Chapter 2
Laurel pov
My eyes widened with disbelief as she said that and I replied, "No. You should stay at a hotel."
She said, "I forgot my wallet as well in the at home before stepping out. can't I stay with you? I promise I will be calm."
I looked at her one more time and said, "Just for tonight."
On getting home, as soon as I unlocked the door, she dashed in and started scanning the environment.
Seo-hee said, "Wow, your house is awesome. Do you live alone?"
She ran upstairs, and I didn't even stop her because I knew this was going to happen anyway given the type of person she is.
I went to the kitchen to get a plate for both of us while she came downstairs.
She looked at me and said, "You are rich. You even have three bedrooms, that very rare for a student.
"You don't look poor either," I replied, but she only smiled and thanked me for saving her tonight.
"Please, can you lend me your phone to place a call?" she said.
I realized she might have lost hers, so I gave it to her.
She excused herself to make a call and came back, asking if she could have my address sent to her brother so he could bring her keys for her.
I nodded, and she sent the message.
"Thank goodness for my brother," she said, but I didn't say anything.
She asked, "What about your family? Do you have a brother or sister?"
I stopped for a while, then slowly faced her.
"I don't."
She naively said, "Wow, it must be nice being an only child."
I looked at her straight in the eyes and said, "I have no family."
Her smile quietly left her face. It was clear she felt awkward.
"Oh… I'm sorry," she said, but I didn't say a thing.
I was done with my food and I went upstairs, took off my clothes, and went to the bathroom.
I stayed under the cold shower for hours, thinking about everything that happened today.
I have to find a way to get rid of her.
She would only cost me nothing but trouble.
After dressing, I looked at some clothing for her and picked up a short and my big blue T-shirt.
I went downstairs just to see her in my kitchen.
"What are you doing?" I said as I walked closer to her.
"Oh, I was looking for water," she said, taking a bottle and walking towards me.
"Take," I said as I brought out the clothes for her. "Change into this and please be as quiet as possible. Use the bedroom on your left."
I walked to the kitchen.
I opened my fridge, brought out a wine, took a cup, and went to the balcony.
A few minutes later, my phone started ringing.
I checked, it was Nicholas.
A friend… almost like a brother to me.
If his dad, my adopted uncle, hadn't saved me back then, I would have long been dead.
"Hey," he said.
"Good," I replied.
He continued, "I don't know if I could stay at your place for a week or something."
"Why?" I asked. "Did something happen at home?"
Then I heard his younger brother's voice over the phone.
"His girlfriend broke up with him a month ago, and now Dad won't stop talking about having a grandchild, saying he should get over it."
I knew Nicholas would be hurt.
I mean, they dated for almost six years.
"Okay. Just a week," I said.
"Thanks, Laurel," he said, and cut the call.
I sighed.
Only God knows how hectic next week will be, where there is so much to do.
Then I saw Seo-hee coming downstairs again.
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Yes. I just want to know if I was in your group. I asked other group leaders in school this evening, but none of them had me."
Then suddenly, I remembered the names in my bag.
Oh. I haven't checked.
"I'll let you know tomorrow," I replied.
"Okay," she said.
All I could pray for was that she shouldn't be in my group.
So I went upstairs, brought out the names, and started checking.
Alexander Smith.
Timothy Johnson.
George Williams.
Ivan Jones.
Li Mu Chen.
Brown Jasper.
Then I took the last folded paper and unfolded it gently.
Lee Seo-hee.
I froze.
How is that even possible?
There were tons of names there.
Why did I pick her?
Now there was no way to avoid that chatterbox.
I fell on the bed.
I lay there, praying the next day would come faster so I could plan my schedule.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a blender.
Gosh, it's still so early.
"What the fuck is that?" I said as I rushed downstairs.
Seo-hee was standing in the kitchen, hair rolled up, lettuce in her hand.
"What are you doing?" I said as I walked toward her.
She turned with a big smile.
"Good morning! I didn't know how to thank you for last night, so I decided to cook for you."
I looked at her for a while, then turned to go back to my room when I heard a knock on the door.
"Are you expecting someone?" she asked. "I wonder if it's my brother."
"yes,but not this early" I said as I walked to the door.
Immediately I opened it, My mood dropped.
"WTF," I said.
And immediately, he hugged me.
Seo-hee came at that time.
"Oppa? What are you doing?" she said while pulling him away from me.
I frowned.
"Oppa? Lee Joon is your elder brother?"
"Yes," she said, looking confused.
"Then why didn't I know when you called him last night with my phone"
Lee Joon came in and said " that because she called my other line, and you don't have that yet."
"Can't I hug a lost friend?" he said.
"Lost?" I replied. "You were the one who never came to visit for four years."
"Four years, you guys have known each other for four years, how come I don't know laurel too". She asked in a shocking manners.
"That because you don't know any of my friends", tapping her head.
"I'm sorry," he said facing me . " But Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Did you know Nicholas is coming to Canada today as well?" I asked.
"No," he replied.
I looked at him one more time, then i went to check what she doing in my kitchen when I heard his voice.
"Can we stay at your place for a week?"
"I am not with the damn key," he added, facing his sister. "Do you expect me to be with your keys all the time?"
All I could think was, did they plan this?
Lee Joon, Nicholas Min, and Kang Dae…
People I consider owing a lot in my life.
Not money, something deeper.
