Maybe You and I

thirty four

Chapter 34

The door opened, and he saw his boss in utter shock as she saw him holding the envelope. "Jaemin, I can explain."

Jaemin wanted to say something. He was forming the words inside his head, but he wonders why he could not say them, "Y-You... Miss Park, why do you have..." He couldn't move from his place.

He wasn't able to say the words inside his head, but his tears did it for him. "Were you the one sending me those letters?" He said while looking at their boss who had her head down. "Miss Park, please answer me!"

Yeeun slowly nodded, "I-I am the one in charge of sending them, when you got here... J-Jihoon sent the.. others."

"W-Why did you not tell me..." Jaemin was sobbing while holding the envelope his chest. "I looked like a fool while thinking about the people behind those letters..." Yeeun slowly walked towards her brother, but Jaemin signaled her to stop. "Don't go near me!" He said and ran outside.

***

The next day, Hendery wonders why Jaemin didn't want to go to work. Even when Jaemin feels lazy, he still does his best to go to work. But now, Hendery thinks that he's acting strange.

"Are you alright?" He looked at his younger friend whose eyes are a bit swollen. Jaemin just gave him a thumbs up and a pat on the shoulder before he goes to the kitchen. "Yah, Na Jaemin, you can't lie to me so tell me what's going on." He followed Jaemin to the kitchen and there he saw him crying--for the first time.

The younger immediately wiped his tears and cracked the eggs on the pan. "Go to work, hyung." He said and continued cooking.

But instead, Hendery sat on one of the chairs and sighed, "I know that you hate it every time I ask you lots of shits, but just let me be this time, Jaemin-ah... what happened?" He asked, and when everything started to click in his head, he gasped, "D-Did you and Haejin-"

"No, we never broke up." Jaemin cut him off as he tuned the stove off. He sat on the chair in front of Hendery and pulled his hair, "Y-Yeeun-noona..."

Hendery wanted to punch Jaemin's face upon hearing that name. Although she is their boss, the two have agreed to not talk about her when they're in the house. "Jaemin-ah, not this again-"

"Hyung, she's my sister..." Jaemin said which made Hendery drop his jaw. "I found out yesterday. I saw the same envelopes in her office... and I asked her..."

The older covered his mouth in shock and stood up. He started to walk back and forth inside the kitchen, and when he finally got his senses back, he sat in front of his friend once again. "Wait, I'm starting to regret my decisions... do you wanna talk about it?"

Jaemin hesitantly nodded, "Just to keep me sane..." He sighed. "Hyung I feel so dumb..." He said and leaned his head on the table.

"How could you say that? You're not dumb, Jaemin-ah.." His friend said and patted his shoulder.

Jaemin took a deep breath and sat back up once again, "Last night, I wasn't able to get enough sleep." He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Everything made sense... from the way Jihoon-hyung treats me, to Yeeun-noona, and heck, even to Chanyeol-hyung who doesn't go to the same company as us-I mean, he's in a sublabel of our company but you get the point, hyung..." He sighed and stared at nothingness, the food he just cooked left his mind already.

"I know I'm not in the right place to interfere or to say this," Hendery started and took a deep breath. "I'm sure your family had their reasons, Jaemin-ah... why don't you listen to them first?" He asks.

Jaemin just shrugs. "I don't know anymore, hyung..."

"Have you told Haejin already?" Hendery asked and it just occurred to Jaemin that he hasn't told Haejin yet.

He shakes his head, "I don't want to tell them yet... I'm sure they'll ask a lot of questions." He sighs. "I'm sure Jihoon-hyung knows it already, but unlike Yeeun-noona who has been calling me constantly last night, he's pretty quiet."

"Wait, so Yeeun tried to call you last night?" He asked and Jaemin nodded. "And, what did you say?"

"I didn't answer. I turned my phone off after her fifth phone call." Jaemin said. "I remember when I was beside her when she broke up with her boyfriend... now I know the reason why I was also mad at the guy even if I don't personally know him..."

"Because you're Yeeun's brother." Hendery said which made Jaemin look at him. "It might sound hypocritic as it's coming from me who used to be mad at you for hanging out with Yeeun but now that I know that you two are siblings... I don't know, I'm really surprised."

Jaemin didn't want to say anything, but he was listening to Hendery intently.

"But honestly, when you first got here, there was something about you that I can't pinpoint. You remind me of someone." Hendery said. "Turns out that I was thinking of Yeeun-noona at that moment since you two are really similar when it comes to your attitude."

"What?"

Hendery took a deep breath, "The two of you are really passionate when it comes to work. Both of you are really serious, and is really absorbed in work all the time."

"Hyung..." Jaemin was totally confused as to why his friend was telling him all of these things. "Why are you telling me these things?" he asked.

His friend stood up and walked away from him. Hendery took a deep breath before looking back, "Jaemin-ah... I'm the jerk who hurt Yeeun."

Jaemin's eyes widened and stood up, "Hyung, you what?!" He said and grabbed Hendery's collar. "Did you have any idea how hurt Yeeun-noona was?!!"

Hendery could only smile, "This only proves that you have always cared for your family, Jaemin."

"Hyung, don't judge the question!" Jaemin finally let go of his friend. "Is that the reason why you want me to stay away from my own sister?"

"Partly, because I thought you had something going on, and also because you have a girlfriend, idiot." Hendery flicked the younger's forehead. He went to the living room and Jaemin followed him. "We both made a mistake, and one of which is meeting each other." He sighed.

"How can you say that, hyung?" Jaemin sighed and sat down. "I'm sure you were also happy."

"We were." Hendery smiled. "I'll tell you about it soon, Jaemin-ah. But for now, promise me one thing."

Jaemin raised a brow and waited for Hendery to continue.

"Take care of your sister for me."

—tbc.
Merry Christmas, Jaems!🎄🎁