Chapter 10

“LU HAN.” I blurted out before biting my lips together.

Kyung Soo’s widened eyes shot over to me and I knew I messed up. Out of everyone’s name possible, I chose Lu Han instead and it must have been out of the ordinary, but I couldn’t possibly say Se Hun’s name in front of Jin Hyuk, who was staring at me with curious raised eyebrows. I quickly stood up from my seat and grabbed his hands with a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t notice mine and Kyung Soo’s wavering eyes.

“Jin Hyuk, this is Kyung Soo. He’s one of my friends that I’ve met recently.” I said quickly as Kyung Soo stood up awkwardly to greet Jin Hyuk. “Oh, and he works here.”

“Nice to meet you, Kyung Soo.” Jin Hyuk stuck his hand out towards Kyung Soo, who awkwardly shook it. “I’m her fiancé, Kim Jin Hyuk.”

“N-nice to m-meet you too…” Kyung Soo bowed his head a little. I felt bad that the poor guy had to be in a situation like this with me. “Uh, I think I better go back…” He said pointing behind him. “It was good to see you again, Soo Jin.”

I watched as Kyung Soo quickly walked away from me and Jin Hyuk. Letting my fiance’s hands go, I took a step over to the table and took a big gulp of water from my glass. I felt parched from feeling so anxious. Jin Hyuk looked over at me with worried eyes, but I only smiled.

“Why do I have a feeling about my wife being a magnet to all these guys here?” Jin Hyuk stuck a hand in his pocket trouser and smirked at me, making my heart pound against my chest. “I don’t know if I can handle such a thing.”

I scoffed. “I’m not a magnet.”

“That was two guys within an hour, Soo Jin.” Jin Hyuk reached over and put a strand of my hair behind my ear. “But you’re beautiful; it’s not something surprising to me.”

I blushed upon his touch. “Stop it. You can’t do things like this here.”

Jin Hyuk chuckled before leaning forward to kiss my cheek lightly. “Ask me if I care what other people here think about showing my love for you.”

**

Jin Hyuk drove us back in the car quietly after we left the restaurant. He held my hands with his free one since the other one was holding onto the steering wheel and the only thing on my mind other than his fingers running along the back of my hand was how I blurted Lu Han’s name out carelessly.

I was curious about how Jin Hyuk felt because I’ve never once mentioned Lu Han’s name out in front of him, but I guess I didn’t have to wait.

“Soo Jin?”

“Yeah?” I asked looking over at him and noticed how the street lights landed right on his faciel structures, making his nose and eyes look sharp. He was staring straight ahead of us, his eyes focused on the road. I’ve always liked his side profile, or whenever he’s focused on something. Jin Hyuk was always so handsome and it’s been so long since I’ve been able to just look at him like this.

“Who is Lu Han?” He glanced over at me quickly before focusing back onto the road. “You know, I’ve never heard you mention his name.”

“Lu Han’s a friend of mine from high school.” I answered quite honestly since there was really no need to lie, not that there was any need to lie in the first place.

“Why did Kyung Soo say that he wasn’t supposed to say his name out in front of you?” I could feel Jin Hyuk’s hand uncomfortably move around in mine. “D-Did you two date?”

I scoffed before I could even think about it. “No, Lu Han and I never dated. We were good friends who got along well. I think you took it the wrong way.”

“Then why is it that you never mentioned him before?”

“I guess I never really thought about that…” I shrugged before squeezing his hands in mine. “It’s not like I’ve mentioned a lot of people.”

Jin Hyuk stopped at a red light before his eyes gazed right over to mine. “Did something happen here that you don’t want to talk about?”

“A lot of things happened here, but it’s not like I don’t want to talk about them.” I turned away from him and looked ahead at the red lights. “I guess it’s just something that’s not really important to me anymore… Something that’s not really worth mentioning...”

There was silence between the two of us again and I knew Jin Hyuk understood what I was trying to say. I was glad I didn’t have to say too much to make Jin Hyuk understand that when there’s something I don’t want to talk about, I don’t want to talk.

“Soo Jin?” His voice broke our sudden silence.

“Yeah?”

“Will I meet Lu Han?”

**

Jin Hyuk and I went to our rooms quietly after saying our good night’s to each other. I closed the door behind me and sat down on top of my bed, looking at my phone.

*knock knock

“Come in.” I said as I shut my phone off.

