“JONG-IN !”

Hyeomin pulled the covers up to her face on instinct, the image of Jong-In cuddling with her all night swimming in her head. Why had he gotten into bed? What happened to him sleeping on the floor? She could have at least been woken up so she could sleep on the floor instead.

A groan of protest escaped his lips as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her down. She wasn’t expecting that. Not at all. Was he up to no good again?

Just as she was about to push him away and get out of bed, she heard him mutter some words. “Just a little longer… Please…” That was when she noticed the bags under his eyes and the tight grip he had on her arm. It was almost like a child hanging onto his mother. Her heart seemed to melt as his grip loosened and his head rose to bury itself in her shoulder.

This was the first time he was so close and her heart wasn’t threatening to explode from her chest. On the contrary, it was beating at a fast pace but not so much it was scary. No, it was something she could deal with as the guy slept on her. Sliding her arm under his neck, she found it easy to touch his hair. She wondered why she never thought of doing so. It was made up of dark locks that were taken care of well.

Her fingers brushed through his hair and she felt even more at ease as the soft texture seemed to just slide away. But she could smell the lingering scent of sweat on him. Something had happened last night and she found herself worrying. What made him look this way? What made him this vulnerable?

“Jong-In ?”

“Mmm?” No words escaped but he did acknowledge her. That meant he was awake at this point. He was aware that he was leaning on her, of all people. Yet, he did not fly off and insult her. This was… weird.

“Are you okay,” she asked, genuinely concerned. She didn’t know what might have caused this but she wanted to know how he was doing before nosing about. Though it wasn’t her place to ask, she was going to anyways.

Jong-In’s eyes opened then and he stared directly at her. It wasn’t an awkward stare. It merely met hers and held it… gently, you could say. For a second, she could see the pain he held only for her to be shut out. His eyes closed and he turned away. Why? Why had he put the distance there?

“I’m fine.” She knew he wasn’t the minute he started rising. As he did, she noticed his pants were on loosely and she could catch a glimpse of his boxer briefs. They were black, very predictable. As he looked at her, she realized she was caught and turned around. She only saw it because it was right in her face. It wasn’t like she was looking for it intentionally.

A soft chuckle escaped from him as Hyeomin felt the bed rise, a sign that he was getting up now. “If you wanted a look, all you had to do was ask.” The teasing could be heard, even in his husky morning voice. She had grown used to the sound and even found herself enjoying it.

“Oh, shut up,” she retorted while throwing her pillow at him. He merely caught it and put it back on the bed, allowing her to look at the clock. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the weekend and she was up at seven. Why was she up so early?

Oh, right. Jong-In’s heavy arm had finally woken her from her dreams. Which made her wonder, how long had he been lying like that?

But rather than ask, Hyeomin grabbed her pillow and placed it over her head. “Good night,” she said through the pillow before closing her eyes. It was too early to be getting up. Why should she-

Her body jumped from the cool air as the blanket was ripped from around her body and off of the bed. Instinctively, Hyeomin tried to grab at it to pull it back up. But it was nowhere within her reach. Hyeomin growled low as she removed the pillow and glared at the perpetrator, Jong-In. He had the sheets in his hands and was smirking down at her.

“We’re going to the zoo today. I have a day off and I want to see Mari have a good time before I hand her over to my parents.” He rolled his eyes at the mentioning of them before tossing the sheets on the floor. The room looked a mess and Hyeomin bolted up with wide eyes, directed at the mess of blankets and pillows.

“Hey! I clean this room too. I’m not about to let you dirty it.” She started picking things up as Jong-In put on some clothes. She wasn’t big on the whole cleaning up after him. Actually it annoyed her, but she was in no position to argue. Not right now, anyways.

Minutes passed and she somehow seemed to have gotten ready in her sluggish pace. Jong-Inl was ready with some very casual clothes on. He almost looked excited. Almost. Those bags under his eyes still seemed to be haunting him.

The two exited the bedroom to find Mari already outside, watching television. She seemed half conscious and yet, ready to go. Had she heard them talking about the zoo? With those little, demonic ears of hers, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.

