When the morning came, Myungsoo could feel as if a few burdens had lifted from his shoulders. He had the urge to reminisce whenever he saw Yoojung’s photos and memento—particularly the keychain—but he did not want to lose it all. Precious things would remain intact. His heart, in retrospect, also felt lighter, much to his disbelief. He started to welcome the emotions that swirling within himself, although he still found it hard to completely expose himself to it all.  He was also able to concentrate more on their dance practice, and his smile began to appear although very rarely. The other band mates seemed fascinated by it, nevertheless, they were happy with the little change.

However, the girl looked even graver after the night she met with Myungsoo. She was simply worried of him—and she felt guilty as well—but she had no courage to contact him at all. The gloomy mood surrounding her apparently disturbed her eonnis and without any words, after their daily practice ended, they ushered Soojung to a café nearby and let her order anything she wanted. When Soojung shook her head, Victoria glared at her and it made Soojung immediately ordered a cup of Frappuccino.

“So, Soojung, you have been acting odd nowadays,” Victoria initiated the conversation, her hands propped on her chin. “And we have wondered why, but you refused to answer.” Sadness lacing her tone and it made the guilt within Soojung rose up even more. “Now, you have to tell us what happened, and we will try to help you as much as we can.” Luna and Amber nodded vigorously, agreeing to all Victoria just said. Soojung looked down, her fingers fiddling together. She was never the type to tell everything bluntly to everyone, even to her closest and loved ones, but this time since she was unsure of herself as well, she began her story, when the first time she met Myungsoo, the infrequency of them messaging each other, his strange behavior, and the most recent when they met again at Gwanghwamun Park, Myungsoo showing his late ex-girlfriend’s photo to her and then after saying some words, he left her alone. Soojung told everything in details because she did not want her eonnis to mistake her for hitting on the almost-untouchable male, although she left out the part where Myungsoo told her a brief story of his late mother. Her story must be that mesmerizing because her eonnis stared at her with full interest gleaming on their eyes. Soojung had to admit she disliked it, but she remained calm and waited for them to respond. Finally, Luna opened to speak something but got cut off by Amber already.

“Princess, don’t tell me you fell for him.” The respond made Soojung’s stomach tightened, but she was certain of herself she did not.

“No, Amber. I don’t, I can assure you.” Soojung mused, carefully not letting anyone to banter her though it earned her a sneer from Luna.

“Aha, our Soojung has really grown up, I suppose.” Soojung only snorted at the remark, yet somehow it made her think all over again. Did she really fall for him? No, she did not. She was confident about it. It was merely him with his unspoken charm intrigued her to get to know him, to be able to talk to him… But really, was she in love with him?

“Earth to Soojung, what are you thinking about now?” Victoria smiled, her hand caressing the brown locks next to her. “You don’t need to spend your time contemplating about your feelings, Soojung. Just… Let it flow. Whatever your decision later, I and the girls will support it, but do remember about your career, your reputation, and our group as well.”

When they reached their dorm, they parted ways and headed to their respective room, yet Soojung did not. Instead, she went upstairs right to her room and sat by the window. She got a lot of things to think, yet what occupied her mind the most is Myungsoo. Why him, even after she thought she was only interested in him and his cold façade.

“I’m going to hate this.” She frowned, and her gaze drew in the mesmerizing landscape before her to process it inside her brain. The night was always beautiful and strangely serene, and she found comfort in it, which seemed even stranger. She really did not want to develop a crush on him, especially with his harsh behavior, but ironically it was the thing that attracted her the most. She was always taking interest in composed men who rarely talk much, one of them had broken her heart to the verge she did not believe in love anymore.

She and her sister had always been considered graceful by their close friends, albeit their attempt to be modest about it. Her sister was also protective to her, and it made her thankful she had Jung Sooyeon as her sister albeit their five years of . Although they went to different school but they usually went home together whenever they had the chance. Sooyeon also often told Soojung a lot of things, but she kept stressing the part where Sooyeon did not want Soojung to involve herself in any romantic relationship. The elder sister was merely afraid someone might break Soojung’s heart, and she did not want that at the very first place, thus the warning. Soojung obeyed her sister, in the end assuring her that she would not let herself fall for any guy in her school.

But who in the world could control their own feelings?

There was this guy who successfully snatched Soojung’s heart. Of course, she did not tell about this to Sooyeon, and she kept her feeling to herself only. His name was Lee Hyunmin, a boy who was famous for his coldness. A lot of girls had confessed their feelings toward him, yet the result was all in vain. Hyunmin seemed like the type that never had any thoughts of love at all, added by those girls’ aggressiveness made him overlook them even more. Soojung could only see Hyunmin from afar, never had any courage to approach him, let alone talking to him. But one day, the table had flipped.

