Wildest Dreams

Incredible Things
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KAI'S POV

"I MIGHT REGRET IT MY ENTIRE ING LIFE JAE!!"  I scream desperately.  So what if I come 45 minutes earlier?!  They're just gonna stay at home anyway right?

And yeah, I decided to drop Jongguk off at Jae's for tonight!  I literally couldn't think of anyone better than my actual babysitter's sister because a)  if Iseul is pretty good at it then her sister must be too right? b) Jae looks like an exact copy of Iseul, only older, so I figure it'd be better for Jongguk too, and c) Jae should get to know Jongguk a little as well so she can stop freaking out about her little sister's job! 

But I can't tell Jongguk that it's Iseul's sister he'll be staying with, because he'll definitely tell Iseul about it and Iseul doesn't know that Jae and I know each other yet!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE ISEUL IS RIGHT NOW!!

"Appa.."  Jongguk whispers, shaking my hand a little.  I look down at him and take three deep breaths, trying not to lose it.  Dammit, now I cursed in front of him!  The highest level of curse word at that too!

 "What? And so?!"  Jae demands.  I look at her with wild eyes and scoff in disbelief.  Is she heartless?  Can't she see how frantic I am right now?  I open my mouth to say something but Jae beats me to it.

“I'm telling you, you need to leave now!"  Jae gestures wildly at the direction of the elevator.  "My sister is still here!"

Wait…

SAY WHAT?!

"WHAT?!"  I bellow, loud enough for all the people in China to hear.  "Your sister is.... here?!" 

Iseul?!  Iseul is here?!  As in, inside the apartment right now?!  WHAT THE HELL???

"YES SHE IS, YOU IDIOT!"  Jae yells back, thwacking my head.  "AND SHE'S IN MY ROOM GETTING READY SO YOU—"

I still can't believe it. 

"Your sister..."  I ask again, mouthing 'Iseul' so Jongguk won't notice, "IS HERE?"

"Aish, stop yelling, she's gonna hear you!!"  Jae whispers, holding a finger to her lips.  "And yeah, she's getting ready for the ball tonight and has been freaking out non stop since 4 o'clock this afternoon!!"

"So..."  I swallow, "she was here all this time?" 

"Yes, now--"

“SHE WAS HERE… ALL THIS TIME?!”  I repeat again, still not being able to grasp that fact properly.  I have already literally devised 20 different plans in my head to prevent Iseul from slipping away from the grad-ball tonight, and suddenly you tell me that… she’s here?

“AISH!!  Are you always this thick?!”  Jae hisses. 

“No!  I just went through the last 20 minutes freaking the out of my brain because I thought she left me!”  I answer, not even processing what goes through my mouth anymore.  Goddammit, why am I saying things like this out loud?!  Where the is that verbal filter when you need one?!

Jae’s eyes widen and she’s about to say something when suddenly—

“Arrasso, arrasso!”  Her voice rings from inside the apartment, confirming everything.  Jae’s eyes widen.  “I’m leaving now!  You guys can go and do your stuff.  I’ll just go and wait in the lobby.”

…Go to the lobby?!  Through this door?!

“Iseul?!”  Jae whirls around.  She then shuts the door in my face.  I quickly use this opportunity to… you know.  Escape. 

It’s not that I don’t want to tell Iseul about my relationship with Jae and how I actually know her— it’s just that, it’s not something I want to discuss with Jongguk around.  Jongguk doesn’t know I’m a mobster.  And it’s impossible to fully explain everything without letting the part where I am a mobster actually be verbalized. 

Besides, she’s about to have a big night!  She doesn’t need to deal with this now.  It’ll just bother her throughout the rest of the night that she’s supposed to enjoy, knowing her and her habits of overthinking. 

"Jongguk, come on, let's go!!"  I hiss, trying to yank Jongguk away. 

"No!  There's Iseul noona inside appa!  Jongguk wanna meet nooonnaaaaa!!"  Jongguk wails, and to my horror, begins trying to pull the doorknob open.  !!  !!

"Jongguk, noona isn't—"

Suddenly— BAM!

The door Jongguk is clinging to flies open, causing him to stumble backwards.  "HI!  I'm—"

"ISEUL NO—"

But it's too late. 

The door's open already.

Iseul is standing in front of me already.

I've been caught already.

