Mr. Kim stealthily snuck into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The glorious cups of Creme Brulee, gifted to the Kim family by their neighbors, sat amongst other cans of puree. He slowly reached his hand in and grabbed one cup, smirking a little. He then quickly swiped a dessert spoon from the drawer and dug it into the sweetness, his nerves tingling in excitement. Just as he was about to take a bite, the door bell rang and he looked at the hallway and then at the cup which rest in his hands.

Setting the dessert down to his dismay, he answered the door with an angry frown and was greeted by his step-son and a pretty girl. L hugged his father who averted his eyes to the sudden new guest. " Dad, has Kai arrived yet?"

Mr. Kim slowly shook his head, unable to keep his eyes off the girl. " I didn't know you and your brother were coming over. Your mother is going to hit me since the house is such a mess!" He grumbled and L laughed. He led Irene inside with his hand on her back and she respectfully bowed to his father. " This is Irene, my manager's daughter." Mr. Kim rose his brows a little to give his son a look but then smiled when Irene greeted him brightly. 

" I brought a house warming present. It isn't much," she began and produced a large bag. " Myungsoo-ah, can you help me?" she asked and he moved at once. They both set the bag onto the kitchen counter and Mr. Kim watched his son carefully.

A padding of footsteps along with an inquisitive voice hurried down the stairs and before they knew it, Mrs. Kim had made her appearance. " Oh, Myungsoo!" She rushed forward to hug her son who happily returned the gesture. Him and Kai didn't see their parents on a daily basis so it was always heartwarming to visit their old house and share a laugh with them.

Mrs. Kim turned to Irene with a curious glance. " Who is this?"

" Irene, my manager's daughter." L replied and Irene bowed once again. " Hello, it is very nice to meet you Mrs. Kim. Myungsoo has told me so much about you!" She chuckled and so did Mrs. Kim. Then her eyes fell onto her husband who stood beside the uneaten Creme Brulee and she narrowed them dangerously. " Yah, I told you not to touch any sweets!" She scolded and her husband sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

L pointed at the bag, " Mom, Irene bought some presents for you. Personally, I think you will like them. She's got great taste," he bumped his shoulder with hers and his mother gave him a surprised look. " You didn't have to do that sweetheart," Although Mrs. Kim denied the need to accept presents, her body automatically pulled towards the bag and L laughed watching his mother. He knew her too well.

" But why did you suddenly show up?" asked Mr. Kim. Before L could answer, the door bell rang once again, announcing the arrival of the other Kim son. Mr. Kim answered the door again and greeted Kai who had brought Krystal along. " Oh Soojung-ah!" Mr. Kim hugged the girl voluntarily before he hugged his son. Kai pouted in response and Mr. Kim smacked his head. " Ah, why dad?!" He whined and with a roll of her eyes, Krystal pushed both men back inside the house and happily skipped down the hall to greet Mrs. Kim.

Kai did the same and soon, the three couples were settled onto the couches in the living room, chatting away in enthusiasm. " So, exactly why did my two loving sons come to see their young and hip parents?" asked Mrs. Kim and simultaneously, both Kai and L lowered their heads in shame, shoulders shaking in embarrassed laughter. " Mom, nobody says hip anymore," Kai smirked. Krystal hit his shoulder playfully and smiled at Mrs. Kim," Shut up. Mrs. Kim, you are young and hip- always will be!" She cheered and L felt butterflies in his stomach. She was so perfect.

" To answer your question, we were wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner." Kai replied and Mrs. Kim's expression brightened. " Oh, yes, we would love to. Where are we going? Gangnam? Samcheong-dong? Itaewon?" 

Krystal clapped her hands, " Yeoksamdong has this amazing place called Goraebul where the seafood is live, caught fresh from the sea, and the chefs prepare it for you instantly." Mr. Kim's eyes lit up at her words and he gave his wife a wink, " What are we waiting for? Food is calling to me!" Peals of laughter hung in the air as the parental figures slipped upstairs to begin getting ready. Irene looked at Kai from the corner of her eye. He hadn't been overly-affectionate with Krystal so she wondered if everything was all right between them.

All of her suspicions vanished when Kai took hold of Krystal's hand and intertwined their fingers, loosely holding onto them with a smile. She leaned in to whisper something in his ear and he chuckled cutely. Irene stared at them and her heart hurt. It hurt a lot, in fact. She quickly looked away to ease the pain and then found a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulder. L got close to her face so his breath hit her cheek, " The pain hurts but don't forget that I understand because I am suffering too," his voice was barely a whisper and she jolted back to stare at him wide eyed.

Irene blinked. " Oh yeah..." She trailed off and then saw Kai watching her with a lazy smile on his face. Why is he looking at me like that? Her insides squirmed and she forced herself to face away from his gaze. L focused on watching Krystal who seemed to avoid his stare. Ever since returning from the trip, she had been avoiding him. Granted, they hadn't spoken much for the past week but the link between them had widened.

L knew they had grown a bit distant since he began 'dating' Irene. And Krystal 'dating' Kai didn't help the cause at all. " Oh Irene-ah, you said you liked cats right?" Kai suddenly asked. She nodded tentatively and he stood up with a grin. " Then follow me, 'cuz we have this wicked neighborhood cat who always hangs around our backyard. Mom usually feeds her some food and milk." He grabbed her hand without a second thought and lead her away and in the direction of the backyard.

Krystal and L were left alone to fend for themselves. She bit her lip, no thoughts coming to mind. His mind drew a blank.

Both did not know how to initiate a conversation and she mentally cursed herself. All three years of growing into an outspoken woman went to waste as she got tongue tied in front of her crush.

