“I’ll answer it. If it turns out it’s my mother, you can pretend to not be here. It’s better for me to face her than for her to find us together right now,” Seohyun rose from the seat before he could object.

Peeking through the peephole, Seohyun was relieved to see her stepfather and only her stepfather. She opened the door, wide enough so that he could pass through, and shut it the moment he was inside.

“Anneonghaseyo,” she bowed politely. She liked Yonghwa’s father- he had always treated her nicely when she lived with them back in the day.

“Wow Seohyun! You’ve grown up quite a bit!” His father entered into the living room and saw his son. “Hey Yonghwa.”

“Anneonghaseyo, abeoji.”

After they were all sitting comfortably, Yonghwa was the first to speak up. “I’m guessing you know what happened?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to miss my wife’s lunatic screaming last night when she found out.”

“Dad, I love Seohyun.” Yonghwa looked straight at his father as he uttered those words, as if testing his father.

“I know. We all know. We’ve all known as we watched the two of you grow up together with a special bond that no one else had,” the older man nodded.

“So what’s going on now?” Yonghwa let out the breath he had been holding in.

His father sighed. “It’s complicated. Seohyun, your mother is extremely upset. Well, not upset… more like livid with rage. Knowing her, she’s probably attempting to set Yonghwa up in an arranged marriage,” he said slowly.

Yonghwa glanced at the scowling Seohyun. “We figured she’d do that. You can stop her though, right?”

“Hopefully. The problem is, there are many families out there who would die for their daughters to marry you. And if my wife finds the right families, they would be extremely offended if I suddenly cancel the engagement and that could jeopardize our business, which is the exact situation she’s probably aiming for.”

“Dad, why are you married to that woman?” Yonghwa groaned.

“What do you see in that woman?” Seohyun asked with wide eyes. “I mean, she’s such a witch and you’re so nice!”

“I don’t know. I thought she was really nice, as well. She didn’t start showing her true colors until a couple years later.”

“Please save us all trouble and just divorce her already?” Yonghwa rolled his eyes. “Then she can’t bother any of us anymore. Besides, she’s seriously just after your money, Dad. You can do way better. You’re young. Go date someone else.”

“Marriage isn’t that easy, boy. And believe me, it’s complicated. Since there’s only a week left until you’re eighteen, how about the two of you take some time off from school and travel the world? Seohyun, I’m really sorry for the stress and emotional pain we caused you these past years. I really am sorry. And I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to stop her back then. But I can now,” he rose to his feet. “I’ll buy tickets for the two of you. Go have fun while I take care of this problem.”

“Really, dad?”

“Yeah son,” he ruffled Yonghwa hair with affection. “I saw how you shut down emotionally after Seohyun left. I don’t want to see that happen again.” He was determined to protect his family, which included Seohyun (but as a future-daughter-in-law, not as a stepdaughter), even if it was from his own wife.

“Thanks dad.”

“Thank you!” Seohyun chimed in.

“It’s the least I can do. I’ll be back later to hand you the tickets, in the mean time, Seohyun, let your dad know about the travel plans. And pack. You’ll be leaving tonight.”

They saw him to the door and closed it afterwards, making sure to lock it securely.

“At least Dad’s on our side,” Yonghwa sighed.

“Yeah.” Seohyun stared at the wall. They were able to escape that woman’s claws for the moment, but… how long were they going to be able to keep running? Her mother was sure to find a way around Yonghwa’s father, though. But how?

There was a knock on the door ten minutes later. After cautiously approaching the door in total silence, Seohyun threw the door open to reveal Yonghwa’s father, his face strained, holding a newspaper.

“We’ve got to move fast,” he announced.

Yonghwa took the paper from him, his face paling as he read the front cover. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Seohyun grabbed it. The front cover screamed out the engagement of Yonghwa to some top company’s heiress. “Already?” 

“This is bad,” his father clenched his jaw. “How dare that woman engage my own son without even consulting me!”

“There’s got to be a way out of this,” Seohyun breathed. Think, Seohyun. Think.

Yonghwa’s father paced around the room; angry beyond anything he’s ever felt before.

“Will you be willing to divorce my mother?” Seohyun asked quietly, her answer hanging in the thick and tense atmosphere. 

“I was thinking about our earlier conversation in the car when I first left your house,” the man smiled dryly. “And I began to wonder why I was married to her. But no matter what, I still can’t just leave her.”

So you’ve still fallen for her, haven’t you? Seohyun abandoned plan A and racked her brain for another solution. Though I hate to admit it, I’m still my mother’s daughter. I’ve got to inherit some of her cunningness, right?

“Go on your vacation. I’ll find a way,” Yonghwa’s father sighed.

