“What took you three so long, huh?”Hyun-na asked as we boarded the car that Hyukjae oppa had sent.

“Sorry, I couldn’t wake up,”I apologized.

“Aren’t you excited at all?”Taeri asked.

I could only shrug my shoulders as the chauffeur drove us all to the airport. When we arrived, Donghae, being the only man, offered to push the trolley with all our suitcases.

“Seriously, why did you bring so many things?! You can buy everything there,”Soobin reprimanded Taeri.

“This girl brought her pillow,”Hyun-na rolled her eyes.

“Yah, you know how important that pillow is to me,”Taeri defended himself.

“Oh, look who’s there! As much as I hate to admit, your Hyukjae oppa is really handsome,”Soobin quickly nudged me.

I looked up to see Hyukjae all wrapped up in a coat and he was just walking around a little.

“He is not mine,”I hissed.

“Pfft, who are you kidding? Who’s the one who always gets so defensive over him?”Soobin rolled her eyes.

“That was last time,”I defended myself.

Soobin merely nodded her head, not believing my words.

 “LEE HYUKJAE!”Taeri shouted across the terminal.

“You’re really embarrassing to be with,”Hyun-na smacked her forehead with her palm.

“How old are you again?”Soobin added on.

But with Taeri’s loud and clear voice, Hyukjae oppa raised his head and his face broke out into a smile when he saw us.

“Is your heart beating very fast now?”Soobin teased.

I watched him make his way towards us and I couldn’t help but realize that my heart did a little flip on its own accord. He greeted Donghae with a little nod and the latter did the same thing.

“Good morning, girls. Hello,”he glanced a little at them before fixing his gaze on me.

“Let’s go, let’s go,”I could hear Taeri whisper to the rest.

“Be right back, Hyukjae. We’ll help Donghae to check in. You can get her some coffee to drink. She came out with nothing in her stomach,”Soobin patted his arm before hurrying the two.

“You haven’t eaten?”he asked with a worried expression.

“I woke up late,”I avoided his gaze to look at my friends.

Donghae was watching us warily whereas my friends were giggling amongst themselves.

“Let’s get you some hot chocolate then,”he looked around for Starbucks.

“I don’t want anything,”I replied.

“You have to. What if you get motion sickness later on, huh?”he shot me a firm glance and I complied.

The two of us headed towards the Starbucks and he made me sit at a table before he walked off to get a mug of hot chocolate for me. He passed it to me and as I held the hot mug in my hand, I thought of the times where we would go ice-skating often in winter.  With those memories in my mind, I drank the beverage without any thought and scalded my tongue.

“Are you alright? Eight years and you still forget to blow your drink before drinking?”he chuckled as he took the mug away from me.

Hyukjae oppa proceeded to blow my drink for me and took a sip again. It was a habit of his to do that for me and I was surprised that he was still willing to do it after what happened.

“Here you go. By the way, ahjumma gave me a good thrashing. And I know I deserve it,”he passed the mug back to me.

“Erm,”I nodded to avoid talking.

“I’m sorry for all that happened. Give me a chance to make it up you, please? Have you been alright? How’s your health nowadays?”he asked with much concern.

“I’m fine,”I replied curtly.

“But you look so tired,”Hyukjae oppa leaned forward and took my hand in his, warming it.

It was as if he knew that my hand was freezing.

“Why didn’t you wear gloves?”he said as he continued rubbing my left hand.

“I said I’m fine,”I tried to release my hand from his grip but he held on even tighter.

“Your hand is like ice every time we’re in an air-conditioned area,”he looked up, giving me a loving glance as he took my right hand.

I did try to avoid his hands but he gave me a firm glance and since I quite miss the feel of his hands, I gave in.

“Hello guys, sorry to interrupt but we can go now,”Soobin hopped over.

I jumped a little in my seat and Soobin’s gaze shifted to our hands and I quickly retracted it. I felt the heat creep up on my cheeks and Soobin whistled a little, letting me know that she saw everything.

“Ready?”Hyukjae oppa asked me.

I nodded and the both of us stood up. As we walked towards security, Hyukjae oppa took off his coat and draped it on me.

