Chapter 26

Sehun groaned when the number he didn't even know called him again. He mentally face-palmed himself for picking the phone up when he recognized the voice to belong to that guy with cat-like smile. They didn't even really know each other that much, and the guy suddenly invited him to hangout at the mall? He was just going to end the call, but he paused when Yeojin's named was mentioned. And now he found himself at the mall walking behind the girls who were linking their arms.

"You must really like her, huh?" Jongdae suddenly asked, walking beside him. Sehun just gave him a side glance before rolling his eyes. Jongdae chuckled. "I honestly thought you wouldn't come. Yet, here you are! But, well, who am I kidding ey? She's your girlfriend after all."

Ugh! Why is this guy so chatty! Sehun grumbled in his mind.

"So," Jongdae started again and Sehun had to momentarily squeezed his eyes from annoyance. "Why do you like her?" Sehun whipped his head toward the guy. "I mean, I know Yeojin's such a great girl. She's very warm and cheerful too, but I never thought she would be your type of girl."

Why do I like her? Sehun blinked and looked ahead at Yeojin who was now giggling while picking out clothes with Sunhee. His lips involuntarily curled into a small smile.

Jongdae smiled along when he saw the President who was well-known for being cold suddenly smiled. "Ah... I see." He chuckled. "You like her simply because she makes you smile, huh?" Realizing that he was smiling, Sehun cleared his throat to the side and wiped out his smile. "That's what I felt too." Jongdae chirped and smiled looking ahead at the girls.

Sehun's head snapped toward Jongdae at what he said, and he glared a bit. Jongdae just realized the glare he received when he glanced at Sehun from the corner of his eyes. He was taken aback and his eyes rounded a bit.

"Oh! I meant Sunhee. Not Yeojin!" He waved his hands in defense. "I meant I felt that too with Sunhee. Don't glare at me like that, please." He cleared his throat at the awkwardness. "Uh. I guess I better go there." He jogged to Sunhee's side.

Sehun just clicked his tongue, but sighed in relief because Jongdae finally left his side. He saw Jongdae whispered something to Sunhee and grabbed her hand, pulling her somewhere else. Yeojin giggled at her friend's surprised reaction and followed behind them.

"Sorry," Yeojin suddenly apologized with a smile to Sehun when he fell into steps beside her. He raised a brow at her apology because he didn't think she had done anything wrong. "You have to be dragged here because of them." She nodded her head toward the pair in front of them.

I came here for you, stupid! "It's nothing." He shrugged.

They continued to walk silently, following the pair in front of them. Yeojin chuckled every time her friend looked back at her, seemingly clueless of what to do with Jongdae walking so close beside her and talking animatedly with his hands. Sehun, on the other hand, could not keep his mind at rest every time the back of his palm lightly brushed against Yeojin's. After several times hesitating, he grabbed her hand firmly in his.

Yeojin was startled and halted in her steps. She looked at Sehun who just smiled at her.

"It would be weird for Jongdae if we don't at least do this," he whispered.

She frowned at his reason, but she made no move to retract her hand. Having her hand in his sent this weird warm feeling inside her that made every part of her body tingle. And she weirdly liked it. It felt so wrong, yet so right at the same time

Sehun gently pulled her to walk again and they followed Jongdae and Sunhee inside a sport store. Apparently, Jongdae wanted to buy a new pair of running shoes. While Jongdae was trying out a pair, Sunhee glanced at Sehun and her friend who just entered the store. She took a double take at them, when her gaze fell on their intertwined hands. Sunhee's eyes were rounded in surprise, and Yeojin seemed to realize her friend's gaze on therir intertwined hands.

Sunhee raised her brows in question when she looked at her friend in the eyes. Yeojin just bit down her lip and gave her friend a nervous shrug.

Jongdae decided to buy the pair of shoes he tried on. "So where do we wanna go now? Wanna eat somewhere?" He asked them as they exited the store. "Hey, isn't it your birthday next week?" He suddenly asked Yeojin. "I'll let you choose where to eat as an early birthday gift." He grinned from ear to ear.

It is? Sehun furrowed his brows.

Sunhee immeadiately looked at her friend in concern, and she internally panicked seeing Yeojin's reaction.

Yeojin felt her blood drained down at the mention of her birthday. "Uh.. Y-yeah." She gripped Sehun's hand tighter.

Feeling the grip on his hand, Sehun looked down at Yeojin. "Hey, you okay?" His brows shot up when she looked back up at him. "Are you alright? You're pale." He instictively checked for her temperature with his free hand.

"Oh gosh! You are!" Jongdae worriedly commented.

"Jin..." Sunhee put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm okay." Yeojin assured the three. "Just... tired I guess." She shrugged. "But, I think I wanna go home now." She looked at Sehun as if asking for a permission, and he nodded.

