So will you come home into the safe haven of our soft blankets,
lying right next to me without a care for the world?

"What are you doing here?" Chanyeol switched off the loud blaring television and threw the remote control on the glass table with a loud smack. The room was engulfed in a frightening silence and the maids and butlers dared not even breathe, quietly exiting the scene.

Ahyoung was unbothered by Chanyeol's harsh attitude and popped the last bit of popcorn into before pressing some numbers on her iPhone, holding it close to her ear.

"Eommonim?" Ahyoung sang in her sweetest voice as her lips curled up into a bright smile. "I've just reached and met with Chanyeo-"

"Why is she here? I told you it's a trip with my friends!" Chanyeol snatched the phone roughly away from her and started speaking loudly.

"How can you speak of your fiancee in this manner?" his mom chuckled heartily over the phone. "She can get to know your friends!"

"Omma!-"

"Have fun and I'll see you tomorrow at the mall at 11. I miss you." The phone call ended with a click and Chanyeol glared at Ahyoung angrily.
 

"Are you that cheap to use them to your advantage? Don't you have nothing better to do than cling onto me?"

Chanyeol's words pierced through Ahyoung's heart like a sharp dagger and she was bleeding, it was definite that it was because her heart was hurting, a lot.

"Cheap?" Ahyoung asked in a tiny voice, her usual tough facade shedding away. It was only before Chanyeol that she could be behave in such a manner. That she didn't have to act like she was strong and invincible, that there wasn't a whole world she had to carry on her back. But why did Chanyeol change into a Chanyeol she couldn't even recognise anymore?

The lump in swelled and she swallowed hard. "Is it so wrong to only want to see you? To want to be around you, to see if you're doing fin-"

"I am doing fine."

"You are not." Ahyoung shook her head defiantly, "Not after Yoora's death. You are pretending to move forward but you're clinging helplessly onto the past. You can't continue being like that Chan-"
 

"DON'T SPEAK OF HER LIKE YOU KNOW ANYTHING!" Chanyeol growled, grabbing Ahyoung by the shoulders. His nails dug into Ahyoung's skin, causing her to wince in pain but he refused to let go. His gaze stuck on her like glue, from her stick-straight bangs that reached right below her eyebrows to the tip of her small nose and her red rosy lips. He was angry, furious even that she could never understand how he felt. Why couldn't she understand how he felt? She was supposed to. 

"Chanyeol-"
 

"You don't understand. There's no way you'd understand."
 

"You know nothing about the pain of losing the loved one you have, a person who was part of your life for 16 whole years and then disappeared without a trace. Not even the slightest hint of her existence. See that family portrait there?" Chanyeol chuckled darkly, feeling repulsive just at the sight of  the smiling faces in it. "My princess said it was a lovely family of three."

A shiver ran down Ahyoung's spine as Chanyeol's hot breath tickled her bangs.

"A family of three, Ahyoung."
 

"I'm glad you are able to forget everything that happened, pretend Yoora never existed in our lives just like how my parents and yours have and move on happily. I'm really glad that you are doing fine and it's perfectly okay if you don't wish to remember because there are things better left forgotten sometimes."

"But Ahyoung, I can't be like you." Chanyeol's gaze softened and it reflected misery and sorrow into Ahyoung's brown ones.

"I cannot forget."

At that moment, it was as clear as day that there was a definite bold line drawn between them. A line Ahyoung dared not cross and Chanyeol was too crippled to move. The past memories, the happy days, the trio. There will never be days like that anymore and it terrified Ahyoung just by the thought. She had been trying very hard, to get closer to Chanyeol, to  peer into his heart and see what it contained. Yet why does it seem that her efforts were futile?

Why does it feel like they were drifting further and further apart?
 

The deafening silence was interrupted by the rowdy boys and Jiyoon stumbling into the living room with an angry Suho charging behind them.