“It’s early morning and you might catch a cold. You’ve always been a little weak,”he explained as he carefully arranges his coat on my shoulder.

I smiled a little to thank him and we continued our way. Since Hyukjae oppa had gotten us first class tickets, we sat all by ourselves and across the aisle from me was obviously Hyukjae oppa. Hyun-na and Taeri sat behind us whereas Soobin and Donghae were right behind. That made Soobin sulk for she didn’t like the guy one bit. During the duration of the flight, I slept so I could avoid talking to Hyukjae oppa but when the food was about to arrive, Hyun-na woke me up so I could eat. When the food was laid out in front of me, I picked up my fork and began poking the food. I wasn’t in the mood to eat since I was tired.

“You need to eat, Haemin ah,”Hyukjae oppa spoke up.

I turned to look and he was eating.

“Do you want me to feed you?”he asked in a teasing tone.

“No, thanks,”I replied in a flustered manner and hurriedly shove a piece of fish into my mouth.

Hyukjae oppa laughed a little to himself, nodded as he continued eating. The plane finally landed and we met a man outside. He introduced himself as an employee in Hyukjae oppa’s company in Japan and led us all to the car, waiting outside.

“Right, Haemin, I’m actually here on a business trip. But I’ll only need to attend a meeting today. For the next four days, I’ll be free. I’m so sorry about that,”Hyukjae oppa turned to look at me.

“I don’t really care since I’m here unwillingly,”I replied, earning a smack on my arm from Taeri.

“Eh, don’t worry, Hyukjae. We’ll bring her shopping around Shinjuku during your meeting,”Soobin grinned.

“Here, use this to pay for your shopping,”he took out his wallet and took out the supplementary card I had returned him the other day.

I was about to open my mouth to reject when Hyun-na took it.

“Thanks, Hyukjae! You really don’t mind us spending your money?”she asked.

“Of course not. Go ahead. I told you all its an all expenses paid trip, didn’t I?”he grinned.

Donghae let out a smirk when he heard that whereas the girls could only nod. I knew they weren’t trying to take advantage of him but rather they were testing him.

“Eat whatever you want and I’ll call you later when I’m done. We’ll grab dinner and go back to the hotel,”Hyukjae oppa smiled at all of us.

“Alright, who wants to room with me?”Taeri asked, raising her hand up.

“Taeri, everyone gets their own room,”Hyukjae oppa chuckled.

“Is it a suite?”Hyun-na asked, knowing how rich he is.

Hyukjae oppa nodded his head.

“IT CAN’T BE!”Soobin exclaimed with her eyes wide.

“You don’t have to,”I turned to look at him.

“Yeah, you seriously don’t have to do that for us,”Donghae joined in, unhappy with how Hyukjae oppa was winning in this battle.

“This is just a little something to win you over,”Hyukjae oppa winked at me.

“I’m not bought over easily by luxurious stuff,”I emphasized each syllable.

“I know and I’ll show you what I can do for you in the next four days. So, please anticipate,”he said before giving staring at Donghae with an intimidating gaze.

“Haemin, your boyfriend is awesome!”Soobin cheered.

“You’re not that much of a jerk, after all,”Hyun-na said, causing Soobin to nudge her.

“Tell that to her then,”Hyukjae oppa laughed as we reached his company in Japan.

“We will help you as we shop. So, don’t worry about us. We’ll take good care of her,”Taeri grinned.

“My chauffeur will be coming along as you shop. I don’t want you all alone in this foreign land. It’s too dangerous. Besides, he knows taekwondo,”Hyukjae oppa spoke so freely that I saw Donghae’s fist clenched up.

I knew what Lee Hyukjae was up to. He didn’t want Donghae to be the only man around me. That was when I thought of the day that Donghae had confessed. Donghae must have forgotten to hang up the call before confessing. That would explain why Hyukjae oppa was so hostile towards him.

“Take care, baby. I’ll see you later,”Hyukjae oppa reached to cup my cheek while calling my nickname before getting out.

“Baby~,”Taeri said in a singsong voice.

“SHUT UP!”I threw the cushion that I was hugging at her.

“YOU ARE BLUSHING!”Soobin laughed.

“AM NOT!”I glared.

End of Chapter

DarkAngel