I stand there in front of her, unable to speak and unable to move.  I feel my hand slowly let go of Jongguk's; his small palm slipping away.  My mouth gradually drops open too as we at stare each other wordlessly, silently.

Iseul looks at like she can't believe it's me, which is probably just the case, and I too look at her like I can't believe it's her either... because in fact, I can't.

She looks...

She looks beautiful.

She's so beautiful that I forget how much trouble I actually am in.  The only thing in my mind right now is how ethereal she looks in that royal purple dress that flows down to the ground in an array of different colors--white, violet, pink, peach, and the faintest twinges of yellow—blossoming like petals.  Her hair cascades down in shiny, dark brown curly waves down her shoulders and back.  The dress contrasts her porcelain skin, hugs her body perfectly, and the off-shoulder design of it shows off her collar bones beautifully, but, God, nothing beats her eyes. 

Her eyes man, her eyes.  I could get lost in them for days.  She did this... soft purply-mauve look on her lids with just a bit of sparkle to them, and her lashes were extra volumized from... what is it they call them, falsies?  Whatever they are, they make her eyes pop and look even bigger than they already are.  And she's staring at me with them, with those beautiful large eyes-- dark and searching.  And I know I'm losing this silent staring contest we're having.

"Oh no."  Jae groans, re-appearing at the door.   The spell is broken.  Our situation at hand resurfaces.

"H-hi."  I stutter.  , did I actually stutter?  I never stutter!!

"Kai?" she whispers. 

"Noona!"  Jongguk gasps.  "Noona looks so pretty!!"

But Iseul doesn't seem to hear him.  She looks at Jae, her eyes screaming for an explanation.  "You... you guys know each other?" she whispers again. 

Jae's eyes fall to the floor. 

“How?”  She asks incredulously.

“We—“

"And none of you thought it was necessary to tell me?!"  She cries, her voice escalating quickly.  .  , she's not going to cry is she? 

"Seul, we were going to, but--"

"Did you know he was my boss all this time Jae?"  Iseul asks, her voice quivering.  I feel a pang in my chest.  No, no, please don't cry Iseul... please don't cry...

"Well... yeah."  Jae nods slowly. 

Iseul scoffs in disbelief.  "You know he's a..."  she glances at Jongguk and I silently thank the heavens for how considerate she still is.  "You know?"

"I do."  Jae nods again.  "I work for the HOC too." 

Iseul draws in a sharp breath and leans her back on the door.  I stand there silently, keeping my eyes on her.  Is she still going to cry?

"Appa, what's happening?"  Jongguk asks me and I qiuckly shush him, hoping he'd listen. 

"And you, Kai."  Iseul begins again, now looking at me.  "How many more secrets do you have from me?  What else are you not telling me?" 

One more Seul.  There's only one more... but I can't tell you now.  Jongguk is around, and I can't ruin the night you've been waiting for since ages. 

So I shake my head.  "I..."

"Why didn't you tell me you knew my sister?!   Why didn't anyone tell me anything?!"  She asks, her voice trembling and... hurt. 

"Seul, can we go inside?  We'll explain everything, I promise."  Jae says, grabbing Iseul's clutch which had fallen to the floor.  "Everything.  Every single thing." 

Iseul sighs heavily and looks up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly.  "Mark's probably already waiting downstairs."  She says instead, her voice tight. 

"Iseul," I find myself saying,  "give me five minutes."  I look at her.  "Please."

Iseul bites her lip, looking at me skeptically.  Sighing, she turns around and walks back into Jae's apartment wordlessly. 

I quickly do the same and kick off my shoes inside.  "Come on Jongguk." 

"Appa, why is noona sad?"  Jongguk asks, whispering. 

"Because appa did something wrong."  I answer.

"Is that Iseul's sister?"  Jongguk asks again. 

"Yeah, she is."  I squeeze his hand.  "Jongguk-ah, can you play with your iPad for a while while appa and noona are talking?  Appa needs to talk seriously with her."

"Why? Is noona going to quit?"

My jaw unconsciously tightens at the sound of it.  "No, Jongguk.  It's fine.  She's not going to quit."

"Take a seat, Seul."  Jae says, ushering Iseul to sit on the sofa.  Her eyes are downcast, staring hard at ground.

"You too Kai."  Jae instructs, with a glare that says 'I'm going to tell her everything'.

The tension hangs in the air like a toxic mist and Iseul sits there in the middle of it all like it doesn't bother her one bit.  She sits with her back leaned forwards, twiddling her thumb.  I can't look at her eyes right now but I can already feel all the accusation in them.

