Chanyeol's POV

"Ugh! This is so stupid!" I shouted, slamming my hands down on my desk. I looked down at the papers in front of me asking for the same information: name, address, date of birth, high school grades, extra curricular activies, essay, etc.

As soon as I arrived home from a very much relaxing week, my dad started to lecture me because I haven't finished my college applications.

"It's been months since I told you to finish them! Why haven't you done it yet?" he scolded.

"I've been busy," I told him, partially lying. Sure, I was busy. But he and I both knew that I didn't want to go to the schools he wanted me to apply to. Maybe one or two of them, sure, I was considering, but only because they had a great music program.

"Park Chanyeol," my father seethed. "You are not allowed to leave this house until those applications are completed and submitted. Do you understand me?"

"Abuhji!" I exclaimed. "Why can't you just listen to me? I don't want to go to those schools! I don't want to take over the family business! And I've told you time and time again, I will not marry Minji!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" he screamed, my mother running into the room.

"What's going on dear?" she asked worried, putitng a calming hand on my father's shoulder.

"If you want to stay a part of this family, you will do as your told. Do not disappoint me any further than you already have son. Don't make me regret." he said sternly with a bright red face. He shrugged my mother's hand off his shoulder and stormed off.

My vision was starting to get blurry. this, I'm not going to cry over this bull. I stormed off to my room, dismissing my mother's attempts to make me feel better. I felt bad, but I didn't want her to see me like this. I slammed the door and sat on my bed for a few hours, just thinking.

It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. How could a father make his only son do these kinds of things? How could a parent be so unsupportive? So forceful? Isn't a father supposed to want what's best for his children, even if it isn't what he wants? Doesn't he want to see me happy?

I punched my pillow until I ran out of energy and plopped back onto my bed, out of air. Did I really have no choice? Was there nothing I could do to prevent any of this from happening? I started to feel hopeless and lost. I felt the hated burning sensation coming from my nose as my vision started to blur again. The door suddenly opened before any of the tears could fall.

"Chanyeol?" my sister walked into my room. "Chanyeol, are you okay?"

I quickly wiped the tears away from my face before she came close enough to notice. "What do you think?" I muttered sadly, sitting up on my bed.

She took a seat next to me. "Umma told me what happened," she said, matching the sadness in my voice. "I'm sorry I can't do anything for you. I really wish I could, but you know how appa is..."

"It's just not fair!" I shouted, starting to get angry again. "Why doesn't he just give the company to you? You're already working as the head of his financial department, I don't see why he has to make me do it. It's not like he has only one child."

My sister nodded sadly. It was unfair for her too. She actually wanted to be a part of the family business, but it was something my father never even considered giving to her. It was unfair for the both of us.

"I wish there was something I can do.." she said, playing with her fingers. "If only I was born a boy and you were born a girl, right?" she laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood.

"No offense, but I like being a boy," I joked back, hoping to make her feel better as well.

"I'm sure things will work out in the end," she told me. "But for now, you're just going to have to go with it and do as he says."

"But noona--" I started to protest before she cut me off.

"You know how stubborn he is. Where do you think you got it from?" she told me, smiling. "You may be stubborn, but there is no way you're going to change his mind by arguing with him. Just fill out the applications alright? There's no harm in just sending them in."

She had a point. I just found it pointless. It was a waste of my time and the admission committee's for those schools. We all knew I was already going to get in, I probably could just show up on the first day of class and they would take me in. WIth my father's reputation in Korea and my high grades, how could they not? It was all a publicity stunt, like it always was. I could see it now: Park Chanyeol lined up to attend Yonsei Univeristy, following CEO Park's footsteps or some bull like that.

My sister patted my hand. "And the thing with Minji will work out in the end too. Umma won't let it happen, I'm sure of it. She doesn't like Minji." she laughed.

I felt a little relieved. "Oh gosh, good. If I had to choose, I would definitely take the family business if it meant not getting married to Minji. How could appa be so cruel?!"

She let out a laugh and leaned her head on my shoulder. "So when will I get to meet your friend Soojin?"

