Eun Hae’s POV

When Youngjae left to go back home before Himchan and Yongguk start wondering where he was, I bored until I heard the doorbell. Happiness instantly filled me up. Even though he could very well just appear in front of me as long as he imagined he was right in front of me, we thought it would be better for him to ring the doorbell once in a while so that Umma and Appa wouldn’t wonder why he never visited me.

I ran down the stairs and threw my arms around his neck, jumping on him as he stepped in the house after Umma answered the door for him. He held me around my waist to support me. “Lu Han!” I cried happily, hugging him tightly, burying my head at the crook of his neck.

“Eun Hae, you’re sick!” my mother chastised.

I turned to her and shrugged. “The doctor said that I can’t leave the house,” I emphasized. “He didn’t say anything about me being confined in my room all day. I need to walk around the place too, you know.”

She clucked her tongue disapprovingly but turned to the living room. “Don’t lock your bedroom door, Eun Hae,” she told me, eyeing Lu Han warily.

I pulled back and searched his eyes, frowning. “Are you okay?” I asked him. “You looked a little bit mad.” I pursed my lips and saw that he refused to meet my eyes. Now I’m worried. “Did something happen at work today? Did you and Kai get into an argument?” The two of them didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye on some things. When he didn’t answer, I was getting more frantic. “Lu Han, what happened?”

“Nothing,” he replied curtly, sighing a bit, as he carried me toward the backyard. There was a hammock outside so the two of us snuggled up in there.

When I rested my head on his chest, smiling, I felt his body stiffening. I pulled back, hurt. “Lu Han, what’s wrong?” I urged.

He kissed my lips briefly and it felt cold. “Tell me, do you love me?”

I frowned, baffled. “What the hell are you asking me that for?” I asked him. “Of course I love you. You know that I do.”

“Okay. So you wouldn’t lie to me about anything?”

“Why would I lie to you?” I asked. “What could I possible lie to you about? What the hell is wrong with you? What are you not telling me?”

“You tell me,” he muttered. He sighed and hugged me. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “It’s just . . . I want to know . . . what’s the name of your brother?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I think you’re lying when you told me your brother was dead,” he replied.

I frowned. “What are you on about? My brother is dead.”

Now it was his turn to frown. “You didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

He looked away. “Never mind,” he said softly. He let out a soft sigh.

I reached out to touch his shoulder. “Lu Han . . . what’s going on?” I asked. Why is he asking about my brother all of a sudden? What did he mean by ‘I think you’re lying when you told me your brother was dead’?

“Is my brother alive?” I asked him.

He didn’t answer.

“Lu Han, answer me!” I pleaded. “What do you mean? Why are you acting so strange? Is my brother alive? Why are you asking me this?”

“Look, I’m not exactly sure about the details either,” he spoke up. “It’s just . . . well . . . I thought that your brother was alive and you knew about it yet lied to me about it for some unknown reasons.”

“If my brother was alive, I wouldn’t have lived alone in the apartment, right?” I asked back, my eyebrows pulled together.

He muttered something but I couldn’t understand what he was saying because he said it in Chinese. Would he just stop doing that, he knows I cannot understand. He shook his head, looking uneasy.

“Lu Han!” I said sharply and he turned to me, his eyes wide with surprise by my sharp tone. “What the hell are you going on about? What about my brother? What is going on?”

“I —”

“Hey — er, did I come at a bad time?”

We turned our heads to see Youngjae standing by the door. He grinned awkwardly. “Er, I left my bottle upstairs in your room. But, err, I could always come again and take it another day. Sorry if I’m disturbing. Err, anyway, uh . . . take care of my sister, all right?” He gave Lu Han a small smile.

“No, you’re not disturbing anything,” Lu Han said casually. He stood up. “I’ll go get your bottle and then walk you out. I need to get going too.”

“You just got here,” I pointed out.

He looked at me. “I need to find out more,” he said.

“Lu Han,” I whined but he was already heading up the stairs to get Youngjae’s water bottle. I sighed and turned to Youngjae who was looking quizzically at me.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I shrugged, biting my bottom lip. “I really don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I don’t know what’s gotten into that guy but he’s acting weird all of a sudden.”

