Sehun was missing Friday afternoon after classes. I was lucky Kai didn’t go home yet, so I was able to ride with him. However, Kai said that they were supposed to have skateboard practice that afternoon, so he was surprised that Sehun just disappeared after their last class.

Kai had to meet up with the dance team for a little bit before he went to skateboard practice. He saw me waiting by his car. Dance team usually met in the middle school campus, so he parked his car there.

I tried calling Sehun, but he didn’t answer his phone. It was ringing, of course, but he just wasn’t answering it. I didn’t dare call home, for fear that he wasn’t there and Luhan would suspect something fishy.

Kai just told me that he’d go tell the skateboard team that he’s gonna drive me home first and be back for the practice.

The practice was on a skate park that was near school. It was fairly new, just 2 years old. Most of the kids from Fengtai hung out at the park during weekends. The park wasn’t just for skaters, because there were specialty stores and cafes in the vicinity.

Kai drove the car around to search for the team. When he spotted them, he slowed down, stopped and rolled down the window. He stuck his head out and called to the other guys.

I saw Yibo and Seungyeon sitting on the curb. They both raised a hand in greeting.

 

Kai: Sehun not here?

Seungyeon: Nope. Not yet.

Kai: *mutters*

Seungyeon: No practice?

Kai: I’m just gonna drive Xiao Yi home and be back. Carry on.

Seungyeon: Gotcha.

 

But before Kai could step on the gas once more, another car came by and stopped beside Kai’s. The driver had the windows down and there were at least three other people inside the car. I didn’t recognize them from school, so they probably went to another school. They weren’t wearing their school jackets, so I couldn’t guess by the white shirts they had on.

 

Driver guy: Hey, Wu Zhongren.

Kai: Yeah?

DGuy: You know that Shixun lost to me on that last race, didn’t you?

Kai: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

DGuy: Oh, c’mon. Don’t play the good kid. We both know that you know what Shixun did. And he lost to me. Just another Wu dimwit. The dimwit blood probably runs in the family, so you won’t win over me either.

 

Kai smirked and reached for my door. He opened it and asked me to get off the car and stay with Seungyeon and Yibo for a while. I looked at him questioningly but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the other guy.

I slowly got out of the car and went to sit at the curb next to Yibo. Kai shoved my backpack out the window and Yibo caught it for me.

Kai was going to race the pathetic guy.

Yibo snorted and shook his head.

 

Yibo: Global Haidian never learns their lesson.

Me: That guy is from there?

Yibo: Yes.

Seungyeon: They keep doing things like that since we transferred here.

Yibo: They see us a threat. Pshhh. Like they have won before.

Seungyeon: Well, Sehun got beat on that race.

Me: It was an illegal race.

Seungyeon: I know, but still.

 

I shot him an evil glare. Seungyeon raised up both hands as if to say sorry and stopped talking. Kai and the other guy named their terms on the bet.

Whoever won gets the other’s car.

I unconsciously gripped Yibo’s arm.

If he felt I was gripping his arm too hard, he didn’t show it. He just sat there, anticipating the outcome of the race.

The FIS skateboard members had gathered around and cheered for Kai. The other guys who were in the other car of the Global Haidian guy had stepped out the car and stood at one side, cheering their champion.

Kai was mad enough to accept the bet, even if it meant he might lose his car.

I felt the fury when I let the words repeat in my head.

”Another Wu dimwit. The dimwit blood probably runs in the family…”

 

 

 

Kai won.

By a few centimeters.

Thanks to Seungyeon.

The Haidian guy was distracted at the last lap since Seungyeon stealthily took out his phone and shifted the screen to make the light reflect on the guy’s direction. I think the Haidian guy looked at the phone screen and got blinded for a bit, so he slowed down a bit.

I didn’t actually watch the race. I only knew about it after the Haidian kids drove off the area. Kai had told the Haidian kid to “deposit” the car in front of our gate on Saturday morning.

“You might not be able to go home tonight, so make the deposit tomorrow. Just bring the car outside our gate.”

