emotions | love alarm

37 ~

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ae-ri looks down at her phone with a tilted head and a stillness that alerts even her parents that something is amiss. Her father, Jun-seo, exchanges a look with Amara before asking Ae-ri tentatively, "Is everything okay, sweetie?"

"Yes, why?" she sucks in a gentle breath before exhaling, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

"You just seem..tense?"

"Nonsense, father," she slides her index and thumb over the seam of her now closed eyes and sighs, "I am well, I just need to take care of something, is that okay?"

"Go for it, baby," Amara smiles warmly, nodding.

Ae-ri could not look at her. "Okay, I will be down for dinner."

When she gets to her room, Ae-ri slips off her shoes and her school jacket, lifting her hair up in a bun. She settles down on the floor near a window and leans her elbows against her thighs, eyes closed, sifting through every piece of information In-ho had ever divulged.

He had to have slipped up and because of his tactics, she didn't know the better.

Stupid.

She shakes the thought away—now was not the time for chastising.

She needed the truth.

***

Her eyes blink open and she sighs.

She had found two mistakes.

After a few minutes of traveling through her mind palace, she found two slip-ups and they were so minute she was almost impressed at how well In-ho had played his hand.

On the last day of planning for the banquet, when Yu-jun had proposed the idea of them being together at the front to greet guests, he looked somber. He was always relaxed, in control, but that day he had looked somber upon his mother's request.

And on the day of the banquet when Ae-ri had told him the story of how people had tried to court her to get closer to her mom—he had nothing short of flinched when she had mentioned how repulsive she thought that method of manipulation was.

The reactions loop through her mind and she fidgets with one of the rings on her fingers as she reads into them.

If his reactions were that negative, he must not have been as fully compliant recently. He had failed at his own game and had fallen in love, this much she knew, but regardless, at some point, he had fully agreed to his mother's morbid plan.

He had wanted to get closer at any and all costs, even if that meant faking romantic feelings, and that fact alone made her skin crawl. He had played too well. He lost control. He got greedy and lost focus. He fell unexpectedly and now his initial morals were askew.

She places the ring on her finger and gets up, picking up her phone with a soft huff.

She glances over Sun-oh's text once more before replying.

Sun-oh: I just overheard In-ho saying he was your friend just to get his mother in Amara's good graces.

Ae-ri: Just went through my mind palace; the evidence is uncanny. Not sure what to do, can you come over?

***

Sun-oh takes one look at Ae-ri as he enters her room before he bites any greeting down and opens his arms up to her. She exhales softly, and walks over to him, sinking into his touch almost immediately. The refuge of his arms was more than necessary.

A few beats of silence fill the space between them as they fully settle into each other's embrace and he quietly offers, "Sweetheart, I am so sorry," before he presses a kiss to her head.

"Not your fault," she sighs, slipping her hands down his back and placing her head on his shoulder.

They hug in silence, wrapping themselves in their warmth, their comfort, and he smiles softly as he feels her heartbeat against his chest.

After a few minutes, she pulls away and looks up at him, "What do I do, Sun-oh?"

The tired look in her eyes was making his chest tighten a bit, "Well, let's walk through the options, okay?"

She nods and they sit down on the couch, working through the information together.

***

"So we either tell my mom our current suspicions, have her confront In-ho and his mom, Yu-jun, or–"

"–we confront In-ho on our own and get confirmation before we tell your mom," Sun-oh finishes.

Ae-ri was hesitant towards the second option, the one that would allow their theory to become absolute fact, simply because she had assumed she would never have to interact with In-ho again—yet, it was necessary.

She rubs her eyes and Sun-oh looks at her, patient and concerned but clueless about the source of her inner turmoil. Her eyes meet his and she bites her lip before nodding, "Let's do the second one. I want to hear him admit to it before we tell my mom. Maybe even record the interaction so we have further proof? Not that she wouldn't believe you, but it would help our case, yeah?"

Sun-oh nods in understanding, "Okay. Sounds good. When did you want to talk to him?"

"Me?" she says mostly to herself but he catches the quiet ask along with her slightly distant gaze.

"He wouldn't suspect you, right?"

She opens her mouth to speak, looking at him with such a hesitant expression that an unsettling feeling sits heavy in his tummy. He looks at her in confusion, "Right?"

"Sure, but can we do it together?"

"Wouldn't that raise suspicion?"

"Please," she asks softly, her tone a few beats short of pleading. His eyes soften.

"Okay," he nods, pressing a comforting hand on her forearm, "Together it is."

____________

a/n

team in-ho or team sun-oh? 🤭