Chapter 4: "Exposed"

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Mrs. Kim stared at his son and the new girl, not believing her eyes. Kai pulled away from Rei.

"Mother, when did you arrive?" He stepped forward to Mrs. Kim.

"Who is she?" were the words that left instead as she peered at Rei.

Kai shook his head in disbelief, amused. "A friend of mine. Rei, this is my mother." 

Still trying to pull herself together from the shock, Rei walked to Mrs. Kim and smiled weakly. 

"Mother, Rei." Kai smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kim." Rei bowed. 

But the woman still glared at Rei. Before she could ask another question, Kai blocked her.

"Mother, can you leave her out of this?” he whispered.

"But I want to know why she's here," she told her son, just loud enough for Rei to hear.

"It's not like what you think," Kai tried to keep his voice down.

"For heaven's sake, I saw it with my own eyes,” she bit out. “If you lied, there would be more consequences."
 
Oh, no. Now Rei knew she'd just caused a trouble.

Meanwhile.

Jiwon and Jaemyung were watching from the second story. They'd heard the hubbub when they came out from the library.

"Kai never told me he's going out with someone,” Jiwon said. “Do you know her?"

Jaemyung shrugged. "No idea. I wonder what he's up to. Kai never brought any girl here." He gazed at the honey brown haired beauty downstairs and had to admit she was beautiful. If someone asked about his type, Rei was the answer. He wondered where the hell Kai had found such a catch.

"We need to talk," Mrs. Kim said to Kai, making him groan. "I'll deal with her later." She walked to her office. 

But Kai stood still.

"Now, Jongin!" She halted without glancing back, leaving Kai no other options.

Kai turned around to face Rei. "I'll be back in no time. I'm sorry, my mother is just tired and stressed. She'll understand if I explain." But somehow he couldn't hide the sulky look on his face.

Rei nodded slowly before he walked off, then she slapped her own cheek. Ouch, it hurts. I'm not dreaming. She was poking her face again when someone approached her from behind. She turned around and screamed, so did Jiwon and Jaemyung, who'd just been tiptoeing from upstairs.
 
"You scared me to death." Rei panted. 

But then she covered in her hand. Am I seeing Kim Jiwon?

"Sorry,” said Jiwon. “I'm Kai's cousin, Jiwon.”
 
Well, that explained a lot. 

Jiwon extended her hand, and they shook hands. 

"And this guy here is Jaemyung."

Rei smiled at him, who also shook hands with her just like being hypnotized.

"So how long have you been together with Kai?" Jiwon asked, making Rei jump.

"Excuse me?" Rei didn't know what to say. What a delighting  misunderstanding it was. She blushed. "That's impossible because I just met him today." Although I just saw his real face 10 minutes ago.

Jiwon's mouth dropped open, so did Jaemyung's. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not."
 
From the look on Rei’s face, Jiwon could see Rei wasn't joking. She dragged Rei to the sofa. "Tell us everything. If you miss one single thing, I'll chop your head off. Are you really not his girlfriend?"

"No, because he's already had one," someone interrupted.

The three of them looked up at the source of the voice, which was none other than Lim Soo Ah standing before them. She wore a y pink halter top which exposed her smooth skin and tight dark pants, her blonde hair tied in a messy bun. A belt and a leather handbag in matching colour completed her looks.

"What are you doing here?” Jiwon abruptly stood up, glaring at the newcomer.

Rei, however, was still swallowing the information. "Who's his girlfriend?" the word slipped out of her lips even though she couldn't remember moving them.

"I am," Soo Ah said.

Rei's eyes widened in shock, Jiwon's jaw tightened, while Jaemyung shook his head in disbelief.

"She's no one, I told you." Kai crossed his arms on his chest as he sat in front of his mother, who was behind the desk. "And even if she's mine-“ he stopped short. 

Even if she’s mine? He’d never said that kind of sentence before, let alone about someone he'd just met. 

"Do you think I didn't know about your relationships with girls who only want your popularity? I don't want to read any mass media exposing it. You mustn't forget you're a professional actor." Mrs. Kim was breathless at the end of her sentence. "You're to stop contacting that new girl."

"But she's just a friend."

"Friend? Is that what you called Lim Soo Ah too?"

"That, is not even my friend.” He h