Chapter 37

Yeojin could only sigh when she heard the murmurs from other students.

"Just ignore them." Sunhee smiled reassuringly and urged her to go approach Kris who was putting her duffle bag inside the car's trunk.

Yeojin smiled at Sunhee who carried Beavie for her. She then took a deep breath and shifted the crutches propping her weight. It was embarassing enough to have her friend carrying a very large plush. Having Kris picking her up only made her want to dig a hole and hide there.

Yeojin was surprised last night when Sunhee came in so suddenly, causing her to break away from Sehun's embrace, with the large plush in her arms. Sunhee told Yeojin she found it sitting in front of the door.

He came? Was the first thought that crossed Yeojin's mind when she saw Beavie. Did he leave Beavie to comfort me?

Somehow the thought alone made her feel nervous. She still felt it odd to think that Kris cared about her more than a friend as he had confessed.

"I'm not going to hold back my feelings any longer either." His words rang in her mind when Mr. Yoo told her Kris had sent her a pair of crutches in the morning.

Everything inside her tingled with strange feelings. To think that he was doing all these not as a caring friend or brother but as a husband made her unsure of what to feel.

Her heart was racing with every little swing of the crutches as she came closer to Kris. She tried very hard to ignore the confused stares that her batch mates were giving her, but the weight of them felt almost tangible.

"Here, let me take that." Kris grabbed Beavie from Sunhee when the girls were close enough.

Yeojin silently watched Kris put Beavie on the back seat.

"See you tomorrow then, Jin!" Sunhee hugged her. "And make up with him already," she whispered to Yeojin's ears. Yeojin gave her a small smile.

Just as Sunhee pulled away and Kris closed the back door, Sehun came to Yeojin's side.

"Don't put too much force on your ankle," he told her patting her head affectionately with a smile.

Yeojin shied away from his touch. "O-oh. Y-yeah. Thanks for reminding." She cleared and caught a glimpse of Kris looking away before he opened the door for her.

"Come on." Kris nodded for her to enter the car.

Yeojin nodded, but then Sehun clasped her upper arm. She turned her head to Sehun and looked up at him with blinking eyes. He smiled before wrapping his arms around her. It was awkward for Yeojin because she had her crutches under her armpits, but she felt warm nonetheless.

She suddenly remembered how worried Sehun looked last night and how weirdly comfortable hugging him was despite his soaked clothes. And she hated that. She hated feeling at ease around him when she knew she shouldn't. Especially not when she was not even sure of what to feel about Kris' confession.

"See you." Sehun her head before releasing her from his embrace.

She felt another arm wrapped around her shoulders and found herself staring into Kris' eyes as he assisted her to enter the car.
 

He clenched his jaw feeling his heartbeat racing of anger and jealousy. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turned white. His blood was boiling just by the thought of someone else wrapping his arms around her.

"Kris!"

Yeojin's voice snapped him back and he unintentionally glared at her.

"Are you trying to kills us?!" She looked panic and angry at the same time.

Kris looked away when he just realized that he had been speeding up. He eased the grip on his steering wheel and loosened the force on the pedal. "Sorry."

He heard Yeojin sighed and when he glanced at her, she was closing her eyes with furrowed brows.

"Why did you pick me up? Did you know that it would only cause rumors among the others?"

"I've told the teachers you're a family friend and that your mom asked me to pick you up. They understood," Kris told her.

Yeojin sighed exasperated and turned to him. "I'm talking about the students, not the teachers!"

"Would you rather have them raise a rumor about you and Sehun then?" He shot her a glance and he could see her anger morphing into confusion. "I heard them talking earlier," he told her as he looked back ahead. "Some were saying you are dating him. They were suspicious of you two because he ran for you twice yesterday."

Kris took a glance at her and immediately regretted it. Yeojin was ducking her head, seemingly trying to hide the blush growing on her cheeks. He hated seeing her flustered by the mention of Sehun. It took everything in him not to think about her being hugged by the guy again. He instead diverted his attention to her  bandaged ankle resting on top of the dashboard.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Huh?" Yeojin glanced at him and realized a second later that he was referring to her sitting position and her raised foot. "Oh! Y-yeah." She shrugged.

