= 38 =

"What did you say?" Danbi utters as she looks at Wooyoung with her mouth slightly parted. "Did you say that you rent out the whole park for today because you wanted 'some time off'?"

Wooyoung puts down his fork and spoon, takes his napkin and dabs his mouth with it before attempting to answer her. "Kind of. I was stressed out this week so I thought of winding down for a bit."

"And you rented a whole park?" she deadpans. "Is that what you always do when you get stressed out; spend a whole lot of money?"

"They gave a discount," he says simply.

"I wonder why." She rolls her eyes.

"Because it's not my first time," he says nonchalantly. "They have discounts for returning customers. It's an indoor park by the way, you can do a lot of stuff in there. There's even a rock climbing wall there. So I say if you or any of your friends want to come," he says, referring to the rest of the boys, "you're more than welcome to for today. It's all ours. It's located in Dahlia District," he gives a business card, "here. Come anytime today and you'll find me there."

She's left dumbfounded as she watches Wooyoung skittering to exit the dining room once he's done with his breakfast, waving a hurried goodbye to Yeosang who's only about to enter to eat.

Yeosang points a thumb over his shoulder to him as he addresses Danbi. "Why does Mr. Toot Toot look like his butt is on fire and is running to save himself?"

"Apparently he's stressed out and he rented out a whole indoor park for himself to enjoy," she utters, only about half into her breakfast. "According to him that's what he does when he's stressed out."

Yeosang purses his lips as a memory of his best friend revisits him, and he can't help but inform Danbi of the piece of information. "It's because when Wooyoung and Soyeon would go out together, they'd prefer somewhere more private. Soyeon doesn't like crowded places while Wooyoung is still keeping their relationship a secret from the eyes of the others. So they'd rent out the whole indoor park and spend their time there."

"Ah, really?" she utters, suddenly feeling bad that she thought of the idea being ridiculous. "That's- kind of romantic of him."

"I guess," Yeosang says as he looks down at the plate of breakfast that he's taken for himself, but suddenly he doesn't have the appetite to eat.

Danbi notices the change in his demeanour that she sits back down before tilting her head to get a look at his face. "Now why is Kang Yeosang looking down? I've never seen you this... sad. So early in the morning."

"Nothing. Now get out of my face, you're annoying me."

"Gah," she sputters. "Should have remembered that Yeosang still hasn't considered me a friend."

"It's just that," he sighs.

"It's just that?" she echoes before leaning in closer to show him that she's all ears.

"Anna and I got together recently, right?" he asks, looking troubled.

"Hmm," she agrees as she nods seriously. "And?"

"I feel like I can't give her as much as I could like what she deserves. I don't have that much money to buy her things," he mumbles. "I mean, I look at Wooyoung and Soyeon- he can provide her with so much and they're like a match made in heaven. Despite being on opposite sides regarding their personalities, they click so well. Then Wooyoung buys her all kinds of stuff, provides for her hobby, rents out a whole ass indoor park just for her. I can't," he closes his eyes, "do that for Anna."

She leans to the side, resting her elbow on the table before pushing her cheek with her palm. As she looks at him up and down, she can't help but chuckle. When he looks slightly angry that she's laughing, she quickly defends herself.

"Don't get me wrong; I'm not laughing at your worry. I'm laughing at the fact that I never thought I'd see you worrying about the girl you like. You always seem so," she taps her chest, "hardheaded and tough to break. Look at you being all soft for Anna."

"You're talking all that as if you didn't go all soft for San," he shoots back. When she looks surprised that he caught on, he snaps, "What? You really think I'd have thought nothing would happen when you spent one night at his house? And both of you think that no one would see but even before you went to bed last night I saw both of you hugging outside." He smirks, "If you really want to keep your relationship a secret, find better ways. You have a lot of eyes here."

She grumbles before trying to shield her face, embarrassed. "Damn it, Choi San and his incessant needs for hugs," she mumbles under her breath to which, fortunately, Yeosang doesn't hear. Then she raises the volume of her voice, "This is not about me and San. We're talking about you and Anna." She snaps her fingers before asking an immediate question, "Between the two of you, who confessed first?"

He narrows his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"Answer my question first."

