“Let me carry your bag.”

“You want help?”

“Ladies’ first.”

“Let’s go somewhere.”

“You want some cookies?”

“You want me to accompany you?”

Eunji exhaled in exasperation, “No, I don’t, Lee Junghwan. Thanks, but, no, thanks. I don’t want people staring at you as you wait outside the ladies’ comfort room.”

Sandeul smiled as the girl went out of the room with Minah in tow. Being an airhead that he is, he took her words in a completely different way. Sure, Eunji was concerned about him. Not.

She was wondering if her friend had eaten something. He’d been following her around all morning and she’d found it suffocating. When did Sandeul ever been this clingy? She imagined Zelo doing exactly the same thing had they been friends. Luckily, they aren’t. Wait, she didn’t just imagine Zelo, did she?

“Sandeul cracked up, huh?” Minah said out of the blue as they turned at the corner.

“What?”

Minah shrugged, “He’s open about it now.”

“About what?”

She flicked Eunji’s forehead as they entered the girls’ lavatory, “Aish. You’re the densest person I’ve ever met.”

----

“You’re really not gonna tell me why you’re here?”

Minah her messy fingertips, “I decided I want to be a rocket scientist and this,” she waved her hand, “is the best sci-tech school there is.”

Eunji eyed her friend, not touching her own food at all. Bang Minah is the daughter of her father’s college friend and mentor. They’ve been in a gang together and they’ve been in a band together. Yesterday, she saw Yoo Inna roaming around the campus as a new history teacher. Her father was in the same gang and band. Something’s fishy and she thinks she knows who the mastermind behind all these is.

“Rocket scientist my . He asked you to keep an eye on me. You and Inna-unni.”

It was a statement, an accusation, and there’s no room for arguments.

Minah looked up from her food, “Well, think what you want but I’m really here to study. As for unni, she got fired from her last post and this place has a vacancy, so yeah,” she mumbled as she finished up her food till the last piece of rice, “You’re not gonna eat that? Ahjussi would really get upset, you know. But, if you really aren’t going to touch that, can I have it?”

Eunji pushed her bento forward, “Help yourself.”

“Yah! Jung Eunji! How are you going to practice later if you don’t eat?”

The girls turned to find Bomi and Namjoo hovering above them.

“I’m on duty today. I can’t go to practice. And, please don’t remind Junghwan about it. I don’t want him tagging along,” she rubbed her temples.

She can’t handle him right now. The sudden change of behavior was unnerving. She can’t help but compare him with Zelo. Oh, no. She didn’t think about him again. No, she didn’t.

Bomi slammed her tray on the table and held out a hand, not smiling at all, “Yoon Bomi imnida, Eunji’s best friend.”

Minah cocked an eyebrow but accepted the hand anyway, “Bang Minah imnida,” she flashed a mocking grin, “Eunji’s best friend.”

There was tension between the two and Namjoo quickly cut in to ease it.

“Wow, Eunji-unni’s popular whether among men or women.”

Eunji snorted. It’s not like she wanted the attention. It’s distracting her and it’s not good for someone who has a lot of goals and responsibilities in life.

She almost lost her scholarship during the finals and she can’t let that happen again. Even the children in the orphanage notice something’s off about her. Zelo’s the root of all these and she couldn’t believe herself that she had let him affect her life this much. It’s not helping that Sandeul had decided to join the bandwagon and that her father had obviously sent people to look after her.

Why?

She knew Jung Daehyun would be Jung Daehyun - nosy and really sharp about anything about her. He knew something’s up and he would get to the bottom of it.

Yes, she can’t deny that she has a clingy father.

----

“Noonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Unnieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Children came rushing towards the gates when they saw their favorite caretaker.

“Aigoo. How are my little babies?” she hugged as much babies as she could, “Hyunwoo-ah, don’t eat that,” Eunji grabbed the toy car the little boy was chewing on.

“Who’s he noona?”

Eunji turned at the certain pink head Hyunwoo was pointing at.

She had wondered why she didn’t see even a glimpse of a certain person all day. When she saw him waiting for her during dismissal, though, she knew her day hadn’t ended just yet.

“Let me walk you home!”

“No. I can go by myself, thank you.”

But, the boy still went ahead and followed her. Just when she wanted sometime for herself, this guy just had to tag along. She had succeeded on escaping Sandeul but there’s no escaping this one.

Eunji tried hard to hide her smirk, though, when he realized where they were. He was utterly speechless as he stared at the golden bold letters imprinted on the gates: ‘Dongdaemun-gu Home Center For Little Angels’.

She beamed, “My chingu. He’s your Choi Junhong-hyung.”

The kids laughed.

“Hyung? Aren’t you supposed to call him oppa, unni?” a small girl asked.

Zelo’s ears perked up at the comment. How he wished Eunji would call him oppa. It was unlikely because of the but he can dream, right? Even his noona fans call him oppa.

A fair skinned boy objected, “That can’t be! He looks younger than noona.”

