"Honey, did you hear me?"

        Nina blinked in confusion and looked up to see her stepmother's amused expression. She sheepishly smiled and looked down at her hands, realising that she was still scrubbing the same plate for ten minutes or so. She blushed as the elder chuckled and quickly rinsed it away along with the other plates in the sink.

        "Nina, what's wrong?" her mother's voice stopped her actions. Her voice was soft and sweet, a lullaby to the ears of an orphan who seeks love and attention from a woman who was once married to her father. Even though they were not blood related, Nina and her stepmother, Mrs. Kim, were really close since the elder wasn't able to conceive during her marriage and Nina had needed a mother's love. Her biological mother had passed away at birth and Nina was only able to feel a mother's love a few years later when her father remarried.

        "It's nothing, eomma. I think I slept on the wrong side of the bed last night," she replied, not wanting to tell her what was actually in her mind.

        "There's something else." Mrs. Kim said as she pulled the younger away from the sink and sat her at the dining table. She then lovingly caressed her daughter's face, causing her to close her eyes at the warm touch and sigh in contentment. A smile made its way on both the ladies's lips as they felt the bond they had as mother and daughter. "Nina-yah..."

        "Ne, eomma..." 

        "What's wrong?" she asked again. "I know there's something bothering you. You just came home from a two weeks vacation and this isn't how you should be acting. And don't think I didn't know you sent a resignation letter to your boss the other day."

        Nina looked up in surprise. "How did you know that, eomma?" she asked.

        Mrs. Kim chuckled. "Next time when you want to be secretive with me, make sure you don't leave your things laying around." she replied, causing Nina to smile sheepishly. "I guess I understand why you decided to resign from that job, but have you had another job in mind already?"

        "No, not yet. I just want to take a break for a while. Maybe find something else I'd want to do as a career."

        "Like writing?"

        "If only I can. It's not easy to be writers these days, eomma."

        Mrs. Kim nodded. "I know, sweetheart. But it's okay, there will be something else for you out there. Right now, just relax. Will you be staying here in Jeju since you're free or are you going back to the city?"

        Nina bit her bottom lip at her mother's question. Her heart started beating wildly in her chest and she realised she was actually feeling excited at the thought she had in mind. She bit down her smile as it tried to make its way on her face and cleared . "If you don't mind," she started. "I have to go back to the city. I still need to settle some few things."

        Mrs. Kim smiled and simply nodded. She knew there was something else, but she trusted her daughter. She softly reached for her hand and squeezed it, silently voicing out her concern and support towards her. Nina understood this and smiled appreciatively. "So when are you leaving?" her mother asked.

        "Soon."

        Mrs. Wu hung up the phone and slightly tossed it away on the empty space on the couch. She sighed tiredly and checked the time only to realise that it was almost midnight. She had been talking on the phone with her husband and had lost track of time. She frowned when she realised that Kris has yet to come home and grew worried about him. She reached for her device again and was about to unlock it when she heard the sound of a car coming in the driveway. She quickly got up and peeked through the curtains, smiling briefly when she saw her son coming out of the convertible. She hurried to the door and opened it, stepping outside to welcome her son home.

        "Sweetheart, I-" her words got stuck in at the disoriented look on her son's face. She felt her chest heave in pain at his obvious depression and immediately grew worried. "Kris honey, what's wrong?" she asked, sounding like she was on the verge of crying.

        "Mom, why aren't you in bed yet? It's late." Kris calmly said, ignoring her words. He stepped closer to her and briefly kissed her forehead before walking inside. Mrs. Wu hurried after him and shut the door behind them. "Did you eat yet?" he asked her while taking off his jacket.

        "Yes, I did."

        "Then why aren't you asleep, mom?"

        "I was on the phone with your father," she replied.

        Kris nodded. "How is he? Is the business doing okay in Canada?" he asked, walking towards the kitchen. His mother worriedly trailed after him and watched as he grabbed a glass and turned to the fridge to get the orange juice. 

        "It's fine, Kris. He's doing well too. Your uncle is watching over him there but that's the least of our worries now."

        Her son placed down his glass on the kitchen counter and frowned at her. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong?" he asked, oblivious to his mother's reason of concern.

        "You, Kris. Your father and I are worried about you. Look at you," she said as she stepped towards him and cupped his face. "You have dark circles under your eyes and you look so tired. These past few days you haven't been eating much and it's worrying me, son. What's wrong, huh? Tell me."

