A sudden overwhelming urge to punch someone came over Seokjin.

"You are just the sweetest." Eri said to the guy with a tinkling laugh, then took a sip of her drink when the guy let go of her.

"Calm down, I don't think she's leaving with him." Namjoon said, amused.

"What? You think I'm jealous of those guys? I just..." He trailed off at the stunned expression on his brother's face.

"Whoa there." Namjoon stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Where did that come from? I just thought that she's staying here for Kii's opening so she's not leaving anytime soon."

Seokjin was overthinking. He thought his brother meant Eri leaving again without saying anything, just like she did eleven years ago. "Well..." He didn't want to talk about his reaction because that would mean he'd have to think about it. Maybe he looked like he was being defensive. Even though he never said a word about what happened between him and the Han sisters to his brother, Namjoon is smart. He must've at least sensed something was off with him when he came back home after spending that night outside. His brother, being the younger one, didn't ask either about what happened. 

"It's none of my business. You're old enough to know what you want." Namjoon continued. "But you and Eri? I don't know, I think she's a little high maintenance for you."

"You think? Look at her."

Seokjin and Namjoon watched as she accompanied the men to their vehicles and waved them off.

"I am, and I get why you or anyone would be attracted to her. She'd become prettier and–"

"She'd always been pretty... I meant, and she's a pain in the a s s."

"You know there's a fine line between love and hate." Namjoon replied. "Just think long and hard before you get involved with her. A relationship between you two could cause problems for uncle and auntie if it doesn't work out."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you can stop talking now. You're pissing me off. And I'm already mad enough."

"Yeah, I can see that. Though I wonder if it's the guys buzzing around your girl like she's a honey pot or something else entirely that is setting you off."

"She's not my..." Seokjin realized, for a moment there he'd forgotten that he initially wanted to confront Eri about the whole crafthouse thing. He didn't wait for his brother's response. He strode to Eri's direction.

The guy that hugged her just seconds ago whispered something to her ear.

She turned around, leaned forward to Seokjin with a wide welcoming smile. "Surprise!"

Now how was he supposed to stay mad at her when she was looking at him with excited anticipation on her pretty face? She updated the crafthouse without consulting him. And she'd spent what must've been a load of money on a place he planned to close down, all because he'd lied to her about the expensive medical treatments. And if he told her the truth now, she'd be humiliated and hurt.

"They were just leaving." She looked away and said something to the men. They nodded and continued on to board the cars and trucks. After waving goodbye, she smoothed her skirt and walked closer toward Seokjin while searching his face with a nervous look on hers. "You're mad? Do you hate it?"

He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "No, just a little surprised." He glanced at the crafthouse. "The inside is..."

"You said you liked pink, but I thought you were just being sarcastic with me so I went with natural wood just like the aesthetic of your house. You had those open shelves in the kitchen." She looked up at him through her long lashes, and her shoulders sagged. "You don't like all the brown, do you?... I thought of the blue grey like that of the exterior but I thought that would be too dark if it's the same color on the interior too." She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced over to the crafthouse. "Or do you really like pink? I guess I could call them back to repaint."

"Jesus, no, don't do that. I don't hate it. It's just something new, I'll get used to it." Seokjin actually thinks the update was wonderful but he doesn't want to admit it. "And no, I don't like pink."

A look of relief spread across her face. "They've all worked so hard today. I'd hate to ask them to stay longer."

"Eri." Namjoon called out to her, coming up beside Seokjin. "You completely transformed the inside."

"Do you like it?" She asked with a hopeful smile. She and Namjoon didn't interact much yesterday so she hopes even if he didn't like it, at least he doesn't hate it.

"Yes, it looks way better than before. And Jin here loves it, to the point he was speechless."

Seokjin shot his brother a look.

She lit up. "I only told uncle about it, nobody else knows because it's a surprise! Do you want me to show you around?"

As she set off towards the crafthouse ahead of them, Namjoon lowered his voice. "I thought she's staying with you so you can handle her, but turns out it's the opposite. She has you handled well. Be careful brother, she's smart."

Namjoon was right. Eri might be naive at times but she is also smart.

Seokjin used to play chess with Eri during lunch hour in high school. Eri wasn't the outgoing type like Miyoung or the athletic type like he is but she'd always been good at in depth calculations, planning and cognition in general. And now she seems to have grown into someone who is socially competent. But Seokjin isn't surprised, Eri wouldn't have succeeded in her career if she wasn't. "You've already seen the place so feel free to leave anytime." He said to his brother.

"I'm still amazed at how she managed to pull this off in what... six hours?"

"She had her men do all the work."
"Still, you have to admit it's impressive."

It was. Seokjin thought.

Eri had stopped to speak with Sangwoo. The brothers were a few feet away but the distance was enough for them to overhear their conversation.

"No, I should be the one to thank you, Eri. You brought this place to life again. I feel like my sister is going to come walk out the corner any minute now." Sangwoo said. "And I've only spent an afternoon with the others but I think they're all hard working guys. One of them told me you were always generous whenever you hired them. You paid them a week's worth of labor just for today and they appreciate the food you gave them too."

She was about to say something to Sangwoo when her phone rang, so she excused herself to answer the call.

"Well, if this is the real Eri, now I understand why uncle likes her even though he hasn't spent much time with her like with Miyoung." Namjoon said under his breath. "I've only ever heard rumors from the same people in high school that still live in town but we don't know things uncle and auntie knows about her. I mean, you heard what uncle said. How much did she spend today alone?"

Seokjin wondered that too. This, everything in the crafthouse and that donation earlier to the high school and PTA.

Eri came back to them with a huge smile on her face. "I have good news!"

"What now?" Seokjin asked.

"I got in touch with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and they said they're willing to look into your medical cla