Counting Stars (In A Relationship With EXO Kai)

11 | Love Scenario

I pulled out the mails from the drawer and checked them one by one as I started writing the list. I needed to manage money for all of this. Electricity bills. Water bills. House loans. A mail from Australia-wait Australia? I teared it open and read the content.

A letter fell down. There was another mail inside. From SM Entertainment. My heart picked up its pace as I read the contents. Apparently Ae-Cha had given an audition back in Australia and was selected for the training program. Her friend Kevin sent this mail to us. He was also coming to Korea for the same.

Even the thought of Ae-Cha going through the harsh treatment of the industry made my skin crawl. The bell rang and I hid the mail in my pocket as I went out to open the door. My parents were all smiles and said that they had a good time with grandma. That she missed me and had invited me to come to her soon. Ae-Cha was staying with her for a couple of days.

"Do you think I'm overreacting?" I asked Fei. She had asked me to stay with her on my off days so that she won't get bored. The girl even invested in my business. I won't lie, I thought she would curse me for ruining her career when I went to meet her but she was a total opposite.

Fei shrugged. "No, you're not. I have trained for good two three years and I won't ever let my kid go through it. Never." Her eyes held disgust. "I don't know how it's like when one debute, but training is a pure hell. We're treated as robots."

"I know," I mumbled. "It has only been a few months since aunt and uncle passed away. I don't think Ae-Cha is ready for that kind of world anyway."

That made her pause. "Let her decide that. If she came to know about you hiding her selection from her, then it would not do any good to you. She is a teenager and has suffered a great loss. You shielding her from the truth will make it even harder for her to open up." Sighing, Fei held my hand. "Don't treat her like something broken or she will start believing it herself."

I covered my face with my hands. "Is there any chance of her actually being happy with this choice?"

Fei smiled. "You and I... we never wanted this entertainment world, Sunhee. Maybe that's why we hate it so passionately. We both stepped into it for other purposes, but there are people who actually want to debute. Singing and dancing is all they know, and if your cousin is one of those people then she can be happy."

I hummed. It was almost evening when I left her apartment as Yixing was there for her now. My grandma gave us some money for Ae-cha's studies and also for our business, but seeing Aroma, it almost felt useless. Like I could paint this restaurant however I wanted, but people just won't notice. Should I really look into something else. Some other business?

"Sunhee." Tao met me on my way to the restaurant. "Where are you coming from? I didn't see you at Aroma."

I wasn't allowed to share Fei's location. For all everyone knew she was back in China. It was for their good really. Alanna would want to visit her, and Fei didn't want anyone to distract themselves with her condition. She was an angel like that. Even if she didn't think of her so.

"Oh I was at gym. I'm leaving for the show this week." It wasn't a lie technically since I did hit the gym in the afternoon. Weird timing but yeah. "Are you on your way to Aroma?"

He nodded. "Sana noona is there too. I thought you were home so I was going there to pick you up."

I stopped walking. "Tao... About your confession-"

"Don't answer right now." He placed a finger over my lips. "Say it when you're ready to say yes. Not before. Not after," he said with a smile. How could I tell him that I would never say yes to him? It would be rude of me to tell him that there was no chance of me dating him, so I let it go and only nodded.