Hahaha I hate myself this wasn't supposed to take 7 months to update asdhjsdkf anyway I'm back!! school is almost over so I'll either be really busy or really not SO hopefully I'll update next chapter A LOT sooner kashduid I'm soooo sorry you probably thought I was dead but I ain't kids!! Anyway hello here it is (I'm so sorry it's also some words less than the last couple chapters but because it's so late I decided you guys deserved to have it)

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The waking process was never hard on Sooyoung on an average weekend, but that was because she was rarely woken up. A strong shaking of her body jumped her mind and body from dream state and she flipped open her eyes, wondering what was wrong. 

 

    “Wha’?” She murmured with half open eyes, trying to see who had waken her up. After noticing the body shape she immediately covered herself under the covers again, ready to fall back asleep and wake up naturally.

 

    “I know, I know, you didn’t sign up for this. But get this, kiddo, we don't care. Well maybe Kaeun does, but she’s too sweet so of course she cares.” Hearing Jinyoung’s voice so early in them morning frustrated her, she was tired of him during the day, now she had to hear him blabber on in the morning. She grunted and tried to ignore him.

 

    “You can’t run away from this. You either get up voluntarily or I’ll pick you up and drop you on the front lawn outside.” Jinyoung tried sounding strict, making his voice louder and sharper, but it didn’t really work. It did get a little “hot” from Kaeun, who was standing next to him.

 

    “He’ll really do it Sooyoung, he said he did it a couple of times with Jinmi when she wouldn’t let him wake her up for school.” Kaeun pitched in to support her boyfriend with her cheery morning voice, the kind of voice she gave Sooyoung when she could tell she wasn’t in the best mood.

 

    Sooyoung sighed and freed her head from the hot underground of the covers, “What time is it?” 

 

    Jinyoung enthusiastically looked at his phone, “Seven thirty-four! Now hurry up and get dressed so we can go on a family morning jog! You’re the last to get up! We want to leave by eight, so go go go!”

 

    Sooyoung rolled her eyes, she wasn’t sure who thought that was a good idea, but she was more than ready to tell them about the cons of the situation. She decided it was best to not have Jinyoung attempt to do as he had threatened, because that would make her various different emotions but mainly mad. The twenty-three year old rose from her bed and spread her arms out to ensure none of those two were going to touch her. The young couple backed up and gave the person who was recently asleep some space.

 

    “It worked! Thank you for cooperation, it means a lot to us. Now change as quick as possible and meet us all downstairs for a very small eating of proteins and we will be off!” Jinyoung exclaimed and the two exited the room. 

 

    Sooyoung widened her eyes and noticed that yes, her parents were gone and that the bed was already made. Which made her wonder whether Mrs. Jung had been in there and how long ago her parents had gotten up. Leaving those questions for later, she slowly made her way up to a standing position next to her “bed” and stretched out her back and arms. After she felt her body was a ready enough to get dressed, she walked over to where her suitcase lay.

 

    The suitcase, still filled, was next to the large dresser where her parents’ clothes were. She bent over and flipped it open, because the last night she had zipped it open to get her pajamas. Her clothes were still neatly folded on their piles, although weren’t that many. She had only packed three pairs of clothes, pajamas, the hygiene necessities, and a swimsuit, just in case. 

 

    Sooyoung grabbed a decent outfit that she thought wouldn’t be too bad for jogging, or walking, since she didn’t know what their family’s definition of a “morning jog” was. The outfit consisted of running shorts she initially packed for possible sleeping in and a casual t-shirt she had packed for shopping, plain blue.

 

    She considered showering, but it hit her that she was going outside for a jog, which would make it foolish to shower beforehand. So she stripped off her pajamas and covered her body in the picked clothes for the time being. After being fully clothed, she walked out into the hallway to get a quick stop in the bathroom before going downstairs. She contemplating about putting her hair up or not, but decided that it’d be better to have it up just in case. Her hair wasn’t too long, a little longer than her shoulders, so there wasn’t much to put up. All ready for a jog, or walk, she went down the west staircase after the living room, and swerved toward the center of the stairs to welcome the families. As she entered, she noticed how tired her family looked in comparison to the Ims. 

