Luhan kept eyeing us the whole evening. I walked over to one of the French windows again and sat down on the ledge. Jungkook had followed me. I wasn't really expecting him to follow because of Luhan. The nearest window was about ten meters away from Luhan. He just sat on his chair and watched me.

When he watched me, I felt like he was thinking about something and contemplating on telling me or not.

I dismissed the thought and went to look outside. Outside the window was the balcony. Some people were there admiring the moon up above. I saw Chanyeol and Kyungsoo go out to the balcony. There was a double door from the ballroom that had access to the balcony. I saw Chen and Baek follow them.

Chanyeol sat on the floor just outside the window where I was sitting on.

Great.

Another jail warden.

Jungkook had sat down opposite me and was facing me. He also looked outside and up at the moonlight. I stole glances at him when he didn't look at me. I guess this was as far as I was going to get after the dance. I had jail wardens watching my every move.

I wondered where Taeyong had gone after he walked away when his appa had come over and told him to ask me to dance. He seemed agitated. I guess that was why he just left so he wouldn't have to talk back to his dad more.

Then Jungkook's words came swimming back into my mind. Did I want someone like that to be with as long as I lived? I don't know. What if he changed? What if he patched things up with his dad and everything was normal?

I stole another glance at Jungkook.

Will I be able to forgive myself if I chose Taeyong? It was for the good of the family. Like a family honor if I accepted. And papa's name at stake.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I hated Taeyong's guts like he does his appa. His personality was just too strong for me. The girl in me was kinda hesitant to welcome such a strong personality in my life. He'd be too much to handle. But then again, I had twelve brothers with different personalities. I was able to live with them even if it was chaos at home. I was able to cope with the different characters at home.

LOL.

Maybe I had to give a chance to Taeyong.

Like how? I didn't wanna be the first one to approach him. I mean, I've already accepted his friendship, but I shouldn't be the one to further reach out. Right? Aish. I don't know.

This whole thing is crazy. I didn't know this kind of arrangement still exists in this day and age. And it's weird, because he was Korean. Both of them are Korean. Well, papa was not your traditional Chinese man, though. He embraced a lot of modern stuff already, although, from time to time, grandpa's influence in preserving the traditions show up.

When other girls my age think about what to wear the next time they go mall hopping, here I was thinking about which guy to choose to be my future husband.

I frowned.

Chanyeol tapped the glass on the window. He was watching me from outside and I didn't notice. I looked out and saw him looking at me with concern. I smiled weakly and tapped the window as well. Jungkook had looked at me as well, but he didn't see me frowning.

Chen was sitting beside Chanyeol on the floor outside and he turned to look at me. He pressed his palm on the window and acted as if he was on the verge of crying. Then he let his palms slide slowly down the glass window.

I rolled my eyes and had to chuckle.

Kyungsoo and Baek had been taking pictures of the moon outside. Actually, they were flirting with some of the girls who were there. Daughters of some employees.

Normal.

Tao, Sehun and Kai were still playing cards on the table beside mama.

The oldies had seated themselves in one table. There were several empty tables now, since some guests had gone home. Only the employees and their families were left. The Dong brothers and their wives were seated at a table and the boss was there, talking to them. If he didn't like them, he didn't show it. He looked like he was okay with them being there.

Kris had turned his head in our direction. He was sitting beside Luhan and was talking to Suho earlier. When he saw Jungkook, he acted to rise and come over, but when he saw Chanyeol outside the window, he sat back.

Xiumin was on his phone. Probably talking to Sohee. These days, he'd been so happy and he was no longer staying inside his room when he talked to her. I guess he was relieved that he was able to introduce her to us already that he felt free to talk to her even if we were around. Since he was going to spend Christmas with his mom in Korea, I wished he would also be able to spend some more time with Sohee.

I looked outside again. I wondered if the other boys knew what the oldies were up to earlier. If they did, they didn't show it. Luhan, Xiumin and Kris were of age, so they are legally allowed to drink...but I didn't really like the idea of them drinking. Suho and Lay ge were a different story. They were barely legal. Not to mention Jin and Yoongi.

Were they going to perform a sort of ritual? Like coming of age ritual?

Hmmm...

The three oldies were going to be away for college and Suho and Lay were going to be the da ge of the family while they are away. Somehow, it felt like the three oldies were going to hold a sort of ritual to "baptize" the next in line. Not that Jin or Yoongi needed them. They were the oldest boys in their respective families. But since Mr. Min and Mr. Kim were two of papa's closest business friends, the oldies probably saw the need to "brief" them of what to expect.

