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"Well, surprise! Heard that you'll be visiting Brown, so I volunteered to pick you up. Isn't it nice to see some familiar face instead?" 
She simply smiled, "It is."
They exchange some more greeting words before Chanyeol helped her with her belongings and took her to the parking lot. He made a call to the faculty representatives, telling them that he was with her now and nodded several times for more instructions.
As for Jisoo, she didn't say much. She was glad to see Chanyeol again, even though it was unexpected. Well, she indeed expected to see him in the near future ultimately, because Brown was just where he belonged and he was Park Chanyeol, he got relations everywhere. She just didn't expect that he would spare his time to pick her up herself when they were practically out of touch for so long.
But, no, wait. To think about it again, maybe it's just the other way around. Chanyeol always had his way to everything, he knew what he was doing. And seeing him at the airport was actually expected because it was just typically him, maybe it's just her who didn't wish to meet him in the first place. 
"How's everything? Good?" Chanyeol probed her as he hit the car on the road, which Jisoo nodded as a reply. "Sehun called me this morning, we talked a lot about you."
"You did?" It's a rhetorical question by the way because it was not a surprise. She knew Chanyeol from Sehun. He was a law student in Brown when her cousin introduced him to her about three years ago. And she recalled that Sehun mentioned him at their conversation before she boarded, or almost because Yixing called at the same time and he decided not to discuss it anymore. Maybe that's how he called Chanyeol then.
"Yeah." he turned his head to her, "Gurl, we definitely got lots to catch up."
She chuckled inaudibly. For the next five minutes, she listened to him blabbering the things that Sehun and he had been talking about over the phone, making a statement and replying questions in short words, while she was adjusting herself to be around him again. It's not like she hated him or something, she was grateful for him instead in some way. They had a very good friendship, they still were, and Chanyeol was a very very reliable man.
He was the one besides Sehun who helped her get through her breakup moments with Baekhyun. He was the one who made it felt less painful most of the time, and he was the one who pulled her out from that lovesick hole.
Chanyeol was a big help, he tore apart the innocence in her and made her independent and strong. He awakened the adventurous and unleashed the wild side in her with the friendship that they had during her downfall. And the days she spent with him was nothing but amazing.
But maybe because she was a new person now, she had left that wild and adventurous side of her here with him when she returned to Korea for good. She came back there as the same old brand new her, but a whole different person. As good as the memories she had with him here, she couldn't help to feel ashamed for what she did in the past. And she didn't blame him, but it's the one reason why she decided to cut off the whole potential communication she might have with him after she landed on her motherland.
"And you were like, gone. Like you're never there. I've never heard anything back from you, I was a bit offended though..." he kept talking, which Jisoo replied him with another 'sorry, I was so busy' typical answer. "And then Sehun said you're, what, getting married now? Wow, that was, really shocking you know. Especially knowing that it was arranged. Are you even okay with that?"
Jisoo had no idea how to answer that. She wasn't okay with the arranged marriage, but she was okay knowing that it was Yixing, so she told him that.
She remembered this one time when she was really needed someone to talk to, but no one was reachable. She was thinking about him, and how she really wanted to dial his number, only to hold herself back because she was too reluctant to have this conversation with him. Maybe it's because she might know what he would say, seeing how his personality was, he might tell her to run away or such things, which was not a good idea at all.
"I can't believe Kim Jisoo is getting married. The idea is just, wow," he commented.
"Well, it's not like it's going to happen soon. It's still a long way to go, we're making our way to make it works."
Chanyeol shrugged and pursed his lips, eyes diverted back and forth to her and the road ahead as he drove his way to their favorite diner for some dinner. "It's a shame, though. I thought we're going to have some real fun while you're here, but now that you're in a relationship, it means you're off-limits?" Chanyeol turned to her again with his wide grin, he raised his brow teasingly.
And Jisoo recognized that expression very well, it's going back to where they were years ago where everything was physical. Their relationship was nothing romantic, like at all. It was much of a relationship, but only for sex benefits.
