Seoul 20XX

Chaewon ran her fingers through her hair as she took her seat, she was in her brother’s office along with an unexpected guest.

Their father.

“What brings you here? I thought it was clear that the two of us didn’t want to see you.” Changwook spoke, the elder nodded and looked at his palms.

Chaewon sighed and leaned back on the chair, she glanced at her father briefly.

“I just wanted you two to hear it from me, before anyone else.” Mr. Ji spoke.

“About what?”

“I filed for divorce last week. The documents have been sent to your mother already.”

Chaewon shook her head and let her hair hide her face.

“What do you want us to do about it, abeoji?”

“Your mom has them already, but..she hasn’t contacted her lawyer yet,” He started, he looked at Chaewon, but the girl refused to meet his gaze. Changwook cleared his throat, his forehead creased.

“I just wanted ask if you can talk to her.”

“Talk?” Chaewon spoke up, she was confused.

“I need her to sign them, so that I can speed up the process.” He finished, Changwook’s eyes widened and he started to shake his head.

“Whoa, you ask us to do that? You haven’t mentioned if she was okay or how’s she’s doing. But instead, you want us to ask her about those damned divorce papers?” Chaewon stood up, Changwook looked at her.

“Chaewon, I~”

“You shouldn’t be here, abeoji. You cheated on her. You left us. The least you could do is to leave us alone.” She spat before grabbing her purse and storming out of the room.

Sehun leaned against his car as he waited at the building’s curb, he had his hands buried in his pockets while looking at the doors. Chaewon called him earlier, saying that she’d be at his brother’s office for a while. He had volunteered to come pick her up so that they could grab something to eat before going to class.

The doors slid open and he smiled as he saw Chaewon step out, but he paused when he saw the expression on her face.

“Chae~”

She shook her head and wordlessly pressed her forehead on his chest, Sehun tensed and he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

“Chaewon, what happened?” He spoke softly, she shook her head again and closed her eyes.

Sehun’s forehead creased and leaned his chin on the top of her head, Chaewon sighed and pressed the side of her cheek on his shirt.

“My makeup may have stained your clothes.” She murmured softly, Sehun nodded and kissed the top of her head.

“It’s fine.”

“Can we not go to class? I mean, can you drop me off somewhere?”

“You want to ditch class alone?” Sehun asked, he knew when not to ask her questions, she pulled away to meet his gaze.

“I want you to come, but I don’t want you to skip class because of me.” She pursed her lips, Sehun noticed how her eyes were red and swollen.

“If I let you go alone, where do you plan on going? Arcade? You won’t go around day drinking, right?” He said lightly, trying to lift her mood.

“It’s my father. He filed for divorce and wants us to ask our mother to sign the papers quickly.” She told him, Sehun loosened his arms on her and nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I want to eat; then can we visit a library? I need books. And maybe the arcade?” She asked him, her eyebrows knitting together.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back there? Your father may still want to talk to you.”

Chaewon shook her head, she leaned upward to kiss his cheek, he blinked at her.

“I’m really glad you’re here. Thank you.” She said to him, Sehun gently cupped her cheek and nodded.

“Not exactly the perfect way to start senior year, huh?” She frowned, Sehun shook his head and took her hand in his.

“You have me. You can always lean on me.” Sehun said as he opened the door for her, Chaewon smiled before getting in.

Hyebin exhaled as she looked at her father-in-law, the elder had barged in the residence an hour ago and now he was seated in front of their surveillance controls.

“Changwook has been allowing his sister to h—hang out with this…hoodlum?” He was outraged, he had chanced upon a footage of Sehun arriving at the house with his motorbike.

“Sehun’s a family friend, abeonim. I’ve known him since I was~”

“I don’t care. No one asked who he is. But why is my only daughter hanging out with this—with this….”

“Abeonim, if you want to talk about this, bring it up with Chaewon. The staff can hear you.” Hyebin grew worried, Mr. Ji had kicked out their security team so he could browse through their CCTV footages, and the more he saw Sehun, the more he grew aggravated.

“This boy must be bad influence her. Look at how he dresses, he even walks~”

“Abeonim, please.” Hyebin sighed, the elder stopped and looked at her.

“Hyebin, I know things aren’t going well now, and I’m not exactly the best father, but this boy will be nothing but trouble for her.”

“Abeo~”

“And you’re not causing trouble for us?” Changwook pushed the door open, the lock came unhinged with his force.

“You think eomma’s here? She hasn’t stayed put ever since she found you sleeping with her secretary.”

“Changwook~”

“Get out, abeoji.”

“Your sister isn’t supposed to be with someone like that boy. We raised her properly so~”

“You are in no position to tell Chaewon what to do, trust me.” Changwook stated, the elder exhaled.

“Don’t worry, abeoji. I’ll call eomma later, you’ll get rid of us in no time.”

“I wasn’t~”

“Save it. Don’t you ever come here again. This isn’t a Ji property, you have no right to be here.” Changwook’s tone was icy, then he called for the guards outside and asked them to show his father out.

“How could he say that about Sehun?”

“He’s just trying to..mess things up again. What Chaewon said must have hurt him.” Changwook murmured as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

“Sehun’s not some boy. He makes her happy.” Hyebin frowned.

“Chaewon’s been different lately, huh? She used to call me when something inconvenienced her, from car problems to other issues, but now…she’s been taking care of things on her own.” Changwook said with a smile.

Chaewon was sipping on her iced coffee as she slid down from the car, they had just arrived at the deli Sehun suggested.

“I sent you my class schedule, did you see it?” Sehun asked as he walked towards her, she nodded.

“I did, I~”

“You must be Chaewon, right, dear?”

Sehun almost tripped on the pavement, Chaewon looked at the middle-aged woman before them.

“Y—Yes, that’s me.” She smiled at the lady, the latter reached out for her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. Chaewon was stunned, and before she could react, Sehun spoke.

“Eomma please.”

The lady chuckled and let go of the girl, Chaewon glanced at him questioningly.

“I knew you’d be here to eat.” Mrs. Oh said chidingly as she patted his hand.

“Eomma?” Chaewon spoke, Sehun winced and nodded.

“How could you not introduce her to us, you ungrateful brat?” She nagged at him, Sehun shook his head.

“You have such a beautiful girl here, and yet you’re keeping her all to yourself.”

“Eomma, you might scare her away.” He murmured, Chaewon smiled and shook her head at him.

“My name is Ji Chaewon, Mrs. Oh.” She said politely, Sehun scratched the back of his head.

“Of course, I know who you are, darling. I had to snoop around my son just to~”

“Okay, let’s just go inside.” Sehun intervened, Mrs. Oh laughed and they approached the building.

“He can be quite secretive, huh, Mrs. Oh?”

“Call me auntie. But, yes, very secretive. Although, he’s never lied about you to us before. He just didn’t want you to meet us yet.” She hummed, Chaewon smiled and turned to Sehun again.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to~”

“Did you know when Sehun was still seven, he used to~”

“Eomma,” Sehun’s forehead creased, Chaewon laughed and waved him away before walking to nearest empty table.

Sehun watched as the girl animatedly chatted with his mother, he exhaled and smiled to himself. She was crying earlier, but it was amazing seeing how she could pull herself together and act like her normal self again.

But he knew she was still hurting.

“Sehun-ah, I want a ham sandwich. With cheese.” Her eyes went to him, he nodded back.

“Just coffee for me, son.” Her mother called to him, Chaewon winked at him and threw him a small warm smile.

And he’d do anything to protect that smile.

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