"Seul, hear us out first, okay?  We really... we wanted to tell you.  I wouldn't hide it from you if we didn't have to.  But... but you know how these things work right?"  Jae pauses.  "We were going to tell you, I swear.  But we couldn't because back then you didn't know Kai... like that."  Jae looks at her meaningfully. 

Like a mobster. 

Iseul says nothing.  She’s just sitting there motionlessly, twiddling with her thumbs. 

Goddamit, I hate seeing her like this. 

“Jae first came back here,”  I speak up, surprising even myself, “Because Sooman actually asked her to come back and replace you as Jongguk’s babysitter.” 

“What?”  Jongguk asks suddenly and I mentally groan.  I love him and all, but sometimes it’s better if he.  Is.  Not.  In.  The.  Scene!!

“Sooman didn’t think you were suitable for the job because unlike me, I actually have experience in… Kai’s area already, and thus would be more able to protect both Jongguk and myself.   Plus, Sooman also didn’t want Kai to be too attached to you.  But as for Kai, he…” Jae looks at me. 

“I didn’t want that.”  I say, as coolly as possible.  Although to be completely honest with you all, this is not cool at all!  This isn’t something I ever planned to admit to Iseul, of course!

But it made Iseul look up.  She looks at with those confused yet mesmerizing eyes of hers, probably trying to decode what I just said. 

“I was against it back then.”  Jae intercepts, raising her hand.  “I didn’t want to do babysit—“

“Jongguk doesn’t want noona either!”  Jongguk harrumphs, and Iseul immediately gives him a look which makes him shrink back into his seat. 

Wow, I didn’t even realize she had that much control over him!

“—I wanted to be here to actually do some... you know, work.  Not… that.”  Jae wrinkles her nose.  “But after hearing how it was you who needed replacing, I was up to it.  I couldn’t let you get…  I couldn’t let you get involved in this.”

Jongguk’s brows furrow in confusion, but in less than 2 seconds he gives up and opens his bag, pulling out his iPad.  Thank God.  I knew those were an investment!

“But Kai didn’t want the switch.  And you can ask him why that is some time later when you two are alone but anyway, after knowing all that, we argued, so we ended up calling you, you remember?  We let you decide and you decided that you wanted to stay.”

“Well you can’t expect me to change my mind like a switch in the middle of the day just like that can you?”  Iseul snaps.  “If you guys had told me the truth—“

“I couldn’t tell you because you would leave if you knew!”  I cut in.  “It always comes back to that, Iseul.  In the end, all the things I didn’t tell you… they’re all because I didn’t want you to leave.  I was going to tell you, of course.  But I originally wanted to wait until it got to a point where I was quite sure that you wouldn’t leave if you knew!”

Iseul presses her lips tightly, but the unforgiving look in her eyes slowly ebb away. 

“In the end, we made an agreement.”  Jae continues quickly.  “They all revolve around keeping you in the dark about Kai’s identity and our relationship here… as well as keeping you safe.”

“What were the terms?”  Iseul asks. 

Oh .  What were the terms again? 

Hmm, if I remembered correctly… some of the terms shouldn’t be made known to the third party involved.  Because Jae’s 4th term clearly states:  “You are not to catch any feelings, especially romantic ones, towards my sister.”

To which I so readily agreed because back then it seemed obvious, okay?

“The terms?”  Jae looks at me, her eyes wide.  “We just… we just said them on the spot back then!  Kai, do you remember any of them?”

Oh, I get it.  She’s throwing the ball at me!  It’s up to me whether I want to tell Iseul or not. 

And… as much as I don’t want to…

I can’t lie and tell her I don’t remember.  Maybe she won’t ever find out about this if I lied today, but I can’t do it.  I can’t do it to her.  I can’t do it again.

“There were only four of them.”  I sigh.  “The first one was mine.  It was for Jae to keep her acquaintance with me a secret from you.  The second was that I had to make sure to keep you safe or else Jae will step in and fish you right out of the babysitting contract.  The third one was for Jae to not bring up my real identity to you, because… yeah, basically the same reason as the main one behind all this, and the fourth one…”

“The fourth one?”  Iseul prompts. 

“The fourth one was for me to keep things strictly professional.”  I bite my lip.  Iseul’s eyebrows rise a bit, but she doesn’t say anything. 