 

Seungyeon: I deserve a pay raise.

Kai: Shut up. Thanks, though.

Seungyeon: You better go and bring Xiao Yi home before she faints.

Kai: Yeah, I should.

 

I probably looked ghostly white, so Seungyeon made that comment. I was still gripping Yibo’s arm. I had hid my face behind his shoulder the whole time.

When I was seated in the car again, I hit Kai by the shoulders.

 

Me: Stupid! Stupid! What if you crashed! What if papa knew?

Kai: Relax. I’m good. And I won it for Sehun. I’m gonna sell that car so he can pay you off in full.

Me: Urghhhh! Be thankful you didn’t crash or I’ll kick you.

Kai: Xiao Yi, I’m okay. I was very, very careful.

Me: Stupid. Stupid. You’re so stupid!

Kai: I couldn’t just let him call our family dimwits.

Me: Even so. You didn’t have to risk your life for that stupid guy.

Kai: What’s done is done. Buckle up. I’m gonna bring you home.

 

Seungyeon called out to Kai.

 

“Hey, Kai. Jungkook just texted me. He’s not gonna make it to practice.”

 

Kai: Oh. Did he say why?

Seungyeon: Nope.

Kai: Hmm, alright. Wait for me then, I’ll be right back.

 

And he started the ignition.

When we arrived home, Luhan was waiting outside the front door. He had his arms crossed and was looking like he was going out…on a business meeting.

 

 

Luhan: What took you both long?

Kai/Me: Huh?

 

We had gotten out of the car and walking towards the door. Luhan stood up straight and placed his hands inside his trouser pockets.

 

Kai: Wow! Looking good. Have a date?

Luhan: Wu Zhongren, have you forgotten what day is today?

Kai: Ani.

Luhan: Then why do you ask?

Kai: Because I’m not sure why you are dressed like that.

Luhan: Kim Jaejoong and Kim Seokjin are already in Beijing. We have a meeting over dinner. Go suit up. Xiao Yi…dress nicely.

 

I just nodded. Kai quietly walked through the door and went up the stairs after me. Luhan didn’t ask us where Sehun was. Did he know where Sehun was?

When we reached the second floor, we met Sehun in the hallway. He was fumbling with his tie and mumbling something.

 

Kai: Why haven’t you told me you were going home?

Sehun: Oh. Oh…Uh…Well…Hold on. . How does this tie get so…wait. Damn.

Kai: I gotta call the guys to go ahead with practice without us, then.

Sehun: Sure. Uh…I left my phone in my car, so...

Kai: Yeah, yeah. I have something to tell you later.

Sehun: Good, better, best?

Kai: More than the best.

Sehun: Why not say it now?

Me: Because Lu ge is home.

Sehun: That important, huh?

Me: Yes.

Sehun: And you know about it.

Kai: She knows.

Sehun: Okay.

 

Sehun continued downstairs, still fumbling with his tie. Kai went to his room to change. I went to mine and stared at my reflection in front of my mirror.

Jungkook probably couldn’t make it to practice because of the meeting. His appa and Jin hyung were back in Beijing. And like me, he’s supposed to be at the meeting, even though we’re too young to actually be at a business meeting. However, since it was a business partnership, we were supposed to be there.

I just hoped that Luhan wouldn’t ask me to invest in the business yet. I knew Kai won the race but hasn’t sold the car yet. I knew though, the car would be worth much more than what Sehun owed me.

I went to get a quick shower and changed into dinner clothes. Nice dinner clothes.

I was brushing my hair in place when I heard a knock on my door. Luhan’s voice came next.

 

Luhan: Xiao Yi? You done?

Me: Five more minutes!

Luhan: Can’t you do that in the car, whatever you are doing?

Me: No. Just five more minutes.

Luhan: Alright.

 

 

The meeting and dinner was held at one of the downtown hotels. Mr. Kim had said that it felt like a proper business meeting instead of doing that at their home or our home.

