This morning, I woke up pretty tired – probably because I slept late last night. It was almost midnight when I reached the hotel and I took quite a while to pamper myself with a bubble bath. I know it was pretty late but I kind of needed it after a long day yesterday. Besides, it’s my last day in Japan today.

I was going to postpone my flight yesterday until that miracle happened to me. I’m relieved that my problems will hopefully be solved today – if everything goes as planned. My flight will be at night and that means I have the rest of today to spend, I’ll make sure I spend it very wisely since I don’t see myself going on a vacation in the foreseeable future.

There are still many things that I need to take care of, the project and my daily works, which I’m sure will be piling up on my desk by now. I felt a little bit sad that my ‘vacation’ will end soon, I kind of enjoying it despite the fact that I’m not here fully for vacation.

My first intention when I came here is to spend more bonding time with Taeyang, but I guess I got a bonus for being able to spend some time with Jiyong too. I kind of like it though, I wonder how things will go when we all get back to Korea. Most of all, I wonder how Dara would actually react when I tell her. I’ve been having an inner battle with myself whether to tell her or not – but in the end, I know I can’t really hide anything from my best friend. I think it’s better to tell her before she finds it out by herself.

I yawned and did some stretches before heading to the bathroom to get ready. I set my alarm a little bit earlier so I can enjoy some breakfast from the hotel. After all, it’s my last day here and I wouldn’t want to miss my chance to eat YB Hotel’s breakfast – their foods are worth dying for.

After about thirty minutes, I finally finished getting ready. I put on the other set of casual clothes that I brought – Guns N’ Roses t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. I’m quite a fan of bands’ t-shirt when it comes to casual style, they’re so cool.

I know I would probably spend the rest of the day strolling around Tokyo until my checkout time. So, I take a couple of minutes to pack all my stuffs. It’s better if I do it now so I don’t have to worry about it again later.

I also make sure to text Taeyang to inform him when I will be going to my boutique before heading down to the restaurant.

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The restaurant turns out to be very crowded. Even though it’s big, I still had a hard time looking for an empty table. People are lining up over the buffet table to grab their food and I saw the waiters are constantly refilling the foods.

I spot an empty table near the corner of the restaurant and I quickly rush towards it. Luckily, I got there faster than another couple that had eyes on that table too.

Sorry love birds, this table is mine.

I smile victoriously as I take a seat. It’s not a big table, but I don’t really mind since I’m the only one sitting here. The only reason that I hate being alone in a restaurant is that I can’t just leave my belongings here and go to grab some food without any supervision. Someone could just easily steal away my belongings if I left them but on the other hand, if I don’t leave anything, people will think that my table is empty. It has always been a struggle for me.

At this moment, I’m glad that I brought along Jiyong’s coat. I found it lying on top of my room’s mini bar on my way out, which reminds me that I need to give it back to him. I thought that maybe I would run into him in the restaurant so I brought it with me.

I placed his coat on the table, hoping that people will know that this table is taken, and went to grab my breakfast.

There are so many types of cuisines lining up on the buffet table. Asian, Western, Italian – you name it, they have it. I couldn’t even pick one cuisine that I want because I want everything. So, I decided to take each food in a small portion so I’m able to try everything. I know, I know – I do eat a lot despite having a skinny body. It’s rather hard for me to get fat even though I ate a lot.

I grab a plate and start taking the dish that I want, starting from the Asian cuisines. I took a little bit more on the sushi rolls since they all looked very mouth-watering. This is probably the weirdest breakfast I’ve ever had – I mean, who serves sushi as breakfast? But I couldn’t care about that, I just want to try everything.

I went back to my table, holding two plates full of foods from two different types of cuisines. I got a lot of stares from the people near my table, but I pretend to not realize it. Nothing can stop me from eating whatever I want.

I start eating my food happily – like a little kid eating her favorite chocolates and candies. Suddenly, the world around me seems to dissolve and it’s only me and my foods now. It may sounds exaggerating, but that’s really how I feel right now.

“Bom?”

That voice snaps me right back to reality – just like the moment where you’re dancing freely, completely drowned into your favorite music, and someone just had to turn off the song suddenly.

I turned towards the voice and my eyes met the eyes of the man that I was looking for this morning. He still has his messy bed hair and he’s still wearing a plain white tight-fitting t-shirt and a pair of jogger pants. He looks so damn hot with that look, not to mention the t-shirt that defines his toned body pretty well and that messy bed hair compliments his look so well. He’s just standing a foot away from me while holing his plate of breakfast but I’m already bewitched by his look right now.

