“Kyungmi?”

Chanyeol, who was between Kyungmi and the voice, turned around first. Kyungmi took a step behind Chanyeol to the side and grimaced. Oh, you have got to be kidding me. It was Jongin. He was looking as rich as ever and he had an appalled look on, eyeing Kyungmi from head to foot – totally covered in dust. Chanyeol tensed up, he seemed to have recognized him from last time. Kyungmi gave him a light pat at the back as she made her way in front of Jongin.

“Jongin.”

“Well, well,” Jongin raised a curious eyebrow, “What happened to you? I didn’t know you would come to this kind of place.”

“Me neither.” Kyungmi replied, trying her best to contain her composure. It wasn’t helping that she was covered in dust with a tensed up Chanyeol behind her. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I needed a book,” Jongin shrugged, looking back a couple of shelves behind him at Mr. Park who was busy looking around, “I had been all around the city looking for this book one of my mentors recommended, but I can’t find it. This place is my last resort. I requested the book title and that man insisted that he had a copy of it somewhere so he’s looking for it for me, it’s taking a while though. Well, it’s to be expected from such a rundown shop, don’t you think?” He ended with a little chuckle.

Chanyeol clenched his fist tight at that comment. Kyungmi prayed that Chanyeol wouldn’t do anything rash. If he hit this kind of guy, who knew what the consequences will be?

“I see,” Kyungmi looked up at Jongin’s smug face, “Well, I can assure you that that man you speak of has this place memorized down to heart. You’ll find your book, if he himself says that it’s here. Try a bit of patience for once, won’t you? It’s not poisonous.”

Jongin’s lip twitched, “Quick-witted as I remember you, Kyungmi. You really are something else.” He walked a few slow steps as he said this, closing the gap between him and her. He lifted a hand up, brushing a couple of cobwebs away, “Now, what’s with the mess?”

“What I do is none of your business.” Kyungmi slapped his hand away.

“So stubborn~” Jongin chuckled, as if he was giving himself an idea. He lowered his head so that only she could hear him, “You could use some cleaning. A nice bath at my place would do the trick, what do you think? I could call Luhan to pick you up. You obviously got lost, if you ended up here.”

The mention of Luhan’s name caused her to remember the dangerous situation she was in. What if Jongin told Luhan she was seen here at Park’s Books? Luhan doesn’t know anything about her situation, unlike the other two brothers who has vague ideas of it. She gulped, feeling a hot sensation coming up in her body. She was anxious now. But just as she was about to say something, Chanyeol stepped in between her and Jongin.

Jongin looked insulted, backing away. “Watch it.”

Chanyeol’s eye gave a twitch, clenching his fist tighter than it already was. “I don’t normally do this to customers, but you really piss me off. Get out.”

Kyungmi’s mouth was wide open. She had never seen Chanyeol get mad at someone before, more so a customer. The last time Kyungmi saw him aggressive like this was when he found out about her situation with Siwon and Taecyeon, but this Chanyeol was pretty... spine-chilling.

“Watch your mouth,” Jongin gritted his teeth, “I can get you and your family sacked off, you know?”

“You...” Chanyeol pursed his lips, stealing a glance from behind the pale blonde customer to look at his father, still searching for the requested book.

Jongin smirked, “Right. Besides, I wasn’t talking to you.” He titled his head and reached out from behind Chanyeol to get Kyungmi’s dusty hand. “C’mon, Kyungmi.”

Chanyeol glared at him, pulling his hand away from hers and blocking her completely. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

“What the...?” Jongin gawked at him.

“Hey! Hey, Chanyeol,” Kyungmi piped up from behind Chanyeol. She grabbed his arm to pull him down, “Calm down, he’s not worth it.”

“But...” Chanyeol still had his eyes on Jongin, anger filling up inside him.

“Oh?” Jongin chuckled, looking a bit on edge, “You two are friends? Why, Kyungmi, I didn’t know you were much more into lowlife scumbags like this one.” He motioned a hand to Chanyeol who was ready to hit him if Kyungmi hadn’t held him back.

“Bastard...” Chanyeol muttered under his breath.

“I don’t want anything to do with you,” Kyungmi spoke from behind Chanyeol. She knew she can’t say much at the moment, if Jongin found any other visible reason to get back at Chanyeol it would only make things worse. She had to get this idiot out of this shop as soon as possible. Time to get the Yifan card out. “Besides, if we’re talking about friends, you should go ahead and say hello to my other brothers besides Luhan. Have you met Yifan yet? He’ll give you a wonderful greeting. That is, if you can survive his handshake.”

Jongin secretly gulped. He had heard of Yifan from Luhan and from the other servants. Apparently, Yifan’s notoriety was enough to make plants wilt and the ground crack. He let out an utter of disapproval as he eyed the pair suspiciously before making his way out of the store. Kyungmi just hoped that Luhan would be unconvinced if Jongin ever mentioned her appearance in the bookshop to him. Kyungmi let out a sigh of relief before letting go of Chanyeol who was still flustered with anger.

“Sorry, Chanyeol.” Kyungmi apologized, “I shouldn’t have provoked him to start with. Just forget about him. I promise, if he ever does anything to you and your parents, he’ll definitely get it big time.”

“Well, that did piss me off but....” Chanyeol heaved a big sigh, calming himself down. “His comment about my family was only part of the reason why I wanted to punch him so bad.” He said this, staring straight into Kyungmi’s brown eyes.

“Oh,” Kyungmi mumbled, feeling embarrassed for some strange reason.

“I...” Chanyeol scratched his head, “I didn’t like him being so close to you.”

