Here’s a long chapter to ease up my guilt for not updating for so long. I don’t know if it’s up to your expectation but enjoy~ And do tell me if it’s too slow or too fast? Or is it okay with you guys.

Chapter 4
 

"Now I want you to place your hand to your chest. Like this. Now promise me you will speak of the truth and only the truth"

Luhan's voice boomed across the park they were at right now making Yi Lin turning more and more red considering the amount of puzzled stares the passer by gave them. Some of them even burst into laughter seeing her fiancé get mad each time she refused to do what he told her to do. The sight of Xiumin literally rolled on the ground laughing at her does not make her feel any better. She released a deep sigh.

"Why did we have to do this?"

Luhan rolled his eyes and sighed, too, dramatically.

"Luna told me to ask you this. Now, put your hand on your heart!"

Hearing another girl's name rolled off his lips made her insides burned in jealousy.

"And who's Luna?"

"My friend. Do it~"

"Okay, okay. I'm doing it. What next?"

The next phrase that escaped Luhan's lips rendered her speechless.

"Do you love me?"

Even Xiumin who was clearly enjoying himself earlier stopped laughing and gave her a haunting look causing a heavy tug at her heart.

Luhan, on the other hand was holding his breath waiting for the girl's reply. Please.

The latter was silent for quite some time, listening to her own heartbeat and even breathing.

"Of course I love you, otherwise why would I marry you?"

She replied, smiling sweetly to her fiancé much to Xiumin's annoyance. He shot a questioning look at her but his antics got ignored as she glided towards Luhan and hugged him tightly, her field of vision never left Xiumin. Luhan exhaled in relief, smiling widely as he absorbed Yi Lin's answer. He tightened his grip on Yi Lin ignoring his heart's attempt to tell him something was off.

.
 

Sehun approached little Luna who was busy colouring her book at a corner of his cafe after leaving an employee to be in charge. He also carried a packet of prawn cracker which was the girl's favourite, indeed proving she was the exact carbon copy of her mother.

"Hey"

"Hello oppa. Want to ask about mummy?"

Luna answered boldly, her attention never deterred from the Pororo drawing she was working on. Her boldness caught him by surprise, another trait inherited from her mother, causing an instant pang of embarrassment  on his face.

"A...ani. I brought this because I know you like it so much. Hey, it's not nice accusing me like that. Oppa is sincere, you know?"

Luna giggled.

"Oppa, no one is accusing you of anything"

"Eat your crackers, young lady"

The little girl finally stopped focusing on her Pororo drawing, grabbing the cracker and tore its' packaging. Her eyes was crescent moon again, contented with the heavenly taste of the cracker swirling in . Her mummy had been limiting her intake of the thing for quite a long time much to her constant protest.

"I love you, oppa"

Sehun who was already making himself comfortable beside her let out a small chuckle at her sudden remark.

"Say, Luna"

"Hmm?"

"Have your mummy mentioned anything about me these days?"

"Ne? Let me think..."

Unconsciously, Sehun leaned closer, waiting her reply in full anticipation.

"Oppa likes mummy a lot, don't you?"

"Yes"

Luna giggled quietly, wanting to oppa more.

"Mummy is very pretty, right?"

"Very"

Again, he answered absentmindedly, nodding his head vigorously. This made Luna burst in laughter.

"Who's pretty?"

A voice came from behind Sehun making him startled in recognition. He turned his head at the source while Luna hurriedly hiding the red packet of prawn crackers she ate earlier.

"Oh? Hyuna? When did you get back?"

"Just a while ago. What are you guys talking about? Are you guys talking behind my back?"

Hyuna eyed both of them suspiciously, proceeding to put her handbag on the table before taking a seat right beside Sehun making him a bit flustered after what he said earlier.

"Of...of course..."

"Of course not. It's a secret between me and oppa. Right oppa?"

Luna cleverly cut in before Sehun could finish his words (and embarrass himself more), sending a small wink to the man.

