Chapter Twenty-seven: Time

She ended up taking a taxi home since her members had their own commitments to attend to. The event finished around noon so they still had plenty of time to go to another schedule. 

When she walked into their place, she was greeted by a travelling case. It was sitting next to the center table in their living room. 

“Someone’s going out of town?” She wondered. No one mentioned anything about going somewhere. 

She was about to head to her room when she realized something.

‘Wait a second.’ 

She hurriedly walked back towards the suitcase. Her brows furrowed when she realized it was hers. 

“Who’s borrowing my suitcase?”

Just then she noticed an envelope on top of the table. It was addressed to her. In a glance, she recognized their manager’s handwriting.

‘What is this?’

When she opened the envelope, she saw a plane ticket with her name on it.

She stared at piece of paper blankly. 

It was a roundtrip ticket to Da Nang, Vietnam. Along with the ticket was a three-day booking confirmation at a resort. A seaside villa was already reserved under her name.

“What is going on?” she asked herself.

As she was about to call their manager, she got an email alert from their company. She opened it and was surprised to learn that it was an approval for a leave of absence. The email was telling her that her request for a leave was granted. 

When she was done reading the email, Apink’s group chat suddenly became active.

Manager-nim: As of this moment, our Naeunnie is now officially on leave. Enjoy your mini-vacation.

Eunji: You have been very busy lately so we requested a vacation in your stead. Have fun!

Hayoung: Surprise! Relax and enjoy your free time, unnie!

Bomi: We already packed some clothes for you ^^

She was about to type a reply when her other friends followed suit, telling her to enjoy her vacation. 

The look of confusion on her face was replaced by joy. She didn't even bother to suppress the smile playing on her lips. 

“Huh, I can’t believe they would do this.”

She joined their group chat and happily thanked their manager and her friends. Never did she expect them to be planning something like this.

This vacation was such a blessing. With all the things going on with her life, she felt like it was necessary for her to get away from her busy schedule. Hence, the timing of this surprise vacation was perfect. She needed some time off to relax and unwind.

She went over the details of her flight, and found out that the plane departs around 3pm. After checking the time, she figured that she still had time to shower and get ready.

Minutes later, was ready to leave. 

Dragging her suitcase behind, she walked to their shoe closet and opted for a pair of comfortable sneakers. 

Just when she turned to the doorway, she noticed an envelope by the door. 

Her brows furrowed. Someone must have slipped it under while she was getting ready. It was not there when she got home earlier.

She picked it up.

“The paper looks familiar,” she muttered.

Though it was not addressed to anyone, she had a hunch that it was for her. It was not sealed so it was easy for her to take a peak.

Her heart pounded when she saw the folded black piece of paper inside. She was right. The envelope was for her. 

She hurriedly unfolded it. 

Written in bold letters were the words:

WE NEED TO TALK

Below the words was an address.

When she looked up the address on her phone, she found out that it was the address of a café close to the airport. 

She glanced at the envelope one more time, her eyes bearing a look of determination. 

‘I’m going to meet her.’

Without second thoughts, she decided to go. This was her chance. She needed to talk to that person and get to the bottom of this on-going mystery. 

Due to bad traffic, she got to the café forty-minutes later. It was mostly empty when she entered. She only saw a couple sitting close to the entrance. Aside from them, there was an elderly enjoying a slice of cake with her grandson.

‘She’s not here yet.’

She walked around the cafe, lugging her suitcase behind. She had no choice but to bring her suitcase with her since she took a taxi.

After looking around, she found a table by the corner and decided to sit down. 

Minutes later, a staff approached her to get her order. She had no appetite for anything so she just ordered a cup of coffee.