 

    Although Sooyoung’s mother was a well-known morning person, the ‘exciting’ evening yesterday must have tired her out more throughly than she had thought. Her mother was sitting on the farthest chair from the left on the kitchen bar, a cup of coffee in her hand and wearing her old training outfit. Her father, on the other hand, was busy conversing with Mr. Im in a very common manner. The two were standing in the middle of the kitchen, both with mugs in their hand.

 

    The ones who woke her up were visibly outside through the glass doors in the middle of the in between the kitchen and the dining room. With them was Jinah, and the three were passing a frisbee in between one another. Sooyoung was taken aback when seeing Jinah’s outfit, although it didn’t differ much from her own, she couldn’t take her eyes off her. The way the outfit, as any outfit would, fit perfectly and looked outstanding on her boss still awed her. Although Sooyoung had previously seen her with minor perspiration, she wondered what she would look like if she did actually sweat while jogging. Probably glowing, she thought half sarcastically, and internally chuckled.

 

    “Good morning Sooyoung!” Exhausted but still bright, her mother called out to her daughter, distracting her thoughts and making her change head directions. 

 

    “Good morning mom, and dad, Mr. Im, and Jinmi.” Sooyoung thought she might as well say it all out then, since she’d rather do less work than more. Jinmi was sitting in a chair closer to the kitchen bar, her feet up on the seat and her phone in her hands again. She was wearing a younger variation of what her older sister was wearing, with the shorts a sky blue with neon green for the smaller side stripes and black for the thick ones. 

 

    Sooyoung just then wondered where the three Jin’s mother was, and turned her inner thoughts to look for her after her conversation with her own mother. “How did you sleep?” She thought she might as well ask the inevitable question first, before her mother could.

 

    “I slept great! The beds here are so nice! I only look tired because I haven’t had that good of a sleep in a long time and being cut off from that took a toll on the old body.” 

 

    Sooyoung nodded, “My sleep probably wasn’t as amazing as yours, but I didn’t wake up once which is good. The couch wasn’t too bad, just a little uncomfortable at first but I got used to it.” I wonder how Jinah slept…

 

    Her mother smiled in response and took another sip from her coffee, which was unfortunately getting cold, “I’m glad! Your father said he slept well too, I’m curious about the kids, but they ate their breakfast and escaped outside before I could do anything.”

 

    “I’m a kid,” Jinmi added in with a monotone voice, still staring at her phone. Sooyoung then noticed the bowl of cereal in front of the youngest member of the Im family, and wondered if they were the type of people to have a Western breakfast.

 

    “I know, but I meant the ones that are Sooyoung’s age.” Sooyoung’s mother corrected herself and got up from her seat, her mug in hand. Sooyoung concluded that the conversation was over, and began toward the glass doors. “Wait, Sooyoung! Aren’t you hungry? You just got up.”

 

    “A little…” Sooyoung quickly thought of a good excuse for her to leave without eating, but knew that couldn’t happen. “Can you grab me one of those bananas? I’ll eat one outside while I go talk to the ‘other kids.’’ 

 

    Her mother frowned and began moving her arm toward the section where the yellow fruit had laid on the kitchen countertop, but Mr. Im grabbed it too fast and threw it in her direction. Sooyoung flinched but managed to grasp it in time and caught the end of the banana before it could hit the floor.

 

    “Mr. Im! Do you do that to your children? How sudden too!” Sooyoung’s mother exclaimed from her position and stared at the still conversing rich man.

 

    He paused his discussion with her husband and turned to the middle aged woman, “Of course I do. I wouldn’t do something to your child I don’t do to my own. I apologize though, since I’m used to them expecting it and therefore catching it straight away. I will refrain myself from doing such sudden actions from now on.”

 

    With such a clear and exact explanation, Sooyoung found herself amused with her mother’s baffled but impressed response. “Well.. thank you for such a detailed answer. I’m glad you will not do that anymore… continue on.”