That threw me off guard. "What?" She had teased me before about Soojin, did she really need to bring her up again?

"Aren't you still tutoring her?" she asked me.

"Yeah, so?" I replied, my heartbeat starting to race. Just hearing her name after less than 24 hours of seeing her made my body act in weird ways. I sort of missed her already...

"Nothing," she shrugged. "Just asking. Umma seemed to take a liking to her, that's all."

I nodded absentmindedly. Of course she did, it's kind of hard not to take a liking to Soojin..

My sister stood up and put a hand on my head. "Now go and fill out those applications Chanyeol. Unless you want to be stuck here forever. And something tells me that is the last thing you want." she laughed.

I rolled my eyes, but laughed along. "You noona." I told her.

"I love you too little brother," she replied, starting to walk towards the door.

"Wait," I stopped her. "You're not going to tell me what's going on with your life? I barely ever see you anymore." It was upsetting really. My sister was the one person I could truly depend on when it came to family. She was my savior and almost always said the right things to make me feel better. But she was busy with her position in the family business, working hard to try and prove to our dad that she is worthy of the CEO position. My heart went out to her. Maybe I can be CEO for a day and give her the position. I can do that right?

"Nothing but the usual," she smiled.

"How about that guy you said was 'the one'?" I teased. My sister rarely ever dated because of her busy schedule, so this guy must be really something.

Her eyes gleamed at the mention of the unknown man. "We're dating." she said happily.

"You're what?!" I exclaimed. I did not see that coming. "Does umma know? Wait, no. Does appa know? Why are you telling me this now? Who is he? What's his name? What does he do? When do I get to meet him?" Even though I was the younger brother, my masculine protective instincts washed over me. She was my older sister, and I wasn't just going to let her spend the rest of her life with some prick.

She laughed at my sudden burst of questions and walked over to ruffle my hair. "When did you become such a man Chanyeol-ah?" she giggled.

"Aish, noona!" I waved her hand off, fixing my hair. "Seriously though, when do I get to meet him?"

She pondered for a couple seconds. "Probably at the holiday party, I invited him."

"And what about umma?" I asked. "When are you going to tell her?"

"Probably right now, now that you mention it. I'm going to need her to back me up if I don't want appa to freak out as much." she laughed nervously. I knew where she was coming from. If we wanted to announce something that we knew abuhji wasn't going to be happy about, we always told umma first.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," I told her sarcastically.

She laughed and started to walk back towards the door. "I'll see you later."

So here I am, at my desk trying to finish all of these stupid applications by the end of the night. My phone suddenly rang, it was Kai.

"Hello?" I answered sadly.

"Hyung!" he responded excitedly. "Me, D.O and Baek hyung are going to go our for a midnight snack, wanna come?"

"Sorry, I'm under house arrest at the moment." I told him annoyed with the situation.

"What!" he said. "What did you do this time?"

"Yo, tell him if he doesn't come, we're going to drag him out!" I heard Baek say in the background.

"Sorry guys, it's a dad thing." I muttered.

"Oh, that hyung. Alright," Kai said, knowing that there was no need to press the issue on any further. "Good luck!"

Yeah, if only luck was enough.

*****

Soojin's POV

"Yah! Lee Kwonho!" I yelled, chasing after my little brother. "You better give that back right now!"

"Or what?" he teased, waving my music notebook in the air. I swear, he could be so childish sometimes.

"Kwonho," my mom warned. "Give that back to your sister."

He reluctantly handed the leather bound book over as I smacked him on the shoulder.

"Ow! Umma! Noona hit me!" he cried, rubbing his arm. My mom smiled, pretending she didn't hear anything.

"Soojin dear, have you been working on anything recently?" she asked, flipping through the pages of her magazine. She was still just as sick as when I left. She was wrapped in blankets and it looked like she lost more weight. I knew I shouldn't have left, not that it looked like it would have made a difference anyways.

I took a seat next to her and nodded. "Yeah, I actually just finished one this morning."

"Will you play it for me?" she asked, looking up. Usually, I wouldn't play it for her until it was perfect. Sure I finished it, but it wasn't perfect. It takes weeks for me to really finish a song after fine tuning all of the notes. But she looked really hopeful so, why not?

