Lie

"How was your holiday?"

Chanri smiled. "It was fun." Truthfully, after seeing the message, her mood wasn't good. She continuously had a bad feeling about it yet she was too scared to ask him. Maybe it's just a friendly lunch, nothing to be scared of.

Chanri swept away her thoughts and focused more on the work. She had to catch up with all the things she missed. Apparently, Mrs. Park wasn't really on good mood that day so it would be much better if Chanri got everything done correctly. She didn't want to take a break for a minute because if she did, her unwanted thoughts would be coming back.

It was not until lunchtime when Chanri felt even scared as she found Sehun nowhere to be seen. No one knew where he was going, including his own girlfriend. Sehun would definitely tell her if he was having a lunch with his friends or whatsoever.

Of course he will not tell me that he's going to have lunch with his ex girlfriend. Chanri said mentally to herself. Feeling disappointed, she got back to her office and ate her lunch by herself. Why doesn't he tell me? It's not like I'd make him stay and have some lunch with me. She is still his friend. And what are they talking about?

Yes, she was jealous. It was someone who used to be loved by him that was having a lunch with him. Shouldn't she be worried? Chanri trusted Sehun, she really did. She knew Sehun wouldn't cheat or dump her over his engaged ex. Maybe I'm thinking too much.

To: Sehun

I can't find you anywhere. Where are you? Are you OK?

! Chanri. Sehun was cursing himself for forgetting to tell his girlfriend that he would be away for lunch.

"From Chanri?"

Sehun nodded and replied the text very fast. He didn't even bother to look at the person sat across him.

"Does she know that you are with me?" Sera asked. She was hoping for something.

"No." He said. Sehun put the phone back on the table and gazed at Sera intensely. "Do you want her to know? She will probably ask what we were discussing about too."

"No. Don't involve her, please." She begged.

Sehun's expression became less tense. "Don't worry about it." Then he took a sip of his drink. Unintentionally, he caught her smiling at him. Sehun's guard was down. As much as he hated to admit, he missed her smile and her companion.

"Why did you agree to meet me? I thought you...hate me." Sera said the last two words quietly. She looked down, staring at the empty plate.

"I never hate you." He answered. Sera glanced up. "I just hate of what you had done to me in the past."

"I'm sorry."

"It was long time ago. I learn to forget about it anyway." He admitted. "What happened in the past, stayed in the past." Sehun didn't want hold some grudges for the rest of his life just because of one woman. She made mistakes but who didn't?

After hearing the full story from her, Sehun felt like he needed to do something to make her safe. It was difficult since they both already had someone else. "Why are you still with him? Why don't you just reject his proposal?"

Sera frowned and shrugged. Her relationship with Changmin was going somewhere dark – somewhere she couldn't escape. "It's complicated. I couldn't just say no to him. It's... It's not that simple." There was fear in her sound. She sounded helpless and hopeless, so unlike her.

Sehun leaned back and watched her with furrowed brows. A part of him wanted to help her and make sure she was in a safe place but another part didn't want to involve in this. It was their problem and their relationship, why should he be the third wheel?

Sera was his first love. Talking with her alone made him thinking of the past and sweet moments with her. He missed them. There were, of course, differences between Chanri and Sera. Sera was more mature than him, she took most of the control of the relationship, and she also was brave and bold. On the other hand, Chanri was the sweet, caring and innocent one. She was more submissive and didn’t cause any trouble so far.

•••

Chanri stared at her phone for a minute. She didn't know whether she should feel relieved or not.

From: Sehun

I'm on business meeting right now. Sorry for making you worried. Be right there soon :)

Business meeting? Chanri put the phone away and let out a long sigh. You're overthinking, Chanri! Get over it! Trust him, he's your boyfriend after all!

"Chanri?"

Chanri stood up when she heard her boss calling her. Mrs. Park entered the office. Her expression was soft and less tense than before.

"Please take my order in ___ (name of a restaurant). It's not far from here." She ordered. "Here's the money."

Chanri nodded obediently. She took her bag and headed out from the building right away. For a moment, Chanri was glad she could take a fresh air after a long tiring day. If it weren’t her boss's order, she would take the longest time she could.

The restaurant was looking so fancy and modern from the interior itself. Almost all the customers were businessmen and investors. Some were talking about their investment and some were just having a nice and good lunch with the coworkers.

"I want to take the order from Mrs. Park." Chanri told the waitress.

"Oh, ok! Wait for a moment." The waitress excused herself to the kitchen.

While waiting, Chanri took a look on the desert corner, beside the cashier. They looked tempting and delicious. Maybe I should buy some. Chanri also looked around and her eyes fell on two familiar figures sitting in the middle of the restaurant.

Sehun? And... Sera?

She felt betrayed and disappointed. Chanri watched them talking so comfortably about something. She didn't miss the moment when Sehun smiled at Sera. It was the smile he always showed to her. Why? Chanri felt like someone was punching and stabbing her for countless times. Jealousy? Anger? Disappointment? Insecurity? Every emotion became all mixed up and she didn’t even know what she was feeling right now.

"Miss? Excuse me, Miss?"

Chanri looked to her side. The waitress was there with two plastic bags on her hands.

"These are the orders."

Chanri took the plastic bags and paid the bill as fast as she could. She had lost her appetite and forgot about the dessert. She wasn't in the mood of going back to work – she wanted to go home but she couldn’t. Her boss was waiting for her to deliver the food.

It would be so much better if Sehun told the truth that he was with Sera. What business meeting? Liar. Chanri was looking down as she headed out the restaurant. She could confront him just now but it'd be troublesome.

There was something bothering her. It was the way Sehun looked at Sera, somehow his eyes told that he still loved her. How did Chanri know? There was something called woman's intuition.

Does he still love her? Am I just a rebound? Why does he lie? Before, he was acting as if Sera was an enemy but now...everything was changed 180 degrees. Are they getting back together? Chanri walked as quickly as possible and made sure she couldn’t be seen. She jogged on the furthest side of the pavement, away from the road.

•••

"How was the meeting?" Chanri pretended as if nothing happened. She put a fake smile and hopefully Sehun didn't notice it. It hurt her just seeing him smiling like it was his best day. Deep inside, she wished Sehun would tell her the truth and she had the gut to confront him. Stupid me! Why am I such a coward? Maybe it wasn’t the guts or the braveness. Maybe it was the fear of hearing the truth.

"It was okay. I missed you." Sehun hugged her.

Chanri hummed and hugged him back. She didn't know if it was another lie. She had no idea either if it was sincerely indicated to her or Sera. Chanri thought about negative things inside her head but she didn't want to judge him soon. She wanted to keep this relationship as long as possible. "I miss you too."

{A/N}

Happy reading everyone! :)

xoxo