“Yeah, well, it’s all gone to now.  The terms have been taken down.”  Jae adds while looking at me, much to my surprise.  I look at her.  Does she mean what I think she means?

Iseul might’ve caught the drift too because now she’s blinking away rapidly, averting her gaze from mine, and oh my God SPARE ME WILL YOU don’t do that in front of me Iseul!!!  You make it ing impossible for me to concentrate!!!!

“Uh… yeah.”  I say at last, because what else am I supposed to do here?! 

“So… you guys have only known each other since then?”  Iseul asks at last. 

I quickly nod.  “Yeah, I swear.  Jae came in to the… the underground club one night and I swear, I nearly died of a heart attack because I thought she was you.  I didn’t know her before, and she didn’t know I existed either.  Since she didn’t end up babysitting like Sooman originally planned, she mainly contributes to the HOC by doing uh, let’s say, cleaner tasks, and nagging to make sure I take care of you properly on a daily basis.”

“Hey!”

Iseul looks at us.  “And so what relationship do you guys have?”

The question catches me off-guard, but it’s not like I can’t answer it.  “Work partners.  Nothing more.” 

“Nothing more.”  Jae echoes readily. 

“So you guys are basically… uh, work colleagues in the same…”  Iseul trails off, letting the silence finish the talking.  Jongguk seems engrossed in his little farming—what the hell—game, but you never know right?

“Yeah, but Jae doesn’t do the things I do.  She’s only gone on a mission once, just for orientation, but she mainly does the technical stuff so she basically she stays at the office.”  I explain. 

“Wait.”  Iseul says, so sharply that I actually sit up right at once.  “So all this time… Jae and I… Jae and I have been in the same building?!  The HOC headquarters?!  Is that where you do your stuff too?” 

“Sometimes, but I don’t go there that often.”  Jae makes a face.  “I mainly go to the HOC hotel in Cheongdamdong because there’s a casino there too so a lot of… possible—you know—those people, stay there and play in the casino and stuff… and it’ll be a lot more strategic to anticipate attacks from there.”

“But you’ve been to the HOC too?” 

“Yeah.”  Jae nods. 

“Did you know Kai lived there too?”  Iseul asks again.

“Uh… yeah?”

“And you know I live with Kai right?”  Iseul continues.  “And all this time you knew Kai is a m—“ 

“WOAH!  MIDNIGHT RACER HORSE UNLOCKED!”  Jongguk gasps all of a sudden.  AISH!  SHUDDUPPP!!  I swear if he wasn’t my son I would’ve hurled that puny out of the window already!!

Iseul continues without missing a beat.  “—A that, and you knew I worked for him?”

“Uh… yeah?” 

I’m getting confused too here.  Haven’t we gone through all this already?

“So you basically know that we go to the same place every day, and even though you’re my sister, you don’t think it’s something worth mentioning?!”  She yells, her voice shrill.

Okay, , I see why this is happening. 

Yep.  Girls, huh?  Just when you thought they’re over it… bam!  They’re not!

“Yah, I’m not supposed to tell you I work for the HOC!”  Jae rebuts.  “You also didn’t know that the HOC was also a transnational crime organization back then!  Nor did you know Kai’s position in it!”

I glare at her and check on Jongguk, but apparently he’s too engrossed with the farm horse running around on his screen to notice anything we said. 

“Yeah but still!!  Why didn’t you tell me?!  Why did you guys have to wait until I found out from a random stranger in the underground club?!” 

“That’s how you found out?”  Jae asks incredulously.  “He didn’t tell you first hand?!” 

“Aish, he didn’t!”

“He didn’t?!”

“Why are you asking me?!  Yah, I’m getting mad again here!” 

“100 COINS!”  Jongguk suddenly squeals. 

GARGHHHHH!!!  DUCT TAPEEEE!!!

“And I take it you know the rest of EXO as well?”  Iseul asks her sister.

“Yeah.”

“And they know you’re my sister too?”

“…Yeah?”

“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE NOT KNOWING ANYTHING HERE?!”  She yells, about to mess up her hair but then thinking better of it. “AISH, WHAT THE IS THIS EVEN?!  I can’t trust any of you anymore!  Forget it!  I’M LEAVING!” 

?!?!

“Y-you—what??”  I jump to my feet but Iseul brushes right past me. 

“I’M LEAVING!!”  She yells as she stalks to the door, waving a hand above her head in a shooing motion.  “BYE!” 

