“Are you wondering the same thing as me?”, Baekhyun asked his friends, his eyes not leaving the two men in suits who seemed to be following Kyungsoo everywhere in the hall.

“Are they watching him or are they watching over him?”, Chanyeol wondered out loud, his eyes narrowed.

“Both probably. I’ve seen them in uni too”, Junmyeon responded.

Just then, across the hall, Chanyeol caught Kim Minjun’s eyes. He smiled cheerily, without a hint of the displeasure that he was currently feeling towards the guy.

“The Dog’s seen us”, He said in between gritted teeth.

“Where?”, Yixing caught his eye just in time too. “Let’s go meet him then, and where’s Jongdae?”

“Already after Mrs. Do probably”, Chanyeol responded, walking in line towards the man waiting by the bar at the other end.

The hall was pretty posh, full with the spiral stairs reaching down on one side of the room (which Kyungsoo and Nayeon were expected to walk down soon), the chandeliers hanging in all for corners and a large one in the center. The music seemed decent too, he hoped he wouldn’t have to dance though. He was surprised to find several familiar faces in the room, ones that were definitely not included in their close friends list. He assumed Nayeon had some friends in their university too.

They met politely, and he introduced those of their friends to Minjun who he hadn’t met, before moving on to merge and mingle.

“Are Taeyeon and Soojung coming?”, Baekhyun asked him, trying hard to sound casual, as they both ordered cocktails at the bar.

Chanyeol smiled. His friend was so into the girl, he didn’t know what the problem was anymore. “Why? You missing her?”

Baekhyun shrugged casually again. “No, just wondering”

Chanyeol made a face. How long was the guy going to remain in denial and not do anything? “Well I guess you should keep wondering then”

He noticed how Baekhyun almost gritted his teeth, but didn’t say anything. Just then the music changed, and their attention was diverted to the stair case, coming down which, arm in arm were Kyungsoo and the girl he assumed was Kim Nayeon.

Kyungsoo was smiling artificially and Chanyeol wondered for a minute how anyone bought that he was in love with Nayeon. But then again, not everyone could see through Kyungsoo as they could, he was a fine actor. Nayeon, clad in a beige empress gown, looked even younger to Chanyeol than she did in the pages and she was glancing at Kyungsoo like he was the only cure to a deadly disease she had. Chanyeol resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Her acting was to be commended as well.

They both first went to her father and exchanged pleasantries, and after that to Mrs. Do. Chanyeol could see Jongdae right behind the older woman, but he was merged in the crowd enough to not be conspicuous. She looked somewhat more aged to him, the worry so obvious behind the smile she was wearing for show.

Finally, it was their turn. Chanyeol put on his best charming smile, and looked to find the others doing the same, some less so than others, he gave a look to Jongin that said buck-up to which the later just rolled his eyes.

“So nice to meet you all”, Nayeon said, genuinely beaming at each of them.

Let’s see how long you can keep up that charade, Chanyeol thought, smiling sweetly at her.

_

“Dude, you ready? So just go up to her and…..“,

Chanyeol zoned out, listening to Yixing drone to Baekhyun in the background as they stood in the otherwise empty men’s room.

His phone rang. Just when I thought I could breathe for a minute….

“Hello?”

“Ya! Come to the Ladies Rooms quickly!”, Came Jongdae’s voice.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing in the Ladies Room? I left you to keep an eye on Mrs. Do!”

Jongdae made a sound of irritation. “When did I say I was in the Ladies Room? Aunt Do is in there. In fact, she’s been in there for quite a while now, I’m starting to get worried”

“Oh”, Chanyeol deflated before tension rose up inside him again. “Stay where you are, I’m coming”

He turned to the two behind him. Baekhyun looked a little tired to him, the guy was probably finding all this wooing business less than appealing. He wondered when Taeyeon would reach, she had told him she was on her way back from the library about fifteen minutes ago. Hopefully she wouldn’t reach before the first dance, he didn’t want Baekhyun to be any more distracted than he already was.