That day, there was a mysterious letter on the girl’s desk. It was kind of normal for Soojung to get that kind of thing since she had become quite famous at that time, but what made the letter stole Soojung’s attention was the letter had “Lee Hyunmin” written on it, telling Soojung that he had been keeping feelings for her and wanted to be her boyfriend. Soojung was in utter shock and did not have the audacity to talk about it directly, so she replied the letter with a question.

‘Why me?’

Soojung got the answer as soon as the bell after school rang. As the students rushed toward the classroom door, Hyunmin stopped next to Soojung and instantly held her hand, causing Soojung to jump on her spot. Hyunmin squeezed Soojung’s hand tightly, signaling her to keep quite as they marched toward the school backyard. After a long moment of silence, finally Hyunmin made the attempt to speak first.

“Soojung, I’m sorry to surprise you today. But I am serious with what I have written on the letter, so…,” Hyunmin dropped his words, scratching the back of his nape before continuing. “Would you be my girlfriend, Soojung?”

Soojung froze in her place. She really did not know what to do, nor what to say. She simply stared at the boy with her widened eyes, and after a while, she dared herself to reply what the boy just said.

“I’m honestly flattered, Hyunmin. But give me time. This is too sudden, I swear. Let me know you better, and you get to do the same to me.” A small, gentle smile followed her answer.

“All right, Soojung. I will wait for you, no matter how long it will take for you to know me further.”

On the next day, Hyunmin started to show his affection toward Soojung although not that much. Soojung tried so hard to cover her elation, but she failed and the whole class had been questioning what is going on between both of them, but they chose to keep quiet about it and let the two do whatever they wanted.

As the day passed, the two grew fond of each other, and they were seen spending more time together. Soojung was positive she had mustered enough courage to give her answer to Hyunmin and without wasting any more time—it had been one month and a little more since they got closer—Soojung brought the topic when they were at the library to find some books.

“Hyunmin,” Soojung whispered, afraid anyone could hear her. “Hyunmin, come here,” Soojung whispered again, this time, she pulled the boy closer by arm.

“What is it, Soojung?” Hyunmin asked, his whisper was even lower, had Soojung not paid full attention to the boy, she would surely miss it.

“Mm… I want to talk about last month, Hyunmin.” At the mention of ‘last month’, Hyunmin’s eyes got brighter than usual, his face embellished by glee all over it.

 “Do you have your answer already, Soojung?”

“I do.” The girl smiled, albeit her now burning cheeks. “My answer is yes, I want to be your girlfriend, Hyunmin.”

Hyunmin really had to hold himself back from hugging Soojung, heaved a soft sigh instead and caressed her dark locks, a smile adorning his visage.

“Thank you, Soojung.”

They still acted like usual after Soojung gave out her answer, but they got even closer and at the same time, Soojung was already a trainee under her current agency. Most of her time was spent for her training and it inevitably lessened their quality time together, until one day Hyunmin had had enough of it and begged Soojung to at least spare some of her time for him.

“I really want to, Hyunmin.” She heaved a sigh, her lips curved into a sad smile. “I really want to but I have to fulfill my responsibility as a trainee… But I will try my best, I promise.”

The promise turned to be a mere empty promise. Soojung got even busier and she always went to the company straight after school ended, forgetting to meet Hyunmin—and apologized for that, always. Waiting , indeed.

“Soojung, I’m tired of waiting for you.” Hyunmin, at last, braved himself to speak it up to Soojung one day when she got her break. She was going to be debuted soon yet this was all she got? She was utterly sorry for Hyunmin, but she could not lie to herself that this might be the best way for both of them to part ways. But, Hyunmin’s next words punctured Soojung’s heart it left a deep scar there. “You’re famous, and will be even more in no time. I cannot keep up with it, Soojung. Had you refused the offer to be the trainee, we wouldn’t turn to be like this. I can’t be with a soon-to-be idol, and even your fame now makes me sick.”

Soojung’s body got stiffened, trying to fight the tears that started to show on the brink of her eyes. She felt like Hyunmin blamed herself alone for her fame—when she never asked for it as well.

“Wait, I haven’t finished yet.” The boy spoke up again, trying to find proper words to explain himself. “I… During your hectic days, a girl had been so kind to me, she comforted me and filled the void you left…”

Soojung no longer heard him as she rose up, soon her hand landing a slap on Hyunmin’s cheek. “Bastard,” Soojung lamented, her brittle voice filled the silence in the classroom. “I… I thought you will be loyal, Hyunmin. D-do you think that I asked for the fame and all? No, I never.” Soojung took a deep breath, her stutter indicated she was about to cry yet she held it back. “I don’t want to see your face again. Now, go.”