The door behind her closes with a slam.  I stare at it in shock, still unable to process it.

I look at Jae for some sort of explanation of this woman’s temperamental moodswing but Jae looks at me with an equally confused expression. 

“!!”  I scratch my head and before I know it, I’m chasing her down the hallway. 

.  .  What do I do now?  What do I say?  Is she leaving for the grad-ball or leaving for good?  What the hell?!  Why did she get mad all of a sudden?!  I thought she was going to be okay because I told her everything already, so…??!?!?!

“Iseul!” I yell after her.  She ignores me, which isn’t really a surprise.  I start running and easily catch up with her. 

“YAH SEO ISEUL!”  I call as I easily overtake her.  I don’t even grab her wrist and whirl her around.  I run right up to her and stand in front of her, effectively stopping her once and for all.

“What?”  She asks, looking at me challengingly. 

And I want to yell so many things—things like ‘WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE LEAVING?’ and ‘WHY DID YOU GET MAD ALL OF A SUDDEN?!’ or even a ‘WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO HUUUUUHHH???’ because I can’t believe this woman is actually making me chase after her like this, but everything vanishes the moment I look into her eyes. 

They burn, they shine with anger and frustration and the first sign of tears.  Oh God, please don’t let her cry.  I can’t stand seeing her cry, especially when she’s all dressed up for a good night that she’s supposed to have like this. 

“Why are you mad?”  I ask flatly, like the dumbest moron on Earth. 

“What?!”  Her eyes glow even brighter.  “Am I not supposed to be mad?!”

“No!!  I mean—uh, what made you mad?”  I ask, trying again.  “Tell me.  Please.” 

I don’t know how she does it, but Iseul always makes me do things I never do.  Like this, for example—chasing after girls, praying so that they won’t cry, saying please…

With her, I become a different person. 

I become Jongin. 

“Move.”  She sighs heavily, trying to step past me.  Nu-uh, woman!  Where do you think you’re going?

“Not unless you tell me what made you mad.”  I say, stretching my arms out to my side to prove my point.  Iseul just glances at my arms while chewing on her lips. 

“Seul.”  I say softly, dropping my arms when she doesn’t respond.  Her eyes flutter up to meet mine as I hold her by her elbows, and pull her closer to me.  “Talk to me.”

She remains silent and tries to shake my hold off.  Nu-uh, not happening woman!

“Please.”  I try again, hoping it would show how desperate I am.  God, she’s driving me insane.  Why the would I beg for a woman?  That’s what they do to me!!

Iseul presses her lips together before finally speaking.  “I… I’m shocked and angry at the fact that everyone knows the big picture except me!  Even my sister, who actually knows who my boss is for real, who actually goes to where I live, breathe, and sleep every day—she’s really that close—she didn’t think of telling me either.  She has never once called me to meet her and talk about all this, which I would really appreciate because shocked as I may be to find out how you’re a mobster, I’d rather learn it from her than from some random old guy with a ty taste in drinks I met at a club!” 

“I—“

“And everyone knew all about it, all except me!  And okay, fine, I guess I get why you can’t tell me.  I thought about why you really didn’t want me to leave.  It’s because all this business of yours is basically illegal so it requires trust, and you were scared I’d leave and go blabbing about this to the police or something right?  But still, you—”

Hold on a sec…

….What did she just say?!

Did she just say I want her to stay… to make sure that she wouldn’t go talking about HOC the crime group with a mob named EXO and Kai being the mobster boss all around Seoul?!

Does she really think that’s the ing reason?!

Has it not occurred to her that if that was the reason, I could easily just let her leave and kill her if she starts doing something stupid like blabbering around about us?

Has it not, really?! 

Jesus, WOMEN!  How the do they even get their ideas?! 

“But seriously, if that’s the problem, you all should just tell me!!  I don’t get what’s so hard about it!  You could just tell me nicely and ask nicely for me to not blab around if I wanted to leave after knowing I—“

“You think that’s why I don’t want you to leave?”  I interject before she gets even more funny ideas.

“What?  Isn’t it?”  She retorts defiantly. 

God this woman is testing me!!!

“Iseul, if I wanted to prevent you from blabbing around, you know that I could just easily have you killed right?  I have a thousand men at my disposal for that and all they need a green light to go.” 

She opens but nothing comes up.  Oh God, her lips.  They’re right in front of me.  I—

No.

