Chaeyeon leaned back on the Audi’s leather seats and puffed her cheeks, she set her purse down and looked ahead.

“They know. They will have questions.” She murmured to herself as she fiddled with the seatbelt, she sighed.

“Why did I even panic and run here? I could have just called him.” She continued as she stared at the fitness gym’s entrance, Shownu emerged, already dressed in a pair of a jeans and a white t-shirt, Chaeyeon smiled to herself.

A very Shownu get up.

He jogged over to the car and got on the driver’s seat.

“So, what’s eating you, president?” He was smiling as he fixed his hair, Chaeyeon pursed her lips.

“My parents found out.”

“About us?” Shownu asked, he opened the bag of cookies he had given him and popped one in his mouth.

“Yes. What do I do?”

“What do you want to do?” Shownu replied in his usual calm, he dropped a cookie on her palm and smiled.

“You’re supposed to help me, Son Hyunwoo!” She groaned as she fed him the cookie instead, Shownu happily chewed.

“We have a story. Bali. Met through Minhyuk. I asked you out. Four months.”

Chaeyeon could only stare at him, he was always so calm, so steady.

“Huh. I should tell them that then, in bullet style form. Bali. Minhyuk. Four months.” She hissed, Shownu blinked at her and he chuckled.

“You must be hungry.” He said as he put on his seatbelt.

“Where do you want to eat?” He asked her, Chaeyeon shook her head at him and she pointed at the convenience store across the street. Shownu followed her gaze and he tilted his head.

“I wanted to take you somewhere nice.”

“That place is nice. It has everything.” She said as she slid down from the car, Shownu killed the engine.

“I’m not bringing my purse, you’re paying.” Chaeyeon called back as she walked ahead of him, the male laughed to himself and followed the girl.

“This bothers you. Are your parents strict?” He asked as he reached the girl, Chaeyeon shook her head.

“It’s not that. But, I never really thought of..having to tell them too. I guess, it didn’t just settle in yet.”

“Settle?” Shownu echoed, his forehead creased, noticing that the girl didn’t link arms with him.

“I don’t know, maybe I just panicked thinking they’d come home over this. I was being irrational. Sorry.” She continued, Shownu nodded and took her hand in his, he paused, worried that the girl would react.

“Well, I don’t think they’d drop the Caribbean Coast over this. I guess, we’re safe.” She continued, not pulling her hand away, Shownu’s lips curled up and he nodded.

“Still, how are you so calm? You’re weird.”

“If your parents come home, I think it’ll be okay. I’d like to meet them.” Shownu said as they got inside the store, Chaeyeon glanced at him again.

“You’re on your own once they ask questions.” She stated, Shownu smiled and watched as the girl headed for the ramen section.

Joori’s phone started the ring on her desk, the girl pulled away from her laptop and picked it up without checking.

“Yes, this is~”

“You will not believe what I just saw, daughter.” Her mother announced as soon as she answered, the girl paused and leaned back on her seat.

“What is it?” She asked with an amused smile, her mother sounded excited.

“I was on my way to get my hair done, I’m meeting some friends today,”

Joori nodded along as she checked her nailbeds.

“I saw your cousin. Guess where?” She said excitedly, Joori paused, fully aware who the elder was talking about.

“..Where?”

“She was with that man again, they were eating at a convenience store. A convenience store!”

Joori’s brows rose, she stood up from her seat and walked towards the windows, she heard the doors open behind her. She saw Yugyeom’s reflection on the glass and she gave him a small wave.

“Maybe they got hungry and wanted to grab a snack,”

“I don’t think so. Maybe that’s all he can afford. I’m telling you, your cousin is rebelling, how could she stand being around that guy? Those kind of places always have a certain smell, you know.”

Joori faced Yugyeom and rolled her eyes, the latter nodded back at her and sat down.

“Eomma~”

“I get it, I get why Chaeyeon seems so taken with him. He’s good looking, polite, but at the end of the day, he has no money. He can’t afford to be with her. Who knows? Maybe he’s just with her for the money. You should warn her!”

Joori pursed her lips.

“She thinks she has it all now, that man is not good for her.”

“I—I’ll give unnie a call, eomma. I have to go now.” Joori put her phone down, Yugyeom was looking at her with curiosity.

“Who are you going to call?” He asked her, keeping his tone light.

“Chaeyeon unnie,”

Yugyeom’s eyes widened briefly, Joori sat down beside him and sighed.

“W—Why? Did something happen?”

“No, maybe my mother’s right. Unnie’s changed so much lately, maybe that guy is just being nice to her because she has money. I should understand her.”

“A—Ah, really?”

“Yes, lately, she’s been acting all strange, she got angry with me the other day. She started saying these things.”

“What t—things?”

“Just things. Let’s not think about her. What brings you here?” Joori faced him, Yugyeom smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“I missed you.”

Minhyuk strolled into the shop, and blinked.

“I thought Yeon would be here.” He spoke, Wonho looked up from the Audi he was tinkering with and shook his head.

“Same.” Another voice said, Minhyuk turned and he momentarily paused, Soph grinned at him.

“I brought coffee, I had a feeling you’d drop by here.”

Wonho giggled and looked at the two, Minhyuk took the cup from her.

“Thanks. This is weird.” He murmured as he took off his coat.

“Why are you hanging out with him? Why is he taking all the women in my life?” Minhyuk muttered as he plopped down on one of the couches.

“I’ve been trying to reach Chaeyeon too, she said she’d call me back. But nothing.” Sophia stated, Minhyuk nodded at her.

“She called me earlier, she was looking for her impressive boyfriend.” Wonho added as he joined them, Soph handed him his Americano.