“Can you two handle it? Something came up with Mrs. Do, I gotta go”, he told them.

“Sure, be careful”, Yixing gave him a tight smile.

“Good luck”, He gave Baekhyun a thumbs up before leaving out the door and rushing for the other side of the hallway where Ladies Rooms were located. He saw Jongdae standing to side of it, waiting probably.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I saw her go in about thirty minutes ago, and she hasn’t returned. I was thinking of going in there but…”

“Did anyone else go in?”

“A couple of girls with Suzy, I think. But they came out long ago. Nobody’s gone in since, I think she’s alone” Jongdae responded. “And in case you’re wondering I don’t think she has constipation either”

Chanyeol made a face at him and then turned to think. What were they supposed to do? Going in seemed like the best option, but it would wreak havoc if they were caught by another woman coming in. He wished Taeyeon was there now, she was the only female who had knowledge of everything and could solve this.

And after waiting for another ten minutes, they had both started to get impatient. What could she be doing in there that was taking so long? Was she hiding out? Or worse, had something happened to her?

“Let’s just go in! We look erted enough already standing outside the Ladies like this!”, Jongdae said impatiently.

“You sure?”, Chanyeol’s heart beat increased as he realized what they were about to do. Jongdae nodded. Perfectly in sync, they both strode into the Ladies’ Room.

There was no one in there. “Where is she?”, Chanyeol whisper yelled, closing the door behind him. Then they heard it. Faint sniffing sounds, coming from one of the cubicles.

Chanyeol hurriedly went towards its door and knocked. “Aunty? Is that you?”

“Chanyeol?”, Came a heavy voice.

“Yeah, it’s me! Please come out, what are you doing in there?”

Mrs. Do probably realized the sensitivity of the situation and hurriedly opened the door, coming face to face with Chanyeol. Her eyes were puffy and her makeup smudged, though she seemed to have been trying to control it with the black tinted tissue in her hand. Chanyeol was hit with a pang of worry. “What happened?”

Jongdae came up close to them too, after locking the entrance door from inside. Mrs. Do shook her head, looking down, biting back the tears but the moment Jongdae put a comforting hand on her shoulder, she broke down.

“It’s all my fault!”, She mumbled, covering her face with her hands. Chanyeol and Jongdae tried to calm her down first taking her to the basins to wash her face. It seemed to re-orient her, and her expression was much more calm and normal as she turned to them.

“So? What happened?”

“Nothing”, Something in the way she said it, completely emotionlessly, gave Chanyeol pause.

“You can tell us now, whatever it is. We’ll see to it”, Jongdae reassured her.

“There’s nothing to tell”, She said blankly again, and Chanyeol and Jongdae exchanged a look. It was like she’d become a completely different person from the vulnerable one she was a few minutes ago.

“Aunt, please”, Chanyeol pleaded, taking a few steps towards her, and she stepped back shaking her head. Her face, when she lifted it, was contorted and she was trying to bite back tears. It confused him to no end, the sudden change, and Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something but she stopped him, gesturing with her finger on her lips. Like she was pleading with them to stay quiet.

It frustrated Chanyeol. But then she did something strange: She pointed to her dress and then her ears. ‘I can’t’ she mouthed to them silently. And that’s when he understood it all.

Her dress was bugged.

The realization dawned like a bucket of cold water. So that’s why neither of them would say anything! They were being heard. Or watched, or both, probably.

Was it even possible to install microphones in dresses? That was a question that he would have to ask later. It all made so much more sense now.

He cleared his throat, and exchanged a silent look with Jongdae, who had probably figured it out by now too.

“Well I guess then, we’ll leave you to it”, He said awkwardly, and then lightly patted Mrs. Do on the arm. He gave her a long look, and she probably understood what he wanted to say – it will all be fine –   because she lightly smiled back from between the tears.

