Tapping his fingers on the table, Sehun was starting to get bored and impatient. He looked at his watch before sighing. He has been sitting there alone for 10 minutes.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Sejin, his older brother, said when he got the table. He shot Sehun an apologetic smile as he sat on the opposite chair. “Board meeting got dragged longer than I was expecting. I hope I did not make you wait that much.”

Sehun just pressed his lips into a thin line before sighing. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Come on, don’t jump into that just yet. Let’s order some food. Aren’t you hungry?” Sejin commented as he skimmed through the menu.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Well, I am.”

“Then enjoy your meal,” Sehun stated as he pushed his chair away from the table. He stood.

“Oh Sehun,” Sejin called with a firm tone. Sehun looked at him. A smile made its way to Sejin’s face. “Sit. Let’s eat. I haven’t seen you in a long time. Can you do that at least for your older brother?”

He’s using the ‘older brother’ card. He never used it before and Sehun seemed taken aback by how his brother was acting. After some more seconds, Sehun sat back and Sejin smiled that he was able to get through Sehun. 

“Have you been sleeping?” Sehun suddenly asked after they both ordered their food. Sejin’s dark circles were visible than ever under his glasses. Sehun couldn’t help but wonder if his job’s not making him sleep at night.

“Of course,” Sejin replied, smiling. He adjusted his glasses. “By the way, Junmyeon told me you’re actually going to work on time these days.”

Sehun shifted on his seat. A corner of his lips tugged upwards into what looked like a half-smile. “My mentor’s not the most patient person in the world, that’s why. She’s got a pretty sharp tongue.”

An amused expression came across Sejin’s face. It’s been such a long time since he saw his little brother smiling while talking about a girl. Junmyeon has filled him in with all the details and he knew about the internship thing that Sehun is doing with Kim Jinri.

“I guess you got yourself a match. She must be really something to get you back to your senses,” Sejin commented. “Who would’ve thought that someone with a nasty temper would start working with someone without exploding?”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Why do you and Junmyeon hyung always point out that I have a nasty temper? I get pissed off. That’s all.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sejin said, nodding his head dismissively. “Tell that to the guys you sent to the hospital 2 months ago.”

“Those s deserved it. They were looking for trouble and so I gave it to them,” Sehun huffed. His brother was talking about the brawl that he got into in LA. And that was the main reason why he was shipped back to Seoul by their father.

“Grandma almost had a heart attack when she learned that you were held up in prison for two days. That was not the first time you’ve been into such trouble.”

Sehun knew that his brother’s going to the segment where he’ll point out how ridiculous his life choices were. He’s aware of that. Unlike Sejin, he’s done stupid things in the past and he’s still doing them at the present.

“So what are we here for exactly?” Sehun asked to change the topic as soon as their food got served. He sliced a piece of steak and ate it.

“The Charity Party’s coming soon,” Sejin said in a monotonous tone.

“So?”

“It will be held the same day as grandma’s birthday.”

“And?”

“You need to come.”

Sehun felt like his food turned sour in his mouth. He swallowed it and put down his utensils. He took his napkin and dabbed it lightly on his lips. “You do know that I don’t attend them, right? I never attended any of that before.”

“Exactly. That’s the reason why you need to come. People are starting to wonder where you’ve been all this time.”

“Then let them wonder more. Besides, I’m sure father does not want his troublemaker of a son in there. I will just draw unwanted attention. Especially after what happened, I’m sure there will be a lot of talks about me being there.” Sehun sighed. “I’m sorry this is how our dinner’s going to end. It’s nice seeing you.” Sehun stood, leaving his almost untouched food on the table.

“Sehun,” Sejin called out. “You need to be there. Grandma especially asked for you.”

“Hyung,” he huffed, not feeling good that Sejin’s dragging their grandmother into the topic to convince him.

“She’s not getting any younger. She wants to see you before she passes away. Those were her words, not mine.”

Sehun’s jaws tightened. The old lady has a very soft spot in his hardened heart. She literally raised him when he lost his mother. “I can’t promise anything,” Sehun finally muttered after hesitating.

“That’s fine by me,” Sejin replied. He knew he made his little brother’s resolve falter.

“If that’s all, I’m leaving.”

Before he could even walk away, Sejin added some more details. “It would be better if you bring a date with you.”

Sehun scowled at the idea.

“That would make grandma feel reassured.”

He knew exactly the reason why Sejin said that.

Sehun turned and waved his hand carelessly. “Enjoy your meal.”

Stretching her limbs, Jinri lied on the floor. She’s been working on her idea book for the coming collections and for the program that she’ll be doing. The first meeting for the project went smoothly that she expected. The explanation that the writers and producers gave made her excited about what she will be doing in the future.

She’s been a fan of Project Runway and that was like where the idea of the program came from. It will not take the original survival show’s format per see but it made her look forward to it nonetheless.

She shut her eyes, imagining how the program’s going to turn out. She’s been into competitions before so she thought she would do just well.

Her musings came to a stop when her phone started ringing. She looked at it and raised a brow. It’s 1o in the evening and Sehun’s calling her out of the blue. She answered her phone nonetheless. “What do you want?”

“I’m in trouble,” Sehun answered without missing a beat.

“Not really surprised. So who’s pregnant?” She heard him sigh deeply. She suddenly thought that her joke was true. “Oh god, don’t tell me you really got someone-”

“I’m at the police station,” he said, cutting her off.

“What?” His answer did not register in her head that fast.

“Look, I just need someone to vouch for me.” His voice sounded raspy. “Can you come?”

“W-Why me? Call your cousin or any of your family members. What the hell did you do?” She was not really sure why she was getting worked up. It’s Sehun’s problem and not hers in the first place. He’s on the track to getting himself into trouble anyway.

“Jinri, it’s just-” he paused. “ it.”

Her eyes narrowed when she heard that. “Did you just swear at me?”

“No. No.” His tone gave away a feeling that he’s stressed and frustrated at the situation. “I did not swear at you. It’s just that I don’t want Junmyeon hyung or any of my family members to get involved in this. Heck, I don’t want them to know about it.”

Jinri was already on her feet, hand on her hips. “You don’t want them to be involved but you want me to be in one of your messy after parties? Can you please convince me why I should care to do that?”

 “I don’t know.” She could imagine him shrugging.“Because you’re my senior, my mentor or whatever and I’m yourintern.” He sounded desperate.

“You’re not my intern. You are the company’s intern,” she corrected.

“Yeah, whatever. Same thing.” He’s losing his cool. “Can you please just come? They’re going to hold me here unless someone vouches for me.”

A sigh of frustration left her lips as she shut her eyes. She does not know why she’s being put into such situation. “Okay. I’ll be there. What station?”

A pissed off expression remained on Jinri’s face when the two of them got out of the police station. She couldn’t even explain how she somehow talked the police officer to let Sehun off the hook. What happened inside was something she’s not going to do again. She turned to look at Sehun who was following her like a duckling.

She wanted to say something but she just bit her inner cheek to stop herself from verbally tearing him apart. She couldn’t believe she got involved with him that way. She’s been avoiding people like him from the start but so far, fate’s being playful and it has been making reasons for them to cross paths again and again.

“Thanks.”

That one word made her stop on her tracks. She looked at him once again. His expression was soft and apologetic. He suddenly reminded her of a pupp