Taeyong notices how Traze remain silent on her seat after visiting their mum at the Palace. He's worried that something must be wrong but he doesn't ask her a thing. He wants to respect her space, no matter how curious and worried he may be. He keeps the questions to himself for now, or at least after he drops off Chelsie back to the Halls.

After a long drive, they finally reach back the grounds of Eton. When Chelsie steps out of the car, he stops Traze's hand from opening the door. "Can you stay? I'd like to take you somewhere." He's hoping she'd say yes, but she doesn't speak so he turns to Chelsie, who is already outside waiting for her sister. "I'll bring your sister home before nine."

"How about before eight?" Chelsie tries to negotiate, which he finds funny so he just nods.

"Where are you taking me?" Traze finally speaks, as soon as he starts the car again.

"You know where." He flashes her a smile and speeds away. He keeps on glancing at her from his side and she just leans her head on the window, looking out. Now he's starting to get seriously worried so he finally speaks his mind. "Traze, what's wrong?"

She quickly snaps her head at him, as if she just get caught doing something bad. "Huh? Nothing."

"You've been quiet since you came back from the Palace. Is your mum alright?"

She gulps down but she nods. "Yeah. She's alright."

"Then why are you so down?" He continues to ask because if it's not because of her mum, then it must be because of a certain someone from the Palace whom he doesn't even want to mention.

"It's just that..." she hesitates to speak, gauging his reaction, but he tries to give her a neutral face. "I feel so bad for Jaehyun and his brothers right now. I know what it feels like to have a family member who is going through an illness."

The way she said it makes his heart feel a sudden warmth instead of jealousy. She doesn't only care about herself, but also about other people. She is sympathetic, which he didn't really notice before, but he's seeing it all now. Everything about her is just beautiful that it's impossible for him to stop falling for her.

He reaches for her and he's relieved that she doesn't shove it away. "I don't know what to say right now, Traze. But whatever you're feeling, I'm just here, alright?"

"You're not furious?" She suddenly asks.

"Do I have to be furious?" He asks back.

"I don't know. Because you hate it everytime I'm with Jaehyun."

He lets out a chuckle. "You won't be here with me right now if you like him more than me. Am I right?"

She hisses at his remark. "You're so full of yourself."

"But you're not denying it which means I'm right." He shrugs, still not letting go of her hand as he drives away, his smile not leaving his face.

When they finally arrive at the only spot where he and Traze share a memory, he sees her face finally relaxing a bit. He can probably look at her face and not get tired of it. He leads her the way inside the restaurant and she quickly finds the same table where they usually sit. It's funny how that table is always empty everytime they go there. It's like it's reserved for them already.

He orders the same pasta and juice for her, which he knows she really likes. Realizing it now, maybe there is really a reason as to why things happen. All those grave moments that led them to always meet each other now became a blessing to him. He wouldn't have met her and he wouldn't have learned to love someone again.

"Now you're spacing out," she suddenly speaks, breaking his reverie.

He chuckles. "I just realized we always sit on this table."

She lifted her brows. "I like it here. It's not too close at the counter and we can see all the people coming in."

"It doesn't matter as long as you're with me," he admits.

She chokes in the air. "One more cheesy comment and I'll leave."

He shrugs, leaning his back on the chair. "What do you want me to say then? I'm just speaking my mind."

"What I want you to say is that you've already made up with your brother so that you don't do stupid things again like volunteering yourself to be someone else's punching bag," she remarks, crossing her arms over her chest.

He scoffs. "Is this you subtly admitting that you finally like me?"

"Did you seriously think I would be here right now if I don't like you?" She blurts out, causing him to blink at her and processing what he just heard.

"What did you just say?" He asks, wanting to hear it again from her just in case his ears are malfunctioning.

She suddenly looks away, her face obviously flustered. Before she can speak again, the server already comes up to give their orders.

He doesn't finish his food because he can't keep his eyes away from her. He just stares at her as she gobbles on her food which he finds cute and funny at the same time. The whole time he's with her, his heart seems to be full that he doesn't want the night to end anymore.

****

When Taeyong arrives back at the dorm, he's surprised to see Mark on the lounge, who seems to be waiting for him. He hasn't talked to him yet after saving him from his drunken state at Yuta's party. Maybe he wants to talk now.

Clearing his throat, he looks at him and Mark meets his gaze. He's gauging his reaction. He doesn't know if his brother is still mad at him. But he'd understand if he still is. He just wants to know how he's doing for the past weeks that they didn't see and talk to each other. "How are you?" He finally decides to speak first, taking the seat on the opposite couch.

Mark keeps a deadpan expression, taking a breath. "Good. Sober."

He nods, relieved to hear that from him. An awkward silence ensues.

Mark straightens his back on his seat. "Thank you," he mumbles. "For helping me that night."

He turns to him, feeling contented that his brother acknowledged what he did. But other than that, he's just grateful that he's there right now talking to him. "That's alright. You would've done the same for me."

Mark bobs his head a little. Then, he meets his eyes, his expression softens. "So... where is our real father? Have you seen him?"

He wishes he knows the answer to that, but until now, he doesn't. He can't seem to find any trace of their father. The closest thing he got was seeing a man who resembled him on the street and even that was just a hazy encounter. "No, I don't know where he is, Mark," he answers flatly.

Mark lets out a hollow laugh. "Do you at least know if he's alive or not? Should we go ask our fake father ourselves?"

"NO!" He instantly barks at his brother. "That is not an option, Mark. I'm trying my best to keep you away from Miller. We don't know what goes on in his mind."

Mark's eyes fall to the ground. "What if he already killed our real father?"

He gulps down at his question. He doesn't want to think that. He's sure their real father is still alive because if he's not, Miller would've killed the both of them already. Something is keeping Miller from killing them and he's sure it's because of their father.

"I want to ask him myself," Mark speaks again in a serious tone. "Miller. He's the only one who knows where our real father is."

He takes a breath, trying to calm down and prevent himself from yelling at his brother again. "Promise me you won't go to him, Mark."

Mark holds his gaze for a while before finally nodding. "Fine."