A few days later...

Dongwoon and Doojoon walked into the mall and headed for the office building. Turning around the corner, Doojoon immediately hid back in the corner after pulling his younger friend with him. It seemed like he was hiding or something. "What's wrong hyung?"

"It's that kid again." Doojoon muttered, as he peeked at the blonde guy near the elevator for the third time. 

"Who you talking about hyung?" Dongwoon peeked out as well, seeing an old business guy and a young blonde guy. "The blonde guy?" 

"Yeah him. Junhyung and I saw him stalking us or possibly Hara." Doojoon said as he felt chills come up his spine, "And I think I saw him around Kikwang's house the other day too." Dongwoon listened attentively as he finally got a good look at the kid when the blonde entered the elevator, "Oh him? Though he looks mean, he's actually pretty nice." 

Doojoon gasped, "You know him?"

"Yeah. We met in the elevator before. After that, I've been seeing him around the mall and the office building quite a lot actually."

Shocked by the news, Doojoon quickly ran to the elevators to see which number the light lit up in. "38?" What was that stalker doing at the top floor?

In their office lounge on the 35th floor…

“Wait slow down Yoseob, where are the papers?” Junhyung held his phone in between his left ear and shoulder. After finding the papers in the drawer in the guest room, he headed out and hung up after Yoseob asked him to help sort them out. He was so concentrated on organizing it that he didn’t notice the extra presence in the room. Apparently, they were there for a while now.

"Aishhh! Molla!!!" Doojoon fell back on the couch. He and Dongwoon have been discussing about what to do about his sister’s boyfriend. Just then Min walked in, "What's wrong?" 

"His sister's boyfriend asked for his approval to marry her, but he doesn't know if he is the one for her, so he’s gonna test him. Y'know, Hyung being really protective and all." Dongwoon explained, only to receive glares from both Junhyung and Doojoon. 

"That blabber mouth." Junhyung muttered as Doojoon ran a hand through his hair and sighed. 

“Oh.” Min mouthed, looking at Dongwoon to explain some more because she was still confused on how he was going to test him. The Arabic prince grinned, “He’s gonna send a lady to seduce the guy.” winking at Min. She laughed at the plan as she walked towards Junhyung and helped him sort out the papers easily, “Who’s he sending?”

“He hasn’t found anyone yet… Oh wait, I have an idea!” Dongwoon tapped Doojoon on the arm, “Hyung, why not send Min?” 

“NO!” Both Doojoon and Junhyung answered. Doojoon quickly composed himself in his seat and went to plan B, “Change of plans. No y lady, I’m just going to spy on him.” 

“Good idea.” Junhyung supported. Min wanted to help Doojoon, but she's been so caught up with work lately, she was too tired to protest, so she decided to let it go for now. She'll just see what happens later, knowing they'll get nothing by spying on the guy. Junhyung took the stack of papers they finished organizing and put most of them in an expanding file folder and the rest of them in different folders as Min plopped herself down on the other couch near the pool table. Letting exhaustion get the best of her, her eyes slowly gave up to sleep without knowing it. 

It was around mid-evening when Min woke up from her accidental nap. Her eyes slowly opening, she began to regain consciousness of where she was at. As she sat herself up, she found herself covered in three jackets head to toe. Smiling, she looked around to find the owners of the jackets, only to find the lounge empty of them. Min got up and checked for any new messages on her phone.

DW - Minnie, we’re at Sobros cafe (GUYS, SOBROS CAFE IS MADE UP) spying on our little prey ;) DJ hyung + JH hyung told me not to tell u but i thought u would wanna know <3 

DW - oh btw, u can use my car! keys on the pool table XD

DW - minnie save meee! I’m so bored! 

5m ago

Min grinned, grabbed their jackets, Dongwoon’s keys and headed out to her destination.

“So… he likes to read in the park...” Dongwoon stated as he tried to keep his eyes on the guy. It’s already been 20 minutes since they had their eyes on Doojoon’s possible brother-in-law. So far, he took a walk around the park near the cafe, climbed a tree to get back a balloon for a little boy, helped an old lady who dropped her bags, and now he’s sitting down on a bench reading. “And he helps children and the elderly? He seems like a family man.” 

Doojoon sighed, “Yeah.” 

“Face it, he’s not bad.” Junhyung said, sipping on his drink. “Bro, just accept him already.” There wasn’t anything bad they had observed. Bonus was that he was good looking, but that made Doojoon even more cautious about him. 

“No. Not yet. I have to be sure he is the one.” Doojoon said. 

“And how are you going to do that just by staring at the guy?” All eyes turned to meet the familiar voice. 

“Minnie? What are you doing here?” Junhyung asked as Min handed back their jackets. 