He exhales. "She did." He pouts before his body shrinks as he's ashamed and he rocks his body from side to side softly. "During the night of your father's party."

"See?" She puts her palms upwards shoulder-level, much to Yeosang's confusion.

"See what?"

"If she's the one confessing to you, it means that she doesn't mind all that. She knows what she's doing, and I haven't talked to her much to know how she's really like but she seems nice and sweet. If she wanted all of that, she wouldn't even confess to you, idiot. She only looks at you and you only. Not what kind of wealth you have and that, my friend," she winks, "is a girl to keep."

"Hmm," he taps a finger to his chin, "you sound like a relationship counsellor. Was that one of your jobs back then too?"

She snorts before shaking her head, "Single people are always the best at giving relationship advice."

"You're not single anymore."

"I was."

"So was I."

"Well now both of us aren't so can we just carry on with breakfast? Also," she changes the topic, "Do you want to go to the indoor park-"

"Indoor park?" Yunho pops out his head from behind the door before coming in, followed by the rest. "Are we going to an indoor park today?"

"Well," she smacks her lips together as she looks at her bodyguards coming in one by one, "Wooyoung did rent out the whole park and he invited us to go there if we felt like it today."

"Can we?" San's eyes sparkle at the thought and she chuckles.

"If you guys really want to..." she shrugs. "I don't think Wooyoung would mind having all of us at once, right? The park must be pretty big so we won't get in his way."

With no objections from the rest, the bodyguards change into their casual clothes, with San and Yunho looking the most excited out of them. When Danbi looks slightly hesitant to follow, San had pouted and clung onto her, saying that she must come or else he'll be lonely.

She rolls her eyes while citing, "How did you even survive being single before this?"

"I don't know, I was pretty resilient before I met you. After I met you I just became weak-" he gets cut off when she puts a hand over his mouth.

"Stop, stop. No more nauseatingly sweet words or else I'll throw up."

"Way to keep your relationship a secret, Miss Bae," Jongho says before he gets shut up by Danbi's sharp glare.

"Let's get going," Yunho hurries them up, bouncing in his place.

Apparently Yeosang has invited Anna over too, as while waiting for them to come out of the house, both of them are already waiting by the car, with Anna wearing some tight fitting pants that she designed herself with a t-shirt made up of absorptive material.

Danbi looks down to her own clothes and realizes how under-dressed she is, with loose shorts and a tank top. She can't help but smile as she sees how well Anna and Yeosang look together, then gets startled when she feels a hand on the small of her back. She looks to the side and gets greeted with San's dimpled smile, one that makes her heart do weird flips again.

"Are you alright?" San asks gently, but even as she nods, he doesn't get convinced. "You're still thinking about what Yunho said yesterday night, aren't you?"

"No," she says slowly, but it does seem that she's feeling the opposite. "Let's go."

She walks to the car, not letting anyone open the door for her as she does it herself before sinking back into the seat. Then she crosses her arms as she looks out the window, and San sighs as he looks at her from outside, before turning to look at Yunho.

Yunho is driving the car with Jongho and Seonghwa as his passengers. San gestures towards them, he tells them that he's hitching a ride in Yeosang's car. He slides in the seat next to Danbi, and he pokes her shoulder so that she'll take a look at him once the car is moving out of the compound.

"What?" she mouths.

He leans over to whisper in her ear, and she turns away before smiling slightly. Satisfied, he chuckles to himself before looking out the window, enjoying the scenery throughout the journey to Dahlia District. He looks down to the seat beside him when he sees a movement, noticing that she has been inching her left hand closer to his right. Before she gets to raise up her hand, he envelops her hand in his, and they stay looking out the window as their hands are linked together.

Yeosang sees their antics through the rearview mirror and grumbles to himself; he'd want to do it with Anna too but he's not an expert in driving with one hand. So he's left gripping the steering wheel grudgingly like he's about to rip it off while Anna on the passenger seat is humming to the ballad song playing on the radio.

As they park their cars in the compound, they see exactly only one car at the customer's parking spots, and sure enough it's Wooyoung's.

As soon as they get out, Yeosang quickly rushes over to the passenger door before opening it for Anna. Narrowing his eyes as he sees that San and Danbi still haven't let go of each other's hands, he quickly grabs Anna's hand and pulls her closer to him.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Anna mutters, flustered as Yeosang seems to have this determined look on his face, gripping her hand tightly.

