*Vanilla! The perfume unnie loves so much!*

Immediately, the nightmare that had been haunting her flashed in front of her eyes. The sequence of the dream seemed to be playing frame by frame in her head. Her hands were shivering uncontrollable. She tried to reach out for the bouquet but the young man grasp her hands.

"Saejin....are you alright?!" he asked, panic.

At that name, Se Ri froze. She looked up at the young man who was searching her face with wide eyes.

"What....what did...what did you call me?" Se Ri asked with a shaky voice.

The young man seems to be taken aback by her reply. His frown grew deeper. "Sae...jin. That's your name right? Saejin?"

Se Ri gasp, clearly she wasn't hearing things. She swallowed the lump in .
"No...no...I'm Se...Ri..." she replied shaking her head, still staring at the young man.

"What?" the young man questioned. *She didn't lose her memory, did she?*

"Saejin...is my sister." she replied. The chilly wind blew, threatening her beanie from flying off. Se Ri held her beanie on her head and smooth the hair out from her face.

"What?" another round of confusion hit him. He shifted to his right feet, feeling numb after supporting his weight on his left.

They continued having a staring contest for a few seconds before the young man grabbed her arm gently and urged her to stand.
Se Ri staggered to get on her feet but the young man was kind enough to lead her back to the seat. He passed her the bouquet and she placed it on her lap. The young man took a seat by her side again and looked at her. Se Ri turned to him.

"Saejin is my sister." she repeated to him, but her eyes were distant.
The young man tried to hide his uncertainty, "What is your name then?"
"Se Ri." she replied curtly.
The young man fidgeted  in embarassment and looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry. I thought....you were the sister...both of you look really alike."
She nodded.

"Uhh...by the way, I'm Baekhyun," the young man introduced himself, going all smiley and bright again as he extended his hands out.

Se Ri stared at his outstretched hands, almost like she doesn't know what she had to do with it. Tentatively, she took his hands and shook it.

"What relationship do you have with Saejin?" she asked him.
Baekhyun rubbed the back of his neck, tilted his head to the side with a uncertain look. "I don't really know. We didn't really date. We just hung out like how friends would. I was a transfer student and she was in my history class. I like her a lot and I could tell, she feels the same way. She's really a nice girl. But.....she has a boyfriend. After graduation, I had to fly to Japan to take care of my sick grandmother. Right after that, we lost contact." he turned to her with a lopsided grin. "How is she anyway? It's been 8 months since I've last seen her. I hope she's doing great."

The question involving her sister's whereabouts always left her feeling hollow and broken. But she had to face reality, because she knew if she wallow in sadness every single day, Saejin won't be too happy about it.

"She's gone..." Se Ri replied, her voice growing thick.
"Hm? Gone? You mean to Ehwa Women University? I remember her telling me that she wanted to learn dentistry." he smiled at the thought.
"No...she has departed." she clutched the bouquet close to her chest.
His smile faded once again. "You mean......"
Se Ri nodded, "Yes. She's dead."

That left Baekhyun speechless. His eyes went wide as saucers and his palms flew over his gaping mouth. His cute and handsome features were replaced with mostly shock. He let out his breath which he didn't realised he seemed to be holding.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." He shook his head.
"Don't be." Se Ri gave a small smile.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did she........" his eyes flitted to her, "I mean, it's your story to tell...if you don't want to share it's -"
"She was murdered." she stated.

Baekhyun cursed under his breath. "God....This...This is really unexpected. Has the murderer been caught?"
She shook her head.
Another round of cursing escaped his lips.

Out of the blue, she asked, "Her boyfriend, do you know him?"
"I don't know him personally but Saejin told me a lot about him. She said he was.....a little weird. He would stalk her wherever she goes even though they were in a relationship. Sometimes she felt like he didn't trust her. But Saejin, she didn't have the heart to confront him about it when she knew of his background till she got enough of it one day." Baekhyun answered truthfully.

"What was his background? Do you know his name?" Se Ri asked eargerly, trying to find out any clues leading to her sister's death.
Baekhyun scratched his temple. "I don't know if I should be saying this but...he had a really bad past. He..he was an illegitimate child and was thrown into slavery by his mom in the household. If he refute against her, she would beat him up badly. And his dad....I don't think he knew his dad because he left before he was borned. But in school, he didn't really show that he was leading that kind of life, you see. Everyone thinks he's a rich man's son and he was an excellent basketball player. Girls literally threw themselves at him but he had his eyes on Saejin. His name is....if I'm not mistaken....his name is Kim Jongin."

"Kim Jongin?" *Why does that name ring a bell?*

Baekhyun nodded. "They got into a fight when Jongin found out that we kissed. I mean, it was my fault. I really liked her a lot and I couldn't keep it in myself anymore. So everything just....happened."

 Se Ri sighed, "Where can I find this 'Kim Jongin'? Do you know where he stays?"
Baekhyun shook his head. "I'm sorry."

There was a moment of silence. Then Se Ri realised she still had visit Saejin's grave and then off to Chanyeol's home. She smiled at Baekhyun, grateful for his information. "Oh, by the way, your cologne....by any chance, did my sister gave that to you?"

"My cologne?" Baekhyun sniffed himself subconsciously, then he smiled. "Yup, she did. She gifted me this vanilla musk on my birthday a few days before we graduated. It was sitting on my dresser for months.  I only decided to use it last week."

"I see. Thank you, Baekhyun. I'll have to make my move." She grabbed her bouquet of lilies and gave a small bow. The bus arrived and before she could climb up, Baekhyun called her. Se Ri turned back. Baekhyun held a piece of paper out to her.

"Call me if anything. I want to help you." he said, genuinely.
Se Ri took the paper from him and smiled. "I will."

Baekhyun took a step back and watched her climb up the bus. Se Ri scanned her card and made her way to the back of the bus. She sat near the window and waved goodbye to Baekhyun as the bus sped off. She glanced at the cumpled paper in her hands and saw that Baekhyun had scribbled his number with a smiley face on it.

--------

An hour later, Se Ri arrived at her destination. She got off the bus and walk for another 10 minutes. Finally, she arrived at the gravesite. She entered the gate and silently whispered a prayer to herself. With slow steps, she began to head to where her sister lies. She played with the stones beneath her feet as she walked. Her mind flew back to her conversation with Baekhyun.

*Kim Jongin. The name is really familiar.*

She sighed and look up. There, standing in front of her sister's grave with a solemn expression and a bouquet of pink lilies in his hands, was a recognizable figure. She took a tentative step forward and her eyes went wide.

That's my real name. Be happy about it. I don't tell this to just anyone. - Kai

*KIM JONGIN IS KAI!*

"Kai......" Se Ri called out.

The figure turned to her abruptly and her assumption came true.