L on the other hand was completely thrown off by Kai's sudden interest in showing Irene the mystery cat he had never heard of. He looked at Krystal who held eye-contact for a moment before clearing awkwardly. " Uh, so, I heard the economy will hit an all-time high this year," she lamely began the conversation and immediately bit her lip after the words escaped. Economy? What the hell Jung Soojung? Great way to grab his attention, idiot, she thought.  

An amused smile painted L's lips and he them. " Um, yeah. I also heard the the oil industry has been booming recently," he shot back with a playful smirk. She gulped down the laughter that threatened to spill out and crossed her arms. " And let's not forget our nation's dog, Jindo, who have increasingly been used in police work." She replied and he couldn't help but chuckle.

" Okay, spill it. Why are we talking about useless things?" He questioned and she gave him a slight frown. " To be completely honest, I feel like we've become a bit distant."

" I was actually thinking the same," his answer caught her off-guard. So he did notice...

" If we're both being honest here Soojung, I think what's changed is that you left and then suddenly came back, and I did not know what to do. The time you were gone-"

" Oh my God, this thing again?" She asked, getting annoyed. He noticed the change in her tone right away and backed off instantly. He had to keep the atmosphere light and bubbly, or others would take note.

" I'm sorry, I won't bring it up next time. Let's just enjoy this dinner all right?" L said with a small smile and her shoulders quickly relaxed. Mr. and Mrs. Kim entered the living room with their belongings as Kai and Irene re-entered the house. Mrs. Kim clucked her tongue at L and Krystal, " Why are you two love birds fighting already? Stop arguing and start hugging!" She exclaimed and Mr. Kim gave his wife a look of worry. She seemed to have gotten it all wrong!

Irene gulped and grimaced slightly. " Uh, he's my... boyfriend," she meekly stated and Mrs. Kim's mouth dropped open. " Oh my, forgive me Irene-ah! Myungsoo and Soojung were squabbling like the old times so I thought-"

" Mom, Soojung and I are actually dating," Kai chimed in and quickly stood at his (ex) girlfriend's side to prove his point. Mr. Kim face palmed and grumbled under his breath. " And you accuse me of never listening and always jumping to conclusions."

If Kai hadn't held his mother back, her shoe would have smacked Mr. Kim in the face.

Seulgi wiped the back of her hand onto her forehead with an exasperated sigh. " Damn, I lost count of how many times I had to do the dishes today," she muttered to no one in particular. The cafe was empty as she had flipped the Open sign to Closed just half an hour prior to doing the dishes. Minhyuk had left her all alone with work piled high on her shoulders since he suddenly had gotten the offer for an interview in Japan. With her older brother gone for the week, she had nobody to help out.

Since it was a family-owned business, her parents lived in China, sending money back and forth to help with tuition for college and other necessities. Seulgi threw the dirty wipe into a soap filled container and rolled out her neck. It was approximately close to nine o' clock when the door to her cafe swung open with force. In rushed an agitated Jungkook who quickly ducked behind the counter, startling her very much.

" What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed but he shut her up by grabbing her hand and locking them together. She tried to pull away and opened to ask what he was doing when the cafe door was thrown open once again. " Oppa! Why did you run away like that? I wanted to talk to you!" A girl with big doe eyes and long brown locked entered through the doors while whinnying cutely.

Jungkook frowned, " I told you I had a girlfriend, Yein." He gestured to his and Seulgi's intertwined hands and Yein's orbs widened. " You weren't kidding about dating someone, Oppa?" Her voice cracked and she looked close to tears which broke Seulgi's heart. She squirmed her hand but Jungkook's grasp was tight and strong. Yein then completely changed her demeanor to narrow her eyes and glare at Seulgi with malice.

" I don't understand what a handsome guy like you is doing with such an ugly looking thing like her." Yein's posture was composed and confident, the exact opposite of what she had been just moments ago. " Don't you think she's a bit too old, Oppa? She could practically be sleeping around with old drunk guys and you would never know since you're in school with me. Plus, she isn't attractive at all and works in a disgusting place where she picks up dishes after people like me and you- the rich folk. She is busking, don't you get it?" Yein snarled and Seulgi flinched.

Jungkook noticed Seulgi's discomfort and decided to step in since he had listened to enough crap Yein spouted. " First of all, Noona might be a few years older, but it doesn't matter. Haven't you heard that love has no boundaries? No age?" he replied calmly.  " Second of all, who are you to judge a person's beauty when practically you cake on make-up and put in fake hair extensions? Thirdly, she might be working but at least she's doing something productive with her life, unlike you, who only goes on shopping sprees to burn money."

The moment he was done, Yein sent a look to Seulgi that could have broken glass. Seulgi only stared at Jungkook with hanging open while Yein stormed off in tears. Jungkook sighed and dropped his shoulders, relieved that Yein had finally gotten off his back. He quickly glanced at Seulgi whose cheeks tainted a slight pink and then realized that their hands were still entwined.

" Uh," he awkwardly coughed and let go of her hand while she fanned her burning cheeks. A moment of silence passed by until Seulgi giggled silently. " I've closed the shop but do you want something to eat? After that awesome comeback which completely crushed her, I think you deserve a treat, don't you think?" she asked. Jungkook found himself nodding to her words and she disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some food for the boy.

He waited five minutes at a table, hardly looking at his phone. He was only staring at her as she worked. Why did I stand up for her? What made me do that? " A Red Velvet Latte and a red bean cake," Seulgi stated, placing it in front of him. It was the very first meal he had eaten at the cafe the day he landed in Seoul. He sent her an appreciative smile to which she beamed. " Thank you for what you said back there," She seemed genuinely thankful so he shrugged lightly, the aura of confidence once again taking over.

" You don't me