"I'll take her home," Sehun told them; his eyes still lingered on her.

"Sorry," Yeojin gave Sunhee a weak grin.

"No, it's okay, Jin!" Sunhee patted her. "I know." She smiled.

"Sorry, Jongdae." Yeojin smiled apologetically to the guy who quickly nodded at her.

"You okay?" Kris asked as he slipped under the duvet. "You've been awfully quiet ever since you got back from the double date."

"Just tired," she replied with a sigh as she closed her eyes. But then, she suddenly snuggled closer to him.

Kris gulped when he felt her nose lightly brushed against the side of his arm. He looked down and saw her leaning sideways facing him with closed eyes. "Suho wanted to meet again some other time," he told her as he kept his thoughts in check. He felt her nodded with a hum. "Oh! And prepare some clothes tomorrow."

"Hm?" She opened an eye and raise her head a bit. "What for?"

"I have to go for a meeting in China until Friday. It's still the rainy season; of course you wouldn't want to be here alone right?" She silently nodded as she laid down her head again while he continued, "So you're going to stay with the fam."

"Okay," she replied with a little yawn.

Kris peeked down at her and gulped again feeling the close distance between them. However, he then realized that something must really be bothering her or else she wouldn't sleep so close to him. "Are you sure you're okay?" He knitted his brows.

He didn't get any response from her right away until she slowly nodded a few seconds later. He let out a little scoff at that. "You still at lying."

Sehun opened the folder and ran a finger on the paper.

Date of birth: October 11, 1996

"So it's really going to be her birthday this Saturday." He closed the folder with a lopsided smile. "But what's with her yesterday?" He mumbled to himself before deciding to look for her.

He looked for her in the cafeteria since it's lunch time. Yet, he found no sign of her nor of Sunhee. But Sehun saw Jongdae laughing along with his friends at a table. The table immediately became silent when Sehun approached them. The others stared at him with widened eyes as if he were some kind of an alien while Jongdae greeted him with his signature grin as if they had been buddies.

"Have you seen Yeojin?"

"Nope, but I think Sunhee went to the library awhile ago. So Yeojin's probably-," Sehun wasted no time and left. "There," Jongdae finished with a shrug.

Sehun heard Jongdae's friends whispered why he was looking for Yeojin behind him, but he ignored it and went to the library. Once in the library, he quietly walked through the rows of book shelves, looking for her. He found her sitting alone at one of the provided tables near the window.

A book was lying open before her on the table, but she was blankly staring out the window. She propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. She seemed so peaceful, yet so distant. To Sehun, it just meant she was having a battle inside.

Sehun took a step to approach her, but he halted when he saw Sunhee came and sat beside Yeojin who was snapped back to reality. Sunhee put an arm around Yeojin's shoulder, gently rubbed her back and gave her a smile. Yeojin smiled back at her friend, but Sehun could see that her smile didn't reach her eyes. He decided to let her be with her friend for now.

He looked for her again when the classes had ended to offer her a ride as usual. When he found her at the lobby, she was already alighting Lin's car.

Sehun didn't see her much the next day too. He met her in the morning and she greeted him with a smile. The same sad smile. But after that, he only saw her from a distance. One thing he noticed was she often blankly stared into space even when she was eating with Lin and Sunhee. It bothered him that she had been looking off. It bothered him more that he couldn't see her much because she stuck to her friend all day and she went home with Lin again, and he himself had another meeting for the upcoming annual senior camp.

However, he was not the only one thinking of Yeojin. Meanwhile in China, Kris had been having difficulties to sleep. It had only been a few days since he started sleeping on the same bed with Yeojin, but he already felt it weird to be sleeping alone again. He could guard his thoughts better now that Yeojin wasn't beside him, but he still found it hard to sleep without thinking of her. He realized just yesterday that her birthday was coming up and that it was what threw her off. Right now, he could only count the days till he went back to Korea.

Yeojin read the note she found earlier in her locker as she sat on the window seat in the mansion's library.

You look ugly when you space out. Smile a little will you?

P.S. I told you I'm here whenever you need. Are you going to keep on ignoring me?

She scoffed at the letter, but then a smile curled on her lips. It had been days since she felt amused like this even though it was only a little. She sighed and looked out the window overlooking the mansion's garden.

"Hoho. You're here again!"

Yeojin whipped her head around and found Grandpa walking toward her with a chuckle.

"Hi, Grandpa." She smiled whilst folding the paper in her hands.

Grandpa sat beside her and patted her head. "What's that?" He pointed at the paper.

"Oh this? Nothing, Grandpa." She shrugged but smiled a little as she looked down at it.

"Why are you here alone again?"

"No reason."

