It was almost 12 in the afternoon and Exo were getting impatient. You still weren’t home yet and they started to become suspicious. Although Kai knew about your whereabouts, he kept silent. He thought if he told them, then they would go insane, especially Chanyeol who didn’t want to believe you in the first place when you said Minji was your daughter. It was best if it came from your own mouth.

 They all gathered into the living room to talk about what they should do with you for the rest of the day, or more like week. The last incident at the airport had landed them a slight punishment from the company when Kai decided to make an escape. The two leaders had failed to construct a good enough excuse so everyone was being punished for it.

No schedules for the rest of the week and they didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Sehun ah, you brat.” Chanyeol went after him, pissed off. “Why do you keep sneaking into Maid’s room at night for?” Sehun scurried behind Suho who was shielding him protectively.

“Luhan h-hyung, how could you snitch on me like that?” Sehun glared at Luhan, feeling betrayed.

 He shrugged, smiling slyly. “Because you’re not supposed to go into her room at night. I thought we talked about this.”

“But I’m not doing anything wrong!” He pouted and stuck out his tongue at them. “Besides, she never said I couldn’t.”

“She NEVER SAID YOU COULD either!” Chanyeol reached for Sehun as Kris grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down next to him.

“Chanyeol, stop overreacting.”  Kris shook his head. “She isn’t yours for crying out loud.”

“I went to find out some things from noona.” Sehun smirked. “But I guess you guys don’t want to know. That’s ok, I was the only one who heard it so I’m satisfied.” He began to walk off, but Suho held him tightly by the arm. “Not so fast.”

“Sehun, what did Na Yeon say to you?” Baekhyun slung an arm around his neck and grinned. They all surrounded him, eagerly waiting for him to reply.

“She…noona…” Sehun looked at them slyly. “She said she loves ME.”

“Muh?!” They shouted together. “You little—”

“No, I didn’t.” You stood behind them, hands on your hips. You had been listening in on them for a good 5 minutes because they were too engaged in their own little world to have noticed you.  They whipped around, startled and acted like they hadn’t been talking about at all.

“Yes, you did Noona!” Sehun pouted and walked over to you. He grabbed your hand and pulled you to the middle. “Tell them.” He stood behind you and put both his hands on your shoulders. You stared at the many pairs of eyes who were looking back at you, not batting an eyelid.

Chanyeol was pretty pleased that you were denying it. *She can’t possibly say she loves just one of us.*

“I..er..don’ t think so.” You said quickly and turned to leave, but Luhan had blocked your way.

“It’s ok we can wait. We have all day.” Kai smirked at you and sat at the edge of the sofa.

They were equally as stubborn as you were and you knew it wasn’t easy to convince them. With an evil glare at Sehun, you sighed and cleared your throat.

“I said…I said…” You felt embarrassed just thinking about it. “I said I love you guys. NOT just Sehun.” You lowered your head, trying to hide the redness of your face. Just like you had suspected, it caused an absolute uproar and Exo went ‘oo-ing and aw-ing’, squeezing you with hugs.

“Wait-” You paused and looked at them, brows creased. “Why are you all still here? It’s Monday.”

“Um..well about that..” Suho chuckled awkwardly. “We actually—”

“We have the week off.” Baekhyun finished.

“But—”

“No buts.”

You all left it at that.

~~~

“Na Yeon ah, where are you going?” Baekhyun grasped your hand gently when he saw you leaving the room with your bag slung across your shoulders.

“To the market.” You smiled at him. “We ran out of eggs and ramen.”

“I’ll go with you.” He kindly offered and you nodded.

“We’re going too!” Luhan and Xiumin made a self invite as they hurried over to your side. You looked at them, surprised and was about to protest, but realized that it would be of no use.

Baekhyun laughed at your expression and began to open the door when the two maknaes rushed from the hall and collided into the four of you.

“We want to go!”

“ What—”

“Oh! Us too!” Chanyeol and D.O ran down the spiral staircase crazily.

“No way!” You refused. “Not all of you. Nuh-uh.” You crossed your arms and waited for Kris and Suho to come tell them no. Instead, Kai came out of his room with keys in his hands.

“I’ll drive.” He smiled at you. You blinked at him and looked at the others who were all ready to go shopping with you.

You smelled trouble.

“I’m walking there.” You said. “It’s just around the corner.”

“Oooh. Even better.” Chanyeol clasped his hands together excitedly. You rolled your eyes and told them ‘no’ again.

“Not all of you. I can’t handle the publicity.”

“Everything will be just fine. We won’t cause you any trouble.” D.O sounded so promising, but it wasn’t like you actually believed him.

*Says the guy who happily took my first kiss.* You scowled.