It pricked him that she sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Hungry?"

Yeojin bit down her lip before slowly nodding. "A bit."

Half an hour later, Kris pulled over at a rest area to have their early dinner. After helping Yeojin out of the car and set her down at one of the tables, he bought the food she ordered. They sat and ate in silence for awhile. Kris hated this. He hated the awkwardness and the uncertainty of whether Yeojin was just uncomfortable because of his confession or still mad at him because of his stupid act two days ago.

"Are you still mad at me?" He looked up from his food.

Yeojin didn't take her eyes off of her food and only silently shrugged. Kris' eyes lingered on her for a moment, trying to read her expression but failed. He was starting to think that confessing to her was a bad idea.

Would it be better if he didn't confess? Would he realize his feeling for her if he didn't kiss Areum? Would he even question his feelings if he didn't kiss Yeojin? Would anything be different if he had accepted his own feeling for her back then?

His mind wondered of what would have been, but he realized that none of his questions mattered now. What mattered now was that he liked her a lot and he wanted her to see that. He wanted her most of all. Yeojin was his and only his.

Kris his lips and warned her, "You shouldn't let that guy hug you too much." He didn't look up, but in his peripheral view, she paused eating and stared at him.

"It wouldn't be good for your image later," he explained. "We will announce our marriage sooner or later. You wouldn't want your schoolmates thinking you were two-timing, would you?"

Yeojin heaved a long breath. "I am two-timing though." Kris immediately looked up from his food at her words while she added lowering her head again, "No matter how fake my relationship with Sehun is."

"Get on my back," Kris told Yeojin as he crouched down beside the car once they had arrived home.

"Why would I?" Sounding annoyed, Yeojin frowned and crossed her arms. She wasn't sure whether she was still mad at him for kissing Areum or for liking her. She wasn't sure of anything at all at the moment, but one thing she knew was she didn't want to let her guard down around Kris.

Kris looked back over his shoulder and stared at her for a moment before he flatly said, "Because I want you to."

Yeojin was taken aback, but she tried hard not to show her surprise. "What?"

"What what?" He asked her back with a raise eyebrow and ghost of a playful smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "Why would you want me to get on your back?"

Kris frowned a little. "What, you're okay with that blonde carrying you, but not with your husband doing so?"

Yeojin felt like air was squeezed out of her lungs for a second, flustered by what he just said. His words of not wanting to hold back his feeling for her that she had tried hard not to remember popped in her mind again.

"But I have crutches!" She reasoned.

Yeojin heard him heaved a long breath and saw him closed his eyes in exasperation before he turned his head away again and suddenly stood up. With a gasp of surprise, in mere seconds she was carried out of the car in his arms. His arms circled around her back and under her tighs. Instinctively, she loosely hugged his neck.

"Ya!" was the only word she could afford to come out of .

Yeojin glared, but he wasn't looking at her. She saw the triumphant smirk though, and it irked her. He looked proud being able to carry her like this.

She disliked this gesture of his for some reason. Maybe it was because she knew this was one of Kris' ways of proving her that he really did like her more than a friend. And Yeojin disliked the idea. She disliked the awkwardness she knew she would feel toward him if it were true. She disliked it a lot. She wanted to go back to what they were days ago when they had just patched up their friendship. She wanted to go back there and undo the kiss they shared. She couldn't afford having him liking her more than a friend. It would just ruin their friendship later, she thought.

With much effort and ignoring Yeojin's constant pleas to let her down, Kris finally was able to unlock the door to the house. He went straight to their bedroom and set her down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"No crutches in the house." He smiled down at her.

Yet, Yeojin scowled. "What?! Then how am I supposed to walk around? I shouldn't be putting any force on my foot, remember?"

"That's why I'll carry you around."

Yeojin's eyes went wide and fell agape. "Are you serious?!"

"Very."

He then suddenly kneeled down in front of her. His eyes met hers, and Yeojin swore there was something different in the way he looked at her. "I meant what I said yesterday, Jin."

Yeojin suddenly felt a little hard to breathe, but she held back every emotions and thoughts. What was she supposed to feel anyway?

