Song : Azu - For you

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“Umm… Isn’t there another place to drink coffee around here,” Hyeomin asked, her eyes locked on the black haired boy standing at the counter. His warm smile was back on his face and she felt almost as if approaching him was a far better idea than avoiding him. But remembering the night before made her recall the unpleasant feeling she had towards him. He would rather have that brat Krystal over her.

Minho followed her gaze, only to see who she was talking about. “Oh…” Those two didn’t really get along much unless peace benefited both sides, like letting Baekhyun and Jong-In practice in the high school after hours.  “Unfortunately, there isn’t for a little bit. If you want-“

“Oppa !”

Hyeomin knew that running away was her best option now. The shrill, very recognizable voice pierced through the café as a girl ran towards Minho. Her previously long, black hair had been straightened and cut to have uneven sides and a high ponytail rest at the top of her head. Thick, fake glasses framed her brown eyes, matching the blue sundress she had on over a white, short-sleeved shirt. She was… adorable. It was not the normal fashionista that Goong High was used to. This girl seemed like she was… different.

Even her lackeys were nowhere to be seen.

She enveloped her brother in a quick hug before looking over at Hyeomin, making the other girl freeze in her tracks. But Krystal didn’t seem to notice as she smiled at her. “Hello, Hyeomin. It’s been a long time. How have you been?” The attitude Krystal was used to had disappeared and her smile didn’t seem to hide anything… this time.

Perhaps she had changed.

“I, uh… I’m doing well. Just focusing on studies and all,” she replied, trying not to reveal the awkward caution in her tone. Minho must have caught on however as he chuckled and put his arm around her. Krystal glanced at the arm just as Hyeomin nudged it off politely. Something clicked in the young girl’s eyes, something Hyeomin couldn’t figure out.

“This is strange. Since when have you guys got along,” Jong-In passed by them with a tray full of cups, not even looking at Hyeomin. That just made her angry. You’d think he would have at least looked at her if he was addressing her as well.

Krystal winked at us before following after him. Hyeomin knew she shouldn’t watch the two but she found herself doing it anyways. The girl had smiled up at the black haired jerk whenever he finished a table and he replied to her every comment, some with his smirk. In the past, that smirk would have caused the girl to laugh sarcastically or whine. Now, she was giggling while her cheeks turned red.

What were they talking about?

“Hyeomin ?” Minho walked into her line of sight, blocking the two she didn’t want to see and yet did as well. The concerned gaze he held made her remember why they were there.

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking… She has changed.”

Minho merely nodded with a warm smile before placing his hand on the middle of her back and escorted her to the counter. There, another student was attending the cash register and was quite quick on remembering their order.

Of course, her lab partner paid. He refused to let her even add some in by pushing in front of her. At first, she wasn’t sure what to do. But as he turned around with the receipt and his change, she let out a laugh. Before, he would have just complied with her. Now, he seemed to have grown strong and a little more assertive. He had grown up as well.

“So, what happened?” The two of you seated yourself at a table near the window, Minho already asking questions. But she had no idea what he was talking about.

“What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t look at you like an angry child and you pin him with an angry glare. Something must have happened,” Minho stated, his observation skills showing. Had she really glared at him? Would that cause him not to look at her?

“I did him a favor and he doesn’t seem grateful in the least.” Folding her arms she leaned back in her chair and tried not to think about that jerk. If he was so unhappy about it, why not ask Krystal to do it for him?

“Your coffee,” Jong-In’s voice pierced their conversation, ending it completely as he placed two drinks on their table. His eyes were closed as he bowed politely, something he had done to everyone. The smile he wore earlier was no longer there, though.

As he turned away, she took a sip of her coffee. “Ooh… A little bitter. Kind of like the service here.” Her eyes went straight to Jong-In, noticing that his eyes were on her first. He shook his head as he started towards a couple in the corner, but froze completely in the doorway.