"We're a couple too," he says, sounding sulky. "They can't be the only one who gets to hold hands in public."

Then Yeosang grumbles as he sees San making Danbi laugh, until she doubles over as she holds her stomach with her free hand. Their hands are still linked, and it doesn't look like they intend to let go of each other.

"Baby," Anna calls Yeosang, having this amused look on her face. "Why are you so interested in San and Danbi? Are you jealous of them? Or did you-" she says slowly, "-have a crush on Danbi?"

Yeosang snaps out of his trance but not before he shakes his head, still with the determined look on his face. "No. Anna, I know that I may not be the best boyfriend for you but I'll try my best to make you happy."

She laughs, and this seems to soften Yeosang's expression as he chuckles in embarrassment. "Why are you so uptight? Everyone has their own ways of expressing their love to each other. You're doing more than enough for me."

Yeosang is about to reply but they get called over by Yunho and Jongho who are screaming at the top of their lungs, beckoning them to come to the entrance. Meanwhile Seonghwa looks tired of them, but is feeling pumped up to be able to spend the day at the indoor park anyway.

The four of them join the other three, and as they are given a pass to enter after the staff informed Wooyoung about them, they get impressed by the sheer size of the whole complex.

"We get this place to ourselves for the whole day?" Seonghwa finally speaks up, unable to hide the way he's totally impressed.

"This place is massive," Yunho says absent-mindedly.

"We'll probably get lost in here," Jongho supplements.

"What can we do in here?" San asks, looking around as he tries to spot for anything.

"Everything," Wooyoung approaches them, looking dramatic as he sweeps his arms across the expanse before he takes off his sunglasses. "Feel free to roam. They even have this massive garden with a waterfall inside this building. It's really pretty. Now if you may excuse me, I'm off to play some golf."

The CEO then disappears as quickly as he had appeared, as if he just teleported there to greet them.

They do seem to feel like they would get lost in the massive compound, before they get pulled towards the direction of the rock climbing wall, which stands tall and proud among the others in the building. What makes it even more impressive for them is that the wall was made to look like they were about to climb from the bottom of the cliff, with the wall slightly curving as it goes higher to imitate the shape of a cliff. The fake rocks jutting out add to the atmosphere, and Danbi points to that direction before saying that she'd like to try it out.

San, Yunho and Jongho decide to join her in climbing up, and they get fitted in harnesses as the rest watch on in amazement. As soon as they are given the boost to go, Danbi launches herself up and she climbs with ease, as if possessed by something as she goes past the rest of them. When she reaches the top, she dangles her legs, smirking as she sees the men struggling to get up, with San coming in second and Jongho the third. Yunho comes in last because he slipped, causing the three of them to wait for him while having smug smiles on their faces.

Yunho looks like he's half-dead as he heaves himself up the wall, breathing heavily as he widens his eyes. Danbi helps to pull him up before he's sprawled on the top of the wall, stomach down.

As he struggles to catch his breath he manages, "How did you even get up so fast? That was extreme."

"I was a member of the Reflectors, remember?" she whispers, but it doesn't matter as it's only the four of them on top anyway. "Doing stuff like this is a norm." She observes the two dealers, who look like they're ready to descend. "But aren't you guys dealers? Don't dealers go through the same thing as the members?"

"We don't," Jongho utters as he tugs on the belt around his waist. "We only have to deal with people; rather than physical it's a mental thing. We have to learn how to deal with different types of people."

"Interesting," she offers, swinging her legs as she sees Seonghwa, Yeosang and Anna going over to the skate ramps. She likes sitting on top; it enables her to see almost everything in the park.

"Whatever it is, we're not made to be members of the Reflectors," Yunho says as both him and Jongho fist bump. Both of them launch themselves off the platform before descending, the ropes turning around the wheels, screeching before they land on the mattress prepared below.

Danbi wants to make a move but San stops her and she scoots back to look at him enquiringly. "What's the matter?"

"About what Yunho said yesterday... I know it bothered you a lot. I can still see that you were uncomfortable with how he views relationships."