It took a lot of effort on both their parts to leave a woman who was like mother to the, standing there alone in that situation, but they had to. They had to, so that they could get her out of it.

The game is so on, Kims. Chanyeol thought through clenched teeth as they walked back to the hall. He was going to get the people he cared so much for, out of this mess no matter what it cost him.

_

“Hey, there”

Baekhyun (tried to) put on his best lazy smile that he knew drove women crazy, as he greeted the girl.

“Hey, Byun Baekhyun right?”, Nayeon asked, smiling back as he neared her on the bar table.

“The one and only”, Now that he could see her up close, Baekhyun realized she looked familiar, though he couldn’t put his finger on where he’d seen her. A part of him wanted to laugh at how much he found her resembling Kyungsoo, with her large doe eyes and all. They could have been siblings in another life.

“May I get you a drink?”, He asked as suggestively as he could.

“Uhh, no”, She chuckled lightly. “I don’t think I want to drink any alcohol right now, first impressions and all”

“Well, all the better to take the edge off, and besides aren’t we celebrating?”, He winked at her. “Champagne please”

As the waiter served their goblets, Baekhyun kept his eyes on her. He had seen many girls get disconcerted under his gaze, but apparently another had been added to the list of those who didn’t. It reminded her of the first girl on that list, and a pang of guilt hit him. What was he doing, really? You’re helping your friend! Get a grip! He scolded himself.

“Baekhyun shii?”, Nayeon’s voice broke him out of his reverie, and he turned to find her staring at him intently. “Shall we toast?”

“Oh-oh yes, sure!”, Focus dude! “To world peace!”

Nayeon’s expression turned weird for a while, as if to say ‘is that what we’re celebrating today?’ but he didn’t pay any heed to it, and they both sipped from their glasses. The last thing he was going to do was drink to their happiness and future, when he was trying to stop their wedding.

“So tell me a little about yourself? I’m sorry to say I haven’t heard much about you from my friend there”, He chuckled, trying to ignore the hurt that flitted across her features for a second. Baekhyun sighed internally, She couldn’t really have feelings for Kyungsoo….could she?

“Uhh, well, I graduated from high school last year, took a gap and I’m looking to apply to universities right now”

“What are your interests?”

“I like fashion designing. But I might change my mind in month, who knows”, She chortled.

“Ahh, I see. Are you indecisive like that about things usually? Or is it just schooling?”, He didn’t let any bitterness creep into his tone, but she looked at him in surprise anyway. Will you (please hopefully) change your mind about my friend too in a while?

“Uhh, no. I just…..I’m still trying to find my place in the world, I guess”, She looked down, and Baekhyun felt guilty for what he’d said.

“So, how did you and Kyungsoo meet?”, He turned around, leaning his back against the bar counter. His eyes skimmed over to his friends and Yixing gave him a thumbs up. And then his gaze flitted over to the entrance door.

Taeyeon. He’d known it would be her walking through the door, even before she’s actually come into his line of sight. His heart beat picked up, the rest of the noise in the hall droned out for a minute. She was wearing a purple full sleeved high neck dress, and her brown hair were tied up in a bun. Looking around, her eyes landed on Yixing and she waved to him. But he was busy looking at….me? Yixing was waving his hands furiously, trying to get Baekhyun’s attention and pointing to Nayeon repeatedly.

And that was when Baekhyun realized he’d zoned out again. He turned to Nayeon, who now wore a knowing smile on her face.

“You like her, don’t you?”, She asked.

“Huh?”, Baekhyun realized only too late that he was gaping.

“Her. Kim Taeyeon”, She pointed back to the girl in the purple dress, now walking across the hall to their mutual friends.

“No…I - “

“No need to worry”, Nayeon brushed him off. “I can keep your secret if you want me to”

Baekhyun sighed. He had screwed this up. Yixing and Chanyeol were not going to be happy.

Across the same hall, Yixing slapped his forehead. “We should have asked Taeyeon to stay back!”. Had he known his so-called playboy friend was going to go all googly-eyed for his other friend and forget about what they were doing there, he would have taken some pre-cautionary measures.

