After Jongin had left the room, Manager Lee came in and said light-heartedly, “You have quite the number of pretty boy visitors.”

“Can you not let any of them in next time?” Jieun said exhaustedly, adjusting her IV, which was very uncomfortable in the spot where the needle was poking into her arm.  She still felt quite lethargic and her whole body felt quite heavy.

“I’ll tell Eunhyuk not to come next time since you guys have broken up but this new boy, Jongin.  He has seemed to take a big liking towards you.  Why are you shooting him down so soon?”  Manager Lee asked. 

Jieun rolled her eyes, knowing that if the company knew that Manager Lee was talking this way about boys to Jieun, they would probably have a fit.  She knew that Manager Lee sometimes forgot he was looking after an artist and instead he treated her more like a daughter instead.  If Manager Lee ever found out that she used to date Jongin as well, he would probably freak out, so she thought it was best if she kept that to herself.

“Manager Lee.  You’re meant to be my manager.  Aren’t you supposed to stop people from coming into my room?” 

“If I left them outside, then reporters could have easily taken shoots of them if any of them happened to sneak in,” He said.

Jieun too tired to argue with Manager Lee, said, “I’m going back to sleep.  Make sure no one enters the room this time.  Just tell them I’m resting and won’t be able to see them.”

“How are you feeling?”  Manager Lee’s expression had become serious all of a sudden.  “I’m sorry I pushed you through that last schedule.”  She knew he was only following the company’s orders so she wasn’t blaming him or anything.

“A lot better now.  Does that mean the company has learnt its lesson?”  Jieun asked distrustfully.

Manager Lee did not want to tell Jieun that they expected her to continue the rest of her performances starting from tomorrow.  But he knew that Jieun was expecting it.  Just from his expression, Jieun closed her eyes in dread.  This wasn’t what she wanted.  She wanted to sing; she didn’t want to sing to point of total exhaustion though. 

She told Manager Lee she was going to rest for the time being and Manager Lee left her alone.  Jieun took her phone and saw that she had three missed calls from an unknown number.  There was also an unread message from the same number.

Jieun. It’s me Sehun.  Call me back.  I swear this is not a prank number.

Jieun thought she had nothing to lose if she called the number so she dialled the number to see if it was really Sehun.

“Jieun! You finally answered!” Sehun’s voice echoed through the phone speaker.

“Hi Sehun.  What’s up?”

“Are you ok?  Did Jongin go find you?  Did the media find out?” Sehun asked not wasting a single breath.

“I’m fine.  Yeah he did visit but he’s left now.  I’m not too sure about the media,” Jieun answered truthfully.  To be honest, Jongin’s stinging words towards her had made her forget about the reports outside the hospital completely.  Now the feeling of dread began to spread through her stomach.  If there were photos of Jongin going into the hospital, it was going to be so suspicious. 

“He’s so rash sometimes but he really does care about you,” Sehun said.

“If he really cared, he wouldn’t have come.” 

Jieun knew her words were harsh but she knew how much trouble it would be if this whole thing blew up with the media.  They would have loved to know that Jongin came to visit her.  She was getting a headache just thinking about it.

“I think he still likes you,” Sehun said all of a sudden, his tone sincere.  It was the type of tone which scared Jieun.

“It’s been so long already.  He only wants to torment me I think.”  Jieun said back. 

“I see how he looks at you.  It’s still the same as before, Jieun.”

This wasn’t want Jieun wanted to hear.  She had wanted Jongin to move on.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to know all your options,” He said simply.  Jieun realised that Sehun was turning into a more sly fellow, trying to plant ideas into other people’s minds. “Are you free sometime in a few weeks?  Let’s have a mini reunion to catch up… properly.”

“Then I can ask Ara to come as well?” 

Ara was one of Jieun’s trainee friends who used to train with her at SM Entertainment together with Jongin and Sehun.  She was a petite girl with a gorgeous doll like face.  However, when Ara left SM Entertainment to become a model.  Ara and Jieun kept in touch but they really never talked about the boys they left behind at SM.  It was a sore spot for the both of them.

Jieun knew there was something going on between Sehun and Ara.  And if Sehun was going to play games with her using Jongin, she thought she would hand him the same dish back.

 “Yes, yes Ara can come.”  Sehun’s voice did not falter but Jieun had known him for a while.  She swore it sounded like someone trying to put on a brave front.  Jieun knew because it was the same tone she always used.

- - -

A few weeks of promotions had passed for Jieun.  The good news was she was finally getting a 3 day break.  The bad news was it had been a disastrous few weeks.  Her performances had been sub-par. She was getting a lot of comments saying that her live performances were weak.  Jieun was stressed about her weakening voice due to lack of rest and she could feel herself fall deeper into a slump. 

She knew that that her singing was lacking a spark nowadays.  Was her prime time over?  She didn’t want to think about it.  She didn’t even know if she was enjoying what she was doing anymore. 

So when Sehun texted to ask if she was free to finally have their mini reunion, Jieun really didn’t want to go.  She wasn’t in the mood to face Jongin or anyone for that matter.  But Sehun was persistent.  And so Jieun found herself sneaking out of her apartment late at night and catching a cab to the address, which Sehun had given her.  She focused on the fact that she was going to be able to see Ara first. 

As Jieun got out of the taxi and looked around to find the entrance of the restaurant, a figure leapt into her arms. 

“Jieun!  I missed you so much,” said the girl who was hugging her tightly.

Jieun recognised the high-pitched sweet voice immediately.

“I missed you too Ara,” Jieun replied hugging her back.

Ara let go of Jieun and took a good look at her.  Ara hadn’t changed, she was just as small and doll-like as the last time she saw her.  She had busy getting small acting roles while doing modelling gigs on the side.  They would occasionally text each other but it was a long time since they had seen each other face to face.

“You look terrib