Kris lowered his head as he took one of her hands and caressed it gently, making her flinch. "And I'm not taking it back." He looked up at her again. "I'm not forcing you to feel the same, but that's what I feel for you. I'm done being coward. I'm done holding back." He lowered his his head with a little sigh before looking back up at her again, this time, with a lopsided smile.

He slowly stood up. "I'll carry you around the house. I, more than any other guys and as your husband, have the right to hold you. I'll make use of that now." Seeing how Yeojin was just staring at him unsurely, he added, "Just take this as your right to take advantage of your husband."

When Kris left the room to get her bag and Beavie, Yeojin heaved a long breath and buried her face in her hands.

She was scared. Scared of how real the whole situation was. Scared of how sincere Kris looked. Scared of what their friendship might turn into. Scared of what she herself should be feeling about this whole thing. Scared, most of all, of how deep his feeling would grow for her.

The next day, after a few minutes of arguing, Yeojin defeatedly let Kris drop her off at school. She didn't really have much choice because Kris didn't want to call a chauffeur for her and she couldn't really run- or even walk- away from him.

She didn't miss the judging and confused stares thrown her way when Kris helped her out of the car and gave her the crutches. She knew very well that it wasn't the fact that she was using crutches that caused her to receive the stares. Rather, it was because of the presence of the chairman of Titan Wu beside her. Yeojin really wished she could just disappear right then.

"Eonni?" Lin ran to her side and saw the crutches. "What happened?" She then realized the presence of her brother and let out a little gasp. "Gege?"

"Take care of her." Kris told Lin, nodding his head toward Yeojin. "She shouldn't walk too much."

"O-oh." Lin nodded and momentarily eyed Yeojin's bandaged ankle. "Yeah, sure. Don't worry."

Once Kris left, the stares Yeojin was receiving felt a little heavier. She disliked it a lot and suddenly wished Sehun was there. He would know how to dismiss all those stares with his cold one. But he was nowhere seen.

As predicted, rumors of her and Kris started spreading before lunch even started. Some said they were dating while some believed they were just family friends since Lin was close with her too.

Sunhee and Lin told Yeojin to just ignore them, and she did. She thought it would just last for the day. But turned out, it didn't. Kris dropped her off again the next day, and the rumors only heated. More stares were thrown her way and more whispers were heard when she passed by. Halfway through the day, the rumors turned into insults. One of them was her being a gold-digger.

Her once peaceful senior year was snatched away from her. Yeojin was inwardly screaming because she just wanted a normal life. Or at least, a normal high school life. She just wanted to be like any normal girls her age. She started thinking that maybe marrying Kris was a mistake after all.

Moreover, the fact that the senior students had to start thinking of their final project or final paper was not helping her to destress at all. When the seniors were dismissed early after lunch, she decided to go spent the rest of the supposed school hours in the library. Sunhee offered to accompany her, but Yeojin just wanted to be alone for now. Besides, she needed to find references to decide what final project she wanted to make or what topic she wanted to write.

The library was quiet as it was supposed to be. Only some students were seen. A few of them who noticed her entering glanced at her and whispered to a friend or gave her a disgusted glare. Yeojin mentally waved them off and went on to pick some books before sitting down at table in a corner. She set the crutches beside her table and started reading.

After staring at the words written on the same page she had been reading the past fifteen minutes, Yeojin let out a little groan and rubbed a hand over her face. She thought the final project would help distract her from thoughts of Kris or the rumors, but the quietness of the library only made those thoughts filled her mind even more.

Try as she might, but Yeojin kept on thinking back to how Kris had been taking care of her the past two days. He remembered to apply cold pack on her ankle and change the bandage. He also kept his words of carrying her around the house, even to the bathroom. He prepared her a plastic stool in the bathroom, so she wouldn't have to stand while showering. To her dismay, she, therefore, needed to keep the bathroom door shut but unlocked for Kris to carry her back to the bedroom. She tried to walk by herself yesterday but ended up feeling tremendous pain on her ankle and getting a scolding from Kris.

