BLIND DEVOTION : The Misconceptions of Me | B o o k 1 [EDITING]

Chapter 88: Official?

Melanie's mom got pissed this morning when she heard about her being suspended from work. Obviously, she had to lie about the reason because if she told her she went all the way to the airport to send JB off, she would completely lose it.

Rose-Mary took the Christmas holidays off from work so she could spend it with her daughters. Then, Melanie and Melissa would spend the other half, meaning the New Year with their father. However, tonight, Melanie had other plans.

"Where are you going?" her mother asked, arm crossed over her chest as she stood in front of her door.

"I'm going to see my friends tonight, remember? It won't take the whole night."

"It's Christmas Eve and you're leaving to see friends? Don't they have families too?"

Melanie sighed annoyingly while arranging her hair in front of the mirror. "I've told you already but you must have forgotten."

Her mother gave her a glare, shaking her head. She seemed deceived by her behavior and Melanie felt it.

"It's not like we do something special on the 24th and you'll surely be dozing off by nine, so..." she muttered. Melanie didn't care about her reply, she knew she was right. They didn't do any event or anything like that. The two sisters would definitely stay up until midnight and say Merry Christmas to each other before going to bed or goofing around one more hour while their mother was far gone to sleep land. They preferred the New Year's eve, at least you could watch Times Square's countdown on TV or celebrated until the late hours in the morning at their father's house.

She felt bad about it but it was the truth. Their mom just wasn't a party-kind-of-person, but she cooked delicious food for those times of the year. She couldn't deny that fact.

Melanie shivered as she walked alone in the streets, a smoke of cold air escaping her mouth. "Should have put something else on that red shirt," she complained. Only wearing her winter coat over her clothes, she cursed forgetting to put another layer of clothes to protect her from that seasonal weather.

She headed to the dance studio where the guys were supposedly waiting for her. They, mostly Mark, invited her days ago for Christmas Eve meeting between friends. Truthfully, she didn't think of coming anymore since what happened yesterday. She thought everyone would be in a period of mourning because of JB's departure but they confirmed that they would still do it.

As she was getting closer to the entrance, her steps faltered. Inside that building, in that room, no more seven people were there but five. It would feel weird to her; Youngjae's loud voice and infinite giggles, and JB's only presence, it was past now. More ever, she had to face Mark and didn't know what to expect. She thought about JB's letter once again and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and walked toward the door.

"Let's just have fun. Enjoy the moment. I can do this!"

Once inside, it was completely dark. It reminded her of her birthday surprise party. She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing in the dark?" she said even if she couldn't see anyone and before she could turn the lights on, the lights and ornaments of a medium Christmas tree turned on in the far corner of the room. Few gifts were displayed under it. Then, a long wire of Christmas lights on the floor surrounded the entire room. Other decorations were hanging around. What is it again?

Melanie frowned. She wondered what kind of surprise they prepared this time. "Guys, where are you?"

A snort could be heard and she flinched. She turned around and started walking toward the Christmas tree with careful steps. But, another sound made her looked back and she noticed a white screen appearing on the wall.