“I promise I’ll be back by the afternoon,” Hwayoung reassured the four siblings as she made her way out the door. “Grandma insisted I buy her those croissants and I heard that shop runs out of them fast.”

“We can handle it, Youngie, don’t worry.” Kyungmi smiled at her and she returned it. She gave her a tight hug before leaving the estate.

The group had decided to try and get the letter back to Kyungmi, but first they had to figure out where it was then how to get it. Hwayoung wanted to help but her errands needed priority first, so she promised to be back in case something else needed help with. Yifan doubted things would get out of control.

“She’s acting like the boss,” Yifan huffed as they made their way to the living room, “I’m the eldest.”

“Yowling Yifan’s jealous?” Jongdae snickered, “You’ve always disliked her abrasive attitude, since it’s so much like yours.”

“Shut the hell up, Jongdae.” Yifan gritted his teeth while shooting a glare at the second son, “And I’m not jealous.”

“Right,” Jongdae nodded his head slowly, total disbelief in his voice.

“You’re... hm... what’s the word? Protective?” Luhan tilted his head, offering a compliment of the sort.

“If there’s anyone who’s protective, it’s you, Luhan.” Yifan shot a glance at the third son who smiled knowingly back at the eldest. Luhan tilted his head slightly, a crooked smile in place as he glanced at Kyungmi suddenly.

“Er...” Kyungmi stuttered. What are they looking at me for?! Don't they know I'm bad at this sort of stuff?! “W-Well... u-uh... I guess?” Luhan’s eyes softened. Jongdae gave a loud laugh.

“Kick- Kyungmi! You and your white lies!” Jongdae nudged her on her side. “We both know it’s Yifan who’s the most protective out of all of us.”

“Piss off, Jongdae.”

“Touchy.” Jongdae wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re not only protective with Hwayoung, you’re pretty protective with Kyungmi too. Who’s left for me and Luhan?”

“What the hell are you going on about now?” Yifan grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose before letting out a heavy sigh, “Anyway, enough of this, before Jongdae comes up with more .”

“Hey!” Jongdae pouted but Luhan nudged him on the arm in response.

“If we’re going to get that ing letter, we have to find where umma hid it.” Yifan crossed his arms, entering into his leader mode.

“Shouldn’t we just go and check the master bedroom then?” Jongdae suggested.

“Sure, Jongdae, that’s a great idea.” Luhan replied sarcastically. “Let’s just waltz up to the room, knock on the door and when umma answers it, we say, ‘Hello, umma. Would you mind giving back to us Kyungmi’s letter?’”

“Well,” Jongdae pouted again, “It could work... if you say please.”

“Jongdae...” Luhan chuckled pitifully.

“But,” Kyungmi piped up from the middle, “I-I also think umma hid it in her bedroom.”

“Kick- Kyungmi strikes again,” Jongdae smiled. “But for once it sounds like you were on my side so let’s keep that up, shall we?” He wrapped an arm around the youngest’s shoulders.

“Well...” Kyungmi mumbled, but before any more useless words popped out of Jongdae’s mouth, footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway. Taecyeon walked up to the group with wide eyes. He made eye-to-eye contact with Yifan and instantly paled.

“G-Good morning,” He greeted nervously.

“Taecyeon, how do you do?” Jongde waved his free hand at the stuttering butler.

“What’s wrong, Taecyeon?” Luhan smiled.

“What now?” Yifan growled.

“...” Kyungmi just kept silent.

Taecyeon gave a weak smile and fiddled with his gloved hands, “I’m fine. I was just about to check the second floor and... yeah...”

Then, Yifan lifted an eyebrow and said, “The second floor, right? Is umma upstairs?”

Obviously petrified that the eldest was talking to him, Taecyeon replied quickly, “The mistress is having tea in the garden right now. She... was pretty upset...”

“I don’t see why she wouldn’t be.” Jongdae smirked, eyeing the youngest still wrapped under his arm. Kyungmi glanced away.