“Ahh, well too bad. Guess you’ll just have to be extra charming to her”, Minseok slapped his back.

“Where’s she?”, Came Kyungsoo’s voice. They turned around to look at him.

“Where’s who?”, Jongin, the only one sitting among them, asked.

“Mom! Where is she?”

“She was here like ten minutes ago”, Jongin replied. “Why?”

“It’s been quite a while since I last saw her”, The worry was so evident on Kyungsoo’s face.

“She must have gone to the restroom or something, why are you getting so riled up, hyung?”, Jongin seemed confused by his brother’s unnecessary worry.

“Hi guys! What’s up?”, Taeyeon came up smiling and immediately realized there was something wrong with the vibe her friends were giving.

“What a riveting entrance you just made, noona!”, Sehun remarked, his sarcastic smile disappearing as he caught sight of Yixing glaring at him.

“I’m gonna go look for her in the restroom!”, Kyungsoo announced. Yixing eyes immediately widened and his face contorted in panic. Taeyeon remembered Chanyeol calling her from outside the Ladies Room and immediately got hang of the situation.

“D.O. wait!”, She called out before he had gotten out of earshot and walked up to him.

“Yes, sunbae?”, Kyungsoo turned to her impatiently.

“There’s something I nee – “

She was cut off as it was announced that the first dance of the evening would commence. She realized it was Junmyeon who had the microphone and he sent her a silent message, that she interpreted as ‘keep Kyungsoo occupied’.

“Oh great”, Kyungsoo groaned. “I’m really sorry but I gotta go, let’s talk lat – “

He was cut off as she pulled him towards the dance floor. “Let’s talk while dancing, shall we?”

“No, but I think I should dance with Nayeon, where is she?”, He asked more to himself, looking around. He found her near the bar, Yixing talking to her while escorting her towards the dance floor.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “You’re going to dance with her for the rest of your life, do it with me just this once. And it’s not like it’s your wedding dance”

Kyungsoo gave in with a sigh. They fell into an easy ballroom rhythm, and it was then that he started to feel a little conscious. Taeyeon and he weren’t on the best of terms right now.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

She looked at him intently. “First of all, I think congratulations are in order. On your engagement”

He waited for her to continue with a biting remark but she didn’t and it surprised him. He could tell it had taken her a lot of effort to utter those words and not add something bitter.

“Thankyou, I guess”, he swallowed, looking away.

She regarded him skeptically for second before saying something again. “Secondly, I think I should remind you, that you have a presentation to give at the Literary Conference this Monday” She paused. “Seungwan and Soojung have probably prepared for you to not show up, but I think you should, anyway”

Kyungsoo’s brows rose in realization. Right, he had promised Seungwan he would come for that. “I remember” he cleared his throat, and then asked a second later. “How is she?”

Taeyeon looked at him, her expression soft and non-judgmental for once. “Fine, I guess. As good as she can be expected to be after everything”

Something thudded inside him, but he didn’t say anything. He had lost his right to care, and no matter how much he wanted to go back, on everything he’d said and done, he couldn’t. He would just have to learn to live with it.

“How about you?”, Her voice broke through his sort and he looked at her in mild surprise. Nobody had asked him that in a long time, and it sounded heartfelt coming from her. “I know it can’t be very easy…..all this”

“It isn’t”, he gave her a small smile. “But I’ll manage. Thanks for asking”

She smiled back at him, and it reminded her of another smile.

I miss you, Seung.

_

Taeyeon collided with someone as she turned the corner from the restroom.

“Oh I’m sorry – “, They both started at the same time and Taeyeon was surprised to find who the person she’d run into was.

“Suzy”, She breathed, her heart thudding for a second. “I didn’t know you were invited too”

The said girl smiled at her, awkwardly for some reason. “I’m from Nayeon’s side. Family friend”

“Oh, right”, Taeyeon nodded, and then they both looked away.

