Chapter 38

Luhan alighted the car with a wide smile. He looked at his own reflection on his car's window to make sure his hair was arranged neatly before locking his car with a click of the remote. Pushing the door to the restaurant open, he stepped inside and the smell of pizza and pasta greeted him. 

Areum had chosen where to eat. It surprised him, actually, when she called him this morning to have a date. Usually, he was always the one to arrange their dates. He wouldn't complain about this change though.

The place was just a small Italian restaurant tucked between other old shops. Areum had always loved simplicity. And that was what attracted Luhan first. She was different than the girls he grew up amongst. Jewelries were not her thing. She was intelligent, hardworking and didn't mind starting from the bottom. On top of that, she was effortlessly beautiful. But most importantly, to Luhan she felt like home. She made him feel complete and like he was where he was supposed to be. She was the force that made him brave enough to tell his dad that he wanted to start his own business in China from the bottom. He wouldn't lie though; he somewhat felt guilty for leaving Sehun to be the one expected to replace their dad later.

Luhan's smile grew wider when he spotted Areum sitting at one of the tables. She looked like she was deep in thought, blankly staring ahead. He chuckled lowly before carefully approaching her from behind. Once behind her, he stooped to give her a peck on the cheek. She jumped on her seat, and quickly whipped her head to the side. Her widened eyes bearing a glare looked straight at his gentle ones. 

"Luhan." Her glare softened when she realized it was him.

Luhan chuckled and smiled. "Hi, angel!" He rounded the table to sit across her.

A small smile grew on Areum's face. "Hey," she breathed out.

"Sorry for being late. I just met up with a good friend." Luhan smiled, but Areum was natrowing her eyes on him suspiciously. "What?" He asked with a chuckle. "Oh, don't worry. Not a girl. He's a guy."

"Who?" Areum refused to just let it slide, and it only made Luhan laughed.

"Are you jealous, angel?" He reached to pinch her cheek. "You're cute when you're jealous." He grinned while she frowned. "He's a junior I met during my studies in China," he explained. "The name's Suho."

"Suho?" Areum's eyes widened. "Kim Suho?"

"Yeah." Luhan nodded. "You know him?"

Now Areum broke into a grin. "Yeah. He's Kris' friend. Met him a few times when we were-" Areum stopped herself, realizing what she was just about to say.

Right at that moment, a waitress came to their table to take their orders. Areum mentally thanked the girl because she almost spilled out the fact that she had dated Kris before. She had not told Luhan about that, and she honsetly felt bad about it. That was actually one of the reasons why she asked to have a date with Luhan today. She wanted to tell him everything. 

The thought had been bothering her ever since Kris kissed her at the bus stop. She was able to reprimand Kris then and even made herself looked unaffected by the kiss. Yet, the truth was when she was left alone at the bus stop, she almost broke down. There were still little sparks inside her when Kris' lips landed on hers. It was as if feelings she had buried deep were resurfacing. It scared her and it felt very wrong. She didn't want to feel anything for Kris any longer. Areum believed that those were just sparks from old feelings she probably still had left because they didn't have a proper closure back then. She ended everything with Kris one-sidedly when she was still in love with him. But Areum knew she now had Luhan. And she loved him. Very much. She was scared of losing him if he knew what happened. Burrying secrets from her fiance wouldn't be right, but she couldn't spill them out so casually either.

After making their orders, the waitress left them and with a smile, Luhan brought his gaze on Areum again. "So, what were you saying?"

"Oh." She blinked. "I forgot," she lied.

Luhan chuckled. "It's such a small world, huh?" He continued to laugh while Areum only forced a smile. "Anyway, why don't we all meet up some time? With Suho and Kris too. I had a great time talking with Kris. I'd like to meet him again. I'm sure it would be fun if we all gather. Don't you think so?"

Areum suddenly felt uneasy. "Uh. Yeah. But it won't be that easy meeting them. They're busy, I'm sure."

Luhan frowned a little as he nodded. "Right." The frown disappeared soon after and was replaced by another gentle smile. "What's with you today, by the way?"

"Huh?"

