Chapter 5
The Liar(s): Cognitive Dissonance [HIATUS]
The famous JW Marriott Hotel of Seoul became the silent witness of a private, luxurious, and beautiful event tonight. It was a wedding. An evening garden wedding ceremony. Tropical orchids could be seen on almost every table. And of course they were not the only flowers decorating the wedding. All the guests had took their seat. They were all waiting for the bride to walk the aisle. The groom, needless to say, was waiting at the end of the aisle.
Only close friends and relatives were invited to this wedding of Baekhyun’s mother and Taeyeon’s father. It was a private event after all. Jessica, Tiffany, Donghae, Hyukjae, and Siwon all came and gathered at one table with Jessica’s sister, Soojung. Sehun was also there to accompany his girlfriend. Luhan showed up without his mother and stepfather. He came alone and he was very welcomed by Baekhyun’s family. They even put his name in the family table.
When the song that was being played suddenly stopped, everyone noticed that it was finally the time they would see the bride. The lights were dimmed as a new song was then played. After the song started, the guests were then treated with such beautiful fireworks. The fireworks lasted for only several seconds before the door behind the garden was opened and revealed the beautfiul bride everyone was waiting for.
Escorted by her son, the bride could not hide her reddened cheeks. And before they could walk further, the lights were set on them. The two of them walked with the rhythm of the song and the lights would follow their movement. They walked slowly as the music guided them.
Bekhyun could feel the overwhelming happiness that his mother radiated. It felt so warm and tender. Just by being coupled by her mother’s hand was enough for him to feel it. But there was another feeling there. Deep down inside his fragile heart, he was hurt. And while her mother’s eyes were fixed at the groom, Baekhyun could not help but to lock his eyes at the groom’s daughter who was standing not too far from the groom.
The groom’s daughter did not stare back at him, though.
He wished she would... And as he continued walking, he recalled the night where they had their very first family dinner.
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“Sorry I’m late...” Taeyeon opened the door of the reserved room in the restaurant where she would meet her new family.
She bowed politely, not noticing the presence of a certain someone she would not believe would be there too.
“Taeyeon-ah...” Her father responded and she entered the room only to be surprised.
Her expression said it all. She widened her eyes. There was a silence.
“B-byun Baekhyun...” She muttered his name and everyone could hear the disbelief she had in her tone.
“G-good evening sunbae...” Baekhyun nervously replied yet he managed to smile.
“You two have known each other?” Taeyeon’s father raised a question.
“Actually yes, we have. We are in the same orchestra.” Baekhyun explained, earning some nods by his own mother and Taeyeon’s father.
“That’s good. Perfect actually. Now, Taeyeon-ah, take your seat...” Taeyeon’s father said to his daughter but his sentence was suddenly cut.
“I need to make a phone call first. Sorry... If you’ll excuse me.” Taeyeon gave an apologetic smile to Baekhyun’s mother and she left the room as fast as she could.
“I’m sorry about that.” Taeyeon’s father apologized to Baekhyun’s mother.
“It’s ok. It must be important for her. We can wait.” Baekhyun’s mother replied.
“Well since we are waiting, I need to go the washroom.” Baekhyun then excused himself.
Once he was out of that reserved room, he quickly started searching for his sunbae and soon-to-be his stepsister. He found her outside the restaurant building. She was just standing there. She was not making a phone call.
“Sunbae... I, I know I should have told you about me.” Baekhyun started the coversation. He was standing behind Taeyeon at this moment.
“I know you must feel like you are being fooled right now and...” He paused. “And I’m very sorry about it.”
“I shouldn’t have kept my real identity from you.” Baekhyun continued. “But really, I just want to get close to you and know you better.” Baekhyun did not stop there.
“We both know that the marriage is quite sudden. I mean... I don’t even know my mother is dating your father until she broke the wedding news to me.” Baekhyun sighed before making another statement. “Well, they are adults after all and adults sure love making surprises.”
Baekhyun tried to sound very calm.
“After my mother divorced from my father, she took me with her and we travelled around the world. She met and dated some guys along the way but I never saw her as happy as she is with your father. Thus, I’m very happy for her.” Bakehyun observed to see whether Taeyeon woulkd give a resoponse or not.
The girl kept her silence though.