“What...?” Kyungmi whispered, more to herself. She was feeling her ears go hot.

“It felt like he was...” Chanyeol pressed his lips tight before continuing, “Like he was taking you away from me.”

The words pierced through Kyungmi’s chest. It stung pretty bad. It was a horrible feeling. Kyungmi held her breath as Chanyeol moved closer, taking one of her hands and holding it tight. “Ch-Chanyeol?”

“I can see why you told me he was an idiot. He really is.” Chanyeol smiled, “if he bothers you again, I’ll deal with him. He could use some middle-class beating.”

Kyungmi should be laughing at that Chanyeol-like comment, but her body was frozen. Something was still bugging her, but before she could make sense of it, the door opened and Mrs. Park’s screech nearly broke all the shimmering windows. The pair nearly jumped out of their skin as they stepped back from each other, turning to face Mrs. Park.

“KYUNGMI!” Mrs. Park looked like she was hyperventilating. “YOU – Y-YOU – DIRTY – A TOTAL MESS!”

Mr. Park rushed out from the shelves, “What happened?” He turned to his son and Kyungmi and understood, “Oh...”

“Mrs. Park,” Kyungmi nervously started, “E-Everything’s fine. Please, calm dow--”

“PARK CHANYEOL!!” Mrs. Park bellowed making Chanyeol and Kyungmi flinch back, shrinking. She rushed over to Kyungmi, grabbing her arms, then her face, then back to her arms. She spoke to her like a gentle mother cat, “Oh no, look at you. You need a good bath. I’ll go and get the warm water ready at once.” Then, she turned to her son. “WHAT DID YOU MAKE HER DO?! CRAWL ON THE FLOOR?! HOW COULD YOU?!”

“Ah...” Kyungmi was at a loss.

“I-I didn’t do that!” Chanyeol retorted, “W-Well... we did sit on the floor but that was because--”

“YOU MADE HER SIT ON THE FLOOR?! GOD! YOU! SAY SOMETHING TO YOUR SON!!” She screeched, turning from Chanyeol to her husband then back at Kyungmi where she returned to her angelic voice, ‘There, there, Kyungmi. Would you like a bit of warm milk after the bath? That’ll make you feel good.”

“Now, now...” Mr. Park walked up to the group, fixing his glasses. “Calm down and--” Mrs. Park gave a glare that reminded Kyungmi of Yifan a bit. She breathed in and led Kyungmi to the nearest bathroom.

“Ah, Chanyeol...” Kyungmi said as she was being dragged away.

“I’ll be fine, Mi.” Chanyeol replied, defeated. “Umma’ll want me out for a while. Enjoy the bath.”

Kyungmi felt bad, so she resolved to give Chanyeol a weak smile in return, “Good luck.”

Later, after being scolded by his mother for a good amount of time, Chanyeol had been finally allowed to take a bath. However, the next day, he walked out of the kitchen and was greeted by a grocery list his mother had prepared for him. Kyungmi, who had been sitting meekly behind the counter watching everything unfold felt guilty that Chanyeol had to go through all that has been going on. She asked cautiously if she could accompany him to do shopping. Mrs. Park wasn’t so agreeable though.

“No, no, no.” Mrs. Park was gently pushing Kyungmi back down on the seat. “You just stay here and rest, Kyungmi. All right?”

“But, Mrs. Park...” Kyungmi begged, “I want to help. I’m sure it’ll be a lot to carry. I promise I won’t cause trouble.”

“You? Trouble? Oh, no... that’s Chanyeol’s job.” She eyed her son who grimaced.

“Umma, please.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he grabbed his coat and headed for the door. Kyungmi jumped up immediately.

“Wait, Chanyeol! I’m coming with you!” Before Mrs. Park could make a retort, Kyungmi dashed to get her coat and then to the door where Chanyeol turned around, surprised to feel Kyungmi hook her arm around his. “I’ll be back as clean as I ever was, Mrs. Park! Don’t worry!” She called out from behind the glass window, Chanyeol, standing beside her, nodding solemnly the whole time.

“Umma has such a soft spot for you.” Chanyeol said as they made their way to the market place, Kyungmi’s arm hooked with his.

Kyungmi grinned, “She does, doesn’t she?” And then she realized what she had done and mentally hit herself. Since when did you start hooking arms with other people?! She thought to herself as she wiggled her arm out of Chanyeol’s, but the brunette noticed quickly and only scooped it back to a proper hold again.

“Ah well,” Chanyeol said and Kyungmi didn’t know if he was talking about his mother or about their arms being hooked together.

Kyungmi lowered her head, fiddling with the buttons of her coat with her free hand. “I... uh... I mean... it’s really nice of your umma to do all those things for me, but I prefer being treated normally...”

“You mean, like me?” Chanyeol asked, pulling Kyungmi gently so she could lose balance, causing her to break off her serious thinking. The black haired girl glared quickly at the brunette. “Anyway, this reminds me, you haven’t been to the market often, have you?”

“No.” Kyungmi felt embarrassed saying it, “The servants back home did all the shopping. Ah, but I’m pretty excited to see the market.”

“It stinks of fish, I can promise you that.” Chanyeol nodded, pulling Kyungmi closer after seeing a group of talking market people walking towards them. “Stay close, Mi. I wouldn’t want you getting kidnapped in broad daylight.”

“Sheesh, stop it with those lame jokes!” Kyungmi punched his arm.

They were getting closer and closer to the central market. It was a bustling place with different colored canopies all around. Different kinds of things were being sold, from fruits to furniture to mechanical tools and even pet parrots. There was a fountain in the middle of it all that was surrounded by