"Stevie, why? Do you know the number? Why have you stopped me from answering the call? Who are they?"
"No, I don't know who they are, miss. But this is the young master's private line. Only those who are very important to him have it."
"Okay. But what is wrong if I answer the phone call? I just want to tell them that he is asleep and will get back to them when he wakes up. Why are you preventing me from doing that?"
"Ah. Oh." Stevie sighs in relief. "You looked annoyed, so I thought you were going to be... you know,..."
"Know what? Be harsh on them. Why should that matter? They are the rude ones who disturb someone asleep. I wa..."
Buzzt! Buzzt! Buzzt!
"Ah. See?" Areum said as the phone started to vibrate in Stevie's hand again. "They're not going to stop unless someone answers the phone. Bring it to me. I'll not be harsh."
Areum stretched her right hand toward Stevie, who then put the still-vibrant phone into her palm.
"Yeoboseyo?" A shaky male voice quietly said into the phone. She immediately anwered and put it on the phone's loud speaker.
"Hello?" The person repeated, but Areum was silent.
"Is that you? Are you the person I think you are?"
"If it's really you, I will..." She cuts the call before the person can finish his sentence.
She didn't know what to say, as the person sounded like he was trying hard not to convey his anxiety.
Buzzt! Buzzt! Buzzt!
The phone buzzes again. She picks it up before she could think it through. This time she didn't put him on speaker; rather, she placed the phone to her left ear as she quietly listened.
"Hello? I know it's you. I'm glad to know that you got back safely." The person quickly said as soon as she picked up.
He then paused. Areum could hear the sound of inhalation and exhalation for a few seconds before his voice came again.
This time, he sounded a lot calmer than earlier. His voice a lot deeper and richer than before.
"I understand why you would want to refuse to answer my calls or reply to my texts, but can you please meet with me? To give me a chance to explain myself on what happened. She hangs up the call again.
She couldn't tell if this person really meant to call her brother or if he might have dialed the wrong number.
But whatever it is, she didn't think that it was right to hear the details, whether they were meant for her brother or someone else, so she hung up before he could say anything sensitive.
"Stevie, do you recognize the voice on the phone? Is it any acquaintance of oppa?" Areum asks the butler.
Stevie shools his head in denial.
"Then I guess it's a wrong number." She said before deciding that it was best to switch the phone off for now. Her brother will deal with his own business once he wakes up.
*************************************
"Yeoboseyo?" Bae Jimin into the phone.
"I'm waiting for you at the center. Where have you reached?" Wonshik asked from the other end of the call.
"Hm? Oh!" Bae quickly got off the bed, still holding the phone in his ear.
"Wait, Jimin a, don't tell me that you were still sleeping before my call?."
"Huh? No. No. I'm already on my way." Jimin lied as he changed his clothes.
"You better hurry up and get your ass right here before the client notices your absence." The person on the other end said and hung up on him.
Jimin checks his reflection in the mirror as he fixes his hair.
He and his closest friend, Won Shik, run a small business together, which they started not so long ago.
Today he has the job of acting as a client's fiancé at a school reunion. Bae still doesn't understand why their client would need to take her "fiancé" to a school reunion.
'Doesn't it involve only one's classmates?' Ah,
But well, this is how they earn their money. More like, this is how he gets to help his friend's business. So he just needs to do as practiced.
********************************************
Hyewon was done with helping their mom clean up and change her clothes by the time Doyun returned to her bedside.
"Oppa, have you heard anything after your audition for the Knet show yet?" Hyeri asks her brother.
"Why do you ask?" Doyun wonders if she knows anything because it was right before the call from the hospital yesterday that he received the news. 'So how does she know anything?'
"Our classmate's cousin received the message that he had passed to the next stage. They were talking about it in our group chat this morning.
I remembered that you had also auditioned for the same program. Why? They didn't pick you?
Doyun shook his head and said it in a nonchalant manner. "No, I got in."
"Hey!!!" All three of them exclaimed, including his mom.
"You got in, and you haven't even told us yet? Why? You don't even look that excited. What is wrong?" Doyun was almost about to break down, but he forced himself not to.
His mother took his hand into hers. "Why? Is it because of my condition? Or is this about something else?"
Doyun shook his head.
"Then what is it? We all know how important this is to you. You've been practicing hard on your own all these years just for an opportunity like this."
"I don't want it anymore. I want to concentrate on my studies." He said it with his head bent low. His eyes were fixed on their joined hands, but he was out of focus.
"I do not believe the excuse you just gave. Tell me the truth. Is it about my condition?
Are you trying to throw away the only opportunity now available for you to reach your dreams when even doing so will not change our current condition for the better?"
Doyun was silent. He couldn't speak, as the fear of breaking down before his mother and younger siblings if he tried to speak made him choose to stay quiet instead.