Hyesung sat with Eric over a cup of coffee at Beautiful Coffee and watched Eric stir his coffee endlessly. He reached out and put his hand over the older man’s and stop him.

“I know it’s hard for you to think about everything that you went through with Kaye. But we need you guys to meet with Charlotte. This is the last piece of the puzzle”, Hyesung said gently as he watched Eric’s eyes start to water.

“I almost lost her, man. That is what I can’t get over. I almost lost her because I made the wrong choice”, Eric said softly and rubbed his hand over his face. Hyesung squeezed Eric’s hand and smiled at him.

“Then tell her that. Let her know that you overcame yourself to go after what you wanted”, Hyesung said and Eric nodded. It would be difficult but he would do what it took to make sure that Jinnie ended up with the woman that held his heart. They discussed how the plan would go forward from here and

Celeste and Kaye had gone shopping and as they took a break at a cafe Celeste watched Kaye admire the new shoes she had bought.

“Eric is gonna flip when he sees me in these”, she said as she the smooth suede pumps. They would go perfectly with the sheer lace nightgown she had ordered online. Even though she was still making him wait, it was fun to occasionally. Celeste sighed loudly and Kaye looked up.

“I didn’t ask you out so we could talk about the games you and Eric play in the bedroom”, Celeste said with another sigh. Kaye put the shoes back in the box and focused her attention on her friend.

“So you need me to tell her about what happened with Jinnie?”, Kaye said hesitantly as she fiddled with the slice of lemon on the edge of her glass of water.

“I know you don’t like to talk about it, Kaye but I don’t know of any other way to get through to her. She obviously cares for Jinnie and he for her so we have to make sure they end up together.” Celeste said and Kaye nodded in agreement.

“So I need to meet with her and have Eric with me? Didn’t you say that Hyesung was with Eric and he planned to ask him to meet with her also?”, Kaye bit her lip and ran her fingers through her hair. The tense friendship she’d had with Jinnie after the dating show had ended had made her uncomfortable and when they had fixed things she had been so relieved. Jinnie was special to her and she wanted to see him happy.

“Exactly….. do you think you can do it?”, Celeste knew that things had been super strange between Eric and Jinnie after they fought that day in the alley. In the end, their friendship had gotten stronger and they were closer than ever.

“I worry she will hate me”, Kaye voiced the concern that had weighed on her mind ever since they had agreed to help Jinnie. She still felt guilty about the way that she had crushed Jinnie’s heart and even thought they were good now, she couldn’t stop thinking about the look on his face when she chose no one at the end of the dating show.

“She won’t”, Celeste said gently, “life happens. He hasn’t been able to date anyone since then not because of you but because he needed time to find what he wanted. She is as strong and stubborn as you are and that is good.”

“She is, isn’t she?”, Kaye chuckled, “she refused to back down and that made him want her even more.I could tell the time he called me that he really liked her and the fact that he called me showed me that he had really forgiven me for what happened.”

“Then you are on board?”, Celeste asked, relieved that everything was in place. They just needed to talk to the guys and see what they had come up with.

A few days later, the dance studio

Charlotte walked into the dance studio lobby hesitantly. She had agreed to meet Eric and Kaye here to discuss a possible choreography gig and she came dressed to dance. She had brought her laptop and make sure to have a few songs prepped. Some of her old sessions were also saved on a file that she could send to them if they needed to see more. She went and checked to see what room they had reserved and took a deep breath before she walked in. Eric and Kaye sat in a couple of chairs with a table in front of them and there was a chair for her to sit in.

“Hi”, she said quietly as she walked over and set her things down. They smiled at her and she felt a little less nervous.

“So you came to show us your moves”, Eric said and reached out to shake her hand. Charlotte took it; his warm hand enveloped her smaller one and she smiled back at him.

“I really appreciate you two giving me a chance to dance for you”, Charlotte said as she smiled at the redhead beside him. Kaye had been the one to call her and set the meeting up.

“We heard from Celeste and Hyesung how good you are and we wanted to see it for ourselves”. Kaye said and smiled back at her.

“Why don’t I just show you”, Charlotte said and got the songs ready on her laptop and stepped away to wait for the music to start.

“Actually, I had a couple of pieces picked out already”, Eric said hastily and reached out to stop the music. He pulled out his phone and started one of the songs that she had danced to for Minwoo that rainy night. Charlotte faltered for a moment and then began to move. The song took over her body and made it move effortlessly. The couple at the table watched her wordlessly and Kaye reached over to take Eric’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Charlotte saw them out of the corner of her eye and smiled. She could tell that they were very much in love and wondered why they would need to talk to her. She knew that when she came to the studio that they were the last part of the plan but acted like she didn’t know.

The song ended and Eric stopped the next one as it started.

“I think we have seen enough”, he said and waved her over. Her shoes squeaked as she crossed the floor to them and sat down. Kaye looked at Eric then at her before she spoke.

“I’m sure you already know why we wanted to talk to you”, she said with a nervous smile. Charlotte wondered why she looked nervous and nodded.

“Eric and I fell in love at the most inopportune time”, Kaye started and looked at Eric for a moment, “he had been dating someone before we started the show and because of family obligations and pressure from the world he lives in, he chose her.” Kaye took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Some of this was public knowledge so Charlotte wasn’t surprised.

“And because of that I made both of our lives miserable”, Eric said softly, “I didn’t fight for the woman I really wanted and felt that if she hated me, she would be able to move on easier.” He felt a knot form in his stomach as he remembered everything that he had put Kaye through.

“And what wasn’t shown on the show was that Jinnie fell in love with me”, Kaye whispered and looked down. Charlotte inhaled sharply and gripped the edge of the table and waited for her to continue.

“The day we had our date he ended up staying over and he confessed to me. I didn’t acknowledge his feelings at the time and we almost had ”, Kaye’s lips trembled and she squeezed Eric’s hand tightly.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter