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Strangely, right after finishing the meal Sehun didn’t lead her out of the mall. They walked around with her following him, like he was her master. At first, she thought he was looking for something. Then as time passed she wasn’t sure what he was doing anymore. Wandering aimlessly? That didn’t sound like the great Oh Sehun she knew.

As discreetly as she was capable of, she glanced around; the thought of escape seeping back into her mind. Now that Sehun seemed dazed it was the perfect moment for her to get lost into the afternoon crowd and disappear. Biting onto her lower lip she turned and started to backtrack, looking back the way they’d come. The front doors were just around the corner beyond the lounge. If she could just…

“Where are you going?” her footsteps halted upon his voice.

Namjoo turned to look at him wide-eyed, caught off guard by him. Smiling awkwardly she pointed to herself, “Me?”

He eyed her for a short second then walked toward her. A breathless gasp eased out of her lips when he took her hand and pulled her along. Namjoo tried not to make a fuss over her failure of escape again and stumbled after him.

A second later they entered a brightly lit store; its pure white walls making the room shine heavily. The vibrant colors of clothes came into sight, racks and more racks appeared as they walked in. It was a women’s fashion store.

Namjoo blushed, growing utterly embarrassed when they waked passed the lingerie section. Surprisingly, Sehun remained cool and calm before releasing her hand. Gulping to keep her embarrassment from coming to light she rubbed her hands together with head lowered.

“Hi. How are you two today? Is there anything I can help you with?” a store employee walked up to them, her face baring the brightest smile among any smile.

“No, we’re fine.” Sehun replied.

“If there’s anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Enjoy your time looking around.”

Sehun watched her walk away before looking at her. “You want a change of clothes, don’t you?”

“Me?” Namjoo asked surprised. Then she looked around and pretentiously grinned, “Ah…yea! I do!”

If he left her alone to shop she could use the time to sneak out and run away. Why hadn’t she thought of this earlier?

“Go find something. I’ll wait for you here.”

Or maybe not.

“What?” Namjoo asked, caught off guard. Disappointment struck her nerves, like lighting to a tree. “You’ll be…here?”

Sehun slightly frowned, “What’s wrong with that? If a man is buying a woman clothes, shouldn’t he be the judge of what clothes fits best?”

“What?” Namjoo gasped.

“Go on.” He urged.

Namjoo stared at him dumbfounded and at a loss for words. Giving up she turned and started toward the racks of clothing, slightly glancing back to see him watching her.

“What is with him?” she mumbled to herself. “Or do I smell bad?”

Grabbing the collar of her blouse she sniffed her shirt. Her shirt didn’t seem to smell that bad, Plus, the box she’d slept on had been in quite good condition. What was the deal with him buying her clothes?

Vexed, Namjoo randomly pulled out a simple t-shirt decorated with some lace and beads. It didn’t look like the fancy style Choonhee would dig, but it was something that fit her taste at least. Namjoo glanced around for anything other than a skirt. Choonhee was too feminine for her masculine personality. All the dresses and skirts filled up 90% of her closet, and just looking at it frustrated her.

After choosing her pick she turned and realized Sehun had been closely watching her all along. It was a strange sensation to be flustered over.

“You seriously want that?” he asked.

Self-doubt entranced her and Namjoo hesitated to answer. If he’d been watching her movements ever so closely, would he notice that she wasn’t Choonhee? Or would her taste in clothes tell him who she was?

“Y…yes,” she nodded.

She grew more conscious when he grabbed the clothes from her and grabbed her arm to pull her toward another rack. Flabbergasted, Namjoo looked at him before looking down when he pressed something against her. A pink dress.

“Consider it a gift,” was all he said. “Go put it on.”

“What…” but he ignored her and started toward the checkout counter. A sense of bewilderment surged through her and she glanced down at the dress draped over her arm.

Hesitation grew over her like a shadow when he walked back toward her, “What are you doing? You’re not getting changed?”

“Huh? What? But…” Namjoo shrank when he grabbed her shoulders, wheeling her toward the fitting room. Before she knew it, he shoved her in and closed the door behind her.

Groaning out of exasperation she gently knocked the back of her head against the fitting room, wondering what the hell was going on. Then staring down at the dress draped across her arm, wanted to know what kind of gift this was supposed to be. Unwillingly stripping her clothes off and slipping into the dress she pushed the door open, poking her head out to look around. She quietly sighed and bit her lower lip when she saw that Sehun was awaiting her outside.

“What are you doing?” he asked, yet again. Yanking the door open he grabbed her hand and pulled her out, never minding how she barely tripped over her own foot.

“Wh…what’s going on? Where are we going?” she wondered, utterly lost as he pulled her after him. Then she glanced up at the next store sign when he pulled her in. Her eyes ran over each shoebox on the shelves, each one of them passing by in a blur.

Sehun forced her to sit down and pulled a pair of tiny black shoes with tiny heels down. Namjoo uncomfortably shifted when he half bent down and reached for her tennis shoes.

“H…hey,” she muttered and grew flustered. No one had done this to her before. She was overwhelmed with feeling shy and embarrassed.

Who was he to her? Obviously someone she barely knew, but he was doing things for her she never asked for. And it was weird. No one ever did anything for her without her asking before. She wasn’t accustomed to this.

Grasping onto his shoulder to push him away she grew intimidated when their eyes met. “Wh…what are you doing?”

“You’re not planning to go around in that dress with those shoes on,” he said. “Are you?”

Namjoo glanced at the dress and the tennis shoes, unable to see what was weird about it.

“What is it?” he asked. “You don’t like these?” Standing back up he placed the shoes back. “Then have your pick.”

“What?” she breathed, again surprised. Namjoo quickly glanced around. Never before had she been surrounded by so many pretty shoes, but she didn’t think she really needed any new shoes. At home, Choonhee’s closet seemed like a store itself.

“I don’t think I need…” a breath shuddered out of her when he pulled her up.

“Find something, will you?”

Namjoo quickly caught his eyes before averting her gaze timidly. Goodness, what was with him?

Stepping forward she looked around. She wasn’t fond of heels and even now, still had trouble walking in them. If she couldn’t wear the tennis shoes she adored she would need to find another pair of shoes with the slightest bit of height to it, something she could run in. A moment later, her eyes landed on a pair of black flats with bows attached to the back of the shoe.

“I’ll take this.” She turned around with the box in her hands and felt a warm rush of wind breeze over her.

There were stars in his eyes, a shine in them, as if she were a star having come out of nowhere. The store vanished and suddenly they were on a boat headed toward a castle hidden in the sky. Just the two of them and no one else, and he looked at her as if she was the most valuable existence on earth.

Something fluttered through her and her heart thumped. For a long time, Namjoo felt like she was standing in the clouds, experiencing a rush of magic. Looking away from her Sehun walked by, taking the box out of her hand and walked toward the cashier, leaving her there momentarily lost.

What was this, this strange feeling pumping through her veins?

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She was so pretty that it literally hurt to just look at her, but he wanted to do it more and more. If she was still his, he would reach over and hold her hand as they drove down the street. But he couldn’t. Even Choonhee seemed wary of him for an unexplainable reason and he couldn’t help but feel as if he’d stepped on something he wasn’t supposed to.

Of course, he told himself, it wasn’t him but Kai.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye to find her gaze out the window, her hands on her lap. Then staring at the road became regretful over not appreciating her more when he had her.

Why was she doing this to him? Why was his own heart doing this to him? Why was he deciding to be selfish now when he’d had all the time in the world earlier?

All the things he should have done for her earlier…now it was too late. The least she could do was give her whole day to him.

Pulling into the lot he stopped the car and stared up at the vast green park flourishing with wild grass dancing in the wind. Beyond the land the blue sea sparkled, like diamonds in the sky. The single large tree there was still standing strong and tall, and had shielded them from that day’s hot sun. Today was almost a replica of what he recalled in his memory.

Stepping out he walked toward her side and pulled the door open. Looking up at him she stepped out silently, this time without waiting for him to release her seatbelt. The soft wind brushed against her loose hair, making it fly back. His eyes subconsciously drifted over her, taking in the sight of the ethereal beauty in front of him.

He wanted her. All to himself.

Fighting himself with all his might in order not to touch her he turned to walk ahead, listening to their soft footsteps become one. For a long time they walked on in silence with him simply enjoying this time alone with her, even without a word it was soothing to his regretful heart. He would stop every now and then and peer back to find her slowly trudging along behind him, standing there prettily.

Earlier when he declared he would take her back from Kai, those had been empty words without meaning. Now, he was starting to think the opposite but nothing came without conditions.

Sehun realized if he were to go up against Kai, it would mean going up against his powerful family and risk losing what he had been after all this time. Their money. Their power. Their influence.

Meeting Kai and Choonhee had been a miracle to him, only it had coincided with his father’s plan before it soon became his. And the promotion he just got might be taken from him in the short run, because he wanted Choonhee. But…if he got Choonhee to fall back in love with him, wasn’t it so that she could still hold some influence over the company? Or would she lose all she had too, because of her betrayal to Kai?

But the possibility of him winning still stood. And if he won, Choonhee wouldn’t lose anything.

If he were to get someone on his side first, Choonhee was it.  

Make her heart flutter, he told himself.

Shifting around he stared at her. Choonhee hesitatingly stared back, the gaze in her eyes innocent. And once more he had to wonder if he was doing this for himself or if he wanted to shove the world back at Kai for trying to stab him in the back. All his emotions and thoughts swam around inside his head, colliding and knocking into one another.

It was complicated.

Still, he couldn’t deny it. That Choonhee had made his heart start to race.

She gasped when he grabbed her arms and tugged her toward him.

From the very beginning he had chosen wealth over everything, even her. It was distressing that he was starting to doubt himself. And all because of something she was doing to him.

He wanted her…

Holding her tightly he leaned in and locked his lips with hers. In a quick moment, his hand released her shoulder, snaking up to cup her face in order to better hold her. Choonhee started struggling at once, swirling his shirt up into her fist as she fought to free herself. When she finally managed to Sehun breathed from satisfaction, but only to have her fist swing into the side of his face.

She glared at him before turning to stomp away. She abruptly came to a stop before turning around to walk back toward him fiercely. Sehun knew it wasn’t the right moment for it, but he couldn’t help but feel more attracted by the way she was walking, how she looked in that moment, all angry and hot.

“You,” she breathed, “do you like me?”

Taken aback, his eyes twitched. For a second he barely panicked, fearing that she had caught onto his feelings. It was embarrassing and he felt shameful. Yet, he realized Choonhee would have gone around it instead of asking him if she knew it. She was never one to be direct with him. Her style had been to beat around the busy, testing him before deciding if he was worth her story.

“Me?” he asked. “Do I like you?”

Choonhee stared back without flinching. He liked how she was finally staring at him instead of being awkward, even if they were hot with fury.

Grabbing her arm, he deliberately stepped forward to intimidate her, “I hate you.”

Choonhee struggled to free herself from his grip so he squeezed his hand around her even more. He was so frustrated – with her, with himself – so much that he couldn’t think straight. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore. To use her or get her.

Sliding his hand up through her hair he kissed her again. She struggled against him again, freeing herself a second later. Suddenly fuming, he held her even harder that when he saw her wincing he didn’t stop.

Sehun was sure then, that she’d already given her all to Kai.

Somehow…he needed to make her his.

“You…” he intensely held her eyes, “do you think I kissed you because I want to? I hate you. I despise you, so don’t plan on the engagement. Whatever you do, I’m going to be there and I’ll step on your happiness.”

And he suddenly grew angrier with why she couldn’t read him.

“I’m,” with breath shaky, he declared, “going to take you from Kai.”

A stark frown grew over her face and he shoved her back. They stood there fuming at each other in silence.

Walking passed her he said, “I’ll take you back.”

“No.” he stopped. “You go yourself.” Then he thought he heard her whisper, “Jerk.”

Turning around to glare at her he watched her pivot away, ready to walk away from him. Seeing her do so made him more upset. She already left him because of Kai. She was going to get engaged to Kai because she loved him. And she was daring to walk away from him, like he was nothing!

It took only two strides for him to grab her hand and pull her after him.

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Seconds later, Namjoo was once more shoved into the passenger’s seat. The door slammed loudly and Sehun was in his usual behind the wheel moments later. Angrily stepping on the accelerator he pulled out and drove down the road.

Namjoo was wildly bewildered by his behavior. One moment being all strangely nice and pitiful toward her, the next all up in her face and pissed off. He was making her angry as well that she wanted to purposely kick his dashboard.  

She didn’t understand him. What did he want with her? What was his problem?

She felt sick that for a moment she had felt something for him. Oh, the frustration of it made her even more upset with herself. Why had she gotten sidetracked, allowing herself to forget about escaping Choonhee’s awful life?

The heat boiling inside her chest made her want to belt out a scream. She hated it even more that she was stuck inside his car with the door on child lock. She was in such a pathetic situation she wanted to bitterly laugh at herself.

Her innards screamed when the gates of Choonhee’s home opened up and the manor closed in on them. And she was back to where she began. 

***Sehun's building up his own misunderstanding xDxD if only he knew