No, Kai.  Shut up. 

“So why do you think I didn’t tell you?” I ask again.  Let’s see if she’s really stupid or not.

“Not because of that.”  She mumbles, looking away. 

“First of all, I didn’t tell you because I this whole mobster ordeal—“ I gesture around wildly, “—is supposed to be a secret.   No one is supposed to know who I really am, because that’s just how things run around here.  But if you would so kindly recall, you might remember me telling you my real name that night you found out, right?  Yeah, that brings us to the second reason— you ing matter to me and I didn’t want the truth to scare you away.  Iseul, I couldn’t bear it if you left after knowing the truth!  I wanted you to—I wanted you to be ready for it by the time you knew.”

Her hard eyes have softened, and seizing the opportunity in her silence, I continue. 

“I would’ve told you once I was sure that you would stay even if you knew.  And I know it  hurt you and pissed you off—how there were so many things hidden from you, and how you found everything out by accident, but what would you do if you were me?  I might’ve lied to you, I might’ve hidden a lot from you, but what else could I do?  I had to.” 

Oh GAWD.  I can imagine Baekhyun making pathetic smoochy faces in my mind already.

“Seul, say something.”  I beg again when she still remains silent.  “Anything, please.” 

Iseul blinks, before finally nodding with a small sigh.  “I… I’m sorry.” 

“What?”  I ask before I could stop myself.  Hey, she was all mad before okay?!  I didn’t expect her to apologize so quickly! 

Iseul continues.  “I know now.   I only thought of all this from my point of view.  I didn’t consider things from yours, and I got mad and overreacted.  I guess I was just… shocked, and maybe a bit hurt because there were so many things that I didn’t know of… but I guess it was because you had to do it.”

I swallow.  “Y-yeah.” 

“I’m sorry, Kai.”  She looks at me with those magical eyes of hers, and suddenly the world starts spinning in the opposite direction.  “I’m sorry for acting so rashly.” 

.  .  She’s a legitimate angel.  What did I ever do to deserve someone like her in my life? 

“I-it’s fine.”  I continue stuttering like an idiot.  “I’m sorry too, Seul.” 

The words taste foreign in my mouth, like metal, but it’s worth it once I see the last clouds of anger and hurt in her eyes clear up. 

How many years ago was it since I last apologized?

“I don’t want us to argue about this anymore.”  She says, a tired smile on her face.  “I believe you, and I’m not going to leave.  There’s nothing else you’re hiding right?”

“Yeah.”  I say, smiling a bit.  “There’s nothing else.” 

The Mark thing doesn’t really relate here right now, okay?  It’s just about my ex-fiancée’s younger brother somehow ending up as her best friend!  We’ll talk about that some time later…. Some time SOON.

“Then... okay.”  She nods.  “But I need to leave now.  I promised to meet Mark at six and I’m pretty sure it’s way past six by now.” 

“He’s not coming up here to get you?”  I ask, looking around. 

“I thought he was going to as well but… maybe he’s waiting in the lobby.”  She says, her eyes darting around quickly.  “I think I forgot to tell him what number Jae’s apartment is anyway.”

“But still!”  I exclaim in disbelief.  “He should’ve asked you.  It’s only common sense.” 

I mean, isn’t it?  I might not have a lot of romantic expertise, but if I were the one taking her to grad-ball, I’d pick her up right from her apartment door, maybe with a bunch of roses, even!  Aish, Mark is really doing a great job so far!!

“Well…” Iseul opens her clutch and pulls out her phone.  Her eyes instantly widen.  “Oh .  8 missed calls from him.  11 texts asking what number Jae’s apartment is!!  AAAAHH!!!  It’s 6.17 already!  I have to go.  See you later!”  She waves and tries to step past me, but I block her again.

“What?”  She asks impatiently. 

“I’ll walk you down.”  I tell her simply, and forms an O.  “Let’s go.” 

“Uh… sure.” She says, wincing at (probably) her own awkwardness.

We walk down the corridor, towards the lift, side by side.  I sneak a quick glance at her when she's staring straight ahead.  , her side profile is perfect too. 

Lucky Mark.

Wait, what?!

I reach out to press a button, and we wait for the lift to come silently.  O-kay... This is getting kind of awkward here.  Why is she not saying anything?  

“Yah.” She begins, and I smile a little to myself.  Now we’re talkin’!

“What?” I look at her quizzically.