Grandpa sighed and her head. "Yeojin," he gently called and she hummed with a smile. "Stop blaming yourself, dear." Her smile faltered and she could only blinked. "I'm sure they didn't want you to continue on beating yourself up." Grandpa continued to her head. "They want you to be happy. Look around you and be happy because there's a lot of people who love you." He placed his hand on hers that was still holding the paper.

Yeojin lowered her head and blinked back tears that were threatening to escape her eyes. She could not cry. She should not cry. She didn't deserve to cry for this. "But," her voice came out croaked, "that's what scared me, Grandpa."

Grandpa let out his signature chuckle. "My dear," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "love shouldn't scare you. Love isn't scary. Love gives you hope to go through that fear. It strengthens you when you're at your weakest point. So more people who loves you means more strength and more hope."

"But it also means more hurt when they're gone," she lowered her head again.

"Don't harden your heart, my dear." Grandpa cupped her cheek with a hand and smiled when she looked up. "Say, has Yifan called you?"

Yeojin chuckled sarcastically. "Does he ever, Grandpa?"

"That's weird." Grandpa clustered his brows. "Mr. Ahn told me he called here every day to make sure you're home and not sleeping alone."

Why would he do that? Yeojin blinked surprised, looking elsewhere.

Grandpa tried to contain his chuckle seeing her reaction. He stood up and patted her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's one of those people."

Yeojin raised her brows. Which people?

"Don't stay in the pit alone for too long, Yeojin dear. Remember why there is love." Grandpa smiled and walked away leaving Yeojin to blink confused.

She looked down at the paper in her hand. "Love gives hope?"

Her phone lit up and vibrated on the bedside table. Lin momentarily diverted her gaze from the screen of her laptop and reached for her phone. She frowned when she didn't recognize the number, but she picked it up.

"Hello? Who is this?" Her eyes were still glued on the screen.

"Oh! Uhm... This is Lin right? This is Sehun. Oh Sehun."

Lin's eyes grew wide and she sat up on her bed, now ignoring the drama playing on her laptop. "Oh! Sehun sunbae? I-uh-h-how did you know my number?" She bit down her lip to contain her growing grin. "You need help?" She face-palmed herself right after she uttered them. Really, Lin?

"Oh yeah. Uhm... Actually, I was going to call Sunhee, but I've never really talked to her, so I thought it's best to call you." He entered the sport store in the mall.

"Uhuh?" She now knitted her brows a bit.

"Yeah, so..." He cleared his throat as he was looking at some of the running shoes for women. "I was wondering... Do you know Yeojin's favorite color?"

Lin felt a prick in her heart and she sighed. Of course! It must be about Eonni again. "Blue."

"Her favorite color's blue?" Sehun raised a brow as he picked a white running shoe with a light blue color for the outline.

"Yes. Uhm... Is that all, sunbae?" She asked with very little hope that there was more reason for him to call her.

Sehun smiled liking the shoe he picked. "Yes, that's it. Thank you, Lin."

She gulped down the lump in . "You're welcome, sunbae." She ended the call with another sigh.

Why does it hurt?

Her door opened and Yeojin came in still looking downhearted like Lin had seen her been the past few days.

"Eonni, where have you been?" Lin tried to sound cheerful for Yeojin.

"The library." The older girl gave her a small smile as she sat beside her on the bed. "What are you watching?" She pointed at the laptop.

"Oh!" Lin just remembered that she was watching a drama. "A new drama. Let's watch together!" She suggested and soon the two were comfortably tucked under the duvet.

They didn't realize that it was already night when they were watching episode after episode. Yeojin leaned her head on her sister-in-law's shoulder while they were both watching the drama. Yet, her mind wasn't fully on the drama. She couldn't distract her mind from what was going to happen the next day. Her birthday.

"Eonni," Lin called her while her eyes were still glued on the screen.

"Hm?"

"Can I...," she bit down her lip unsure whether to tell Yeojin or not. "Can I tell you something?"

Yeojin raised her head from Lin's shoulder. "Of course! What is it?"

"I..." Lin cleared . "It's... It's about Sehun."

"Sehun?" Yeojin's brows shot up. "What about him?"

"Promise me you won't be mad," Lin quickly said.

"Why would I be, Lin?" Yeojin chuckled a bit. "What is it?"

Lin lowered her head. "I... I think I really like him," she said in one breath. "Like really really like him."

Yeojin felt something strange inside her at what she said, but she managed to smile. "I know."

"You knew?" Lin immediately lifted her head.

"Of course!"

Lin smiled, but soon pouted. "But I know he likes you."

Yeojin felt her heart skipped a beat. "What? Me? Lin, you know why Sehun and I are even dating."

"I know." Lin lowered her head. "But he never looked at any other girl the way he looks at you, Eonni."

"It doesn't matter." Yeojin lowered her head too. "I'm still your brother's wife."

