CHAPTER 16

“Here’s my card,if you’re interested in my company. You guys have talent.” The man gave Yong Hwa a pat on the back.  He left to his seat to finish his lunch.

“Yasss” Minhyuk said excitedly while he laid his head on Yong’s shoulder.  Jungshin and Jonghyun fist pounded. “Let’s eat guys.” Yong Hwa suggested.  The guys walked toward the table.

“Wooo!” His mother started to make noise. The guys except for Yong Hwa were enjoying it. He was dying of embarrassment. Shin Hye was only smiling. They all sat down.

“Guys, this is Shin Hye, Park Shin Hye.” Hye Young  was not showing discernment at all.

“THE PARK SHIN HYE!” Minhyuk had a little fan boy moment. “I’m going to sit next to you.” He said cutely while he sat down. They all took a seat.

“Wow, it’s been so long.” Jonghyun said compassionately.

“Oh! Were you her fans?” Hye Young was having fun talking.

“Yes!! I listen to her music when I need to concentrate on school work.” MinHyuk said happily. The other two nodded their head.

“Yeah, the one who got us into your music was-“  Jonghyun was interrupted by a Yong Hwa’s slight kick under the table.

“Was what?” Shin Hye was curious.

“ Was…my mom.” Jungshin was trying to help out Jonghyun.

Hye Young started to laugh uncontrollably. Everybody turned her head to her. Yong Hwa was done with her.

“Mom…”

“Oh I just remembered something funny. I’m sorry.” She began to drink some water  to ignore the stares.

“So, are you going to keep performing here?” Shin Hye asked.

“Hopefully, I think we should. Right guys?” Yong Hwa was nervous. He didn’t want to tell her about the offer they had just received.

“Yeah” the other three said.

“So tell us how you’re feeling, Mrs. Jung” Minhyuk was being overwhelmingly cute.

“Aww, I’m feeling better! Just as new. I am ready to kick some !”   Literally.

The guys laughed.  Shin Hye was enjoying the time out with them. The food was great and she did not feel self conscious about eating in front of them. They ate just as much as she did. It felt refreshing for her, being surrounded by other people and being in a different environment.  They finished eating their food and were ready to leave. Jonghyun and Jungshin were saying their goodbyes to Hye Young and Shin Hye while Minhyuk and Yong Hwa talked.

“ Wow, she’s so beautiful in person.”

“I know.” Yong smiled.

“And somewhat emotionless. Haha.” They both chuckled.

“I know.”

“Man, I was kind of shipping you with Ailee but now that you got your dream girl right next to you, I totally want this to happen.”

“Me too, haha.”

“I’ll see you later so we can practice the other songs.” They all “bro” hugged goodbye and left Yong, Shin, and Hye on their own.

  “Thank you for inviting me, Mrs.Jung.” Shin Hye bowed her head.

“Awe you’re so cute, I want to take you home to live with us.” Hye Young said jokingly.

Shin Hye’s eyes widen. That didn’t seem like a bad idea but she had her own house to live in. Yong Hwa suddenly looked at her. “Ay, don’t give me that look. I was just joking.”

Abruptly, Hye Young started to vibrate with messages. She took out her cell phone and her facial expression changed.

   “I see you.”

“You’re looking good.” 

“I know your sons weakness. You better watch out.”

“You can’t catch me.”

She turned her head to see if he was around.

“Who is it?” Yong was curious.

“Oh a ..friend of mine is saying that she can see me.” She tried to conceal her nervousness.

“Oh okay..” Yong Hwa was used to her being weird and anxious. But now it’s really starting to annoy him.  

“Shin Hye, are you living with you father?” Hye Young asked while they strolled along the sidewalk.

“No, not anymore.”

“Why not?”

 Yong Hwa had a feeling that she wasn’t going to live there anymore when he connected that Ailee and her were stepsisters. He knew problems would rise.  Shin Hye took a deep breath. She didn’t want to cry in front of them, its embarrassing.

“I feel stressed.” She gave a slight smile.

“Awe. Do you feel stressed now?”

“No. Thanks to you and Yong Hwa” Yong Hwa was looking at her; she could not keep the eye contact.

“AWE. YAY!” Hye Young gave a slight pat on her back. “Do you have food at your home?”

“I-“

“Say no more. Let’s go food shopping!!” She sounded excited, but deep inside she was angry and scared. Hye Young would turn her head around to see if somebody was following them.  

“Ok.” Shin Hye sounded relieved.

They walked to a farmers market near by.  Yong Hwa took the shopping cart while Hye Young took Shin Hye’s arm.

‘Wow, now I’m the third wheeler.’ Yong muttered to himself.

“THESE PEARS ARE HUGE. SHIN HYEE!!!” Mrs. Jung would scream across the market.  Shin Hye was at the vegetable section putting in some broccoli, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and beets into the bags.  Yong was helping Shin Hye, once they heard his mom they both looked at each and giggled.

“SHIN HYEE.”She said again in a whining voice.

“Alright, alright, coming.”

They put bunch of blueberries, bananas, papayas, dates, raisins,grapes, mangoes, persimmons, apples and pears into the shopping cart.

Yong Hwa was admiring how pretty Shin Hye looked while she was with his mother.

‘I’m so lucky to see you smile when you’re with me.’ He thought while holding the cart.