She rakes her fingers through her hair, messing them up before taking off her hair tie. She snaps the tie onto her wrist before she looks down. Everyone else is too busy doing their own thing that the two of them on top are probably already forgotten. Even the staff are busy looking over the others that the two could probably sit there longer and no one wouldn't mind.

"I mean, it's his way of thinking. It's not like I can change it or anything," she breathes. "Although I did get a bit..." she looks down, "scared." She sweeps her vision to down below, "The relationships that I see around me all seem to be ending on bad terms. Not even one that I see where the people are happy when they're in a relationship. I know, it's inevitable to have something bad happening in a relationship but since it's my first, I'm kind of worried."

San listens attentively as he nods, understanding her points. "You're scared that we're going to be like that."

She quickly backtracks. "It's not like I'm saying that we will be like that. But I'm a liiiitle-" she puts her thumb and forefinger as close as possible without them touching each other, "-bit apprehensive. I want to try my best but," she blinks, "I'm still worried."

"Bad things happening in relationships are inevitable, like you said," he says, reaching out his hand to pat down her bangs, "but it doesn't mean that it will end just like that. Some destinies tend to be cruel." They instinctively turn to look at Seonghwa who's tumbling down the skate ramp while Yeosang and Anna look at him with worry. "But some destinies are not. Since we can't completely set how we're going to be in the future, what we can do is try our best. Communication, understanding, stuff like that." He pumps up a fist, "A way to make our relationship stay for long."

She rocks her body from side to side slowly, a shy smile creeping up on her face. She chuckles, "Well you sound like the counsellor now. I don't know how long we will last," she puts out a pinky finger, "but I promise that I'll try my best to keep it going for as long as I can."

"I'll promise I'll do too," he replies as he links their fingers together. When it seems that both aren't looking to let go of each other, he studies her face before releasing his finger, but not long after he envelops her hand in his. He caresses the back of her palm with his thumb, citing, "I'm proud of the way you reacted yesterday, when Madam Seo revealed to you who she is."

She tilts her head, thinking back to how she dealt with her emotions at that time. "All the time I was imagining the time that I'd finally get to meet my birth mother, I would lash out and get angry at her because I felt like I deserve to feel that way. I promised to myself that even though I would meet her, I'd never forgive her for leaving me behind. That's just how I'd usually react; I let my emotions take over me first before I think. That's why," she shakes their linked hands, "I always throw a punch first before I talk."

San laughs. "I remember Yeosang getting a taste of your fist first."

"Right," Danbi grimaces, "because Hongjoong always said that I'm too volatile. I react before I decide to think. But yesterday... I wanted to be someone different. I wanted to understand on why she did it, I wanted to think about what others feel before I put out my emotions first. For the first time, I wanted to be able to be the bigger person. Just like you; you try your best to understand people's situations." She stares at his eyes, "I wanted to become a better version of myself."

He nods, a proud smile on his face. "You did a great job. You have to remember," he says, "putting others first before you can be good at times, but never too much until you neglect your own feelings. Okay?"

She nods once, and he still keeps the smile on his face. He lets go of her hand before scooting to the edge, "We still have the whole complex to explore. Time to go down."

San grabs onto her waist as they descend, rolling down on the mattress as the staff help to pull them up to take off their harnesses.

From afar, Wooyoung has taken a rest from playing golf as he walks out of the course and observes the rest. He looks at San and Danbi who are walking over to join Yunho and Jongho before he sighs, taking out his phone. It's the message that he has gotten early in the morning that's making him stressed out. The message came from his father's secretary, informing him that his house has been broken into last night, when he was at the abandoned race track together with the rest.

Sure enough, it's the Reflectors as the same modus operandi was used, but that's the least of his worries. It's the fact that Soyeon had asked him to wait at her house, as if purposely asking him to stay away from his own house while the Reflectors did their job. He should have somewhat seen it coming, but of course he caught up with it too late.

But not only that, one of the members of the Reflectors have finally exposed their face to the cameras there, as if taunting the fact that they still haven't been caught yet no matter how bold they're getting.

His father's secretary had sent him the picture of the member, reminding him to not be shocked at what he'd see.

The picture is not the best quality but it didn't take him a second to realize it's Soyeon. She's staring straight at the camera, a slight smirk on her lips.

As if challenging him.

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