I walked over to the piano in the room on the oppsite corner and placed my worn leather book on the stand. Soon, I started to play the familiar keys of the piano as my mom listened behind me. I already heard some things in the notes that I wanted to change, but I didn't stop. When I finished the song, I quickly grabbed a pencil and made marks all over the pages.

I noticed that there was no response or reaction from my mom like there usually was when I finished playing the piano. I looked behind me to see my mom unconscious.

"Umma!" I threw my book to the ground and ran over to her. "Umma! What's wrong? Umma!" I lightly hit her cheeks, trying to wake her up. Her body was ferociously hot and there were beads of cold sweat on her forehead.

"Kwonho! Jina!" I yelled, tears starting to stream down my face. "Call the ambulance!"

*****

My dad, brother, Jina and I waited in the hallways of the hospital. It's been hours since they took my mom into the emergency room. What was taking them so long? What was wrong with my mother? Her cold didn't seem that bad when I came back home. I continued to pace back and forth the hallway, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.

"Soojin-ah," my dad weakly said. "Please sit down."

I ignored him and continued to move my feet. If I didn't keep moving, I might have gone crazy or done something rash. I was seriously considering slamming through those doors when a doctor finally approached.

My dad, Jina and Kwonho stood up from their seats immediately, waiting anxiously until the doctor stopped in front of my dad. The two men walked a few steps away so that we didn't overhear what they were discussing. I got really irked at this. What was such a secret? She was my mother, she was our family. Whatever the doctor had to say could have been said in front of all of us.

The doctor walked away and my dad turned to face us. His eyes were filled with tears and it looked as if someone ripped out his heart, tore it to tiny little pieces and then burst it into flames.

"Appa!" Kwonho shouted, approaching him. "Appa, what's wrong? Is umma okay?"

He didn't move. "We can go see her now."

Kwonho and I quickly rushed into the room our mother was being held. She lost all the color in her face, her hair stuck to her skin from her drying sweat. She had large dark circles under her eyes and her lips were cracked dry. It broke my heart seeing her like this, but she still managed to crack her eyes open and smile upon our arrival.

"Umma!" I shouted, running over to her bedside taking her hand as gently as I could. "Umma, are you okay? What's wrong? What did the doctor say?"

She glanced over to my father unsure of what to say. "I'm okay now sweetie. I'm okay now." she croaked, patting my hand. I leaned down, meeting our hands with my forehead, letting the tears fall. Umma...what is wrong? Why are you in this hospital?

All of these terrible thoughts started to rush into my head, making me feel dizzy. I refused to believe any of them, but something in my gut told me that one of these thoughts were a possibility. And I dreaded it.

*****

The four of us arrived home tired and dazed. My mom was to stay in the hospital for the next few days so that the doctor's can monitor her. My dad was going to pack some of her things and head back to the hospital to stay with her.

I decided that this was the best timing. I walked into his room to find him packing a small suitcase with my mom's clothes.

"What are you doing here Soojin, you should go to bed." he told me tiredly.

"Tell me what's wrong with umma." I told him sternly, promising myself I wasn't going to leave without an answer. Already the burning sensation came to my nose warning me that tears were about to come.

"What?" he asked, shocked at my blunt words.

"Tell me what's wrong with umma. I know you know." I repeated, starting to regret my command. A part of me didn't want to know, but a part of me knew I would go insane if I didn't.

My father and I stared at each other. I was not going to back down. I had a right to know. He let out a heavy sigh and took a seat at the foot of his bed.

"Come sit." he said. I slowly did as I was told, scared for what was to come next.

He took one of my hands with both of his and turned to face me. He looked down at our joined hands for a few seconds, struggling to find the right words.

"Your mother..." he started with a shaking voice. "Your mother is very sick."

My heart started to feel heavier and heavier, as the burn got stronger and tears quickly collected. "How sick?" I croaked.

"Soojin-ah..." my father was fighting back tears of his own, unsure of how he could break such news to his daughter. "Your mother...she's dying."