 “What are you doing?” My father walked into my room with two cups of warm tea. He handed one to me before he joined me on my bed.

“I was just checking my messages to see if there was anything there.” I sighed, placing my hands into my lap. “Did mom go to sleep?”

“She fell asleep the minute the movie ended.” He took a sip from his cup and let out an ‘ahh’. “The banquet is this weekend, in case I forgot to mention it.”

“I know.” I pursed my lips. I don’t know why, but it was kind of awkward between my father and me… Maybe because we left off with him telling me about how Se Hun contacted him.

“Are you upset?” He asked.

“Upset?” I questioned.

“That Se Hun and I…?” He stopped and took a deep breath.

I raised an eyebrow.

“I just –“

“Look… If we’re going to talk about him, let’s talk about him comfortably, okay?”

“Are you sure?” I knew he was worried about my comfort level with the topic.

“Dad, I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a problem because it’s not and I don’t want to make it seem as if it’s forbidden because there’s no reason to why it should be… forbidden...” I shook my head with a small smile. “You know how long it’s been?”

He sighed as he nodded his head in understanding.

“Can I ask you something?” I stood up from my chair and walked towards him.

“What is it?”

“Why do you still contact him? Were you trying to keep it from me?” I was curious.

“We never stopped contacting each other, Soo Jin. I know the two of you broke up, but I didn’t stop replying to him and it’s not like he’s the only one who calls me…” My father pressed his lips together before showing me a small smile. “I contact him almost every day asking if he’s doing okay. He doesn’t have parents, remember? He’s like my son… I told you. I wanted to adopt him, but you wouldn’t let me…”

“That’s because I was dating him.” I scoffed at my father’s joke that seemed to never get old. “Come on, dad.”

“I know. I know, but you know how I feel about the kid. I love him like my own.” He set his cup of tea down onto one of my drawers and clasped his hands together. “I just can’t stop contacting him just because he and my daughter broke up. What kind of person does that make me, Soo Jin?”

“My dad?” I pointed out the obvious.

“I’m sorry, Soo Jin. I love the kid. I just can’t let him go.” He shook his head and chuckled. “He’s not someone you can just forget so easily. He has a kind heart and he’s very caring.”

I pursed my lips before looking away from my father. He was acting like he was the one who was in relationship with Se Hun, but I couldn’t deny that their relationship was strong. My father treated him so well whenever he came over and my mother always made sure to buy him groceries every time we bought some. They took care of him so well that sometimes, I forgot that I was their daughter… Well, they pretty much forgot about me because they cared for him so much. I couldn’t blame my father though. He’s never had a son and Se Hun meant a lot to him even if I didn’t want Se Hun to.

“But you know you can’t just bring him up around Jin Hyuk, right? Jin Hyuk doesn’t know anything about Se Hun and I would like to keep it that way.” I crossed my arms and tapped my foot against the floor.

“How come you’ve never told him about Se Hun?” He questioned. “Is it because you want to keep it a secret?”

“It’s not a secret, dad. I just never wanted to mention his name or him around Jin Hyuk. It’s not necessary.” It wasn’t ever necessary and I wanted to keep it that way even if my father and my mother thought it was funny to bring it up just to tease and embarrass me. “And even now, I don’t want to mention his name or even talk about him like how you and mom tried to do the first night we arrived.”

My father only stared at me.

“I just didn’t want to be reminded of something that hurt…” I whispered before I tilted my head back. “It’s frustrating and I finally got over it… I just didn’t want to feel like I was heartbroken again when I’ve found something new…”

“Will you hate me if I invited him…?” My father asked.

“Invite him to what?” I asked looking at him immediately.

“I invited him and his friends to the banquet.” He bit his lip like a little kid who had been caught doing something wrong.

“E-e-even L-Lu Han?” My eyes widened.

My father nodded his head and I knew I was doomed. Jin Hyuk was going to meet Lu Han and I was going to have to bear with it all.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Great…”

“What? Is that bad?” My father asked raising both eyebrows at me.

How was it that I was more worried about Jin Hyuk meeting Lu Han than Se Hun? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I’m so, so stupid. No, I’m an idiot!

**

My dress was a rose-gold, lace halter top and it went all the way down to my feet. Jung Ah had brought it to me before I could even tell her that I was going to wear a dress in my closet. Like I said before, she made decisions for me when it came to things like this. I couldn’t argue with her though. The dress was beautiful and it made me look elegant, as if I was going to more than just a banquet. She, on the other hand, wore a blue colored dress that had short sleeves. Jung Ah looked like she was going to walk the red carpet.

