--Chapter 17--

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I checked my wristwatch in panic as I paced around the room with a frown plastered on my face. Where is Jongin, he was supposed to be here three minutes ago but he had not come yet. He did not say anything to me since last Saturday and I had not heard news about him after he left me at the ball.

Where did he go? Why he looked so panic when Chanyeol came? Who had got injured? There were so many questions running around in my head but nobody could endure my curiosity. I had asked Taemin about it, but he also did not know what happened to Jongin. He hadn’t talked to him since Friday so he, obviously, didn’t know anything.

“Could you please stop pacing around? I’m dizzy.” I stopped on my track and turned to Taemin. “Do you by any chance know where Jongin is? He was supposed to be here five minutes ago…”

Taemin put his bowl down then pulled his phone from his pocket. He scrolled the screen with his hand until he found something and showed it to me. It was a message from Jongin.

“When did he texted you?”

“Uhm.. Last night.” I scoffed. “The hell…” He took his bowl in his hand again and finished his breakfast before turning back to me and asked me what happened between me and Jongin.

“He left me at the ball because his friend or whatever got injured and I think he went with Chanyeol? The guy that hitting on Chohee in Mina and Jisoo’s wedding?” Taemin’s face hardened as I finished the story. The way he gritted his teeth made me realized something was definitely wrong with Jongin and his sudden departure that night.

“Maybe he accompanied his friend ‘till dawn and had lack of sleep. He’s going to be okay.” Taemin comforted me then went straight to his car. Confused, I trailed behind him and took a seat on the back, leaving the front seat for Chohee.

The trip to Chohee’s home was really quite with Taemin focusing on the road, and there was I with my ridiculous thoughts about Jongin being a drug dealer. I had been observing him since last week. The bags under his eyes showed that he hadn’t had a proper sleep for days.

I wonder what happened to him, but I didn’t have the guts to ask him. He was always a mysterious guy to everyone and no one could understand him. Even Taemin had a hard time to understand him, but he knew he couldn’t leave his best friend no matter how weird and stubborn he was.

Jongin asked Taemin yesterday to drive me to school and home because he didn’t feel really well. He said he would be absent for a couple of days because of his sickness so he asked him, to take care of me. Of course he would take care of me, he always desired to treat me as a ‘real’ sister since I always acted cold toward him. So this time he would take this opportunity to do everything with me.

“You know what sis? Why don’t we just ditch school today?” With that, I turned to Taemin with a confused look on my face and raised my eyebrow. “What did you say?”

He chuckled. “Ditch. I really want to spend this day with you, is that okay?”

“What about Chohee…?”

“I’ve called her. She said it was a really good idea and she wished she could be here with us but she got biology test today, so sad…” My shoulders slumped as I heard his explanation. I thought she would join us so I wouldn’t get bored, but I was clearly wrong when I had that thought.

This brother of mine had planned this since he got that text from Jongin. How smart he was. If only I knew this a little bit earlier, I would be in the bus to school instead of riding with him.

After a short trip from home, we finally arrived at Myeongdong, one of the most famous shopping district in Seoul. Taemin parked his car near a small coffee shop then came out of the car with me following him.

We passed some coffee shops and restaurants, making my mouth watery as I smelled the delicious foods from each building. Taemin didn’t say anything to me until we found our favorite clothing line then he dragged me inside.

When we went inside, the workers (especially girls) stared at Taemin in dazed and giggled when he flashed them his smile. I rolled my eyes at this scene and stopped him before he stepped into the man section.

“What are we doing here?” I asked him. He chuckled. “To buy clothes of course, what else?” I bit my bottom lip then went to the woman section where tons of beautiful clothes were. I carefully chose the clothes to buy, checking the price before threw it to the shopping bag.

Once I finished shopping, I quickly went to the place we separated and found Taemin already waiting with more than a pair of clothes in his bag.

“I can’t help it, they give me discount!” He answered when I asked him about the clothes. Shaking my head, I went to the cashier and paid all the clothes with Taemin’s credit card since he was the adult here. After paying the clothes, we walked out of the boutique and bought some street foods before going back to his car.

