Feeling fresh and fit, Areum strut out of her room early 5:30 in the morning. Although she'd initially thought of it as a hassle, she was quite glad she managed to get up early (Thanks to her alarm!) and smell the fresh air, see the snow covered trees and watch sun rise from the horizon. A view that was priceless.

"Good morning, Miss Son. It's so good to finally see you."

Areum turned around at the sound of a female voice behind her. Bowing deeply, she smiled and met the warm eyes of a lady, probably in her 40's holding a cleaning spray and a duster in the other hand. "Hi."  she waved her hand in the air, shyly as she proceeded towards the woman. "Do you need a hand?"

The lady smiled and shook her head. "Oh no my dear. There won't be any need. Instead, go and eat your breakfast." she shooed the younger girl with a soft chuckle. "He's waiting for you."

"He's already up?" Areum scream-whispered. "Doesn't the man sleep at all?" she groaned and quickly bowed before dashing towards the dining room, to find Sehun dressed in his white and grey pajamas, wearing a black boy London beanie over his head.

"Good morning." she said as she watched the boy peek through his iPad and nod. Pulling out the chair, she sat opposite to him with a tray full of delicacies already in place before her. "Wow." she murmured as she opened the lids and looked through every item. "Ajhumma is Jjang."

"Mrs. Kang."

"hm?" Areum hummed as she poured the maple syrup over her raspberry and blueberry pancake.

"Her name is Mrs. Kang. Kang Hyewon." Sehun repeated, taking a sip of his black coffee.

"Hyewon emo-nim." Areum said to herself and smiled. Glancing at a annoyed looking Sehun early in the morning. "What's wrong with you?" she asked as she noticed his slightly red nose. "Y-you're..." she stopped and suddenly realized what'd happened, causing her to laugh out loud, almost spilling her tea over. "You have a cold."

"I don't get why that's funny to you." Sehun retorted, dabbing a tissue over his nose. Although he didn't admit it aloud, he was quite glad to see her wear the ring again. Fighting hard to not smile, he shut his eyes and pulled his beanie down to his eyes. "We're leaving in 30 minutes."

Areum stared at her unfinished breakfast and unknowingly jut out her bottom lip. Having just gotten rid of her cold, she didn't want to catch it again by not wearing an appropriate attire. "Okay."

"Get the files from Mr. Hong and fax these to the department in Beijing and Changsha." Areum said as she placed the files on the clerk's desk. Who's attention seemed a little too short spanned for her liking. "You understand what I'm saying right?"

"Yes.” The clerk tilt her head to the side. “You are?”

"Agasshi for you." Areum turned around to face a smirking Baekhyun leaning against the glass door. "That's the boss's fiance my dear." he winked at the already blushing employee. "Talking of the boss. Is Sehun here?" he asked, turning his attention away from the disappointed girl and to Areum.

"What do you think?"  Areum sighed but a smile lingered over her face. Although she initially hadn't liked Baekhyun, she had somehow grown to like him despite earning a slap on the first day they met. And to think of it now, she did kind of deserve it. "He's in his office." She pointed her thumb behind her, carefully placing the papers under the paper weight.

"Obviously." Baekhyun clicked his tongue and waved a hand over. "Let's go somewhere else." he said, nodding his head when Areum pointed herself and mouthed. "Me?".

"Yes, you. Come."

"What is it?" Areum asked as they stepped out into the balcony and a gush of wind made her shiver with cold.

"Here." Baekhyun said, pulling off his over coat and wrapping it over her slightly shaking body.

"No Baekhyu—"

"I'm hot." he grinned. "You need it more than I do." he said, patting the girl on her shoulder lightly as she sipped her head in thanks.

"So," Areum smiled, pulling the coat closer to her body. "You're implying that I'm not?" she teased, brushing away the hair from her face. A grin appeared on her face, feeling quite proud of her own joke considering she rarely joked before.

"You have a funny side." he smiled, eyes disappearing into tiny crescents. "I like it." he shoved his hands into his jeans pocket and shrugged. "You're hot. Any guy with working eyes will say that."

"Seriously?" she laughed, leaning against the railing and looking down to watch the cars speed by. She wasn’t flirting in anyway but Baekhyun’s expression just made her crack into a wide smile.

"Don't get me wrong lady; I was just trying to get forward my point. Not trying to flirt with my Dongsaeng's wife to be." he smiled a crooked smile then leaned his back to the railing and looked up. "There was something I needed to talk to you about." he said, suddenly turning serious.

"Of course." Areum answered, not knowing what to make of his sudden seriousness. Mirroring his position against the railings she clasped her hands together.

