Chapter 23

Haneul’s POV

Haneul, Henry and Donghae set out to leave for Seoul the next morning but they decided to visit their Grandfather first.

“Are you two sure you’re going back with me to Seoul? We still have two days until school resumes.” Haneul asked the two boys as they were going up.

“I still have soccer practice. I’m sure that our coach is furious with me for disappearing suddenly.” Donghae answered grimly.

“I’m going to talk to our coach, too, noona. I’m gonna leave the track and field club.” Henry chimed in.

“Huh? Why?”

“It wears me out too much. I think I’ll transfer to the music club.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s only a little pain. Running is fun, you know.”

“Yeah, but I’m inclined with music more. I wonder why I didn’t join the music club in the first place.” Herny chuckled.

Music club, huh? One particular member of that club isn’t even answering her texts or calls. What’s his problem? Didn’t Dara tell him why she was gone? Or was he mad because she left him to go after Donghae? But Kyuhyun isn’t so immature like that. Maybe he didn’t get to check his phone. Kyuhyun wasn’t fond of responding back to texts and he found talking on the phone annoying. Yeah, she’ll just settle on that idea even if it seems far-fetched.

They went inside the hospital room and saw that the old man was already awake and sitting by the window. He looked a lot better than he was yesterday.

“Grandfather.” Donghae smiled at him. “It’s good to see you up.”

“This place bores me.” His grandfather said sternly.

Donghae chuckled. “Then speed up your recovery so you can get out of here. But don’t stress yourself too much.”

“Why the early visit?”

“We’re going to leave for Seoul today, Grandfather. We wanted to stay longer but there are still some obligations at school. But I’ll make sure to visit again next week.” Donghae looked apologetic.

The old man nodded thoughtfully. “You didn’t have to visit me here in the first place. I’m perfectly fine. Have a safe trip back then.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

They said their goodbyes and were about to leave but the old man called her. “Young lady, may I speak with you for awhile?”

Haneul was surprised at this, but she nodded. She gestured for the two guys to just wait for her outside.

“What is it, Sir?” She asked politely.

“I have to give you my gratitude. I think having my grandson stay there at Seoul with your company has helped in making him a good man. I know I have made a lot of mistakes to them and I didn’t expect him to come here and forgive me immediately.”

“I-I don’t think I have done much about that, Sir.”

“Oh, you have. I asked him yesterday how he could forgive someone like me so easily. He answered that we’re still family and his father would like us to make up. And he also added that, ‘Haneul wouldn’t like me hold a grudge against anyone.’”

Haneul didn’t expect this kind of revelation. It’s true that she has said that a long time ago to him but she really didn’t know that Donghae considered her in his actions, too.

“My grandson loves you. But he told me that you already belong to someone else.” He turned to her. “Is it already a hopeless case?”

She directed her gaze at the floor. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

“Okay. I understand. You may now go. Thank you again, Miss Kim.”

She bowed towards him and left the room. She had already settled things with Donghae and she doesn’t want to hurt him any longer.

“What did you talk about, noona?” Henry asked her when she got out.

“Oh, nothing. Just thanking me for coming here, too.” She smiled nervously.

Donghae eyed her suspiciously. “Are you sure? Was it something serious?”

She shook her head. “You think too much. It’s nothing, really.”

“I’ll just visit the restroom before we leave. Wait for me!” Henry excused himself.

Haneul stood there at the hallway with Donghae in silence. Having that talk last night, it was the first time that she got awkward around him. It really wasn’t for her to say those things and she knew it could be hard for Donghae to take in.

“You don’t have to be so awkward around me, you know.” He said beside her.

“H-huh?”

Donghae ruffled her hair. “I’m coping. Don’t worry. Let’s stay as we were before. I hate awkwardness. It makes me puke.” He joked.

She frowned. “You’re the damaged party. How can you just say those things lightly?”

“Damaged is too much.” He chuckled. “I just want us to be alright and have an easy time. Now, what you have to worry is Kyuhyun-a. I think he’s really upset right now that’s why he doesn’t return your calls.”

“How did you know, oppa?”

“You’re easy to read. And you keep checking your phone almost every minute.”

She sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on in his head now. I expected him to understand since we’re bestfriends.”

“Maybe he’s busy with something else.” Donghae guessed.

Something else? Haneul worked up her thoughts. She wasn’t there so.. someone must have taken care of him instead. She tasted something bitter in when she remembered someone who holds Kyuhyun dearly, too.

“Let’s go back to Seoul immediately, oppa.”

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They used one of the Lee family’s cars to get back to Seoul. She felt something troubling her in her mind but she can’t really grasp what it is. Henry was sleeping on her left side while Donghae was playing games on his phone on the other. She dialed Dara’s number just to check on things.

“Dara-yah? Where are you now?” She asked when her friend answered.

“We’re heading back home now. We’re near. I have the bags you left at the cabin so I’m just going to take them straight to your house.”

“Okay. Thank you so much. By the way, how’s Kyunnie?”

“He was allowed to go back to the cabin last night. Didn’t see him much, though, since he immediately went to sleep. But I think he’s alright now.”

“Oh. That’s a relief.”

“Didn’t he tell you? I thought you said you’re keeping in touch with him?”

“He’s not answering my texts and calls. Are you sure he knows where I went and why? Do you think he’s mad at me? How come?” Dara didn’t answer for awhile. “Dara-yah, are you still there?”

“Uhh, yeah yeah!” Her friend sounded uncertain. “So I guess you don’t know that the music club went ahead this morning since they’re participating at an event in Chuncheon today.”

“What?!”

Dara sighed. “I should’ve warned you but I didn’t think it was much of a problem because that guy is loyal towards you but Seohyun almost never left his side while he was at the infirmary. And I’m sure they’re together now at that event.”

“So this is the bad feeling that I’m having.” She groaned inwardly.

“But you trust Kyuhyun, right? I don’t think he’ll get swayed by Seohyun’s pure feelings.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I’ll just wait for him at home.”

When the call ended, she continued to stare at her phone and debated with herself whether to pester Kyuhyun’s phone again. Maybe he was already annoyed so he decided to ignore her all throughout. And not because he was enjoying with Seohyun’s company.

“Something wrong, Haneul?” Donghae asked.

“It’s Kyunnie. I think he may be cheating on me even if we haven’t started anything yet.” She pouted.

He laughed. “I can’t imagine that guy cheating on you, to be honest. You’re more likely to cheat on him –“ She gave him a deadly glare. Donghae gulped. “No, you’re never going to cheat on anyone. I was wrong, I apologize. Please forgive me.”

“Do you guys usually like those innocent and shy types of girls, oppa?”

He shrugged. “We have different preferences. But those types are really cute and sometimes we can’t really help ourselves to –“ She glowered at him again. “I’m not helping, I get it.”

“Maybe I’m just overthinking stuff.”

“Why? Is this about Seohyun-ssi?”

“How did you know?”

“She’s the only other girl that Kyuhyun-a acknowledges other than you. I don’t know how close they are since Kyuhyun-a doesn’t really talk about her but I had that feeling that