------ Junhyung ------

I ended the call, feeling anxious as the time passed, Jihyun was unreachable for hours. She was unfamiliar with the area so where could she be?

“Oppa, what’s wrong? You have been holding onto your phone. Are you waiting for some important call?” Hara asked.

I tucked the phone inside my pocket, shook my head as a response. “No. Nothing.”

We were at a loss when Hara appeared at the doorstep without any notice. After she came back from Japan, she got from manager of my whereabouts and travelled down to Busan for me. With her around, I wasn’t able to go looking for Jihyun.

“Hara, aren’t you going back to Seoul?” I asked.

“Oppa, we haven’t met for a long time and now I’m back from Japan, you’re chasing me away?” She pouted, hoping that I would give in which I didn’t. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Then are you going back with me?”

“No, I’m not.”

She furrowed her brow, gazed at me for further explanation, but only silence came in between us. I averted her eyes, afraid to face her bitter sorrow.

“Fine. I’ll call manager oppa to fetch me.” As she was off to call her manager, I tried to reach for Jihyun, and finally she picked up.

“Where are you?” I half shouted.

“I’m on my way back.” I frowned at her tone of voice as she sounded weird.

“Where are you? Stay there and I’ll go look for you.” Getting the exact location, I took off instantly. Running down two streets, I found her at the bench, without any bags of groceries, only with a brown envelope on her laps, looking emotionally exhausted.

“What took you so long? What happened?” I grabbed her arm, giving it a tight grip. “Jihyun…”

“You’re here.” She gazed up and gave me a brief glance before she stood up and fell weakly into my arms.

“Jihyun…”

“Junhyung oppa, you-”

I turned to the source of voice, only to find Hara in an extremely puzzled and agitated mode, while she blinked her eyes in disbelief.

“What are two of you doing?” she said through gritted teeth, glaring at Jihyun. “So that’s your motive of hurrying me to go back? To be with her?!”

Jihyun drew herself away from me after realizing the situation. “Junhyung-ssi just lend me a hand when I was about to fall. Please don’t misunderstand,” Jihyun explained.

“Look Hara. Could you go back first and I’ll explain to you another day.” I tried to persuade her; instead, she shoved me aside and took a step towards Jihyun. What happened next startled me as she slapped Jihyun on her right cheek.

“Hara!” I seized her hand, unconsciously tightened my grip, when a wave of rage swept over me. Instead of being apologetic, Hara glared at me, with her eyes glowing in fury. I didn’t know what came over Hara, for she did not behave this way, and somehow I was amazed. Maybe I had been pushing my luck and testing her patience.

“There’s nothing between us. I’m sorry if I caused you to misunderstand. I’m really sorry