“Soon as I know about the marriage, I researched about your father and found out that he has a daughter. And I’ll just have to admit that I’m curious about you and at the same time I am scared of introducing myself as someone who is going to be your stepbrother because...”
He made another pause. He took a breath. In the end, he could not finish his last sentence. He made another point instead.
“Look, Sunbae, it is probably better if I did not sign into the orchestra but it already happened and I’m very sorry about it.” He apologized again and he knew he should stop there.
“You know what? You don’t have to apologize.” Taeyeon finally spoke. “Who am I to earn your sorry, Baekhyun-ssi?” She began.
“I’m just... you know... I wasn’t expecting you to be there. I’m just a little surprised because I don’t and never think about having you as my stepbrother.” She tried hard not to crack her voice.
“So yeah... you don’t have to apologize because there is nothing to be sorry for. I guess we should go back right now.” Taeyeon concluded and she turned her body, so quickly that she did not even try to face Baekhyun. She walked fast and went to the restaurant, leaving Baekhyun who could only saw the figure making the distance between them wider.
It was clear to Baekhyun that Taeyeon would definetely start avoiding him.
As for Taeyeon, she knew she had to apologize to her father and Baekhyun’s mother for her rude actions. She came late and she left the room when she just came. She regretted it but she convinced herself that she only acted spontaneously that time.
Never in her wildest imagination she would fall for someone younger than her. And on top of that, she would have never imagined she would be in love with someone who was going to be his stepbrother. To say she is only surprised to see Baekhyun there was an understatement. She was hurt. She was hurt by the fact that she wanted her father to be happy but that would mean losing her own love.
Some songs were made for love. Some songs made us want to dance. Some songs took us into our dream. Some songs were perfect as a wedding song. Some songs could easily make us sing along. But there were also songs that make you realize that your heart was broken.
Taeyeon was listening to that last kind of song as she walked into the restaurant.
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“I do...” was heard. The second one. It was coming from Baekhyun’s mother and finally the bride and the groom were announced as a husband and a wife.
That being said, it also meant that Taeyeon and Baekhyun had officially become siblings.
The dinner started after the proclamation and the newlywed were visiting every table to greet the guests. Baekhyun decided to go straightly to his seat that was right beside Luhan’s seat.
“Hyung... Thanks for coming.” Said Baekhyun as Luhan stood up to welcome his stepbrother. Baekhyun hugged Luhan and Luhan hugged him back.
“Congratulations... And I am very sorry that my mother could not make it.” Luhan told Baekhyun as he put his glass of wine back on the table.
Both of them took their seats again after that.
“It’s alright, hyung... We are already more than happy to have you here.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.” Luhan replied.
The celebration continued with Taeyeon serenaded her father and her stepmother. She perfectly sang ‘Endless Love’ and she poured her emotion into that song. Jessica and Soojung also took the stage and do a duet of ‘From This Moment’. They harmonized and made everyone amazed by their voices. Then it was Bekhyun’s turn. Taking the microphone carefully, he looked for someone. The music started just right before he set his eyes on that someone. Kim Taeyeon.
He sang his version of “Can I Love You?” that was originally sung by a band namely Yurisangja.
Taeyeon might pretend she did not care where Baekhyun was looking at but some people did care.
“He is staring at you... is he not?” Jessica whispered.
“He could stare at anyone he likes, Sica. And so what if he is staring at me?” Taeyeon whispered back.
“You can lie to Fany, Hae, Hyukkie, or Siwon but you can’t lie to me, Kim Taeyeon. You have something going on with this stepbrother of yours. Am I wrong?” Jessica
Taeyeon was somehow agitated by Jessica’s blunt question.
“Ok... seriously Jung Sooyeon, where does it even come from?” She kept her voice low though.
“Taeyeon-ah... If you forget then I’ll remind you that Soojung is a member of this orchestra that you and your stepbrother are registered as a member. She will tell me things that she sees and thinks are worth my attention.” Jessica kept trying to make Taeyeon spilled the truth.
“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about it but I guess I can’t be more patient anymore... Besides, you are really acting so weird lately. I’m just worried.” Jessica finished only to earn Taeyeon’s ire.