“No , Sherlock,” he retorted.

Lu Han came down holding Youngjae’s water bottle. “Is this it?” When Youngjae nodded, he gestured over to the door. “Let’s go, then.”

I stepped forward and held his hand back. “No, you are not leaving. Not until you tell me why you asked me that,” I told him firmly.

He sighed and Youngjae quickly took his bottle and walked out of the house. I turned to face Lu Han who just gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Darling, I really don’t know what to tell you right now. I don’t even know where to start,” he said to me. But I frowned deeper. He sighed heavily. “Look, when my information is clear, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

I thought about what he said. “Is . . .” I gasped at the possibility. “Is my brother alive?”

“I’m not sure. . . .” He got up. “But I think I know someone who will know,” he added. Lu Han gave me one more look before he came over to kiss me sweetly on my lips. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. “I pray to God that he is,” he whispered. “I have to go. I’ll stop by soon.”

He hurried out.

Lu Han’s POV

As soon as I got back into Eun Hae’s apartment, I frowned. I was so confused. Her brother is alive, her brother just came to visit her and she didn’t bloody have a clue? Does Youngjae even know that he’s her brother?

Is Youngjae even her brother? It definitely can’t be Yongguk or Himchan since they tried to her. Daehyun . . . same last name . . . it’s a possibility, but from how he reacted whenever he was with her, I’m dead sure that he’s more in love with her than actually her real, biological brother. And then the other person who I’m sure she’s close with is Youngjae. The two of them had hurt her a lot.

She must have had secret feelings for Daehyun and cared for Youngjae because he’s her real brother. There was no other explanation. Just then my friends appeared in front of me and I looked up to see them smiling and laughing until they saw the look on my face.

“What’s the matter?” Lay asked, coming over to my side.

“Nothing,” I muttered, lying down on the couch. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily before I opened one eye to see my friends crowding all around me with worried frowns upon their usual smiling faces. “Leave me alone.” I scowled and threw a pillow at them, which they dodged.

“Nah, I think we’ll stay,” Chen replied and they all made themselves comfortable in the living room while XiuMin went inside the kitchen, where he smartly smelled the stash of baos I had just recently bought in case they came for a visit.

“It’s quiet without her, huh?” Tao mused.

I merely grunted.

“What the is wrong with you?” Kris snapped at me, suddenly appearing in front of me. He ignored the others who squeaked and ran into hiding. “Why did you leave her alone feeling so confused?”

I looked at him. He would know about her brother, wouldn’t he? “Why didn’t you tell me she was living with her real brother all the time when her parents kicked her out?” I sniped back, feeling betrayed by my own leader. He knew about it, in fact he knew everything. “Who is her real brother? It’s Youngjae, right? What else is there about her that I should know about Eun Hae to help me with the Game?”

“Nothing! Because technically I’m not supposed to tell you and you’re not supposed to concern yourself that much with her! You’re only supposed to her and then break her heart! That’s all!”

I stood up. “Fine. I’ll go her and break her heart, happy?”

“Lu Han —”

“Is Youngjae her brother?”

He stared incredulously at me. Then he hesitated. But then he nodded and replied softly, “Yes, he is.”

I knew it.

“Why are you so interested in her?”

“That’s not something I have to tell you about, so I will not,” he replied stubbornly. He glanced over at the others and scoffed at their scared expressions. “I’m not going to bite you guys so you guys don’t have to hide all the time whenever you see me.”

They just shrugged but refused to move.

Kris just rolled his eyes and opened a pothole before disappearing back into Exo, leaving me with something that I was sure of.

Youngjae is her brother.

Eun Hae’s POV

At night, I was getting ready to go to sleep when I heard this loud crack. I turned around, hoping to see Lu Han but I saw Kris instead. He frowned deeply and opened his arms and I had no idea why but running into his arms and feeling his warm embrace seemed like the perfect thing to do at the moment.

And so that was what I did.

I ran into his arms and he hugged me. He kissed my forehead and carried me to my bed where we both snuggled up with one another. He sang a lullaby and put me to sleep, his deep voice comforting me until my eyes began to get droopy and I eventually fell asleep. When I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, I saw he was sleeping peacefully on a chair. He looked so nice, and even so handsome.

