A/N: Here is the short update that I promised :)

-------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“You seem upset.”

Jina doesn’t reply. She stares out of the car, looking at the falling leaves from the trees that they pass by. She had asked Mark to drive her home claiming that she wasn’t feeling well.

“Are you mad that I asked Jackie and Jaebum to join us for lunch?” Mark asks her.

‘No… Well, I guess in a way, yes. If you hadn’t asked them, then I wouldn’t get treated this way. Seriously, what did I do wrong?’ she answers in her mind.

She is bothered that the whole time all four of them were together, Jaebum avoided her. When they were left alone in the table, he didn’t talk much and didn’t even look at her. ‘He was behaving the same way as he did when we first met but why?’

“Jina, please talk to me,” Mark holds her hand. He looks at her worriedly. “Please tell me.”

Jina avoids her fiancé’s gaze. “I’m really just not feeling well. I’m not mad at you, Mark. How can I be mad at you…” She adds the last sentence to at least make him smile. ‘He’d want to hear that…’

“Alright. Please rest well at home, okay? I suggest you take a leave for the whole week. Maybe you’re stressed out because of work and our wedding preparations. My princess deserves to take a break.” Mark smiles at Jina while he caresses her hand.

-------------------------------------------------------

“Daddy, is Auntie Jina coming tomorrow? She hasn’t visited since last week.”

“I’m not sure. Maybe Auntie is sick.”

“Daddy doesn’t know?” Bambam asks, surprised.

Jaebum doesn’t answer. He hasn’t spoken to Jina since they had lunch last Monday. It’s already Saturday and they haven’t even exchanged any word yet. ‘Is she okay?’

He lightly hits his head for worrying about her. ‘I shouldn’t care about her. In fact, I should stay away from her.’

- FLASHBACK-

Jaebum checked Jina’s phone for any other contact number that he could call. While he’s doing this, an unknown number sent a text message.

Thinking it’s Jina asking for her phone back, Jaebum read it:

“So I see that you’re going along well with Im Jaebum. That’s good. It seems like he’s no longer a threat to the company. I guess those gifts that you sent his son worked their magic. You know, you can stop being ‘friends’ with him anytime you want.”

‘This is not real… This is not true…’

He then remembered Jina’s letter to him: “…allow me to make it up to your son whom I (and the company) unintentionally hurt. Let’s just say… I have my reasons for being so affected by what’s happening to Bambam…”

-END OF FLASHBACK-

‘What are those reasons? Is she playing with me?’

--------------------------------------------------------

Sunday. Jewapi Elementary School’s Family Day Celebration.

Children happily run around playing tag with fellow kids while others engaged in chitchats with their family members as they wait for the program to start.

“Can you see your friends?”

Bambam shakes his head. While he did see his classmates and their respective families, he doesn’t want to sit with them. He would only envy them.

Jaebum tries to cheer his son up by making funny faces. This usually works but today, Bambam just won’t smile. He feels guilty that he had not made an effort to contact Jina last night.

‘But how can I call her after I found out those things about her? And there is no certainty that she’d come. Like what that sender said, she could stop being friends with me anytime she wants… What if that time is now?’

“Bambam… please cheer up, hmm? We’re here to have fun…” he pleads but his son won’t budge. “Please?”

“Why the long face? Today should be a happy one,” a female voice interrupts the two.

The father and son face the direction where the voice came from. Standing before them is a pale-skinned woman wearing a blue ruffled blouse, black skinny jeans and a pair of flat shoes.

“Auntie Jina!!!” Bambam rushes to her and embraces her.

“Did I make you worry?”

“I thought you wouldn’t make it…” the child answers as he cries in the woman’s arms.

With wide eyes, Jaebum gazes at Jina. While he knows how beautiful she is with the various office clothing he’s seen her wear, it seems that her beauty shines even more when she’s wearing simple clothes.

With how Jina is dressed right now, she seems more approachable and she looks lovelier than ever.

Jaebum shakes his head as if trying to wake himself from Jina’s spell. ‘No… This woman isn’t who I think she is…’

-------------------------------------------------------

Bambam skips happily towards his room. Though tired from today’s activity, he had so much fun with his father and Auntie Jina.

“Don’t forget to shower and change your clothes, okay?” Jaebum tells his son before he closes the door to the latter’s room.

At the living room, Jina awkwardly sits alone staring at her hands. Right now, she feels as though she’s not welcome in Jaebum’s house – like how it was when they were still embroiled in the stolen recipe issue.

‘Maybe I should just go home. We didn’t talk much the whole day so I’m sure we still won’t now…’

She stands and grabs her black handbag. She heads for the door but hopes that Jaebum will stop her and offer to talk about the growing unease between them. However, to her dismay, no one stops her from leaving. ‘What did I do?’

She can feel her tears threatening to stream, causing her to walk faster towards her car. She doesn’t understand why this is being a big deal to her but she feels sad about how things are turning out between her and Jaebum. ‘I thought we were friends? I thought something was... brewing... Why is he suddenly being like this to me?’

When she’s only a few steps from her car, someone grabs her by the arm. She turns around and comes face to face with Jaebum.

“I need you to tell me the truth, Jina.”