The next morning, Yongsun was awaken by loud bangs on her door. Grumpily, she drags herself out of the bed towards the door. Opening the door, before she could even understand what’s going on Wheein shoves herself into her room along with several other people behind her.  

Yongsun blinks, “What… is… going on…?” She looks at Wheein as she starts spread a feast on the dining table, the hair and makeup artists starts taking out their tools and products and lays upon on the table, while the stylist starts taking out several outfits to steam it.   

“Shhhhhh.” Wheein shush Yongsun and goes over towards Yongsun, pushing her towards the table and makes Yongsun sit down, while slightly jogging back to the dining table to grab the plate of American breakfast.  Before Yongsun could even say anything else, Wheein starts feeding Yongsun the scrambled eggs and bacons shutting her up, while the other others start working their magic on Yongsun.  

***

“Unnie, you look amazing.” Wheein gasps.

“She does. Indeed, lives up as the face of the Moon Group.” The makeup artist commented.

“Hey, you can’t forget that my outfit adds on to that.” The stylist adds on.

“That’s because my unnie has the curves.” Wheein proudly exclaims.  

Yongsun was in a simple one white off shoulder dress, revealing her slim white tender legs all the way up to her thigh, her well defined collar bone could also be seen clearly, while her hair was in long and wavy curves. In such simplicity, Yongsun stands out greatly as a woman.  

“Here’s a final touch!” The stylist adds on as he puts on a white choker on Yongsun.  

Standing in front of the mirror, Yongsun looks at herself. It wasn’t that she hasn’t been this glamourous before, but somehow this time she felt different. The stylist team engaged from Byulyi indeed, is of top notch.

The doorbell rang, “I’ll get it!” Wheein rushed over to the door. Upon opening the door, there was an awkward silence. Yongsun looks over and sees Hyejin standing at the door, looking at Wheein, whom was looking away instead. She remembers that the both of them are still not talking to each other.

“Hyejin? Good afternoon.” Yongsun tries to save the awkward atmosphere.

“Yongsun unnie,” Hyejin greets, Wheein then let go of the door she was holding and quickly walks back into the room, causing Hyejin to quickly hold the door herself. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Yongsun spares a quick glance at Wheein whom was trying to busy herself by cleaning up the dining table. “Why are you here?” Yongsun strikes up another conversation as she turns back to Hyejin, instead she caught Hyejin looking at Wheein.

Hyejin snaps out of her glare and looks back to Yongsun. “Oh. Um, I was wondering if you’re done preparing? I need the styling team to head over to Byulyi unnie’s room now to get her prepared.”

“We’re done here. We’ll pack up now and head over to Miss Moon’s room.” The makeup artist then quickly starts keeping all her products.

“Sorry. I wasn’t aware they need to head over.” Yongsun quickly apologised.

“The styling team is Byulyi unnie’s own personal team. Byulyi unnie felt more assured having her own team to take care of you, so don’t worry.” Hyejin explains.

That explains why the team is so top notched, suddenly Yongsun felt exclusive. She was actually using Byulyi’s own personal styling team, her heart flutters for a moment.  

After the styling team left, the room was only left with Yongsun, Wheein and Hyejin. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Yongsun decides to head out to leave the two youngest to talk.  

As Yongsun stood up, Wheein quickly follows behind her. “Stay here Wheein.” Wheein looks at Yongsun in shock.

Hyejin then quickly head towards the door, before she was behind called out by Yongsun too. “You too, Hyejin.” Shocked by the sudden assertive tone in Yongsun, Hyejin halts on the spot and looks at Yongsun.  

“The both of you need to talk it out.” Yongsun said in a firm tone.  

“But- “

“No but, Jung Wheein. If you don’t sort it out before the conference later, you’re grounded in this room. You’re not attending the party tonight. Until we leave this place, you’ll not be allowed to go anywhere except your own room.”  Yongsun then turn to Hyejin, “I can’t ground you Hyejin. But if you don’t sort it out with Wheein, don’t call me your unnie anymore.”  

Both Wheein and Hyejin avoided Yongun’s gaze, they simply kept quiet. A door was closed and the both of them were left alone in the room.

