Chapter 40

The elevator doors slid open and her heels clicked against the floor when she stepped out. A grin was plastered across her face as she looked around the lobby for the guy.

"Where's that boy?" 

Her grin froze and fell into a frown when her gaze fell on the guy who was leaning against the receptionist counter. The reception lady was blushing and giggling, tucking her hair behind her ear when the guy winked at her and grinned afterwards.

She sighed before she marched her way toward him. "Park Chanyeol!" She crossed her arms.

The boy jerked at the tone, surprised. "Oh! Noona! Hi!" He waved and showed her his rich teeth grin.

"Hi Yoora!" The reception lady greeted with a sheepish smile. "I never knew you have a brother."

Yoora forced a smile. "I didn't know I have a flirty brother either, honestly."

"Hey!" Chanyeol protested with a pout.

"If you'll excuse us." Yoora forced another smile to the reception lady before clutching on her brother's arm. "Let's go, casanova!" She pulled him away with her.

Chanyeol waved to the reception lady and winked at her again after gesturing 'I'll call you' with his hand.

Once they were seated at a table in a café close to the broadcast station she worked at, Yoora didn't hesitate to knock Chanyeol's head with her fist.

"Ack!" Chanyeol ducked his head and winced. "Noona!" He protested and looked around at some of the customers there, feeling embarassed. "I'm not a kid anymore!"

Yoora only clicked her tongue. "Seriously this boy! Then stop acting like a kid!" She glared and huffed. "And you will always be my baby brother."

"Noona~!" Chanyeol groaned and ran a hand over his face. "What did I do?"

"Stop flirting with girls, fool!" She now flicked his forehead.

Chanyeol pouted and rubbed his forehead.

"Do you even realize it's seriously starting to become a habit?" Yoora frowned while Chanyeol shrugged.

"What? I'm a man too!"

"A real man won't play with girls' hearts!" She reprimanded him, huffing a breath and crossing her arms afterwards.

Chanyeol instantly felt guilty. He, out of all people, knew how much his sister hated that type of guy.

"You started playing with girls because of Kris. I could understand when you, as his good friend, wanted to stop him from breaking a girl's heart by stealing her from him- though that was really stupid actually. But then you began flirting with his next girlfriends too. And I didn't and don't like that!" 

"Sorry." He lowered his head, feeling like a little boy who was reprimanded by his mother.

Yoora's gaze softened as she sighed mustering a small smile. "I just don't want you to become like him. And I certainly don't want any girl to become your victim. I know you're better than that!" Her smile grew when he looked up and smiled too. Their smiles almost looked identical.

Being only a year a part, they had always been mistaken as twins. But Yoora didn't go soft of him just because people thought they were of the same age. Instead, she would always make sure Chanyeol knows she's older. He always managed to steal her heart nonetheless. Chanyeol would forever be her baby brother, she thought.

"So, anyway," Yoora inhaled a long breath before releasing it, "why are you all the way here in Busan?" She checked her watch. "At this late hour too."

Chanyeol broke into a grin. "To see you of course!" Yoora narrowed her eyes on him and he just blinked innocently at her. "What? I can't miss my sister?" Seeing how she still wouldn't let him off the hook, he added, " I felt bored. If not at the office, I'd be locked up at home."

"Oh, right! How's your work?" She sipped her coffee. "Heard the hotel was a mess before you came."

Chanyeol sighed. "Work's good. Oh! And Suho hyung sent his regards to you. But anyway, I think it's weird that the hotel was doing so good until a week before I came." He lowered his gaze and knitted his brows in thought.

Yoora furrowed her brows. "What are you trying to say?"

"I think..." He lifted his gaze again. "Dad's behind all this."

Yoora's eyes were momentarily rounded before they look elsewhere.

"Noona." Chanyeol took one of her hands. "Dad wants revenge," he told her. "He revealed to me that he wanted to destroy Kris hyung's family."

Yoora could feel a surge of emotions rising up from the pit of her stomach.

"Noona." Chanyeol gave her hand a little squeeze wanting her to look at him. "Can you help me stop Dad?" Yoora's eyes were still fixed on her lap. "Please tell Dad you're happy. That way he won't take revenge on Kris hyung. Noona, I know he hurt you, but he doesn't deserve Dad's revenge."