“Hey” I greet him with a wide smile, trying to hide the fact that I was checking him out a second ago. But his smirk and the way he playfully run his fingers through his hair definitely confirm that he noticed it. No matter how hard I tried to contain myself, he would always find a way to let me lose control.

“Can I join you?” he points at the empty seat in front of me.

“Sure” I said and he immediately placed his plate on the table and took the seat in front of me.

“Some things never change, huh?” he chuckles. I know he’s referring to my eating habit.

“Yeah, and I don’t intend to change it” we both chuckled. Jiyong knows and have always been keeping up with my love for foods before. He knows how big my appetite is and he has never complained about it. In fact, he encouraged me to eat more. He would always buy me every food that I want and we even held our own eating competition sometimes. That’s why I’m not embarrassed to eat this much in front of him anymore.

“So, what’s your plan for today?” he asked.

“Hmm, just as you know. I’m going to my boutique later and maybe stroll around Tokyo a little bit since it’s my last day here” I said while eating my food.

“It’s your last day here?” he looked a bit startled. I nodded to his question. “Then let me take you out for that stroll. I know a few good places around Tokyo that you may like, what do you think?”

I think about it for a moment and it doesn’t sound like a bad idea. “That sounds fun, I’ll let you know later” I smile.

He nodded and we both continue eating our breakfast. I think that I took too many foods already because after I finished my second plate, I feel like my stomach is going to burst soon. So, I decided to control my greediness and stop after the second plate. After all, it’s just breakfast, I still have the whole day to enjoy other Japanese cuisines.

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“Those foods are amazing!” I pat my stomach as we walk out from the restaurant. “I wish I could try all the other cuisines though”

Jiyong chuckles while shaking his head at me. “You and your tummy just never gets satisfied”

I grin at him like a little kid, a great food for breakfast is the best way to start your day. It made my mood much happier. “So, where are you heading to now?” I asked.

“I’m going back to my room to get ready, I have a meeting in my office later”

“Well then don’t let me stop you” I chuckle, “oh, I wanted to return you thi –“

“Oppaaaa ~” an annoying high pitched sound cut me off. I swear, my ears almost bled when that sound echoes loudly through the hotel’s lobby.

Both of us were startled by the voice for a second, but then I saw that Jiyong’s face turns to an expression that says he knows who that voice belongs to – it’s like he was already familiar with it.

I turned towards the voice and boy, I instantly wish I never turned. It’s her. The one who successfully ruin my relationship that I’ve built for years in just a couple of months. I couldn’t believe my eyes that out of all the places in this world, she is just a few feet away from me.

She looks quite the same like the last time I saw her, except she’s way skinnier. She looks just like a walking skeleton. God knows how much money she spent to make her look like that. Her long and curly brown hair hangs loose around her body and she’s wearing an elegant knee-length dress that screams business style. I bet everyone who look at her dressed like that would instantly know that she’s a businesswoman.

She has a strong and intimidating aura around her, probably because of her looks. She does have a beautiful face and a great taste in fashion, but that’s the only thing that I would compliments her for. Despite her strong aura, I’ve never been intimidated by her looks or envy her. Guys would probably drool and girls would probably feel ugly as she walks in, but not me. I’ve got so many other important things to take care of rather than envying her or trying so hard to look better than her.

“Morning oppa!” she said cutely as she approaches Jiyong and immediately lock her arms around Jiyong’s arm. Her act makes me want to puke so badly, I can already taste my breakfast on the back of my throat.

Jiyong look at me for a few moments, unsure what to do. I give him a reassuring smile to tell him that I’m fine if he decided to show his usual affections with her in front of me. And so he did.

“Hey… babe” he awkwardly turns to her. I saw him staring at her lips, hesitating whether to kiss her or not. But in the end, he only kisses her forehead.

“Oppa, I miss you” she pouts. This side of her is definitely something that I’ve never witness before. She was never this playful, she would always have that serious and professional expression whenever I saw her.

“I miss you too” Jiyong smile at her. Suddenly, I’m invisible to them – like I was never here in the first place. Even Jiyong seems to forget that he’s talking to me before. They both seems to enjoy each other’s company and I hate to interrupt it, but I don’t have that much time to just stand and watch them.

