“I fell for you a long time ago. And I’m not going to lose you, Lee Areum.”

That guy really has some guts to tell me that. Why is he crawling inside my mind these days? Areum asked herself while staring at her room’s ceiling. She’s been up for like an hour but she’s just lying there, asking herself questions that she can’t answer.

“Kim freaking Jongin! That fetus is going to be the death of me! Why is he really doing this to me?” she yelled as she covered her face with a pillow. She kicked her blanket, rolling all over her bed and she eventually fell with a loud thud.

“Ouch,” she huffed, rubbing her arm.

“Noona-” Taeyong halted and looked at her who was still lying on the floor. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t mind me. Your noona’s just rotting here,” she sighed before covering herself with the blanket that she pulled from her bed. Taeyong rolled his eyes, sighing before entering the room.

He pulled the blanket from her and tossed it away. “Get up. What’s your problem this time?” he asked, pulling her hand and she noticed that he’s still having a hard time moving his other arm and shoulder. She sat up on her own and worriedly stared at her brother.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” she asked and Taeyong shook his head immediately. “My arm’s okay. You’re the one here who needs to be hospitalized. Are you sure you don’t want to be admitted at a mental hospital?” he joked as he sat on her bed.

Areum made a face as she hit his leg. “Taeyong, my life’s really ruined now,” she mumbled. The younger guy’s brows bristled. “Why? Are they firing you from the hospital?” he asked in return. She shook her head before leaning back.

“Then what is it?”

“I almost got the man who’s supposed to be my future husband but a freaking alien came and destroyed that opportunity.”

Taeyong hummed. “So you went to another blind date? How about Kai hyung?”

“Kai hyung? Who is that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“My dance teacher.”

“Dance teacher? Ah, Kim Jongin? So he goes by the name of Kai, huh. Why him?”

Taeyong grabbed the brown stuffed bear and started playing with it – tossing it in the air and catching it. “He told me that you asked him to marry you.”

“WHAT? That guy told you?!” she screamed and Taeyong almost jumped off the bed because of her loud voice. “That guy has some loose lips. Ah, my head hurts,” she hissed before shutting her eyes.

“Noona, Kai hyung sounded sincere when he told me that he likes you. Why don’t you go out with him?”

“Taeyong, I love you but that guy’s really not for me. There’s something about him that repels me. And why is he going around the place telling people things like that? If he’s really not going to stop, I’m going to bury him alive even if he’s the chairman’s grandson.”

Her phone vibrated and she reached for it quickly.

“Is your grandma okay now?”

It was a text from Minho. Areum sighed before sending a reply. “Yes, she’s okay now.”

She feels sorry for Minho for leaving him alone after she dragged Jongin out. Because the latter refused to go away, she was forced to lie to Minho – telling him that there’s an emergency at home or more of like ‘I’m sorry but there’s an emergency with my grandma. I need to go.’

Another sigh escaped her lips.

Taeyong threw her the stuffed bear and stood. Areum looked at him. “Whatever you decide to do, I’m always on your side. If you decide to marry a bald man, I will not say anything as long as you’re happy.”

Areum smiled brightly. “I really love you, Lee Taeyong,” she squealed.

He just chuckled. “I know. There are too many people who love me. I’m so used to it now,” he commented. “Stop wallowing and come down. Aunt Kyunghee and Minhee noona will be coming soon.”

The smile on her face was suddenly replaced by a scowl. Why on earth are they coming anyway? Right, they are looking for a new place to stay in Seoul. Areum needs some extra patience with her today.

And there she was again, sitting beside aunt Kyunghee with a painful fake smile on her face. The older woman has been going on and on about a guy who’ll be perfect for her again. Areum’s already losing it.

“So what do you think?”

Areum blankly stared at her aunt. What was she asking me?

“Stop bothering your niece with your list of guys. She’ll find a guy on her own,” Areum’s mom said while pouring juice for all of them.

“I’m just afraid that no one’s asking her out. It will be hard to bear a child at her age.”

Areum raised a brow. It’s hard to maintain that smile on her face anymore. Fortunately, Kihyun was there, playing with her phone while seated on her lap so she couldn’t lose it there and then.