Mrs. Kim was the only one not present at the meeting. She had a meeting with her law firm associates and couldn’t reschedule it. Well, aside from Jimin who was in California.

We were seated at a private dining room. It was more like a mini function room with the conference table set with dinner things. Mr. Kim was seated at the head of the table, and Luhan at the other end. Kai, Sehun, and I were seated on Luhan’s right side, while Mr. Kim’s children sat on his right side.

J was looking dapper. And behaved. He had his hair slicked back with a huge amount of gel. I could see that Jin was sporting the same slicked back hairstyle. Jungkook had just brushed his hair back with a little gel, so some of it were sticking at the back. All three of them wore white shirts and dinner jackets. A little too formal for my eyes. But then, it was a business meeting too, aside from dinner.

Luhan looked like a younger version of papa in his black suit and white shirt. Kai and Sehun opted for the casual business look. Sehun’s shirt was powder blue and he was able to properly knot his tie. Kai didn’t wear a tie, but chose a darker shade of blue for his shirt. It looked like we were color-coordinated. I was wearing a light blue cheongsam-inspired top and white pleated skirt.

 

Mr. Kim asked everyone to sit.

He started the meeting with showing us a video presentation of the Fusion project. Jin had drafted it while he was in California. Luhan reclined on his chair and nodded at some points in the video. He had a pen and notepad on the table and made some notes while watching the video presentation. After the video, Mr. Kim then asked Jin to hand out some folders to each of us and let him explain what was in there.

I fought the urge to yawn. My eyes caught J’s and he, too, looked like he was on the verge of yawning.

 

Jin: So, if you notice the table of contents, I haven’t added the soft opening details yet.

Luhan: Yes. I’m still working on a marketing strategy that will work on the A, B and C classes.

Jin: Noted, hyung.

Mr. Kim: If we can have all three classes in the soft opening, we’d hit our six months’ target revenue by the end of the year.

Jin: That’s right. Now, please turn to page four. The location of the business…

 

And the meeting went on. The only people who spoke were Mr. Kim, Luhan and Jin. All of us were either just staring blankly into space and waiting for the time when someone announced that it was time to eat.

Finally, Jungkook spoke.

 

Jungkook: Appa. I’m hungry.

 

J covered his face with his hand and snorted. He thumped Jungkook’s back when Mr. Kim turned his back to pick up the intercom and called to bring in the menu. Jin saw the two and glared.

Sehun and Kai were playing rock, paper, scissors under the table. I pushed my chair back a little. I didn’t wanna meet Luhan’s eyes when I looked in his direction. Luhan was busy writing something on his notepad, so he didn’t notice the two.

 

 

The food arrived and we ate in categorical silence.

I say categorical, because the meeting still went on while eating.

Luhan had presented a menu plan to Mr. Kim and Jin. He had handouts as well. It seemed like Lay and Xiumin had helped with the menu proposal.

We were asked to help classify the food on the menu by A, B, and C classes.

Surprisingly, J was good at it. Because of his outgoing personality, he seemed to know which kind of food the A class ate, as with the B and C classes.

Sehun and Jungkook started being dorks at this time. Sehun said that the C class sometimes ate expensive food than the A class, and vice versa. Jungkook then commented that A class people don’t necessarily eat according to class, take for example him, he ate whatever he wanted.

If Mr. Kim didn’t scold the two of them, they would have gone on until the end of the meeting. I saw Jin hide a chuckle.

 

After dinner and the table was cleared of food, Mr. Kim had asked to speak to Luhan alone for a bit. The two of them left the room.

And as expected, the room became noisy. The rock, paper, scissors game continued with J and Jungkook joining. Jin had sat on his chair quietly, reading the handout that Luhan provided. He was making notes of his own while reading through.

J lost to Sehun. The winners decided on a punishment.

J was in the middle of executing his punishment, by walking like a duck, when the door opened.

Mr. Kim and Luhan entered the room again.

 

Mr. Kim: Hoseok? What are you doing?

J: Appa..I..uh-

Mr. Kim: Get back on your seat.

Luhan: Sehun. Kai.

 

The people mentioned scrambled back to their seats and swallowed. I tried to catch Jungkook’s eyes, but he didn’t even glance at me. He sat quietly now.

When I was sure that he won’t look at me, I let myself stare at him. I doubt that the others would notice. They were surprisingly attentive to Mr. Kim this time as he spoke. He gave the floor to Luhan again. As Luhan spoke, I fixed my gaze at the table, watching Jungkook’s hands as he drummed it slowly.

Luhan finished speaking and Mr. Kim stood up again. He spoke this time.

 

Mr. Kim: There is an announcement that I and Wu Zun wanted to say now. But as he could not make it today, Luhan is representing him for this announcement.

 

Luhan’s eyes automatically moved to look at me. I felt his eyes on me, so I looked up from watching Jungkook’s hands. I pretended to listen attentively to what Mr. Kim said.

 

Mr. Kim: Wu Zun and I have reached a consensus, over these past few years, that we will go ahead with our original agreement. Jungkook and Yinzi will be engaged and for them to get married when both of them reach twenty one years old.

 

My ears rang upon hearing the words “engaged….to get married.”

Mr. Kim continued.

 

“We have come to this agreement due to fact that we wanted to make this business partnership more than just business. Yes, the friendship between our families are exemplary, but we believe that the ties that bind are stronger if we’re one family. Blood is thicker than water, anyway.  The public announcement of their engagement will be at the grand opening of Fusion. Possibly around Lunar new year. But today, I as Jungkook’s father and legal guardian, together with Luhan, Yinzi’s older brother and legal guardian, in behalf of Wu Zun, we announce that my son, Kim Jungkook and Wu Zun’s daughter, Wu Yinzi, are engaged to be married.”

 

That was when Jungkook finally looked at me.

Instead of his usual twinkling, flirty eyes when he looked at me, I saw only gloom. He pursed his lips and looked away.

That hurt.

A lot.

 

“Jungkook, Yinzi come here.”

 

I hesitated. Sehun and Kai looked like they saw a ghost as I stood up. J had pushed Jungkook to the front. He was snickering and he obviously looked happy.

Luhan huffed as I walked toward him at the front. Mr. Kim smiled at me. He had Jungkook’s hand in his and reached out for me. Then he placed my hand in Jungkook’s.

 

“Starting today, Jungkook, you and Yinzi are bound by the promise that I and Wu Zun made to each other. This engagement is not to be announced in public just yet, though. No one else has to know, except family. Do both of you understand?”

 

I could only nod. Jungkook didn’t speak, nor nod. His appa looked at him for his reply, and only then did he nod.

Then the room became noisy with J’s whistles. Sehun and Kai joined in. At first, they looked surprised, but after a while, it sort of made sense to them.

That announcement concluded the meeting.

 

We filed quietly out the room and went through the elevator doors.

We reached the parking lot, Luhan behind me.

I spotted Jungkook and his family just four cars away from where Luhan parked his car. Sehun and Kai already had climbed inside the car and waited for us. I tried to make small talk with Jungkook as his appa was still talking to someone on the phone.

He only said one word to me.

“Goodnight.”

Luhan stepped beside me and whispered.

“Xiao Yi. Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to marry him?”

I couldn’t answer him.

I didn’t know.

Deep inside, there were two things happening at once.

 

I was happy. I was going to finally end up with him.

I was in a doubt. He didn’t look happy. Maybe he didn’t want to end up with me.

 

But didn’t Jimin say that he liked me? Was he only teasing me? Bluffing?

 

“Goodnight.” That was all he said. He didn’t even smile. Not even a fake one.

 

Do I have to do another “runaway bride” stint this time? Like that last time…

I hugged Luhan.

 

 

I like the little bit of heart-tugs on this one.

I hope you're not disappointed. This is the start of a song playing with two melodies.

Thanks! →  吴愛你們。我愛你們。 ♥♥♥

P.S. Luhan's Reloaded mini album. What do you think?