The two younger people glanced at each other and nodded. Taking the tickets, Seohyun’s eyes widened when she saw the flight time. “We’re leaving in two hours?”

“Yeah, it was the fastest time they had for a first class flight. That will take you to Europe. In this envelope,” he handed it to them, “there are more tickets to other countries in Europe. And there are two credit cards enclosed within. Seohyun, your father agreed to finance your trip once you’re there, since these two credit cards under his account will be untraceable for my wife. I’ve also informed him of the predicament we’re in, so you don’t have to worry. Go get ready now; your father will be home soon to bring you to a private airline. Stay safe and look after Seohyun, okay Yonghwa?”

“Ne, Abeoji.”

They said goodbye once again.

Seeing how Seohyun couldn’t take her eyes off of the newspaper, Yonghwa pulled her into a tight embrace. “I won’t marry her, you know that.”

“I know, but it still doesn’t feel good knowing you’re engaged to some girl,” Seohyun pulled away from his touch. Why does my mom have to be so evil?

Yonghwa watched his disheartened girlfriend with sadness, for now he couldn't do anything about his engagement. Heck, it wasn’t even his engagement- it was more like his mother’s engagement.

Engagement. I got it! Yonghwa’s mood instantly lightened several degrees as he began forming a plan in his head. Stubbornly pulling her into a hug, and holding onto her tightly this time, he rested his head on hers. “Don’t worry. I know what to do.” Running to the computer, he hurriedly typed in several things into the search engine. “Bingo,” he muttered. While Seohyun excused herself to go to the bathroom, Yonghwa called up his father.

“Appa, if I break off this engagement, how much damage would that do to our company?”

“Son, this family is extremely big in Korea’s business world.”

“But what if you become business partners with Seohyun’s father? Did you know that he’s one of the biggest businessmen in the entire world?”

“How’d you find out?”

“I searched it. I’ve always known that he was wealthy, but he usually downplays his wealth around Seohyun. I just never knew he owned some of the biggest businesses ever.”

“… What are you planning on doing, son?”

With excitement in his voice, Yonghwa relayed his plan to his father, who whole-heartedly agreed.

Seohyun stepped out into the room, Yonghwa ran, picked her up, and spun her around the room. “Everything’s going to be okay now,” he grinned. When she asked, however, he refused to budge any details. He just kept smiling like an idiot.

Knowing Yonghwa wasn’t about to share his secret plan, she called the guys, letting them know that she was going to be gone for a while.

“Oh hey Seohyun,” Taecyeon spoke over the clamor his friends were making, “did you hear about Jay?”

“Hear what?”

“He got a girlfriend.”

“Oh, no way? Really? Tell him I said congrats! And make sure she’s a good girl, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. We should say the same to you, too. We heard about you and your boyfriend.”

“Who spilled the beans?”

“Nichkhun. He stopped by the other day, surprisingly, and accidentally let it slip. Now the rest of us can finally move on.”

Seohyun felt bad. She knew that they still liked her, ever since that awkward moment in time when they all confessed to her. “Hey…”

“Nah, don’t feel bad. We all knew you had someone else in your heart, but we couldn’t help but like you still. You’re definitely one of a kind. Anyways, Woohyun also has the hots for this girl, but we don’t know who she is yet. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks man.”

“Tell your boyfriend that if he makes you cry, we’ll all beat him up. We’re going to miss you while you’re gone, Jjang. OH! That reminds me. We found out who was framing Kikwang’s old school. It’s that red haired kid that you said was suspicious when you texted us that day. He disappeared for the time being, but we just received a tip that he’s staying at this other student’s house. Taeyeon, I think? She goes to some high school nearby…”

“Seorim High,” Seohyun said tightly. “He’s staying with her?”

“Yeah, why? You know them?”

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Yonghwa draw closer with a worried expression on his face.

“Yeah,” she blew out a breath, “he tried to me yesterday and Taeyeon is my sister.”

“… He tried to you? HE TRIED TO OUR JJANG?” Instantly the clamor from Taecyeon’s side died down, to be replaced a split second by furious roaring from the other guys. “And she’s your sister? You have a sister?”

“Yeah- oh, wait a moment. The doorbell just rang. Hang on,” Seohyun cupped the phone as she snuck toward the door, eyeing the silhouette showing through the curtains. She yanked the door and grabbed her sister and pulled her inside. “Taeyeon! What are you doing here?”

“Yonghwa’s father is sending me with you two. He’s afraid that our mom is going to do something to me,” Taeyeon panted. “Jonghyun, Minhyuk, and Yoona are going straight to the airport. I was digging through Mom’s stuff and saw that she had pictures of all of us when we were hanging out. When I told Yonghwa’s father, he decided to send them as well. They’ll meet us in the other airport.”