For a second, Hyeomin didn’t understand why he lost his composure until she looked at the door. She heard Minho had followed her gaze, meaning that he saw the older woman walk into the café as well. It was none other than Jong-In’s grandmother, walking up to them in a simple dress and her hair tied back.

She had gotten a little more color since Hyeomin had last seen her. Her smile was still as effervescent as ever and she seemed to know exactly where she was headed. She spotted Jong-In and gave him a large hug, now showing that the boy was way taller than her. And yet, the boy seemed like he was going to fall apart right in her arms.

Hyeomin wasn’t sure what she was doing the second she rose and walked over, her worry showing. If anything, her care for such a wonderful woman would never be an act. “Grandmother?”

The older woman released Jong-In the minute she saw Hyeomin, hugging her very tightly instead. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here too. But is it okay for you to sit here near your fiancée? Won’t you distract him?” The woman smiled, obviously holding in a laugh. Why was she hiding it? Was she afraid that she’d start coughing again?

“Well…” As the woman released Hyeomin, Jong-In wrapped his arms around his grandmother, interrupting the girl. She was grateful indeed for that.

“What are you doing out here? How did you get here? Are you okay?”

“Oh, hush it. I’m supposed to be the chatty, old lady right?” A stern look had crossed the old woman’s face but disappeared as she placed a loving hand on Jong-In’s face. “I’m fine, dear. I was discharged this morning and I thought it’d be best to come see you before the semester grew hectic. Besides, after reading your mother’s blog, I just had to come see you two for myself.” She smiled again before grabbing Hyeomin’s hand. “Now, tell me what you two were doing.”

Unfortunately, that was when Minho showed up. “Hyeomin ?”

“Oh? Who is this?” Grandmother seemed to be shocked by the new face. She peered at him, as if placing a name with his face before smiling again. “Minho ! I haven’t seen you since Jong-In’s ninth grade basketball game. Do you know Hyeomin too?”

If only he had kept his nose in his own business. Now it was going to get messy.

Unless…

“Yes, we’re lab partners,” Hyeomin answered with her own smile. She had to play this and hope it didn’t make the woman too mad. “We’re out drinking some coffee after finishing our lab tonight. I thought I’d come see Jong-In to…”

“-to make him jealous,” the woman finished. Well, she was going to say that she wanted to introduce and show him that she would be spending time with an old friend. But jealousy worked fine. “You are so sly, Hyeomin. But it seems you know what you’re doing. By the foul mood he seemed to be in before I came in, it seemed to be working.” She smiled before patting her grandson on the shoulder.

Hyeomin tried not to look around. She had already seen the confused look Minho held and surely didn’t want to see anymore. Where did Krystal go? That girl could cause trouble if she showed up to dote on Jong-In.

“Well, let’s leave him to sit in his jealousy and go take a tour of the campus. After all, he’s working and I’m in need of a walk.” The café was in the middle of the whole college. She should have walked quite a bit already. Was it okay for her to be so active already? She looked to Jong-In, his head a little low. Perhaps he knew that his lie wasn’t over and they were still stuck in this thing. Hyeomin found herself not fazed by it, strangely. Was it the pile up of all the situations in this lie that has numbed her to this? Or… was she getting used to it?

“Umm… Minho ? I’m sorry. But do you mind if I get a rain check on coffee? Grandmother-“ Minho shook his head with another one of his smiles before ruffling the hair on her head.

“Don’t worry about it. But since you’re skipping out on me, I’ll only accept it if you make it dinner.” The warm smile didn’t match his assertive comment. It was very odd and she found herself feeling uncomfortable. Still, she didn’t want to be rude.

“I’ll think about it. You still have my contact information?”

“Of course.” He smiled as Jong-In’s grandmother dragged her out of there. The woman had definitely gained her strength back, but it wasn’t something to use up the day she was discharged.  Hyeomin felt herself worry as she followed the older woman, glancing back at Jong-In to see him sigh and get back to work.

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“You, my dear, are better at this game than I thought.” The woman had pulled the girl into the nearby courtyard, finally slowing down enough to speak. Her breathing was a slightly labored and Hyeomin wondered if it was okay for her to be out here alone with the old woman while being unprepared.

