— Chapter 5 —

Together

The phone screen flickered on and off before being tossed to the side and hitting the wall with just enough force to crack the phone casing.

Nothing from her yet... It's been so long already. Too long.

Taeyeon hadn't sent any letters, nor had she replied to his. No messages from her were received either. A sigh left his lips and his hand reached up to sweep his fringe away from his eyes."My my my, Lee Jinki, you have definitely outdone yourself this time. Stop it, it's not helping with your studies." he mumbled to himself in the mirror, prodding at the dark circles that were starting to show under his eyes. It had been slightly more than two and a half years since Taeyeon had left for Harvard, and Jinki was still having difficulties coping with it. Fortunately her father was around as Jinki had temporarily moved in to his place, and his presence provided some comfort. It now seemed like he was taking care of Jinki instead of the other way round.

What happened to her? Is she fine? Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the sound of the door opening made him spin around. 

"Good morning! I got breakfast for you, so come out before it gets cold," Mr Kim chirped, smiling warmly.

"Oh, thank you very much, Mr Kim," he bowed quickly and walked to the door.

"After such a long time, you're still calling me that? Just call me Dad."

"What?"

"Just messing with you, kid," he chuckled before turning to make his way to the dining table.

***

The chopsticks were set on the bowl with a cling. Jinki looked up sharply, half-expecting to find an exasperated face looking at him. Instead, Mr Kim was smiling broadly, even more than usual.

"Uh... Is there anything you need?" he asked unsurely, raising his eyebrow at the sudden friendliness showing on the older man's facial expression.

"Seriously, tell me the truth. You like my little girl Taeyeon, don't you?" Mr Kim asked, his smile disappearing as soon as it had appeared.

Jinki almost choked on his rice at that moment, causing the other to laugh softly. He could feel the heat rising up his cheeks as he tried to look away.

"W-Where did you get that idea from? It's nothing like that..." his voice got softer toward the end of his reply.

"I've been through a lot more than you have, my dear boy. I can easily tell from your behaviour. It's fine. In fact, it's wonderful. You're a very nice and caring boy, Taeyeon deserves someone like you. Besides, I've been treating you like my own son," Mr Kim calmly said, holding Jinki by the shoulder and giving it a light squeeze in an attempt to help him relax.

Jinki looked down, biting down on his inner cheeks. It was really embarrassing for someone to find out about his feelings without him saying anything. At the same time, he felt somewhat comforted. He had the support and approval of Taeyeon's father.

"I don't know much about my girl, but from what I saw before she left, there is a huge probability of her liking you as well. If you still have the same feelings towards her when she comes back, don't stay silent or you might regret it."

"Thank you."

The older man only replied with a fatherly smile before getting up to wash the plates. A comfortable silence filled the atmosphere as Jinki went up to his side to help out with the dishes.

Yet unknown to them, Taeyeon was lying weakly in her bed, resting uneasily.

***

As soon as his eyes were open, Jinki rolled off his bed and lay there for a moment before getting up to his daily routine. He made sure his breath was fresh, his hair was neat and his clothes were in perfect condition. It was only when he was done that he realised it was still hours before the time they needed to leave the apartment for the airport. Disappointed, he slumped against the couch but quickly sat back up to flatten his shirt. He let out a sigh of relief when he was finally sure it wasn't crumpled. When Mr Kim walked out and saw Jinki in the living room, the two exchanged knowing smiles.

***

Jinki was a nervous wreck at the arrival hall. Pacing back and forth, he glanced at the flight arrival board every few seconds.

"Sheesh, just sit down will you?" Jessica muttered, staring at the man in annoyance as he walked to and fro. "You're making me dizzy."

The moment she finished her sentence, a taller female with wavy locks of burnt umber gently ushered Jinki to a nearby seat. She rummaged through her bag, fishing out a small pack of mints and a water bottle.

"You just sit here and drink up, all right? Taeyeon unnie's flight has just landed, do not worry. Would you like a mint?" the female placed the bottle on his left and politely offered the sweets to him with two hands. After he took a mint and popped it into his mouth, she smiled warmly and took out a sweet potato wrapped in foil, eating away happily.