“This is on me and Yong Hwa. Don’t worry about repaying me. Pay me back with grandchildren.” She winked at her. Shin Hye showed no emotion. But Yong Hwa saw that one of her fingers was twitching.

“ Alright, Yong go get the car while I wait with Shin Hye here so we can put the groceries in.”

Yong Hwa left.

“Didn’t you love his performance?”

Shin Hye nodded her head.

“Mmm, he sang with so much passion.”

“I know. What would you do if he became famous?”

Shin Hye didn’t think about that. That’s right; he will one day be famous and leave her side. She wouldn’t want to cause scandals.  ‘What am I thinking? I don’t think he even likes me. The kiss…it was just a mistake.’ She thought.

“I would cheer him on.” She responded firmly.

Hye Young nodded her head. “I guess that’s the only thing to do, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Oh, here comes the car.”

Yong Hwa parked the car and they all started to put the bags away.

Hye Young hugged Shin Hye good bye.

“I’ll see you soon. Stay strong, you look beautiful.” She said with a comforting smile. “And Yong Hwa, make sure she gets to her house safe.”

He nodded his head.

-

“Kahi?” Hye Young was talking on the phone.

“Yeah?”

“We need to find out who’s behind killing Shin Hye’s mother. I have a feeling he wants to do something to Shin Hye.”

“Mmm, we’ll have to track him down with the phone number he’s using.”

“Let’s see if we can. Kahi, please take care of Shin Hye.”
 “Of course.”

-

After they had put everything away in the fridge, they sat down around the piano room. There was a nice silence for a few minutes until Yong Hwa spoke up.

     “Are you hungry?”

     “Mmm..” She nodded her head.

       “Oatmeal?”

        “Oh, no you don’t have to do it. I’ll do it.”

         “Stay there I make the best oatmeal.”

         “Ok, use oat milk please.”

           “Got it.”

He brought two big bowls of oatmeal. He sat down on the floor alongside Shin Hye to eat. Both eating in silence, but it was calm. Way different from the hell house she was in.

          “Why are you so nice to me?”

           “Because I can. Everybody has the ability to be nice.”

            “True. But is there something that you want?”

             “Yeah.”

              “What is it?”

               “I want to be your friend.”

              “I thought it was implied.”

             “No, it’s not official. I want the title of ‘Park Shin Hye’s best friend.’”

    Shin Hye giggled. “Fine. Today you are officially my best friend.”

   “I’m happy. With that we can get to know more about each other.”

Shin Hye nodded her head in agreement. She doesn’t feel lonely. She doesn’t want isolate herself anymore, even though it’s hard to overcome that.

They finished their big bowls of oatmeal. Its already 7 pm. She wonders if her father is waiting for her, worrying about her or looking for her.  Yong Hwa noticing her worried expression asks her “what’s bothering you?”

   “Oh nothing. Its just my father, at this time we would listen to music. I don’t know what he is going to say.”

“Ohhh”

“But it’s okay. I rather be here than over there. Ailee, my step sister shredded my mother’s letter. This house is the only thing I have from her.”

“Ailee? She did that?”

“You know her?”

“ Yeah we go to the same University.”

“Oh makes sense.” A tint of jealousy was heard.

“ Did she say anything?”

Shin Hye gave him a suspicious look.

“Have you by chance was ever her boyfriend?”

 “Nooo”

“She likes you right?”

Yong Hwa stayed quiet. “Because of you, she shredded my letter. She thought it was from you.”

Yong Hwa let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. Wow, it looks like she changed a lot.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She is definitely a nice person. She has great qualities and she is pretty. She sings really great.”

Shin Hye began to feel insecure. Of course, every guy thinks she is pretty. She needs to accept that. The guy she liked thought her greatest enemy was pretty and nice. Shin Hye could only nod at what he said. Of course, he’s not going to look at her.

“I guess it is my fault. I’m so sorry.” He said in a soothing voice.

Shin Hye stood up, ignoring his apology and turned the radio on to the classical station.

She took a deep breath. Shin Hye did not want the negative thoughts to control her. At least, she can be with Yong Hwa. At least, they are now best friends.

Yong Hwa felt her cold aura.

“Let’s listen to music.” She sat right back down close to him. She doesn’t know why she has gone a bit too close to him. She wonders if its jealousy or the flirty side of her is coming out.

Yong Hwa nodded his head, he was nervous at the proximity.

She smiled at him.

‘What is happening?’ He thought.

A few minutes into the song, Shin Hye’s eyes were closing. She was tired. Today was a rough day for her.  All she wanted to do was forget about everything and just rest. Her eyes finally closed and her head landed on Yong Hwa’s shoulder.  His eyes widen. He slowly turned his head to see her head resting on his shoulder. It felt nice.

He made himself comfortable and rested his head on hers. Her hair was soft and smelled like toasted coconut. He couldn’t help but smile uncontrollably. Finally, he gets to be close to with his favorite pianist.

‘I don’t care at all about your bloated tummy or your uneven weight gain. You look healthy. Everything about you is radiating. Please always stay close to me.’ He thought as his eyes gently closed and fell into a deep sleep.

Author's note::: This was such a fluffy chapter *-* I hope you enjoyed reading it. You guys always keep me motivated to keep on writing.  Please comment,upvote subscribe and most importantly have fun reading ^-^   much love <3