Jisoo remembered how it all started, she recalled that the first one was actually unintentional. Chanyeol was visiting Sehun, but her cousin was having a study-trip. And she was just finding out that Baekhyun had been cheating on her with the woman he's marrying, and she felt terribly miserable. So he stayed with her. They were talking and it involved some alcohols, and they were drunk, and they got carried away, and they ended up sleeping together.
Jisoo remembered how satisfying it was, and how Chanyeol had mutual feelings about it that they started to have the second one, and the third one. It was probably after they shared their fifth bed together that Chanyeol finally initiated this agreement between them. That, after he made sure that they held no romantic feeling to each other. She didn't say no to that, because Chanyeol had been a very good company, not going to deny that he gave a great room service too. And it really helped her forgetting Baekhyun and the pain of the heartbreak that he had caused. More to that, Chanyeol offered a full off-romance relationship, it saved her so many problems, in the end, no strings attached, that was all she needed. And they were both happy.
"Yes, I'm off-limits, Chanyeol. I'm not having sex with you anymore, sorry." Jisoo said clearly to his face, in which Chanyeol let out an exaggerated grunt of disappointment.
"Shame. You're ruining the fun, Girl." he mocked. Jisoo just laughed.
"You need to settle down, Chanyeol. Get some real partner and be happy with her, you deserve that."
"Seriously? Park Chanyeol and settle down in a sentence? That doesn't sound right." he sighed again, "But I'm in trouble now, you know. The sex with you have been amazing, I kind of have my standard now. And it's difficult to find someone who's just as good as you..." Jisoo stopped him with a squeal of distaste. She blocked her two ears in horror, refusing to hear anything for him anymore.
"Oh, pleaseeee, can you not mention that? Let the past is in the past, my ears definitely can't take it now." she scolded.
And Chanyeol really looked surprised with her reaction, his eyes wide watching her in his speechless mode. "What the f—I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know it will be such a big deal to you." he defended himself.
"I don't hate everything that happened between us, Chanyeol, really. I'm thankful instead. But I'm a different person now, I don't want to reminisce about having sex with you when I'm with somebody else right now. Can we do that?"
"Oh." he blinked and ultimately nodded, "Yeah, you right. Sorry, I didn't mean to, you know. You're my favorite person in the past, so it's kind of overwhelming to know that you're not mine anymore? Or some sort? Especially when I heard the news through the grapevine." 
Jisoo just sighed, "Well, sorry for that. I was planning to tell you though, never thought that Sehun would beat me first." she said.
"Yeah, but, well." he turned to her again with a wide smile, "I'm happy for you anyway. You deserve to be happy after what that you-know-who did to you. Oh, Girl, we have lots of catching up to do. Let's have dinner first and talk about it."
Chanyeol parked the car at the vacant lot of Jackie's Diner. It used to be their fave spot to grab a bite every time Jisoo was in town. They have the best seafood offerings, and both Chanyeol and she loved them to the core. Nancy, one of the serving girl was still working there and greeted her excitedly when they got in, she helped them take their order like the list was somewhere in her head. They ordered food that was like for ten people today, but Jisoo was nothing worry since Chanyeol was a big eater himself. He would devour them like they were nothing.
Jisoo turned on her phone and connected it to the wifi to check on her messages. Glancing at her watch, she counted and saw that it was about five am in Seoul right now. She promised to call Yixing, but he was probably sleeping now and she didn't want to disturb. So she decided to leave him a voice mail when Chanyeol excused himself to the restroom and sent a two-minute speech about her flight and her whereabouts. She also left another voice mail to Minseok, telling him that they needed to talk, but she couldn't do it right now since she was having dinner out. And he replied with another voicemail that he would call in three hours, which Jisoo was happy to hear.
"So, tell me about the guy." Chanyeol started the conversation again as he's back to sit across the table.
"Didn't Sehun tell you about him?" she asked back while playing with the straw of her ice tea.
"Well, all he mentioned is that the name is Zhang Yixing. A Chinese conglomerate, and Harvard graduate. Tell me more, I want to know." Chanyeol propped his folded arms on the table and leaned forward to give her his ears, the gesture that clearly told her that he was genuinely curious.
