Chapter 23

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Living alone in the mansion for a week has its perks. Hana can blast her music as loud as she wants and eat ice cream at midnight without her mom nagging her (she could practically hear her mom’s voice reminding her that it isn’t very ladylike and no millionaire will want to marry her if she becomes as bloated as a pufferfish). But Hana realizes that, maybe, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits when she’s startled awake in the middle of the night. It’s 3 in the morning when Hana hears the creak of her bedroom door opening and footsteps shuffle into her room. She stiffens and remains still, holding her breath. Her phone is on her nightstand, so she decides that there is no point reaching for it and revealing to the intruder that she is awake. She senses the presence near her bed and she can hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Of course someone would come in and try to murder her while her parents are gone. Or, based off of her knowledge of dramas, these people probably have some vendetta against her parents and are gonna kidnap her to hold her hostage so that her parents pay them a huge sum of money and-

“Ow!” A voice hisses as her bed is slightly rocked from the impact of someone’s toe hitting against the frame, and Hana’s eyebrows furrow at the familiar voice. 

“Shh! You’ll wake her up!” A feminine voice whispers and slaps the chest of the other individual. 

Hana immediately bolts up from her position on the bed and gapes at the scene in front of her. Her father is clutching onto his toes and her mother’s hand is in the air after having retracted it from slapping him in the chest. They both stare at her in surprise and the room is engulfed in an awkward silence as Hana asks with a raspy voice, “Mom? Dad?”

The two straighten up and Hana’s mother flips the light switch on. Hana cowers at the light and buries her face into her palms, “What is going on?”

“We just got back and wanted to check on you, sweetie,” Mr. Park coos, coming over and running his hand through her long, brown hair.

Her mother races over and jumps onto the bed, enveloping the girl in a tight hug, “We missed you so much, our little bean!” Hana blushes at the childhood nickname and returns the embrace, “I missed you guys, too.” The three of them sit on her bed and laugh, discussing their trip with great detail, until Hana begins to fall asleep while listening to a story about a business deal that her father made.

Mrs. Park hushes him as the girl’s head begins to bob back and forth, “Honey, I think your story bored her to sleep.”

Mr. Park gapes at his daughter and reaches out to shake her, “Hey, it wasn’t that bad! Plus, you need to know this stuff.”

His wife slaps his hand away and glowers at him while lowering her body down on the bed, tucking the girl into the warm, silky comforters, “Let her sleep!”

//

It’s noon by the time Hana’s body jerks awake, and she gasps as she stares at the clock on her nightstand. She flings the blankets off of her body, but before she could run into the bathroom to wash up, her mother opens the door and blinks at her, “Oh, good morning, honey.”

Hana frantically races for the door, “Hi mom, sorry, but I’m late for school!”

“Hana.”

The girl races back to her closet and pulls out her uniform, “Oh my goodness, I almost forgot my uniform-”

“It’s Saturday.” Her mother finally declares, loud enough for her to hear over her frantic breathing. Hana stops moving and slowly turns to her calendar where she finally sees, indeed, it is Saturday. The girl falls onto the ground in relief and exhales, “Thank goodness.”

Her mother gives her an odd look, “How did you survive without us for a week, again?” Hana shoots her mother a glare and the woman laughs at her expression. Mrs. Park smiles, “Anyway, get ready. We’re going to eat lunch with the Parks again.”

Hana jumps up, grin on her face, “The Parks?”

An hour later, Hana’s family pulls up into the driveway of Chanyeol’s mansion. She’s wearing a light blue, flowy dress with white daisies imprinted on it with a cute pair of sandals to match. Her hair is pulled up into a neat, wavy ponytail, and she hops out of the car with enthusiasm. 

The girl warmly embraces Chanyeol’s mother and bows to his father. When she meets eyes with the giant, she grins and gives him a warm hug, “Hey, you!” A faint blush creeps on his cheeks and he smiles when they pull back, “Hey.”

Hana feels a vibration in her purse so she takes a step back from Chanyeol, “Oh, give me a second.” She pulls out her phone and her face drops as she reads another notification from Baekhyun.

Baekhyun [1:17 PM]: Hi baby. I hope you have a good day today. Please text me when you’re free.

Hana doesn’t know how to feel when she reads his message. Honestly, she has been avoiding him for the last two days. She sprints the opposite direction when she sees him at school and she ignores his calls. She reads his messages but doesn’t respond. There’s a part of her that is making him wait because she thinks, well, she’s been patient with him this long already, so he can spare some time to suffer like she did. But the other part of her (the greater part of her) is afraid of confrontation, and she knows that once she gives him the time of day, they’ll have to talk about everything. So, she’ll push it off as long as she can.

Chanyeol glances at her as she tucks her phone away and brings her attention back to the boy. She smiles, “So, what’re we having today?”

The two families pile into the living room and Hana feels deja vu from the first time they had dinner here. As the maids serve the delectable pasta, Hana holds back a laugh as Chanyeol continues to pile parmesan cheese over his noodles. It isn’t until he’s on his fifth scoop when his mother slaps his hand and forces him to stop, a pout forming on his face. Chanyeol hears a tinkle of laughter and looks up to see Hana in a silent laughing fit. He shoots her a glare (or what he hopes is one) and she sticks her tongue out at him.

Chanyeol’s father observes, “Well, it looks like the two of you have gotten closer.”

Chanyeol releases a small chuckle while he twirls some pasta noodles on his