 

    Sooyoung shrugged and walked back on her way to the backyard, long yellow fruit in hand. Outside, she was welcomed by the other ‘kids her age.’ Kaeun smiled widely and jumped her way over to her, hand up for a high five. Sooyoung didn’t question the cheeriness, since that was expected of Kaeun, but she did suspect the high five.

 

    Sooyoung high-fived her friend and came over that friend’s boyfriend. Jinyoung smirked as well, but continued to throw the frisbee back to his sister. Sooyoung turned her attention to her boss, who’s eyes sparkled in acknowledgment. 

 

    “How was your night?” Kaeun inquired first, still smiling. Sooyoung began to wonder if Kaeun had too good of a night last night, although she was sure…she lightly shook her head of the thoughts. I shouldn’t be thinking of such repulsing things this early in the morning. 

 

    “It wasn’t the worst, I guess. My parents haven’t slept that well in years apparently,” Sooyoung decided to respond but continued to look at Jinah. It was a common guilty thought of hers that she could probably stare at that woman forever and never get bored. 

 

    Kaeun let out an excited squeal, “Oh that makes me so glad! Jinyoung and I slept well too! Are you excited for today’s morning jog?” Sooyoung internally rolled her eyes, even if she admired the younger female’s constant enthusiasm. You’re excited for everything today aren’t you?

 

     She shrugged, “Not really, it is just a morning jog. Nothing to get excited about.” A secret thought in her head whispered, other than seeing Jinah in that outfit moving.

 

    “Well you haven’t seen our family’s morning jogs before! They’re loads of fun!” Jinyoung joined in and back hugged Kaeun while still managing to catch the incoming frisbee from his sister. How the Im family managed to be nearly the definition of perfect other than their tempers made her feelings go haywire. She wondered if others encountered the same feelings as she did every day because of them.

 

    “Yeah, if you’ve accomplished at least one ultramarathon.” Jinah’s voice scoffed and her eyes met Sooyoung’s. In that moment, Sooyoung felt although the frisbee had hit her in the heart. Physically? Emotionally? She agreed on both. “Didn’t we discuss this whole staring at me phenomenon yesterday?”

 

    Sooyoung shook it off, “Of course! I apologize, I was getting caught up in my thoughts again.” The young woman turned her attention back to the annoying cute couple.

 

    Jinah’s younger brother winked cheekily at Sooyoung and spoke in a lower voice, “I know why you have a habit of staring at my sister.” 

 

    She couldn’t believe this, he was the most immature, the most exasperating, the most- her thoughts were cut off with her own voice. “Why?” As much as she knew the response and hated it, she had to hear it.

 

    “She’s your girlfriend and you’re in love with her and, and you think she’s really hot,” Jinyoung brought out a wider smile and Kaeun slapped him on the right shoulder. “Hey! Baby that hurt why are you that strong you carry coffee all day!”

 

    Kaeun smirked, “If you cared less about your sister’s love life and more about your own you’d know that I did boxing on the weekends.” 

 

    Jinyoung let out a loud sigh, “Oh come on! You only mentioned you had a book club with your boxing friends like once! You can’t think I’d take it that you’d do boxing just from that one statement right?” 

 

    Kaeun rolled her eyes and started walking toward Jinah, “You need to listen to me more. Focus less on your sister and her job and more on finding yourself one. You’re rich and handsome it can’t be that hard.”

 

    Jinyoung followed after her, “I will I will I promise! Can’t I enjoy our vacation and we can work these out afterward?” 

 

    Sooyoung had been too immersed the in the couple’s quarrel to not notice how Jinah had slowly made her way over next to her. She turned her head back toward the right to where Jinah used to be and saw just how close her boss had become. “Oh, good morning! I’m guessing the morning jogs aren’t really fun?” She hoped the designer hadn’t heard what her brother had said, although Sooyoung was sure she’d counter it with a reasonable and flawless explanation.

 

    Jinah flipped her hair, an action which Sooyoung’s eyes plead, before responding, “Of course not, our family is very serious when it comes to competition. If you come in last, there’s a punishment. The winner chooses the punishment, although I’m not sure if we’d do that here because of the guests, but I doubt it.”