She told him everything. About their first met, about what he said there, about their second meeting/first date, about the Chuseok dinner, the proposal, the date, everything. She didn't leave out a single thing. It's the thing about Chanyeol that she would always miss, she never had any burden to tell him anything. He was very perceptive, even to the very stupid idea about her or things she did. He didn't judge and he always listened, every time and everywhere. Their friendship was at a different level compared with Sehun, it was more healing with Chanyeol while Sehun was more to having fun and protection. Maybe that was why she was addicted to him in the past. And maybe it was also why she was addicted to Yixing in the present.
"Do you love him?" Chanyeol asked in the middle of the dinner, he dipped the nachos on the cheese sauce before it's gone into his mouth.
"I don't know, I don't think so at the moment. It's too early to say I love him." she shrugged, "All I know that I like him a lot. My heart flutters every time he's around, I can't breathe easy when he smiles, and I love the way he holds my hand. He's very likable, you know."
"Well, maybe you're in love with him. Try to google it, Scientifically Proven Signs You're Falling in Love with Someone, and see how many of them you can see in yourself." he dictated, and when Jisoo rolled her eyes with a 'seriously?' judging tone, Chanyeol took his phone instead and typed something.
"Okay, let's see here. You find yourself constantly thinking about them even if you have a lot going on." he read. He nudged her arm when she didn't say anything. "Is that you or not?"
"Hm," Jisoo tilted her head, deciding to play around with him.
It's true that she thought about Yixing a lot these days, he was indeed there in the middle of her focus while writing her book, and he was also there when the word China or Chinese was mentioned in the book that she read. "Yeah, that's me," she replied to him.
"You can't stop sneaking stares at them when they're not looking."
Well, that's definitely her. She'd done that countless times and she still loved staring at his face, his sweet dimple especially when he was busy doing things.
"Yup, that's me again."   
"You feel butterflies when you see them, especially if they touch you. Oh, wait, you confirmed that already." he scrolled down the list, "Hey, this one is good, you can see yourself having children with this person."
Jisoo didn't answer that immediately. Did she want to have children with Yixing? She'd made it clear that she didn't, at least not in the near future. But she couldn't deny that the thought was there. Someday in the future, she would like to have a family with him, she could picture him holding their baby in his arms and it was crystal clear. So, did it mean that⁠—what that supposed to mean?
"See? you're in love." Chanyeol made the conclusion as seeing her silence. She marked yes to all the criteria that he mentioned, and he thought it was enough to prove it true.
"Really? But isn't it supposed to be different between loving somebody and being in love? Those things you mentioned just telling that I might be in love with him, but it doesn't mean I love him." she started the proposition. She didn't really know what she was talking about, it was probably that she was being adamant about not-in-love with Yixing, or maybe it was indeed different. She just knew that it wasn't that, the feelings that she had for him definitely not love. It's not there yet.
"What's the difference? They're about the way you make each other feels one way or the other, you're just being denial." he riposted.
"I'm not in denial. It's just that, love is supposed to be something deeper, right? Something that you can't just explain with words."
"What? Imagining yourself having children with him is not deep? Then how do you explain your feelings for him now?" Chanyeol smirked, she knew how amusing it was for him. 
"Well, it's..." What was it that she felt for him? Why did she love the way he hold her hand when they walked together? Why did her heart flutter when he stared back at her? Why couldn't she stop thinking about those sweet words he said to her? Why did she smile like a fool while replaying those words in her mind?
Chanyeol started to laugh, and the way he laughed just told her what he wanted to say. And to rub it on her face, he just waved his hand and dismissed the topic once and for all, he didn't even let her explaining himself.
"You're in denial. Case closed." he then clasped his hands, "Phew, what a heavy topic we're having now." he laughed, and he patted her head like it was necessary as moral support. She smacked it hard.
