Chapter 37

Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.
Let’s meet after school tomorrow so we can talk about this.
Goodnight Hae Ra.

K.

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You sighed and threw your phone on your bed before plopping down beside it. You stared at the cracks on the ceiling and thought about what just happened.

I’m engaged to Kyungsoo….What were they thinking?

You closed your eyes as the headache started to make you feel as though you just got hit by a truck. Seriously, what were both Mr. Do and your mother thinking? You’re only in your last year of high school; still have a whole lot of things ahead of you like college and university. Heck, getting married wasn’t even in your life’s schedule. You never believed in love. No, you did, a long time ago, but that was then.

All you wanted was to just be free, travel around the world, to the places you and your dad went when he was still alive. You wanted to relive those memories of your father. You were never been able to since your mother had been so busy with the company, and she wouldn’t allow you to travel. Ever since your father’s death, your mother hated going to the airport. It reminded her of that day; the day she saw the love of her life lying still on the cold hard ground.

You suddenly remembered. You remembered why you didn’t believe in love. No, it’s not that you didn’t believe in it. You were afraid of it. That’s right. You were afraid of loving and being loved, because once the person or thing that you loved leaves you, the pain takes over and everything in your world becomes dark. Your world became dark a long time ago, with the death of your father, and you vowed to yourself, you never want to experience it again. And if that means to avoid and shun love, so be it.

All those thoughts about your father were starting to make you feel horrible again so you decided to focus on the engagement again. How were you and Kyungsoo going to derive a plan to stop all this? To convince both your parents? Just then your phone buzzed and you noticed you’ve got a text from Chanyeol.

Why is he texting me at this time?

You flipped your phone and read the text. You didn’t know why but you suddenly had a heavy feeling in your heart after you saw what he sent you.

Congratulations on your engagement.

---

Knock. Knock.

You heard the door to your room creak open and Mr. Lee walked in. He opened the curtains to your room and stood right next to your bed before greeting you.

“Good morning Young Master. It’s time for school. Master Kyungsoo will be arriving in another hour to fetch you. You best get ready.” He politely said but before he could leave you alone, you tugged the sleeve of his dress shirt.

He turned to look at your wanly face. You couldn’t sleep a wink last night. Not after reading that text message from Chanyeol. He knows. He saw it on the news. But what bothered you was that there was obviously a hidden message in that text; a hidden message that described how Chanyeol must’ve felt when he found out about your engagement. The whole night, you kept assuring yourself that it shouldn’t matter what he thought about it. He was just a friend. But something else kept bugging you, and you didn’t know what.

Mr. Lee couldn’t tell what was going through your mind but he understood how you must’ve felt. Apparently, he too was not aware about the engagement announcement. Everything was so sudden. Poor Hae Ra, he thought. It was all unfair to her and to Kyungsoo as well. He tried his best to smile reassuringly towards you and patted your hand before leaving the room for you to get ready.

You sighed and got off from your bed. Your phone dropped on the floor but you didn’t care. You would do anything to forget about the text message Chanyeol sent you. No, you would do anything to forget about what happened last night. After the shower, you put on your school uniform and headed downstairs for breakfast.

“You didn’t tell me you left early last night. You should’ve stayed and talked with the guests.” Your mother said when you entered the dining room. She was already dressed for work and was reading the morning newspaper with a cup of dark coffee in her hand. She took a sip from it and eyed you as you sat down across her and took small bites from your breakfast.

“Good morning to you too mother.” You said sarcastically and continued to eat.

Just then there was a soft knock on the door and Mr. Lee entered. “My Lady, the car is ready for you.” He bowed politely and your mother nodded.

She took the last sip of her coffee and folded the paper before tucking it under her arm, planning to read it again on her way to work in the car. Before she made her way out, she turned to look at you.

“Hae Ra, I hope you understand that whatever me and Kyungsoo’s father is doing is only for your own good. You’re just too young to realize that.” She said before she finally walked off.

You pushed your plate away from you and sighed while you leaned back on your seat. A few minutes later, one of the maids entered the dining room to announce that Kyungsoo had arrived so you made your way out with your bag slug over your shoulders. You entered the car and was surprised to be greeted by a smiling Kyungsoo.

“Good morning Hae Ra. Are you feeling better? Oh and look, I don’t think I’m going to get a scar. It’s healing perfectly well.” He chimed when the car drove off.

You looked at him in confusion and raised your eyebrows. “What’s up with the ‘happy’ and ‘smiling’ thing early in the morning? Kyungsoo, did you forget? We have to stop this engagement from happening.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

“Of course I didn’t forget. But unlike you, I don’t like to walk around being all dead and sulky and grumpy. I’d rather stick to being happy and smiley while I figure this thing out.” He said to you and gave you a look.

You can’t help but admit he’s right. It was no use being grumpy and throwing a tantrum. You have got to take it easy. You’ll surely find a way out of this right? You sighed and nodded.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be like this. I’m sorry.”

Kyunsgoo chuckled and pointed his finger to your lips. “Now, how about that smile?”

You could feel yourself turn red from embarrassment and you cursed him inside your head. You tried your best to form  a smile and hesitantly looked up to Kyungsoo.

“How…how about this?” You said through gritted teeth.

Kyungsoo laughed and covered his face. “I think you can skip the smiley part and just stick to the happy part. Gosh you at smiling.”

You laughed too and playfully smacked him on the head. “Idiot.”

Kyungsoo laughed some more and you joined in.

It’s been a long time…It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this…carefree. For the first time in a long time, I really want to be happy.

The both of you continued to tease each other and laugh until the car pulled over in front of the school gates. Kyungsoo quickly went out of the car and went to you side to open the door for you. You raised your eyebrows and chuckled.

“Woah, since when were you such a gentleman?” You shook your head and went out of the car.

Kyungsoo smiled and closed the door behind you. “This is a reward for you.”

“Reward? For what?”

“For smiling and laughing with me.” He looked at you and you saw the heart-shaped lips of his form a smile.

You sighed and smiled as well.

[A/N] Hi guys, I know I haven't been updating lately and I truly apologized. That is why I have made a double update this week. Hope you guys aren't mad ^^'