"Your presence. It does make a difference. A lot of difference." Sihmin's heart skips a beat upon hearing Haruto add to her own words. Only then she pays attention to a few inches left between them. Her breath hitches and in an instance she distances herself from him.
"Then let me make some more difference." Afraid that Haruto might make fun of her flustered state, she gets off the bed passing an awkward chuckle. Taking a blindfold out of her jeans' pocket, she wraps it around his eyes.
"What are you- Sihmin!" Haruto yells as darkness envelopes his vision. Sihmin pulls him to stand up, dragging him out of his room.
"I'm not gonna kill you. Please, please follow me without peeking." Keeping a hand on his arm, she begins to guide him down the stairs.
"Mina, I'll fall down the stairs." Haruto shouts as if he lost his speech along with his sight temporarily as well.
"No, you won't. Hold onto me." He clings to Sihmin until they reach the last step.
"3, 2, 1, surprise!" Just as Sihmin removes the blindfold, Haruto gets surprised to see Airi standing in front of him holding a cake.
"When did you do this?" Wide eyed, he looks back and forth between Sihmin and Airi.
"Sihmin unnie's behind this. She already brought everything. I just helped with the balloons." Airi enthuses causing Haruto to side eye Sihmin with a mischievous glint visible in his gaze.
"Let's cut the cake." Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, Sihmin suggests feeling embarrassed under his gaze. All three of them proceeds to celebrate and eat the cake.
"What are you guys doing?" The creak of the door followed by a female voice interrupt them. Sihmin raises her head only to see a man and woman in their late 40s/early 50s dressed modishly standing in front of them.
"Mom, Dad! You're here. Join us." Airi squeaks causing Sihmin to realize that they were indeed Mr and Mrs Watanabe.
•••
"You're Han Taehee and Lee Jaehoon's daughter?" Haruto's mother, Mrs Watanabe's hand stops mid meal just as Sihmin responds to their queries about her personal life.
"Yes." Sihmin affirms once again, glancing nervously at Haruto who was sitting beside her at the dining table.
"Oh my! Why didn't you tell us before?" Mrs Watanabe rejoices, a sudden shift visible in her attitude.
"Haruto, you've got a good eye for women. Who knew you would select such a pretty daughter in law for us?" Mr Watanabe speaks this time causing Sihmin to choke.
"Mom, we ain't getting married. Stop making her uncomfortable." Passing her a glass of water, Haruto rebukes his parents.
"You'll get there someday. I'm glad you didn't settle for any low life like that girl, Nori. I seriously don't like her." His mother continues, her distaste for Nori prominent.
"Oh I agree with you. I'm proud of your decision to upgrade your associations to your own class. I'm sure this Lee and Watanabe's alliance will blow up the tabs." His father exclaims leaving the pretend couple flabbergasted. Sihmin takes another sip of water from the glass while Haruto pushes his chair back, done with his parents' manoeuvres.
"I think I'm full. Let's go, Sihmin. They're just gonna keep capitalizing their children." He announces in a stiff tone, standing up.
Not giving his parents another chance to say anything, he leaves once the girl rises from her chair. Sihmin bows sheepishly at his parents and follows behind.
Wordlessly, both of them exit Haruto's house and begin to walk in the serenity of the night matching each other's pace. Haruto decides to break the silence once he gathers his thoughts.
"Sorry for all of that." Haruto scratches his nape out of embarrassment.
The way his parents twisted their fake relation into marriage and alliance was inwardly making him want to dig a hole and jump in it. Sihmin presses her lips to avoid the urge to laugh. She found the situation hilarious.
"Are you laughing?" Sihmin bursts into giggles as soon as the question comes out of the puzzled guy's mouth.
"Sorry, didn't mean to laugh. But it was kinda funny back there. Your parents were literally match making us. Did you never have a girlfriend before? They sounded a little too desperate for you." Haruto shakes his head at the girl's reaction.
"I never had a proper relationship, I guess that's really why they are obsessed with setting me up with the 'perfect girl'." Quoting the last words with his hands, he replies with a scoff.
"Don't be sorry for what they did. It's good to see that at least they care enough to take interest. Be thankful." She scolds him in a playful tone.
"There's nothing new in it. All parents are like that." Haruto shrugs it off, trying not to make a big deal out of his parents' obsession.
"Nope, not all are like that." Sihmin puts a halt to her steps zoning out for a few seconds.
"What do you mean?" Haruto turns a little with a raised brow.
"I mean they remember your birthday, buy you gifts, have dinner with you, take interest in your associations although their method is kinda wrong. My parents even forget that they have a daughter sometimes." Snapping out of it, Sihmin moves ahead of a taken aback Haruto.
"I didn't know that. Sorry." Haruto mutters. He couldn't imagine her being neglected by her own parents. To Haruto, her persona screamed 'eyes on me' wherever she went.
"Don't feel pity. I'm glad they don't stay at home cause when they do, it's a disaster. All they do is fight." Sihmin turns around and starts to walk backwards, simpering.
"What even? The HanLee couple fights at family time." Haruto recovers quickly and follows her pace, a distance of two steps between them.
"I know, it's a hard to swallow pill. The power couple thing, it's all for the show. There's no family, there's nothing like love in my household." This time Sihmin shrugs it off as if she didn't just give a glimpse of her vulnerability to him.
"Since I don't know much about love, the care and affection Junkyu showed me was equal to love for me. That's why I adore him. But now that others are showering me with the same, I'm afraid that I was wrong about love all along." Just as she adds to her previous words, her foot lands on a stone causing her to lose balance.
Instinctively Haruto leans forward and holds her waist in a firm grip before she could hit the ground. Sihmin fists his shoulders in fright but heaves a breath once she registers that she didn't fall.
Leaning back, Haruto helps her regain her footing without letting go of her.
"You okay? You would've fell pretty badly." He swallows to relieve the dryness building up in his throat and speaks.
His heart was pounding in reaction to the mere inches left between them and the same was visible through the red hue tainting the girl's cheeks. The only thing Sihmin's mind desired now was to close the remaining distance.
"Haruto." Haruto only hums in response to her call, unable to form any proper words.
"I don't think you can save me from falling anymore."
_____
YOU ARE READING
Love; Lock It! | Treasure
Chick-LitSihmin, Junkyu, Haruto, Nori. As much as they sound like a group of buddies, they're not. They're the Suns and Moons of TIAH. And you can't see the Sun and Moon together, now can you? A story of love and hate, friendship and rivalry and of course h...