“I-I am?”

“Of course! That Minho is attractive, smart, and definitely going places. Getting him to come would definitely make Jong-In jealous. Besides, those two have had a rivalry since childhood. But you knew that.”

“Right…” She had known that Jong-In and Minho fought all through high school, but they didn’t get along as children? That was kind of sad. If the two had any sort of friendly memory, perhaps friendship would be easy for the two to finally grow into.

“You should have seen the way he was glaring over at you two as you talked. It was just adorable,” the grandmother cooed as she smiled, hiding a laugh again.

Hyeomin continued walking with her, trying to find certain topics to bring up without giving anything away. Oddly enough, she couldn’t think of many.

“So… Have you two set the date of the wedding?” Uh oh… A detail they hadn’t gone over.

“No, not yet. With college and work, there’s no telling when we might have time for it.” She smiled, putting in a logical answer to the question. It sounded like something they would agree on, right?

The old woman, however, did not seem pleased. “Sweetheart… Do you love my son?”

The question was one that Hyeomin wished to avoid. But looking at the serious tone in the woman’s face, imagining the pain if she didn’t answer correctly and seeing the way it hurt Jong-In again… She couldn’t give up the lie, though at that point she wanted to.

“Yes. I think I do.” She smiled as she looked off, trying to think of certain things she did like about the boy. He was honest, that was for sure. He was definitely a family man, was independent, surely handsome, sweet in his own way, and smart. Then there was that little smirk he-

Wait, why was she going on? Shouldn’t she think of the basics and leave it at that? It wasn’t like she was really going to like him after all.

“Hyeomin, dear?”

Looking over at the grandmother, she saw a knowing smile on her face. “Yes?”

“You dazed out on me.” The old woman chuckled before shaking her head. “If you care for him this much, just get married. You’ll make time for it if you really want to. That’s what Jong-In’s grandfather and I did.”

Never had anyone brought up her husband. Had he passed? What had happened?

“The questioning look you have seems to mean you are curious about my late husband, am I right?” The old woman took Hyeomin’s hand at that as they continued walking. They were passing the library now, still open for those that wanted to read or study for their classes.

“Let’s see. My husband was a lot like Jong-In, I should say. We have a lot of strong men in the family, dear. That would explain Kim-Jung, as well, but he’s a lot less… closed off compared to the rest. Oh, my husband had a head so hard that you’d think it was made of stone. But I found his tricks, just as you must have found my grandson’s.”

Hyeomin listened intently, feeling as if she was about to get one of her famous stories. The woman spoke so lively, her hand moving with almost each word. Her eyes even seemed to sparkle as she spoke of her family. It was… admirable.

“Jong-In, for instance, is not good when it comes to jealousy. He never was able to take care of his anger when it came to that. I saw that you played that card tonight. If you two don’t have a fight tonight, it might lead to him giving you a good claiming.” The woman laughed for the first time as Hyeomin’s cheeks turned bright red. A small fit of coughs came from the woman after, but nothing that caused concern. Perhaps she was better. “Or not. It seems that you are still a child in those matters. I guess he is as well.”

Shaking off the topic, the woman turned to something more comfortable. “Let’s see… My husband was much like Jong-In in that aspect. When we were younger, I would have genuine talks with the postman or the milkman. The milkman is a job that’s died out, so I’m not sure if you know what that is. Anyways, my husband grew so jealous, he demanded them to keep away from me or he’d do something horrible to them. The anger on that man… It was very alluring.”

Looking to her confused, Hyeomin tried to understand what she meant. Wasn’t jealousy a bad thing? Shouldn’t you question their trust if they are jealous? “But if you’re jealous-“

She tried to voice her question, but the grandmother already knew. “Jealousy is not always something of trust. It’s more so a form of claiming. Animals claim their mates in this way, as do we. Other men know what someone is interested in their woman, just as we know when a woman is coming onto our men. Insecure people either lash out or take it as a hit on themselves. Others, believe that they have to make it clear their mate is theirs and no one else’s. My husband and I did a lot of claiming to show people we were together.”