"I... I don't know how to say this to you without being this direct, but do you have anything going on with my sister?  Or do you want to have anything going on with her?"  Iseul asks out of the blue, and catching me off guard.

"Excuse me?!"  I ask, dumbfounded.

"Excuse you??  You were at her apartment!"  Iseul explains impatiently.  "So you better not lie to me and tell me if there's anything between you two so I can make sure I stay in my lane and don't get in the way."

I let out a surprised laugh.  "Yah, I was at her place because I was going to put Jongguk at her place tonight since you and I are going to be both away!  Out of all the people I know who are either mobsters or wanted, she's the best candidate!”

"You sure?"  Iseul asks, trying to sound threatening but failing miserably because she's just that cute. 

"Of course!!"  I nod vigorously as the lift dings and the door slide open.  We both get on and stand side by side in the small metal box. 

Suddenly, I become conscious of every breath I take, every little twitch of my eyelid, and every other miniscule movement that wouldn't matter if the person standing next to you wasn't the one who makes your heart jump right out of your skin. 

I’m going insane.  I’M GOING INSANE!!

"Who were you panicking about?"  She asks softly, her voice small.  "When you first arrived at Jae's." 

OH NO.  She heard that?!

!!  She’s not supposed to hear that!!

I clear my throat.  Well Kai, gotta attack this like a MAN!

"You... heard that?"  I ask, facing her.   I feel blood rushing to my ears and my cheeks and my forehead and basically everywhere except my brain because it.  Is.  Not.  Responding!!!  

"Well, you were screaming your head off!!  I think every other tenant on this floor and the one below and above it heard you."  She shrugs, and goddamn, even that careless gesture looks elegant on her. 

, I'm losing my mind.

"So?"  She prods when I don't answer. 

"Uh..."  I start.  WHAT DO I SAYYYY?!!!!  I look at her helplessly, trying to converse through my eyes the words 'it's you'.

"Arrasso."  She nods.  What?!  What do you know?!!

"It's fine if you can't tell me.  I guess it's personal huh?"  She says, smiling like it isn't a big deal.   But I’ve known her long enough to know that when she smiles a smile that doesn’t touches her eyes, it is a big deal.

"No!!"  I groan and scratch my head. 

“Then?” 

Do I really have to do this?  Okay.  I have to.  It's just two simple words, Kai.  1... 2...

"It's you."  I blurt out before even getting to three so that my brain doesn't suddenly chicken out of it. 

Iseul's eyes grow to the size of Baekhyun's bloated ego.  "Me?"

I turn even redder, if that's even humanly possible.  "I called you like 10 times and you didn't pick up.  After my 5th attempt or so it changed to 'the phone you have called has been switched off', plus when I went to your room to check your dressing table was empty and the bags you had lying around were gone too, so I guess I pretty much lost my and thought you left."  I say in one big, long, run-on sentence.

I can almost hear the gears in her brain turning in the next few seconds she stands there gaping at me silently.  "You thought I... I left?"

I nod, giving her my most innocent look.

"And then you freaked out because of it?"  She asks again, and I nod again like a car bobblehead.

Out of nowhere, she starts laughing. 

"Y-yah!!"  I yell, trying to sound mad, but it's excruciatingly difficult when the prettiest girl in the world is standing here giggling right next to me.  "What the hell are you laughing at?!  I called you ten times without a response, it's perfectly reasonable to think that you left okay?"

"What did you even call me 10 times for?"  She asks, trying to hide her smile.  

"I couldn't find the spatula!" I snap, trying to ignore how dumb I sound right now. "So why didn't you pick up?!" 

"You called me ten times because you couldn't find a... spatula?!" 

"And salt!!"  I shoot back defensively.  

"HAHAHAHAHA!!"  Iseul laughs hysterically, clapping her hands.  Oh God, someone just shoot me already!! 

"Yah!!  I was cooking okay? I couldn't wait that long!!"

"Kai, if I didn't know better, I'd think you just made up a pathetic excuse to call me!"  She says, her eyes sparkling like champagne.

"If you did know better, you'd think I did!!"  I blurt out before even thinking about it. 

!!   SHIIITTTTT!!!  WHAT THE DID THIS MOUTH JUST SAY?!  I don't even know myself anymore!!!

"HAHAHA— wait, what?" She asks, her laughter dying away.

I clear my throat and look away in embarrassment, and just in time, the lift dings and the doors slide open. 