"It's about you and Sehun, okay?" he murmured, slanting a look at the girl. "Look, I know I'm not close to you or anything. But, since you genuinely seem like a good girl. I just want you to know the risk you're putting yourself into by marrying Sehun." he crossed, then uncrossed his arms in discomfort. "It's not like I'm totally against it. Actually, it would do a great deal for Sehun, which means it'll do good for us simultaneously. But that's besides the point." he rubbed his hands together and blew his warm breath over it. "Your father is a vicious man. No offence."

"None taken." Areum shook her head and smiled a small smile. "Go ahead."

"From what I've seen so far, he's obviously trying to take you back. God knows for what reason but, he won't stop until he actually does." he paused and contemplated how to say what he wanted to say. "The things that happened to you, like in Hongdae, your apartment and maybe even hit and run episode outside this building. They're nothing compared to what he is capable of." he grit his teeth, eyes staring straight ahead like he was reminded of some horrible memory.

"You're telling me all this. Why?" Areum asked confused as to why he would even care to tell her all this.

"I don't know." he shrugged. "Like I said, you seem like a good girl. I'm just trying to warn you, I guess." he smiled, slipping his hands into his front jean pocket again.

"I already know of all the risks Baekhyun." Areum smiled warmly. "Thank you for making a point to tell it to me. I appreciate it a lot."

"Don't mention it." he waved his hand dismissively in the air. "I guess I owed you for what I did to you the other time."

"Oh." Areum nod. "I deserved it anyway." shyly smiling, she brushed her stray hair straight and took a deep breath, almost moving ahead to continue her work but Baekhyun beat her to it.

"The thing you're doing." he started and Areum turned to look at him. "Doing it for someone you love, I get it. But doing it for someone you barely know, it's not bravery Areum, but it's stupidity." he said, patting the girl gently on her shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing. The scars on your body." he said, looking at her yellowing bruise on her cheek and pointing it with his slender finger. "It may go, but the ones here—" he said pointing a thumb at his heart. "They never heal."

"What're you—"

Instead of replying her question he smiled brightly patting Areum’s head like a child’s. "Go." he said, nodding his head towards the door with a smile and pushing the girl ahead gently. "You don't want to keep him waiting."

"Are all the files sent?"

"Yes. Just not with the dealer from Ukraine, I've delivered it to his secretary's office instead, since he's out of town." Areum stated it professionally, placing a choco bubble tea on Sehun's table while she held her Cappuccino in her other hand. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Drink your coffee and read this." Sehun said as he slid his iPad on the desk and resumed to work.

Grumbling, Areum grabbed the iPad and sighed. "I don't enjoy reading the news Sehu—" she stopped talking immediately as she read the headline of the online news. "It's... It's us." she muttered, zooming in on the picture. "T-this is the New York times. S-Sehun, what're we doing on an international news?"

"This is what happens when your fiance is the most eligible bachelor in the whole of Asia." he smiled smugly and swiveled in his chair to head towards the girl who still stared at their picture in awe. "It's all over the news."

"This is just.... " she stopped, not knowing what to say next. A sudden realization hit her as she whipped her head up and met his gorgeous eyes. "How am I going to stay low like this Sehun?" she asked suddenly, taking Sehun by surprise with her firm tone. "All my effort. My mother's effort to hide me from my father would be a waste if... "

"Nothing will happen to you Areum." he said as a matter of fact, sipping his bubble tea. "You're going to be safer with me than you'll ever be on your own Areum. Don't underestimate your dad. He would've found you eventually."

"Maybe." Areum shrugged, putting down her empty coffee cup and grabbing her scarf from the arm rest of the couch. "If there's nothing else to do, I'll leave." she said, snaking her hands into her coat and pulling her hair all to one side as she wrapped the scarf around her neck and waved. "Bye."

"Hey!" Sehun sprang up, confused at her words. "What do you mean 'leaving'? How're you going to go home?"

"I'm not going home. I just remembered I have things to take care of."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Why do you need to know?" Areum tilt her head in confusion, stuffing her hands into the sleeves of her over coat.

Ignoring her question, he scratched the back of his neck debating whether to ask or not. "You have plans with Baekhyun?" Damn it! Now that the cat’s out of the bag, he thought. “Is that why he was talking to you earlier?”

"What?" Areum shook her head. "No, it's something else." she smiled, walking towards the door with her back to Sehun. "Don't wait for me for dinner okay?" she said, opening the door without even sparing a second to listen to Sehun grumbling.

"Isn't she scared at all?" he murmured staring at his straw. "Stupid girl."

"Thank you so much." Areum bowed politely at the man as he handed the spare keys. "I'm so sorry for giving you so much trouble."

"Oh don't even mention it Agasshi. I owe your mother a lot. This... " he smiled. "This is nothing. I'm glad I could help."