I was probably looking all too serious thinking about all those, because the next thing I knew was seeing Jungkook's hand waving in front of my face. That woke me up from my reverie.

Me: Huh...

JK: Are you alright?

Me: Yep. I am okay.

JK: You look like you were petrified.

Me: I was?

JK: Mm-hmm.

Chanyeol tapped the window again. I looked outside and he gestured with his hands for Jungkook to move a few feet away from me.

LOL.

I stuck my tongue out at him. He pointed at me as if to say, "Just you wait." I laughed.

JK: Ah, that sounds better.

Me: Which one?

JK: You, laughing.

Me: Oh.

Blush. Blush.

JK: Uhm..thanks.

Me: For what?

JK: For the dance.

Me: You're welcome.

JK: Early Christmas present, actually.

Me: Oh.

JK: Yeah.

Awkward.

He took his phone out from his pocket. It didn't ring or beep. I guessed he set it on vibrate mode. He looked at it and scrolled through with his fingers. He made little movements with his mouth as he scrolled through and read something.

He looked like a puppy.

Then he started humming Haruman.

Geez.

I had to hold my heart from my chest. I swear it started beating loudly.

He looked up from his phone and cleared his throat.

JK: Jin hyung sent a message to apologize for what happened earlier.

Me: You weren't expecting it either?

JK: No, I wasn't. I haven't seen him drink hard liquor...except some wine during dinners.

Me: They have their reasons, I guess.

JK: He said it was just...they were just...just wanna taste how it was like.

Me: I hope you won't...do..something like that.

JK: Oh. Yeah.

Me: You have to promise me.

JK: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Chuckle. Chuckle.

Me: That's Harry Potter reference.

JK: I know.

Me: It's still swearing mischief.

JK: Just kidding.

A shadow blocked the chandelier lights from the ceiling. Chanyeol had gone inside and was now standing in front of us. Chen was still sitting outside and Baek was now sitting where Chanyeol was, earlier. Kyungsoo was talking to a girl outside. Oh...Chagiya...where are you?

Chanyeol: Xiao Yi, let's go back to the table.

Me: Why?

Chan: Because I said so.

Me: My feet hurt from walking in these shoes.

Chan: Ahhhh...take it off.

Me: Papa and Luhan already scolded me for going barefoot.

Chan: Sheesh...Come, take it off. I'll carry your shoes for you. Just put them back on when you're at the table.

I slowly obeyed. I took off my shoes and handed it to him. I grinned widely and stood up. Jungkook raised his head and smiled. I could sense he didn't really want me to go, but because my brother was there, he just said, "See you later."

I patted his head and he laughed.

JK: Why do I feel like I'm a dog? Hahah... *giggles*

Me: Puppy. Correction.

JK: Okay.

Chanyeol: Ahemm. Xiao Yi, let's go.

Me: Okay, okay.

I walked behind him, but turned my head around to look at Jungkook. He went to staring outside the window. I saw Chen got up from the floor outside and did a sort of wiggly dance. Baek was laughing. Chenchen wasn't really good at dancing. But he made up for it with his singing voice. Baek knew how to sing and dance.

Honestly, I was thinking of making my dream come true. To become a talent manager and recruit my brothers as my talents. LOL.

Chanyeol went to sit at the table where the oldies were sitting. There was just one other empty seat and he took it. I pouted when I saw there was no other chair for me. Kris got up from his chair and offered it to me. I sat down and slouched. Chanyeol had placed my shoes on the table.

Hahaha.

Kris sat on the floor beside me. He still looked like he was sitting on a low chair because he was tall. Lay and Suho were exchanging glances when they saw me sit down. They must have been worried I'd tell on them. The three who were beside mama were now silently eyeing each other suspiciously. Kai laughed and looked at his set of cards as Sehun and Tao narrowed their eyes and rubbed their chin. Someone was cheating. They were suspecting Kai. But with the three of them, who knew?

Kris: What did you and Kim Jungkook talk about?

Me: Huh?

Kris: You heard me.

Me: Nothing.

Kris: You're not allowed to go near him without a chaperone.

Me: I wasn't doing anything..bad...with him.

Kris: Not yet.

Me: Gege...

Kris: Just be careful.

Me: I am being careful.

Kris: Good. Still, if you need to be with him, one of us should be there.

Luhan: For your safety.

Me: Yes, gege.

Luhan: And that holds the same for Taeyong.

Me: What about him?

Kris: He's not allowed to be alone with you, either.

Luhan: That's right.