I softened. I got up and walked over to my cupboard to take a spare blanket out before I wrapped it around him so he would not catch a cold at this time. I stepped back and smiled when I looked at him. Kris may look cold and aloof on the outside, but Lu Han is right. He really does care about people.

I got back in bed and watched him for a while as he slept. It made me smile to know that someone would stay with me to comfort me, even if it was not Lu Han.

Thank you, Kris Oppa.

Lu Han didn’t visit me the next day.

My parents noticed something was off but they didn’t pry like how they would normally pry. I hung out with them a bit, to get to know them again. They asked me questions about myself to help them know about me a bit more over the past few years. Then they asked about my grades in school. I dreaded the question but I told them anyway. The surprising thing was that they weren’t mad or disappointed to hear that my grades weren’t that good. They just encouraged me and told me to study hard. My dad even offered to help me with any work I was not clear on.

Later in the day, Kai came, along with four other guys. I was not surprised when he told me that they were his friends from Exo. They seemed really friendly, especially Baekhyun, the quiet one among them all. Tao reminded me of Sehun. Chanyeol and D.O were funny and also nice.

The five of them told me about their adventures in Exo which sounded a lot of fun and it also cheered me up and took my mind off Lu Han and his weird behavior. Soon I got another batch of visitors: Lu Han’s friends. They seemed surprised yet delighted to see Exo-K (they told me they were divided into two groups because of the language they spoke) and all ten of us were just chilling in the living room.

In the evening, they all decided it was time to leave for dinner and that they thought they had overstayed their visit, although I had told them not to worry about that. But then I found out that Kai apparently had promised them that he’ll take them out around Seoul and I grinned, wishing him good luck because he was going to need it, taking care of both Exo-M and Exo-K.

Once they were gone, I sighed, walking back inside the house to see my mother holding a phone in her hand. “Darling, when you come down for dinner, please look presentable,” she told me. “Your father just called. He said clients from his work over for dinner tonight. You can choose whatever you want to wear as long as it isn’t the normal house clothes. They will be coming at seven-thirty.”

 “Sure, Umma, I will,” I told her, too tired to argue.

I looked at the time. It was six-thirty, which meant I had an hour to get ready. I had plenty of time. I walked up to my room, half-expecting Lu Han to be there. I frowned and sighed when I saw that he wasn’t.

But then something caught my eye.

I walked over my study table and saw a picture of Lu Han and me smiling at the camera. This was a picture from my apartment. I looked down and saw a little, familiar scrawl on a piece of paper.

This is something of me to have in your room, darling. I’ll come and visit you tonight are asleep, and then we’ll talk, okay? Smile, I love you.

- Lu Han.

That cheered me up instantly, bringing a smile on my face, and suddenly I was wishing that dinner was already over and done with. Smiling happily, I set the picture down and skipped over to the bathroom, wondering what I was going to talk to Lu Han about.

But one thing was clear: I needed to tell him the truth.

I quickly bathed and when I was done, I looked at the time. It was seven. I still have half an hour to prepare. I went through my closet and picked out an outfit that would be good enough for tonight’s dinner. I wore a white shirt, green woolly cardigan, green skirt and one side of her hair was pulled back with a green bow hairclip with the other side loose.

At seven-thirty, I heard the doorbell ringing and knew the guests were here. I waited a few minutes until I heard my mother calling me for dinner. I went downstairs and tried to act lady-like when I heard sounds coming from inside the dining table.

I kept my head down politely and bowed to my guests before I took my seat. Then I dared to look up. My dad introduced me to a man, who I was to call him Mr. Woo, and his wife, Mrs. Woo. Then he turned to their son, and my eyes widened.

“This is their son, Jiho,” my dad said.

Zico smiled cheekily at me, giving a tiny wink that only I saw.

I smiled back at him meekly but my heart was thumping hard. Why is he here? How did his dad and my dad meet? What’s going on?

When dinner was almost done, my dad turned to me and smiled. “Eun Hae, I hope you and Jiho get along because you are going to be married to him.”

Zico’s POV

Ah, this wonderful feeling I get whenever my plans worked.

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Uh-oh. So that's what Zico had been up to all this time! ._. Ottoke?!