“Fine.” Hyunmin got up from his chair, pulling up a wicked smile as well. “I don’t need you and your boring personality either, Jung Soojung. There are a lot of more interesting girls out there, just so you know.” Then he left, abandoning Soojung who fell on her knees and started sobbing silently. From that day, she swore to herself she will never believe in love anymore, and ironically, she still blamed herself for her fame even after Hyunmin stated it himself that he was the one who cheated on her.

The past had been so bitter for her and when she remembered her own oath not to believe in love, her stomach convulsed, not liking the idea of falling in love at all. Myungsoo was the only guy after Hyunmin who could stole her attention away, but that did not mean she fell for him already. No, she was not ready. Moreover, she began to think she would never be ready to open her heart up to any guy out there. She really needed to move on from her past, but she practically had nobody to talk to—talking to her eonnis was equal to a suicide mission—and strangely, she thought of Myungsoo, perhaps he would understand her in this matter since he looked like he did not get to put up with a good past as well. She took her phone, first having no idea how would she begin with, but her fingers then effortlessly typed on the screen. She did not even realize she kept herself awake, and now her body demanded for a full rest which she could not give any sooner.

That time, Myungsoo just woke up from his sleep and his buzzing phone successfully annoyed him, even when he still could not open his eyes properly. Feeling irritated, he read the message and lazily typed the reply when he figured out from whom the message was.

Soojung had to bite down her chuckle for it might disturb her eonnis as she hovered her gaze on her phone’s clock—7 AM. Not that early, or maybe she was the early riser meanwhile Myungsoo was not.

She knows no bounds, Myungsoo thought. Nevertheless, he got up from his bed to wash his face and brush his teeth, then he wore his favorite jacket and sweatpants before he replied to the message.

Myungsoo did not have to wait after he spotted Soojung sitting calmly on the bench. Calmly, because when he walked closer, he saw her eyes closed, apparently dozing off. Visible dark circles were all over her eyes and Myungsoo had to admit he was a bit concerned, but he shook it away and gently nudged her shoulder to wake her up.

“Wake up.” He said softly, his hand kept poking her shoulder in the gentlest way he could. Finally, Soojung’s eyes fluttered open and exhaustion could be seen on her eyes. Her lack of sleep, combined with her not eating properly in the past four days finally took a toll on her and she felt like the world was spinning around her.

“Oh, Myungsoo-ssi…,” she whispered, trying to get rid of the dizziness. “Thought you will be late, but you didn’t. I appreciate it…” Before Soojung could finish her words, she tumbled forward, and in reflex, Myungsoo caught her body before she fell on the ground. Myungsoo quickly checked her body and when he felt her body is a tad bit colder—as well as her shortness of breath, he fished out his phone and made an emergency call, requesting for an ambulance. Thankfully, Myungsoo was not panicked—he was trained with emergency cases when her mother was still alive and her symptoms repeatedly showed up. Just after the ambulance arrived, the medics laid her body on the provided bed and told Myungsoo to accompany her. He nodded, but he warned them to not spread the news because media disturbance was the last thing Soojung would need.

Immediately upon their arrival at the hospital—with Soojung being admitted to the emergency room, Myungsoo registered Soojung as a patient and asked for a VVIP room for her, paying the bill in advance. As soon as Soojung got moved to the room, the doctors performed a full examination and decided that Soojung was exhausted, causing her anemia to relapse. The doctors further said she would need to fully rest for three days or so, depending on her condition before they left the room. Myungsoo drew a quiet breath as he sat on the sofa, utterly confused of how to tell her band mates about her current condition. He finally made a brave decision and snatched Soojung’s phone from her pocket—she did not secure her phone, which made Myungsoo question was not she afraid people could see what’s inside—and abruptly messaged them.

Myungsoo put her phone on the end table next to the bed, and his gaze shifted on the still unconscious Soojung. Her breathing was normal again and her body was warmer—Myungsoo checked it himself by putting his palm on her crook of neck. A small smile decorated his countenance as he observed her serene face. His hand then ran to her hair, tucking some strands of it behind her ear and he found himself murmured to her.

“You definitely resembled her a lot. She suffered from anemia as well, and she was always disobedient. Never watch her eating habit and her foods too.” He shook his head, cackling silently before he continued talking. “I had to remind her to eat regularly and only eat foods that contain rich iron. Shall I do the same to you, then, reminding you to keep eating so you will stay healthy, Soojung?”

Hello! I'm sorry for the late update (again) T_T because start from tomorrow I am going to face my finals so I think I will be taking hiatus for two weeks until next Friday... But let's see if I can update if I have time! :D