"Umm, I better go check on the back"

Sehun excused himself but not before sending the 'I'll-get-you-back-I'm-watching-you' sign to Luna in which the latter only replied with flicking her tongue teasingly back at him. That earned her a light smack on her thigh.

"Ouch! Mummy, what did I do?"

"Well, that's a not so nice thing to do to your Sehun oppa either"

Hyuna raised her hand at Luna, as if asking for something. The latter looked back at her with her puppy eyes, not understanding (or at least pretended not to).

"The crackers"

Luna pouted in defeat and handed the package to her waiting mother. How did she know anyway?

"Don't look at me like that, I told you these are banned last week, didn't I?"

"Sehun oppa gave it to me as a gift. Because he likes you"

"Luna. We talked about this before. Your Sehun oppa and I are just friends"

"And I told you before, oppa likes you"

The child gave Hyuna a knowing look before shifting her attention back to her crayons and colouring book. The latter ruffled the child's silky, brown hair and tied it into a ponytail. She kissed the top of Luna's before bringing herself to the back looking for Sehun, finding the man was busy tasting his spaghetti sauce. Sehun was a great guy, she admitted that. Plus a look that will melt any girl he wants. She knew that clearly, from the way her female officemates were swooning over him when he accompanied her on the first day of her work, from the many requests to get him to go for a date, yet he rejected all that saying he wasn't interested and wanting to focus on his cafe.

At some time, she used to think that he was woman hater but he willingly followed her everywhere even to Luna's monthly check up back then when she was only a baby. The nurses there even thought he was the father, crooning over how cute he was for 'patiently' be there for his 'beloved wife' while she nearly pulled her hair out trying to convince them that Sehun was not her husband. She was not dumb to not notice his feelings for her but she would rather ignore it as she can't do anything about it, to reject would be cruel, he has done so much for her and Luna, but to accept would be more cruel, she can't reciprocate his feelings, not when she is still, until now mending her heart and he deserved at least that.

The sudden thought carved a worried look on her face as she leaned on the counter beside the taller blondie, hugging herself.

"Hey"

Sehun's vision never left the hot pot of red sauce as he greeted her back.

"Hey"

"Umm...about what Luna said earlier..." She started.

Sehun stopped his cooking and turned the gas off. He slowly exhaled before he faced the girl beside him. The first girl he ever cared about and loved, beside his inattentive mother. He watched as Hyuna tucked her brown locks back in shyness and his heart skipped a beat once again, she is still the same girl whom he fell for long ago, he wasn't sure when, but he was certain it was there. He grabbed both of her shoulders in a reassuring manner, halting whatever she wanted to say at the moment.

"Hyun, you know how I feel about you. You also know how much I adore and love Luna. And if it's okay with you, then I want to be with both of you forever"

He was finally doing this. It's now or never.

"But...S..Sehun"

"Marry me"

'Marry me'

Her brown orbs glistened with tears as the man she probably loved the most was on his knees, offering her the band in a velvet box with shimmering, hopeful eyes.

"Hyuna! Are you okay?"

Sehun shook the woman's shoulders gently but enough to make Hyuna jolted up from her daze. The brunette looked up at the taller man's eyes finding nothing but pure sincerity and a slight worry from the way he frowned, making her heart break realizing she could not care for him in the same way he does. She broke off his hold a bit harshly catching him off guard avoiding his gaze.

"S...Sehun. I'm sorry. I...I have to go"

She bolted from the kitchen meaning to grab her purse and take Luna home only to find that Luna was nowhere to be found.

"She must have gone off playing at the park. Go, I'll take Luna home later"

"I'm...I'm sorry"

Sehun only watched as the girl he loved walked away from him. He let out a sigh as he went back to his work station. She never once stopped loving him, didn't she?

.

The sight of a little girl eating ice cream talking with a handsome grown up man on a swing filled the little park that evening. Everyone that passed by them seemed to have known the girl as they greeted her happily, sometimes even ruffling her hair, to which she responded by laughing and flashing her crescent moon smile. Luhan admitted that he was a little jealous watching his little friend getting much love from basically everyone while he, on the other hand, shied away and hid whenever Luna tried to introduce him to the people.

