“It’s okay, don’t worry… No, really. You shouldn’t apologize… I understand… Okay… Take care. Bye”

I know it’s wrong to listen to other people’s conversation. But, I didn’t mean to do eavesdrop on her. I just happened to arrive while she was on the phone and happened to have a good sense of hearing. Though it really shouldn’t matter because she spoke too fast that I wasn’t able to translate whatever she said to the person on the other line.

However, I can guess who the other person was. There is only one name I could think of – Choi Siwon.

How can I say it was him?

 Simple.

The smile on her face didn’t coincide with the emotion her eyes were showing. It was a smile I often see on Yixing’s face whenever he tries to talk on the phone with his girlfriend who was busy and is a country away.

The same kind of smile I saw on Stephanie when I lied to her about cancelling out.

It was a smile that showed hurt, hurt because of missing a loved one, hurt because of disappointment however one could only smile and understand the situation, to put it simply, a helpless smile.

She turned around and saw me standing a few meters away from where she stood, in a good hearing distance. She was startled realizing seeing me here. I could only guess what she’s thinking and so I prompted to answer her unspoken question, “I just got here. And no, I didn’t hear much. If there things that I heard, you spoke too fast for me to even translate it. So, don’t worry” I said reassuring her.

She raised an eyebrow but it wasn’t the angry raise of an eyebrow, it was of a questioning yet amused at the same time. “Okay. If you say so” she shrugs. She was trying not to form a smile. She probably find it funny that I was so defensive and I cursed myself inwardly.

“So, why are you here Yifan?” she asked as she walked closer to me. “Nana told me to call you, breakfast is served. We should eat now because I probably need to get back to Seoul and I know you want to visit your brother soon” I replied.

I’m not quite sure but I think there was a sudden disappointment in her eyes which caught off guard. But nonetheless she nodded her head and answered, “okay” before she started walking toward the door that would lead us back to inside their house.

I followed her and was about to ask her if there was something wrong but Nana came into our view so I decided not to ask her just yet and wait until it’s just the two of us.

“Come on kids, let’s eat” Nana invited upon seeing us. Taeyeon and I sat side by side, Nana and Grandpa (as what he wanted me to call him) sat opposite us. We blessed the food and we started to eat.

I spent the night at the Kim household’s family house. I slept at Myungsoo’s room since he wasn’t around and if he was it would be because we are both boys. Nana like how she always have been was caring and attended to my needs.

Maybe for her I was still the little boy she used to take care of. She brought me change of clothes those that I like to wear for sleeping, she warmed the water for me because I like warm baths before sleeping, got me towels because she knew I need more than one, she dried my hair for me like she always did and prepared my hot milk after taking a shower which I always do even until now.

Taeyeon whined about how Nana was pampering me. She was jealous I would say. But Nana defended and said, “Come on, Taeyeon. Jiaheng and I haven’t seen each other for the last 13 years. Just let me pamper him like I always do. I’m old already; it wouldn’t be long until I can no longer do this”

Nana’s statement made that moment flip one hundred eighty degrees. From a light, cheerful and a bit childish atmosphere with Taeyeon’s whining and my constant teasing, to an atmosphere which was heavy and gloomy.

I love Nana. And there is no doubt that Taeyeon loves her grandma too. Nana is like my mother. She was the only mother figure that I had growing up. If she wasn’t just old I would’ve asked my father to marry her, that’s how much I love Nana. We aren’t kids who wouldn’t understand what she was implying. So, naturally, Taeyeon and I were saddened by her statement.

Good thing her husband broke the eerie silence by his joke which made all of us laugh.

“Yifan, how long are you staying?” asked Grandpa breaking my trance. “I’ll be leaving by noon, grandpa. I don’t want to be a bother to you all” I answered politely but made the two the old people frown. “Why so soon? If you were to stay here for a few days I would give you tour around the town and bring you to fishing one of these days” Grandpa explained.

I smiled at how warm he is to me. We only met last night the old man was acting like a grandfather that I didn’t have. I felt sad rejecting their invitation.

“I’m sorry grandpa. I haven’t told Dad that I am here and he doesn’t like me not being under his watch. Nana knows how much of a troublemaker I am and Dad doesn’t want me to get involved in any more issues.” I declined explaining my end.

Nana shook her head, “you’re not a troublemaker Yifan. You’re just misunderstood and aloof to others which explain why you only have Xing-xing and Lulu as friends. But those two go way back with you and have found no reason to leave.”

“You are flattering me too much, Nana” I remarked. Nana and Grandpa shook their heads disagreeing with me. “I can deal with Longwei too. I’ll ask permission from him for you if you want” she suggested.

“I’ll come back next time. There’s still school, so I have to get back to Seoul” I reasoned and this time earned their approval and “okay”

I felt Taeyeon looking at me but I chose to ignore her as I bowed my head acting all shy, scratching my head and laughing a bit but in truth I was sincerely touched by what Nana told me. She’s the only who said such thing about me.