*****

I ran. I ran and I ran and I ran. I didn't know where I was going and I couldn't process what was in front of me. My legs just moved quickly without any intention of stopping. I couldn't breathe and my chest was about to explode.

'Your mother...she's dying.' The words echoed in my mind over and over again. Just two words. Two words was all it took to make my world come crashing down. This can't be happening, this has to be some kind of awful dream. She's dying.

My legs were tired and the bottom of my feet were hurting. My breathing became shallow and my lungs were burning but I didn't stop. I willed myself to keep going. It was the only thing I could do to release all of this bad energy. I took a turn into a familiar park when I suddenly bumped into someone - hard, causing the both of us to fall backwards towards the ground.

"Ow, what the hell!" a familiar, deep voice yelled. "Soojin?"

I continued to weep on the floor, not caring about anything in the world, not thinking about anything. Nothing except my mother.

"Oh my gosh, Soojin are you okay?" Chanyeol knelt in front of me, scanning my body to see if there was anything wrong. "What's wrong?"

I heard the fear and the concern in his voice. It only made the tears flow more. I was happy to see him. It was like he knew I was in trouble, he was always there when I needed to be saved.

"Here, let's go sit over there." he told me, grabbing my shoulders, gently helping me up. He kept his hands on my shoulders, slowly guiding me to the familiar bench.

I scanned my surroundings and noticed that this was the same bench Chanyeol and I sat on before that one night he saved me. I continued to cry.

"Soojin.." he said softly. "What's wrong?"

What was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to tell him? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop crying. My chest hurt, my face was probably god-awfully swollen, my cheeks burned from my salty tears. But I couldn't stop.

Chanyeol wrapped at arm around my shoulder and gently pushed my head onto his shoulder. "Just let it out." he said softly. "Just let it all out. I'll wait right next to you until you're ready."

He slowly brushed his fingers through my hair, instantly starting to have a strange calming effect on me. I appreciated Chanyeol for staying with me and being so patient. I wanted to be alone today, but now I know that being with Chanyeol on this dreadful night was much better.

After what felt like an hour, my tears slowly came to a halt, my breathing going back to a normal pace. But my chest still felt as heavy as ever.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked softly. I could still hear the uneasiness in his voice.

I shook my head slowly, keeping my eyes closed. Chanyeol continued to my hair in a very gentle, tender manner. I appreciated that he wasn't prying or forcing me to say anything I didn't want to. His actions thus far has really helped relax me a little.

"You don't have to tell me, but do you want to talk about it?" he asked cautiously. "It sometimes helps to just vent it all out."

The first thought that came into mind was to absolutely not share anything with him. It was none of his business and I wasn't looking for pity points. But a part of me did want to talk about it. A part of me needed to vent. As much as the physical comforting was great, maybe Chanyeol could comfort me in other ways too.

"My mom..." I slowly started to say, the tears slowly starting to come back. "She's...sick."

I felt Chanyeol's body tense underneath me. It had shocked him I'm sure. Probably wasn't close to what he was expecting to hear.

"Is she alright?" he asked sadly, knowing the answer already.

I shook my head, ready to cry again. I covered my face with my hands when Chanyeol pulled me into another big embrace, holding me tightly. I buried my face into his chest, sobbing softly. He rocked me back and forth soothingly, waiting patiently for me to regain control again.

After a few more minutes, I slowly took my time, telling him what had happened...

*****

"H-How long have you known this?!" I screamed, standing up from the bed, not believing what I had just heard.

"Soojin, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" my father pleaded, letting the tears fall from his face.

"How long have you known?!" I asked again, clenching my fists.

"For a while now..." he whispered, ashamed of the secret he has kept from his children for who knows how long.

"You owe me an explanation." I told him sternly, my voice shaking at the end. I was kept in the dark for too long, but it was time that I knew everything.

My father explained to me that a year after Kwonho was born, my mom started to get high fevers and fainted once. He took her to the hospital to see what was wrong, only to find out that she was in the first stages of lukemia. Because they caught it early, they thought that she was going to be okay if the doctors acted on it quickly enough. But it was going to be an expensive procedure.

