Chapter 4

Hyunwoo was packing up his things and his phone started ringing.

"Hm? Heesok hyung." Hyunwoo answers the call and once again heard Heesok's cold and emotionless voice which sent shivers into him when he first applied.

"Hyunwoo, I'm going somewhere for a while. You don't have to go to work for three days. But don't worry about getting your pay deducted though."

"Okay. Have a safe trip, hyung."

"Yeah."

Heesok ends the call and Hyunwoo continued packing up again.

"Let's go karaoke!" Sungmin said, putting his arm on Hyunwoo's shoulder.

"I guess I could join once in a while, but I still have to pick up my siblings from kindergarten and bring them home."

"Is that so? Let's go pick them up together."

"Hyunwoo, let's go."

They turn around and saw Hyejin standing there, ready to leave.

"Jinho and Sungmin were wondering if we could bring them with us."

"Yeah, sure. I don't mind. Aerin and Jiyoon also invited me to go karaoke with you three. Let's bring Aerin and Jiyoon too, so we can head together."

"Let's call them outside." Hyejin walked out, and the three follow her.

"How long have you two been going home together?"

"Two weeks. But we knew our younger siblings study in the same kindergarten for three weeks now."

"Oh... I thought there was something else going on between you two." Jinho and Sungmin grinned while looking at each other.

"Haha, we're just friends."

"Why? Do you two want something more than that?" Hyejin turned to them with her cold gaze, piercing through their souls.

"S... Scary... Does she not like it?" The three shivered as if they were frozen into ice blocks.

Jiyoon and Aerin stopped walking and also turned around.

"Sorry..."

"Why apologize? There's nothing wrong about it. In fact, I'm curious about your answers."

"N-No! We have no right to decide what kind of relationship you two should have. We just thought you two had something going on."

"Is that so? Haha, I get it. What about you, Hyunwoo? What do you think?" Hyejin smiled at Hyunwoo.

"Huh? Huh?! Calm down, Hyunwoo... Calm down. She might snap at what I say, so I have to be careful with my answer to her question." Hyunwoo thought carefully about his answer.

"I certainly don't mind... If you wanted more. I probably would have wanted the same... haha... We can be best friends right now if you'd like..." Hyunwoo finally answered Hyejin's question.

"Sure! We're bestfriends now then!" Hyejin laughed while she clung onto Hyunwoo's arm.

Aerin, Jiyoon, Sungmin, and Jinho let out a heavy sigh of relief. They thought Hyejin would've also not liked his answer to her question.

"Anyways, let's head to the kindergarten now. I don't want to keep them waiting." Hyejin pulled Hyunwoo's arm, but he didn't even move a single step.

They arrive at the kindergarten and stood in front of Hyunwoo and Hyejin's younger siblings.

"Cute." The four stared at Hyejin and Hyunwoo hug and ask their younger siblings about how their day went.

Hyunwoo and Hyejin agreed on bringing their siblings home first and meeting up with the others at the karaoke which was surprisingly near to the kindergarten.

"Hey, is it just the sun or does Hyunwoo's younger siblings looked a little bit less Asian." Jiyoon asked, trying to remember the twin's face.

"Hyunwoo told me their mother was pure South Korean and his father was part Hispanic." Jinho explained to Jiyoon and Aerin about Hyunwoo's ethnicity.

"Ah, we're here." Sungmin excitedly said, pointing at the karaoke.

The four entered and rented a room so they can start singing while waiting for the two.

Meanwhile, Hyunwoo and Hyejin was already walking to the karaoke bar they told them about.

"You seem happy." Hyejin looked at Hyunwoo.

"Well... it's my first time hanging out with friends after a long time because of responsibilities. You know what I mean."

Suddenly, it started raining while the two of them were on their way to the karaoke.

"Ah... Talk about timing. But good thing I have an umbrella." Hyunwoo said, pulling out an umbrella in his bag.

"Did you bring an umbrella?" Hyunwoo put Hyejin under his umbrella.

"I left my bag at home already. I only brought my wallet and phone at home earlier."

"Oh. Let's share my umbrella for a while." Hyunwoo let out a small laugh.

Hyejin looks at Hyunwoo while smiling, but she noticed he had a bothered expression on his face.

"Is there... something wrong?"

"No, nothing. I'm just not a fan of rainy days."

"Is there a particular reason for it?" Hyejin started to worry because of the tone of his voice.

"Yeah. Brings me back. But don't worry anymore. It's not that bad now." Hyunwoo showed Hyejin a bright smile.

Hyejin also responded with a smile, but she knew he was just forcing it.

"We're here." Hyunwoo pointed at the karaoke bar.

Hyunwoo opens the door and the two of them enter together to start looking for the karaoke room the others rented, but luckily, Aerin just finished talking with someone on her phone, so they followed her on her way back.

"Let's sing this part together, Jinho!" Sungmin put his arm around Jinho's shoulder.

"Oh! Hyunwoo and Hyejin's here! You should join us, Hyunwoo!" Sungmin also pulled Hyunwoo.

"O-Okay, but don't hang your arm on to me, haha..." Hyunwoo got Sungmin's arm off of his shoulder.

The three started singing as the others listened while laughing at Jinho's voice cracks.

Before they even realized it, they were finished singing.

"I'll sing." Hyejin said, taking the microphone and remote.

The song started playing and Hyejin sang. The others just watched her with wide eyes and red cheeks.

"... Her voice is too immaculate to be singing in a karaoke room. She should be singing at Coachella."

After some time in the karaoke bar, the three of them were on their way home.

"Man, that was so fun! Let's go have fun every month or whenever we're free!" Sungmin suggested with an obvious hint of excitement in his voice.

"Yeah. Let's go do it every month when we're not busy!"

"I don't mind."

"You're right, mom... I'll eventually find those who'll befriend me after both of you are gone. But it won't be long before they find out about what I did in the past. I wonder if they'll still be here." Hyunwoo smiled at them while remembering himself talking to his mother who was on a hospital bed.

"Hyunwoo! What are you waiting for? You can't go home by just standing there!" Jinho called him.

"Oh, I was just thinking of something." Hyunwoo caught up to them.