“Unnie might not have a child of her own if that happens,” Minhee butted in.

Wow. They really are mother and daughter. Their tongues are even the same. They’re also both despicable. She muttered internally before patting the kid’s head. “Why would aunt Areum not have a child?” Kihyun asked innocently.

“You don’t have to know. Just keep on playing. Look, your shark died,” Areum replied and the kid continued what he was previously doing.

“You don’t need to worry about noona’s love life,” Taeyong commented while walking towards them. The others looked at him and aunt Kyunghee was the one who opened right away.

“Why?”

“A know someone who likes her.”

Areum’s eyes widened. Sometimes, she loves him but on other times, she hates him. “Who?” their mom asked. She looked really surprised by the revelation. Taeyong looked at Areum and he grinned.

“You already saw him mom. He’s also my dance teacher,” he replied and Areum could hear the roaring of thunders all over her. Lee Taeyong.

“Dance teacher?” Minhee muttered.

“The guy who accompanied you home?” Mrs. Lee asked, looking at Areum. “Kim Jongin, that’s his name, right?”

“He’s also a doctor at noona’s workplace and he’s younger by 6 years,” Taeyong added. Areum swore that her brother’s testing her patience. All eyes were on her as if asking her if those were true.

“That can’t be. Stop lying Taeyong. A younger guy would not like unnie,” Minhee commented. Was that a diss? Areum asked herself, feeling the blood boiling inside of her. She’s pissed because of different reasons. Minhee’s comment just pushed the button.

Be calm and be forgiving.

Be calm and be forgiving.

Be calm and- oh it!

“Why would a younger guy not like me?” Areum asked, looking at Minhee. The latter could feel the murderous aura around Areum. “I’m a doctor. I’m successful compared to people my age. I have money of my own. People say I look younger than my age. I have the body and the brains. Why would a younger guy not like me?”

Minhee did not reply. That’s right. Freeze and stay like that.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Taeyong laughing his off without making a sound. He looked like he’s having some fun.

“So are you going to date him?” her mother asked out of the blue.

“I don’t think your daughter will-”

“Why not? I can even get married this year,” she suddenly said, cutting her aunt’s biting remark.

“Really?”

“Of course. I’ll make sure that I’ll get married this year,” she replied before making Kihyun sit on the chair. She got her phone from the kid and grabbed her bag which was lying on the floor.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the hospital. I have a handful of guys waiting for me,” she stated before taking her leave.

As she closed the door behind her, she sighed. Biting her lip in frustration, she fished for her phone. “What did I just enter myself into?” she huffed.

“Lee Taeyong, you’re really dead!” she quickly typed and sent.

As she was walking to her car, a reply came.

“I love you noona.”

Staring at his appearance on the mirror, Jongin started buttoning his shirt. A large scar could be seen on the center of his chest. He still couldn’t believe that he just stopped Areum’s blind date completely. When he was dragged by Areum outside the hotel, he was not planning on confessing in that manner.

The words just came out of his mouth. Despite that, he’s not regretting anything. What he said is the truth.

He fell for her a long time ago.

Flashback

Jongin could only look at the other kids run and play on the ground. He’s stuck with his books inside the room. It’s not like he’s being forced to study or that he likes studying but he just can’t do the things that kids his age can do. His body can’t allow it.

Since he was even younger, he’s been such a sickly kid. He easily gets tired and he feels dizzy now and then. The only things that he could do are study and stare outside while being filled with envy. He always wanted to run like crazy and play all day long.

Of course, he couldn’t do any of that.

Despite coming from a family of medical workers, they still couldn’t do anything about his condition. Jongin kind of given up on his life at such young age.

He’s in an advance class and his classmates are all older than him. Being bright does not stop him from being bullied. His older classmates always trashed his table. Jongin, not having the energy fight back, would just clean the mess up and continue studying like nothing happened.

“Hey four-eyes!” the older guys called out while laughing. Jongin just continued walking with his head down. “Are you ignoring us now?” one of them asked, pushing him by the shoulder.

“Four-eyes, how much do you have?” they asked, pulling his bag from him. Jongin just let them rummage through his bag. They all ooh-ed when they saw the money in his wallet. Not sparing a