Hyeomin listened and went over the facts in her mind. It did seem like animal instinct to claim someone. Perhaps being claimed as someone’s spouse really was attractive.

“Did you know that before I came in, Jong-In was already claiming you?”

Turning to the woman in almost disbelief, she cocked her head to the side. “He was? How? I felt like he was completely ignoring me.”

“Oh, no. He was eyeing the both of you the whole time. And if a man shows delayed response to jealousy, he usually is trying to show he does have a problem but without a scene. That or he’s confused and he wants you to see he is.”

Something told Hyeomin that wasn’t the case this time around, but she would give it thought.

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Almost an hour passed and it seemed like they had traveled around the small campus completely. They talked about many things and Hyeomin never felt closer to someone outside of her family. The woman had advised her on things, offered to help if there was anything she needed, etc.

It was almost like Hyeomin had her very own grandmother, something she had never truly had.

Suddenly, her phone went off and she immediately looked at the caller ID. It was Jong-In, probably done with his shift.

She signaled for the woman to wait just a second and moved into a range where hearing would be hard for the woman. She opened it and heard Jong-In immediately go, “Where are you? Is she okay?” Well, there was that family man attribute she thought of earlier.

“She’s fine. She has a mild cough but it’s rare. She has a lot of stamina compared to before and apparently, you’re not very good with jealousy.”

“What!? What is she telling you? Listen, just ignore it and get to my place. I brought most of your stuff back once I finished my shift a few minutes ago.” So he knew that she’d be staying and now Hyeomin was back in the same place she didn’t want to be.

“Come on. I want to talk to her some more.”

“You can talk once I know she’s safe in my apartment. Now, get over here!” He hung up the phone immediately afterwards, making Hyeomin want to chunk his head out of a speeding vehicle. Who did he think he was speaking to? A dog?

“Hyeomin ? Is everything alright?” She remembered where she was as she walked back to the elderly woman. She had a look of concern on her face and Hyeomin almost felt guilty as she saw it.

“Everything is okay. Just your grandson acting like a big baby again.” The irritation in her voice was quite apparent. Trying to hide it now would look silly. But looking shocked at revealing it couldn’t hurt, seeing as the grandmother chuckled at her expression.

“I’m guessing he’s worried about us and wants us home immediately.” The old woman waved her hand in an “ignore it” sort of way. Linking arms with her fake granddaughter-in-law, she started pulling her in the direction of the bus stop. Tonight was going to be a long night.

As the two women sat on the bus, headed to Jong-In’s place, Hyeomin’s phone decided to vibrate multiple times. One was from Jong-In, asking if she was on her way; another was from her own mother asking how classes were so far; and finally a message from Minho. Strange, seeing as he said that he would contact her later.

Technically it was later, so he hadn’t lied. Still, this was pretty soon.

She decided to check it later as the bus stopped in front of Jong-In’s apartment complex. She then realized that the grandmother had no bags with her, minus her small purse. Did she have anything else to wear?

“Grandmother? Do you not have any bags with you?”

The woman chuckled and merely nodded her head to Jong-In’s place before climbing the stairs, already aware of where to go. And that was a gift itself, seeing as Hyeomin still had a hard time remembering.

When the two finally entered the place, the younger of them stepped in first to make sure nothing was amiss since she left. After cleaning, she perhaps made it her business to remain that way as long as she was coming over. So far, so good.

That was when Jong-In stepped out of his bathroom, a towel the only thing adorning his figure. The hot steam seemed to rush out of the small room and hot water still dripped from his dark hair onto… the rest of him.

Hello ! New chappie is here

So What do you think so far ?

Sincerly , thank you for my lvoely subbies and mostly for my commenters

They just make my day :)

Oh ! And here's some pics about how would Jong-In look like when Hyeomin saw him