Suho was like a mind reader. He took the time to observe as well as try and understand people’s actions. So it didn’t surprise her when he told her that one thing the trainee would crave for is acceptance.

“She is not only a new trainee to the company but also a mole. Hence unlike the others in her group, she cannot afford to open up and make friends with the others. She also cannot afford to let her guard down. It is thus obvious that close relationships will be something that she cannot have yet deeply want. Your engagement to Chanyeol will not be the only thing that triggers her emotions that she, as a mole, is trained to hide. The very fact that we accept you, trust you and from another perspective, literally crave for your attention will definitely make her sensitive and jealous.”

“Suho, I know that since she is a mole I shouldn’t feel sympathy for her, but isn’t it wrong to manipulate her feeling like that?”

“I understand your line of thought, but Mi Rae, do you know how affected Chanyeol was by her actions? I know that doing something bad to a wrong doer makes us no different from that person, but sometime you just have to make sure that they are punished for their deeds and that we can protect the people we love as well. Xiumin told me that before the accident, Chanyeol had come home and cried to you. How do you feel about that? What we are going to do is going to help her as well. It will allow her to realize her mistakes before she can do something as bad a killing someone and regretting her decisions later on” said Suho in a calming voice. Mi Rae just nodded in response. Sometimes Suho reminded her of Yunho, the calm leader who took time to explain things. They both gave out the ‘we’ll-support-you-throughout’ vibes and it was really comforting. She wondered what else Yunho would have told her, being the elder brother he is to her, if he was here.

…………………………………………….                                                          

SM Building, the next day.

Baek Yoonhee had just finished her GYM training and was on her way to the lockers. One of her team mates told her that someone was waiting at the vocal training building for her. Upon asking who, all she got to know was that it was a girl. She took a quick shower and grabbed her bag and phone, since she next had vocal training. It had to be a fellow trainee, an idol or a guest who knew one of the two. She wondered who would possibly come to meet her. She entered the lobby and found a girl dressed casually in jeans chatting with the receptionist. Being a keen observer, she noticed the small ring she wore on her left hand. She tagged herself in and walked towards the girl. She was the one who was with Chanyeol the last time she had met him. What was she doing here?

“Hello, I’m Kim Mi Rae. I’m sorry for randomly asking to see you, but I really didn’t know how to contact you. You are Baek Yoonhee, right?”

Yoonhee nodded slightly and tilted her head, saying “Why did you want to meet me?”

Mi Rae looked a little embarrassed as she said “I think I need your help. You see, Chanyeol told me that he is close friends with you. You are literally the only other girl he talks to besides me. I tried contacting his sister, but she’s in America right now. I’m a little desperate, but what I’d like to know isn’t really serious. The boys didn’t seem to know either. So I thought I could ask you…”

She felt her heart drop a bit when she heard Mi Rae call her just a close friend of Chanyeol’s; the way she said ‘boys’ bothered Yoonhee a little bit as well. However, she couldn’t let that interfere with the way she responded to her. “What is it?”

“Why does he dislike lilies so much? I thought of decorating one of the rooms based on lilies, but his expression warned me that he would not appreciate it.”

Instantly Yoonhee felt smug. She wasn’t so close to them after all. Chanyeol hadn’t told Mi Rae but her about the secret.

“It’s because of his grandfather’s funeral. He told me that his relatives sent so many lily bouquets, but none of them bothered to show up in person. He hated the fact that they all assumed that sending flowers would be enough and would be able to make up for their absence. The very sight of lilies reminds him of the funeral.” She almost slipped a smirk but stopped short at her reply.

“Oh that makes sense. There were so many lilies that you couldn’t even walk there. I suppose it was a way of showing off their wealth, covering every inch on the ground with flowers” said Mi Rae.

She was there at the funeral?! thought Yoonhee

“I didn’t want to hurt him by asking him. Thank you so much. I think I’ll have to make sure that the bridal bouquet does not contain lilies….” Mi Rae whispered the last bit, but Yoonhee heard it.

“Bridal bouquet?” she managed to ask in a steady voice. Mi Rae’s face turned to that of guilt as she slightly hit her forehead. “Im so sorry! Chanyeol wanted to be the one to tell you. When he tells you, can you please pretend to be surprised? Oh Gosh!”

Yoonhee felt her blood raging. Chanyeol was getting married to this girl? So the one who gave her the ring was Chanyeol? She blinked to clear her thoughts and keep her emotions in control. Just then the elevator pinged and 2 people stepped out.

“Mi Rae! What are you doing here? Did you come to visit us?” said an extremely happy Kai. Sehun nodded enthusiastically as he ran towards her to give her a hug. “We just finished practice, let’s go eat ice cream!” said Sehun, not noticing Yoonhee, who was startled at their sudden arrival.

“Oh, Yoonhee-shi, good afternoon.” She nodded to Kai’s polite greeting.

“You guys just finished vocal practice. No ice cream for the two of you!”

“Mi Rae~~~ please? *buing* *buing*” Sehun was in full on lets-kill-some-fan girls- mode.

“Come on Rae, can’t you see the young one desperate for some food?” said Kai.

By now the three of them had completely forgotten Yoonhee’s presence, a fact that she did not like one bit.

“But…. What do I tell Suho? He’ll kill me if he gets to know that you guys ate ice cream. I don’t even want to think about Kris! He won’t punish me, he’ll punish you in front of me and that is scary!!”

Kai rubbed her back affectionately, a rare sight since he was an infamous playboy. Needless to say, Yoonhee was shocked by their closeness.

“If you get me something that I like, then I’ll stop calling you noona* and sis-in-law. How about that?” Sehun said with a smirk.

“O-Okay, I’ll treat you to bubble tea then. We’ll get some for the others as well.” She was rewarded with a bone crushing hug from Sehun, who immediately pulled her to the exit. Mi Rae briefly bowed to Yoonhee and shouted a quick thank you, before disappearing out of the door. Kai was talking on the phone as he followed them out. Yoonhee briefly heard him say “- yeol hyung! She’s here at the company. Don’t worry, we’ll come home after-” Hearing that made her feel very sad. All in all she couldn’t help but feel that it could have been her in Mi Rae’s place, being showered with affection.

Outside, Sehun had still not let go of her hand as he led her to the nearest bubble tea store. She looked back at the building and thought-Kai and Sehun have this ability to go crazily excited around the people they like that everyone around them yearn for their affection and attention.

She waved at Kai who entered the store, showing her the thumbs up sign.

 

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Please comment! Thank you <3

Rae