"You were never the one to plead for a date." He snickered.

"You've been busy going back and forth to China for months before coming back. I just wanted to see you." She then playfully frowned. "Why? I can't ask for a date with my fiancé?"

Luhan laughed before reaching across the table to take her hand. "Missing me that much, angel?" He teased.

Areum honestly felt like crying when she saw his smile, but she held it in. God! She didn't want to lose this guy. She mustered a smile instead and held his hand tighter. "Yes, I miss you." When his thumb caressed her hand, she felt herself reassured that she loved this man and that what she felt for Kris a few days back were only temporary. "I love you, Luhan."



Areum decided to leave her shop to her employees for the whole day. After the lunch, they decided to walk around a nearby mall. They stayed there until dinner and after having dinner at one of the restaurants, they called it a day. Luhan, though, couldn't shake off the feeling that Areum had something weighing her mind. She had been clinging to his arm longer than usual. He liked it, but it felt strange at the same time.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," Luhan told her when he pulled over in front of her house and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Areum was quietly staring down at her lap the whole time and it worried Luhan.

"What's wrong?" He furrowed his brows.

She slowly lifted her head and turned to him, biting down her lips. "Luhan," she wet her lips, "I need to tell you something."

Luhan waited silently and gave her a small smile when he was actually getting nervous inside. 

So he was right. Something was bothering her. Did he do something wrong? He wondered and grew more anxious each passing second.

"I...," Areum started then gulped. "It's about Kris." She lowered her gaze.

"Kris?" Luhan blinked surprised but felt a surge of relief washed over him. "What about him?"

She briefly met his eyes, but then looked away again. Luhan couldn't tell what it was, but there was an unpleasant feeling building inside him again seeing how nervous she looked.

Areum gulped and took a deep breath. "He...," she softly breathed out. "I... We used to date each other. He's my ex, Lu." She glanced at Luhan from the corner of her eyes, scared of his reaction. She immediately felt bad when she found him staring at her expressionlessly. The smile on his face was wiped off. Feeling guilty, she looked away again.

"That day you saw me drunk at a bar...," she continued with trembling voice, "I was so brokenhearted. I was the one who left him. I hurt him but I was hurt too. I... I was okay for the first few months, but then it hit me so hard to know I've lost him when I still loved him." She willed herself to look at Luhan in the eyes wanting to show him her sincerity. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. But I'm-" She almost choked trying to hold back a sob. "I'm scared of losing you. I love you, Luhan. I really do! And more than I did Kris." 

Areum wished wholeheartedly that Luhan wouldn't hater her. That he would see her true feeling for him. Yet, Luhan looked away. 

She lowered her head again when Luhan looked elsewhere. "I'm sorry, Luhan."

After what felt like a torturously long minute, Luhan let out a relieved sigh and smiled down at Areum who still had her head down. He hooked a finger below her chin and gently lifted her head. He let her see the smile on his face before leaning closer to give a long peck on her lips.

"Thank you," he breathed out when he pulled away. "For telling me," he added. Areum looked at him with her sparkling rounded eyes and he chuckled. "Was that what had been weighing your mind the whole day, angel?" He patted the top of her head.

Areum pursed her lips. No, there was something else she needed to tell him. The kiss, she needed to tell him that too, but she decided to do so some time later. Luhan might be okay with Kris being her ex, but he might reacted differently about the recent kiss. She needed to prepare her heart first for that. For now, she just wanted to give her heart a rest.

She quietly nodded and Luhan peck her lips again before alighting the car and going to her side of the car. He opened the door for her and opened up his hand for her to take, treating her like the princess she was to his heart. 

Areum chuckled at his gesture and found herself in his embrace once she alighted the car. Not wanting to miss his warmth, she gladly snuggled closer encircling her arms around his waist.

He pushed her at an arm's length and looked down at her lovingly. "Don't worry about anything anymore, okay?" He caressed her cheek. "I won't leave you. Ever! I love you and that's all that matters. Alright, angel?" He cupped her face with both hands and lightly squished her cheeks.