Yeojin wouldn't lie. During the time Kris was being too cold to her, she did occasionally wonder what it would be like if he treated her as a husband would the way she always did as a wife. But now that he was doing so, it hit her like a truck that it was a real marriage they were in, not just a friendly exchange of vows or contract. Her naive mind had always thought of it as a way to mend their broken friendship, but Yeojin had never really thought of what would happen if any of them develop feelings for each other along the way.

Yeojin buried her face in her hands and shook her head. Stop thinking of Kris! She told herself. Think of your final paper, Jin! She knitted her brows and bit down her lip.

"Ouch!" A yelp escaped her lips when she felt something hard hitting the top of her head. As she heard the chair beside her screeched against the floor being pulled back, she rubbed the top of her head with a wince.

She turned to her side and was surprised to find Sehun taking a seat beside her with a thick book in his hand and a playful smirk on his lips. She clucked and narrowed her eyes at him. "Where have you been?" Yeojin had not seen him since yesterday and she found it weird because he would usually pester her with his presence if he weren't busy with the council.

Sehun let out a breathy chuckle before turning to her. "Looks like someone's missing me," he noted.

Yeojin was flustered and immediately looked away with a little pout. "I wasn't."

She heard him chuckle again and felt heat creeping up her cheeks. She scolded herself for even thinking about his whereabout. Feeling a little awkward, she stole a glance at him and saw that he was already starting to read his book. She didn't notice it earlier, but now she did, her eyes were rounded seeing his black hair.

"You dyed your hair?"

Sehun didn't look up from his book and smiled. "Yeah. Part of my dad's punishment for getting myself into a fight." He glanced at her, catching her off guard. "I look hotter now, don't I?"

Yeojin scoffed loudly. "Conceited." She pushed his cheek with a finger, turning his head away. A smile curled on her lips as she turned her attention back on her book.

Sehun scooted his chair closer. "How's your ankle?"

"Better." Yeojin shrugged.

"So, are you going to make a final project or write a paper?"

"Probably paper." She continued on reading.

"On what topic?"

"I'm thinking of something relating to public relation."

"Why?" He asked again and though Yeojin still didn't spare him a glance, she was starting to get annoyed.

"I wanna take public relation later."

A chuckle escaped his lips. "Why?"

Yeojin rolled her eyes, now feeling extra annoyed. "Can't you stop asking-" She turned her head only to pause when she realized how close Sehun's face was to hers.

The corners of his lips were hooked into a smile and his eyes couldn't stray away from hers. With his dark hair, his eyes looked darker in shade, deeper, colder but strangely warmer too at the same time. Even with the still evident purplish color of bruise on the corner of his eye and lips, he still managed to look attractive as ever.

Yeojin slightly gulped when his hand moved to pat her head. "You'll do good in that major."

She cleared , looking away. Sehun smiled before turning his attention to his book too. Somehow, it had been very easy for him to smile around her lately despite knowing that she was indeed Kris Wu's wife. And he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to let go of this light feeling in his chest whenever he was with her.

"Gold digger!" Some girl muttered from a table across them, glaring at Yeojin.

"I know right!" Her friend whispered but loud enough for Yeojin to hear. "First, Kris Wu and now, Oh Sehun."

Yeojin looked up and met eyes with them. She felt her heart twisted and her stomach churned with unpleasant feeling. She cowered at their glares but couldn't look away as they continued on whispering. They were only whispers, but they sounded so loud in her ears. Every word of insult pricked her heart painfully. She felt tears stinging the back of her eyes, but then all whispers were blocked when she felt a pair of hands covering her ears.

She whipped her head to the side and found him smiling at her.

"Don't listen to them," his voice was a bit muffled but it was still clear in her ears.

Yeojin slowly nodded as Sehun's hands retreated. She willed herself to pay attention to her book instead. She tried hard not to feel this, but Sehun really felt like a safe place to her.

HEYYY! How have ya'll been doing?  ^^ I've been missing Yeojin, Kris, and Sehun, so here I am making it up to you guys.

Kris is now FINALLY taking a step forward, but has he been too late? And while Yeojin is scared of having Kris liking her, what do you think is she actually feeling for Sehun?

I'll try to update again soon, but I'm not promising anything. Updates will still be slow. Sorry, guys :(