Lin's eyes glinted with a little hope. "Then," she grabbed Yeojin's hands, "can you promise me something, Eonni?" Yeojin blinked surprised but nodded. "Promise me you won't fall for him."

The older girl was taken aback for a moment. "O-of course," she finally said, but her heart somehow felt heavy.

"Thank you, Eonni!" Lin hugged her.

KNOCK. KNOCK. 
Someone knocked on the door and the girls pulled away from the hug.

Kris' head popped in as he slightly opened the door.

"Gege!"

"Kris? You're here already?"

"Yeah." He opened the door wider and leaned on the door's frame. "I just came back. You girls haven't slept yet?"

"Drama." Yeojin nodded to Lin's laptop.

"It's pretty late already though." He checked his watch. "We should sleep now," he told Yeojin.

"We?" Yeojin raised her brows.

"Ah Gege!" Lin hugged Yeojin. "Tomorrow's the weekend, and we're not done watching the drama." She pouted and Yeojin just shrugged at him.

Kris groaned. He was mentally screaming inside because he had to sleep alone yet another day. "Fine. Be sure not to sleep too late though. Both of you." He pointed at both of the girls before going out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Tomorrow... Yeojin thought grimly while Lin told her to watch the drama again.
 

Kris threw himself to the bed, heaving out a loud sigh. Ugh! This is so annoying! He closed his eyes to drain the tiredness from the long trip back to Korea. She didn't look much better. He sighed again. That girl needs to stop blaming herself.

"Kris! Come here!" Mrs. Wu called his son who just entered the dining room.

With a muffled yawn, he sauntered to where his mother and the rest of the family members- minus Lin- were standing. "Why are you all up so early?"

His mother-in-law was lighting up a candle on a cake.

"It's Noona's birthday, remember?" Jinho chirped and Grandpa chuckled.

"Oh." Kris paused surprised. "Right."

Mrs. Kwon handed him the cake. "Now let's bring it up to her. You should be the one holding the cake."

Kris took the cake and the mothers quickly turned him around and pushed him to walk ahead. They ascended the stairs and Jinho opened the door to Lin's room for Kris.

"One...," the moms counted, "two... three!"

They all shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDA-"

"Where's Yeojin?" Kris asked his sister who was just awaken with a startle. He saw no sign of Yeojin in the room.

"Why are you guys waking me up so early?" Lin grumbled.

"Lin, honey, where's your sister?" Mrs. Wu repeated Kris' question.

"Huh?" The girl rubbed her eyes and turned her head to Yeojin's side of the bed but found no one there. "Oh! Where is Eonni?"

"That's what we asked, Noona." Jinho rolled his eyes as he closed the bathroom door after he checked it. "She's not in the bathroom."

"The library?" Grandpa suggested. "She's been spending a lot of time in the library these past few days."

"I'll go check." Mrs. Kwon immediately went down to check the library.

Kris knitted his brow. He handed the cake to his mom and went out the room too. He felt his heart picking its pace when his mother-in-law told everyone that she wasn't there.

Where did she go?

Grandpa asked Mr. Ahn if he met Yeojin in the morning. The family's assistant shook his head but offered to ask the maids or drivers.

Mr. Ahn came into the living room where the family was waiting. Everyone else was sitting down except for Kris who was standing with crossed arms.

"So?" Grandpa asked the assistant.

"One of the drivers just came back. He said the young miss asked him to drop her off at the bus stop early in the morning. She only said that she had an appointment with a friend."

The family breathed out a little sigh of relief.

"Then she would come back," Mrs. Wu said.

"Where did she said she would go to?" Kris asked again.

"Kris, she probably went with Sunhee," Mrs. Kwon assured him.

"We all know she never wanted to go out when it's her birthday. And she's been emotionally unstable though she didn't show it," he snapped and looked back at Mr. Ahn. "So where?"

"I'm sorry, sir." The older man bobbed his head. "She didn't say where to. She only asked to be dropped off at the bus stop."

Kris strode out of the living room.

"Kris, where are you going?" His mom asked, standing up.

"It's okay." Grandpa grabbed Mrs. Wu's hand. "Let him be, Jieun. He's the husband."

"I'll help call Sunhee," Lin stood up and went up to her room.

"Even though he denied it most of the times, he knows her better than us," Grandpa continued to assure Mrs. Wu.
 

"Idiot! Where are you?" He tried to call Yeojin again as he drove his way out of the mansion's premise. I hope you don't do anything stupid.

Happy belated Sehun day! 
Whew! This one's long right?
Hope it didn't bore you though.

Anyway, if anyone's wondering why Yeojin's a 96 line, well I started writing this story back in 2014 (Wow! It's been more than a year!). So, the time setting  of this story is 2014.