When Night And Day Become One

|| Fourteen ||

Mom fussed over me the next morning, asking me where I had been, what I was doing and if I was hurt. My family freaked out upon seeing Lu Han carrying me on his back at the gate last night.

I had woken up at the sound of their voices, bombarding Lu Han with questions. But Lu Han had insisted that I should be taken care of first, therefore rushing past through them and delivering me to my room.

Then I heard him relay the story of finding me in our meeting place though I remembered he didn't exactly mention the treehouse. I didn't know what happened next because I drifted to sleep.

And so I was surprised finding Mom sitting at the edge of my bed when I woke up, and thus, her unending, not to mention ridiculous and embarrassing, questions.

"Mom, I'm fine, don't worry," I told her as I sat up. I noticed my old clothes were gone. Mom must have dressed me up when I was asleep. "And I believe Lu Han had already told you the story."

She sighed. "Well, he did. I just wanted to make sure," she explained. "And if I may say, I'm pleasantly surprised that you and Lu Han are close friends now. I guess I was right when I said before that Lu Han is being good to you now."

"We're not actually close friends, Mom," I said without really thinking, the old habit of denying Lu Han's connection coming up instantly. "Though we are friends now," I amended when I realized what I said, "and I guess you could say we're pretty close, but I don't think you could put our relationship in the 'close friends' category."

Mom's eyes suddenly rounded.

"Not friends but close? Do you mean to say he's your boyfr-"

"Don't even say it, Mom!" I yelled. "This is Lu Han we're talking about!"

"I'm sorry, Honey. I'm just quite confused," Mom apologized, looking puzzled. "What is your relationship with him then?"

"Friends. We're friends, Mom. I already told you that."

"I guess you did," she said thoughtfully. "Well then, I'm glad. Because no bad guy would search the neighborhood in the middle of the night for a missing girl and carry that girl on his back on their whole way home. Honestly, dear, he looked like he was ready to pass out."

"Is he okay?" I asked immediately.

"Yeah, he is, don't worry. Your dad and Chris walked him home," she said proudly. "Albeit to question him more about the incident, I suppose."

"Oh, okay."

Mom just looked at me after that, as if searching my face for an answer to one of her questions. Then she suddenly smiled meaningfully.

"Jiyeon, tell me honestly. Do you like Lu Han?"

My cheeks pinked on their own. It was bad enough Kai had to ask me that and now my own mother? Talk about total embarrassment, though I couldn't really determine the reason behind for this discomfort. I liked Kai, after all, not Lu Han. Why would I be embarrassed then?

"Mom, the truth is, there's something I have to tell you," I began.

Mom's eyebrow shot up in response.

"There is, in fact, someone I like and his name is Kai. He's two years older than me and the thing is, he actually likes me back. He already asked me out too and I said yes."

"And?" Mom said casually.

"And that's it. I just wanted to tell you that I have someone I like now since you asked."

"No, I didn't ask if you have someone you like. I asked if you like Lu Han. There's a difference, Honey," she said, using her hands to explain that the two objects were different from each other. "And are you sure you didn't get the name wrong?" she asked, squinting her eyes for effect. "Because I'm pretty sure the person you like is Lu Han."