the plants. She would smell the fragrance of the flowers and stare at it for a moment. She would then blurt things out of the blue, which surprises her. ~~~~ then finds a beautiful, detailed fountain on the center of the garden.

“Wow. . . this place is really beautiful. Wait. Let me rephrase that. This place is exquisite!” ~~~~ beamed, her eyes sparkled like a crystal. She then thought of something. “I could practice here or maybe think of the music sheets that I could play for later.”

~~~~ sat on the bench that was placed on each side of the fountain. She pulls out her music sheets and starts looking for the right music sheet. She then stops at a specific music sheet. “If I play this Chopin scherzo at the end, I think I’m going to bring down the house.”

~~~~ sighs as she continues looking for the right music sheets to play. Meanwhile on the other hand, Mary then spots the Lee family, who just got off of their car. “Laura! Lauren! You guys made it.” Mary welcomes the Lee with a big smile.

“Mary!” The twins greeted Mary with huge grins on their faces. “I’m so glad that you guys are here!” Mary squealed as she gripped on the twin’s hands. “Good thing, we’re here. ~~~~~ forgot her present for Woohyun.” Hyuk mumbled as he stood beside his mother. "Where's Jun?" Mary asked as her eyes searched for him. "Oh, he's-" "I'm here!" Jun was jogging towards their direction with a big present on his right arm.

"There you are." Lauren patted her brother's back as she gave him a faint smile. "Oh, Mary, I almost forgot. I want you to meet my sons, Sanghyun, Baekhyun and Taehyung. And this is Laura's son, Hyuk." Jun introduced the four young lads to Mary. "Such fine young lads." Mary complimented as she patted each one of them on the shoulder. "Now, shall we go inside?" Mary received a nod from them and they walked through the detailed halls.

They chatted and chatted until they reached the venue. Mary led them to their table and saw Andrew talking to Woohyun. I wonder what they’re talking about? Mary thought as she noticed Woohyun stand up. Mary shrugs it off and continues to chat with the Lee Family.

Meanwhile, ~~~~ finally found the music pieces she’s going to play. She stands up and was about to leave when a voice stopped her, “~~~~-ah.” She looks back and see’s Woohyun walking towards her with his hands on his pockets. “Oh, woohyun-ah.” ~~~~ faces Woohyun and gives him a smile.

“W-what are you doing here?” Woohyun stammered when he saw ~~~~ smile. His cheeks were tinted pink, or may I say it, he was slightly blushing. “I was just choosing some music piece, though.” ~~~~ answers, being dense as she is. “O-oh. . . Let’s go back to the venue. It’s going to start and I need you to be my muse for today.” Woohyun said as he looked into ~~~~’s eyes.

“M-muse? Me? I’m not that pretty to be your muse, Woohyun.” ~~~~ awkwardly laughed while avoiding Woohyun’s gaze. “You’re beautiful, ~~~~. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to be my muse.” Woohyun stated firmly, making ~~~~ gasp.

She got quiet for a second, her mind trying to grasp the situation. “O-okay, fine.” ~~~~ give up and mentally raised a white flag, surrendering to Woohyun. “Good, now shall we go?” Woohyun offered ~~~~ her his arm. ~~~~ then links arms with Woohyun.

They both walked back towards the venue with smiles on their faces. They were talking about the times they spent when they were young. “Remember the time when you suddenly tripped and fell into the mud?” ~~~~ laughed while reminiscing about the past.

“Oh c’mon, ~~~~! Why would you bring that up?” Woohyun’s face was red as a tomato. “But wait! Since you brought that up, I remembered pulling you in and you cried since you dress was ruined!” Woohyun’s embarrassed face was replaced with a big grin. “H-hey!” ~~~~ is now the one who’s embarrassed. “You were a wuss back then!” ~~~~ teased, making Woohyun gasp. “Now you’re getting it!” Woohyun starts tickling ~~~~. Their laughs were heard throughout the halls.

They started to tone their laughs down. Tears formed in the corners of their eyes, they both wiped it off. “Good times, good times.” They both chorused, making them laugh once more. They then arrived in front of the venue. The spotlight was now focused on them.

“Now please welcome our birthday boy, Nam Woohyun, with his lovely muse, Lee ~~~~!” the host beamed as we both walked in the center aisle. Not the one in the wedding. They were now in the stage, side by side, with smiles plastered in their faces.