 

    After the sentence finished the two couples of parents exited the house, refreshed and apparently ready for a morning ‘jog.’  Mrs. Im smiled and her husband began explaining the exercise to the guests.

 

    “In the Im family, it was a weekend routine to go for a morning jog. Of course, once the kids grew older it was rid of, but we decided to bring it back to a fun time. The morning jog consists of two teams and a destined stop, as our little Jinah used to call it. Since this is a relatively new area for us all, my wife and I personally engaged in a warm up jog at around 6 to decide on the destined stop. The trick is, only us two know the destined stop.” 

 

    Sooyoung noticed her parents’ faces change from enjoyment to confusion as he explained on. So we follow people in our team but the last person overall gets punishment? Isn’t this unfair? Why do we take different routes? Why can’t we just jog like normal people? 

    Jinah nudged her shoulder and slipped out a small smile of amusement at the guests’ appalled expressions. “Don’t worry, it’s a lot less complicated than you think, just follow what I say and you won’t lose.” 

 

    Sooyoung gulped and nodded as the rich middle aged man continued on. She began to wonder how long it would take him to write a speech, and how long his speech would be if it were at Kaeun and Jinyoung’s wedding, or her and Jinah’s…Sooyoung shook her head again to focus on Im Jinah’s side profile. Her and Jinah? Together? Married? Impossible! Not even desirable! Well…

 

    “That’s it! I hope you enjoy our family activity as much as you would one of yours! I’ll lead the adults and Jinmi, while my wife will lead Jinah and friends. We start in five minutes!” It was most excited Sooyoung had ever seen the man, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. 

 

    The teams gathered separately to discuss strategies and ideas to win. Sooyoung and Kaeun weren’t quite sure what was going on, but added in little tidbits of encouragement. 

 

    “How long do we have to run? My parents can barely run 1 kilometer at their age so I hope it isn’t much..” 

 

    Jinyoung’s mother chuckled, “We suspected that so we cut our usual 6 kilometer jog to 3 just for them! Although that statement worries me, I’m sure they’ll be fine. It just means they’ll probably lose!” 

 

    This family is savage… Sooyoung nodded, “Okay, I guess that’s not too bad.”

 

    “Can we use Kaeun as our distractive feature? She’s so cute and would work perfectly to try to get them into that coffee shop on the way!” Jinyoung chimed in cheerily. Kaeun’s ears perked at ‘coffee shop’ and agreed immediately.

 

    After discussing different ways to get them off course and tips on how to pace yourself, the two teams stood on the edge of the front lawn of the MT house. A timer was set on Mr. Im’s phone to determine the starting time and once it was off, so were they.

 

    Sooyoung noticed how the head of the households were racing as soon as the timer went off, and they were much faster than she imagined. Mrs. Im swerved left, Mr. Im on the right, each of their teams attempting to stick along. Sooyoung was in the middle, and she noticed how Jinah paid special attention to make sure she ran alongside with her.

 

    Kaeun and Jinyoung were in the back, as expected, and were in depth planning her supposed ‘distractive tactic’. It took about 10 minutes for Sooyoung to lose energy, and she turned around to notice that the couple behind her were gone. Jinah maintained the position at her side, even slowing down when it was obvious she could’ve kept running at a perfected pace.

 

    “You know, you can probably win this,” Sooyoung mentioned to her boss, her breath and step stammering. She was reminded of her earlier thought of this morning, about Jinah perspiring in that outfit, and agreed that Jinah was glowing. Is there any time she doesn’t look good?

 

    Jinah nodded, a slight smile on her face. “Of course, I’ve won the morning jog countless times over the years. Everybody in my family has. Compared to the usual, my parents are going awfully slow today.”

 

    The surprise on her face was obvious, which made Jinah’s face crumple in a slight giggle. The chuckle made some part of Sooyoung’s heart clutch, stuck in awe at the beautiful sound. She ignored the feeling, though, and kept her feet forward. She couldn’t be distracted by Jinah again. 

 

    “How long do we have left?” Sooyoung managed to rasp, her exhaustion rising. 