Taeyeon didn’t want to feel strange like this. Though it would be a lie to say that the first thing that had come to her mind on encountering the girl wasn’t the lobby of a certain hotel in the north, and all that had conspired that day, but she had let it all go. She didn’t want it to keep bothering her.

She noticed how Suzy rubbed her hands together, not meeting her eyes, and swallowing hard constantly, and realized she was feeling as awkward (or maybe more) as she was.

“How’re the dance audition’s going?”, She decided to talk on a more managed subject. Suzy, being the head of Dance Club, was selecting the group and individual performances as she was handling the singing ones with Jongdae.

“Uhh, fine. I was actually thinking of inviting participants from outside the uni, the competition would be more fun that way, but didn’t think it would be approved”, Suzy shrugged, shying away from meeting her eyes once again.

Taeyeon raised her brows. “That a great idea! Why didn’t you suggest it before? I’ll be sure to discuss it at the meeting next week” They were meeting with the university board to discuss the arrangements for the coming festivities.

“Really?”, Suzy’s face lit up for a second. “Thanks”

“No problem”

And there it was. The awkward silence again. After what it seemed like an hour, Suzy’s patience finally seemed to have snapped.

“Sunbae? There’s something I need to….”, She paused, looking like she was struggling. “There’s something I need to tell you”

“Sure, go on”, Taeyeon felt a little concerned at how the girl looked blanched all of a sudden.

“Not here”, Suzy’s voice broke a little and Taeyeon’s heart paced up. What was going on? The girl looked close to tears. She turned and started walking towards the Ladies’ Rooms and Taeyeon quietly followed, not knowing what else to do. Soon as they’d entered, Suzy slumped against the basins and started sobbing, shocking Taeyeon.

“Hey, hey what happened?”, She soothed her, rubbing her hands on Suzy’s back as she cried into her hands. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry!”, She looked up, her face covered in tears and mascara. “I shouldn’t have done that! I feel so damn horrible!”

“Shouldn’t have done what?”, Taeyeon felt a little helpless. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? She had never been good at calming people down, unless they were Miyoung or Seungwan.

“What I did back at the trip! It was so wrong. I’ve wanted to apologize to you and Baekhyun for so long but I couldn’t, I didn’t have the courage”, She sobbed again, and this time Taeyeon wrapped her in a hug and shushed her. Once she had calmed down enough, she made her wash her face and then helped her clean it up.

“Now, tell me what you were saying earlier”, She calmly asked her, brushing Suzy’s hair back with her fingers. And she told her. From the start to the end. How she’d gotten drunk and ended up almost forcing herself upon Baekhyun, and despite her best not to do so, Taeyeon couldn’t hide the surprise from her face.

What had she done? Guilt hit her in pangs thinking about how she’d rebuked him and left him cold and miserable outside the hotel when he hadn’t even done anything. She’d seriously misunderstood the whole thing.

“I’m very sorry. I really am”, Suzy apologized at the end again, her face and words ridden with guilt.

“It’s okay”, Taeyeon gave her a small smile. “I never blamed you for it anyway”

I only blamed him. After Suzy had gone, Taeyeon walked back to find that most people had left, except Sehun who she was waiting for her at the hall entrance, and Chanyeol and Junmyeon who seemed to be saying their goodbyes to Kyungsoo. She’d been about to leave herself when she’d thought of heading to the restroom once.

“What took you so long, noona? Let’s go”, Sehun looked impatient at having made to wait for so long. She apologized to him, before a leaving with a last look towards the hall. She could see Kyungsoo in the distance with Mr. Kim Minjun and maybe Nayeon but there was no sign of Baekhyun.

She was relieved. She didn’t think she could face him right now, in light of all the new information. She’d have to find the courage to talk to him eventually and maybe apologize for her rudeness but that would have to come later.

Only her heart seemed to have been relieved of a burden. Why did she feel like smiling?

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