ღ Chapter Twenty-six; final ღ

 

Inseparable. 

That was the right word to describe Kris and me for the next few weeks. He was everything that I wanted and so much more. We spent so much time together that I'm pretty sure the other EXO-M members had thought we had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Still, we never got tired of each other.    Nothing with Lu Han had changed, thank the lord. He was still polite and friendly to his Dui Zhang, and joked around with me, albeit being a bit quieter when he saw us together.   I had told my mother that now, I really was dating "yes, the tall hot leader of that boy group" and she insisted on meeting him too. She loved him of course, and my step-brother took one look at Kris' 6'2" handsome frame in person and decided to idolize him. Or maybe Seungjo just wanted a date with f(x)'s Luna. Either way, he thinks Kris is basically the coolest guy on the continent, and I couldn't disagree.    With my grandmother and my dad, I decided not to tell them that the first time had been fake. There was really no need for them to know. Also, I think grandmother would kill me for lying to her like that.   Then came the long weekend vacation, when I was to head to Gunamdong with Minjung.    Kris was standing in my bedroom, watching me pack a small suitcase with clothes. As I walked by, he reached out and snagged my sleeve, pulling me towards him in a bone-crushing hug.    “I’m going to miss you,” he whispered into my hair.    “It’s just three days, Kris,” I told him, trying to escape his grasp. I still had a lot of packing to do, and not nearly enough time.    “But what if some country boy catches you eye?” he complained, refusing to let go. Kris was pouting again, and okay, it was ing adorable.    “Impossible,” I replied, standing on my tippy toes to kiss his nose. “I only see you.”   It was cheesy, and I knew it. Kris, however, seemed satisfied with my answer, and let me go.    “Don’t get lost or anything,” Kris cautioned. “I know you’re a city girl through and through, and I don’t want you lost in a corn field or stuck in cow manure. Stick with Minjung-ssi, okay?”   “Yah, Gunamdong isn’t even that bad! Just a lot of fruit orchards everywhere,” I told him.    Eww, cow poop? Thanks, boyfriend. Great image. Just what I wanted in my head as I venture out into the unknown-I mean the countryside.     “Still.”  -----------------------------------------------------------------------     Minjung’s parents were a few years older than my own, and were just adorable. They were totally and obviously so in love with each other that I was jealous, and wished that my parents weren’t divorced. Then I chided myself.    My parents were too different to have stayed together. Plus, I had gained awesome step-parents and a cool step-brother.   However, it gave me hope, and for a second, I wondered if Kris and I would end up like that one day, married, old, and still in love.    Wait, what was even I thinking? It was way too early to think about marriage and being old.   "How do you know our Minjung, Jae-in?" her mom, Mrs. Shim, asked, as she sat me down at the kitchen table with a cup of warm apple cider.    Minjung and I had taken the train to Busan, before switching onto a bus that took us here to Gunamdong. It had been a long journey, and the winter air outside had been chilling us to the bone.     “Jae-in is good friends with the EXO oppas,” Minjung explained, sitting down next to me. “Her boyfriend is the leader of the Chinese group.”   For once, the boyfriend part was not a lie. How refreshing.     “Kris-goon?" Mr. Shim asked. He gave a hearty nod of approve."You've got a keeper there.”   I couldn't help but agree.   “Jae is going to grad school right now at Seoul National University’s Business School, studying finance and economics. Plus, she interns for J&C Enterprise,” Minjung added.   “Wow," said Mr. Shim. "That is pretty impressive for a college student. J&C Enterprise is a major corporation”   I was now blushing so hard that I had to put down my cider. It was suddenly getting hot in here.   Mrs. Shim nodded. “We’re just glad to see that Minjung has friends outside of training. Seoul is a dangerous big city, and we worry about our little girl. The friends that you make in the entertainment world…sometimes you just don’t know how much of it you can trust.”   “Trainees are all so competitive with each other, we didn’t want Minjung hurt by backstabbers. It’s a relief that she has such a dependable friend of the same age to rely on. We can worry about her less.”   I knew exactly what they meant. All of the trainees wanted to debut, and friendships tended to be very conditional from what I had heard from the EXO members.    "I'm glad to help," I replied, bowing to my elders.   "Well, you two must be tired from your trip!" Mrs. Shim suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. "Why don't you two unpack, and I'll cook us some lunch."   Minjung showed me to the guest room, and I unpacked quickly. I packed pretty light, and was ready to go when Minjung passed by the room again on her way back to the kitchen.    Lunch was eaten around a old mahogany table that had a home-y feel, and the Shims reminded me a lot of my mom's side of the family. I loved them.   We were just through the delicious chicken dish that Mrs. Shim had whipped up when the front door swung open.   “Ajusshi? Ajumma?”    A tall, lanky boy with wavy black hair flipped over his eyes stepped shyly into the room. I knew at once that this was the farmer boy that Minjung had mentioned. He was good looking, actually, very good looking, and had a look of pure innocence and kindness about him.   “Hyunki, come in!” Mrs. Shim said.   The boy bowed before politely before stepping in.   “I heard that Minjung is ba - oh, there you are. Why didn’t you come see me?”    Minjung blushed so hard, I thoug