Don’t expect too much from me, I don’t wanna lose you either

 

Soori was at the resident's lounge having her break and late lunch. The television shows a music show. And she catches Seungcheol's group at the line-up of performers.

"Wah… SVT has already released a new album again. They are starting to get noticed like BTS did for the international market." Choi You Jung, the ob-gyn resident, commented. 

"Are they really famous? SVT?" Soori asks while eating her set of premium sushi sent by Yi Hwan for her lunch.

“They are. They are like entering the top pyramid now. Well no one can beat BTS now, but SVT… they produce by themselves, choreography by themselves, writing by themselves. They are known as self-producing idols. And still being together as 13 members is not easy, many big groups fall apart either one or two, or even three of them will drop out. But SVT made it, they are still standing together as thirteen members. And seeing them in reality shows, everyone can tell that they are practically a family now. They treat others like how families treat each other.” Kim In Hye, the KPop enthusiast, a pediatric surgery resident, loves KPop more than medical journals or textbooks. She becomes a surgeon just because her parents will disown and leave her penniless. So she gave up her dreams of becoming an idol’s manager or idol’s stylish and chose to become a surgeon following her parent's career. So among all of Soori’s friends at the hospital, she is the only one who is well versed on KPop and idol things.

“Wow, they are good. Keeping thirteen people to stay together in thick and thin is not an easy task.” Yoo Jung.

“The leader is one of a kind. He is well known as a very charismatic person and has this scary aura among other idols.” In Hye.

“Who?” Soori pretends to not know anything.

“SCoups. That one, the one who has blonde hair. I went to their concert in Seoul last 2019. He was awesome, he just had that leader vibe within him. Even the Carats listen to him very well. But he is also forced to sit out on the rest of the world tours that time.” Hye In.

“Why?” Yoo Jung.

“He got that mental illness. Anxiety Disorder hit him so bad that he finally stopped performing during their concert in Jakarta, and went home. And then a week later the agency announced that he will take three months of hiatus to treat his mental illness.” Hye In.

Soori’s eyes keep following Seungcheol who dances happily and sings his new song at the music. She remembers when Seungcheol told her about how Kkuma came into his life. Suddenly Hyesung shows up at the lounge,

“Cousin, are you free tonight?” 

“Nope.” She can already tell that Hyesung is going to take her somewhere.

“Oh.. come on. I need your help picking up a gift for Ryujin.” Hyesung. 

“Just buy a diamond ring and propose to her. That’s the most appropriate gift.” Soori.

“Eyy…. I will do that later.” Hyesung.

“No. I don’t want to accompany you.” Soori. But Hyesung is ignoring her, he just leaves to do his last rounds faster so he can go home early and find a birthday gift for Ryujin.

 

Yi Hwan is visiting the factory in Asan with his team. They are presenting the new car model that the company plans to release. And Yi Hwan's team is in charge of its upgraded features. After the accident where Soori found out that Ah Reum stayed in his house, Ah Reum got out of the house the next day. She found a cheap rooftop room. And moved in right away. Yi Hwan, glancing at her a few times, noticed that she seems to be in a mixed mood today. 

"What happened?" Yi Hwan asks Ah Reum as his team is busy explaining the blueprint. 

"What? Me? Nothing. How about Soori? Are you both okay? Should I talk with her?" Ah Reum.

"We talked it out. We're fine." Yi Hwan lies again. This time to Ah Reum. They are not okay actually, Soori is being skeptical of him, she gives him the silent treatment and does not even reply to his texts properly, it's only yes, no, perhaps, I will, and okay. 

"It's good then." Ah Reum smiles hearing that, knowing that she participated in making a sweet and pretty girl like Soori cry makes her feel bad. She saw how trembling she was when Yi Hwan hugged her and she was crying endlessly in the basement that day. 

"But …. Are you okay? You seem out of focus today." Yi Hwan. 

"Ah…  my brother. He keeps asking if he can just stay at my place. He knows that his tumor is inoperable, so he said he wants to spend time with me instead at the hospital." Ah Reum. 

"So, you will follow his wish?" Yi Hwan. 