~~~

In the end, Suho and Kris made the two maknaes stay behind while you promised to get them whatever they wanted. Xiumin decided he didn’t feel like going anymore, so it was only you, Kai, Baekhyun, Luhan, Chanyeol, and D.O. 

The six of you walked down the sidewalk close together like a pack of wolves. They were a bit too excited about this whole grocery shopping thing which you found quite amusing. The day was a bit grey and gloomy and clouds were beginning to hover above the sky as if rain would pour any minute. You hated this awful feeling. Even the slight breeze felt like ice against your skin.

 “It’s going to rain.” You muttered, looking up at the sky. “Why today?”

Baekhyun who was walking next to you looked at your dazed self and lightly nudged your arm with his elbow. “A penny for your thought?”

“Hmm?” You turned your head at him. “I’m not thinking of anything Baekhyun.”

“Really?” He wasn’t convinced. “But, you…don’t look too well.” His eyes grew worried seeing the paleness of your face.

Kai sneaked a glanced at you and also noticed as well. Today, you were exceptionally quiet and didn’t argue with Chanyeol like you usually did. If all of Exo had tagged along with you to the super market, he didn’t think you would have declined at all. Also, you would have made a huge fuss about the fact that practice was canceled for an entire week. However, you didn’t probe them with questions nor rejected them. He knew something was wrong.

“No Baekhyun, I’m fine.” You forced a smile. He nodded slowly, eyes not looking away from you. He wanted to trust you on this one, but you seemed so off. The happy go lucky vibe that you always had just wasn’t sparkling tonight. Seeing you shiver slightly, he grabbed your hand and stuffed it inside the pocket of his sweater as he held it in his. To his dismay, it was extremely cold.

“Well,  your hands are saying otherwise.” He teased you. You looked away embarrassed again, but allowed your hand to stay there in his pocket. The warmth was comforting and you needed it. Even when Chanyeol and Luhan pulled you into their arms every so often, you didn’t object. You had no strength to.

Once you all reached the market that was packed with customers, you nervously looked at the guys. They assured you everything would be fine and if something was to happen then they had a well and thought out plan.

 Run for it.

D.O took the cart from you and pushed it. “I’ll do this. You keep control of YOUR kids.” He signaled you to look over at Chanyeol who was picking up everything that he saw. And it was literally EVERYTHING. You gawked at him and went over.

“Yeol, are you insane?” Your eyes widened at the MANY packs of pocky sticks, cookies, and chips that he held in his arms. He looked at you innocently and shook his head; hair bobbling. *That was beyond cute.* You had to admit.

“It’s not for me.” He said and threw them in the cart as he picked up some more. “It’s for Minji.”

“What? Uh…no.” You flat out said. “She can’t eat ALL of that. They’ll spoil!”

“Then I’ll help her.”

You opened your mouth to retort, when you see Luhan coming by with his arms also filled with junk food. He looked like a kid in candy land.

“Lulu, what—”

“It’s for Minji.” He quickly interrupted you. “She specifically told me to get her these. I have to do well for my princess.”

“Yeah, well your princess doesn’t need them.” You reached for it, but he takes you by the wrist and pulls you away. “Oh come on, I’m trying to win her heart. Help me here, will ya?” He pouted.

You then saw Baekhyun and Kai come from opposite directions with loads of...everthing. They threw it in the cart, ignoring your ‘are you crazy?’ stare.

“It’s for Minji.” They stated plainly and took off to get more.

“Yah! Stop using her as an excuse!” You hissed. “I came here for food! Not junk—wait, where’s Yeol? ” You looked around for him, hoping he didn’t go get anymore. Luhan linked your arm around his and made sure you stayed close.

“Don’t worry; he’s not hard to miss. Look, right there.” He pointed out to you. “The one with the crazy orange hair sticking out from everyone else’s.” You both laughed loudly.

You, D.O, and Luhan went into the ramen section and spent forever deciding what to get. Luhan and D.O fought over 10 different flavors because it was all on SALE. You rolled your eyes and kept reminding them to keep their volume down as people began to stop and stare.

“Just get the one we usually eat and go.” You insisted.

“This is a good deal. Buy one get one free.” D.O showed you, eyes glittery.