“Why did you do that?” Luna peeked under the slide where Luhan was apparently hiding.

“Do what?”

“Hiding. Mommy said it’s not polite to not greet people back when they greeted”

“I was…afraid”

The girl only responded by smiling at him sweetly.

“Don’t be. I’m here. Now come out”

Luhan looked around for any other stranger before he finally decided that it was safe to come out only to be dragged by his little friend towards another stranger, this time it was an old man resting on one of the benches. As expected, the old man lit up as he noticed the pretty little creature ran up to him but did not even flinch when he saw Luhan with her.

“Hoon harabeoji!” Luna greeted brightly, hugging the older who was only laughing before turning his attention to the timid young man standing behind the girl the whole time.

“Oh, Luna. And who is this? Your oppa?”

“No, harabeoji! This is my friend, Luhan” She giggled, introducing him without hesitating, signalling him to greet.

Luhan bowed to the older man but still hesitated to bring up his hand for a shake when the man chuckled and grab his hand that was midway on the air. He even tapped his shoulder as one would do to one of his own. That helped soothe his nerves a bit as he began to relax and smile back.

“My, what a handsome young man. This is your friend, Luna? He looked like your oppa”

“No, he’s not. He is my friend”

“It’s true, harabeoji. I’m the same age as Luna. My mom said I had Autistic, so I looked older”

Hoon harabeoji looked startled, but nodded, understanding.

“Then, I hope you recover well, son” He smiled at Luhan, and secretly, sincerely wished that he recovered. He’s too nice to live with that kind of suffering.

Luhan, already loosened up to the harabeoji, ended up sitting beside him, holding Luna on his lap laughing along to the stories the old man told enthusiastically. They both walked the harabeoji to the bus stop where he came earlier, before Luhan walked Luna to Sehun’s café, holding the little girl’s small hand so tightly so he didn’t lose her. They arrived at the café just when Sehun was locking up the place, carrying Luna’s backpack on his back. The little girl loosened Luhan’s grip on her hand and ran towards the blond tall man.

“Oppa!”

“Oh, Luna? Where did you come from? Why aren’t you with Hoon harabeoji? I’m just about to come to the park” He hugged Luna but still eyeing her questioningly.

“Well, Hoon harabeoji said he had to go back early so me and Han walked harabeoji to bus stop today”

“Then, how did you come back here?”

“Oh, Han brought me” She turned around to point at Luhan and found no one on the sidewalk anymore. “Oh? Where is he? He was right there earlier”

Sehun eyed the sidewalk for the person the girl mentioned, not finding anyone but them. His imagination started to play out the worst.

“Maybe he already went back. Luna, next time just wait for me at the park with Hoon harabeoji, arasso? Don’t walk alone here or with strangers, okay?”

“But I walked to the park alone. Han is not a stranger, he’s my friend”

“That’s because it is in the morning, honey. There are a lot of my friends here that can look after you. If Han’s your friend, why didn’t you introduce him to me? This is not fair, I’m your friend too” Sehun pouted, pretending to sulk with the girl.

“Aigoo, oppa. I was going to earlier, but then he disappeared. What can I do?” Luna sighed dramatically, pulling the hem of Sehun’s shirt, asking for a ride.

The tall man bent down for Luna to put her arms around his neck before lifting her up completely, making Luna giggled out of excitement.

“Say oppa, did you propose mommy earlier?” Luna asked, after a few minutes of walking, to confirm what she heard earlier.

“Did you eavesdrop on us? It’s not nice you know” Sehun replied, trying to avoid the topic.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve heard already. What did mommy say?”

“Are you okay with me marrying your mommy?”

The girl laughed.

“Why not, oppa? Then I can call you appa. I love you and you love mommy, you should marry”

Sehun chuckled at Luna’s innocence.

“But there’s one problem. Your mommy didn’t give me an answer yet and my mom has found me another person to marry”

“But that means I can’t call you appa. Ottoke? Hmm” The girl paused as if thinking of a solution.

