Chapter 29: Her New Life

"It's always difficult to say goodbye, especially when one has spent a long time - literally years, in the case of a
series - inside a character or two, suffering and celebrating with them." - Lilith Saintcrow

A/N: It's been a while since I last updated, yeah? I'm very sorry. I've been extremely busy from these past few days because of my thesis project. There's only one week left until our term break, so expect a few more updates (plus the ending) in the a few more days. Anyway, here the long awaited update. I hope you guys enjoy this one. Oh, and please do leave a comment behind. I've been feeling down with the lack of response from you guys. I think it's because the plot's boring. :(

Four Years Later...

Ahri found it kind of hard to believe that in just a course of four years, her life had already been changed. She was now standing outside the airport with her backpack on her back as her right hand clutched her luggage. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and deeply inhaled, missing the nauseous smell of South Korea. She was now at Incheon Airport. A few minutes before, she had landed from Japan without any hurdles. She had been already been planning for her return for four days beforehand. No one knew though, except Chanyeol and her parents. However, she didn't tell them what day or time she'll return from her motherland.

Smiling to herself, she went and hailed a cab. Exactly an hour later, she was already standing outside a restaurant. She was thankful that Chanyeol has managed to send her the address of their new house. Apparently, her parents had finally returned and brought a new house at Seoul after Chanyeol finally settled with a permanent job nearby. Their parents retired from their own jobs; however, they refused to just sit at home and 'drown into boredom', as they said. Instead, they planned on establishing at least a small business so that they'll be accustomed into doing something instead of slacking around. A few months later after planning, they successfully established a Korean restaurant. From what Ahri had known, the business had unexpectedly done a good job. Ahri couldn't believe it at first, but it was confirmed after her parents had Skype'd her and showed her the status of the business. Even though Ahri had in fact doubted it at first, there were actually a constant large amount of customers everyday.

As for the EXO boys, they also got their own jobs. Baekhyun went to a different path and became a veterinarian. Apparently, he had grown closer to animals after Ahri left. Most of the boys, surprisingly, had settled into the business world, just like Ahri. The only difference was that Ahri was a part-time model. An agent had found Ahri a few months after she had settled into Japan, telling her that she was beautiful, had a nice figure, and that she would fit in the modeling business. Like the tough and independent girl that she is, she refured the offer at first, seeing that she was nowhere into being a model. That particular agent, who was named Mr. Tanaka, didn't stop until she says yes though, so he continued to pester her till she finally agrees. After throwing a lot of fit and 'no's to him, Ahri had finally agreed after Mr. Tanaka brought her to a photoshoot to show her how a model works.

Ahri didn't know what came to her, but she said yes. Maybe she was awed by how things work, or maybe it was because she wanted to venture into a new path. Nevertheless, she agreed. Ever since then, she had been going to photoshoots and whatnot to sponsor different brands from different companies. Mr. Tanaka had become her manager soon, and now, they were unbelievably close despite the large . Mr. Tanaka was, in fact, forty years of age, whereas Ahri was now twenty-one years old. 

You may be confused now with how things went by and whatnot after Ahri said her goodbyes back at her past school. This is what happened.

/ Flashback - Four Years Ago /

Ahri was leisurely lying on her bed, alone, when her phone made a chirping sound alert, indicating that a text message suddenly arrived. Ahri groaned as she was busy staring at her ceiling, mindlessly thinking or nothing. She flipped herself after grabbing her phone that was lying beside her and pressed her password on the phone for it to unlock, only to be met by Kris' message afterwards. Ahri's eyebrows furrowed in both surprise and confusion, but she could not ignore the feeling of hope that Kris had at least initiated to talk to him despite the situation a few days ago.

Kris: Riri-ah... Do you mind if we can talk today?

Ahri: Uh... Sure. Where should we meet?

Kris: I'm at the park right now near your apartment. If you could make it down here so that we can talk for just a couple of minutes, then that would be lovely.

Ahri: Sure, but only for a couple of minutes. I still have to pack up.

Kris: Okay.

Swiftly, Ahri stood up and got dressed. The whole 'I still have to pack up' thing was a lie though. In fact, her things had already been packed the day before as she wanted to be ready as soon as possible. However, she still felt like it was best to lie as there was still this huge possibility that Kris might have some 'hope' again with his feelings and whatnot. As much as possible, Ahri didn't want any trouble. Nevertheless, all she wanted was to talk to both Kai and Kris before she left so that all things are clear and done. She had already decided to stop her feelings and leave them be. That was because she didn't want any trouble no more. After all, she extremely thought that all bad things happen when she's around. This time, she wanted to be the one to escape and run away to avoid any further problems, even though it sounds lame and cowardly.

Ahri dressed herself with a casual jeans and red long-sleeved, stripped shirt. Grabbing her phone and placing it inside her pocket, she then wore her doll shoes and proceeded to the park.

Ahri savoured each and every breath of fresh air that she passed by as she walked towards the park. She was only meters away from her destination, yet she took her time and made slow strives. She fastened her steps once she saw a very tall frame nearby. It was Kris. He was wearing casua