“Maybe you should just keep waiting until I tell you then because you start to disturb me Jessica.” Sadly for Jessica, Taeyeon was not in her best mood. And Taeyeon was not really a nice person when she was having a bad mood.
Taeyeon stood up and then left the table. All of her other friends noticed it. Jessica called her name but she ignored her and kept walking.
Not too long after that, Baekhyun finished his song. He then went to where he saw Taeyeon was going.
In the end, we would never forget that some songs were composed so we can say what we can not say in plain words. And Baekhyun was listening to that kind of song as he walked.
In fact, he just sang that song.
‘Can I Love You?’
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“Hey, you’re alright?” Ara entered Yoona’s big bedroom.
“I am... thanks...” Yoona replied, secretly wanting that her best friend did not come.
“You don’t sound so, Yoong... I knew it just by hearing your voice.” Ara sat at the edge of the bed, beside the other girl who was lazily lying on her bedroom.
“Well then don’t ask if you already knew the answer.” Yoona rolled her body, completely backfacing Ara.
“I am just trying to...” Ara stopped before she could finish that sentence. “Forget it! I don’t want to argue over unimportant matters.” She decided to go to the main point. “So, let’s talk now since you’ve been missing from school and ignoring my calls for two dayss!”
“I replied your text and I told you I was resting.” Yoona made her sluggish response.
“Im Yoona, I’m talking about Luhan. Not about your two days of peaceful resting inside your holy bedroom.” Ara clarified what she had been keeping in her mind. “Even though they are probably related.” She then added. “I saw what happened, Yoong.”
Ara paused and continued with her demand. “I won’t leave this place until you tell me everything.”
That was followed by silence as Yoona did not respond. It was not because she did not want to tell Ara. After all, Ara was her best friend and they shared almost everything with each other. However, she was actually trying to erase Luhan from her mind. Since that very night, she had been struggling to stop thinking about him. But it was useless. She failed because the more she wanted to forget, the more she put attention to that.
She finally woke up and sat on her bed. She faced Ara.
“He chased me that night.” Yoona started, earning Ara’s full attention.
“He followed me to the lobby and for a moment I was scared.” Yoona tried to describe her feelings at that time. “But even though I was scared and... and confused...” She bit her lips before speaking again. “I was actually happy to see him.”
“Happy?” Ara frowned.
“Yeah... relieved... and happy... and I wished he would tell me the truth.” Yoona explained but she was quickly cut by Ara.
“What truth did you expect? That he was not the one who trapped you?”
Yoona quickly answered that question. “Yes! But only until Jongin told me that Luhan is Mr. Byun’s stepson.” She admitted. “I did not notice that he was there in the ballroom.” She admitted. “How come we never knew anything about him before?”
“Actually that has been bothering me too. Mr. Byun married Luhan’s mother five years ago. And we all know about it. I even came to the wedding.” Ara tried to get any clue. “And we also know that he has a stepson. So, the problem is we didn’t know who his stepson really is and what’s his name until two days ago.” She concluded.
Yoona did not give any reaction. At this moment, Ara had been seriously looking for something in the internet using her smartphone. Once she got what she was looking for, she showed it to Yoona.
“Which is actually not our fault since that night was deemed to be Luhan’s first public appearance with his father in such nation-wide event.”
Yoona only read the title of that online article but was not interested in reading it.
“It came out yesterday.” Ara put her smartphone inside her purse again. “And I understand if you don’t know about it since your relationship with television and newspaper is not really good since your scandal.”
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At the same day of the wedding of Taeyeon’s father and Baekhyun’s mother, Yoona was drifted back to the reality after recalling her last conversation with her bestfriend about Luhan.
Yes it was her last conversation about Luhan, but truth to be told, that guy never left her mind. It had been a month after their last meeting in that hotel lobby and she had not heard about him anymore. She thought that now they had known each other’s real identity, why he did not try to contact or look for her. This kind of thoughts filled her mind and it slowly frustrated her.
“No. It was not love. It was just curiousity.” She forced herself to believe that she was not in love.
To make it worse, Ara and Jongin did not really help her to forget Luhan. Everytime she was with one of them, she always got the feelings that they wanted to talk about Luhan but they refrained themselves.