“We’re here”

They arrived at a tall building where their respective apartments are. Although it isn’t a luxurious apartment, it is luxurious enough to have a safety guard at the building’s entrance. Sehun greeted the guard bowing slightly while smiling, being careful to make sure Luna doesn’t fall off his back.

“Soohyun ahjusshi, hi!”

“Oh hi, Luna. Are you going home now?”

“Ne, ahjusshi. Have you seen my mother?”

The ahjusshi chuckled a little at the direct question.

“Your mother just went upstairs a while ago”

“Ok, thank you ahjusshi. Good night”

“I’ll send you off first” Sehun said as the girl tried to punch his level too in the elevator.

‘Ding!’

They proceeded to Hyuna’s apartment where she was standing on the foyer, holding a mug, waiting for them. She seemed to be in deep thought until Luna called her, which caught her off guard, but still managed to smile lovingly at the sight of her daughter and Sehun. Sehun put Luna down right in front of the door, handing the little girl her glittery bag.

“Luna, go in first. I need to talk to your oppa”

The girl nodded in approval, hugging the tall blondie good night before proceeded inside.

Hyuna cleared , handing over her mug of hot chocolate to Sehun while he eyed her suspiciously.

“What? I haven’t touched it yet” She responded, making the latter chuckled.

“Just want to make sure you weren’t going all cold war on me after my proposal this evening”

“Umm, about that. Are you sure you haven’t eat something bad earlier before going all ‘marry me’ thing on me?” Hyuna retaliated.

“Nope. I am all serious about that”

“But I have been married before, and, and I already had a child. Why me?”

“I told you before. I love you, I want to be with you and hey, Luna is my child too, you know”

“But you know I am not ready to love anyone else right now and I don’t know how long it will take for me to open my heart again. And that’s not fair for you” She looked at Sehun’s eyes sadly before lowering her gaze again.

“It doesn’t matter, I told you I love you. Then, I will fight for you, for your love, even if it takes forever. Sides, no one can resist to love me” Sehun grinned which make the brunette smiled.

“You do know that your last sentence ruined the moment right? I might actually say yes right away if you didn’t add that narcissistic comment of yours”

“But you can’t deny it being the truth” Both of their laughter chimed across the night. Being with Sehun, it was so easy, like breathing.

“Sehun?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I think it over first?”

“Take the time you need” He ruffled her hair.

“Hey! Don’t touch the hair” She growled playfully at him before reaching towards the door.

“I think you’ll need to condition more. It’s dry”

“Good night, Sehun”

He chuckled to himself as Hyuna shut the door on him. Well, she said she’ll think about it. That’s a good sign, right? He looked up the sky and never stopped smiling as he walked back to his own apartment downstairs.

.

Hyuna was still thinking about what Sehun said earlier as she tucked Luna into sleep after a battle to convince the little one to wash up before going to bed. She looked lovingly at the now sleeping Luna: the only precious thing she had left in this whole world. Nothing else matters to her other than Luna’s happiness. She touched the similar brown hair and patted the child’s small head. When did she grow up this big? It was as if it was yesterday she has held the pretty baby and cradled her in her arms, as if it was just yesterday she has cried, hearing the word ‘mommy’ as Luna’s first word. If only her father was there to witness all that, then her little family would be perfect.

“Luna-ah, you know that mommy loves you, right? That I would put your happiness above all in my life, that I would do anything to make sure you will grow up to be a wonderful woman, better than I would ever be” She kissed the top of the little head, wiping her tears before she too, fall down into a deep slumber.

Little did she know that Luna has not been sleeping, in fact as soon as she felt her mother was fast asleep, she pull the blanket over her mother body before playing softly with her mother’s hair. She clucked her tongue several times and shook her little head at the sight of her mother sleeping, started whispering ever so softly into her ears.

“And you know that I love you too, right Umma? That my happiness means that you’re happy too, that I will make sure that I will grow up to be a wonderful woman like you, a woman as a great as you”

And then she snuggled into the blanket too, hugging the sleeping woman, succumbing into the familiar warmness that only that woman can provide. Her mother.