The face he was making threatened Saehyun’s guts to laugh. Sehun, assumedly, was a lot more jolted than Saehyun ever was. His eyes (were supposed to be small) enlarged and his already pale skin drained more colour if that was even possible, but it happened so it was possible at all.

“Give me back my money you stupid brat!” Saehyun screamed at the top of her lungs because of her uncontrollable anger, neglecting any sorts of impressions the Oh couple or her niece would make after all of this ended. The teenage boy stared blankly at her, before he cringed at Saehyun’s screeching voice—only a little, and unexpectedly ran outside as fast as his long limbs could take.

Saehyun was kind of, speculated that the boy would runaway so once Sehun took action, she wasted no time. The lady (forgot about manners and femininity) jumped over the loveseat that blocked her way instead of turning around the corner and sprinted out of the house leaving her newly-met dumbfounded neighbours and traumatised niece behind.

The asphalt was hot and piercing under her thin-skinned feet but she didn’t care. Saehyun’s main focus was at the boy who was bare-feet as well, not more than two metres ahead. If Sehun was born with the speed of a deer, Saehyun ran like a hungry cheetah on hunt. The residents in the neighbourhood who were probably having their calm and peaceful late afternoon came out from their caves as Saehyun’s voice filled the whole area. Some of them peeked through the windows, some were brave (nosy) enough to come out of the doors.

While the 26 year old woman, still chasing after the probably-19 year old healthy teenage boy with cussing words spoke louder than usual.

∆

It had been a long day at work, well, each day that was spent working would be the long one but Baekhyun still felt satisfied and majorly relieved once his working shift was over. On his car ride home, Baekhyun prayed that Saehyun was in progress of cooking delicious dinner or at least, had bought delicious dinner. His head ached and another mental note to take some Panadol after reaching home popped in his head.

His car halted at the last junction before his house would be in sight, and Baekhyun was about to press the accelerator when he saw no one was crossing the road and so he did. And he regretted.

“!” His reflex system worked in haste for his feet to abuse the brake pedal when a sudden fast moving silhouette came from the road Baekhyun would have taken. A dull thud sound was heard and Baekhyun swore the momentum of the moving object had most likely bent the front part of his beloved MPV. But, of course, it wasn’t that that matter the most at the current moment.

Please be dog, please, his body was shaking violently and Baekhyun almost thought of not going out to check exactly what he had hit once he shut down the ignition of his car. But as a manly man he was, he gathered up the courage in his blood and left the vehicle to be lethally shocked, witnessing a (hopefully) living human being lied helplessly on the asphalt; bleeding. It wasn’t a dog.

Moments after Baekhyun had finally found the way to breathe right, someone he least expected to come, came. “Saehyun? What are you doing…where’s your shoes?” Saehyun stood next to him, panting desperately for air, body bending down with her palms propped on her knees.

“Oh my God, you crashed him Baekhyun!” Saehyun half-yelled at him before she began to fix her dishevelled hair. “I know! It was an accident! I didn’t mean to-” Baekhyun was cut down by Saehyun who abruptly grabbed him by his collar and shook him viciously to the state that Baekhyun might as well faint.

“But he can’t die yet Baekhyun! He hasn’t paid my money back! Get him to the hospital! Faster, faster!”

Even though Baekhyun’s point of view to the world around him was swirling in haphazard, he managed to shove the teenage boy into the backseat of his car with Saehyun assisting him and drove straight to the hospital in comfortable silence, as he could say.

∆

“I apologise Saehyun-ah for my son’s unforgiveable action. Aigoo, I really didn’t expect him to behave this way,” Oh Sehyuk—the real one, frowned as he asked for Saehyun’s forgiveness to which Saehyun replied ‘it’s okay’ impulsively upon looking at the older man’s frustrated expression. He must have expected a lot from his son.

They were in one of those blindingly white hospital rooms, and by ‘they’, it literally meant Baekhyun along with his small family, the Oh family, Saehyun and…Kris. Saehyun was kind of surprised when Kris busted into the room earlier but didn’t question much because he probably came to settle down the apartment’s case.

Sehun, the culprit who conned Saehyun for her money was in his deep slumber on the hospital bed with bandages on his head and right arm, looking all comfy and safe, Saehyun scoffed at the word ‘safe’ in her head because once he awoke, she couldn’t guarantee more. Hwayeon was sitting on the chair at the bedside, tears vaguely in her eyes.