And motivated by her desire to momentarily forget everything, she agreed to go to a night club with Ara. Her bodyguard, Kim Soohyun, was present as well. Not so lucky for Yoona though, the night club Ara brought her into was the one where she first met Luhan. Everything came at once into her mind. The memories of that scandalous night attacked her brain.
“Yoona-noona?”
A voice called for her attention just after she arrived at the bar area. She looked up to see who was calling her name.
“Joonmyeon-ah! What a pleasant surprise!” Yoona answered and she was happy to see an old friend.
“Oh come on, Yoong... Joonmyeon is the owner of this club. Hey Joonmyeonie!” Ara smiled to Joonmyeon and that guy smiled back and even bowed a little.
“What? Really? I didn’t know about that.” Yoona stared at Ara then stared at Joonmyeon again.
“Well... she exaggerated it. I’m not the owner. My father is.” Joonmyeon explained as he walked towards the entrance of where the bartenders worked.
“Let me rephrase it then... You are not the owner yet.” Ara concluded by emphasizing the last word.
Yoona smiled and both she and Ara were waiting until Joonmyeon appeared again in front of them. He acted as a bartender right now.
“So, what do you want to drink, ladies?” He asked.
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“So, you know that guy?” Sehun asked Jongin. Both of them were in Jongin’s apartment. They have been chatting like real best friends again until Sehun brought a new topic.
“Who? Luhan-ssi?” Jongin guessed and Sehun nodded. “Yeah, I know him. We met when I was still in London few months ago. Apparently, his mother and my mother know each other.” Explained Jongin who was lazily lying on his apartment’s couch.
“Of course, his mother is a designer and your mother is a former supermodel. Sure they would know each other. That makes sense.” Sehun, who was sitting on another couch, made a comment as he tried not to make Jongin followed up with a question.
Sehun was wrong though.
“Why do you suddenly ask?” Jongin stared at the younger guy.
Sehun made a quick response but he failed to make up some reasons. “Nope... I’m just curious... because...” The pause that Sehun had between his words made it obviously looked like he was hiding something.
“What?” Jongin became impatient.
“It may hurt your feelings.” Sehun warned the tanned guy but Jongin did not care about the warn and made a more demanding face instead.
Sehun would actually love to keep it to himself but seeing how curious Jongin had become, Sehun decided to tell Jongin the truth. Sehun did not want to have another not-talking-to-each-other period with Jongin again. “Well if you want to know what I have in mind then I will say it.” Sehun’s tone was changed into a serious tone. “It seems like Luhan has something going on with Yoona, Jongin.” Sehun paused again before saying another line. “And I think it is related to the recent scandal.”
Sehun waited for several seconds to let Jongin absorbed his words before delivering another statement.
“I don’t have any proof right now but I always have these feelings that beneath that pretty face and slim figure, she is perhaps not as nice as we all thought.” Sehun tried to sound neutral but of course he did not success to do so.
“Just stop it, Sehun. Why would you create such accusation?” Jongin tried to control his emotion. “Enough is enough!” Said Jongin firmly. “And so just you know, whatever you said about Yoona or even about Luhan, I won’t believe it. Is that clear?”
“Fine! Wait until I get some proofs.” Sehun was up for the challenge.
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While he was recalling the conversation he had with Sehun, Jongin was called back to the present when his mobile phone vibrated.
He was actually already on his bed, trying to sleep early.
He looked his mobile phone’s screen and was rather surprised to see only numbers.
He did not have any clue who was calling him.
He pressed the answer button but he waited until the person on the other line spoke.
“Jongin-ssi?”
He heard that voice and he knew whose voice it was.
“Soojung-ssi?”
“Yes... it’s me...” Soojung replied.
“What a surprise...” Jongin replied again.
“Did I bother you by the way?” Soojung sounded a bit worried.
“Nope... It’s ok. So... what’s wrong? Is there anything you need to tell me?” Jongin asked and there was quite a long pause before Soojung reponded to that question.
“By any chance, is it possible if I come to your place tonight?” Soojung paused before adding up her reason. “There is something I want to discuss with you.”
It left Jongin confused as to what he should say to her.
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Yoona was not drunk. She was sober while Ara had gone to the dance floor.
“So... has Luhan contacted you?” Joonmyeon asked Yoona out of nowhere.