“Ahem” I clear my throat. Both of them turns their head towards me. “I hate to interrupt but I shou –“

“Park Bom-ssi?” once again, she interrupts me. I took a deep breath to contain myself. “Yes?” I smile politely at her.

“It’s so good to finally meet you!” she said happily, which startled me a bit. She released her arms from Jiyong’s and took a step forward to me. “I don’t think we have introduced ourselves properly before, I’m Kim Ji Hee” she offers me a handshake, her professionalism is back.

“Park Bom, nice to meet you” I shake her hand and smile.

You can do this Bom, just keep it professional. There’s completely nothing weird to get acquainted with the girl who stole your boyfriend before.

“Oppa I’m so glad you came here to see me” she went back to Jiyong’s side again, clinging onto him like a Koala clinging to its tree. And that is when I went back to being invisible again to them, I could almost feel myself rolling my eyes by just seeing them.

“I thought you’re here for business, Ji?” I asked.

Jiyong was about to answer me when she interrupts him too. In that moment, I could vision myself strangling her neck.

“Jiyong oppa is here for his business with me, we’re still business partners you know” she chuckles, “that also means he’s here to see me”

She’s lucky because I was born with tons of patience inside me. Thank God, not long after that Jiyong told her to go to his room first. He probably sensed that I’m uncomfortable with the situation right now.

She agrees to leave first, Jiyong kisses her forehead once again before she walk away – leaving the both of us alone.

“Some things never change, huh?” I mock his words. He smiles nervously at me while rubbing the back of his neck, not uttering a single word.

“Well then, I shouldn’t keep you away from her too long” I look down at his coat that I was holding, “here” I hand it to him.

“Bom…” he said when I was about to leave, “are you still up for my offer?”

“No Jiyong, maybe next time. You have your girlfriend to take care off today” I said, “besides, I think Taeyang would like to take me out on that stroll” I smile at him before walking away quickly, leaving him no time to say anything else.

I couldn’t believe that he’s still with her after all these years. And the fact that he still has the nerves to take me out when his girlfriend is around really pisses me off.

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I arrived at my boutique right on the time that I told Taeyang to meet me. Se Jun, my driver, drops me off in front of my boutique. I went inside and saw that Taeyang has arrived already, he’s sitting on the couch that I set up for my customers.

“Hey” I said as I approach him, “have you waited long?”

“No, I just got here five minutes ago” he smiles.

I then usher him towards the manager’s office. I don’t have my own office set up in here since I rarely come here. If I do come here, it would only be for monthly checking. So, the manager of this boutique is the one who gets his own office instead.

I knock on the manager’s office door and he opens it. “Park Bom-ssi? I didn’t expect you to come today, come on in”

I greet him back and enter his office. I need to discuss about our discoveries with him first before confronting the culprits.

The manager was actually my loyal and trusted employee back at my boutique in Korea. I was in need of a store manager to take care of my new branch here since I won’t be here the whole time. Me and Dara thought that it would be perfect to hire him as the manager here. After all, he fits the categories of a good manager. Luckily, he didn’t have a problem moving to Japan and work as my boutique’s manager there. So, I gladly provide him with an apartment for him to live there as well as promote him. And so far, he did an amazing job as a manager.

I take out a hard disk from my purse which contains all the evidence from last night, including the newest security footage that Jiyong found. I plug in the hard disk into my laptop and show him the footage.

I gave him a little bit explanation about what I’m trying to tell him and it doesn’t take a long explanation for him to understand what I’m trying to show him. He has always been a smart guy even though he’s a bit old, it is one of the reasons why I gave him this job.

“Wow, I can’t believe you actually solved the problem in just two days” he said after he finished watching everything.

“I can’t take all the credit to myself though” I chuckle, “Taeyang here and another friend of ours helped me figure these whole thing out” I smile at Taeyang.

I thanked the manager for telling Dara about his suspicions and tell him to call in those two employees.

“Let’s get this business started”

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A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. Two of my employees came in, the security guy and the new girl. I look at them sternly, as if I’m trying to tell them that they’re going to be in a deep trouble soon.

I really hate when I have to fire my employees because I always feel bad about it. To think that they would lose their job and have to go back to square one and look for another job again, which I know is not easy. But then again, they did this to themselves and they wouldn’t be here right now if they don’t stray away from the right path. Besides, the presence of Taeyang beside me makes me more confident.