 

    Her boss’ head shook from left to right, “Nobody knows other than my parents. We probably have 20 minutes or so.” She paused and slowed the pace to a walk, pulling Sooyoung along with her. “You know, we can walk if you’re tired. We don’t have to win.”

 

    Sooyoung didn’t argue and slowed down, “I want to be finished with this but I don’t want to run.” She thought it was fine if she complained, Jinah didn’t seem to care.

 

    The taller woman agreed, and the two walked in silence. Sooyoung’s mind wandered off about where everybody else was and if they were finished, if her parents had given up, and where their destination was exactly. Her eyes perked at every noise, and her eyes marveled at every tree passing them. Ten minutes later, she was bored again.

 

    “Can we turn back now?” Sooyoung questioned, this morning run was the most exercise before 10 AM she had ever done. Jinah’s facial expression changed, somewhat surprised. Sooyoung began to wonder whether that was similar to blasphemy and started to worry.

 

    Jinah’s response was the complete opposite of what was expected, which was happily obliging to Sooyoung’s suggestion. They ended up just turning around and walking back a slightly different way to make it look like they put in the work to go to the end. Jinah knew her family would know they cheated, but they were guests and she didn’t really care.

 

    When the pair got back, the house was empty. Jinah wondered why it was taking so long for the others to get back from the destination. Probably the guests, since they’re so slow. The two got some water and got comfortable in the dining room in front of the glass doors. They decided it would be better if the families saw them when they came back.

 

    “We’re going to be punished for cheating aren’t we?” Sooyoung asked while waiting, there wasn’t really much to do other than look at their phones and talk to the each other. Of course, punishment made her thoughts go a little off, but she directed herself as fast as she could.

 

    Jinah nodded, “Obviously. I don’t mind though, it’s usually just doing the dishes or some other chore.” She was surprisingly not on her phone, but sketching some forest in a notebook she had grabbed from upstairs. Sooyoung internally cried at how that woman could do everything better than anybody she’d ever known.

 

    “That doesn’t sound so bad,” Sooyoung replied and continued looking over how Jinah’s hands delicately sculpted a bush on the page. Even her boss’ hands were a form of art themselves, lean, long, and beautiful. She struggled to think of some kind of small talk to add but eventually came up with “Other than fashion, do you like drawing?”

 

    The gorgeous woman continued to shape her nature picture as she responded, “As you can see, I do. Nature especially captures my attention, how it can express so many emotions and experiences without specifically doing anything. Just the way the leaves fall so naturally and gently can be so artistic and stunning.”

 

    Sooyoung never felt more a tug on her heart for Jinah until that moment. She almost felt like…she threw away the thought as soon as it came in. Impossible. She would never. Ever. Never. Instead she just rasped in awe, “That’s beautiful. What other hobbies do you have?”

 

    “Loving you, obviously.” Jinyoung’s voice interrupted the two’s small talk, and they turned to view him. The male was standing in the middle of glass doorway, Kaeun a few feet behind stretching. 

 

    Jinah’s face changed entirely. It was no longer focused on putting out the gorgeous expressions of nature, but to her annoying brother. “Nice to see you here finally, Jinyoung. Who won?” She quickly flipped the sketchbook closed and hid it slightly under her arms.

 

    The only male son Im scoffed, “Of course I did! Kaeun had such an amazing distraction tactic it worked for a full five minutes.” He smirked and his girlfriend ran over at the mention of her name.

 

    “We did well didn’t we? I’m so happy! Why did you guys disappear after awhile though?” Kaeun cheerfully joined Jinah’s brother near the doorway, becoming concerned with her last sentence.

 

    Jinyoung opened his mouth to respond something snarky, but Jinah beat him to it. Sooyoung bet she was as tired of him as she was with him. “Sooyoung got too tired so we returned here. Are the others almost back? I’m surprised they lasted longer than her.”

 

    Sooyoung sighed and fell back more in her chair and thought about her health and then her parents’ health. She became disappointed in herself and vowed to workout more from then on. 