“I heard that ~~~~ is going to play the grand piano for your birthday, Woohyun-sshi. Am I right?” the host asked as he pointed the mic to Woohyun. “Yes, ~~~~ is going to play the grand piano for my birthday. And it’s really an honor since my childhood best friend is going to play for me after all this year.” Woohyun said as he gave ~~~~ a smile. ~~~~ smiled back and gave a light squeeze on Woohyun’s arm.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet? Before ~~~~ is going to play the grand piano, I have this question, which everyone is dying to know.” The host said as we both looked at him. “What’s your question?” We both asked the host, only earning a teasing smile from the host.

“I know you guys have heard that you two look good as a couple. And this is the question, are you two going out?” ~~~~ and Woohyun were taken aback by the question, making Woohyun and ~~~~ stutter. “W-we’re not d-dating!”

“Hahaha, whatever you say. Anyways, ~~~~ would you do the honor to play the grand piano?” The host then changes the topic. ~~~~ nods and walks towards the grand piano. She sits down and places the music sheets in the music rack.

She took a deep breath and placed her delicate, long fingers on the keyboard. She starts playing the keys, her eyes closed as she became one with the harmony. Everyone silently listened to the harmonious sound.

After that, everyone continued doing what they’re doing. The guest chatted with each other. Woohyun, Mary and Andrew thanked the guests for coming. Everyone was happy. Woohyun then walks towards ~~~~. “Hey, ~~~~.”

~~~~ looks up and gives Woohyun a smile, “Hmm?” He scratched the back of his head and said, “You can stop and have a break, ~~~~. This guy will be the one playing now.” ~~~~ nods and stops. She stands up and walks towards Woohyun. The guy went and replaced ~~~~.

“Shall we go and eat together?” Woohyun asks ~~~~, earning a nod from her. They both walked towards their table, taking their seats. The waiter brings their food and they started eating. Six guys walks towards their table, occupying the empty chairs.

“Wow, Woohyun and ~~~~ are eating their dinner together. Such a rare sight.” Sungyeol smirked with his elbows propped on the table. ~~~~ and Woohyun looked at each other and giggled. “Why are they giggling?” Dongwoo asked Sunggyu, who only earned a shrug. “It’s actually not a rare sight guys.”

“It’s not?” The six of them chorused. The two nodded and Woohyun explains, “We’re childhood best friends, guys! Didn’t you guys listen? Anyways, we also eat dinner together ever since we were young. And you guys were hogging up the table so we got a new table.” Sunggyu furrows his eyebrows and gave Woohyun a ‘what-now-look’. Woohyun just rolls his eyes and continues eating.

“Is it true, ~~~~?” Hoya asks, for the sake for his friends. “Why didn’t you tell us, hyung?” Myungsoo was now the one who is asking. He was serious, alright. “Why are you serious all of the sudden, Myungsoo?” Woohyun stops eating as he stares at Myungsoo.

“It’s true, Hoya.” ~~~~ answers Hoya but then keeps quiet after Myungsoo’s question. “Just answer me, hyung.” Myungsoo firmly said with a monotone voice. “Okay fine. I didn’t tell you guys since I just knew it awhile ago! I would’ve told you guys in the first place but then I didn’t know!” Woohyun answered, frustrated by Myungsoo’s question.

“But I guess fate brought us back together.” ~~~~ blurted out, which made everyone look at her. “W-what?” ~~~~ stammered as she looked at all of them. “W-wait, you guys misunderstood what I said! I’m just thankful that I could meet my childhood best friend, once again!” ~~~~ explained herself in a panicked manner.

“Do you like Woohyun?” Dongwoo asked out of the blue. ~~~~ almost choked when Dongwoo asked the question. “W-what?” She starts coughing, making Woohyun give her a glass of water. ~~~~ gulps down the glass of water. “Yah! Don’t ask a girl such questions.” Sungjong smacks Dongwoo in the head and apologizes on his behalf, “I apologize for my hyung’s outburst.”

“I-it’s okay.”  ~~~~ forgives him right away. “Hey, I have a question.” Everyone turns their attention to Hoya and Woohyun asks, “What is it?” “It’s for ~~~~. I know this is a sudden question. If you don’t want to answer it, I understand but where’s your father?”