He told me that the only reason why he left us to start a business in Korea was so that he could make enough money to keep his wife alive and to support his loving family. The tears streamed down my face and had no sign of stopping. My heart continued to shatter into smaller and smaller pieces.

"It's something we wanted to keep from you kids because we had hope back then," he continued. "But in the end, we didn't act quickly enough. Time was not on our side."

"Then you should have came back!" I shouted. "If you knew there was nothing you could do, you should have came back to live with us! You shouldn't have stayed here to leave umma to take care of us!"

My father sobbed quietly, realizing how much time he had lost that he could have spent with his wife.

"How could you be running a business halfway across the world when your wife is dying!" I shouted. I knew they were harsh words and I knew I should have never said them. My mind was going crazy and I was not thinking rationally.

"I'm sorry Soojin, I'm so sorry." he repeated over and over again. "To you and Kwonho. I'm so sorry..."

"Is that why I'm here?" I asked, suddenly realizing something. "Is that the reaosn why you two made me move to Seoul with you? And why Kwonho will move here too?"

My father looked up at me with red, tear-stricken painful eyes.

"You wanted me and Kwonho to move here because you knew umma was dying?! You were more concerned to have your children move to where you and your business was then to come home and spend time with your family?!" I screamed. "You were already planning ahead for when after umma died? What kind of sick person are you?!"

"Soojin-ah.." my dad pleaded, holding out his arms to try and calm me.

"No!" I roared. "Don't touch me! Don't come near me!" If I didn't get out of there soon, I thought that I was going to end up collasping, so I did the next best thing I could think of. I ran.

*****

Chanyeol's arms never left their place around me and I stared off into the ground. I felt a little better, but only a little.

"Well," he finally spoke. "You certainly had a rough day."

No .

"You're religious aren't you?" he asked.

I broke his embrace a little to look at his face, confused. What did me being religious have to do with anything? He looked down at my teary face and gestured to the cross necklace hanging around my neck. "Christian?"

I shook my head, still unsure of where this was going. "Catholic, barely."

"Oh, well I'm Christian," he told me. "But I'm sure this still applies."

He put his hands on my shoulers so that I was sitting up straight. It felt has if he was staring into my soul, trying to see inside of my glazed eyes.

"I lost my grandfather last year." Chanyeol said sadly. "He was probably the best man I have ever known and ever will. Before he passed away, we would spend days together. He really understood my love for music and told me to never let anything get in the way of my passion. He was always there for me when I fought with my dad and always took my side, even if I was the one to make the stupid mistake. Then one day, when he bid me goodnight, he wasn't there to say good morning."

I looked at him miserably. You could really see the hurt in his eyes. It matched my own, but it was a dull pain. A pain that would never go away for as long as he lives.

"But before he died, he told me something that made it easier to accept his passing." Chanyeol continued. "God already has a plan made for us. Each of us have a purpose in this world and we spend our whole lives figuring out what that purpose is. It's a hard road to travel and sometimes you want to quit, but you have your friends and family who love you and will be by your side until the end. My grandfather told me that when you die, it's because you have fulfilled your purpose and as a reward, you are taken away from the hardships of the Earth to join Him in heaven, to live happily for eternity."

This was a whole new side of Chanyeol. I never saw him to be a very religious person. It was shocking but it warmed my heart a little at the same time to see the strength of his faith.

"My grandfather told me that he already fulfilled his purpose. He said that his purpose was to live long enough to see his grandchildren grow healthy and happy. He said, 'God is granting me one last wish in staying with my grandchildren for just a little longer." Chanyeol's eyes were starting to tear and it was hard for me to see. It was something I was never able to imagine: Park Chanyeol, heartbroken and hurting. There was nothing I could do, except pull him into an embrace of my own. I wrapped my arms gently around his neck. After a few moments, he reciprocated by wrapping his arms around my torso.

"Your grandfather sounds like a wonderful man," I told him. We let go, looking at each other with the same sad eyes.