"Whose idea was it?!" Suho's face was flushed an angry red and everyone ran to hide behind Chanyeol. He immediately released his grip on Ahyoung which left deep imprints on her arms. Suho's gaze finally fell on Ahyoung and his face turned a deeper shade of red, embarrassed by the situation he was caught in.
 

"Uhm, hello?" he bowed politely to Ahyoung before turning to the lot of mischievous boys who were desperately trying to flee away. "You are not leaving."
 

"MR KIM!" Chanyeol shouted, his loud voice thundering down the long corridors of the mansion.
 

"Yes, yo-" Mr Kim caught himself in time because it was written clearly on Chanyeol's dark face that he was in a very bad mood. His eyes darted to Ahyoung and then back to his young master. "Chanyeol."
 

"Serve dinner now."

Jiyoon felt uncomfortable sandwiched between Kai and Chanyeol. She sensed something was wrong the moment they scrambled into the room and Chanyeol wasn't being his usual self. Adding on to that pressure, Ahyoung was to her immediate front. Jiyoon gulped, unable to meet Ahyoung's blazing glares that shot lasers into her skin.

It was an eight course meal again but with different menus this time. And her third point of what was meant by burdened? She glanced down at her plate with a mixture of appetizers and main course all on her bone china plate while the rest were still enjoying their appetizers.

"I asked the chef to make it like that since my princess doesn't eat much." Chanyeol picked up his spoon and continued speaking. "That way you can have a little of everything."
 

"Ahyoung almost gagged at the word 'princess'. She was sick and tired of hearing Chanyeol call Jiyoon 'princess' all the time and honestly, she wished to have cotton balls on the table right now so she could stuff them full into her ears. She hated how Chanyeol treated Jiyoon with so much care, like she was the most precious thing on Earth when he wasn't even the type of person to become close to a girl.

No, no other girl existed in his life before herself.

But that was in the past.
 

If last night's dinner was a comfortable silence, then today's was a drastic difference with the clatter of forks and knife on the table being just plain awkward.
 

"So where am I sleeping? I heard my room was occupied by someone." Ahyoung was the one who decided to break the silence.

Chanyeol didn't even look up from his plate and continued chewing on his food, as if Ahyoung never said anything. Suho was flustered when he saw Chanyeol having no reaction and his gaze flitted back to Ahyoung with sympathy. "I'm sure you know there's only thirteen rooms so maybe you have to share a room with Jiyoon because I'm sure-"
 

"Are you kidding me?" Ahyoung blurted, half shrieking. "Did you just say, share- a room. With her?"

Chanyeol finally looked up from his plate in annoyance, "Well if you don't like that idea, my princess can sleep with me."
 

"NO!" Ahyoung and Suho chorused, for the first time in their entire lives.

If it was something horrible to think of for Ahyoung, Jiyoon was more unsettled about the decision. It was the very first time in her life that she was bunking in with someone and she didn't even know what to do. She quickly gobbled up the rest of her food and ran upstairs to dump her duffel bag under the bed before heading for the shower.
 

It was unnerving for Jiyoon because it was logical that Ahyoung disliked her, and she didn't have good feelings likewise. So it was worse. She stepped out of the steamy bathroom and dried her hair with the towel. Ahyoung stepped into the room the exact moment Jiyoon sat on the bed and she bit her lips.

"You know I'll take this part of the bed and leave that for you."
 

Ahyoung didn't respond to her, let alone throw her a glance and threw her boston bag on the couch. It was when Ahyoung opened the wardrobe to take out nightwear that Jiyoon realised that this room, was actually hers. Jiyoon heaved a sigh of relief when Ahyoung stepped into the bathroom and she grabbed the remote control trying to make the slightest noise possible, switching on the television.
 

30 minutes into the boring television programme, the bathroom door opened to reveal Ahyoung in a simple white tee and black shorts. She climbed onto the bed sitting right next to Jiyoon with a clear-cut distance between them.
 

"I'll put a bolster between us so-"
 

"Not necessary." Ahyoung cut her off, distracted by the television programme.
 