        Kris sighed and placed his hands over her mothers, bringing it to his lips and softly kissing them. Mrs. Wu felt her heart softened at his odd yet sweet actions, and her eyes watered. "Mom, don't worry to much about me. I just have so many things to do at the office and it's kinda messing with my appetite. I'm fine, mom, really. I'm a grown up man. I can take good care of myself."

        "And I'm your mother, Kris. I don't care how old you are. I will always worry about you. I know you can take care of yourself but right now, you're not. You look so... broken. Did something happened which I didn't know about?" she asked.

        "Nothing. I'm fin-"

        "Is it Nina?"

        Silence.

        "It is, isn't it? You've been like this since she left last week. What happened, Kris? Did you guys fight? Is that why you're like this? Is she not coming back?" his mother shot him question after question.

        Kris shook his head. "I... I don't know, mom." I really don't.

        He could've told her the truth. He should have. But he couldn't admit to his mother that he had lied to her, cause he didn't want her to feel sad. Kris knows that his mother is fond of her, and knowing that it was all a lie - it will only break her heart. They've grown close to each other ever since Mrs. Wu's stay here and she had hoped to see her son and Nina last. Looking at his mother now, she had a look of pain on her face, and Kris knew that she was starting to worry about his 'relationship' with Nina.

        "I'm sorry, Mom." Kris whispered after a while. "I'm tired so I'm going to head to bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" He once again kissed his mother's forehead and went pass his mother, heading upstairs straight towards his room. Upon entering it, Kris blindfoldedly walked into his dark room and threw his tired body onto the bed. Without even taking off his working attire, Kris fell asleep with Nina as the last person in his mind.

        "Watch out!"

        The sound of guns firing echoed throughout the apartment as Tao furiously tapped onto the gaming console in his hands. A headphone was neatly tucked on his head while the mic was at the corner of his lips. Tao screamed profanities as his gaming character was shot by the opponent and he hissed at the mic.

        "Chanyeol hyung, you're supposed to back me up!" he whined.

        "Sorry, Tao-yah. I was distracted." Chanyeol's voice was heard through the speakers of the headphone. Tao could hear the male muttering curses from the other side along with the sound of explosions and guns firing, and he even heard his hyung's girlfriend cheering from the other line.

        "Chanyeol-ah, three o'clock." Another voice screamed from the speaker. More gunshots were heard as Chanyeol's gaming character fired his gun.

        "Thanks for the heads up, Luhan." Chanyeol said before throwing another set of profinities which was joined by Tao.

        "I got your back, giant." Luhan replied.

        The three guys were playing an online game where they were able to communicate with each other as a team, and it was a ruckus. Never ending profanities slipped through their mouths while their fingers were furiously pressing onto the game console. Tao was so absorbed in the game that he failed to notice his phone ringing, and when he did, it was already the third call.

        "Hold on, guys. I'm receiving a phone call," he said through the mic.

        "At 1AM? Don't tell me it's Kris??" Luhan whined when Tao paused the game, causing the game on their TV screens to pause too.

        Tao reached for his phone and checked through his missed calls list before gasping when he saw the caller's ID. The other two heard him over the mic and grew curious. "Who was it, Tao?" Chanyeol asked with his deep voice. 

        "Uhh... someone. I gotta go, guys. We'll continue the game later." Before his hyungs could even utter a reply, he exited the game and switched it all off in order to make sure they won't be eavesdropping on him. He was about to dial the number back when his phone rang, showing the same numbers as before and he quickly answered it. "Hello?"

        "Tao?"

It's March 26th! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Xiumin~~ happy birthday to you!!! *throws confetties* yayyy!!! Happy birthday, Baozi. You cutie pie... I can't believe you're the eldest in EXO! OMG Baozi~ >_<

Look at him, so cute! Hahaha... do you still wish to go under the sea to see the mermaid, Xiuminnie? Kekeke... so cute! OMG I just want to bite your cheeks off man. Oh wait, that sounded wrong. Hehehe... Baozi, I hope you take good care of yourself and the members, and I wish you all the best in your career. I hope you speak more now that you're older. I wonder if your voice is too precious to be used. Hehehe... I love you, Xiumin! <3

To all my readers, another update for you! I was itching to write soon so I ended up updating two days in a row. Hehehe... I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad you guys are loving the updates so far. Though I am guilty as charged after what I did to Kris in the previous chapter. I'm sorry, babe, but I promise it'll get better. Feed me comments, minions. I'm hungry! Ngeee~~~

This authornim is high... Kris just fed me drugs. O.O

Kris: I DID NOT! 

Oops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY XIUMIN!!!!!