~~~~ grimly answered, “I don’t know about his whereabouts.” Silence then took over after that. “I-I’m sorry if I asked such insensitive question.” Hoya lowered his head and started regretting it. “B-but, what really happened ~~~~?” Woohyun had the courage to ask her that. She sighs and answers, “I also don’t know.” She was totally avoiding the question. She was also like them. She needed answers to it.

She’s living in a world filled with lies. “Let’s not talk about this.” ~~~~ spoke up. “Okay.” All of them answered and shut their mouths up. Meanwhile on the other side, Mary and Andrew were talking with the Lees. “Hey, Andrew, honey. Where did you go with ~~~~?” Andrew started to tense up. He couldn’t meet the gaze of Lauren.

“Where did you go, Andrew?” Lauren asked, her heart beating loudly. She feels that something was going to happen. Andrew grew silent, his head hanged low. Lauren had this feeling that she does not want to hear his answer. She knew that this would just hurt her in the process.

“C’mon, bro. Just tell us.” Jun persuaded Andrew with a serious tone. “K-kids, why don’t you go and talk to Woohyun?” Laura finally sensed the heavy atmosphere and told the boys. The boys also noticed the atmosphere and nodded. They left and went towards the table where Woohyun was, along with the others.

“Just spill it out, Andrew.” Mary gritted her teeth, waiting for her husband to answer. Andrew sighs, he looks up, meeting Lauren’s gaze. “Don’t get angry, Lauren. I just wanted ~~~~ to see him once again.” His voice was filled with sadness. It was not the first time that he has done this.

“He’s here?” Lauren lifelessly asked Andrew. The color of her face was drained, she was pale white. “Y-yes. He called me last night if he could see his daughter.” Andrew muttered, avoiding Lauren’s gaze. “He wants to see my daughter but he does not want to see his own wife, whom he left behind?” Lauren’s eyes showed a glimpse of fire burning in her eyes. She was furious but sad at the same time.

“Yes. . . He also wanted to see you but then he was also scared at the same time. He does not know how to face you after all this years.” Andrew once added, making Lauren tremble in anger. Why now? Why didn’t he thought of coming back for the past years? ~~~~ and I are already happy. Lauren thought as she stares at the empty space.

“Lauren—“ “Let him see his daughter. If he does not want to see nor speak to me, I respect his decision. Please excuse me.” Lauren stood up with her purse on her right hand. She hurriedly walked out of the venue, tears forming on the side of her eyes. Her tears threatened to fall but she held it back. Once she got out of the place, she called her chauffeur. “Pick me up, now.”

Their chauffeur came in the speed of light. He went out and opened the door for Lauren. “Madame.” He bowed 45 degrees with his hand on his lower abdomen. “Please bring me home.” Lauren requested, earning an answer from him, “As you wish, Madame.”

Meanwhile, on the other hand, “Hey guys.” Hyuk greeted ~~~~, Woohyun and his friends with a big smile. “Oh, hey Hyuk!” ~~~~ greeted him with a smile. She then noticed three young lads behind him. “Hi Sanghyun Oppa, Bacon Oppa, Taehyunggie~!” She beamed with a big grin on her face.

“Hi guys.” The three chorused, making the other guys greet back. “Wait, are you the famous Lees in—“Hahaha, we’re not that famous ‘ya know.” Sanghyun humbly disagrees with Sunggyu’s statement. “Don’t be so modest. We know that you guys are the famous Lees.” Sunggyu chuckled, his eyes forming an eyesmile.

“You guys must be the famous Flower Boys in ~~~~ and Hyuk’s school.” Taehyung smirked as he and Myungsoo had an eye contact. “Yes, it’s them Taehyung.” ~~~~ rolls her eyes and sighs. “Anyways, guys, I want you to meet my cousins, Sanghyun, Baekhyun and Taehyung. Guys, I want you to meet Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Sungjong.” ~~~~ introduced each sides, her lips tugged upwards.

“It’s nice to meet you, guys.” Both sides chorused, making all of them chuckle. “Why don’t you guys have a seat?—“ ~~~~ was then cut offed when someone spoke.

“~~~~, Do you have a minute?”