“Is he unni’s boyfriend?”

Zelo tried to stifle his laugh but it all went in vain. Eunji shot him a glare.

He squatted down to the child’s level, “I’m not your unni’s boyfriend...” he glanced up at Eunji who was eyeing him carefully as she carried another girl, “...but I want to be. Can you help me?” he added in a conniving whisper.

The girl nodded eagerly, “Rahee likes oppa!”

“Jinja?”

“Uhn!”

Zelo raised his hand for a high-five which Rahee readily responded to. Eunji rolled her eyes as she attended to the other children.

“But, Sandeul-hyung also likes noona.”

The pair turned to a boy the fair skinned boy who’s about the same age as Rahee, or perhaps older.

“But, I like Junhong-oppa more!”

“But, Sandeul-hyung was first.”

Eunji, although she was playing with the kids, heard everything and couldn’t help but inwardly sigh. She needed some dose of aspirin.

“Junhong-oppa looks better together with unni!”

“Sandeul-hyung is cute like unni!”

“Junhong-oppa is cuter!”

“We know Sandeul-hyung more!”

“Rahee-ah, Yoogeun-ah, what did I tell you about fighting?”

A middle aged woman appeared from the main door. Five other children were tagging along with her.

“Jieun-imo!” Eunji raced to embrace the woman leaving the kids to gather around their new friend.

“Aigoo, Eunji-ah, it’s been so long since I last saw you.”

“Long? You saw me last week!”

Jieun shook her head, “Ani ya!”

“I was here! Ask Hyosung-unni!”

She tapped her chin, “Chinja yo? I really hadn’t seen you...” the pink haired boy playing with the children caught her eyes, “Boyfriend?”

Eunji shook her head hard, “Ani yo.”

She nodded, “Good, because he looks too young for you. He’s tall, yes, but young. Middle schooler?”

“Ani ya. He’s a hig school sophomore.”

Her eyes widened, “No way!”

“Chinja yo.”

“He’s, uh, what? 17? 18?”

That got Eunji thinking. She didn’t know how old Zelo was.

The two looked on as the kids tackled the bigger boy. They liked him, alright. He was like a new playmate, only a lot bigger. But, he was a kid, nonetheless. Eunji noticed for the first time that Zelo indeed looked young.

“Have you seen Inna around?”

“You knew?”

The woman gave Eunji the ‘duh’ look, “Of course, she’s my daughter,” she chuckled, “She begged to transfer there, to be honest.”

“Beg?”

“Yeah, there’s this rumor going around that you have some sort of stalker.”

Eunji swallowed hard. That ‘stalker’ is just right in front of them.

“Inna heard about it and practically told the whole town. At least, that’s what Jae told me on the phone.”

Eunji’s jaw dropped, “Unni did what?”

Jieun ignored the question, “Inna-yah and Minah got curious so they begged their fathers to allow them to come to Seoul. They even dragged me into this, saying they can stay with me so they don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Where did unni hear about it?”

“That, I do not know, dear. Should I ask her?” she asked but more to herself.

Eunji still wasn’t relieved. They’re here not because Daehyun asked them to. They’re here because they wanted to meddle with her already topsy-turvy life.

Oh, joy. This gotta be the most stressful year of her life. Hello, senior year.

“That’s him, isn’t he?”

====

A/N: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! Cheongmal, mianheyo! OTL

Lemme remind you, none of the characters are mine and that includes the children. I took up MinNaMaknae’s suggestion of using Jung Yoogeun so I’m using Hello Babies here. :)

I’M PROMOTING MY OTHER FIC ‘STUCK WITH THE BLACK SWAN’. Please do support it, too. XD It’s a romantic drama. I’m still debating if I should continue with the planned ending which is not quite conventional. I warned you so please don’t be shocked and throw off the cliff for it. XD

Let’s all love the indecisive Jung Daehyun.

BTW, let me promote this newly opened role play: Descent Light RP (<-CLICK THIS). You’re most welcomed and invited. Everyone’s really friendly. Honest. I’m admin and I’m sure you know I don’t bite. 8D It’s not really ty as the foreword suggests. But, you can all you want! 8D People are just goofing around. XD I won’t update until ALL of you guys join! Just kidding. :)) I was hoping someone would enter as Daehyun. SooDae is love.

@kevinsforevergirl: Omo! Omo! Omo! Why does aff have no alert for upvotes? OMO! THANK YOU FOR UPVOTING! *hugs and kisses you* You made me squeal like a four year old who’s been handed a candy. XD

@CherryTotomatoZELO96: Awww. You really are the best. TT^TT I do hope you don’t mind him with Eunji? 8D BTW, I’m your unni, baby sis. ;) And, don’t get too dependent. I might accidentally get you killed once my summer school starts. XD

@Jenicakrung: A new one? Sure, I’ll read. Just give me the link once it’s up. ^^

Keep the comments streaming. They’re loved with all my heart.