----------------------------

Hyeomin wasn’t big on this idea at first, but she found herself having fun. Her and Jong-In liked explaining different animals to Mari and even making impressions. With Jong-In around, it seemed like the girl was normal. Perhaps from now on, when she came home, he wasn’t allowed to work.

Finally, they reached the wild cat exhibit where tigers, jaguars, lions, etc. awaited the three. Marieloved tigers and was pulling both by the arms to go and see them.

“Why am I not surprised you like the tigers most,” Hyeomin asked the girl, showing a little sass. The girl stuck her tongue out at her before continuing to pull.

It took a minute, but the girl was able to retort back, “At least I don’t look like a hippo!” And at that, the girl let go and ran off to find her animal. Hyeomin, not thinking twice for once, ran after the little girl. It was a crowded day with many different families. There was no telling what might happen.

It didn’t take long to find her as she was trying to see over a railing that viewed the cats. They were a ways down and were stuck inside a large cage with many different things to look like their habitat. Unfortunately, they were asleep. It must have just been feeding time, no doubt.

But unlike most kids, Mari didn’t care. She just liked seeing them. “Aren’t they pretty?” She giggled in delight, something very genuine opposed to what Hyeomin expected. She was just a little girl after all. But where did the nasty go?

Perhaps Jong-In stole it? After all, he had seemed more distant today.

At the thought of him, Hyeomin looked around and tried to spot him. A little ways off, she saw him pacing and talking on the phone. His face was serious and it was obvious something was wrong. But before anything could be said for certain, he nodded and started heading their way.

Did something happen to his grandmother? That was something that she hadn’t even thought about. What if it was a family thing?

Jong-In would have told her if his grandmother passed. It had to be something else.

Thankfully, he was approaching and she could find out for herself. For real this time. She wasn’t about to just sit back, let him change the subject and act like everything was alright.

“Thanks, Krystal. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Ba-bump. Did he just say… Krystal ? What did she have to do with anything? And better yet, why was Jong-In showing her gratitude? This didn’t make sense!

Jong-In placed his cell phone back in his pocket before looking at Hyeomin with a smile. But it faded quickly as he looked her dead in the face. “Hyeomin? What’s wrong?”

That’s when she noticed her face was formed into a hurt expression. Shaking it off, she merely signaled that it was nothing with her hand. She didn’t want to know now. If she did, she just might act like a fiancée. Which she wasn’t. So it made no sense to act like so.

But she knew she felt hurt every time he mentioned that girl. Sure, she had changed but… Hyeomin was the fake fiancée, not her. Shouldn’t he pay attention to her rather than make phone calls to other girls? At least for now. Turning back around as to show it was nothing, Hyeomin looked for Mari.

But the girl was gone.

“Oh no… MARI!” Her eyes bolted wide open as she looked around for the girl. Stupid, stupid, she thought. She should have been watching the girl, not worrying over something so unimportant. Moving down the path, she tried looking for the girl. Brown hair, pigtails, and white dress. Brown hair, pigtails, and white dress.

She repeated the description over and over in her head as she examined every kid around Mari’s height. As she was looking, she didn’t even notice Jong-In running behind her. She didn’t care. She let an eight year old run off on her own. There were kidnappers out here, murderers even. If something got to Mari… She was going to jail.

Yeah, the little twit was a bothersome thing that liked to make Hyeomin’s life Satan’s throne, but the little girl was just jealous. She just wanted Jong-In all to herself, so no one could take him from her.

And Hyeomin could relate.

Wait, wait… Is that really why she’s been hating on me? Hyeomin wrapped her mind around the thought and realized that she wasn’t looking for a demon child… She was looking for a younger sister, a youngest daughter, and a defenseless little girl with confused emotions.

Her legs pumped faster and her eyes looked harder for the little girl. It was then that she saw the girl exiting the walkway and onto regular ground, bending over to look at a squirrel. She slowed herself into a jog, her heart and waist screaming at her for not being in better shape, and finally stopped next to the girl. She didn’t care if she scared the squirrel or looked odd at that moment. Hyeomin picked the girl up in a tight embrace, throwing the little girl off guard.

Jong-In caught up and looked onto the scene, with an expression that said he was unsure of what to think.

“Mari! Why did you run off like that? I was so worried…” Hyeomin spoke her true thoughts as she placed the girl down. Her chest could start calming and the pain in her legs could finally become acknowledged.

