I felt my breath get caught in my throat and I almost fell over, thankfully my brother caught me. “Inhye what’s wrong?” He asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just got a little light headed for a second that’s all. Guess I’m super hungry.” I tried my best not to look back at that table. I didn’t want to believe that he would have the nerve to track me here.

Hakyeon had saved me a seat next to him. “Sit down and have some water, Inhye.” He told me.

“Actually I want to sit by mom and oppa.” I told Hakyeon, looking at the other end of the table where my parents and brother were seated. “I’m sorry to trouble everyone with moving around.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. I’d want some space from Hakyeon too.” His oldest sister laughed.

Hakyeon gave me a confused expression before I walked over and took a seat between my brother and mother. I smiled softly at him and mouthed sorry before looking over the menu to see what I wanted. This seat was perfect for me to glance over at the other table to keep an eye on the person I believed was Hongbin.

The supposed Hongbin was eating with another man, one I feel I have seen before as well. You lived here for how long, pabo, I thought to myself. Of course people are going to look familiar. I couldn’t really see his face from where I was sitting so I gave up for a little while and conversed with my family.

Our food came quickly and I found myself pretty much inhaling my dish. My family only laughed, assuming that it had been a while since I had eaten last, however Hakyeon sent me a worried look.

“Inhye, slow down. You’ll get sick.” He scolded me from across the table.

“Hakyeon, leave her be.” His mother said. “The girl is hungry.”

“Inhye, really though.” My brother leaned in and whispered. “Slow down. You’re making me worry about your dietary habits in Seoul.”

“I eat all my meals.” I told him as another spoonful of food entered my mouth. “I just really want to go home.”

“Is that all? Dear, you don’t have to eat all your food here then.” My mother said. “Get a box and we’ll take it home.”

I glanced back at the table where I thought Hongbin was. The two had finished their food and were paying for their check. Everything about that guy screamed Hongbin and I needed to find out.

“I’m sorry. I’m going to step outside for a moment.” I said, placing my napkin on the table and taking off after the two men.

I stayed back a ways, so they wouldn’t think anything of my presence. Once they were out the door they went separate ways. They must have traveled in two different cars. I stepped outside and looked both ways, seeing both of them were stepping into their cars. I wasn’t able to see the suspected Hongbin’s face again and I let out a groan of frustration as he drove away.

Hakyeon had followed me out, not seeing the two cars driving away. “What’s going on with you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m just a little paranoid, that’s all.” I crossed my arms across my midsection and took a deep breath. “Maybe we should have just gone back to Seoul.”

“Inhye, you need to forget about Hongbin. When we get back, I want you to break up with him and move back in with me. I don’t want you to be with him, especially with his past.”

I stepped away from Hakyeon a bit so there was some space between us. “Hakyeon, you don’t know Hongbin. He’s never shown signs of being a murderer and so what if he’s bipolar? You just have to learn how to live with it.”

“And you’re willing to live with it?” I could see Hakyeon was trying not to feel hurt.

“YEAH! Yeah I am. Hongbin is good to me and all he’s gotten from me is more and more trouble.” I couldn’t stop the next words that slipped past my lips and the tears streamed down my cheeks. “I love him!”

That was the icing on the cake for Hakyeon. His fists clenched at his sides. And then tears began to fall. We both watched each other cry as we tried to calm ourselves down before we made any more mistakes.

It was a rule we had come up with long ago. Once one of us started to cry, the argument was over for now. Hakyeon was the one that came up with it after seeing me cry back in high school after he tried to get me to break up with my boyfriend at the time. I guess Hakyeon will never like anyone I chose to date.

He made a step to come near me, fists unclenched and arms outstretched, but I shook my head and stepped back. “No. I have to go back to Seoul. This was a mistake.”

“Inhye, don’t do this to me. I’m only looking out for you okay? I love you and I’m scared for you.” Hakyeon tried to pull me into his embrace again.

I knew if I was in his arms it would just make things worse for the both of us. My desire to leave would grow and his desire to hold on longer would become stronger. The tables had turned and now I was the one rejecting Hakyeon.

“Hey you two, our parents are worried you guys are….fighting.” Hakyeon’s brother stepped outside of the restaurant and stopped when he saw us. His cheerful expression faded away when he saw the tears on my face, as Hakyeon’s back was to him. “You two are fighting.”

“Hyung, we’ll be right in. Don’t worry.” Hakyeon’s voice cracked as he spoke. This pained my heart a bit and more tears escaped my eyes.