“You want to see us?” the security guy said.

“Yes. Please take a seat” I point towards the two empty seat in front of the office desk. Both of them carefully take a seat on the chair. I can see that they’re tensing up, probably sensing that they’re about to get caught.

“Do you guys know why you’re here?” I fold my arms in front of my chest as I talk. They slowly and unsurely shake their heads, but I can clearly see that they know exactly why they’re here.

“Mister manager” I turn to face the manager, “would you take the honor of showing them why they're here?” the manager nodded and shifted the laptop screen towards them.

I watch them staring at the laptop screen for awhile, shock is the only thing painted on their faces. And soon, it turns into guilt after they finished watching it. Both of them look down, unable to make eye contact with me.

“So, new girl. I bet you didn’t think that I would know, huh?” I mock what she said in the footage. She looks up and met my eyes for a second before looking down again. “Care to explain what this is about?”

They both look at each other, as if they are having an inner battle between themselves for who should speak up first. I waited for them to speak up but none of them utters even a single word. “One of you, speak. Now” I said sternly and slightly raising my voice. One thing that my employees need to learn is to never piss me off.

The security guy is the first one to open his mouth and explain about their crime. Turns out, the mastermind behind their crime is the new girl. She’s desperately in need of some extra money to support her mother’s medication bills.

Her mother is diagnosed with cancer and needs to be operated soon. She said that her job pay here isn’t enough to cover the surgery cost yet, which is why she chose to steal from me and sell it to the black market. Apparently, my accessories are quite wanted in the black market and she could sell it for a high price. I can’t believe that my accessories can be sold in a higher price than the price I sold them for, my brand is not even that big yet.

“Why did you choose to help her?” I questioned the security guy, “are you two a couple or what?”

Both of them look at each other shyly, and before they both nodded their heads – I already got my answer.

“So you’re both like partners in crime, huh? How cute” I said as I rested my chin on top of my palms. “But isn’t love where you support each other to become a better person instead of becoming a thief?”

Somehow, my words triggered something inside the new girl. She shot her head right up and face me after I say that. This is the first time since she came into the office that she decided to speak up first.

“What do you know about love, huh? As far as I know, your ex-boyfriend cheated on you” she scoffed.

This time, it’s my turn to get shocked. How come she knows about that when I’ve never told anyone about it except for my closest friends, which is not many.

“How do you know about that?” I glare at her. I can feel that some dark thunder clouds started to form above my head.

“Oh please, I don’t live in a cave. I read news everyday” she said, “I used to be a big fan of your boyfriend or should I say, ex-boyfriend?” she smirks.

I clenched my fist under the table, trying so hard to calm myself while hearing what she has to say. That was the ugliest time in my life and to have her insult about it in front of me really makes my blood boil.

“He inspired me to start a business one day, he’s pretty much my role model. I read every news about him and I always knew that both of you have something going on” she said with a poker face, “when that news about your past relationship with him came out, it confirms my suspicions. But during those years when you’re not with him anymore, there are several pictures of him and a girl – his business partner – leaked on the internet”

“It doesn’t take long for a fan like me to put the puzzle pieces together” she continues, “no wonder he cheated on you, she’s way better than you. A hot, y and successful guy like him is better off with a girl that is on the same level with him” she smirks again.

That’s it, she had crossed my line with her insult. I clenched my fist tighter until my skin turns into white color and I lose control over myself instantly. But Taeyang acted faster than me, he grabs my clenched fist to stop me.

I turn to look at him and my eyes met his. I saw that he’s trying to tell me to calm down with his eyes and it works like a charm. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve punched that girl already. After sensing that I’m calmer, he slowly opens my clenched fist and intertwined his hand with mine. Maybe that’s his way to give me some support.

I took a deep breath, preparing for my comeback. I would never let anyone, especially a person like her stepped all over me.

“You know,” I look at her, “it’s funny to hear you fantasize about other guy when your boyfriend is sitting right next to you” I smirk.

Even though I was at the verge of losing my temper a moment ago, I didn’t fail to realize that jealousy is written all over the security guy’s face after she said that.

“But you’re right, he is indeed hot and y. Especially when you get to see him up close everyday” I feel like this discussion is slowly turning into a woman battle between me and her.

“That was in the past” she tried to defend herself. But little did she know, she’s not going to win.

