13.

“For me? Why?” I point to myself, tilting my head in front of both Jongdae and Haneul – couldn’t grasp the context from their offer just now.

And Jongdae opens his mouth to answer immediately, explaining his own statement, “You drove us here, even when you don’t want to. Both of us obviously forced you to be here, so…I want to buy you something for a token of gratitude.” Realizing my face has turned into its judging mode, the guy panics for a bit, his palms meet each other as he requests, “Please take that as a gesture of courtesy, I really need you to accept it…so that I could feel better.”

“That wouldn’t make me feel the same way, though,” I murmur, earning hints of disappointment from Jongdae’s face and strangely, seeing that curls a smile on my face as my heart swells, “It’s not like that, I get your point. But I agreed to drive you two here because I wanted to. Besides, come on, Haneul is my brother.” I turn to the other and his face glows at the mention of his name. And so my hand pats on the boy’s back a few times. “This boy right here is practically bounded to trouble me, right, kid?”

Haneul shows an immediate change of expression – into an unamused gaze at me, “I thought that was supposed to be some heart-warming reasoning.”

“You know me well, do you really think I’d say those cheesy ?”

“That’s a fair point,” the boy snaps his fingers as he nods a few times, agreeing right away.

“By the way…” I beam at Jongdae again then lift a brow before tipping my head to the clothes store by our side, “Maybe we can buy a few pieces for my mom.” And finally the guy’s face lit up once more, showing a clear sign of relief as I agree to accept that gesture, even in a different way. To be honest, I definitely have the opinion that he doesn’t have to do the whole ‘repaying’ thing. It was just a 30-minute drive, it’s not that hard. Plus, both of us even agreed for Jongdae driving back home.

However I know quite well that this guy is too kind to let this slide, and obviously he would not be able to relax till I say ‘yes’ to his offer – so I had to do it, negotiating at the same time.

And so my feet are faster to stride inside, leaving both my brother and Jongdae behind – my eyes are already busy to roam around the corner designated for ladies’ outfit, my mind is occupied with the thoughts of my mother. I go through the clothes’ line, already pinning my eyes on one or two from it but when I pick those pieces and want to ask for some opinions – only then I realize that those two are not with me.

My pace quickens as I spot Jongdae’s black beanie and my brother’s cap from afar, fussing on what are they even doing at the middle of the open space, not being where they are supposed to be – with me – however strangely, a feeling from inside makes me halt. Both of the guys are still talking to each other – more like whispering to each other and they could not do it any more suspiciously. I squints, wondering what is up with those punks, and searches for an angle to approach them without them noticing.

Upon reaching, their voices are now can be heard, “I thought he’s somewhere in China? How can he’s here now?”

My breath hitches, could not help but to think of one person and only one as they talk, “Do you think I have an idea about that, hyung? That’s why I can’t be so sure now, but I’m afraid I might be right about this.”

“But Haneul, dear, you’re hardly correct about anything,” I drop a comment that acts like a bomb, reflecting flabbergast in each of their faces. I am deadly curious, but my face muscles remain relaxed, concealing its tense. My hands rest on my back, acting like a commander in a march as I walk to confront them, shooting a sharp gaze into those two sets of eyes. “Now…would you two mind sharing the topic you were talking about?”

My eyes set a piercing look on my brother, but his trembling pupils travels a gaze to the guy next to him; clearly demanding a rescue from the situation. And surprisingly, Jongdae seems a lot more rested compared to just now as he shakes his head a few times, nose scrunching. “You wouldn’t favour the subject,” he simply cuts it off then points the way out, “Let’s just leave.”

The man tries to reach for my hand but I pull away, arms across my chest as my gaze flickers on each faces, “Don’t think you can get away from this.” My head tilts, and I chew my inner cheeks, “Now, what is it? What about Shixun?”

“Well, Haneul thinks…”

“Hyung, no.”

Jongdae turns to my brother who had just stopped him, the man shakes his head in defeat, “There’s no use hiding it from her.” He turns towards my direction, shifting his look to a spot behind me that tells me everything I need to know was there, then right into my eyes once more. “Besides, your noona is the only person who could confirm whether it was really him.”

My head pivots to the back in a brief moment, bravely checking out what I could have seen from the place where I am standing – within that same second, my vision definitely catch one.

The one that my brother and Jongdae has been trying to guard me from.

With a surge of courage from an unknown source, I take out my phone, just to dial that one person’s number. I see Jongdae’s and Haneul’s gaze are set deep on me, my brother tries to stop my act but I could not care any less. I hold my hand out, asking them to stay away from me as I step forward and hides somewhere in the crowd. My ear’s hearing the caller tone and my eyes seeing that person checks on his ringing device before signalling the woman who’s with him to tone her voice down for a while. Then he picks up.

“Hey, baby.”

My lips pursed together, taking in a deep breath. “Hey.”

Shixun’s expression changes, his brows run closer to each other, and that man…really looked concerned by the sound of my voice as he frowns, “You sounds different. Are you okay? Did anything happened?”