NARRATOR

“Hey Oppa.” Nara bit her lip, looking at her brother’s unreadable expression. His eyes turned to Luhan. “Who is this young man?”

Luhan was about to respond when a muffled scream interrupted them. “Ge! You were with Nara?!” Tao walked in, his mouth full of… unrecognized food.

Luhan sheepishly nodded. “Yeah. We just ate lunch.”

“At our usual place.” Nara grinned, which quickly vanished with Jae’s piercing stare. She walked towards him with small steps, caressing his arm. “Oppa~”

Jaejoong looked at her pointedly, making her flinch. But still she continued. “I was hungry. You know I don’t eat those, so we ate out, fastfood.”

Luhan tried to explain too, but Tao stopped him. He knew only Nara can get through his brother’s firmness.

“And, well, Luhan Ge is a friend. He’s a close friend of Tao Ge. I came back, right? You don’t have to worry much about my safety.”

“Since elementary, we've been friends!” Tao butted in.

Jaejoong exhaled, looking at the three before speaking. “You know Na, we were just worried. We don’t want… bad things happening to you.”

She was about to speak when Jaejoong silenced her with a look. “And I didn’t know you were with Tao’s friend.”

She smiled, pinching her brother’s cheek. “I told you not to stress yourself too much.” Jaejoong pried her hands off, snickering. “Yeah, says the troublemaker herself.”

“Ya!”

Daehyun walked in the Kim’s main building that afternoon, asked by his uncle to deliver and discuss some matters. He patiently waited for the elevator to open, tapping his foot on the marble floor.

When it finally opened, he briskly walked in and pressed the close button.

“Wait, pleaseeeee.”

The doors opened, and Nara rushed in. She balanced her breathing and smiled at him. Somehow, he felt himself react weirdly with her smile.

“Uh, Daehyun-sshi? We met yesterday.” She blinked, waiting for him to speak. He woke up from his daze and swallowed his spit before replying. “Yes, of course, Young Miss.”

“Nara. Call me Nara.” She giggled. His eyes slighty widened at the sound of her laughter. “Oh.. hey Nara.” He touched the nape of his neck, fighting off a lopsided grin.

“Hey!” She chirped, the smile not vanishing on her lips. “Some documents? About the new hotel, I assume?” She looked at the folder he was holding. He looked at his hand and lightly jolted up. “Oh! Yes, yes.” He bit his lip.

She chuckled. “You’ll be meeting with the creative director, right?”

“Yes…”

“Then you'll be meeting me.” She grinned.

They both entered her spacious office, Nara’s secretary serving them drinks immediately.

“Oh, this is about the blueprints. We’ve contacted the Zhangs. They will be in charge of the architectural plan.” He handed the navy blue folder politely.

Nara examined the contents and nodded as she read. “These are really good proposals.”

“We worked with some of your assigned staff on this one. A contract will be sealed with the Zhangs soon, although the date is still being discussed.” He replied professionally.

Nara placed the folder down and exhaled. “Let’s schedule another meeting for the BOD soon, then?” She smiled.

Daehyun nodded, his lips slightly tugging into a small smile. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Nara.” He whispered, barely audible for them to hear. Nara chuckled and nodded too. “Me too.”

Daehyun’s phone buzzed on his coat pocket, and he politely excused himself.

Nara sat back on her seat, tired. She had been walking around for most of the day, and it was draining her. She sipped her tea and a smile crept up her lips. “Hmmm.” She inhaled deeply, letting the silence calm her.

She was about to exit her room to talk to her secretary about some things when she abruptly stopped.

“Yes, Uncle. I’m… sorry.” Daehyun’s voice strained. He winced a little and moved the phone a few inches away from his ear.

“Ne, ne. It… it won’t happen again. This is my entire fault.” He whispered, his voice thin and fading. He paused for a while, having a deep sigh. “I… I know. I’m really sorry, Uncle. I will… take responsibility.”

Again, he moved the phone far from his ear, his eyes closed briefly.

“Yes, yes.” He replied, voice faltering.

With that his hand fell limp on his side, his brows furrowed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Nara quickly went back to her seat, biting her lip. Somehow, she felt really bad for him. The door opened, and Daehyun walked in with his emotionless façade.

“Uh, Er--…” Nara awkwardly started, looking at his eyes. He had the same expression, yet his eyes were different. It was… hard. Cold. Melancholic.

And of all the people in the world, she knew how it felt to be sad.

“H…here.” She lifted a mug in her hands, handing it to him. Daehyun’s eyes looked at the  mug questioningly. Nara looked down, uncertain of what to do.

“I… I don’t mean to pry, but I know when people feel bad, for I have been there a lot of times.” She lowly said, extending her hand. “And I believe a cup of tea always eases the pain.”

Daehyun stared at the cup, astonished. He slowly took it, their fingers brushing. Shivers crept up his spine in an instant, his hand trembling. He sipped from it, feeling the warm liquid run through his throat down to his stomach.

“T… thanks.” He mumbled.

Luhan walked aimlessly inside Xiumin’s flat, his eyes staring at nowhere in particular. Thoughts jumbled on his mind, and he was trying to organize the mess.

“Ya, deerhan.” Kris slightly nudged his side. He looked up, eyes rounded. “Eh?”

Kris rolled his eyes. “You had lunch with Tao’s cousin?”

He nodded absent-mindedly.

Kris chuckled lowly and urged him to sit. He plopped down across him and placed a pillow on his lap. “You know duizhang, I’m just… intruiged.”

“Intrigued?”

He nodded innocently. “She’s different. Like, how she loves fast food chains than expensive restaurants. How she independently works as a director at her young age, how she charms her brother.” He mumbled.

Kris raised a brow. “You noticed all of that?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s… weird.”

“But it’s not about that.” He slightly jolted up, his eyes straing back at Kris who said nothing but just stared back at him. “It’s… it’s just her, duizhang. She emits this really happy and bubbly aura, yet… there’s this thing.”

“What thing?”

“Like… something that haunts her.” He bit his lip, his expression unpleasant.

Kris chuckled dryly. “How do you know this thing that haunts her?”

“I… I just feel it. Like she’s not really happy. Like it’s all a face.”

The leader stood up and gave him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. “Don’t over think, Luhan.” With that he walked away, leaving Luhan alone.

Tao moved away from Xiumin who kept on pestering him.

“Ge! Stop it!” He whined.

Xiumin grinned. “Just… invite her, okay?”

Chen nodded. “Our Saturday barbecue parties are the best. She won’t feel out of place.” He assured the maknae.

“But, how about the auction?”

“It’s on lunch.” Kris answered, sitting beside Lay who ignored his presence completely.

Tao looked at his palms, contemplating. “B-but..”

“Come on, Tao. We want to be friends with her.” Now it was Lay who argued. Tao heaved a deep sigh and looked at his friends. “Fine then.”

Xiumin started howling.

“But,” Tao interjected. “She’ll be late. She has to… visit something every day. A schedule.”

The boys nodded. “Anything’s fine. Just that she’ll come.” They cheered.

Luhan walked in the scene, clueless. He grabbed Chen’s bowl of popcorn and plopped beside Tao. “Who’s coming on what?”

“A visitor on our barbecue party!” Xiumin sang, squirming endlessly on his eat. Luhan’s brow rose. They rarely had visitors on their weekly barbecue gathering.

“Visitor?” His brows knitted together in confusion.

Chen smiled at him. “Nara.”

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double update! :>