“Good,” Yifan gave a curt nod. “Mind telling me if umma had been carrying something with her along the way?”

Jongdae, Luhan and Kyungmi looked at Yifan and understood it quickly. He was trying to get Taecyeon to talk and naturally – whenever it involved Yifan – Taecyeon, or anyone else for that matter, would definitely do so.

“N-Not that I remember,” Taecyeon gulped as he froze in his place. Yifan gave a light glare, “B-But she had given something to one of the maids before leaving for the garden.”

“Something?” Luhan asked with a hint of innocence in his voice.

“Like a letter, maybe...?” Taecyeon replied, looking to and fro.

Kyungmi had to hold back a gasp and a laugh. To hear Taecyeon cooperating completely and being so submissive like this was hilarious. Though, it was mostly because of Yifan’s influence and taunting presence.

“Where did the maid bring the letter?” Yifan continued.

“I-I don’t—“ Then Yifan clicked his tongue impatiently and Taecyeon paled further, “H-Her bedroom, maybe?”

Yifan held a glare at Taecyeon for a while before relaxing and turning around to face his siblings. “Thanks, Taecyeon. Now get out of my face.” Taecyeon hurriedly and happily did so.

Jongdae let out a whistle, “Looks like I was right all along!”

Yifan rolled his eyes, “For once.” He grabbed Kyungmi out of Jongdae’s grasp, “We’ll get the letter for you.”

“What?” Kyungmi blinked, “No, I’m going with you. I want to—“

Luhan patted her on the head, “If you’re caught near umma’s bedroom, you’ll be in even bigger trouble or worse, you’ll get an even bigger smack on the face. Just leave this to us, we cause less suspicion anyway.”

“But—“

“It’ll be fine, Kyungmi.” Luhan smiled. “Just go and give yourself a break.”

Kyungmi wouldn’t budge so Jongdae came to the rescue this time.

“Or,” Jongdae grinned. “Why not pay a visit to your Chanwoo?”

“It’s Chanyeol.” Luhan replied flatly but almost immediately, his eyes grew wide and his face glowed. “Chanyeol!”

“Yeah, that’s what I said, right?” Jongdae raised his eyebrow.

“Dimwit, you called him Chanwoo.” Yifan sighed and eyed the flushed expression of the youngest. “Why are you turning red?”

“N-Nothing!” Kyungmi covered the bottom half of her face with her hand. “I-I guess I should visit him... l-let him know I’m back home safely and stuff.”

“You could do that.” Luhan said, “A little visit to your friend might be good for you. When you get back, we’ll have the letter ready for you.”

Kyungmi’s eyes widened again and she couldn’t suppress a smile, “Thank you. Thank you so much!” She quickly hugged each brother before making her way out of the door. She was going to get her letter, hopefully, by the end of the day – and all thanks to her brothers. She was also going to get a chance to visit Chanyeol – and she really wanted to see him. It had only been one full morning without him but she already missed him plenty. Was it because she was starting to feel something towards Chanyeol? Was this the kind of feeling Chanyeol felt when she couldn’t visit the shop?

She reached the pathway but bumped into someone along the way. “O-Oh! Sorry, I—“

“Mi?”

Kyungmi looked up and saw Chanyeol standing in the flesh before her, holding her hand so she wouldn’t lose balance from the impact. Kyungmi tried to will a blush from creeping up but the feel of Chanyeol’s hand around hers felt good.

“Ch-Chanyeol?” She croaked, “What are you—“

“That’s what I want to ask you,” He said, letting go of Kyungmi’s hand, allowing both of them to straighten up. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

“I-I—“ Kyungmi blushed. “I was going to visit you.”

Chanyeol felt his cheeks turn a fair shade of pink as well, “Really? Well, I was about to do the same.”

“What?” Kyungmi’s mouth opened and formed a perfect O. “What are you – th-that – that’s crazy!”

“Well, I figured I could do some pretty crazy stuff myself once in a while.” Chanyeol shrugged with a crooked smile.

“You—stupid! You’ll get into serious trouble!”

“Then at least I’d unders