Areum nodded in his hands and Luhan pulled her for another hug before releasing her. He told her to go inside and to send his regards to her parents. He stayed until she stepped inside the house and closed the door behind her. The smile lingered on his lips as he rounded the car to enter the driver's seat.

Luhan did feel a little jealous at the thought of Areum being someone else's before she became his. She even got drunk because of Kris. But would he even met her if she weren't drunk that time? Though he didn't wish to see Areum get drunk again, Luhan secretely wondered if she would if she lost him. But remembering her words of being scared of losing him, he prayed she would never have to lose him. He wouldn't forgive himself if she became a wreck because of him.

Luhan paused midway opening the door when he felt someone looking at him. He glanced around but found the street empty. 

That's strange. He frowned. Ha! You're just over thinking, Lu. He shook his head to shake away the odd feeling and entered his car, driving away afterwards.

Waking up in the morning with a smile wasn't impossible to Luhan. He had a good sleep because he slept after hearing Areum's voice over the phone call. What was impossible, thus, was wiping off that silly grin across his face. But Luhan wasn't the only one smiling as the Oh family had their breakfast.

Sehun was uncharacteristically looking happy too when he came down from his room. He wasn't grinning widely like his brother did, but the aura surrounding him seemed to have changed.

"You look really happy. You had a date with Areum yesterday, didn't you? How's she?" Their mom asked Luhan.

"Yes, Mom. She's fine and pretty as always." Luhan beamed.

Oh Jaehan chortled at his son, shaking his head. "My, my! She has really whipped you, hasn't she?"

The others laughed along. Even Sehun was smirking amused.

Mrs. Oh narrowed her eyes on her younger son. "And what about you, young man? Why do you look so happy?"

"Me?" Sehun blankly pointed at himself. "Nothing." He shrugged and went back to eating his sandwich.

"Come to think of it," their dad propped an elbow on the table and tapped his chin in thought, "you do look happier than you usually do despite still being grounded by me for getting into a fight. What, do you have a girlfriend too?"

Sehun choked on his sandwich at what his dad said. He coughed hitting his chest while trying to grab his glass of drink.

"Oh!" Luhan suddenly interjected. "Is it that girl you brought here once? What's her name again?" Luhan pinched the bridge of his nose trying to remember the name.

"You brought a girl here?" Mrs. Oh gasped.

"Don't worry I didn't do anything, Mom. I was just tutoring her," Sehun explained with little coughs after calming down, wincing when feeling his throat sore.

"Ah!" Luhan snapped his fingers. "Yeojin right?" He chuckled. "She's cute," he told their parents. "And she's his schoolmate."

"Oh! She's from Jaesan too?" Mr. Oh asked with a note of excitement. "She's from a prominent family then?"

Sehun suddenly didn't feel as good as he was earlier. Yeojin wasn't just someone from a prominent family, he was reminded. She indirectly owned Titan Wu and that was all because she's Kris Wu's wife. 

He sighed. "She's not my girlfriend." Sehun quickly shut down their hope.

Luhan snickered beside him. "Yeah right! Like you would bring just any random girl here!" He rolled his eyes.

Sehun was suddenly getting aggravated. "She's NOT! Okay?!" He snapped. He wished she was solely his, but she wasn't.

The table instantly became dead silent at his outburst. Sehun mentally cursed himself as he closed his eyes for a second or two.

After blinking away the shock, Luhan quickly regained himself and chuckled lowly. "Okay. Alright. Chill, lil bro." He patted Sehun's shoulder.

Sehun rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Oh asked.

Sehun picked up his bag and slung it on his shoulder. "School. I'm done with breakfast. I'll get going." His cold tone returned.

"You still can't take your motorbike, alright?" Mr. Oh reminded him and Sehun just silently nodded before exiting the dining room.

Luhan clucked. "What's with him?"

Chanyeol stepped out of his car just when he saw Kris getting into the car in front of his.

"Hyung-" He tried to call out with a raised hand but the car had driven off. He sighed letting down his hand.