“Yeah, but that’s way too much.” You pointed out. “Besides…I think our wallets are crying.” You fumbled through the unnecessary junks in the cart and muttered. *I haven’t even picked up any REAL food yet and the cart’s already full.*

“Then why don’t we get all ten flavors?” Luhan suggested. “We buy five of them, and get five for free!” He nodded contentedly, proud of the fact that he had came up with the most ingenious solution. He and D.O high fived and threw it all in the cart.

You snicker, but kept silent. *Watch when they finally realize that we WALKED here. Good luck with that.*

The three of you met up with the others and went to pick up veggies and eggs. After you all were done, you tapped your chin with your finger and thought about what was missing in the cart.

“Meat.” Kai intruded your thoughts.  You looked up at him and smiled; his heart skipped. “Beef?”

He nodded, resisting himself from crushing you in his arms. He had severely put himself in check and promised not to ever do that again or else you’ll start to think weird of him. Nevertheless, it was too hard not to when you were right there; arm’s length away and looking so damn adorable. But of course, promises are meant to be broken anyways. It didn’t bother him all that much because you were worth it.

After you guys were done, you all went to the register and waited in line to pay. The entire time you had been holding back from showing how much pain you were actually in. Your right arm was numb from the IV, your head felt like a ton of bricks, and your entire body ached down to your bones. Even the lights were starting to blind you that your vision was blurring.

*Deep breath, you idiot. Stop this or you’ll fall.* You cursed yourself.

“What’s wrong?” Kai gently seized your forearm and turned you to look at him. He studied your ghostly face, dry lips, and the dark circles under your eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows and expected you to tell him the truth.

“N-nothing. Why?” You lied and the others began to look at you as if you had a third eye. “Oh! Guys, I forgot Sehun’s ice cream. I’ll be right back ok?” You scurried off before Chanyeol could lock in his arms and start freaking out.

When you turned to leave, you saw an all too familiar person heading towards the exiting doors. Nothing has changed from head to toe. Although her posh and appearance was intimidating, it could never hide the fact that she was still your mother; the person who had abandoned both you and your baby sister. You didn’t think you’ll ever meet her again because the last time you had seen her at the market was so long ago that you had already given up. However, seeing her for the second time became even clearer to you.

IT’S HER.

“Umma…” You whispered and didn’t waste the chance to mindlessly go after her. If you lose her this time around, you’ll never forgive yourself.

 “UMMA!” You shouted and to your surprise, she turned around and searched for the voice. Everything; all the people and time had slowed down when her eyes landed on you. You could tell that she recognized you right away by the way opened in a shocked expression. Just like you had thought, she breaks eye contact with you and hurried out the exiting doors like you were nothing; a nobody to her.

She was afraid of you.

*Go after her, stupid!* Your mind yelled at you, but your legs wouldn’t move. Shivers, coldness, and pain were all you felt flowing through your system. A bigger voice woke you up and before you knew it, you were already sprinting after her and out into the parking lot where rain hammered down on you; screaming for her at the top of your lungs. You didn’t bother about the unwanted stares and ignored Kai and Baekhyun who frantically chased after you.

“UMMA!! WAIT!” You carried your legs with all the strength that you had left and continued to run, praying to god that she was still there. From afar you see her scampered into an expensive black car that drove off right away.

Your clothes became skin to your body and the rain only gets heavier, but you don’t intend to stop running. By now, you’ve already lost track of the car, lost your mother, lost the cure for Minji because evidently, she could save your baby sister; her daughter.

Even so, you still ran foolishly. You ran unconsciously with no one in mind, but Minji. You ran screaming, calling, and desperately reaching out for the person whom you still considered your mother. You ran crying; endless tears flowing down those tiresome blue eyes that you despised so much at the moment. Those hot tears of blood and hopeless weeping of eternal regret for being alive were drowned by the tears from heaven.

You ran towards the busy streets blindly; vision obscured and heart seeping to the core of the earth and when the light for the crosswalk turned red to stop, you didn’t.

Honking.

Beeping.

Voices behind you shouting your name hysterically.

But, all you see next is your life flashing before your eyes and the unwanted memories of your past comes haunting you all over again.

“NA YEON AH!! JAEBAL!”

You heard Kai’s frightful voice pleadingly shouted your name with all his heart and soul before darkness enveloped you entirely.

I’m sorry….

~~~

Ok how were these two chapters? TT__TT I'm deeply sorry for the late updates! hope i made it up to you? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Comments are always more than welcome! <3 I WILL EDIT LATER!