They were there for me when I was in Korea.
They helped me out of my depressed stage.
They are what I consider friends.
Because only Aria and Eric stood for me before them.
"If it isn't comfortable for you, I can go to a hotel," he said.
"No," I replied. "Who would send someone out in this kind of cold winter?"
He smiled.
"Wow… you do know how to smile."
I ignored him and invited him in, giving him red wine.
"No, he doesn't drink red wine," his sister said.
"Really? Then you don't know your brother."
I walked towards him with two glasses.
"How come you are with my sister?"
So I explained what happened.
"Oh… okay. Thank you, Laurel," he said.
"Can you look over her for a while? She seems to really like you."
I looked at him.
"Joon, I have so many things in my life to fix right now. Friendship with her isn't something I view."
"But you could use her company," he said. "Especially when you are bored."
I smiled slightly.
"Bored? How is that even possible?"
"Firstly, I am a supervisor in Fairing Oil and Gas. Do you know how many people I talk to daily?"
"Secondly, now that I'm almost done with university, there is this project…"
He leaned forward, interested.
"We were given a company to work with for eight months as petroleum engineering interns—in groups."
"I'm also the group leader."
"And yes—your sister is also a group member."
"She doesn't know yet."
"Gosh, how do you live with her? She talks too much."
Lee Joon smiled.
"You haven't seen anything. She talks, but she has a good heart."
"Your sister and I are not friends, Lee Joon."
"And she shouldn't expect to be."
Just then, she came in with a tray of snacks.
I stood up and walked past her to the library.
Then I said, "I am your group leader."
She jumped.
"Yes! Thank Goodness I'm in your group, Laurel!"
But I ignored her, then after breakfast I heard a knock while I was in the room preparing for work, and then I heard a voice saying,
"Wow, when was the last time we all gathered around like this? I wish Kang Dae was here too."
That must have been Nicholas. We have all been friends, what normal people consider a friend like family.
When I got downstairs, I saw Nicholas and he rushed over to hug me, which I did for a short while.
Nicholas still held me for a second longer before pulling back, his hands resting on my shoulders as if making sure I was real.
"Laurel… you look the same," he said, studying my face.
I raised a brow.
"And you don't. You look worse."
He laughed softly. "I missed that."
From behind him, Seo-hee peeked out, her eyes moving quickly between us like she was trying to understand something she didn't have the right to ask.
"So… this is mr. Nicholas?" she asked carefully.
I didn't answer.
Nicholas turned slightly and smiled at her.
"And you must be Seo-hee right."
She nodded immediately. "Yes! I'm..."
"My group member and also Lee Joon's younger sister," I cut in.
She paused, then smiled even wider. "Yes… that too."
"You must have gone through a lot from Laurel, I'm sorry on her behalf," Nicholas said.
"What kind of person do you think I am?" I said.
He looked at me for a while and turned to Lee Joon, saying, "What are you doing in Canada?"
"Work," Lee Joon replied.
Nicholas looked back at me, a small knowing smile forming on his lips as he walked to the couch. He always noticed things too quickly.
"So you finally have people around you again," he said.
"I always had people," I replied flatly.
"Not like this," he said quietly.
I didn't respond.
The room fell into a brief silence before Lee Joon spoke, breaking the tension.
"this is really something," he said, looking around. "All of us in one place again."
"Not all," Nicholas added. "Kang Dae isn't here."
"He will be," Lee Joon said confidently. "You know he always shows up when it matters."
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"This isn't a reunion," I said. "It's temporary."
Seo-hee looked at me, confused.
"Temporary?"
"Yes," I replied. "You're all leaving in a week."
Nicholas chuckled. "Still the same Laurel."
"Still realistic," I corrected.
Seo-hee stepped forward slightly, holding the tray of snacks like she didn't know where to put herself.
"Um… I made breakfast," she said softly.
"We can all eat together."
I glanced at the table.
Everything was neatly arranged. Too neatly.
"You didn't have to," I said.
"I wanted to," she replied quickly.
Nicholas walked over and picked up a piece of toast. "Well, I'm definitely eating. I didn't come all the way here to starve."
Lee Joon followed, sitting down like he already belonged there.
Within seconds, they were all settling in.
Like this was normal.
Like my house is their home.
I watched them for a moment, something unfamiliar tightening slightly in my chest.
No.
I pushed the feeling away immediately.
"This changes nothing," I said.
No one responded.
Because they weren't listening.
They were laughing now, Seo hee saying something too fast, Nicholas teasing her, Lee Joon shaking his head.
Noise.
Too much noise.
I turned away.
"I have a meeting in two hours," I said, walking back upstairs to take my bath and get ready for work.
Seo-hee stood up immediately. "Wait! Meeting, i need to get dressed."
"Chill" I said," the meeting am talking about is about my work not school project".
"What work"? she said.
Nicholas replied saying "Laurel work in fairing oil and gas as a senior supervisor now I think".
She looked stunned, like she couldn't almost believe what she heard.
" How"?...
" About the school project, I'll handle it," I cut in. "Just be at the lecture hall by three."
She nodded quickly. "Okay!"
I paused at the door for a second.
Then added, without turning back:
"And try not to be late."
"I won't!" she said brightly.
Of course she wouldn't.
Or maybe she would.
Either way, I didn't care.
Or at least… that's what I told myself.