"He was an amazing man." He nodded, looking down. "I know what you're feeling about your mom must be hard, but the more you dwell on the inevitable, the less time you'll have to enjoy with your mom now."

He was right. It was inevitable, it just that I had to meet this sort of fate so soon. The reality of it all slowly started to sink in...and it fricken . The tears started to come again as my head hung low. Chanyeol softly chucked and pulled me into another embrace.

"You're strong Soojin, you'll get through it." He said, the back of my hair. "And if not, then you don't have to worry. You have your friends and family here with you. You have me..."

I couldn't have been more grateful. This was probably the worst moment in my life and Chanyeol was there to help me get through it. Even my worst moment before this, Chanyeol was there to help me through that too. Chanyeol was always there for me, and I realized that he did care. But maybe not in the way I wanted him to...

It suddenly hit me. Even with everything going on right now, a light clicked in my mind and everything was suddenly clear. I felt as if something was lifted off my shoulders...

I couldn't deny it any longer: my feelings for Chanyeol were real.

*****

Chanyeol's POV

I walked Soojin home, making sure that she got home safely. We walked side by side in a comfortable silence. She was still distressed and probably will be for a long time. Soojin was numb, just breathing and moving. I would know, I had been there a year ago. The pain I felt all that while ago came back, and it made my heart go out to Soojin. I really wished I could do something for her, but in the cruel world we lived in, there was nothing I could do.

We arrived at the front gates of her home. But she just stood there facing the door, not wanting to go inside just yet.

"Do you want to walk around a little more?" I asked, sensing that she wasn't ready to go inside yet.

She nodded and started to walk away. I chuckled softly and took off my jacket.

"Don't you still have my other jacket? How are you still not wearing anything?" I said, putting my jacket over her shoulders.

"Sorry, I'll give it to you tomorrow." she muttered embarrassed.

My face brightened. So does that mean I'm get to see you tomorrow?

We walked in silence without a particular destination in mind. It was quiet and calm, but in my mind it was chaos.

Seeing Soojin so fragile, so broken sparked a very protective side in me. A side that doesn't come out very often. A strong feeling, getting ready to take on the world in order to make her tears to stop falling. My heart felt a familiar pain when I told her about my grandfather. I hadn't thought about him in a while, not like that anyways. I apologized to my grandfather in the heavens, looking up to the sky.

I miss you grandfather...you're still watching me from above right?

When Soojin pulled me into an embrace, another sensation washed over me. I wasn't expecting her to try and comfort me. I just wanted to get a point across. My heart flipped from her body pressed against mine. I had hesitated before reciprocating the embrace.

I loved everything about those few seconds. Her holding me, me holding her. Our bodies just...matched. Even though Soojin had been crying, she had looked prettier than ever. She had shown a whole new side to me and something told me that it was a side that wasn't known by many. When my fingers through her hair, I thought that she had the most wonderful locks a girl could have. When she cried into my chest, I stopped breathing. I thought I was going to go crazy tonight. The whole time we were in the park, I had the biggest urge to just...kiss her.

"I'm sorry for burdening you with my problems," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"No, don't worry about it." I assured her, clearing my thraot awkwardly. "Like I said, I'm here if you need me."

"What were you doing in the park anyways?" she asked, wrapping my jacket around her body tightly.

"I...needed some air." I thought back to my own problems with my dad. I didn't want to go home any more than Soojin did to be honest.

"Want to tell me about it?" she asked, turning to face me. I hesitated. Did I really want to tell her my problems after she found out that her mom is dying? I know this isn't a compeition on who is having the worst day, but it just didn't seem right.

"Hey," she said softly, manging to give me a small smile and a small nudge on ny arm. "I'm here for you too."

My heart filled with another warm feeling. Seeing her smile and hearing her say those words. I took a step forward as we continued to walk.

"It's just.." I started, thinking about what to say carefully. "Me and my dad..."

I told her everthing, well...almost everything. I told her about how my dad and I don't get along and how he wants me to take over the family business. I told her about how I want to spend my life with music and that he was extremely unsupportive of that. I told her about how he's forcing me to apply to all of these schools and basically that my fate is already set.