“Question is how did you know we were here?” Doojoon slowly moved his stare to Dongwoon and gave him a questioning look, to which Dongwoon only shrugged. 

“Never mind that! I hope you don’t mind I ordered us some food, kinda hungry.” Min sat down in the extra seat and the waitress came over with a few plates of sandwiches and fries. Without a word, they all just began digging in while keeping an eye on the guy. It wasn’t long til the plates were close to being cleared and Min excused herself to use the restroom. 

“These fries are amazing.” Doojoon stabbed his fork in the remaining fries and stuffed them in the mouth. Junhyung and Dongwoon were also enjoying their food until suddenly, Doojoon’s phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, he answered it, “What’s up, Minnie? Did something happen in the bathroom?” His question caused Junhyung and Dongwoon to give questioning looks to Doojoon. “Hahaha no nothing happened. Doojoon oppa, do you trust me?” Doojoon heard Min say in the other end of the line.

“Yeah, of course. Why?” 

“Then don’t hang up and just listen, okay?” 

“Okay.” Doojoon’s face scrunched up after hearing nothing, “Hello? Minnie? Are you there?” Again, there was no response, so he started to turn around and look towards the ladies’ restroom area, causing his two friends to do the same. “What’s wrong?” Junhyung asked, sensing something wrong. Whenever there was something that was possibly bad concerning their little friend, it always get him all worked up. 

“I don’t know. The line is still on but she’s not answering me.” 

“Hyung!” Both Junhyung and Doojoon looked at the notice of their younger friend. Dongwoon pointed out the window, back to their target they had been focusing on earlier. He was still sitting on the bench. “Woonie, I’m trying to find wher-“ Doojoon didn’t get to finish his sentence when he caught sight of another familiar figure come to view. The short figure started towards the bench their target was sitting on. 

“Minnie?” Doojoon and Junhyung coincidentally said in unison. What was she doing out there? 

Doojoon clutched his phone harder. I don’t want her anywhere close to him! He quickly got up from his seat but was stopped just as quickly by Dongwoon’s comment, “Hyung, just give her a chance. Don’t you trust her?” Trust her? Of course, bu- “Then don’t hang up and just listen, okay?” Doojoon sighed as he recalled what she had said. He kept the phone next to his ear and sat himself down making Junhyung do the same. They sat there, silently watching what their friend was going to do.

"Okay. Just breathe, Min. You got this.” Min quietly assured herself. She stomped to the bench he was at and roughly dropped herself on the other end of the bench. Running a hand through her hair, she let out a frustrated huff. Hope this works.

“Excuse me, miss? Is everything okay?” 

Thank you! Min turned to the man next to her, keeping her act in play. “Yeah,” she said blankly, making it obvious it was a lie. Min faked another sigh, “I mean no, I’m not fine.” 

The three of them sat there watching Min carry a conversation with the man. She looked troubled and confused as she conversed with him, who looked like some kind of therapist. Seconds later, they both seem like friends having a deep conversation. They shared understanding nods and a few comforting pats on the shoulder. No one knew what they were talking about. Well, except Doojoon. His eyes never left them as he kept the phone close to his ear. Before they knew it, the guy shook hands with Min and left. She turned around, facing the cafe and brought her phone (which she held the whole time) up to her ear.  

“I never approved of this Min, but thank you. Mission complete.” Doojoon said through the phone, smiling when he saw her pump a fist of victory.

“So… does that mean you approve?” Dongwoon asked. 

Doojoon smirked, “Yeah.” 

“Hey, what you looking for?” Junhyung asked as he saw Min shuffling through drawers from his peripheral. The two returned to their office lounge shortly after they finished lunch and their little “brother in law” mission because they still had some paperworks to finish. Min opened another drawer and searched again.

“Bandaids.” 

Junhyung looked up from his papers and went over to Min. “What happened?” 

“I tripped when I ran out the cafe at first.” She quietly said like she had done something wrong. She stopped searching and turned around, “It’s just a small scratch though, see.” showing him her scraped palm. He reached for her hand gently to examine the cut. It wasn’t too bad, but he knew it bled earlier. 

Junhyung sighed, “Idiot. Why were you running?” 

Min looked down in shame, cowering a little after he leaned a little closer. Her eyes peeked up only to see him getting bandaids from the cabinet above her.  “Because I didn’t want you guys to see me. You would’ve stopped me from talking to him.” Looking down at her pout, it was hard not to stay mad. Not that he was anyway. She was right though. If they had seen her, they would’ve stopped her from doing anything and Doojoon would’ve never gotten his answer. Junhyung smiled at Min being her usual selfless self. “C’mon, let me help you.” 