Closing the door behind her, Yongsun leans against the door. “We don’t need another pair of people who are in love with each other in self denial, just the both of us is enough…” Heaving a sigh, Yongsun then makes her way down to the main lobby where the contract signing conference would be held.  

A few minutes passed, both Wheein and Hyejin were still in the same position as before. Clenching her hands, Wheein decides to move first and head further away from Hyejin, she went to sit in a corner of Yongsun’s bed.  Whereas for Hyejin, she didn’t want Wheein to go further, thus she chose to sit at the other end of the corner.  

“I didn’t know Yongsun unnie could be so stern.” Hyejin tries to strike up a topic.  

Wheein subtly nods. “Sometimes.”  

“Is it tough working with her?” Hyejin tries hard to continue talking.  

Wheein give a few seconds of silence, before she replies. “Sometimes.”

“Oh… I wasn’t aware...”

“You’ve never asked anyway.”  

The response from Wheein caught Hyejin off-guard. It was true that Hyejin never really asks about Wheein’s work, she just assumed that working with Yongsun would be fine, it also seems that Wheein was always in a good mood whenever she was with Yongsun. Thus it didn’t occur to Hyejin once before that perhaps Wheein was having difficulty with work.  

“You know you can just leave. I don’t mind being grounded. I’m not in the mood to attend the party anyway.”  

“You would really just stay here?”  

“Yeah I would. The least I could do is to listen to Yongsun unnie. At least she doesn’t leave me hanging, she comes back for me. She would give me hugs and listen to me when I’m feeling down. She doesn’t disappear on me.” Frustration and anger grows in Wheein’s tone as she speaks.

“Why are we back to this again?” This time it was Hyejin that was growing in anger.  

“Then leave.” Wheein got up from the bed and went to lie down on the bed, covering her whole body including her face with the blanket. Staring at Wheein, Hyejin suddenly have no idea what to do. Then, she heard slight movement coming underneath the blanket, Wheein is crying.  This was a scenario that she encountered before, back at the rooftop. Just that back then Wheein was crying out loud in front of her, this time Wheein was crying silently.

Hyejin thought back to the time back at the rooftop, she told Wheein that she doesn’t have to hold back in front of her. Yet right now, the Wheein in front of her is trying so hard not to cry in front of her, Wheein is holding back in front of Hyejin. Standing there silently, Hyejin tries to think what was the problem between the both of them, she starts by thinking what Wheein said.

Wheein wasn’t wrong when she said birds of the feather flock together. Hyejin was practically glued to Byulyi ever since they started attending lessons together in university, they knew each other inside out. With the strong bond they had over the years, they didn’t have to say much to each other to know what each other is thinking, besides the both of them were women of few words. For Hyejin herself, she was already used to having people to report their whereabouts to her, there was never once she had to report her own whereabouts and updates to anyone else. Whenever Wheein texts her about her daily life and what she’s been up to, Hyejin took it in as a natural habit and thus she never replies to it, like what she does to the rest of her colleagues.

Perhaps she took advantage of Wheein’s understanding, Hyejin thought that she understands Wheein, however it seems like Wheein is the one being more understanding towards her instead.  A realisation hit Hyejin, Wheein is not a colleague. 

With the immense guilt that just struck her, Hyejin gently climbs onto the bed under the blanket. She then circles her hands around Wheein’s waist, instantly spooning Wheein from the back. Hyejin could feel Wheein stiffen from her touch.

Neither the both of them move from the position, they both laid in the same position for awhile. Hyejin then felt Wheein crying even more, she doesn’t say anything. Instead she allows Wheein to cry it all out, while she simply kept quiet, tightening her arms around Wheein, as though trying to assure her.

“I’m sorry.” Hyejin softly whispers at Wheein’s ears, before she gently turns Wheein over and allows Wheein to pour out her emotions towards her.

***

Yongsun heads to the main lobby where the press conference would take place. There were already many guests in the lobby, even reporters of various broadcasting stations from their country had specially flew in just for this event. Shunning and squeezing through the crowd, Yongsun heads to a quiet area in a corner. Suddenly she sees Hyunkyu standing near the corner too, she waves towards him.

“Oh! Yongsun-ssi!”