We finished breakfast and Taeyeon volunteered to do the cleaning. I wanted to help too, it’s the least I can do but they told me not to.

“Lu” I said as soon as Lu Han picked up. [Good morning to you too, Kris] Lu Han replied his voice all sleepy and groggy. “Tell me everything that you know” I told him. I heard him groan from the other line and I heard some rustling too. Seemed like he went back to bed.

I need not explain to Lu Han what I'm talking about, I knows what happened which is why he stopped me from leaving the party early. And I need not tell him where I am because he has probably figured out where I am.

I patiently waited for Lu Han to reply I know he will give me one despite plunging back to bed. [Isn’t it too early to be talking about those matters now?] he answered in between his yawns. [I really need to get some sleep you know] he adds.

“Lu Han, I need to know what is going on”

[What for?] Lu Han’s voice sounded serious at this moment and it caught me off guard. I didn’t know what to answer him. Or better yet, I didn’t want to answer him. [If you lie I won’t tell you and fly back to China in the next hour. Tell me, Kris, what’s in it for you? Why do you want to know the truth?]

I bit my bottom lip, calmed myself and answered, “you know why Lu, I know that you know why. I’m indirectly admitting to assumptions. And there is nothing in it for me. Just, I just want to do what I can do”

[You are going to this extent. I'm impressed]

"Yeah" I sigh defeatedly. [You'll have to deal with a lot of things because of this, you should know that. The enemy is no easy target. It's not the same as our little issues back in grade school and high school Yifan]

"I know". When Lu Han talks this way, when he calls me Yifan that way I know he is anxious and you only hear him like that in a few situations. The first time I heard him talk like this was when his Mom announced she was seeing Qian's father. He was anxious then not because he doesn't like Uncle Alex but because he doesn't want to be Qian's brother.

Lu Han was never the anxious one, even when we were kids. He was the first one to approach me back in our younger years, he was already friends with Yixing who was at that time afraid of me. He approached me, stuck like gum to me and competed with me. Yixing was more like the third wheel in our friendship but that doesn't make Yixing less of a friend to me.

I know Lu Han won't tell me unless I reassure him, "I can handle it Lu Han". There was silence from his end, clearly he was deliberating whether to tell me or not. [You know, you’ve got to let that out of your chest soon] he advised. As I noticed that Lu Han's tone changed I can imagine him smiling from ear to ear. “I know. But now is not the time”, I answered him.

[okay]

I heard more rustling. I think it’s him finally getting out of bed. Then I heard some tapping of the keyboard. [I’m sending some files to you right now. I think you can open it through your phone]

 “Thanks, Lu”

[You’re welcome. And keep me posted, okay? Though I'd still find out without you telling me] he replied. That's my best friend, I never doubt his capabilities. And I never doubted our friendship. [If anything comes up just call me, okay?]

"Don't worry I'll keep you posted. Thanks Lu"

[I trust you’ll make the right decisions once you get hold of this information]

"You can count on me on that" I reassured him and he hang up after heaving a sigh. I immediately checked my e-mail and saw that Lu Han indeed sent me a few files.

Apparently, he's been making good use of EXO's network and has gathered so much that I am astonished by his time management. I've learned he was included in the dean's list of his college which means his been passing his plates on time and been doing good studying yet he still manages to gather information such as these. But he has always been this capable even back in high school, he was the student council president, captain of the soccer team and still gets on top of class well just second to me though. Sometimes, I even wonder if I am going as good as him when the time comes when I need to run Wu Corp.

Lu Han wrote a note as subject of the mail - "will always have your back even if you get all ed up, Yifan"

I know and I am grateful to you and Yixing, Lu - I thought to myself while I waited for the files to be downloaded on my device. I opened each one of them and I was caught off guard by the information I have received.

I mean, this can't be right. How is this possible?

"Yifan" Taeyeon calls out, her head poking from the door to Myungsoo's room where I am sitting and was silently reading. I stopped reading the files Lu Han had sent me and looked up to face her.

I raised an eyebrow prompting her to say what she wanted to say. She was fiddling with her fingers after closing the door behind her. "You see... I..." She trailed off. I stood up and walked closer to her. I pocketed my phone to hide it from her, she must not see this. "What is it, Taeyeon?"

She looked up to me and bored her eyes on mine.

"Stay" she whispered but I heard it well. However, I wasn't sure if I was hearing things or not. Due to my lack of response she repeated what she just said confirming what I heard, "please stay Yifan"

-----------

Taeyeon's group of friends, Cho, Lee and the girl named Rose came over Jeonju as soon as they were able to meeting us at a coffee shop across the hospital. They weren't surprised to see me, obviously because of the phone conversation that transpired last night.