On the way to his car, Taemin suddenly asked me to change our uniforms first before going back. I obeyed his word then quickly changed my uniform into an oversized t-shirt and denim shorts. Once we met again, Taemin already changed his uniform to a blue denim shirt and black jeans which made some girls eyed him from head to toe.

“Where are we going?” I asked him while stepping in to the car. He stepped in to the car too and buckled his seatbelt before turning the engine on. “We’re going to visit Halmeoni.”

I stopped buckling my seatbelt and turned to Taemin, widening my eyes to show him how shocked I was.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t wear…..these!” I pointed to my clothes. He laughed.

“Oh my God Soyoung, Halmeoni isn’t that strict! Seeing you all grown up like this is enough for her, don’t be afraid.” He reassured me while ruffling my hair with his free hand. I pouted my lips and pretended to be asleep.

Soon I fell asleep in my seat and Jongin came to my dream.

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“Oh my God Soyoung, you look prettier!” My Grandma exclaimed, squeezing me to death while giving me kisses on my face. I heard Taemin’s laugh from afar and felt embarrassed all a sudden. Why did he have to take me to Grandma’s house when he knew exactly how I didn’t like her?

Whenever I came to Grandma’s house, she would treat me like I’m a five year old kid who had a passion in sweets. She would always bake cookies and gave me tons of candies before our family went back to Seoul.

Walking in to her house, Taemin and I quickly went to the garden where we usually spent our time by watching the sea or played tag. Grandma’s house was located in Incheon and fortunately, her house was facing Yellow Sea.

Her house wasn’t that big but it gave you a warm vibe once you walked in to it. I always loved spending my time here (despite my dislike toward my Grandma) but our parents were really busy nowadays so they never took us to here again.

After a quite long time, Grandma finally came to the garden with baked cookies and three cups of tea. She set the tray on the wooden floor and called us to eat first.

“You guys look so different from the last time I saw you…. What’s with that hair, Taemin? You look ridiculous!” Taemin touched his hair defensively and I laughed at Grandma’s comment. She always loved to tease my brother,  it was the only thing that I like from her.

My brother told our Grandma that our parents had been busy with their works and couldn’t visit her sooner. He also told her that we were ditching classes because we missed our Grandma and really wanted to see her which made her smiling and squeezing us again in her embrace.

“So, do you guys already have boyfriend and girlfriend?” Grandma asked, making our face flushed and heated. Grandma took this as a yes then she attacked us with so many question like how do they look or do they treat us well and stuff.

When she asked us if we already had….. with our partners, I and Taemin chocked on our foods.

“No Halmeoni, we haven’t….” I answered her as I patted Taemin’s back. She chuckled. “I’m sorry for making you guys shocked, I just want to remind you that relationship isn’t always about . Make sure you have found the right one when you want to do it.”

My brother shook his head in disbelief and I rolled my eyes at Grandma’s advice. It was funny how she didn’t feel embarrassed when she talked about things like this. Usually elders would feel awkward when they had to give education to their child, but my Grandma did it very well.

Very well ‘till made us choked on our own foods.

“I need to go to the toilet.” My brother excused himself then ran to the bathroom, leaving me with my Grandma who was smiling creepily at me.

“Why you don’t like your boyfriend, Soyoung-ah?” My grandma asked all a sudden, making me widened my eyes and stopped munching the cookies.

“How….did you know?” She smiled mysteriously then ruffled my hair. “The way you talked about him is so different from your brother. He was smiling ear to ear while you just gave me a fake smile, do you think you can fool your Grandma?”

“No, no! I just…… I don’t know… I can’t tell you…. Not now.” My Grandma gave me a warm smile then took my hand to her lap.

“You don’t have to rush things if you aren’t sure with him yet. But from your story, I could tell he wasn’t that bad.” She released my hand. “Give him some time to convince you, let him open up to you, I know you can do that.” I gave her a faint smile then sighed.

Why would I give him a chance when there was no romantic relationship between us?

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A/N: sorry for the long wait! school had been so hectic these days and I couldn't promise you anything since next week would be another busy week =.= there's school recital next week and I have to sing there (I'm in choir lol) sorry for the grammatical errors (if you found any hehehe) 

thanks for those who have commented and subscribe to this story! 10 more to go till i reach 100 subs omg!! 

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