 

    “Oh them? They stopped at a restaurant for a bigger, better, breakfast. After they got to the destined stop of course. They wanted to invite you guys but they lost you so long ago and you weren’t answering your phones so they left anyway.” Jinyoung answered casually, noticing how his older sister was becoming exasperated with his joking comments from beforehand.

 

    Jinah’s eyes widened, “Really? I didn’t get any missed calls though. When did they say they would be back?” She glanced at her cell phone and flipped through it using her index finger. 

 

    Her younger brother shrugged, “Around ten probably, so in about a half hour to forty-five minutes. I see you guys didn’t wash up yet though, which is surprising since you guys were alone.” 

 

    Jinah let out a frustrated noise and her eyes narrowed to a fierce glare toward Jinyoung. “If you bring up anything romantic between me and my employee again, you won’t end up happy tomorrow morning.” Sooyoung noticed how Kaeun was beginning to get slightly scared at the sharp voice. Sooyoung personally missed that side of Jinah of a little, she liked knowing her as the strict boss.

 

    Jinyoung rolled his eyes, “I know I know, you’re actually Ms. Serious and I need to stop kidding around. I get it, I mention it too much. It’s not my fault you guys are obviously not heteroual for each other…but I won’t mention it anymore from now on I swear.” 

 

    Jinah expressed a satisfied look, the fire still subtly reigning in her eyes. “Thank you for complying. Now since you brought it up, I’ll go wash now.” She rose from the chair and walked out of the room. 

 

    Jinyoung lifted up his index and middle finger to make a V and pointed them at Sooyoung’s eyes and then at his. “Even if I can’t bring it up anymore, I’m still watching you too. In the shadows.” Kaeun giggled at this comment and the two walked back outside. 

    Sooyoung rolled her eyes and head toward the stairs to prepare to shower. This is gonna be a long day.

 

    After everybody in the families had returned and showered, the large group gathered in the background on two different picnic tables. Sooyoung realized they had never formally discussed the winner of the morning jog and assumed that was the reason why they were gathered. The tables consisted of the expected break, with the four parents and Jinmi on one table and the three younger adults on the other table. 

 

    Mr. Im stood up after everybody had settled, “If you do not already know, the winning team of the morning jog was my wife’s team! The fastest two at the destined stop were surprisingly Jinyoung and Kaeun.” The members of the team cheered at the news, even if they knew it beforehand. He continued afterward, “What you may not know though, is that our oldest daughters cheated and returned back home without finishing.” The tall man faced the two girls, his eyes gleaming with the familiar fire of his offspring. “You should know we do not accept cheating in this family, especially you Jinah. Why did you do it?”

 

    Jinah didn’t seem phased at all with her father’s mild anger, “Sooyoung was tired and couldn’t run anymore. I say that is a valid reason as any other. I would also like to add to the fact that we did make our morning jog rules a little harsh on the guests.”

    Mr. Im nodded in understanding, accepting her feedback. “I understand how you see that as a valid reason, but I think we should take a vote on whether you two should have a punishment or not for cheating.”

 

    Jinyoung immediately rose his two arms in the air as high as they could get and nudged Kaeun to do the same. His girlfriend slowly lifted one hand to a little above her head, which led everybody else in the families except Jinah and Sooyoung to raise their hands.

 

    “I can tell we all think they should be punished for their wrong actions, even if it had a justifiable reason. Jinyoung and Kaeun, since you two were the fastest, what do you think should be the punishment?”

 

    It only took the two about ten seconds to decide, which was becoming obvious due to the mischievous expression on Im Jinyoung. He stood up with a bright smile, “We agree that they should go somewhere together, only the two of them, tonight. To get closer of course.”

 

    Sooyoung looked at the wood of the picnic table and began to trace the circles with her index finger. She should’ve expected that kind of punishment to come from the devil himself. Well it wasn’t that she didn’t want to go on a date with Jinah. They just had spent a lot of time together already, she didn’t need anymore.

 

    She rose her head after he had sat down again and elbowed her boss, “I hate your brother.” 

 

    Their eyes met and a spark in Jinah’s eyes made Sooyoung’s stomach flip, “You and me both.” Sooyoung hoped their forced date wouldn’t go too badly.