"You're too kind Ajhusshi." Areum said, picking up a huge paper bag filled with Hanwoo and handing it to the man. "Please have these. You've helped us so much. This is the least I could do."

"I can't take anything from you. Agasshi. I—"

"Please." she insisted, nudging the bag toward the man, who bowed repeatedly. Areum smiled, tucking the strands of her hair behind her ear. "I remember Haru saying she loved Bulgogi and Chicken. Eat it well." she paused. "I should head back. I have more things to do." she smiled.

"Should I drop you back Agasshi?"

"No, please. It's not that late." she shook her hand in the air and bowed. "Thanks for always being there for my mother and I. I'm sure she would've been very glad to know you're doing well now."

The man smiled sadly as he pat the girl gently on her head. "Take care of yourself Areumsshi. Visit us again soon." he smiled, waving as the girl retreated and walked down the stairs.

"What is she doing?" Sehun murmured to himself as he watched the girl insert the key into the white mansion. "What is this place?" he groaned. Having followed her all the way from his office to the old man's house to this unknown place, he had to be very discreet and resolved to not turning on the headlights.

Watching her silently as she entered the white stranded mansion, he felt an uneasiness creep up his spine as she disappeared into the darkness.

A minute passed. Then two. His uneasiness and the feeling of not knowing what was going on made him crazy and he groaned as mumbled a "The hell with it!" as he stepped out of the car and carefully walked on the denting asphalt and avoiding all the dry leaves that would make noise or give him away.

Holding his phone in his right hand, his gun already tucked at the back of his pants, he headed towards where the girl entered. The place looked stranded and haunted. Not a place where a girl, all alone should be wandering about.

Sehun leaned his back to the wall, breath becoming shorter and more uneven as the seconds passed by. Holding his phone in his hand, he quickly dialled for Areum, pressing it as close as he could to his ear.

An alarm like ringtone could be heard across the the hallway and he immediately figured out the spot where she could be. Pressing 'end call' he slipped his phone to his pocket and made a beeline to the area where he assumed Areum would be; hopefully alone.

Just as he was about to reach the spot, a rather loud metal music blared through the whole hallway, startling even the owner himself as he cursed and quickly dug his hand in for his phone, trying helplessly to mute it.

"What the fuc—"

"Sehun?"

He quickly ran for a post and hid behind it, cursing incoherent words between his jagged breath. "." he scowled, knowing she'd seen him already and feeling extremely stupid and embarrassed.

A minute passed, then soon two.

Nothing happened.

Did she not see me? He thought to himself as he let out a sigh of relief which only lasted a second. His phone vibrated.

1 new message(s)

From Areum

I wanna go home,
give me a ride please?
Or you wanna stay here?
xD

Groaning, he locked his phone and found the girl casually leaning against the wooden door, arms crossed against her chest.

"I'm not going to ask you why you're here." she smiled, moving herself away from the door. "Let's go."

Quietly, Sehun followed behind her back. Many questions coming to his mind, but he was clever enough to know it wasn't the right time to ask now. The whole ride back home was quiet and peaceful, unusually comfortable. He couldn't help but glance at the girl as she leaned her head on the window and drew smileys on the condensed glass.

Unable to contain his curiosity and longer, he decided to only ask brief questions. "Your old house?"

"Hm?" Areum whipped her head around, a lazy smile sprawled over her face and Sehun couldn't help but feel happy, seeing her safe and sound. "It was my grandparent. My mother's parents." she said, rubbing her sparsely clothed thighs, trying to warm it when Sehun noticed it and professionally with one hand, grabbed his overcoat from the head rest of his seat and placed it on her lap. "Thanks." she smiled, carefully covering herself with the coat and feeling the warmth of it fabric and most of all, the comforting smell of its owner. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me Sehun." she suddenly said, closing her eyes as she leaned her head at the back. "And a lot of things I don't know about you." she paused.

Sehun kept his eyes to the road but his attention to what Areum was saying. She hardly spoke of herself anyway. "There's nothing to know about me Areum." he said, slowing down as the light turned yellow. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Areum shook her head and leaned head against the window again, erasing the smileys with the sleeve of her coat. "You'll hate me if I tell you." she said, her voice abnormally weak and low. "I hate myself for it."

Not knowing what to comment to that, Sehun left it as it was with million questions lingering on his mind. Next time. He said to himself mentally as he glanced towards the girl who'd now closed her eyes, hair slightly covering her face falling into deep slumber. A smile grazed over his lips as he whispered.

"I'd never hate you even if I wanted to."

Author's note;

I've been gone for so long. Sorry. 
Btw, I've been listening to IU's Voicemail and Bad day a lot. I love the girl so much. :)



twinklebee