“Law discussion? Today?” Junmyeon’s eyes widened after hearing what Joohyun said. They blinked rapidly as if asking Joohyun what she just asked was real. “But I have promised my father to go home early today.”

A disappointed expression was obviously written on Joohyun’s face. Her eyes fluttered in sadness. “Ah, okay then, Oppa.”

Junmyeon put his hands on Joohyun’s upper forearms, rubbing them gently in guilty. “I’m so sorry, Joohyun. But maybe we can do it one day when the opportunity presents itself. I’ll make it up for you.”

Joohyun nodded, pulling the corner of her lips to form a smile. “Okay, it’s fine, Jun Oppa.” She giggled, making Junmyeon’s heart feel at ease. “Anyways, I’ll get going. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay, good luck with the books, Joohyun-ah,” Junmyeon patted the younger’s head lovingly. The two then made their own way, leaving the building.

Joohyun jumped off the last stair, being welcomed by the view outside. It was a bit cold outside and the clouds were very dark. She quickly took steps to her dorm before the rain fell faster than her pace. She internally blamed herself for not bringing an umbrella today.

“Irene,” Joohyun stopped running when she heard this. She looked around to find who and where the caller could be.

Maybe Mum missed me, her mind told her. She then fastened her pace again.

“Irene Wood, stop there.”

Joohyun’s heart stopped beating at the familiar deep voice. She turned around to see Chanyeol, in a navy blue hoodie—heck, how many hoodies did this guy even have?—standing three meters away behind her. He had a smile planted on his face. Joohyun gulped invisible saliva when the guy took steps closer.

“I’ve never run from Arts Dept. building to Law Dept. building only to meet one person, Irene Wood,” Chanyeol walked closer, making Joohyun take one step backwards.

“W-What do you want?” Joohyun slipped her words, looking terrified. Chanyeol suddenly looked thousand times more intimidating, the wounds in his face had slightly disappeared.

“I just want to see and talk to the person who’s been helping me for a week.”

Joohyun let out a soft sigh, looking down. “I guess there’s no point of reasoning, right?”

“I have many questions,” Chanyeol stopped right in front of her, making it look like a giant with a midget. Joohyun looked smaller, she was almost on the same level as the guy’s shoulders.

“I think I must be ready with the consequences, and this is one of the consequences,” Joohyun let out another sigh, looking up to briefly stare at the guy’s eyes. “What are your questions?”

“Let’s get somewhere warmer, it’s going to rain in a minute,” Chanyeol decided, making Joohyun sigh again. She mentally noted herself to study later once she was done dealing with this Park guy. But when she tried to note when, she found nothing.

The two went to Hola Café, a small coffee shop near the campus. Chanyeol said that the café wasn’t that crowded at this time and absolutely was a cosy place to have a long conversation. Joohyun made another note to come home late when he mentioned ‘a long conversation’. The plan she made today had completely been ruined but well, she had to deal with it, it was probably her fault too.

Joohyun could tell that Chanyeol didn’t lie about the minimalistic coffee shop. When they entered the café, the warmth from the air conditioner greeted them, caressing their cold cheeks. The concept of this shop was probably Back to Nature because most of the furniture was made of wood, even the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were also made of wood. There was a small fountain with plants on the corner. And one of Sungha Jung’s instrumental songs was being played when the two came.

After having their orders, Chanyeol and Joohyun took seats near the fountain. Chanyeol ordered American Latte and Joohyun had Caramel Macchiato.

“So,” Chanyeol started, mentioning the word Joohyun suddenly hated.

Joohyun lifted her chin up to face him. She looked so calm as ever even though she was dead nervous inside. “So?”

“Please tell me everything about you, Irene Wood-ssi.”

“Uh, first of all, would you please call me Joohyun instead?” Joohyun bit her bottom lip, slightly feeling uncomfortable being called Irene. “You already know my name.”

“You introduced me as Irene Wood, though,” Chanyeol shrugged coldly, taking a sip of his hot coffee.

The rain started falling outside, covering the windows in every drop.

“That’s actually not a real name, I mean it is, it’s just not an official name,” Joohyun explained, looking outside through the window.

“Where did you get that name?”

“I told you that I’m a British Korean, right?” Joohyun got her attention back to him, Chanyeol nodded. “My mother’s last name is Wood so I mixed it. My father’s last name is Bae so my official other name is Irene Bae, not Irene Wood.”

Chanyeol nodded again. “So how long have you been staying in Korea? And why did you tell me in that dinner that you came from Busan?”

Joohyun let another sigh, “okay, let me tell you a story of Bae Joohyun or Irene Bae, this will take time,” she took a sip of her drink before starting, “I was born and raised in England until I graduated from high school. Then I moved out to Busan, in my grandmother’s house. And I signed up for Law major in KU and I got accepted.”

“Why did you continue your study here? I mean, England must have better universities. I heard they’re mostly in high ranks,” Chanyeol interrupted.

“Uh, I wanted to meet my other family from Korea,” Joohyun looked a bit confused to answer. “I also still have a grandmother here.”

“Okay, so you’re originally from England and you moved here in Korea, in Busan, your grandmother’s house. And you continued your study here, in KU, and now you’re living in the dormitory, am I right?”

“Correct,” Joohyun nodded.

“But what about your parents?”

Joohyun stopped speaking for a while, looking down. “They passed away years ago,” her voice sounded softer, the rain fell heavier as if it tried to pour Joohyun’s feelings in every drop.

Chanyeol also stopped his track as if he just did something wrong. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t– you never told me about this.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry for lying to you in the chat that I said I left them in England,” Joohyun replied, slightly looking up. “I didn’t leave them, they left me.”

Chanyeol briefly patted Joohyun’s hand gently. He thought about holding it but he wasn’t that brave. “If you don’t mind answering, why did they pass away?” Chanyeol’s voice went down deeper than ever. He now sounded like a sweet caring man than he usually did.

“A single-car crash, when I was twelve,” Joohyun didn’t pull her hand away when the guy patted it. In fact, Chanyeol’s big hand was warm, it slightly soothed her.

“Ah, I see,” the younger nodded, staring into the girl’s eyes deeper. “So you were living on your own after that?”

“Well, kind of? But I lived with my uncle and his family for three years and then I moved to my grandfather’s house in London until I graduated from high school,” there was an obvious sadness in Joohyun’s tone when she spoke, making Chanyeol feel bad for continuing. He then slammed his lips tight before asking more unnecessary questions.

“I think I understand why you really wanted to help me,” Chanyeol uttered after a solid two minutes silence. He didn’t want the conversation to end up like this, or worse, he didn’t want to make Joohyun sadder.

“Thank you for your understanding,” Joohyun flashed a simple smile before taking another sip of her coffee. “If I have to be completely honest, I hated it when you talked bad about your father back then when we had dinner. So that’s why I didn’t enjoy that dinner, honestly. But I understand now, I’m sorry for what I did earlier.” Now Joohyun could put down one thing on her bucket wish list.

Chanyeol let out a short chuckle. “You’re making me feel thankful for saying that.”

Joohyun looked at him in mild confusion, blinking a couple of times. “Why, though?”

“If I didn’t say that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation and you’d probably end up hating me,” Chanyeol uttered. “And I would never know that I’m not alone. I’ve always thought I was the loneliest person in this universe.”

Joohyun blinked a couple of times, trying to understand what the guy meant by what he said.

“But since you, Irene Wood, came, I never feel alone anymore, honestly,” Chanyeol continued,  “I have a friend who also missed out childhood memories, who also missed out parents love. I have a friend who actually cares about me. And thank you for being that friend.”

The cold and awkward conversation turned int