“Drop the formalities, we’re the same age from what I’ve remembered.” Yongsun chuckles.  

Slightly scratching his head, Hyunkyu nods.  

“Why are you standing around here?” Yongsun asked curiously.

 “Miss Moon would be coming via this route here later.”

“Ah. So the next time if I want to look for you I’ll have to see where is Miss Moon?” Yongsun jokingly comments.  

“Are you for real Yongsun? If anything, you would be looking for Miss Moon instead of me. The most I would only help you to convey to Miss Moon that you’re looking for her.”

“Why would I be looking for her when I will no longer be around?” Yongsun comments as she looks as the crowd in front of her.  

“What, why? Isn’t it resolved?” Hyunkyu asked nervously.  

Yongsun quickly turns back to Hyunkyu in shock. “What is resolved?”  

Hyunkyu tilts his head slightly, before he explains.  “Hm? Previously I did hear that you might not be renewing your contract, but ever since I saw you here I thought you changed your mind and decided to renew instead.”

“Being here is not something which I’ve planned. I was just told to come here. I haven’t renewed my contract yet. I have no idea what they’re going to do about this, but I’m still contracted right now thus I can’t say no. By then when my contract is up, I guess I’ll still be leaving.”  

Hyunkyu nods as he listens, “Honestly, what’s the reason for your decision? As of now from what I’m aware, the production teams that worked with you are very pleased with your performances. Even the Moon Group’s board of directors are satisfied, they’re really hard to please, like any other board of directors. If you leave, it would really be a loss for RBW and our company.”  

Blushing up to her face, Yongsun quickly gives a slight bow. “You’ve over complimented me. Honestly, there are so much better actresses or models out there, even the idols, they should be in my position instead of me.”  

“Well, you underestimated yourself Yongsun. You just have that aura that lets people unable to take their eyes off you.”

Feeling warm in her cheeks, Yongsun quickly fans herself in an embarrassed manner. Both her and Hyunkyu laughs heartily at her own action.  

Suddenly, there was a commotion, flashlights start flashing away and gasps were heard. Hyunkyu immediately murmured a sorry and quickly rushed off towards the door. There was a group of people in suits, escorting a man whom is slightly tanned with beard, whom Yongsun assumes it’s the representative of the Maldives’s tourism board.

After the group walks pass, Yongsun sees several familiar faces. As soon as this group entered, more flashes and whisperings came about. It was Byulyi and her entourage, she sees that Hyunkyu joined in as the last of the group.  Hyunseok and Chandong was right at the front, whilst in the middle was Byulyi, followed by Janghyun and Hyunkyu at the back.  Byulyi was in a perfectly tailored black suit with horizontal stripes pattern.  She was wearing at white shirt with a tie to it, followed by a vest, finally her blazer. Her hair was tied into a pony tail while her fringe was gelled flat towards her left.  She was really handsome for a female, and fine looking.  Yongsun was once again amazed by Byulyi’s personal styling team.

It didn’t take long before Yongsun realises that Byulyi’s entourage had stopped in front of her, the cameras were flashing about in front of her, still focusing on Byulyi. Yongsun snaps out of her thoughts as Byulyi looks at her straight in her eye, before eyeing her from the bottom all the way to her chest, then back to her eyes. Clasping her hands together, Yongsun suddenly felt very shy. Byulyi then extends out her hand towards Yongsun, a gesture of inviting Yongsun over to her side. Yongsun froze on the spot, she wasn’t told what she was supposed to be doing here except that her presence was needed at this press conference.  As she felt pairs of eyes starting to fall on her, Yongsun felt the need to do something quickly. She brings up one of her hand and accepts Byulyi’s hand. Byulyi led Yongsun over to her side gently as though a gentleman leading a woman for a first dance, before she changed the position to hooking Yongsun’s hands on her arm.

