The next day started the same as always, everything was almost usual except that this time Kris didn’t show up in your door, didn’t talk to your brother while stealing a bite from your breakfast nor he drove you to school. Right after your call with Kris ended, the men guarding your house were gone and didn’t seem like they came back that night.

That day you walked and as you were about to turn on the corner a dejavu feeling hit you when you bumped in your newest friend: Leo.

“Careful” he said with sleepy voice, smiling down at you “I don’t want to lose my phone again”

“Oh, hey, sorry” you rubbed your eyes “good morning”

“Morning” he replied and started to walk, dragging his feet, you noticed he had slightly visible dark circles under his eyes

“You look tired”

“Just a little” he nodded. A movement of his hand caught your attention: it was bruised and scaled, like he had been into a fight or something like that.

“You shouldn’t get close to him” the voice of your classmate echoed in your head. But all the chats you’ve had with him had more weight on your choice.

“What happened to your hand?”

“Nothing.... Well i ... How to put it... I stood up for a friend.”

“Oh i see”

“You want to ask if I really hit that teacher, right.?

W...what? No, I don’t know what you are talking about...

Don’t lie; I know everybody at school knows about it. But you are like a bookworm so maybe you really don’t know

You nodded

I'll just tell you this: I did hit him, but it was nothing related to school, he is my friend's stepfather and I was protecting him.

You nodded again not sure of what you should say

"So...what happened to 'him'?" He referred to Kris, obviously changing the subject

"Kris...ehm... well, i dont know"

"Stop thinking about him" he bluntly said "he is not worth you"

"What?" You chocked "and how is that"

He looked away

"Well, it looks to me he is just words and his first priority is himself"

You couldn’t help but getting annoyed at him for ill-talking your friend.

"He has his reasons. What do you know about us?" you spitted and frowned. He looked down at you, arching his brows but no word crossed his lips. He knew you were right but his jealousy took the best of him when he saw you looking down because of Kris

The rest of the walk was quiet, more precisely: awkward. It was until you arrived at school that he broke the silence with a little nod and walked away. He was clearly upset and you knew he had a reason to be so, you were aggressive and he was trying to give you advice.

“I’m sorry” you stopped him half-way; he slowly turned around to face you, surprise was clear on his face.

“It’s not me who you should be sorry for, it’s yourself” he looked away, put his hand in his pockets before meeting your eyes again “you should treasure yourself a little, you are worth it”

 You were overwhelmed by his words; like he appeared so dazzling just then and you could not find an appropriate answer to what he said that he stopped waiting for a reply and continued his way to class.

“What was that?” a high pitched voice startled you.

You turned around and found your nemesis standing behind you, clearly entertained. You rolled your eyes back.

“You sure move fast” she giggled “Not that I can blame you, he is cute”

You panicked for a moment at the thought she might tell Kris about but Leo’s advice erased it.

“Well, it’s not like I’m engaged to someone” you shrugged.

Charlotte’s fairy-like features got twisted for a moment but she got her cool back before anyone else could notice.

“Not anyone can become the wife’s of a millionaire” she scoffed arching her perfectly lined eyebrows “Just saying”

Your throat was burning and you had to swallow the bile accumulating inside you.

“Indeed” was the only thing that you could answer before walking away from her as fast as you could.

She stood there, smirking to herself when someone cleared his throat. Now she was the one startled.

“What was that?” Kris asked.

“Just a morning chat with your friend”.

As soon as she turned around, her eyes went wider at the sight of Kris’ new look. His hair was now black, a total change from the blonde tone he used to rock since years ago.

“Looks good on you” she pointed to his head “Did you change it for the wedding?” An invisible force punched Kris in the stomach when she mentioned the event.

“I’m also going to pick my dress today; it’s going to be a hard choice since they’re all so pretty” she said as if she was talking to herself, Kris noted the nervousness in her act; she blinked too much and her fingers were entwined behind her back

 “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Wrong?” she was taken aback by his question “Nothing, it’s just that the wedding was pushed forward and all, it’s making me anxious”

“Anxious?” Kris eyebrows curved up “Why would you be?”

“I’m a girl, we get nervous over things like this” she pouted and for a moment Kris found her cute. “By the way, are you going to invite her?”

“To the wedding?! Are you crazy? Of course not. And you better don’t or I’ll kill you” he overreacted.

“I won’t mess with her from now on, I promise” she fanned with her hand “at least not because she is your friend, but she has something that makes me want to pick on her”

“Stop it” he glared at her.

She looked at the watch on her wrist.

“Well, I have to get going to class; I can’t neglect my studies just because we are going to get married in two weeks.”

You were reading your notes before the test when your phone buzzed on your desk.

User9011: Do well in your test. Don’t cheat

You: Same goes for you.