After an awkward pause, Mr Oh started to talk about the apartment rather seriously. Baekhyun who was in the room, holding Yuhan suddenly piped in between the discussion, to excuse himself (and his children) and disappeared through the door with Hyemi trailing behind him. Saehyun was about to ask him something but Baekhyun vanished within seconds so she didn’t.

The truth been unfolded and Saehyun was glad that Mr Oh spent time listening from both side; Kris and her even when their stories were most likely similar except for the part where “Saehyun broke into my house”-Kris, or when “Kris was unlawfully living in the apartment I had paid for”-Saehyun. Fortunately, Kris and Saehyun didn’t create a cat fight or anything but they actually laughed at their statements as they were said at the same time.

 Mr Oh also paid the precise amount of money Sehun had illegally taken from her, without doubts and further questions. The only part that Saehyun wasn’t glad was the fact that she would never had any chance to get the apartment which was also meant, she had too search for others which was thoroughly upsetting.

Saehyun intended to stay a bit longer, trying to dig out any other available apartments for rent from Mr Oh but his wonderful son, suddenly woke up from unconsciousness.

“Please don’t kill me,” the boy fidgeted in the bed trying to sit upright. Saehyun almost pitied him but recalling back how he conned her before, she kept the soft side of her in tight. The condition of the room altered into a tenser one and Kris cringed when Mr Oh smacked his son’s head with a roll of newspaper he had been holding. Saehyun was shocked too but quite relieved that someone’s else had done something that she would have done.

Sehun whined as he scooted closer towards his mother. Hwayeon eonnie was a delicate woman, Saehyun could say as she still trying to protect Sehun from his father’s wrath as she told her husband gently to calm down. Saehyun and Kris looked at each other, sharing a common body (eye) language? Then both of them excused themselves to avoid been caught up in Mr Oh’s family business.

“I never see Mr Oh in rage like that before,” the man spoke, to break the silence in the hospital’s hallway.

“Who wouldn’t be? If Sehun was my son, I throw him off the cliff right away,” Saehyun replied, “Literally.” Childish chuckles echoed throughout the empty hallway and Saehyun swore that was the very first time Kris ever, chuckled. At least, in front of her.

He looked a thousand times younger when he loosened himself a bit instead of looking all grumpy and fierce all the time. “Do you eat burger?”

The elevator was empty as well, as predicted by Saehyun and when both them moved inside, Kris asked an ultimate dumb question. “What? Who don’t?” Duh Saehyun scoffed and the urge to roll her eyes was demanding. They didn’t even look at each other, the metal doors ahead Saehyun suddenly became the most interesting object to stare at.

“There’s a McDonald’s Restaurant nearby and I have extra money in my pocket,” Kris said as ‘2’ was blindingly appeared on the small black screen on top of the elevator’s doors in obnoxious red. Saehyun eyes enlarged slightly and she didn’t utter a word. What kind of invitation was that?

In her entire life, Saehyun admitted, several guys did actually ask her for dinner or coffee or movies or anything but, of course, things never get far. However, Kris’ tactic was the most weird one (she was convinced that Kris ‘tried’ to ask her for dinner or supper, whatever) and Saehyun just hope she could sustain a little bit longer to not rolling her eyes and kick Kris right on his gluts for being so…dumb?

They stayed in silence for a mere minute and Saehyun gave up and uttered, “So…?” carefully so that it didn’t sound as annoyed as she was. A ding caused Saehyun’s heart threatened to jump through before the elevator’s doors opened up revealing the hospital’s lobby, crowded with people. They walked out of the elevator immediately.

“Can you accompany me eating dinner? My treat,” he grinned, body bent downwards to reach Saehyun’s eyes level. But before Saehyun could answer him, Hyemi appeared in between them out of the blue.

“Hyemi? Shouldn’t you be at home right now with Daddy?”

“No, we all wait for Mama! Daddy said he wants to bring us all to eat dinner,” Hyemi’s eyes sparkled as she enunciated each word.

“Really? Oh well, uh Kris?” Saehyun called out to Kris and he had already nodded to her in understanding and started to leave. “I’m sorry.” Kris just waved her off and walked towards the exit. Minutes later, Baekhyun came with Yuhan and they all set off to eat dinner which, was turned out to be at McDonald’s.

Saehyun almost died of irony.