“I see,” Seohyun nodded as she returned to her call. “Taecyeon, you there?”

“Yeah. So what’s going on? I know your mom’s a bit-”

“No cussing,” Seohyun cut in.

“Well, we all know what your mother is. But why are you all running away from her? Even your sister?”

Seohyun gave him the brief summary of the dilemma and Taecyeon let out a whistle after she was done. Yonghwa had helped Taeyeon bring her bag over to their bags and both were standing, anxiously watching Seohyun.

“Dang. She really is evil. Okay, so that’s what’s going on. Seeing how your sister is safe with you, we’ll take care of the red haired kid while you’re gone.”

“GIVE ME THE PHONE! Oh hey, Jjang?”

“Hey kid,” she grinned when she recognized Junsu’s voice.

“I guess Taecyeon will fill us in later. All we know right now is that you have to leave. I just wanted to tell you to stay safe, okay? We’ll definitely be taking care of the red freak.”

“Thanks. Take care of Kikwang, too, okay? He’s a good kid.”

“Oh, speaking of Kikwang. He’s right here. Here, you talk to him. BYELOVEYOUSTAYSAFEUSEPROTECTION!”

“Wha- Hello?”

“Hey Kikwang.”

“Hey Jjang!”

“How’re you doing?”

“Same old, same old. I’m glad the whole ordeal with my old school got taken care of. We hang out with them sometimes too! I kinda missed them kids, haha. And even though I kinda just met you, I’m going to miss you too! Hanging out with all guys is boring.”

“HEY!”

“Anyways, like what everyone else is saying, stay safe. Let us know when you’re coming home, okay?”

Seohyun heard the code being pressed into the electric lock and knew her father was home, which meant she didn’t have much longer to say goodbye to the dorks. “My dad’s home, which means I need to go. Take care of the dorks for me, okay? And tell them that I’ll miss them too. Bye!”

“That was one long conversation,” Yonghwa muttered with his eyebrow raised. “They seemed awfully attached to you.”

“There are so many of them that I needed to say bye to,” Seohyun pouted. “Hi Daddy!”

“Hey Seohyun, Yonghwa, Taeyeon,” he greeted them all. “I don’t know if we’re being followed or watched, so I parked the car in the garage. We’ll load up where they can’t see us, and when we drive out, duck down, okay?”

“Ne!” They chorused, doing just as he said.

As they drove along, Seohyun kept her gaze glued to the review mirror, her eyes narrowed as she carefully watched the cars behind them. “That black Toyota has been following us, Dad.”

“I noticed that too. We’re going the long way already, and I’m trying to shake him off my tail. He’s a pretty good follower, I must admit,” Her dad frowned. “We’ll make it to the airport in time, don’t worry.”

They hit traffic and their pursuer was forced to close the distance between them. Cars kept switching in and out of lanes, and the black Toyota ended up being behind them.

The three of them were crouching on the spacious floor, afraid of being caught. Seohyun was in the middle, where she had the best view of the mirrors.

“Red hair,” she announced after carefully analyzing the driver. “That driver has red hair.”

“That means,” Taeyeon and Yonghwa, blurted out at the same time, “that’s that woman’s little boy, right?”

“Most likely,” Seohyun growled. “Dad, we have to lose this guy, no matter what.”

“On it,” he replied with a grin, as they broke clear of traffic. Twisting and turning through the small streets, her father floored the sports car as they, indeed, lost the red haired follower. “Let’s go to the airport, shall we?”

---

---

“Bye dad,” Seohyun kissed his cheek as they parted. “Thank you.”

“No problem. And don’t worry about over spending on my credit cards- I have a high credit limit that I doubt you’ll be able to reach. Use them to your heart’s desire.”

“Hah, as if.”

“I’m being serious with you, Seohyun. This is finally my chance to try to spoil my daughter.”

“Okay, okay, okay. Whatever you say, Dad. Oh, they called us. We’ve got to go. Bye dad!” The three of them waved as they entered into the gate.

Sinking into the comfortable first class seats, they explored the area around them- in other words, the high tech TV and the interesting reclining seat/bed.

Soon they were up in the air, leaving their homeland behind.

“Hey Seohyun?”

“What, Yonghwa?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Get a room, you two. Way to make the single girl right here jealous.”

“You have Jonghyun, Taeyeon.”

“We’re not a couple.”

“Yet.”

“…”

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Again, thanks for waiting for this super slow person to update.

I keep re-reading through the old comments and they made me smile (:

I love y'all.