Adoption (Gone Wrong) » Bang Chan FF

Chapter 22 : New year party pt.2

Though Chan was talking to his 97 liner friends, he made sure to keep an eye on Haein even from afar. But this time when he took a glance at her direction, he didn't see her. He looked all around himself, yet there wasn't a sign of her. He excused himself from his friends and went to look for her. He spotted Eunchae and Kyujin at a distance. He approached them to ask about Haein.

Eunchae and Kyujin greeted him with a bow as soon as they saw him. But Chan had to cut the talk short. "Eunchae, Haein was with you just a while ago, right? Where did she go?"

"Oh sunbae, I don't know myself. We were talking but then suddenly she started looking upset and she just left excusing herself," Eunchae replied.

"Upset?" Chan furrowed his eye brows. "Why was she upset?"

"I don't know," Eunchae lightly shook her head.

"If you happen to see her, tell her to come to me," Saying that Chan quickly left after giving them a little head bow.  Chan then went to ask the Twice members whom he saw on the way. "Oh noona! Have you seen Haein?" Chan asked Sana.

"No, wasn't she with you?" Sana questioned back with widen eyes.

"She was, but she left to meet a friend and then..." he sighed. "I'm sorry but I need to go find her. If you see her, inform me instantly." Chan again started running around the huge banquet hall. "Where did you go?" Chan mumbled to himself.

He even checked the washroom. Just as Chan was about to go to another direction, he spotted Haein at the staircase running upstairs. He also ran behind her.

...

Haein stood at the rooftop of the building all by herself, looking at the city shining with lights below. She had her arms wrapped around herself due to the chilly weather. The cold didn't seem to bother her much as her focus was somewhere else. Never in her life she felt so humiliated before. First Mr. Shin and then his wife, ruined the night for her. She needed to escape the crowded banquet hall to clear her thoughts.

"Haein!" She heard Chan's voice from behind. She turned around at an instant. Chan, who had just reached the rooftop, came running towards her. He held her shoulders and said, "What are you doing here? It's freezing cold up here. Let's go down to the hall." He held her wrist and pulled her but she didn't move an inch.

"I don't belong down there," she finally spoke with her gaze on his shoes.

"What are you saying?"

"Chris, what are we?" She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes.

"We're people...?" Chan said with confusion.

"What are WE?" She emphasized on the word 'we'. "What is our relation? What am I to you? We're not even blood related."

"Why are you asking this question all of sudden?" Chan was taken aback by the sudden question.

"You can't even introduce me properly to anyone! You had to lie that I'm your "cousin". I know you're maybe embarrassed of me. And I don't blame you for that. Our relation is... questionable. I... I shouldn't have come here. Maybe you should continue keeping me a secret and lead your life how you used to."

Chan let out a sigh. Before answering her questions, he took off his coat and wrapped it around her to keep her warm. He kept his right hand on her cheek and held her small hand with the other. Haein looked at him with her glistening eyes. "Inah," he used his given nickname. "Listen, I'm not embarrassed of you. I have no problem to tell people the truth about you. But I had to lie to protect you. I don't wanna keep you hidden from people because I'm embarrassed. Now that you're growing up, I'm trying to slowly let people know that I have you in my life. I can't directly tell anyone about this. Nobody would understand the bond that we share apart from us. For me, you're my family, just like one of my kids. Some people say they're my kids, some say we're brothers and some say we're soulmates, gay kids. They describe our relationship however they like. But that doesn't affect us. It's the same for us too. Our relationship can't be described by the societal norms. But I need you to tell me what happened down there. Did anyone say anything to you?"