Chapter 39:

SUNGJONG'S POV

He drank his cup of what I assume is tea —ha, and relaxed in his seat, completely oblivious to the questioning stare I was giving him.

At this moment my order came and after smiling gratefully to the obviously smitten waitress I began sipping my warm tea. But my eyes never straying far from him.

Kang Minhyuk. A crucial part of my investigation, as I like to address it. I can't believe I never dared to bring this topic up before when we practically see each other at every dinner, gala or party our parents throw each year. All those precious chances and oppurtunities wasted.

Taking my tea in hand I moved from my seat towards his' by the corner. He lifted his head to meet my gaze and a spark of recognition flashed in his eyes then greeted me with a warm smile.

"Sungjong-ah!"

"Hey, Minhyuk hyung." I grinned back and took the seat across him placing my cup on the mahogany table.

"What are you up to here in Japan?" he grinned sipping his tea.

"Well, boring seminars, paper work, all day meetings..."

"In other words, you're parents sent you this time?" I nodded and grinned back. Knowing fully that he was probably experiencing the same.

"How about you, business or pleasure?" 

"Pleasure. I wanted to relax a bit before going back in that wretched office." he rubbed his temple to emphasize his point. You see, he doesn't have anyone to share the load of being a successor with, unlike us Lee's. He is the sole successor of the Kang's business and to make matter worse his only sibling... well let's just say we don't know what really happened to her.

"Hyung, I need to ask you a question.." I asked unsure and quite nervous of his reaction.

What if nobody ever dared to ask him this question ever since she disappeared? But that's impossible since the press and media flocked and fought for individual interviews with a member of the prestigious Kang family.

"What is it?" he replied not really bothered about the sudden question.

"What happened to Jihyun?" His head slowly rose from it's slightly bowed posture, his fingers slowly tightening on the porcelain tea cup and his facial features morphing to one of sadness, regret and a hint of frustration. He looked at me for a moment before feigning innocence and replying.

"What do you mean?"

"What really happened to her hyung?" I added much needed force into my voice to try and sound as convincing and persuasive as possible.

"... She died."

Lies.

DAEHYUN'S POV

I woke up with a groan, my arms and head ached and stung with every little effort I made in moving.

The bed I lay in was soft and warm, as if made from soft feathers of a big fluffy bird, but I couldn't find any comfort in it whatsoever, for sleeping peacefully next to me was the woman who inflicted so much pain on me, that I almost regret coming here.

I sat up painfully and rested my back on the wide wooden headboard before pausing a good minute to take in the environment I was in.

The room was big and spacious. Fresh and clean. Everything is in order, and everything looks so expensive, and undeniably fit for a princess. Which in this situation is her. Her; with her long straight hair and warm eyes, which this man managed to make his. Managed to give everything if not more that what she deserves. I frowned internally. Who does he think he is? 

The thoughts were broken when there was a sudden movement in the covers by a certain auburn haired female causing her body to hang at the very edge of the bed. I chuckled quietly seeing that she still has the sleeping habits of a 2 year old. I quickly pulled her closer to me and eased her head on my lap, with much pain, I succeeded. I poked her nose repeatedly as a microscopic revenge for last night. 

As expected, she scrunched her nose in annoyance and wriggled. I laughed and held her nose cutting off her oxygen intake for a second or two. This woke the monster.

"—cough— YAH! —cough—" she called out whilst gasping for oxygen. I laughed out loud once more and received another hit to my head. The sting of her small feminine hand on my scalp felt like a pick digging into my skull.

"Stop hitting me! I learned my lesson and I won't do it again!" I whined in dialect so only she could interpret my words.

"Tsk, your body hurts doesn't it?" She looked up at me with her eyebrows creased, her lower lip jutted out ever-so-slightly and shot me a worried expression. 

"After a beating like that I don't think I'll be able to move properly in a while.." 

"Sorry, Daehyunnie..." she sighed before continuing "Just don't do that again, I had everything under control."

"No noona. How could you let yourself get together with someone like him? Most importantly why didn't you tell me?!" 

"It's nothing Dae." she avoided my eyes and found the large teddy bear on her bedside table more interesting to look at than me.

"It's not nothing!! I worked hard to get those boys in Busan to not ask you out but now I see that Seoul is more dangerous that what I expected! I need to know who you're with! What they're like.." I continued my rant as she lay on the bed, with her head still on my lap, ignoring me, pretending to listen carefully.

"Daehyun, please. I can do this. All I need is for you to understand..." she pleaded softly and finally looked at me with puppy eyes. Darn.

"Fine. But I won't like it." I frowned as she sat up and hugged me with her long tanned arms. I returned the hug painfully before realizing, we were being watched..

AUTHOR-NIM'S POV

Sungyeol woke up with a frown marred on his handsome face as he remembered the happenings from last night: Daehyun and Soyou.

Soyou and Daehyun.

The thought of both of them together in one room, in one bed for the whole night bothered him. A lot. More than what a pretend boyfriend should be bothered about. He knows his relationship with Soyou is an act but very recently he had just made a personal promise to himself that he will make Soyou fall for him and be in a relationship with him for real.

But with this Daehyun guy in the picture, he's having a hard time trying to piece together how the ending is going to go. 

He stood up quickly and ran to his large walk in closet, grabbing random pieces of clothing he needed for today's outfit and headed straight to his bathroom. Emerging shortly, he walked over to the mirror and style his hair to a messy yet trendy do before sprinting over to his hyung's room to find an ally before storming up to her and his room.

Meanwhile Sunggyu was sitting on his bed, being awake several minutes ago, with a love sick grin on his face from thoughts of a certain preppy girl who unbeknownst to him had caught his heart. 

He was dressed for the day waiting for the urge and motivation to guide him up and out the door. And at that moment, his motivation appeared frantically in his doorway, panting and gasping for air, his eyes practically screaming "Help me!"

"Hyung!"

-------

Moving quietly along the corridors, the two brothers tried their best to stay spy-like and unnoticed as they planned to creep up and peek inside the room of the two. Now, now, they've both made it quite clear to themselves that this was not an invasion of privacy; this was simply a protective boyfriend and a concerned oppa taking care of their girl.

Both of them having different goals set up in their minds. Sungyeol's was to make sure nothing happened during the night and that his Soyou will still stay his (although, she was never his to begin with). While Sunggyu's was just to find an explanation as to who is this 'Daehyun; character and why is he so important to her.

With their minds set they nodded at each other before reaching for the shiny metal handle and pushing it down gently not to make any unnecessary noise.

What they saw inside crushed not just one but two hearts.

"Fine. But I won't like it." Daehyun let out softly with a frown, as Soyou went up and enveloped him in her arms. Both of them in bed together with messy yet cute bed hair being sported by both of them. Their blankets strewn all over the bed and a mass off pillows around them, some even on the floor because of the presence of another both on the bed.

This did nothing but enraged Sungyeol.

Daehyun hugged her back tightly, muscles straining to lift his hands but managed to do it. Just when they he was about to let her go his sharp brown orbs darted towards the door and saw two sets of eyes watching them intently. He threw a cocky smirk at Sungyeol and continued to hug Soyou before pulling away and placing a small yet brotherly peck on her forehead.

Sungyeol's eyes widened and after that he didn't have any control of his actions afterwards.