They sat at the table and Min rested her head up with one hand and placed the injured one in front of Junhyung. She watched him kindly clean the wound and put the healing cream on her. He was so careful with her like he was afraid that it would hurt. Like she was so fragile. Who knew those hands that once aggressively grabbed her in for a kiss could be so gentle and warm? Hara missed out big time, Min thought. She smiled as she kept her gaze on the focused Junhyung put the bandaid on perfectly. “Thanks."

In an hour or two, Junhyung and Min finished some paperwork and at one point, Yoseob came in to share some good news to Min. Her project was accepted. She was so excited, she started planning right then and there. Both Junhyung and Yoseob couldn’t help but contribute as well. They were very happy for her and wanted the best for her. They helped Min with her research, blueprints and even suggested some more cool ideas. Their hard work never stopped and eventually, they all fell asleep. Min was the first to wake up. She chuckled at her sleeping friends next to her and silently thanked them. It wasn’t long until the two woke up and they all went out for dinner. Yoseob left right after dinner after being told to do so by Min. Out of the three, he looked the most drained by all the brain power he used, not to mention he had some other work he had to take care of recently. Junhyung drove Min back home and being the noble man he was, he even walked her up to her door. They were in a nice neighborhood, but it was dark and one could never be too safe. 

“Hey, make sure you get some rest okay?” 

“Don’t worry about me, you’re the one that needs the rest. Sleep in tomorrow.” Min smiled and cut Junhyung when he was about to say something, “I’ll call you if I some help, okay?” 

“Okay.” Junhyung returned a smile and gave her a goodbye hug before he made Min go in the house. Seeing that she was safe and sound inside, he hopped into his car and left.

A few minutes later, Min came out of her house, dressed in new clothes. A pair of dark grey capri sweats and a big black sweatshirt. She looked around her house secretively and finding the coast clear, she put her hood on. After walking down a few blocks, she got into a black car. “Did you find him?” She asked, looking at the driver.

“Yeah.” 

“Whats wrong?” Min asked after she saw the man hesitate. He looked at her apologetically and shifted his gear to drive, “You have to see this for yourself.” She strapped her seat belt on and looked out the window, “Where are we going?” 

He didn’t say anything, so Min sat quietly and tried to locate their destination when he drove around. It was about 30 minutes until the driver parked in a classic neighborhood. After turning off the engine, he turned to Min, “Do you see that house there?” he asked, pointing at the big dark blue house, two houses away and across the street. “Yeah?” 

“Mr. Kim lives there…” he sighed, “with another woman and her daughter.”

Min wasn’t sure how to take it, but she was surprised how well she fought back the urge to charge in the house and break everything she saw. She was angry of course, but what did she expect? Her father was never home and never treasured his wife and daughter, there were a ton of possibilities what he did when he was “busy.” Now that she thought about it, it all made sense now. All those times he was never at home, he was here, cheating on her mom. 

The man glanced at his watch, “They should be coming soon.” A few minutes later, they saw a black car stop near the blue house, and much to Min’s distaste, she saw her father step out the car, with a woman and a daughter behind. She couldn’t even believe that she had the slightest hope it wasn’t him. He was hand in hand with the woman as they entered the house together, having the daughter who was focusing on her phone following closely behind.

Min was soon handed a golden envelope by the man next to her. She opened it, taking out photos of them. For a second, she almost felt bad for hiring a private investigator to stalk them, but now she was glad she did. The moment she walked in her house after her two week trip, she knew something was funny. It wasn’t only the faint stinging perfume she smelled in the house or the fact that some things were out of place, but she felt something was going on when her mom was gone more often. One by one, she looked at the pictures carefully while her investigator explained what their names were and their relations. Apparently, Eunji, the daughter, used to be Kikwang’s neighbor and is friends with Hara. What a small world. As he concluded his investigation, a thought popped up in Min’s mind. 

So her dad has been secretly having an affair and treated them as a real family. Sujung, the woman, was his girlfriend before his marriage to umma and Eunji was around the same age as her. Then it clicked. “Baekho,” she pointed at a picture of Eunji, “Is she his daughter?"

Baekho, the young investigator couldn’t answer her question, so he only nodded in response. He already felt bad for telling the girl her father cheated on her mother, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he cheated as a father as well. A daughter who her father gave all his love and attention to, being completely opposite of how he treated Min. A whole new wave of hatred washed over Min. 

She didn't believe it. Scratch that. She didn’t want to believe it. Min thought about everything she tried to do to be the perfect daughter and impress him, but everything that she had tried and will try to do, will never make a difference. He wasn’t ever going to change or see her as his daughter. She held back the urge to scream, instead she turned to Baekho.

“Take me home please."