User9011:  I don’t want to spend my holidays with the frog

He referred to have to retake a class during holidays if you failed the test.

“What? You are all lovey-dovey so early in the morning?” Hakyeon snatched the phone from Leo, who immediately blushed and snatched it back.

“We are not, we just met”

“But you wish you were”

Leo didn’t deny it; his attention was dragged to the green-eyed girl walking through the door. Hakyeon followed his sight and then looked away, to not catch her attention; his shoulders tensed. She nodded as she walked pass them and took her seat. For a moment Leo thought that she knew about Hakyeon being her half-brother.

“You should make a move soon” Hakyeon said to Leo, in part to distract himself from the growing tension in the room “Christmas is just around the corner”

Leo rolled his eyes and started to type again, hiding the little grin appearing on his face.

You: so you have plans for Holidays

User9011: Do you?

You: I asked first >:(

User9011: Yes, I’ll spend Christmas with someone.

You were taken aback by his reply, for you were expecting him to say he didn’t have plans or that he would be with his family.  You thought your answer carefully, and before you could come out with something good, the class started so you had to put down your phone.

Leo started to grow anxious when his phone didn’t ring soon and Hakyeon noticed.

“What is it?” he leaned his head to steal a glimpse at his conversation “oh, my” he gasped “maybe she wanted to spend it together” he teased his friend “why did you say that? It’s not like we cant cancel our plans and celebrate later”

The black haired guy shrugged and exhaled.

“I wanted a reaction but now I’m not sure”

“It looks to me like she is jealous.Even though she might still be in love with his friend” Leo’s heart clenched at Hakyeon’s words “But girls get jealous even for her friends, so that could be a good signal”

The older guy gave his friend a thumbs up along with a bright smile.

“are we friends?” Leo asked himself

After class you wanted to go straight home, so you were walking across the parking lot at full speed when the sight of Kris getting into his car stopped you in your tracks; you immediately noticed his hair had changed for a more mature look.’

Does that mean he wants to start anew?

Your inner thoughts were crashed down when his fiancée appeared next to him and took the passenger seat. He looked at her indifferently but didn’t seem to be bothered by her. They were seating next to each other but the scene looked like straight out of a photoshoot; it was the first time you looked at them together after what happened that night and you couldn’t stop the pain and envy growing inside you.

You averted your eyes and continued your way.

Kris looked at Charlotte as they pull out of the parking lot. Once they were far away from the school ground his expression changed drastically, his brows knitted together and he huffed.

“Are you enjoying this?” he groaned.

“Just a little” she giggled “I’ve never liked unwanted attention but having reporters following us even at school is really fun; I guess that’s what I get for marrying into the Wu family; or is it you who is marrying into the Kim family?” she tried to make a joke but it was a strong jab in Kris’s stomach.

“Are you sure you want that? … Marrying a man that loves another woman” Kris looked into her eyes, Charlotte blushed for a moment but looked away to hide it “I’m asking this as a friend”

“I’ll tell you something as a friend as well” now she looked at him, her emerald eyes pierced his eyes; they reminded him about the day he met her (also the say he met you). There was no trace of malice in them, just full conviction on her beliefs. “I was born from an arranged marriage” she gulped down “So don’t try to tell me what it’s like”

 Kris was left speechless for a moment until she continued.

“If you want to cancel this engagement, do it yourself; because I won’t”

You arrived home and to your surprise your brother had made the dinner.

“What? Are we celebrating something?”

“No, but you’ve been sick lately, right? I don’t want my food to be touched by you” the young boy said in an over acted way.

You just nodded and walked towards your room to get changed; it was when you placed your phone on your desk that remembered that you hadn’t replied to Leo. You changed and started to type.

Not this year you first wrote but deleted it and started a new message

You: I have plans too; I’ll have a lot of fun at home -______-. Have fun with “someone”

Leo, who was eating at home, was startled by the sound of his phone buzzing on the table. He read your message and smiled. He hesitated before replying

User9011: “Someone” just canceled. Want to do something together?

You read the text twice before a grin took over your lips and your hands tickled with anticipation for an unknown reason. You wondered if it was right for you to be happy when you just had a fight with Kris.

You: Sure

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Sorry for the wait! I was on vacation in Mississippi! (yaaaaaaaay!!) but now I'm back and writting at full speed!

And also working on a video teaser for BLANK, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8UrvIWJHBc&feature=youtu.be​

You were able to know a little bit more of Hakyeon and Charlotte this time, and there's still a lot more to come in the next chapters. I hope you don't get tired reading so many chapters :P 

Thank you for sharing, voting and commenting! You are the best :D ♥ 

I know this is selfish from me but I want this story to get featured so I hope you can help upvoting this story