"I guess I am. Today is the day, I will pick him up at the hospital and we will come home together. He will stay with me." Ah Reum said it but Yi Hwan can see worries drawing in her face. 

As the team is ready to go back to Seoul, Jun Jae, Nam Il, and Roo In use the company car because Ah Reum said that she will use a taxi.

"Come." Yi Hwan said to Ah Reum after everyone leaves.

"No.. no… it's okay. I can go by myself. You should go." Ah Reum doesn't think it's a good idea to drive with him. 

"Your brother will be uncomfortable to be in a taxi with all of his baggage. Just come with me. It's help from an old friend. You can say that." Yi Hwan. 

Ah Reum is uneasy, but Yi Hwan has a point. It's for Dong Gu. They go and pick up Dong Gu from the hospital. Dong Gu is so happy to meet Yi Hwan for the first time. They even make promises to meet again and go to accompany Yi Hwan playing golf next time. After he safely takes Ah Reum and Dong Gu to Ah Reum's new house, he takes a tour of the house, he checks everything from the front door to the bathroom. He memorizes that he should change the lock of her front door, the bedding that Ah Reum and Dong Gu use seems not comfortable enough, and a wider table for the living room so they also can use it for having their meal, he also notices that Ah Reum only have one saucepan in her kitchen, different with Soori that has all the pans and kitchen appliances that she needs for her cooking hobby. He will ask someone to come here and fix everything, then he will text Koo Myeo Yoon, his brother’s secretary. He writes all that he wants for Ah Reum’s house. If he can, he wants to buy her a new apartment. But that will only do him another wrong for Soori. But seeing her living like this, while he lives in comfort just makes his heart hurt and gives him a headache. She is still as pretty as he remembers, the way she smiles turns out to still do the magic for him. And it’s not right, he has Soori now and Soori is his priority. The house is spacious enough as he looks around, he already calculates that he can do this and that to this house, he just needs to start it immediately. As he leaves the house, he stops by the owner’s house and asks her permission for renovation; he even pays the rent fees for a whole year upfront and asks her to not tell Ah Reum about this.

“She might have difficulties in paying next month’s rent and another month because she will prioritize her brother’s health. That’s why please accept this and going forward you can call me if I have to pay the next year’s rent.” Yi Hwan.

“Aigoo, that poor girl. Don’t worry about the rent, I usually never rent the rooftop to anyone because my daughter used to use it for her room. But now she is married and lives abroad with her husband, so I thought of her as my daughter when I met her. Just take the money, I really don’t mind.” The owner is someone with a heart of gold and Yi Hwan thanked her for that.

“Please don’t do that, just accept this to help you pay the utility bills. And please call me if anything happens.” Yi Hwan asks her politely.

“Are you her boyfriend? She must be a very kind girl to have someone as responsible and handsome as you.” The owner praised her. And strangely Yi Hwan doesn’t correct her at all, though he is not Ah Reum’s boyfriend, but he wants her to think that way.

 

While at the same time, Soori is having dinner with Hyesung after they spend an hour walking around Shinsegae, looking for Ryujin’s gift. 

“Do you think she will like it?” Hyesung stares at the limited edition bag that he just bought based on Soori’s recommendation.

“No one will hate it, if she doesn’t want it I will be the first who wears it to work on Monday.” Soori munched her dinner.

“Okay, I believe you. But Soori, keep it only for yourself, me, and Ryujin, we are planning to get married in the new year.” Hyesung. Soori just drops her jaw, she doesn’t expect this, well Ryujin does seem so weird lately. She keeps avoiding hanging out with them, she said she was not feeling well and she even took leave a few days ago.

“What??!!!! Really??!!!! New Year???!!!!” Soori is shocked and Hyesung just stuffed the meat into so she stops screaming.

“I told you to stay quiet!! Eo…. we will. Our parents will meet next week to plan the wedding. Ryujin wants a small wedding but our parents insist on having a big wedding, you know my parents. So if the parents can’t agree with Ryujin, we are likely to have a runaway wedding with just us.” Hyesung.

“Crazy….. Haraboeji will hang you alive.” Soori laughs. 

“Ryujin is pregnant,” Hyesung said it quietly