Pretending to peer into her bag, Jinki lightly joked, "Do you have a convenience store in there, Joohyun?" She shook her head and laughed softly, covering just in case the sweet potato decided to fly out.

"You're still eating sweet potatoes everywhere... I'm really impressed."

"I like sweet potatoes very much, of course I would!" she admitted proudly.

After a few minutes of light-hearted chatter, the group decided to wait outside the doors of the baggage claim area.

"Too bad Minho and the other guys couldn't make it..." Sooyoung pouted, slightly upset that a few members of their group were missing.

"Don't forget about Yuri, Yoona and Soonkyu! You're always going on about Minho. Everyday it's Minho this, Minho that. We all know you love him very much, but could you take it down a notch, please?" Hyoyeon begged, poking her friend in the forehead.

"At least Jinki hyung and I are here. We're guys..." Taemin said softly.

"We know- Oh, look! Taeyeon!" Jessica squealed, waving frantically at the petite female emerging from the doors.

Jinki and Mr Kim looked up instantly and moved to the front of the group. Taeyeon waved back, with less energy. Her skin was as white as ever, and her sunglasses covered a large part of her face. But as she got closer, one couldn't help but notice that she looked drained. She wasn't just pale, she looked almost ghostly. The spring in her steps was gone, making her seem like she was dragging her feet across her floor.

"Hi guys... Glad you could come pick me up together," Taeyeon breathed, her smile a little strained and weak.

"Taeyeon! Thank goodness you're still in one piece. You have no idea how much I was worrying about you," Tiffany gushed, bouncing up and down beside her friend.

The group circled around Taeyeon with comments flitting around to welcome her back and show concern. Taeyeon wrapped her arms around her father, relishing the warmth he gave her, which perked her up slightly. He in turn did the same, squeezing her gently in his arms.

"I missed you so much."

Slowly releasing herself from the hug, she turned her head to face Jinki, who immediately pulled her into another warm embrace, making her blush.

"You must be exhausted. Did you get some sleep on the plane?" he asked her after feeling her limply resting against him.

"She did," a voice said from behind the group. Everybody quickly turned to see... Oh Sehun. Biting down on his lollipop, he stuffed a hand into his pocket and cocked his head. "Don't get me wrong, I just happened to have a seat on the plane behind her."

"What?" he asked, eyeing the group in distaste when he realised almost everybody was staring at him. "Is it wrong to be here?"

Taemin stepped forward defensively in front of the taller man. "Don't you dare try anything stupid."

"Taemin, relax, Sehun's been pretty... nice to me back at Harvard." Taeyeon spoke softly, gesturing for the younger one to back down.

"Just because I've been nice, it doesn't mean I'm done with you yet." Sehun tried moving closer but froze in his tracks when he noticed Taeyeon's father staring daggers at him.

Jinki made a split-second decision at that moment and put an arm around Taeyeon's small waist, pulling her closer to him. "Don't even try, she's already taken. From this moment onward, Taeyeon is my girlfriend," he proclaimed confidently. All attention was now directed to him, accompanied by soft gasps of surprise. Sehun's mouth opened and closed but not even a peep came out of his mouth. Meanwhile, a bright crimson spread across Taeyeon's cheeks as she buried her face in the crook of Jinki's neck.

"You stupid boy," she mumbled, unable to stop herself from smiling.

A/N: Hey~ Finally back with a new chapter! How do you like the story so far? Sorry if it wasn't as good as the previous ones, exams took a long time = A = Responsibilities, preparing for the school's charity bazaar got on the way too. Partly also because I was lazy. Sorry! (at least i'm being honest) But anyway, I'd like to thank littlemisshappyify, itsrj90, minyul8, Ilovemath and yunyuncake for subscribing! 

Is everybody doing fine? I hope you are~ ^^ Since it's the June holidays now, I'll try to update as much as I can! I hope everyone will have a great time during the holidays and good luck for your holiday assignments as well!

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