She listened carefully, nodding every now and then. I finally finished venting and I instantly felt lighter. I guess a good vent is what I need every now and then.

"Well," Soojin started. "It sounds like you're not even listening to your grandfather's words."

"Huh?" I looked over at her confused.

"Remember what you told me in the park?" she looked up to the sky. "You said that God has our life planned out for us. That our path to happiness may be hard, but we have friends and family to help us on the way."

I stared at her, still not sure where she was going with this.

"Music was meant to be in your life," she told me. "Your path to happiness involves music and I think God intends on keeping it that way. Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure your father is not God. And just like you told me - friends and family are there for you. Your dad loves you, if he didn't he wouldn't be so hard on you. It'll take some time and more hardships, but I'm sure you can get through to him. He's your dad."

"That's what you think," I told her, not feeling much more hopeful. "But you don't know my dad. He's impossible."

"You just haven't found the right way. Maybe he needs to realize in a different way. You'll figure it out." she said.

I smiled at her gratefully. She was right. I still had time, I had time to turn things around. I just had to try harder, and somehow make my dad see...but how?

"Is there anything else that's bothering you?" she asked.

My arranged marriage with Minji. I automatically thought. It was not something I wanted to share with her. Especially because she just gave me a small light of hope that I can change my path. But I didn't want to lie. Soojin was the last person I wanted to lie to.

I looked at her curious face. I just didn't have the heart to tell her about Minji. So I shook my head.

"Not really," I mumbled, feeling guilty.

We walked around the block, coming back around to Soojin's front gate. She took off my jacket and handed it over.

"Thanks," she said. I took it and slipped my arms though. It smelled like her.

"I guess I'll see you then. Feel free to call me when you need to talk, good night." I said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" she shouted after me, appearing in front of me again.

She looked up at me, biting her lip. I gave her a confused look and was about to ask her what she wanted, but then she suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. My eyes bulged in surprised, my arms hovering over her body, her arms around my waist, her cheek against my chest. I had stopped breathing and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating.

"Thank you," she mumbled. "Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for protecting me."

My chest softened, releasing the breath I had been holding in and I let my arms take their place around her shoulders. "Thank you." I responded, not being able to stop smiling. "Thank you for giving me something to protect."

Her body suddenly tensed underneath me as I realized what I had just said. Oh my gosh, what the hell did I just say?! We let go of each other as if the other was on fire.

"Um, yeah." she mumbled. "Get home safe....er...good night." With that, she hurried inside and closed the gate.

I stood there frozen, still not believing the words that came out of my mouth. What the hell Park Chanyeol! What the hell?!?!?

The unavoidable finally hit me and I couldn't feel more exhilerated, nervous and scared at the same time. I had meant what I said. I wanted to protect Soojin, from everything that could possibly cause harm to her. And why?

Because I really, really liked her.

A/N:

WHOOO!!
it finally happened! CHANSOO IS ON THEIR WAY!
geez..that was such a dramatic, event-filled chapter..whew
i hope you liked it! i tired to make it better than that last chapter, so i really hope you enjoyed it you guys!
things are going to go soooooo interesting from here on out :)

and can i just say...100+ subscribers and 2000+ views?!
IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?!? T-T
i would like to take this time to thank every single subscriber to this story.
thank you for giving me your time and love T-T

i love you all, no joke.
please continue to..
subscribe, comment and upvote. i'll love you forever <3
and that's no lie :)

i know that 2/3 of my top exo biases are in EXO-M, so i decided to dedicate today's gifs to the stars of the fanfic..
me love some EXO-K :)

i literally facepalmed myself when i saw this...so embarrasing. look at kris's face LOL

oh byun baekhyun...you so fricken adorbs..argh                            my adorable, squishy dork. eek!~
                
i fricken LOVED this. he's so into it LOL                       sehun, you cute/shy little . why are you so fricken flawless?!
           
and a wild chanyeol appears! LOL

but seriously, i loveee a guy who can play the guitar. serious weakness...

how is it possible for someone to be so derpy, so y, so handsome at the same fricken time?!

much love, thatxmusic