Being away from Seoul for a week is definitely bittersweet. I’m in the home town Sehun and I grew up, but so much has changed. I feel like my life is spinning out of control in so many ways. My job at the coffee shop seems to be my only escape from all the stress and worrying. Chanyeol has clearly become distant with me these past few months and I can’t imagine why. It’s like there is something blocking us from being together, which doesn’t make any sense to me. We’re getting married really soon so I hope he gets out of this funk he is in.

                We text each other several times a day, and Skype for a good half hour. When I see Chanyeol’s face, I feel a sense of relief. He is the only person who can make me feel relaxed and comfortable when we’re together. When I’m with Sehun, I feel like I need to hide our presence and our past. A friendship should not be like. Not too long ago I confessed to the teen, just to clean the slate and almost restart our friendship. I may still love him, but as an adult, we learn to push back old petty feelings and look at what is in front of us. Like a marriage to someone you’ve been dating for six years.

                The park I was currently sitting in was clean and filled with all types of playground contraptions for kids to run wild on. It has been rebuilt numerous times since Sehun and I climbed those very same monkey bars. I watched two little boys laugh and scream on the sea-saw while their mothers clapped along side next to them. I could have thought about Sehun and I fourteen years ago, but instead when I saw these boys, I thought of Chanyeol and I. Pretty soon we can start our own family and move to a quiet country side town. My train of thought was interrupted by a loud ring coming from my jean pocket.

“Hello,” I spoke into the phone.

“Hi babe. How’s the family?”

“I miss your voice Yeol. They’re all fine and healthy, but I want to come home now. I really miss being with you.”

“I miss you too,” he answered softly. “Maybe you should come home soon. I think I really need you back here.”

“Why is something wrong? If there is I’ll get in the car now and come home.”

“…Nothing is wrong, but it’d be nice for you to be back is all.”

“Oh, well alright then. I have to head back to the house anyways, so I’ll see if I can pack up and leave soon.”

“Don’t rush seeing your family for me. I was just saying. But listen I need to get back to work so I’ll call you tonight. I love you Baek.”

“I love you too.”

                Our phone call ended no sooner then I could finish my sentence. For some reason, I felt urgency in that minute phone call. Chanyeol may not have said much, but to me, it seemed like a cry for help. My heart knows for a fact that something is going on with Chanyeol that he is not telling me about, and maybe this was his way of saying that he needs my help now. As his fiancé and soon to be husband, I will help him no matter what is wrong. I got off the park bench and headed back towards my parents home just a few blocks away. I’d say my goodbyes and head back to Seoul to help the love of my life.

○○○○○○

                With the Helping Hands School growing in popularity, the amount of teachers needed was increasing with each new student. I had just finished interviewing five teachers for a new position before a knock sounded at my door. All of the applicants should have been gone by now, so I wasn’t sure who was about to walk in. The door opened revealing my boyfriend holding a crushed muffin in his hand and wearing the most scared look on his face. Before even speaking I ran over to him, cleaning his hand free of the pastry and sitting him in the chair across from my desk. He grabbed a tissue and started to clean off the melted chocolate chips on his hand not saying a word. It was freaking me out to say the least, so I had to say something.

“What happened to you Sehun? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ghosts are real,” he asked looking like a terrified child.

“It’s an expression… You were supposed to be out job hunting so I don’t know why you’re back looking the way you do.”

“You need to tell me about that man who was in your apartment. He is going to try and steal you from me. Luhan, you’re mine, remember? You said you would be my boyfriend.”

“I know what I said, and I am going to be your boyfriend. Minseok was my old boyfriend of many years. He must have heard about my accident and came looking for me. That man is evil. You need to stay away from him.”

“Why does he carry a knife on him? I saw it…” he paused for a moment thinking about what to say. “I saw it when he was leaving your apartment.”

“He carries more than just a knife on him. Minseok always has a gun tucked into the back side of his jeans, just in case he has to use it. Unfortunately, I do too when I’m outside the school. Even when I’m upstairs in my own apartment, I have a gun on me. There are bad people that want me dead, Sehun. You need to know this all before you get any farther into this relationship.”

“I’m not scared of guns. I’m not scared of Minseok. I just need to know what it’s going to take to stop him from stealing you from me. Your past is in the past, just like mine is. So from now on don’t carry a gun on you. I’ll protect you.”

“I really appreciate that,” I said grabbing his hands. “But to be honest the gun is just for show. It never has any bullets in it.”

                Sehun and I stayed in my office for another two hours talking about my past. He learned that I am from China, and he knows I was in a gang. There is not one thing he doesn’t know about me anymore. Unlike his friends Chanyeol and Baekhyun, I don’t like to keep secrets or hide things from someone who is supposed to be open and honest with me. Sehun needs to see that there needs to be honesty in a relationship. The only thing that bothered me in our conversation was his deep concern for Minseok.       

                The night when he walked in on Minseok doing what he always did, all Sehun got was a shoulder bump from the man. I thought nothing of that, but apparently that small confrontation has worried him to his wits end. I decided to show him something in my apartment that no one has seen before. We left the school and headed out the doors, hand in hand to the only door that leads to the rooms above the Helping Hands. After unlocking my front door, I took him into the guest room which I had converted into a second office and brought him to an armoire. It was made a fine cherry wood and had a single combination lock sealing off its contents.

                Sehun walked up to it and tried to pull off the lock not realizing that the only way to open in it was spinning the numbered dial. He went right back to his seven year old self while trying to figure out how to open some contraption he had never seen before. After telling him how to unlock the dial, he tried several times to unlock. Sehun was getting very frustrated but eventually cracked it open. Eagerly he swung the doors open shocked to see the contents inside.

                There were about five hand guns sitting in open cases fully loaded with their proper permits along side. Unlike Minseok, I don’t like to keep my guns illegally.  God forbid something happens to me in my own home, I have some sort of legal protection. Sehun is probably not mentally stable enough to understand the proper use of guns or the laws, but I want him to know that in my apartment, we are safe. We will always be safe. 

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Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter. Since it's not really a long chapter, I will be posting again this week because Misconceptions is nearing our end! There are 3 more chapters after this and let me say, please fasten your seat belts (; You may think you know how this ends, but who knows what will happen! xoxo