The next hour was spent in utter silence and after the movie ended, Ahyoung switched off the television along with the lights. They were engulfed by the darkness and only the dim moonlight shone through the glass windows, creating a slanted line on the carpeted floor.
 

"When did you first meet them?" Maybe because it was the fact that it was dark and her facial expressions wouldn't seen by Jiyoon that's why she spoke.
 

"March." Jiyoon replied quickly for fear of Ahyoung snapping at her like how Sehun always did, for responding a tad slower than normal people.
 

"4 months." Ahyoung counted, "I've known you for 2."

"Yeah."

"How was Chanyeol like the first time you met him?"
 

"I fell asleep on the couch in my dorm and I was feeling around for the light switch, and when I almost fell. No I did fell." Jiyoon corrected her mistake. "Into Chanyeol and Baekhyun oppa's room and he was brushing his teeth, looking at me with a weird expression."

"It was seven in the evening before dinner and he screamed at me."Jiyoon smiled at the epic memory, not mentioning the part where she found him half .

"That's nice..." Ahyoung sighed softly.

"You like Chanyeol don't you?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Ahyoung's tone returned to her normal obnoxious one. "I knew him first and I love him, so you better not be snatching my boy."

"He said we can't get together." she continued, mocking at the irony. "But he never said he didn't like me."
 

"Oh well," Ahyoung shook her head, brushing the negative thoughts away. It was rather nice to have someone listen and it was a completely different feeling than speaking to Hyerim who didn't seem to understand a single thing. "It must have been hard surviving in our school since you're a newcomer. Most of us went straight up from the middle school division but there are those like Kris, Tao, Luhan, Lay and Kyungsoo who came in during the first year of high school. There weren't any exceptions so when you, a nobody appeared and acted close to the boys, you have people like Hyerim hating on you. It's not her fault."

A nobody.
 

Her words was blunt, straight to the point; yet the truth.

"It's hard to survive in our world where money and status is everything but I'll give you a word of advice. Prove to them that you're more than a nobody, not someone who is weak but strong-"


"So powerful that they only have room for fear and respect."

It was deja-vu when she peered up the 30 floor building, bright sunlight piercing her eyes.
 

"T-this is a mall?"
 

"Chanyeol's mall." Tao added with a grin.
 

"Chanyeol's mall?" Jiyoon repeated in disbelief. "His mall?"

"My parents'." Chanyeol scowled at the younger one for his misinformation. "The shopping mall is only the first seven floors but the rest are offices."

"Mr Park, Miss Yoo." upon hearing the van pulling up the driveway, the attendants rushed out from the mall with quick footsteps, organising themselves in a neat file. Ahyoung immediately slipped her arm into Chanyeol's which he did not object, for once. Instead he gritted his teeth and forced a tensed smile on his lips.
 

"Chanyeol ah," a lady dressed in a white blouse and red pencil skirt stepped out from the mall with a tall male. Jiyoon squinted her eyes, recognising them to be the people in the portrait. Which meant-

They were Chanyeol's parents.
 

"How are you doing in school? Oh dear, Ahyoung how have you been?" his mom cooed in a sweet voice, arms wrapping around Ahyoung's waist. "Have you been eating well? Why does it seem like you're getting thinner?"
 

"Of course, Mrs Park" Ahyoung smiled at the old lady's affection. "I'm doing very good."

"Sehun," Mr Park was only looking at Sehun who was lying lazily on Luhan's shoulder. "I've heard you've been doing pretty well with the stocks and Ahyoung's father has invited you over for dinner."
 

Sehun didn't make any actions to move away and bow to Mr Park, giving a tiny shrug with his shoulders.

"I guess."

"I'm sure our company cannot do without a talent like you. Feel free to visit my office any time."

"And Jongin, if your parents are in need of suppliers for the airlines-"

"Omma, appa-"

"This is a workplace, not your home!" Chanyeol wasn't sure if Mr Park was angry at his usage of words or for interrupting his sentence but his voice boomed loudly as he pointed with a shaky finger at the building behind him with the Park Corporation logo in black bold letters.