“Oh dear, I never said it was in the past” I smirk. And it’s true – although I didn’t see him everyday, but at least I get to see him up close again.

This time, I successfully make her speechless. I wonder how she would react if I told her that her “role model” or “idol” is involved in helping me catching the culprits. And was the one who found out that she’s the culprit. That would probably crush her.

But I’m not that bad of a person, it would be so mean of me to do that to a loyal fan. Besides, she saw him as a role model and even inspired to start her own business. It would be better to let her keep on looking up to him and keep on chasing her dream. After all, I’m also proud of Jiyong to be able to inspire someone. I wonder how many other people out there that look up to him.

“Look, both of you” both of them immediately face me. “I’m sorry to say this, but I would have to fire you guys. What you both did was intolerable”

I expect them to say anything or maybe beg me to not fire them but nothing, they just kept quiet and look down. They probably know that what they did had gone too far.

“Both of you are an amazing employee of mine and I’m honored to have you guys in my team. But you guys disappointed me” both of them look at me with a guilty expression, which caused my heart to soften a bit.

This is going to be so hard to deal with…

I sighed and turn towards the security guy, we both made eye contact. “You’re a great security guy you know. I recruit you because I know that you have an incredible skill and you have proved that to me since your first day here. Why do you have to ruin that?”

I heard him apologizing with a low voice – almost like a whisper – but it is loud enough for me to hear.

“And you new girl,” I look at her. “You’ve only been here for less than two months and you’ve already disappointed me” I heard her apologize too.

“Look, you can consider yourself lucky because I’m not planning to take this case to the court. But that doesn’t mean I won’t stop myself from firing you” I continued, “but I’m going to play nice to you, even though you don’t deserve it after stealing from me and insulted my personal life”

“What… do you mean?” she looks at me confusedly.

“I will have my people go to the hospital where your mother is being treated to check whether your story is true or not. And if it turns out to be true, I will gladly donate some of my money to help you cover up your mother’s surgery cost” I smile.

“I will do the checking” Taeyang suddenly says, I turn to look at him and he smiles at me. “If it really turns out to be true, I will also donate some of my money to help you and even cover up all the remaining costs until your mother is fully recovered”

I’m happy to hear that Taeyang supported my action and even volunteered himself to help her. And I know that the new girl is way happier than me after hearing what both of us said because she starts to tear up right now.

“Thank you… thank you so much” she said as she quickly wiped away a drop of tears that escaped her eyes. “And I’m so sorry I insulted you like that, I didn’t mean it”

Her boyfriend immediately wraps his arms around her and caress her shoulder to calm her. It really makes me happy to see that I could be a great help for someone who is in need.

After that, I dismiss them and tell them to pack their belongings and go home. I’m a bit sad that they are officially not a part of my team again. I prefer to call all my employees as a team to make them feel important and to lose two members in one day really upset me. And not to mention, I will have to look for two new candidates to fill up their positions.

I also told the manager to be more careful so things like this won’t happen again in the future. As for the security cameras, I decided to change all of them into a brand new type of cameras. It records longer, records both visual and sounds and it can also be connected to my phone or laptop so I can constantly monitor it. It cost me a fortune, but I know it will be worth it.

“You’re really brave and nice back there” Taeyang smiles at me, “I’m proud of you” he pats my head and I thank him. His support and presence really helps me to go through all that.

“But just so you know, you can talk to me about… you know, your past, if you want to” he said, “I know maybe you haven’t trust me that much to talk about it but I will always be there for you if you want to talk about it”

I think about it for a moment. Taeyang and I have been friends for quite awhile now. He has always been there for me every time I needed him and he’s comfortable to be around with. I have trusted him with several of my problems but I haven’t told him about my personal problems. And I was thinking that maybe, this is the time I would finally trust him about my personal life.

“Would you like to take a stroll around Tokyo with me? And I’ll tell you my stories, that way it won’t be that boring” I chuckle.

“Of course! And nothing about you is boring to me, Bom. I’m glad you trust me” he smiles.

“Let’s go!” and with that, he grabs my hand and pull me out from the boutique.

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I'm sorry guysss, i accidentally deleted chapter 19 and 20 >.< 

So here are the reposts! ^^ 

oh, and it's the official debut of the new character! the girl who stole Jiyong away from Bom in the past.

once again, i'm so sorry :(. Thank you guys for supporting and reading my story! I hope you like it and don't forget to keep on commenting! ^^