“Mm…” it was a tactless sound that came through Sehun’s pursed lips. His eyes were ignorant of her – that Namjoo was at least thankful for. Yet, even without his eyes on her, anxiety bubbled up inside her stomach and she ended up gulping for no particular reason. In the flash of a moment she recalled the heat of his mouth pressed against hers.

“You didn’t come yesterday. I was a little surprised,” Kai commented.

Namjoo quietly gazed at Kai. She could only really know if he really meant what he was saying, when before he’d been assuring her that even if Sehun didn’t show up – which he made sound like he knew Sehun wouldn’t – that he would still be there for her, or rather Choonhee that is. His words contradicted all the words he had earlier conveyed. And to think they were friends.

Namjoo merely wanted to scoff but Sehun spoke, cutting her thoughts off midway. “I was held up with something personal. So how did it go?”

Really, Namjoo wanted to ask. Were these two guys lying to each other right in front of her? God, the headache the confusion gave her.

“Went as planned,” Kai nodded with a grin, “there are some new stockholders. It would have been nice if you met the committee, you know, after all you’re becoming Vice CEO of the newly extended business.”

“Maybe I do regret not attending,” Sehun spoke with variance, his eyes dismissing his friend and on the open menu in his hands.

They were approached by a young smiling waitress who appeared to have years of experience at the restaurant. “Are you ready to order or would you like some more time?”

“What about you?” Sehun glanced up at Kai.

“We’ll order,” Kai said to the waitress and smoothly ordered something from the menu. Sehun ordered next and when he completed his order, all eyes landed on her. Namjoo’s body heated up from neck down and started sweating ferociously.

“Uh…I…” crap was all she could silently think about. She wasn’t ready and she never liked having her orders taken like this – well, because she’d never been somewhere this luxurious. Her restaurants were roadside vendors and food trucks.

The longer she droned on in her thoughts the more she felt their eyes burning holes in her. Her eyes roved over the list of food on the menu before randomly pointing to something, “I’ll…I’ll have the hot and sour fish soup and…and can I get a bowl of rice with that?”

The waitress smiled at her with a nod after taking down notes of her order before walking away. A wave of relief washed over her before she began nervously sweating again.

“I thought you don’t like spicy food?” Kai asked.

In the spur of a second her heart crashed against her ribs, booming in her ears. Spicy…food… Hayoung had warned her about some foods Choonhee favored. ! She messed up! What if they noticed? What if they caught on that she was a mimic?

“Uh…” she nervously laughed, squeezing her hands underneath the table, “well…I thought I’d like to give it a try…you know? Like, sometimes we want to try new stuff.” She awkwardly laughed again, “Don’t you ever feel like that?”

God, she wanted to hit her head somewhere. The more convincing she wanted to sound the less she sounded like it. Everything she had spouted out sounded more like tedious questions.

“Sure,” was all Kai said. As he turned away Namjoo fought to restrain from making a face for feeling so pathetically ridiculous. She let her eyes roll down to the plain white table cloth before the instinctively glanced up to find Sehun looking at her with those narrowed eyes of his. The expression in them made him look like he suspected she wasn’t Choonhee.

Namjoo’s throat went tight and quickly turned at the sound of a ringing phone. Her heart was still hammering like mad inside her chest. She was on edge, she realized, too alert…maybe for no reason and maybe for a good reason. She silently gulped again when Kai answered the call and a moment later, excused himself from the table. Namjoo’s insides screamed as she watched him walk away.

\\\\\

Since it was early morning Sehun expected the restaurant to be pretty empty. Instead, it was noisily occupied with strangers willing to pay for overpriced cuisines. Their murmurs floated around him, drowning out the melody of the music from the overhead stereos. White sunshine floated in from the windows cleaned hours ago so clean that they appeared translucent. On one side of the restaurant the parking lot came in view and the other had the scenery of the street with window shops on the other side. And on his right, Choonhee.

He was feeling abnormal again that morning, almost filled with the wonder whether he had gotten sick or if something had magically changed overnight. Because here he was, experiencing this magnetic pull he never before felt around her. His body tingling and crying for something he didn’t understand. He wanted to touch her.

God, that was horrible! Sehun glanced away completely overwhelmed by the sudden surge of emotions and quickly grabbed his glass of water to gulp it down. It was cooling and refreshing, but obviously didn’t help sway his train of thoughts.

After emptying his glass his eyes automatically swerved toward his right to find Choonhee sitting stiffly in her chair with eyes heavily trained on something invisible. As his eyes roved over her, he deducted that she still looked the very same person he always knew her to be. There was nothing different or changed about her. So why? Why these feelings?

Sehun literally jumped from the sudden ringing of his phone and watched Choonhee turn to look at him. He quickly turned away refusing to let her know he’d been checking her out and hurriedly took the call.

It was his mother.

“Where did you go?” the woman’s gentle voice that gave away her old age vibrated through the receiver.

“I’m having breakfast.”

“Oh you could have eaten at home the same,” the woman complained.

“What is it? Why are you calling?”

“The thing is,” his mother continued, “Hayoung is here.”

As if more wide awake his lids opened up more, “Why?”

“I don’t know,” the woman went on, “she says she’ll wait for you to return.”

“Well, tell her it’ll take a while. I’m with Kai and Choonhee right now.”

“Choonhee?” his mother repeated with a slight gasp. Suddenly boisterous she said, “Bring her over! You know what, take your time eating but after you’re done bring her back with you. You must.”

His brows nearly twitched together, “Mom.”

“Oh, what’s wrong with that?” she sounded like an innocent young woman. “Pass the phone to her. I want to speak to her, so that if you pretend to forget she’ll at least remember.”

A moment of silence played between them and he hesitated to give his phone away. He didn’t want to but he also wanted to. His hand faltered in mid-air before he finally managed to hold the phone toward Choonhee to catch her attention. When she turned to look at him he felt an air of embarrassment pass through him.

This was ridiculous, he thought to himself.

“My mom would like to talk to you.” He watched her eyes open and thought he knew just what she felt. Hesitating as well, her eyes drifted to the phone with uncertainty. Then at last she grabbed the phone, both their hands brushing before she held it to her ear.

“Y…yes? Hello?” Choonhee spoke nervously into the phone, her posture slightly hunched forward.

He watched her nod without a single word, her eyes inched wider, and wondered if she was extremely uncomfortable now that they had split and she was speaking to his mother. While dating, his mother had been superbly warm toward Choonhee and in his eyes, the two got along almost like mother and daughter. Only he didn’t think they had spoken since the breakup. Sehun couldn’t quite comprehend why Choonhee seemed so unwilling to speak into the phone.

Was she uncomfortable as he assumed or something else?

“Here,” Choonhee handed the phone back to him.

“Don’t think about it,” he told. “You don’t have to do what she says.”

He didn’t want her to go to his home. They were no longer together and he could only imagine the situation if she went; how his mother would drool over her presence, maybe try to get her to get back with him. It was an utterly disturbing scenario.

Choonhee glanced his way and before she could say anything, if she planned opening at all, Kai returned and sat down with an exhale. Sehun wished whoever had called had talked longer with him.

“Food’s not here yet?” Kai questioned.

“Looks like they’re taking their sweet time,” Sehun remarked.

“My father called,” Kai explained, “says someone’s interested in buying stocks.”

“That means you shouldn’t stay here long,” Sehun stated emotionlessly and he silently thought more time alone with Choonhee.

“But I brought Choonhee out,” Kai glanced at her – all of it Sehun took notice of, especially how Choonhee peered back with a smile. “We should at least eat before I take her home. It doesn’t matter if I’m late to the meeting.”

“That leaves a bad impression on the negotiator’s side,” Sehun pointed out. “Timing, haven’t you learned, is crucial? Since you’re President Kim’s son, you should show up with him to show that you care. That would hold some effect on how important the job is to you, don’t you think? You don’t want to make your father look bad by getting there late. The image of the business should always be first.”

“But Choonhee…”

“I’ll take her home,” Sehun opted.

\\\\\

After hanging up, Oh Eun Chae of almost 60 years clasped her phone between her hands, smiling merrily to herself. An early marriage had decreased her desire for a child until she felt something was missing from her life. All the years dedicated to working to help her husband build up wealth and a name for their family was now dedicated to helping her son, whom she’d had in her late years, carry on the family name. When Lee Choonhee had appeared she knew right away that her son had to marry her.

Lee Choonhee had all the wealth they didn’t and with marriage she would hand everything over to her husband, Oh Sehun. It was the perfect life she envisioned for her son. To live a better life than his parents, to wish that he wouldn’t have to labor like they did. Even better yet, that he wouldn’t have to lift a finger at all.

She peered out around the corner to see Hayoung staring up at the family portrait. Hiding back behind the wall Oh Eun Chae quickly brushed her short silver hair back and focused on making herself appear distressed. Her skin was still glamorous and smooth from all the investment in those skin creams she knew would do no wrong.

She knew she looked young for her age, was proud of it. And she loved every time when Hayougn commented, “You’re so beautiful, Aunt. You make everyone jealous,” even if the girl was just up to her, because Oh Eun Chae knew. She wasn’t blind. She was a woman herself and had her own intuitions. She knew when someone wanted to come after her son.

Not that woman. The only one she let Sehun marry was Lee Choonhee.

Clearing she shuffled out from the room and down the hallway toward the young girl. “Oh my, Hayoung,” the elderly woman called, her voice toned with apology and disappointment, “I think Sehun may be caught up in something and won’t be home till very late.”

“That’s alright,” Hayoung assured, “I can wait.”

“He may take a while,” she pressed a hand against Hayoung’s shoulder to try to urge her toward the door. “Really, you should try to go and get some rest. I promise to make Sehun call you when he returns.”

“No,” Hayoung turned her head around to look at her, “I can wait, really.”

“Oh no, no, you musn’t,” the woman shook her head, the better part of her becoming impatient with how stubborn the young one was. “I have things to do too, I can’t stay with you here. You don’t want to be a hindrance now, do you?”

“You called Sehun, right? He wouldn’t pick up my calls. Did he tell you where he is? Maybe I can go find him instead.” Hayoung suggested.

“It’s not right for a woman to go looking for a man. That’s desperation in this age,” the woman pointed out, even more eager to get rid of her. “Please go home, Hayoung. It won’t look good for you if you stay here and wait. You’re an unmarried woman. It’ll be bad for both you and my son. I will have Sehun call you when he comes home from where he is. I promise.”

“Alright,” Hayoung gave in. “I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll go now.”

“I’m sorry, Hayoung. Maybe another day would be better. Get back home safe.”

Two minutes later Eun Chae watched from the doorway as Hayoung drove out of their driveway and down the road. Good riddance, she thought before closing the door. Before Sehun and Choonhee returned she would have to make some tea for her. If only they were rich enough to employ maids she’d send someone out to buy some biscuits. Better yet, she wouldn’t even have to make the tea herself.

Life would definitely be easier once Sehun and Choonhee got married. That is, if she could will the children back together.  

\\\\\

Either the seatbelt was choking her or she was just unusually out of breath, for her irregular heartbeats were making her short of breath.

“I’m sorry,” Kai had apologized just minutes earlier, “I’ll make it up to you next time. Just for today go back with Sehun.”

Namjoo silently groaned to herself. She could have grabbed a cab home or something. Why the hell did she have to rely on Sehun? She was nearly suffocating inside this car of his. Being so near the person who had attacked her yesterday for no reason she could comprehend made her unbearably uncomfortable, she didn’t want to be in her own skin.

Every damn time she thought about how he had pinned her into the wall and kissed her she felt her blood rush.

For the fifteen minutes she had been in the car with him he hadn’t uttered a word to her. Namjoo didn’t want to talk to him either, but geez, she was confused. Just before offering to give her a ride him he’d told her not to go to his house and look where they were headed now? Obviously not Choonhee’s home.

Namjoo wanted to sink down in the chair she was sitting on. But she couldn’t disappear. Trying not to make a face she stared out the window so that Sehun was completely out of her view.

When on the phone earlier his mother sounded so chirpy and happy. “You must come!” she had demanded more likely than excitedly urged.

What had she gotten herself into?

Biting down on her teeth she twisted her lips then bit her tongue. What was she going to do? How did Choonhee presumably act around Sehun’s mother? Had they been close? Distant?

Namjoo only realized the worst scenario when Sehun drove up the driveway toward the single household with its own yard and driveway. A house much smaller than hers and Kai’s, and that she wouldn’t know her way around.

It took her a moment to take in the shingles, the yellow home, the rose bushes at the front, and the mowed lawn. A home good enough for a family of maybe four or five. It wasn’t a giant manor. No long tree lined driveway or gates at the front. It was simply a regular home. Normal.  

She guessed she was surprised, maybe even shocked.

Since he shared the same circle with Kai and Hayoung and Choonhee, she assumed he had just as much grand wealth as they did.

Not this.

“What are you doing?” Sehun questioned, turning back to look at her, half his body already out of the car.

Jumping out of her thoughts she glanced at him before pushing her door open and tried to step out, only to realize she hadn’t released her seatbelt. Growing flustered she quickly stepped out and closed the door, trying to relax and adjust her clothes but the front door swung open, further stunning her.  

A thin woman in a blue sweater of a dress hurried toward them happily. “You’re back!”

Namjoo allowed her eyes to run over the woman with short silver hair that defined her wise age. Then she saw the youth in her face and almost doubted if this woman was Sehun’s mother. She wasn’t graciously tall or short either but she was finely dressed, and held herself well. The elderly woman resembled the smart, stylish women Namjoo saw walking the streets with brand name bags slung over their arms, their legs quick to bring them wherever they were headed. Yes, those successful women she envied.

“Choonhee!” the woman exclaimed holding her by the shoulders and stood back to observe her. “I’ve been waiting for you! It’s been so long!”