In a few seconds Yongsun finds herself in the middle of the limelight, beside Byulyi. Camera flashes were flashing ahead in front of Yongsun, reporters were trying to get a capture of what was in front of them. Byulyi had never openly held someone else’s hand before in public, it was the first time. Hyunseok and Chandong quickly step up ahead clearing the path for the both of them, leading them straight up to the stage.  Once on the stage, Byulyi sat down on one of the chairs, and gestured for Yongsun to sit beside her. The press conference started in no time, it was exactly the same as back then when Yongsun saw Byulyi at her school. Stealing small glances, Yongsun sees that Byulyi had the same expression as back then, there wasn’t any obvious expression on her face. Just as the representative of the Maldives’ was speaking, Byulyi looks ahead with a calm face, as though all of this isn’t her concern. And as for the Moon Group’s representative, it was their lawyer, Yunho who was leading the talk.  A decision which makes Yongsun further confirms Byulyi’s humbleness.  

***

her hair with one hand, Hyejin has her another hand gently patting Wheein on her back. After awhile, Wheein stirs up slightly before she opens her eyes. She looks up and sees Hyejin’s face right above her, Wheein was leaning against Hyejin’s chest. She had fallen asleep right after she cried out her emotions. “Hi…” Wheein softly said, while Hyejin chuckled, “Good morning.”  

Feeling shy and embarrassed, Wheein doesn’t move an inch. She doesn’t know what to do when they’re in such an intimate position. Since young, Wheein isn’t one to really open up to others. Neither does she has much friends to begin with, thus she didn’t really have anyone to talk to with regards to almost everything. She hasn’t been in a relationship before, she wasn’t aware about feelings towards a female could be more just friends, because she hasn’t experienced love before. With the incident that just happened, Wheein is starting to believe that she is in love with Hyejin. But she doesn’t dare to ask Hyejin, she fears rejection. Just like how she thought she was going to be rejected RBW back then, it isn’t the same feeling but Wheein just doesn’t want to be rejected again, not by Hyejin. Hyejin was the only one other than Yongsun she could pour out her feelings to, talk about almost everything, she doesn’t want to lose Hyejin.

“Wheein?” Hyejin’s voice snaps Wheein out of her endless thoughts.

Wheein could feel that Hyejin’s gaze is on her, she doesn’t look up. She’s afraid that her tears would come bursting forward again from the thoughts of losing Hyejin.

“Wheein… I have to go soon.” Hyejin speaks once again.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” A flustered Wheein quickly tries to get up, before she was pulled back down towards Hyejin’s embrace. This time, Wheein’s face was being pulled right in front of Hyejin’s face. Wheein could feel the heat in her face, being this close to Hyejin’s face for the first time. 

“Where are you going? I still want to call Yongsun unnie my unnie.” Staring straight at Wheein’s eyes, the eyes that deeply captivated her heart the moment she first saw, Hyejin went in for it. She gently kisses Wheein’s eyes, “Hyejin…?”

“I’m sorry for making your eyes tear,” Hyejin then continues on, kissing her nose next. “I’m sorry for making your nose red, it must have hurt sniffling that hard.”

Moving back slightly, Hyejin takes a good look at Wheein whom is in a shock.  Chuckling at the sight, Hyejin gently Wheein’s hair and slightly tidy up Wheein’s fringe. Wheein glanced away, and then shyly looked back at Hyejin.

Hyejin’s hand reaches under Wheein’s hair below her ear, her thumb caressing Wheein’s cheek. “But, I’m not going to be sorry for this.”

Suddenly Wheein sees Hyejin, her eyes revealing more than her words can express. Unknowingly, Wheein’s lips parted to allow Hyejin’s entrance and their breaths mingle. Wheein’s heart flutters as Hyejin draws her to her lips.

“Jung Wheein, will you be my girlfriend?”

***

After the contract signing press conference had been held, there was a celebration party being held at a grand ballroom. Yongsun wanted to leave initially, but she was once again being held by Byulyi’s hand, leading her towards the ballroom room. Thankfully once they reached the ballroom, they were separated by the organisers as their seating arrangement were different. For a moment, Yongsun felt that Byulyi let go of her hand reluctantly, unwillingly.

After everyone was seated, there was a long talk of boring congratulatory words from the representatives and organisers. It was then followed by numerous toasts between the respective officials. Yongsun wasn’t a target for the toast, thus she could sit back and enjoy the seafood delicacies in front of her. Lifting her head every now and then as she enjoys her food, she sees Byulyi ahead. T