I brushed past Hakyeon and his brother and wiped my tears away as I headed back to our table. My brother and Hakyeon’s father quickly rose to their feet as they saw my tear stained face.

“What happened?” My father asked.

“Did you two really just get into a fight?” Hakyeon’s oldest sister asked.

“Omma. Appa.” I addressed both of our parents. “Oppas and unnies. I’m sorry, but my visit has to end here. I need to go back to Seoul.”

Everyone started to protest, but my dad got to his feet and pulled me into a hug.

“Okay. We’ll take you to the train station okay? Or would you rather take the bus?” He rubbed my back soothingly.

“I don’t care. I just want to go back to Seoul.”

“We’ll keep Hakyeon here for a few days so he doesn’t bother you okay?” His mother told me.

I nodded and grabbed my take home box off the table before my parents guided me outside, my brother following behind us. Hakyeon and his brother were still outside, talking things out. I didn’t bother to glance their way as I got into my parents car. Hakyeon ran over to the car and knocked on my window. I refused to roll it down. He knocked again before sighing.

“Hyung, I just want to tell her I’m sorry!” He yelled as our brothers tried to pull him away from the car. “WHY CAN’T I JUST APOLOGIZE? SHE CAN’T GO BACK! HONGBIN IS DANGEROUS!”

More tears fell down my face as we pulled away, leaving my brother at the restaurant so he could help take care of Hakyeon. I wish things didn’t have to be this way. I wished none of this would have happened in the first place. I wasn’t sure if I really loved Hongbin or if I just said that to upset Hakyeon, but going back to Seoul and being with Hongbin felt like a better idea than staying anywhere near Hakyeon.

I arrived back in Seoul around ten pm and I decided to just take a taxi back to Hongbin’s apartment. I turned my phone back on and watched all the missed text messages and phone calls come in. All were from Hakyeon. Most were apologies and the rest were pleas for me to go to his apartment instead of Hongbin’s. I rolled my eyes and placed my phone up to my ear, calling Hongbin. The taxi dropped me off at the corner of the street so I could pick up a few things at the convenience store.

“Noona? Why are you calling me? Is everything okay?” Hongbin answered after the third ring.

“I’m back in Seoul and at the convenience store. Do you need anything? I’ll be back at the apartment in like ten minutes.” I told him.

“Why are you back so soon? I’m out with some people from work and probably won’t be back until morning. I wish I would have known you were coming back today. You said you’d be gone for a few days.”

I sighed and threw some snacks for myself into my basket. “I changed my mind. I missed you so I decided to come back.”

“Did Hakyeon do something?” Hongbin’s voice grew deeper.

“No, he didn’t do anything. He’s still at his parents’ house.”

“I can come home right now, if you want me to. If you don’t want to stay at the apartment by yourself, I can leave right now and be back within an hour or so.”

“No. You have fun okay? I’ll see you in the morning.”

I placed my phone into my pocket and paid for my snacks before making my way to Hongbin’s apartment. Maybe I really was just paranoid back at the restaurant. I should have had more trust in Hongbin. Hakyeon was really starting to get to me.

I punched in the passcode and opened the door of the apartment to find the place a total mess. Clothes, shredded paper, and trash were scattered all across the floor. The couch was torn apart. The curtains were pulled down. My heart began to race and I checked Hongbin’s bedroom and my bedroom to make sure nothing was stolen, as I called Hongbin again.

“Noona, what is it?” He answered, sounding kind of annoyed.

“The apartment looks like someone broke in but nothing is missing. I’ve checked.” I explained as I began to tidy up my room.

“Oh.” Hongbin didn’t sound surprised or worried. “Thankfully nothing was taken. Do you feel safe being there alone for the night?”

“Yeah I feel safe. I was just seeing if you had made this mess or not.” I chewed on my lip for a second. “Sorry for bothering you again.”

I looked around my room. My room wasn’t in as bad of a condition as the rest of the apartment was. Whoever did this must have given up by the time they got to into my room. I headed back into Hongbin’s room and started to pick things up. It’ll be nice for him not to have to worry about it when he got back in the morning. As I began to pick things up off the floor, I found a box shoe box with my name on it that was slightly open.

I was fighting the urge to remove the lid all the way and look inside the box, but my nerves got the best of me.

“Oh. My. God.”

A/N: Hello readers, I hope you enjoyed this update! Thank you for reading!