Jisoo couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the dinner and when Chanyeol took her to the hotel. The idea of loving Yixing is a bit overwhelming because no, it couldn't be this fast. Love was sacred, it was just another level of feeling, while what she felt right now was more like, something on the uppermost layer. She was making her way into the depth beyond the surface, and it wasn't an express trip. She enjoyed the progress of their relationship, the pace was just her liking, it's ideal for her. And love was just more than a feeling. It's the decision that she made every day, it's a sacrifice that she was willing to take for him. And she didn't have that, she wasn't willing to give up anything yet, so, yeah. That's the answer to this.
Chanyeol was checking in for her while a bell boy showed her the way to her room. She got a suite for herself, and the view was nice. Yixing called her at the same time as she was laying on her bed, stretching up the muscles.
"Good evening from Providence." she greeted as she answered the video call, she laid on her side, propping her head with her palm talking to him.
Yixing was on his navy sweater leaning on the (seemed like) elevator wall. He waved his other hand to the camera and smiled at her, "Good morning from Seoul, day plus one." he greeted back.
"Where are you going?" she asked because he looked like he was heading somewhere. 
"To the new condo. You remember that my parents bought us one, right? My mother mentioned it the other night." Jisoo nodded, replying to him with a short 'yes'. "So, since the wedding is not happening in the near future, my mother suggested that I should probably move in there so it won't be left empty. I'm going there to check on it."
"Oh, where is it?" 
"It's uh, somewhere in Gangnam, not really sure where it is, but I got the coordinate. Stay with me until then, I'll let you see it yourself." he pulled off his back from the wall as the 'bing' sound was audible.
She watched him walked to the basement parking lot, unlocked his card with his beeper and got in it in a swift movement, all in silence. She couldn't not notice the style of his hair right now, how he pushed them back on his head neatly but let strands of his bangs fell to his forehead. He looked divine, it was her favorite style that he made. And she realized it today that Yixing was good in making him look good.
Yixing put his phone on the speedometer so she could see him clearly, and he was about to start the engine when Chanyeol called her from outside the room.
Fuck.
"Who's that?" Yixing raised his brow when he also heard the call.
Jisoo rose up to sit on the bedside. She was a bit panic into thinking that it might have gone the wrong way. She forgot about Chanyeol, and she didn't expect that he would come into her room that freely. But of course, it's not his fault, he had the key to her room anyway.
"Uh, it's a friend." she put down the phone to her lap and looked behind her back to see Chanyeol was at the door. She couldn't hide him, it's impossible. But she couldn't let Yixing misunderstand the situation, so she had to think fast.
"Who are you talking to?" Chanyeol asked. Damn it, did he have to say it that loud? 
She couldn't make him shut his mouth. And Yixing was asking who it was again for the second time, and she couldn't lie. So she held up her phone and showed him Chanyeol instead. She didn't plan to tell Yixing anything about Chanyeol because she didn't see anything good would come with it, but now that both were here, it's probably the best. She just hoped it went well.
"Oh, it's Zhang Yixing? Hey, Man, we've been talking about you all afternoon." Chanyeol climbed the bed and made his way to sit next to her.
Yixing looked at her and Chanyeol alternately but said nothing over Chanyeol's over-friendly greeting, only a simple smile. And it told them that he was confused.
"I'm Park Chanyeol by the way. Nice to see you."
"Hello, I'm Zhang Yixing." Yixing greeted him back in his most collected tone, and it's awkward.
"Yeah, I know. So, uh, it's getting awkward, so I'm gonna leave you two alone." Chanyeol turned to look at her and scratched his cheek, he then waved his hand and slid off from the bed to leave. But before he's gone, he came back to speak to Yixing again, "Hey, you take care of her, okay? Or I'll snatch her from you."
Chanyeol handed Jisoo her phone back and made his way out himself with the last wave, and Jisoo was still a bit taken aback by his words. If she didn't know him better, she would think that he was being serious. But of course, Yixing didn't know that, because when she held up her phone to face him again, Yixing was stoic.
"Snatch you from me?"
He scoffed.
Jisoo didn't have the slightest idea of how to explain this.
And he didn't look happy.
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