A soft knock followed by a murmur was heard as Sulli peaked through the door. “Oppa,” her soft voice called.

“Jinri, you finished your call with your umma?” Minho signalled some room on his bed as he scooched over to allow her to lie down besides him.

“Yeah, but she kept teasing me like a typical mother would.” Sulli scrunched up her nose at the thought of her mother tackling her with teasing jokes. When she peered over, she noticed something was off about Minho. He seemed like he was in another world. “Oppa, are you okay?”

“Hm?” Minho glanced at Sulli for a moment and flashed a smile. “Of course.”

Sulli knew for sure something was wrong. The lines etched in his face begged to differ with Minho’s answer, but she didn’t want to frustrate Minho so she remained silent on that matter. For a few moments, Sulli laid her head down on Minho’s chest, allowing a wave of silence to fill the air. But, instead of feeling awkward, Sulli felt comfortable and refreshed in Minho’s embrace. To feel his strong and sturdy shoulders and hear his strong heartbeat was enough to bring a smile and flush to her face.

“Jinri,” Minho softly whispered. Sulli tilted her head upward, her face on fire upon hearing his husky voice. “Can we stay like this forever?”

“Of course,” Sulli answered. She felt as Minho’s breathing slowly steadied and his head fell on hers. Sulli carefully removed herself from Minho’s now limp hold, covering him up with his blanket. Kneeling besides the bed, Sulli watched his peacefully sleeping figure. The etched lines in his face were no longer visible, leaving behind the smoothness of his tan skin. “You must be really tired.” Sulli frowned. Sometimes she forgot that Minho was a CEO with responsibilities unimaginable to herself. The burden that he carried must be a thousand times worse than what she could ever carry. As she checked her watch, she realized that it was getting late and so she turned off Minho’s lamp and stealthily left the room.

Upon entering her room, she heard her familiar ringtone which contrasted with the silence of the mansion.

“Sulli.”

Sulli nearly choked when she heard the voice. “K-K-Kai?”

“Long time no talk?” Kai stifled a small laugh.

“What do you need?” Sulli tried calming herself down, but the fact that Kai was calling her made her feel uneasy. Maybe she should just treat him like a friend that she hasn’t talked to in a while.

“I miss you Sulli, I really do.” Every inch of Kai’s voice was filled with emotion and pain. “I just wanted to apologize for everything. I’m really sorry that I didn’t have the courage to before. I’m really really sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“Kai, I’ve already forgiven you, but time can’t heal us. I’m not sure that we can revert back to our old selves and have fun like we used to, but maybe we can remain acquaintances.” Sulli was hesitant in her responses, not knowing what to say.

“But I still love you Sulli.” His emotions became jagged as his throat tightened. Guilt was eating him alive. He wanted Sulli before she found out what he had done. “Please, Sulli, just one last chance.” Nothing was said, leaving Kai to await silence.

“Kai…” Sulli was left rendered speechless. She didn’t want to hurt him, and yet she did––her heart and mind were conflicted. “Why did you call so suddenly?” It was the best reply Sulli could muster.

“I can’t say,” Guilt sat on his chest and brain. He knew there was no way of undoing what he had done, but if he could attract Sulli again, maybe she wouldn’t hate him. “But Sulli, what do you think of me?”

“What do I think of you?” Sulli was caught off guard. “You used to be someone that I admired.”

“Thank you.” It was soft, but Sulli heard it. “Goodbye Sulli.”

Sulli sat on her bed, her mind surging in perplexity. For a moment, she felt as if she was talking to her old friend again, the person who she used to call oppa. She hated to admit it, but she missed having her old friend by her side. The memories that she had with Onew, her, and Kai would always own a place in her heart. As she thought of her brother, another form of pain hit her. It had been so long ago since she last talked to her brother. Her umma had made no mentions about him and he had talked to her on the phone. Was he possibly mad that she was dating Minho? Sulli sighed, tucking herself in her covers, feeling as if she was a little girl all over again. She stared at the ceiling until her eyes could no longer remain open and fell asleep.

--------------------------

Sulli arrived at work on her own on purpose to refrain from being caught with Minho. It was weird at work, treating Minho like her boss. He seemed unaffected by it, however.

Suzy exited her office to walk towards Minho’s. She took a side glance at Sulli who was working and smirked. “It’s almost cute to see that she thinks she is so peacefully safe,” Suzy thought. An evil gleam flashed in her eyes as she knew tonight would be the beginning of her ruining of Choi Sulli. Without a knock, Suzy entered Minho’s room and greeted him with an angelic voice, “Good morning oppa.” She would never be defeated by Minho’s words from the previous night. She always got what she wanted, and Minho would be no different.

“Why didn’t you knock?” Minho’s eyes remained attached to his work. He couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose at the strong scent of perfume that Suzy wore. It was weird considering she never used to do that.

“Why would I need to knock? Aren’t we close enough that I wouldn’t need to?” Suzy raised her eyebrows innocently. “Anyways, have you heard that there will be a business party led by the Chief Operating Officer, Park Yungho, and other team members?” She sat down on the chair opposing Minho and leaned in, trying to get closer to Minho.

“I have no interest.” Minho’s eyes still remained on papers.

“Minho oppa, come on, look at me.” Suzy earnestly asked.

Minho sighed in exasperation, glancing at Suzy, who seemed to be wearing too much makeup for his liking. “I’m working Suzy. I said I don’t want to go to the party. You know I’m not that kind of person.”

“But you’re the CEO. What’s the party if the CEO isn’t there to represent his company?” Suzy mentioned.

“Please, I’ve been stressed a lot these past days and we’ve just found the mole. The last I need to worry about is the Chief Operating Officer’s party.” With an annoyed glance, Minho averted his attention to his computer.

“But,” Suzy began a lie, “The COO told me that he wanted you to be there. He said you need to be there to give a monthly report and that we’d discuss about the mole.”

“But he never told me that. I’m sure if he wanted me to, he would address me individually.”

“Oh, well that’s because he couldn’t get ahold of you. When he was calling you, we must have been conversing because he said the phone line wasn’t connecting.” Suzy smiled internally at herself seeing that Minho finally turned to face her.

“I’ll go. Now, I have to continue working, and you do too.” Minho’s expression was firm and serious. He wasn’t messing around.

“Ok, well I’ll see you at six then. Annyeong, oppa!” While exiting his office, Suzy caught Sulli’s eyes, making a quick decision out of the blue. She laughed at the thought. “Sulli, come in my office.”

Sulli dropped her work at hand and left her office chair as Taemin, Victoria, and Luna gave her sympathetic glances.

“Oh Sulli, you look quite beautiful today don’t you.” Of course everyone else had been fooled by Suzy’s perfectly shaped image.

Sulli resisted the urge to throw up on the spot as such a remark.

“Please close the door, dear.” Suzy smiled upon seeing Sulli’s face. Her pained face brought her so much happiness. “Now, do you see all of this?” Suzy pointed to a stack of papers that were useless. They were all files from previous years that could be shredded, but she thought it would be fun that Sulli rearrange all of them. “I want you to arrange them alphabetically and then I want you to type of all of this data again on the computer. Have it finished by today and I’ll check it for you.”

Su