“Where’s Jin Hyuk?” Jung Ah asked as she took a selfie of herself on her phone. “I thought I was going to meet him.”

“He went to the banquet first with my dad.” I was in the bathroom fixing my makeup that Jung Ah had forced on me. “You’ll meet him.”

“Good. I want to see this guy you’re marrying.” Jung Ah rolled her eyes and placed her hands onto her hips. “Are you ready? I don’t want to be one of the last people to walk in.”

I turned to her and smiled. “Do you remember the last time we went to Jae Hyun’s father’s banquet?”

She nodded her head. “It was memorable. I mean, we had gangsters walk into the room like they were celebrities…”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe we’ll see some gangster tonight…”

“W-what? They’re coming?” She asked as I walked out of my bedroom. “YAH! SOO JIN!”

I ignored her and walked down the steps to my mother, who was waiting for the both of us.

**

The banquet hall was a lot bigger than the last hall that we were in when we first had a celebration. It was filled with many new faces I haven’t seen, but they seemed to all be friendly and made sure to greet us with smiles if we walked by. Jung Ah held onto my wrist as we made our way around the room to find my father and Jin Hyuk. My mother went off with a few of her friends, so I didn’t have to worry about losing her.

“Ah, aren’t you two just the eye of the party?” A voice asked from behind me and Jung Ah.

“I didn’t even have to turn around to see who it was.” Jung Ah rolled her eyes and smiled as soon as our eyes met with Jae Hyun’s. “Forgot I’d be meeting you here…”

“Right, Jung Ah… Cos’ I wouldn’t be at my own father’s party.” Jae Hyun said with sarcasm as he shook his head and looked over at me. “You look wonderful, Soo Jin.”

“Thank you, Jae Hyun.” I smiled. “You look handsome yourself.”

“When don’t I?” He wiggled his eyebrows and both Jung Ah and I rolled our eyes in response. “Oh, by the way, Soo Jin…”

“What?” I asked.

“Your fiancé is over there talking to my father.” He nodded his head over in the direction he was referring to.

“We were just looking for him.” Jung Ah commented. “About time I see how the guy looks in person.”

We were just about to walk over, but Jae Hyun grabbed my wrist and stopped us from moving anywhere.

“The hell are you doing, Jae Hyun?” Jung Ah growled at him.

“I lied when I said that you two were the eye of the party.” He let go of me and scoffed while covering his mouth with his hand.

“W-what? Why are you being so annoying?” Jung Ah rolled her eyes.

Jae Hyun nodded the opposite direction from us. “Look over there if you don’t believe me.”

Jung Ah and I both looked over towards the other way and just like how it was back in high school, everyone’s attention was over there. It was Se Hun, Lu Han, Chan Yeol, Baek Hyun, Kai, but this time there was Xiu Min and Kyung Soo too, who were all making their way into the banquet hall. They walked in as if they were like celebrities – Se Hun in the middle with one of his hands in his pockets while the rest followed behind him in a triangular form. There was no doubt that every woman in the room eyed them.

Why wasn’t there ever a time where they’d walk in and not make such a scene?

“Unbelievable…” Jung Ah whispered with a little too wide open.

To see that they were all in formal suits with their hair either gelled back nicely or up, they all somehow made my heart sway. I was even more mesmerized by Se Hun, who looked directly at me. He never failed to make me so nervous even with the distance between us. He looked so damn good in a suit with the way his hair was. It didn’t feel like I was breathing because Jung Ah pinched me and it felt like I finally let out my last breath.

“I wasn’t lying.” Jae Hyun chuckled.

Yeah… He really wasn’t…

Author's Note: Happy 3000+ subscribers and Happy Belated Feature! Goodness, I just want to thank each and every one of you so much for getting me featured once again even with such slow updates and only a few chapters. Also, thank you for supporting my story even though it took me two freaking weeks to update since being featured. I'm sorry that I didn't update on the day I got featured; I was really busy with real life issues! But I finally updated and I hope it wasn't a disappointment. I'm so grateful to each and every one of you, whether you are ghost readers, people who comment every update, upvoted my story, etc. I have no way of expressing it. Oh, also, go check out the new trailer for the story that heyypatrik made for me :)) Enjoy^^