It was a fine evening approximately two months before her departure to Beijing. It was already dark; the moon had shyly peeked through the clouds in the velvety blue sky. Jinri was walking alone in the side walk when she heard a recognizable sound of horn. She turned to see a familiar black sedan driving slowly next to her; the driver waved and smiled at her. It was Luhan. Jinri halted her step and so did the car. She saw Luhan gestured her to come in, so she opened the car door and seated herself next to him.

  “Thank you, Oppa.” She thanked him while buckling the seat belt. Luhan hummed in acknowledgment while accelerating the car. It wasn’t his first time driving her home. It started about a few weeks ago, when Luhan’s black sedan honked her while she was walking on the sidewalk after a rather late math club—she had been staying longer at school in the past few weeks since she realized that she would be leaving soon. She didn’t knoe who it was and was startled at first. However, he rolled down his window and grinned, offering her a ride since he was heading to her place at well—for the tutorial. She gladly took the offer; the sun hadn’t been friendly with her, after all. Since that day, Luhan had always given her a ride whenever he spotted her on the sidewalk.

“How is the club?” Luhan asked her while still eyeing the road. Jinri, in the other hand, was eyeing him. Luhan in his brown short sleeved shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans were too good to miss.

“It’s okay. Doing some drills, discussing the problems, nothing much. There is this competition coming up in two months, though. It’s a pity I can’t take a part in it. Everyone seems to be very excited about it.” She answered contemplatively. Sometimes, she really wished that she could stay a bit longer in Seoul. Knowing that she was leaving and when it was going to happen was quite nerve-wrecking. It was almost like waiting for a time bomb to explode and knowing exactly when it was going to happen.

“Ah, what a pity, indeed.” He agreed, finger tapping to the soft jazz tune filling the car.

“Yeah. By the way, how is work, Oppa?”

“Hmm?” he muttered unthinkingly while making a left turn on the intersection, “Oh, just the same all day typing in front of the monitor and a couple of boring meetings. Are you sure you want this line of job for your future as well? I mean, I’ve started to have back pain in my age. It makes me feel so old.”

Jinri leaned back to her seat. “Well… I like math and your line of work makes good money, so, yeah.”

Luhan chuckled while making a right turn. “You’re right about the cash. It’s what keeping me in the job, actually.”

Sometimes Jinri wondered why Luhan agreed to teach her. It wasn’t like he was in a need of cash, anyway. Luhan taught dance because he liked it but she wasn’t sure if it was the case with Mandarin as well. Could it be that he did it because Sehun asked him to?

 Jinri nodded mentally. It must’ve been it. Luhan must’ve liked Sehun so much that he was willing to give his limited free time to teach Sehun’s friend. It pained her because while Luhan sacrificed so much for Sehun, her best friend had an interest in her instead.

“What are you thinking about?” Luhan asked her out of blue.

“Eh?”

“You are uncharacteristically silent today, you know.”

“Oh, that. Sometimes I wonder why you agree to teach me Mandarin every day. I mean, you already earn a lot from your programming. So, why?”

“Ah, I see. Well, first of all, I like teaching. It was one of the carriers that I thought of pursuing when I was in college. Your parents also pay decently—I won’t refuse more cash, you know—and you’re really cute to teach.”

Jinri felt her heart skipped a beat when she heard Luhan casually threw the compliment. It was one of the things she hated from Luhan. He could easily give her flattering remark that made her blushed but he never seemed to care about the effects of his words on her. Luhan was always one with the sweet talk, praising her every single day. She hated him for that but she also liked him for that.

Luhan was indeed handsome but it was his kindness that caught Jinri’s heart. It was the small acts of compassion, the encouragements, and the brotherly advices that captured her. Like how Luhan gave her a ride to her house almost on daily basis. Actually, she had wanted to give up about Luhan since long time ago—since she found out about his interest in Sehun—but Luhan was a natural sweetheart that it was difficult for her not to love him.

“Besides, you’re also Sehun’s close friend. So, why not?” He added, smiling to the road in front of him.

TBC

Thank you, for everyone who has subscribed  and commented to the story.

This story is dedicated to all of you.

With many-many-many love,

Himalayancat