Before she knew it, Aeras regained control of her old daily routine. She woke up, got ready. Went to get breakfast with Yeejin. Took all of her daily classes and then either found herself occupied in the library or in the music room. Luckily for her, JooWon was at an athletic retreat where he would spend two weeks away from campus. She didn't have to worry about running into him for the time being.
She had received a call from Mark the day after she apologized. They had talked the best they could through the phone and promised to meet again sometime the following week to actually spend a full day together.
It was currently Tuesday and Mark had sent her a quick message during one of her lectures.
Markie:
Can you come by? I have great news
She couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows at his sudden message. What could possibly be the great news? The rest of the day consisted of her thinking about his message. HyunTae, who conveniently shared three daily classes with the girl wouldn't stop bothering her.
"Stop" she whispered yelled through gritted teeth. He whined like a child and dramatically slumped in his seat. The teacher luckily hadn't noticed the two in the back as she continued her lesson.
"Please." He whispered back. He now started to hit his knee against hers under the table.
"I don't even know what you want." Aera could see the annoyed faces of her classmates. She couldn't blame them. HyunTae had been whining the whole period.
"Drinks," he simply said to which she could only roll her eyes.
"What are you an alcoholic or something?" Upon hearing that he couldn't help but snort a little too loudly. The teacher stopped speaking and stole a glance at the pair. She let her eyes wander between the two before continuing.
"When I become rich and famous, I won't have time for you." He mumbled before grabbing the textbook and placing it in between as a barrier. Aera couldn't help but softly laugh at his behavior.
As soon as the bell had rung everyone quickly started packing up. Aera being one of the first to have her things arranged she started to make her way outside. She ignored HyunTaes whining for her to wait. By the time she had exited the building, he was running to catch up to her.
"Why are you rushing?" He once again dramatically started breathing heavily. He was definitely not tired since he was a member of the swim team.
"I have to meet someone," Aera felt guilty that she couldn't tell people who she was actually meeting. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, she just felt like it wasn't her place to reveal who her brother really was. She knew how ugly things could get not only for him but herself as well if people found out their relation.
"Need a ride?" He offered while holding up the keys to his motorcycle. As tempting as the offer seemed to be. Aera nicely declined. She told him she would take the bus since it wasn't that far.
HyunTae simply shrugged and ruffled her hair before catching up to a few of his buddies. The girl didn't waste any time to rush and catch the next bus. She was slightly nervous at the text she had received from Mark. What could possibly good news? Would they be taking a trip to Canada? Various ideas swarmed through her head as she rode the bus to SM.
She hopped off once she had reached her destination making sure to thank the driver out of habit. Usually, the building was always swarmed with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the artists, luckily for her nobody seemed to be waiting outside.
She bowed respectfully at the receptionist. She was surprised when the lady told her she should go to the third floor where someone was waiting for her. Usually, her encounters with Mark were never this formal. She couldn't help but feel nervous as she started staring at her attire. She was dressed casually since she had just come from class.
When she entered the meeting room, it was empty. The lady had told her to wait patiently for someone to appear and that's exactly what she did as she took a seat in one of the rotating chairs. Not much time had passed after Mark entered the room, accompanied by Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM entertainment.
Aera was quick to stand up and bow at the man. She could hear him chuckle while Mark laughed as well at his sister. She took a mental note to beat him up for it later.
"Have a seat," he said while gesturing to the seat she was previously occupying. Mark pulled the chair next to her and ignored the questioning gaze she was giving him.
"It's very nice to see you again," the man spoke as he offered his hands above the table. It has been quite some time since Aera had run into the man.
"Same here sir," Mark almost snorted at the sudden respectful behavior his sister was presenting. He didn't usually see this side of her.
"Mark here tells me you are a student at Seoul School for the Art and Athletic?"
"I am sir" She shyly said still not understanding where the conversation was going. Her brother sat to the side trying his best to contain his smile.