“Why? Did something happen?” Minhyuk asked, he tossed his coat to the girl as she sat down. Sophia rolled her eyes and draped it across her legs.

“I don’t know, she sounded weird. Like, panicky.” Wonho shrugged.

“So, are we going to talk about it, because I want to.” Sophia stated, the two males turned to her.

“Soph, we’re not even~”

“What?” Wonho chimed in, somewhat excited.

“That Son Hyunwoo. I don’t trust him yet. But,”

“He’s staring, huh?” Wonho said, Soph paused and nodded back at him.

“Oppa, you know too?”

“I’ve seen it happen. How is Chaeyeon not noticing this?” Wonho chuckled, Minhyuk grimaced and shook his head, he leaned over and took out the contents of the brown shopping bag the girl brought.

“Did you get cinnamon buns?” Minhyuk asked as he peered over the bag, Soph nodded and pushed the other bag to him. Minhyuk smiled and took out the said pastries.

“You two are way too much invested in this. Shownu hyung has always been nice. It’s his flaw.”

“I don’t think that’s it. He’s looking at her the way Jinyoung did.” Soph said, Minhyuk paused, his forehead creased.

“Can we not talk about him?”

“Who’s Jinyoung?” Wonho asked with a huge grin.

“Sophia,”

“Her ex. Did she not mention it?”

“She didn’t. Does Shownu know about this?” Wonho nudged the male, Minhyuk exhaled and faced him.

“Why would anyone have to know about that?” He muttered under his breath, Soph paused at his reaction, Minhyuk felt her gaze on him and he ignored it.

“How is he? Compared to Son Hyunwoo?” Wonho was excited again, Sophia chuckled at his words.

Minhyuk scoffed and shook his head, Soph watched as the male stood up and walked away from them.

“Well, Chaeyeon seems to smile more with Son Hyunwoo, oppa. But then again, with Chaeyeon, we never really know what’s in her head.”

“You know I’m stressed out. So, you took me here.” Chaeyeon stated as she looked at the car dealership’s massive entrance.

“You said you don’t like driving the Porsche.”

“I do hate it, but why,” She murmured as she jogged to him, she felt Shownu plant his hand on her lower back as they walked.

“What happened lately? You and Joori had an argument, you were bothered by it.”

“Right. Ugh.”

“And, you also saw some…traumatic things.” Shownu continued, he sent her a teasing smile, Chaeyeon shuddered at the memory and pulled away from him, the male laughed and held the door for her.

“So, you need this.”

“A car?” She stated as they walked in the shop, Shownu nodded back at her.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Maybe a pair of shoes?” She shot back, Shownu simply took her hand as they walked around.

“A sedan? Or something more compact?” He told her, knowing that the girl had enough knowledge about cars.

“I really don’t need a car right now, but, oh!” Chaeyeon suddenly let go of his hand and hopped over to a familiar looking vehicle, Shownu grew amused.

“It’s the new Ghibli. My grandfather had the 1962 version.” She stated as she walked around the Maserati unit. Chaeyeon looked so excited and giddy that it made Shownu pause, he watched as she was smiling while walking around the vehicle.

“This could be your work car, you still have the Rover for your errands.” Shownu said to her, but the girl was already popping the hood open.

“Do you think they have it in silver?” She asked him, her eyes went to the male walking towards them.

“We do, ma’am.” The agent spoke, Shownu turned to him and nodded.

“You like this?”

“I don’t think we have space left in the garage, abeoji has never gotten around to renovating it. Oppa and I always park outside. But this has a twin turbo V8.” She peered over the car’s hood again, Shownu chuckled before facing the male.

“You have it in silver?” He asked him, the male nodded back.

Shownu reached for his coat pocket and took out his card, Chaeyeon was already checking the driver seat.

“I’ll just need details, sir.” The male said, a little taken aback by Shownu’s actions. He took out a pen and paper for him and the male wrote Chaeyeon’s full name, address and contact details.

“What are you up to?” Chaeyeon said, she noticed that the male was walking away with some papers in hand, her eyes focused on the black card he was holding.

“Son Hyunwoo.” She paused, Shownu glanced at the vehicle again.

“Yes?”

“What did you do?”

“They have it in silver.”

“I know. I heard him. What was that?”

“You said you like it.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s been a stressful couple of weeks for you,” Shownu began as he made the girl link arms with him, Chaeyeon was still staring at him.

“Yes, I was planning to cap it off with lunch at home with some friends.” She murmured, she saw the male from earlier walking back towards them, he was holding onto something.

“Miss Oh, the car will be ready in about twenty minutes, would you care for something to drink?” He said with a small polite smile, Chaeyeon balked at him.

“I hope this will make you feel better.” Shownu scrunched his nose at her, Chaeyeon pressed her lips together and faced him.

“You bought me a car because I wasn’t feeling well.” She stated, trying to understand what just happened. Hyunwoo took the key fob from the male and asked for a coffee.

“I don’t like seeing you stressed.” Shownu reached out to cup her cheek briefly.

“Are..you trying to buy me?” She balked at him, his smile turned playful before speaking.

“Can I?” He mused before following the agent to their office.

“Wow, cheeky. But weird. Still cheeky.” Chaeyeon said to herself, then she looked up.

“I don’t need a new car!” She walked after him, but Shownu was already inside the dealership’s office, Chaeyeon exhaled and stared at the car again.

She felt her phone vibrate in her purse, she took it out and paused, seeing that Shownu had sent her a text.

I didn’t mean it like that. I just hope this brightens up your day. -Shownu

He added a couple of smiley emojis at the bottom too.

“I have to deal with this too.” Chaeyeon murmured, she opted to roam around the place, knowing that she’d never be able to stop him from what he’s doing.

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