Yesssss!!  Saved by the bell.  I can't wait to get out of her presence and bury myself in a hole!!

"Let's go."  I say instead, trying to sound nonchalant. 

But before I can even step out, Iseul presses close and then hits the number 40.  The highest level on this apartment. 

HUH?

Instantly, the doors slide back together and the elevator gives a small lurch as we slowly begin heading up, up, and up again.

"What did you just..."  I turn to her, completely in shock.  Did she just... make the elevator go up again?!! 

"Yah, your poor date is growing old down there!"  I yell, pointing at the door.

"I didn't answer because I was busy getting ready.  And I didn't switch off my phone, it died in the middle of the process because I forgot to charge it."  She explains instead, biting her lip. 

"Oh," is all I can say. 

"I'm sorry if it made you... worry."  She adds.  "But I'm not leaving, you know that right?  I was just getting ready, and— aish, I spent that much time prepping myself but I still don't feel ready yet!!" 

Before I can think of a response, she turns to her left where the wall is sort of reflective and starts adjusting her hair.  "I don't even know how I look anymore.  My hair must've fallen loose already, hasn't it?  I think one of my eyelashes is falling off.  And oh my God, my lipstick must've smeared!!  I was yelling so much before!  And this dress, and my makeup, I don't even know if Mark likes purple!  What if he thinks it's gross on girls?  What if he thinks it's gross on me?!  What if he thinks I look stupid with this much makeup on?!" 

Is she really asking me this?

Doesn't this girl realize how perfect she looks already?!   Is she even looking at herself in the mirror?!  Or does she just wanna hear me make an idiot out of myself again?!

"If he does then he's must have 20/20 eyesight."  I joke, because my mouth possesses the ability to say exactly the opposite of what I mean at times.

"Yah!!  You're supposed to say something nice!!"  Iseul snaps.  "I'm freaking out here hellooo???"

"What for?  You look normal."  I say this time.  There's no way in hell that I am admitting how I actually think she looks tonight.   “Well, if he’s used to seeing you in your I-have-no-life college appearance then I reckon he’ll think you look better than normal

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neonflowers
[Incredible Things] Finally complete! Thank you so much for joining me on this looong whirlwind journey 🥰 hope you join me on my other stories!

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leechoding #1
Chapter 57: Rereading this for 120th time. I'll never get tired of this story. It's like one of the best fics ever written on this app.
samara12 #2
This is the best fic on AFF. I cried when it ended. It felt something was missing from my life after finishing this. You are best writer ever. Some published books are not even this good. Please don’t ever delete this story. Best of best. My favorite fic of alllllll time… I honestly don’t think I will ever find anything better than this. I promise this is not fake flattery. This really is the best!!❤️
xiuminbaek
#3
Chapter 66: Oh my god. It's take me about a week to finish this. I really love this fic so much 😭😭. The roller coaster emotion i am having for this one is so real. The fact that i kinda hate mark so much for leading iseul to think he likes her. And to hate suzy for treating iseul like . I kinda mad at iseul for being kind to much. She's really a forgiving person. She's really quick to forgive mark for everything he did to her. And have him back as her friend. Also she's quick to forgive Suzy for breaking her relationship with jongin 😭. Eventhough the break really helped their relationship a lot. Also lucas appearance really helped too. I wish i could see them being mushy more before iseul getting back with jongin haha. But at last. I love it how iseul is accepting jongin's back. I love the effort jongin have to get iseul back. Everything in this story is so good and i love it. I love u for giving iseul a best friend she deserve like bom. The one who will stick with her. I thought the getting back between iseul and jongin will be a little hard. Like iseul will be playing hard to get or smthg 🤣. But well she loves him so much. And it's good for them...anyway!! Thank you so much for the fic! I enjoyed them so much!!
theshadyone
#4
Chapter 68: Can’t believe I finished reading this, it took me several days of non-stop fangirling and crying but I finally made it! Thank you for the ride, I simply loved this story with all my heart 💜
Ekale_erie
#5
Chapter 13: I'm seriously doubting Mark!
And who's this new person now?
Ekale_erie
#6
Chapter 12: Don't know why I feel suspicious of Mark...
Ekale_erie
#7
Chapter 8: Oh my God! That last line is just aksjskakakja!!
Ekale_erie
#8
Chapter 5: Jongguk is such a cute lil ball of sunshineeeee!