"We have an artist who hasn't yet made her debut," by now Lee Soo Man seemed to be talking business and all nice introductions were done.
"She still needs to work on her album and I would like you to be the session musician," he finished off with a smile to which Mark instantly turned to his sister to see her reaction.
She stood their frozen, almost like she was still listening to him speak. Mark would've given her a hard shove if it weren't for his boss sitting two seats away. Instead, he shook her shoulders a bit.
"I don't- I. Thank you," she let out through stuttered words
"I don't even know what to say," Mark let out a laugh to which Lee Soon Man joined along. Aera gave her twin a stern glare to which Mark could only laugh harder. He was known to laugh at everything to which Aera found the most annoying.
"You don't have to give an answer now. However, I do need one by the end of this week." At the sound of that Aera was quick to try to deny that suggestion. She was sure she wanted to be part of this opportunity.
"No, I think I have an answer already." Mark could only stare at his sister. It had been the biggest smile he had seen on her for a while.
"I would still like you to think it through. You're still a college student and it might be too much to handle. Being a session musician can sometimes require a lot of time," Aera nodded understanding the truth behind his words. She did have to re-evaluate how that would fit in her schedule.
"Then that ends it. It was a pleasure speaking to you," he sat up and extended his hand out for her to shake. She respectfully bowed before he exited the room and thanked him.
"Holy shit," the English words were quick to skip out of her mouth as soon as she was sure he couldn't hear them.
"Yea yea. I know I'm the best brother in the world." He smugly replied while dusting imaginary dirt from his shoulder.
"You had something to do with this?"
"I mean duh. It took some pushing but it worked. Now we can spend more quality time." He happily said while getting up. Aera could almost see herself crying at the measures he would go to make up for the lost time. Both slowly approached each other into a hug.
"I missed annoying you every day." He said into the hug. Aera smacked the back of his head and pulled away from the hug.
"That's for not telling me beforehand." She muttered once she was at a safe distance.
"So much for bonding time." He rubbed the sore spot while side-eyeing the smaller girl.
"I missed being annoyed too," they couldn't help but share an identical smile.
The time she could spend with her twin was brief since he had things to take care of. Aera had assured him that the job would most likely work with her schedule if she sacrificed her daily library and music room visits. She could count the sessions as music practice. They separated ways once she had hopped into the elevator. The brightest smile she's had since her ex called it quits.
The girl had been in such daze she failed to press the bottom for the first floor. So instead the elevator was rising towards the highest floor in the building without her knowing. She stared up at the number 8 presented. She reached for the first-floor button just when the doors open.
Haechan was lazily leaning against the wall as he scrolled through his phone. The exhaustion was evident in his face despite the large hoodie shadowing his face. The large smile on Aera was wiped clean upon seeing him. His eyes met her and a flash of surprise caused him to halt in his step.
"I'm not going to kill you," she muttered while rolling her eyes. She made sure to move to the corner of the elevator.
"You will hit me though." She couldn't help but scoff at him. She was about to deny it until she remembered that just days ago she had kicked him in the same exact elevator.
"And besides this elevators reached its weight limit," he cooly stuck his tongue out as the elevator doors closed.
The once happy feeling that surrounded the elevator was soon overpowered by a dark aura as she stood their muttering curses under her breath and glaring at the floor. The only thing she could think about now was Lee Donghyuck. Once again she failed to see someone enter. A tall girl warily entered while sending Aera a questioning look.
"That little shit," Aera paid no mind to the weird looks she was receiving.
To think that she was considering giving him a chance just days before only caused her to let out a laugh. This only made her seem like more of a crazy person to the other girl.
She muttered the last thing in Korean before getting off the elevator. The other girl only caught "Lee Donghyuck" and "crazy bastard" before she was stomping angrily outside.
This only raised more questions for the stranger as she wondered where she had heard that name and what had he ever done to the angry girl.