❦ ɪɴғᴇʀɴᴏ ;; 【ᴀᴛᴇᴇᴢ】

•35•

Sophie's pov:

"Are you ready?" "Can I come along?" Yunho and Wooyoung suddenly barged in my room as I was applying the mascara. Yunho looked surprised to see Wooyoung behind him and we both answered him with a simultaneous "NO"

"But I want to come! I haven't seen Meghan for ages!" Wooyoung frowned. "You're acting like you guys are best friends. You were just secretly keeping a watch on her remember? She doesn't really know you!" I laughed at Yunho's and Wooyoung's little argument. Wooyoung wanted to tag along and Yunho was not going to let him join us at any cost.

"Okay I'm ready now." I turned to face Yunho who looked pretty much surprised. "Y-you look really different...in a good way..." He looked flustered which made me smile. I wasn't wearing my usual loose baggy clothes and thick jacket. A white crop top that fitted my body perfectly and skintight jeans was not my normal attire but since I was meeting Meghan after so long, I decided to wear the outfit she once had forced me to buy while shopping together.

"Ohhh you look good and the makeup suits you Soph!" Wooyoung gave me a thumbs up and I smiled shyly. "Meghan will kill me if I meet her without putting any effort in the way I look." I replied.

"I see...Well then, we should go now we're already a bit late." Yunho glanced at his watch as we hurried. "And you are NOT coming." He gave one final instruction to Wooyoung who immediately slumped his shoulders, giving up.

"Next time then. Have fun Soph! And...please make sure she takes the news well." I nodded sadly. It was supposed to be a fun meet since I was meeting my best friend after so long, but it was going to turn into a very bad day later for her. She still believes Martin is somewhere out there.

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"OH MY GOD SOPH YOU LOOK....BIG." was the first thing Megs screamed at me, squeezing me in a tight hug as soon as she saw me. We had decided to meet up at our favorite café and Yunho was just going to keep a watch from far so that we could spend some time together by ourselves. "Megs.... what do you mean by...BIG!?" she chuckled.

"By BIG, I really mean BIG big. Damn, look at those muscles, your whole physique.... have you been going to gym this whole time?" She asked excitedly.

"Kind of...yes." I replied trying not to tell her everything. She will freak out if she finds out I'm learning how to fight and use weapons.

"That's great. I'm glad to see that you are well and fine. I was so shocked when I got your call yesterday! It's been months since we last saw each other I feel so lonely in college without you and Martin." She sighed as spoke as if she was talking to herself.

"I'm sorry but you know that I won't be able to come back." I frowned and she nodded. "I know that...I'm just missing you a lot."

We talked a lot for a long time. We didn't talk about Martin or Kevin, just about some silly things and all the little incidents that have happened in our lives while we were not in touch. She looked happy and had so much to share that I decided to not bring up the topic until she was done.

After a long time when she was finally done speaking and we were out of topics, I decided to finally tell her. I hesitated for a bit as it would completely break her, but she deserved to know what happened to him. She was still waiting for him to come back and knowing her, she would wait for him for the whole life without knowing the truth.

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"I-I need to go to the restroom. Excuse me." Was her only reaction. It looked like she already had an idea about what would've happened to Martin but she was just trying not to jump to conclusions without surety this whole time. I looked at Yunho who was sitting at the far end of the café. He wasn't looking at me and was busy on his phone. I sighed with a bit of relief as well as sorrow. This was not how I wanted to meet Meghan, bearing bad news but at least now she won't be wandering around hopelessly waiting for Martin.

As I was sitting alone idly waiting for Megs to come back, a woman who looked a bit older than me swiftly sat in Meghan's seat. She had purple hair and was really very pretty...did she think I was someone else?

"Excuse miss, my friend is sit-" "Shh I know that Sophie. I know Yunho is watching too so I'll make it quick. Here, take this. Your dad and uncle will be here, September's 28th. Come alone and don't tell anyone if you want your loved ones to be safe. They just want to talk to you so don't worry, you'll be safe. Your dad will never hurt you. We'll meet again." She slipped a small card in my hand and immediately got up, smiling as she walked away before Yunho noticed and was on his way to my table.

He stopped midway as he saw Meghan coming out from the restroom. I shook my head, and he went back to his table immediately. I glanced at the card which looked more like an access card than a business card.

"La Luna. VIP." Were the only things written on it in fancy font.

"Soph, I joined some art classes so I think I'll have to go now. Thank you for meeting me after so long and telling me...the truth." Meghan smiled weakly as she picked her bag, ready to leave. Her eyes were already puffy and her face looked like a mess. I felt sorry for her.

"It's okay. We'll meet properly next time. I'm always here for you Megs. Don't worry." Was all I could say as I embraced her in a tight hug, rubbing her back gently. I could hear her sobs in my ear. She never looked so heartbroken in all these years I had known her. We parted ways a while later, saying probably our final goodbyes. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to meet her ever again looking at everything that was going on.

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"Soph, who was that purple haired girl?" Yunho asked me as we walked along the road towards our car. "Huh? Oh her? She just thought I was her friend who looked similar, nothing serious." I lied. I remembered her warning about not telling anyone about this and I was going to follow that.

I had thought about it and came to the conclusion of sneaking out. I don't know how I'll even manage to do something so risky all by my own or even get out of the house without anyone noticing in the first place but maybe I'll just ask Wooyoung to sneak out with me for something else a few days before the meeting and will go on my own on the actual date. Seemed very risky but the purple head's words kept repeating in my head – "Come alone if you want others to be safe. Your dad will never hurt you. They just wanted to talk." Maybe it would be the best if I do as they say and find a way to end all this.

"Sophie, I had wanted to say something to you for so long." Yunho suddenly spoke which made me snap out of the little planning going on in my head. "What is it Yunho?" I asked him, totally unsure of what was coming. "We accidently met, we started hanging out, we unofficially dated, ended our relationship, met again, got back, live in the same house and now we're just somewhere in between...so much happened but we are still together right now. I'm not sure if you like me or not but I like you." He turned towards me as we both stopped walking. I stood still, unable to speak. He was talking about this so openly after such a long time, I had no idea what I was supposed to say. "What are we Sophie?" he held my hands staring at me. My heart started beating fast as I looked at him who had the most serious expression on his face.

"Yunho this is...too sudden..." was the only thing I could say as I looked down. My head was already too full of thoughts and this was totally unexpected. "Look at me." I looked up as he cupped my face with his warm hands. He took me by surprise as he leaned in closer giving me a small kiss on the lips. I kissed back on instinct, completely losing myself in his arms. His hands trailed on to my back and slowly towards my waist.

We kept kissing as his hands were moving even lower now, on to my hips. Before I had realized, the card given by the purple head that I had kept in my back pocket was in his hands. He broke the kiss right away and looked at me with a blank expression, holding the card high enough that I couldn't reach it.

"So this is what you were hiding." His expressions had changed and he looked at me with the most lifeless eyes as he kept the card in his pocket and started walking. "Let's go now we will be having a meeting for this new mission today."

"Yunho...? You tricked me?" my heart shattered as I held back my tears. The whole thing he had just done was all a show.

"I'm sorry but you should not keep secrets. That's our family motto. I just had to find out what you were hiding and that's what I did." He replied.