The girl looked at Jong-In and Hyeomin and frowned. “You were worried about me?” She seemed skeptical, almost as if she was thinking that this was some sort of set up.

“Of course I was.” Hyeomin couldn’t believe that this girl had so much suspicion in her.

“She was, Mari.” They both looked at Jong-In now, a warm smile gracing his features as he looked at Hyeomin. “You should have seen the way she bolted down here to find you. I guess her mothering instincts kicked in.”

Did they? It would make sense, wouldn’t it? If it was regular Hyeomin, she probably would have given the girl some time to walk a little farther and then get her when Jong-In was mad. She would want revenge for being such a mean girl.

But the minute she thought of the girl being in danger, she sprang into action. Was that really mothering instincts? Sure, every woman had them but… Hyeomin always thought she’d be the weird one that didn’t.

She looked to Mari, seeing a smile on the little girl’s face. She was giggling lightly and, before anyone knew it, had punched Hyeomin lightly in the arm. “You’re okay, Hyeomin. I had you pegged wrong.”

This… This was the real Mari talking. She had no little girl act to pull or even the mean, tough girl who wanted to protect her Oppa. This was Mari, the little sister of Jong-In.

Hyeomin smiled back at her and pinched her cheek lightly. “We judged each other too soon. It’s not your fault.” The two laughed before linking hands and started off. Jong-In held Mari’s other hand and Hyeomin caught him smiling at her out of the corner of her eye. It was weird and yet… perfect.

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you from now on. We still have to see who wins,” Mari suddenly said, obviously pointing that toward Hyeomin. Though the whole competition didn’t sound too alluring, it sounded fun now that they wouldn’t be playing dirty. For now.

“Sure, sure. We all know that will be me.”

“Yeah, right!”

----------------------------

Time flew by at the zoo and when night fell, it seemed like a real weekend was coming to a close. It wasn’t the usual two days that just pass by. It was two days full of adventure.

Unfortunately, the adventure wasn’t over.

The minute they started toward meeting Jong-In’s parents, Hyeomin heard her phone go off. It wasn’t a good thing to hear after a day devoid of technology, but it did reawaken her to her life. She had homework to do, a job to find, and to get her things out of Jong-In’s place.

But why didn’t she just stay there? All of these things kept happening. What if something happened again and her stuff was missing? What would they say?

I just don’t want to leave, she thought logically as she opened her message list and saw Minho’s name pop up. Oh, great… She forgot about their dinner plans tonight and he seemed to have caught that.

”Don’t forget about tonight.”

She wasn’t looking forward to this. He was a great guy but… what could he possibly want out of this? He’s never been one to manipulate and yet, here he was. Did something happen over the summer? Was something happening to him now that it might cause this change?

Or maybe…

No. Stop thinking about it. Just go, she told herself as she replied to him that she hadn’t. She just had to tell Jong-In somehow.

“Hey, Jong-In?”

He nodded his head towards her, showing acknowledgement from the front of the car. 

“After we drop off Mari, I need to meet up with Minho. To talk about our project.”

At first, he said nothing. It was almost as if he was thinking about it.

“How late will you be?”

Hyeomin had no idea but she could at least try a time. That would make things easier. Right?

“I’d say about ten to ten thirty.”

She hoped that would be enough time for her to get back. It was just Minho. After eating and discussing this, she could easily make it home by that time if not earlier.

“I guess…” Jong-In didn’t sound happy, though. Was he worried? Was he jealous like Grandmother had said before? But that was impossible. Why would he be jealous? He had no right over her.

Well, she got jealous over him and Krystal and she had no right over him.

Whatever. She leaned back and merely allowed the tired eight year old to cling onto her a little longer. They were almost there. The sooner she could get to Minho, the sooner this mess could be sorted out.

Hello lovely people out there :D

Sorry this chap took me some time , but you know school and stuff  D:

So Juts a little warning that in the next chap you will discover alto of new characters so get ready for that ? xD

So do you htink Minho did discover their secret ? What will happen at the dinner ? And how will Jong-In react ?

Kai in bed ... Kai wrapping his arms around you.... Too good to be true seariously xD