You stormed into the meeting room where the other guys were waiting for you and Kai. Mr. Yoon looked at you then at his watch, “You're late.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “Samchon.” You said through gritted teeth. He blinked at you like nothing was wrong, “Yes, Saerim?”

You pressed your tongue against your inner cheek. “You knew all along didn't you? You and ahjussi planned this, didn't you?!” You screamed. Everyone in the room froze.

Mr. Yoon was startled by your outburst. Your eyes softened and you felt bad for a second there. You didn't mean to raise your voice at him, but you were too pissed to care about your manners right now. Your eyes were stern once again, “Where is ahjussi?” Just then, your ahjussi appeared on the screen behind him. “Saerim-ah, there you are! Why were you late?” He looked around the room, “Where's your husband?”

You glared at the old man on the screen. He noticed the tense atmosphere and looked at you, “What's wrong? Did something happen?” At that precise moment, Kai walked into the room. Ahjussi brightened up, “Oh, Kai! Finally you're here!”

You looked back at Kai who was looking back at you. You left the library and went back to the hotel as soon as Kai told you the news. You grabbed the file that contained the marriage documents and rushed back over to the NIS building.

You faced ahjussi again and held up the file, “Tell me this isn't real.” He opened his mouth to answer, but you cut him off. You threw the file on the table, “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! WHY WOULD YOU TRICK ME INTO THIS?! YOU SAID THIS WAS JUST STRICTLY FOR WORK, NOTHING MORE!”

He tried to explain, “Saerim-“

“Don't 'Saerim' me! How could you do this, ahjussi! I trusted you! You didn't even ask for my approval!”

“That's cause I know that you'll never agree to it.” He hissed.

“EXACTLY! Then why did you still do it?! I'm just 19 ahjussi! 19! Why would you marry me to someone I never met in my life before?!”

He calmed himself down, “Saerim, listen. You're a girl, a beautiful girl in fact. Anything bad can happen to you. And I can't let that happen. I just wanted to make sure you're in the right arms.”

“So you married me to him?!” You pointed to Kai. You placed your hand by your side again, “Does that make sense to you?! I grew up fighting, ahjussi! I can protect myself! And how would you know he's the right guy for me?! How would you know-“

“It was your father's last wish Saerim!” All fell silent.

Just as you left the meeting room to study the case at the library hours ago, the rest of the boys stayed back and learnt more about you, their new partner. They carefully read through your file that consisted every information about you from young till now.

Everyone in the room stayed silent. Your lips quivered as you looked at ahjussi, wondering if you heard right. “W-what?”

Ahjussi let out a sigh and gazed at you, “Your father asked me to take care of you when he was gone. He asked me to put you into the right arms. To be more specific, Kai.” You looked at Kai and he slightly nodded.

You looked back at ahjussi, then at Mr. Yoon. He looked at you apolodetically, “Soo Man is right, Saerim. A few days before your dad died, he told me that if anything ever happened to him, he told me to protect you like you were my own. To put you in the right arms. Since you decided to move to the US, I met up with Soo Man and we agreed on telling you when you were older. As a close friend of your father, I wanted to fulfill his last wish.”

You looked down and curled your hand into fists. Tears formed in your eyes but you refused to let them fall. You looked up again, “Why Kai?”

Ahjussi softly smiled at you, “You don't remember, do you?” You just stared at him.

“When you were younger, you and Kai used to spend every minute with each other. Your father was fond of him and thought of him as his own child. Your dad always told me how great it would be if he was his son-in-law. I remember him clearly saying, 'Make sure my daughter lives a happy and healthy life after I'm gone. And if your nephew was part of it, that'd be great too. I trust you.'”

Your tears threatened to fall any time now but you bit your lip to prevent showing your weak side. *Appa..* You bit your bottom lip so hard that it started to bleed.

“Omo, gwenchana?” Baekhyun pointed, “Your lip..”

You stepped back and touched your lip. You could taste the iron taste in your mouth. Without saying anything, you turned around and ran out of the room. Kai reached for you, but you were gone already.

You could hear ahjussi and Mr. Yoon calling your name but right now, you just wanted to be far away from here. You ran as fast as you could as tears fell on your face.

Back at the meeting room, everyone didn't know what to do. Tao pouted at the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Then, ahjussi spoke up, “I believe in all of you. Please take care of her like she's your own sister. Kai, treat her well. Training can start tomorrow. You all go home and rest. The meeting is dismissed.” Then the screen went blank.

EXO stood up and bowed to Mr. Yoon as he walked out of the room. When he was gone, they all looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. As the leader, Suho speaked up first, “Let's just all get come rest and come back tomorrow. Kai, make sure she's okay.”

They all slowly nodded and left the room one by one. Kai remained and looked at the scattered papers on the glass table. He walked over and put them neatly in the file and turned to go.