Yoora momentarily closed her eyes to collect herself. "You think I didn't try?" She finally raised her gaze to him. "I did tell him that, Yeol." She gently pulled her hand away. "And I may still hate what Kris did to me, but I've forgiven him, Yeol. I really have."

"I've tried to stop Dad," she continued. "But he didn't want to listen. Dad... He... He's changed too much, I don't even know who he is anymore."

Chanyeol rubbed his face in frustration. "He's out to destroy someone else too now, but I don't know his plan this time." He tousled his hair. "I really don't know what to do, Noona."

Worry etched Yoora's face as she reached to grab his hands. "Chanyeol, please don't get involved in Dad's plan."

Chanyeol pursed his lips and looked away. "I have to, Noona!"

"What?! Why?! Yeol, we can't stop him. Let's just let him be, okay?"

Chanyeol pulled his hands from his sister's grip. "I can't, Noona. He's endangering someone else's family. Kris hyung is not the only one he's trying to hurt. Dad is going to hurt someone else and use Yeojin too! I can't let that happen!"

Yoora sighed closing her eyes. "So it's because of her, huh?" Her lips turned into straight line while Chanyeol looked surprised and didn't know what to say. She pouted. "You know... It was annoying to know my boyfriend liked someone else and my brother had a crush on the same girl." She chuckled dryly.

Chanyeol opened his mouth to retort but found no voice. He ended up opening and closing his mouth several times like a fish.

Yoora frowned a little as she raised her eyes to him. "Sometimes I wonder why you never tried to steal her away from Kris when you have been stealing his other exes." She slowly nodded to herself. "But I guess you saw what I saw, huh? That we can never come between them." 

A corner of his lips curled up into dejected smile. "Yeah." He then waved a hand dismissively. "But that's not why I'm doing this. What I had for Yeojin was a fling. I have to do this because otherwise, Dad will send me off again."

"Then it's better! You don't have to be entangled in Dad's plan," Yoora tried to reason.

"And what?" Chanyeol raised his brows before furrowing them. "Leave you here alone? No way! This is the only way to save Kris' family! And ours too!" He sighed. "Dad is still our father. I won't give up on him. I don't want him to go down the wrong path. I know I can stop him, but I have to roll with his plan first while trying to figure out how to warn and make Kris hyung trust me."

Yoora was scared for her brother's safety, but she knew she couldn't deter him. She really wished Chanyeol would just stop caring about Kris. Honestly, she was bewildered that Chanyeol still cared about that guy as a friend. But she understood that he wanted to save their own family too.

She grabbed one of his hands again and squeezed it lightly. "Please be careful." She couldn't stop herself from looking worried.

"I will, Noona." Chanyeol assuringly squeezed her hand in return. He tried to smile.

"Save their family. And ours too."

Yeojin's feeling was a mess! She couldn't concentrate on anything at school. The thought of Kris' lips crashing with hers kept on bombarding her mind no matter how many times she tried not to think of it. Every time it came to mind, she found her heart picking its pace. And she hated it. She hated feeling this way for Kris.

When he kissed her yesterday, she could feel his anger and disappointment. If she weren't in her right mind, she would've melted into the kiss the way she did before. But she knew better not to destroy their friendship further.

At the same time, guilt was eating her up too. She hated herself even more when she slapped him. She didn't mean to do so. The look of pain in his eyes, she couldn't forget it. It hurt him, she knew. It hurt her too. Yeojin hated herself for letting Kris feel that way towards her, but she instead declared her hate for him. That just made her feel ten times worse when she stomped away from him.

She couldn't understand why he was being this adamant. They were just fine as friends. Why did he, out of all people, have to fall for her? And why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

Yeojin ruffled her hair before she slumped down and let her forehead rest on the table. She felt like crying but held back her tears.

"Yeojin," Sunhee's voice made her lifted her head.

"Oh, hey." Yeojin smiled to mask her troubled mind. "Why aren't you having lunch?" She was still avoiding the cafeteria.