“Luhan what? Wait... you know Luhan?” Yoona was surprised that Joonmyeon knew Luhan.
“Your father’s rival’s stepson. Yeah I know him through mutual friends. He has been looking for you by the way.” Joonmyeon answered.
“Looking for me?” Yoona did not believe that a topic about Luhan would be brought up again to the surface tonight. She was not expecting this but as she asked Joonmyeon, she showed the sign of excitement instead of annoyance. And she knew it.
“Yes... He has been coming here and become a regular guest since last month and when I asked him why he came to this club very often, he said that he is looking for you.” Joonmyeon explained much to Yoona’s surprise. She could not believe that Luhan did that.
She was lost at words.
“So tell me, am I going to see the birth of a new couple?” Joonmyeon playfully teased Yoona.
“No... of course not. I barely know him, Joonmyeon.” Yoona quickly made a response.
“Really? Then why is he looking for you?” Joonmyeon was getting more curious.
“Why didn’t you ask him?” Yoona made another quick response.
“I did and his answer was not clear enough for me. He only said that he wanted to explain some things.” Joonmyeon answered as he waved to one of the guests he knew.
“Well actually, it’s not my business and I don’t want to think about it.” Yoona knew she was lying.
“It is, Yoona-noona. When someone is looking for you, waiting almost every night, even drinking on empty stomach just so he can find you then it should be your concern as well.” Joonmyeon’s statement somehow made Yoona felt bad for Luhan.
However, Yoona always tried to contradict what she truly felt towards Luhan. “Well he should have known that I don’t often go to a night club. It’s not my fault that he came to the wrong place.”
“Which is why I suggested him to contact you but it seems like he is too afraid to do that.” This time, it was Joonmyeon making a quick response.
“Wait... you gave him my number?” Yoona wanted to sound like she was so angry but it did not come that way simply because she was not angry at all about that.
“Before you are mad at me... I just want to tell you that I think he is harmless. And yes... I gave him your number because I took a pity on him, noona.” Joonmyeon argued and explained his reason.
In the end, Yoona was speechless again. “You should have not given my number.” Said Yoona as she emptied her glass.
“And let him died waiting for you? He said that this is the place where the two of you met for the first time. I guess he is hoping that you will comeback to this club.” Joonmyeon sounded like he was actually bribed to persuade Yoona.
“Well he knows who I am. So why wouldn’t he come and look for me at some more relevant places? And besides, you have given my number, why wouldn’t he call me?” Yoona defended herself again.
“Well, probably he doesn’t want to cause a commotion since you two are the offspring of two politicians who are at war right now. Maybe he just doesn’t want to make some unnecessary headlines.” Joonmyeon answered again.
“He avoids another scandal. But isn’t scandal what he wants?” Yoona mumbled but Joonmyeon did not catch that.
“And I told you that I think he is too afraid to call you. He told me that you already have his number and he had asked you to contact him but you never did so yeah...” Joonmyeon did not continue when he noticed that Yoona’s face had turned gloomy.
“Tell Ara I’ve gone home.” Said Yoona as she left the night club.
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“Are you sure all of the proofs have been eliminated?” Asked Mr. Im on his mobile phone.
“Positive. I have eliminated all of the scandalous photos of your daughter, Sir.” Soohyun answered and confirmed to Mr. Im.
“Good job. Now, watch over her more closely, Soohyun. I don’t want her to cause another scandal.” Said Mr. Im as he ordered Yoona’s personal bodyguard.
“Yes, Sir. I am accompanying her now in one of her friends’ party.” Soohyun lied, realizing that it was better to lie.
“Ok. And have you got Mr. Kim’s new contact?” Mr. Im asked about another thing.
“About that. Due to the time zone difference, I was unable to get Mr. Kim’s contact. I’ll get it tomorrow and I’ll report to you as soon as possible, Sir.” Soohyun answered again as he saw Yoona left the bar area. He moved as fast as he could to follow Yoona.
“Fine. I need his contact because I must have a backup plan if Yoona keep rebelling against me.” Mr. Im finished and ended the phone conversation.
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To be continued...
A/N
Awwww, sorry for the semi-hiatus act... Really sorry... Thank you so much for being patient and still reading my fic :) I need to update my other fic asap as well... wish me luck anyone... God bless you all!
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