Kris: Papa's boss might be his father, but, you're our sister.

Luhan: Just because he's supposed to make friends with you, doesn't mean that you're always going to be alone with him.

Kris: Especially Jungkook.

Luhan: That's right.

Kris: Future husband or not, you're below seventeen.

And I need parental guidance.

Why do I feel like I'm a movie being rated by the movie classification board?

I just nodded. Any response now, aside from nodding or saying yes, was not going to be welcome. The oldies have spoken.

Beep!

It was my phone. I took it out of my sling purse. I was expecting Jungkook, but I laughed at myself when I read the message was from Yue.

"Jimin found out I had a crush on him! OMG! What to do?"

Jimin knew that beforehand. I just didn't tell. Hehehe. Why else would he talk to Yue after class even if he had to walk two buildings away just to talk to her?

I sent her my reply, "Jimin likes you too, you know."

Let her die. I was always the one dying when they teased me about Jungkook. LOL. xD

I was in the middle of texting with Yue when Kris got up and nudged me.

Kris: Xiao Yi. Put your shoes back on.

Me: Haoba.

Papa was walking over to mama's table now. Chen, Baek and Kyungsoo had come inside and was walking over to us. Tao and Kai were snickering and Sehun looked like he was about to swat them with the food tray that was on the table. Mama just gave one look at them and they stopped.

The ballroom was still buzzing with dances and cocktail drinks, although there were just a few people left now. Not as many as when the party started. Jimin and J were chasing each other across the ballroom, horsing around. Their appa was shaking his head disapprovingly. Jin had gone to stop them before their appa did.

Taehyung and Namjoon were...having a....dance battle on the dance floor. But honestly, it looked like the battle has been won by Taehyung already. Namjoon was still trying to outdo his younger brother. The alien was laughing at his hyung and immitated how Namjoon wriggled like a worm.

Come to think of it, I didn't see them earlier. Maybe I was just too preoccupied with the things bugging my mind that I didn't notice them. Their eomma looked glowing. I guess that's how pregnant women looked like. IDK. I haven't been pregnant.

Geez.

Awkward topic. Let's not go there.

Papa had signalled for Luhan to come to him. Luhan got up from his chair and walked over to papa. Then a few minutes later, he went back and told us that it was time to go home. I placed my phone back in my purse and got up. The other boys got up as well and Luhan led the way over to where papa was. Mama was scolding Tao and Kai for making Sehun throw a chicken bone at them. Some guests saw that and were shocked. Oh dear. Someone's gonna get grounded later.

The boss had appeared beside papa, with his wife and children. I peered behind Kris and saw Taeyong, standing beside his sister, with a bored face. Like he was just forced to stay at the party when he wanted to be somewhere else.

Papa: Time to go home, Soo-ssi.

Mr. Soo Kui: It's a little late, ne? Thanks for coming with your family.

Papa: T'was a nice party.

Mr. Soo Kui: We have excellent organizers.

Papa: Oh, you mean my sons?

Mr. Soo Kui: Exactly.

Papa: I'm proud of them today, thanks.

Mr. Soo Kui: I hope to be proud of my sons, someday.

Papa: Ah, you will be.

I saw Taeyong smirk and scoffed at what his dad had said. His sister elbowed him and he rubbed where she hit him. He stepped back and saw me looking at him. He smiled briefly. I guess he didn't know whethere to be happy to see me or not.

He looked better when he smiles.

I smiled back at him. He had to drop his gaze and smile a little.

Ah .

He was cute.

Lifeline about to flatten.

Stop!

Holy !

I think I have a crush on him.

ASDFGHJKL!

One is enough. Two is too much. Is it possible to have two crushes? Bzzzzzzz....zzzzzz...zzzzzz...

"Xiao Yi, let's go."

Luhan had nudged me. I pretended to adjust the straps of my sling purse and nodded. Taeyong knew I was staring at him and he had that look in his face like he won something.

Crap.

"Goodnight Xiao Yi." He said softly as I walked past him.

"Yes, thanks." Was all I could say. I bowed slightly to his appa and eomma. Then smiled at Seul Gi and Jeno, before looking straight ahead as I followed Luhan and the rest outside the ballroom.

Unknown to me, someone had been watching me from afar and saw my obvious change in attitude towards Taeyong.

He was hurting.

Ouch.

We waited at the lobby of the hotel as papa and the other boys went round to get the cars. The oldies were still going to go back to the hotel and spend the night as originally planned. I was worried that they continue with their plan to drink. But I didn't say anything to papa or mama. I had to trust the oldies to do the right thing.

I closed my eyes as we traveled back home. I think I even fell asleep on the way. Kai was seated beside me and he was snoring when I opened my eyes. The car was turning into the corner of our street.

Then we were in the familiar driveway. Papa had honked three times and a few minutes later, the gate was opened. The househelp had to stay at home longer tonight because of the party. They actually had the option to stay home or just go home during the night. But because they also had families of their own, they preferred to just go home.

Papa parked the car in the garage and we got out. I had taken off my shoes again in the car and I carried it with me as I walked towards the front door. Luhan drove the other car. I threw my shoes on the floor when I entered the house. I proceeded upstairs to my room. I wanted to lie down and go to sleep right away.

I heard stuff being thrown to the floor as well. I looked behind me and the boys had taken off their shoes and kicked them off. They were strewn on the floor. Mama sighed loudly and placed a hand to her head. Papa saw that and immediately called our attention to get our stuff from the floor and put them where they belonged.

I had to go back down the stairs to pick up my shoes.

Papa: Xiao Yi.

Me: Pa...

Papa: I didn't like how you behaved at the party tonight.

Uh-oh...

Me: Duibuqi.

Papa: It wasn't what I expected.

Me: Wo hen baoqian papa.

Papa: I was expecting you to be on your best behavior since you were at a party. And I expected you to treat both Jungkook and Taeyong the same way.

Me: But...

Papa: I don't need any reasons. Just...go to your room. You are grounded.

I was already grounded. Could I be more grounded now than before? Hell yeah.

And I dropped my gaze and walked slowly back up the stairs. I heard him scold Tao, Kai and Sehun...

And grounding them, too.

At least I wasn't alone.

Then papa asked for coffee. To de-stress, I guess.

Other than the four of us, papa didn't scold or ground anyone else tonight. The boys who were safe silently walked up the stairs going to their rooms. I reached my room first and stood outside. I heard the boys whispering to each other. Happy because they were safe.

Tao and Sehun kicked each other when they reached the first floor. Kai ran upstairs to the second floor, behind me.

I turned the knob on my door and walked in. I leaned on the door to close it and sat on the floor.

Grounded. For life. I guess.

I got up from the floor and got my towel. I needed a warm bath before I go to sleep. I had to run to the bathroom because the boys might get their ahead of me. Chen almost got there first. But I pleaded to shower first. He was not grounded, anyway. So he nodded and waited outside.

I was happy I got to have a warm bath before going to sleep.

Back in my room and in my sleep clothes, I snuggled under the blanket. I hugged my pillow and thought about what happened tonight. I had a huge problem. Like really huge. How do I choose which one of them? Maybe I'll choose the wrong one. I didn't wanna do that. How do I know which one is the right one?

As I thought about it, I found myself humming along to Haruman.

Aish.

I still didn't know the lyrics.

I rolled my eyes. I reached out for my phone which I placed on my bedside table. I wanted to list down the pros and cons of each boy. I had to, you know. How else would I be able to choose which one was the right one?

I scrolled through my apps and clicked on notepad.

There was a new entry added just a few days ago.

I didn't...

Who...?

My last entry was ages ago.

I clicked on the recent entry. It was on the date that Jungkook came here to spend 24 hours...or so...with me.

The entry was in Hangeul. I had Hangeul keypad on my phone.

Haruman.

He had written the lyrics to Haruman on my notepad. Then I started to sing it while reading the lyrics. Now it made sense. Why he kept humming it when he was with me. We didn't really spend 24 hours together back then. The lyrics were just beautiful. I guessed his hyungs worked on the song diligently. And he had said he helped finish writing the lyrics.

At the end of the lyrics, I saw he placed something else there.

"If you are reading this, check your MP3 list. I added something."

I quickly searched my MP3 list for the current songs. There was a new one alright.

"24/7 = Heaven | Piano by Kim Jungkook"

I clicked to play the music.

.

Just the first few notes made me melt.

He was making it hard for me to choose.

Not really.

But the thought of Taeyong's smile and jawline when he smiled, like UGHHHHH!

I wanted to punch papa and Mr. Soo Kui in the face.

WHY ME?

Xiao Yi has a crush on Taeyong. xD Okay, you can hit me now. LOL. I wanted Xiao Yi to have a dilemma hahaha. Kidding. I just find it cute. Anyway, I'm trying to find a good piano cover of 24/7 Heaven MP3 download. Do you know one? And as usual  → 사랑해요! ♥♥♥ 我愛你們！吴愛你們！

Here's Taeyong's almost side profile xD