Ever since he came back and was set as the new Titan Hotel manager, Chanyeol had not met its owner. It didn't feel right, especially knowing his father had something up his sleeves to destroy the powerful but little family. Kris needed to know what's coming his way, Chanyeol understood that very well. But how should he tell him? Kris had stopped regarding him as a friend. He wouldn't believe him, the enemy's son, just like that. Chanyeol wondered whether the cold guy had even seen his father as a threat. Now, Chanyeol could only meekly follow his father's plan even though he didn't know the full plan yet.

The elevator dinged arriving at the destined floor and its doors slid open. Chanyeol stepped out with a sigh. His father had called him for lunch. He briefly glanced to his left where there was a set of doors to the employee's office on this floor and then to his right where the doors to his father's office stood.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a quite waiting room in front of his father's office where the personal assistant's desk was too. Noticing that his father's personal assitant was not at his desk, Chanyeol decided to proceed to his father's room right away. Not wanting to interrupt, he paused from opening the door when he heard his father talking with someone. He was just going to retreat and sit on one of the couches provided, but he decided against it when he heard his father laughed.

"My, my! Kris will be in so much trouble!" Chanyeol heard his father muse and he suddenly felt his heart drop to his stomach. "How come you didn't know about this while he did?"

Chanyeol leaned closer to the door.

"I-I was following the girl, Sir," someone answered. Chanyeol swore he heard that voice before. Was it his father's detective?

"And what did you get?"

For a moment no one talked and Chanyeol assumed that the guy was giving his father something. He figured it must be pictures again. And of a girl he strongly believed to be Yeojin.

"Splendid!" His father exclaimed, but there was something in the tone that was very eerie. "And you, what would you want as a reward? Money? Just tell me how much and I'll give you."

"Nah!" Another voice answered with a chuckle. "Just Sehun's downfall will be enough!"

Sehun? Who's Sehun? Chanyeol wondered furrowing his brows.

"Are you sure you don't want money?"

The same chuckle was heard. "I may not look like it, Mister, but I'm a businessman of my own trade. In fact, I don't mind to lend you my service some time if you need. I may be of some use for you later."

"Indeed?" Chanyeol heard his father laughed again and he felt like throwing up at the sound. That was not the laughter he used to hear during his childhood. This laughter sent chills down his spine. He felt like he didn't know his father anymore.

"Very well then!" Park Changsun exclaimed. "But be careful next time. Don't come here because Kris might be around." There was a pause before he spoke again, "On with the plan then!"

"Do you want me to send his photos to the press, Sir?" The familiar voice asked.

"No, no! We have to take baby steps here." Changsun sounded laid-back, but Chanyeol hated the tone very much. "That way we'll get a bigger impact when we drop the final bomb. We'll proceed with the initial plan."

DING.

Chanyeol heard the elevator's door slid open and quickly retreated from the door to sit on the couch. A few seconds later, Mr. Cho, his father's personal assistant, came into view just as he predicted.

"Oh!" The personal assistant stopped in his steps upon seeing Chanyeol. "Mr. Park!" The man bowed. "Why don't you come inside?"

"I think Dad has guests." Chanyeol shrugged.

"Oh, right! I'll inform Mr. Park that you're here then." The older man bowed again before proceeding to the door of Park Changsun's office. But before he even laid a hand on the knob, the door opened.

Just as Chanyeol thought, the private detective was one of the guys his father was talking to earlier. When the man stepped out of his father's office and spotted him, he bobbed his head in greeting and silently walked past him. 

A second later, another guy, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and plain white shirt covered with black leather jacket, stepped out and Chanyeol assumed he was the one talking about a certain Sehun. The guy looked shorter than him and had round monolid eyes. At a quick glance, he somehow reminded Chanyeol of a harmless hamster. But the image was quickly wiped away when the guy smirked and bobbed his head toward him. Somehow the gesture looked insincere and he certainly didn't look harmless.

"Chanyeol, come in!" Park Changsun called from inside his office.

Chanyeol stood up from the couch and as he walked to his father's office, his eyes lingered on the two guys who then disappeared entering the elevator. Whoever they were, he did not like what they talked about with his father.

No KrisJin or SeJin for today. But I hope you don't mind Chanyeol, Luhan and Areum filling your day ^^