“Ahhh,” Chaerin moaned as she felt pain rising from her and her elbows. She opened her eyes and realized that Yongguk was right above her, feeling the pain in his knees. She froze at the awkward situation.

“Goodness, aren’t you two close,” she then heard her mother said from the living room when she saw the both of them on the floor. She then giggled, “Honey, are you sure you aren’t cheating on Zico?” She joked. “I have to agree, Yongguk-ssi is quite a charm,” she laughed as she put on her apron, leaving into the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Yongguk hurriedly stood up and offered his hand to help her up. “You alright?” He then asked her as she stood up, dusting invisible dust off her pants and shoulders.

“I’m fine,” she smiled, “That was awkward!” She then let out a laugh, relieving Yongguk. “What about you? I heard you fall on your knees, that was quite a loud bump,” she said looking at his long legs. “They’re bound to bruise tomorrow,” she said.

He then smirked. “Nah, I’m made of steel, remember?” He then said.

Chaerin blinked and laughed out loud as she grabbed his bags and they moved to the cozy living room. She rested his bags near the beige velvet sofa. “Have a seat, I’ll get you a drink,” she smiled.

Chaerin then made her way to the kitchen, playfully sliding on the wooden floor in her socks, Yongguk chuckled at her actions.

“Such a kid,” Yongguk then shot up when he heard Mr. Lee said, entering the living room. “My wife and I were so worried when we sent her to the states,” he said with a book in his hand, “Thankfully, she met you,” he then said taking his seat on the single-seater sofa. “Oh, sit, sit, don’t get all tensed up,” he then invited Yongguk to sit with him on the sofa when he saw Yongguk just standing there, listening to him.

“You heard a lot about me?” Yongguk then asked as he sat down, he was still feeling nervous.

“Chaerin video calls us every few days,” her father then explained. “That child was so nervous and self-conscious at the beginning, so afraid to converse with her classmates,” he said whilst shaking his head. “I’m guessing it was because she had a hard time in her past college,” he added.

“Past college?” Yongguk then asked.

“Oh she hasn’t told you about it?” Mr. Lee asked, pushing his spectacles up his nose. “Well I thought you knew, seeing that the both of you seemed so close,” he said.

“No, sir,” Yongguk denied. “She always seemed to be upset when talking about Korea, except family of course,” he told Mr. Lee with a sigh, “She was always bragging of Mrs. Lee’s cooking and your creativity, how you inspire here very much,” he said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere in the living room, seeing that Mr. Lee’s facial expressions seemed to have become dull.

Mr. Lee forced an uneasy smile, not that it was not genuine; but it looked like a smile filled with bitterness. He sighed, “That child,” he said, “My Chaerin,” he then wiped off the tears in his eyes and sniffed. “She is such a sweet girl, why did it happen to her?” He said with his head lowered.

Yongguk only looked at the older man in silence. What happened? It was true that he and Chaerin were pretty close, ever since he met her, he found it difficult to stay away from her or even look away from her. She was charming, even though she seemed really timid and fearful of opening up to him when they first met, he still made an effort to make sure her stay in the states would be comfortable and he had no regrets that they now were good friends, but she never really talked about her past in Korea to him. She was avoiding it. 

:X 
I promise to reveal Chae's past,
but let's leave it to Yongguk to discover ey? ;)

Cheers!