"I already did," Sunhee told her as she took a seat on the chair in front of Yeojin's desk. "Bought you a sandwich!" She shot her a small smile while raising the wrapped sandwich in her hand.

"Thanks." Yeojin took it with a smile though she wasn't really hungry at the moment. Her mind was too full that she was even numb to what her stomach needed.

Biting down her lip, Sunhee looked somehow nervous. She kept on rubbing her nape. It didn't go unnoticed by Yeojin and she narrowed her eyes on her friend.

"What?" Yeojin asked with a little frown.

"Uhm..." Sunhee bit down her lip before sliding her phone on the table toward Yeojin. "I think you should see this."

Yeojin raised a brow but took her phone anyway. Her eyes were immediately widened when she raised the phone and read the headline of an article.

Oh Sehun Spotted on Dates: Who's the Lucky Girl?

"I heard it's put in some high-end teens magazine or something," Sunhee explained worriedly as Yeojin scrolled down the article. 

Yeojin almost felt her heart stop beating. There were a few pictures of Sehun dropping her off and them eating at street food stalls. The only pinch of relief was the fact that her face was blurred. But she suddenly felt it hard to breathe upon realizing someone was following them around and whoever uploaded this article had seen her face. Worry suddenly crept in when she thought of the possibility of Kris reading this article.

Yeojin muttered to herself, "Oh boy! I'm in trouble!"

"Honey, are you okay?"

Yeojin lifted her head from the table when she felt her mother's hand soothingly caressed her head. Resting her forehead on the table had suddenly become a habit today.

She tried to muster a smile. "I'm okay, Mom."

Mrs. Kwon silently ran her eyes over her daughter's face for a while. She knew how hard it was for her daughter, and sometimes she wished she could just take away her burden and cradle her in her arms. To her, Yeojin was still her baby.

"Alright." She rubbed Yeojin's back. "You know you can always come to me, right?" To this, Yeojin nodded with a smile. "Kris is a hard person to deal with, but I know deep down he cares about you. He just doesn't know how to show it the right way."

Yeojin softly snorted. "Yeah, he's an idiot."

Mrs. Kwon smiled and patted her head. "But whatever it is, I will always be on your side, okay?"

Yeojin hummed and nodded with a smile, thankful for having her mother here right now though she couldn't tell her yet what ailed her mind.

"I think you should settle whatever problem you have with him though. And you shouldn't sleep on separate rooms like this for too long," her mother added with a giggle.

Yeojin pouted and was going to complain when they heard a knock on the door. A second later the door creaked open and Kris peered in before entering the room. He bobbed his head to greet her mother.

"Ah! You've come!" Mrs. Kwon smiled.

His eyes briefly settled on Yeojin before he looked back at his mother-in-law and nodded. "Yes, Mother. Uhm... Can I... talk to Yeojin in private?"

"Sure, sure! I was just going to leave." She then turned to Yeojin and patted her head before she left the room.

Once her mother closed the door, Kris sauntered to Yeojin at her desk. Yeojin had been looking away, focusing her eyes on her laptop instead. She jumped on her seat when Kris threw his phone onto her desk. She didn't have to look at it to know he was going to talk about the article.

"Is this what you want?" He asked softly accompanied with a sigh, contrasting his tone yesterday. But Yeojin could still hear the same pain in his voice. 

She kept silent not sure of what to answer. He heaved out a breath and paced around ruffling his hair before he stopped beside her desk again.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh on you yesterday," Kris apologized. He sounded so broken, Yeojin couldn't lift her head in fear of seeing the pain in his eyes. "I shouldn't-" He sighed. "I shouldn't force myself on you. I can't just demand you to understand me after hurting you for so long. But I-" He momentarily closed his eyes as he gulped down the pang in his heart. "I just... I know I don't deserve saying this, but I... I can't stand being ignored by you."

Yeojin bit the inside of her cheeks, trying hard not to feel guilty.

"Just- Talk to me, Jin," he sounded somewhat desperate. "Or at least answer this. If you don't have an ounce of feeling for me, if I'm just a friend to you, why were you mad at me when I kissed Areum?"

Yeojin felt her heart skipped a beat at the question.

