Kris settled in the driver’s seat as I waved to the kids at the entrance to the orphanage.

                “In all honesty though, you reall did look like a mother back in there. I’m happy for whoever gets you in the future, you’ll be great when you have one of your own.” Kris laughed lightly as he started the car. Looking back, I swatted his arm.

                “Stop spewing nonsense and just drive.” Try as I might, I couldn’t stop smiling. “Thanks for today and every day since I came. It’s nice to have someone I can count on.”

                “Don’t tell me the Great Jihyun is going soft on me now.” He sneered at me as he drove and I nudged him. Settling back into my seat, we fell into a comfortable silence. I sighed, peacefully, but my serenity was quickly disturnbed by my phone’s ringtone. With a  grumble, I fished out the device and picked it up on speaker.

                “Hello?”

                “Noona!” That familiar cute voice sent a grin across my lips.

                “Hey Ricky-ah. What’s up?”

                “Can you meet us real quick for coffee?”

                “Us?” I paused, then took in what he just asked of me. “Wait, you’re all in China? What happened?”

                “It’s Niel hyung, L. Joe Hyung, and I. We wanted to see you.”

                “I’m out with Kris right now. How about a bit later?”

                “Bring him along then. We miss you!” My eyes shifted to the driving male, who only gave a curt nod. “Noona? Are you still there?”

                “Yeah, hun, we’ll meet you. There’s a coffee shop near the SM here in Beijing.”

                “Sounds good! We’re leaving now, be there as soon as you can.”

                “See you soon dongsaeng.” I replied and then hung up. As I tossed my phone in my bag and leaned back, Kris caught my hand in his. We laced our fingers together naturally and he caressed the back of my thumb with his.

                “Are you going to be okay with this?” His voice softened and I nodded shakily in response.

                “Of course I will. I am the Great Jihyun, I can handle it.” Honestly, I wasn’t even sure about the words I just said. “Besides, with any luck, it will just be as Ricky said; just him, Niel, and L. Joe.”

                “I hope you’re right.” He squeezed my hand and I smiled half-heartedly.

                ‘As do I, Wu Fan.’

                Stepping into the coffee shop, I looked around and my gaze fell on my three friends. L. Joe looked up from his cup and immediately waved with a smile on his face. With Kris on my heels, I walked over to the three and slung my arms around Niel and Ricky’s necks, scaring the two boys.

                “Noona!” Rick half-cried/half-whined at me and I smiled cheekily.

                “Hey there.” I chuckled and ruffled his hair, walking around to take a seat between Kris and L. Joe. “How have you guys been?”

                “Oh you know; music, fans, music, drama.”

                “So the usual?”

                “Pretty much.” L. Joe laughed and I grinned at him.

                “So why are you guys even here? Are you doing promotions or a video shoot?” Niel shook his head happily and cutely beamed at me.

                “We missed out favorite Noona since she doesn’t work with us anymore. So, we decided to hijack a plane and come to see you.” I laughed at his story and Ricky nodded.

                “You really should stop by when you’re home, honestly. It’s like you don’t want to see us.” Ricky pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. I shook my head and giggled.

                “You know I love you guys. Stop being so hurt that I’ve been busy with this guy and his helpless members.” I nudged Kris who just smirked lightly.

                “What do you even do now?”

                “She helps us with our acting, dancing, and vocals. She takes backstage shots of us for the SM websites. That’s only her official job. She also cleans our dorm, cooks, does laundry, gets us awake and up in the mornings, makes sure we’re all eating well, constantly checks on our health, manages our vitamins and intake, and helps out the manager with scheduling. To be honest with you, that’s not even the half of it.”

                “Hey, Canada, I’ m not that great.” I turned back to my friends and shook my head. “I just help out where I can. He’s making it sound better than it is.”

                “Noona has always been modest. I believe Kris-ssi on this one.” Ricky snorted and I rolled my eyes.

“Anyways,” L.Joe piped up and caught my attention before I could talk back to the play maknae. “We got you two the same thing you ordered last time we saw you.” The younger two snorted in a failed attempt to conceal their laughter as the older pushed two untouched cups of coffee towards us.

                “Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I groaned as Kris thanked them. We all sat silently for a few minutes, sipping out drinks. Fed up with the painfully awkward atmosphere, I set down my cup and stared hard at the Teen Top members. “Seriously now, why did you fly all the way out to China. You know I travel frequently back home. Why didn’t you just wait until I got back?”

                “We wanted to talk to you about Chunji hyung.” Niel spoke softly and I grumbled. “Noona, please. Just hear us out.” The younger pleaded as I picked up my purse, fully intent on avoiding the subject.

                “Look, I love you guys dearly, but I’m not going to talk about him. He’s in the past, a rather painful past too. It’s part of me that’s over now. End of story.” I stood up and turned, only to run into a male’s chest. I looked up into Kris’ cold stare and I sighed. “Please move?”

                “Ji, sit back down before I make you sit.” His stern voice made me cringe as I breathed deeply. Sitting back down, I gingerly took my cup and sipped from it. The hot, bitter drink flowed down my throat as I nervously shifted my gaze form the younger males’ faces.

                “Noona, look at me.” I reluctantly lifted my gaze to meet L. Joe’s. He reached over and brushed my bangs from my eyes lightly as he offered a sad smile. “I know you and you know Chunji. He wouldn’t do this to you. Can you at least give him a chance to talk?” The younger pleaded with his eyes, causing me to bite my lip to hold myself from giving in. “He still loves you.”

                “The last time I was hurt by him, you told me the same thing. Now I’m in the same boat as before, do you really expect me to just run back to him?”

                “Well then, what do you want to happen? Do you want to be attacked again like list time?! Do you need to just to realize what’s important to you?!” L. Joe lashed out angrily and I jumped back. My jaw dropped at his outburst and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. “Noona. I’m so sorry. You know I don’t-”

                “No.” I cut him off and shook my head, clenching my jaw to hold back my sadness. “You’re right. And if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t still be standing. If it weren’t’ for you, L. Joe, I would probably be dead.” I felt my lips quivering as Kris placed his hands over mine gently.  “We both promised not to use this against one another, not to mention it, and to forget it.”

                “Noona, I-” I glared at him and he suppressed his words.

                “But when it comes to Chanhee, that doesn’t matter, right? None of that matters when he asks you to do something. Am I right?” He looked down, corners of his lips turning down in shame. “That’s what I thought.” I picked up my purse and walked away.

                “He’s waiting for you.” I stopped dead in my tracks as I head Niel’s voice. I felt something slip into my hand as Niel spoke next to my ear. “He’s at your guys’ apartment.” My gaze fell to the thing in my hand, and I found that it was a plane ticket with my name on it. I took a deep breath before turning around and locking eyes with L. Joe.

                “You should have told me this before you hurt the both of us.” He bit his lip and looked away again. Kris came up to me and took my hand, leading me out. He tried to take me to his car, but I hailed a cab and opened the door.

                “Ji, where are you going?” He came over to me and I held up the ticket.

                “Hopefully to solve this.”

                “Call me when you land and at every step, do you understand me?” I nodded and started to get it, but he pulled me back by my arm. Before I could say anything, he embraced me tightly. “Come home safe, Ji. I still have so much to tell you.” He pulled back and got me situated in the taxi before sending me off.

                “I know you do.” The words came as a whisper as I looked down at the ticket in my hand. “I think everything will be better when I come back.”

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A/N: Hey guys!

Well, I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be going back to school on the 29th of August. I'll try to update quickly while in school, but I just wanted to let you guys know.

Thank you guys so much for commenting and subscribing.

I love you all so much!!

<3

~ Lynn