Yes, why? She had been asking herself that question for a while. Why? Why? Why? Why was she so bothered by it? Why did it hurt her if she didn't feel the same way toward him? Was it because she's his wife? Was she jealous?

Deep down, she could feel that she knew why. She knew she had the answer, but she was just afraid of admitting it. She didn't want that answer. She had to deny it.

Yeojin suddenly stood up, not giving him a glance. "I need to go to the bathroom." She turned away from Kris, but he quickly grasped her arm.

"Sorry." He immediately let go of her when he saw how she was staring hard at his hand on her arm. "I just- Can you- Look, I'm not going to force you to feel the same way toward me, but can you at least respect my feeling?"

Yeojin finally lifted her gaze to him, glaring. "Respect your feeling? Have you respected mine the past two years?!" She snapped at him.

Kris opened his mouth to retort but found no words to do so because he knew she was right. He had hurt her. He had often disregarded her feeling. Guilt grew inside him as he thought of how shameless he was to ask her to respect his feeling.

Yeojin sighed loudly. "Kris, I think you're just confused with your feeling for me. You don't like me in that way," she firmly told him.

For a moment, Kris was silent. He did think about it yesterday. About whether he was just infatuated by her or in love with her for real. 

With tightened chest, he took a step closer to her. "You're right again. I don't like you. And I was so stupid not to realize that sooner."

Yeojin furrowed her brows. Confusion was etched on her face. She wasn't expecting him to agree with her so quickly, but maybe this was better, she thought.

"I don't like you, Yeojin," he repeated. "I love you."

Yeojin's eyes instantly grew wide. She felt as if her world had stopped and the room suddenly became void causing her ears to register no sound. No sound, but the fast beating of her heart. Then in the next second, everything fell apart for her. She covered her ears with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut.

"No, no, no!" She frantically shook her head. "You don't! You can't!" She took steps back.

"Yeojin?" Kris frowned and tried to reach for her but she kept on walking backward shaking her head.

"You can't love me!" Her eyes flew open and her hands slid down to hold each other close to her chest. "You shouldn't love me, Kris!"

"What? Why?" Panic slowly settled in him when he saw her suddenly taking in short breaths. "Yeojin, calm down!" With long strides, he came to her and hold her upper arms. "Calm down."

Gulping and trying to calm herself down, she lifted her watering eyes to him and shook her head again. "You-" constricted. "-shouldn't love me, Kris." Her voice came out just above a whisper.

Kris held her gaze with his. "Why are you saying that? Look, I just want you to know what I feel. I'm not going to force you to feel the same way, okay?"

"It's not that!" Yeojin retorted shaking her head again. "It's- I- Kris..." She took a shaky breath. "Can't you stop loving me? Can we just go back to being friends? Let's be friends, okay? What do you say, huh? Huh?" A drop of tear fell on her cheek

"Why can't I love you? Why?" He pressed on, knitting his brows in the middle. He just couldn't understand why she was saying this.

Yeojin could only stared at him. She wished he could just understand her by looking at her eyes. She wished none of this was happening. She gulped before she suddenly cried and covered her face with her hands.

"Why, Jin?"

Still holding her arms, Kris waited for her answer. It pricked his heart seeing her break down like this, but her words hurt him more. He knew he had done so many awful things toward her, but why couldn't he at least love her even one-sidedly? Was he that bad?

Yeojin finally uncovered her face after what felt like a long minute. She harshly wiped her tears as she spoke with sobs, "I-" She hiccuped a sob. "I can't lose you."

Kris' eyes were rounded. "What?"

Yeojin willed herself to look at him in the eyes. "I've lost Dad and Baek. I... I-" She cried again, but this time she let herself fell forward to him. She gripped his shirt in her fists as she cried on his chest. "Please don't love me. I'm scared of losing you. I can't lose you, Kris! I can't lose you!" She cried harder after she forced those words out of . 

Kris was too stunned to even react. He stared ahead and slowly blinked, suddenly numb to any feelings. Slowly, his heart was shattering when his ears registered the sound of her sobs again as she continued on chanting the same words to his chest.

"I can't lose you! Please don't love me!"