Chapter 18 – Kwaenchanha

After the small period of hysteria Seohyun showed at the airport, she remained exceptionally quiet the entire car ride back. Her father looked into the backseat where the girl with dark streaks of smeared mascara on her cheeks currently sat. It worried him that after her five minutes of crying, she was so calm. Crying would let her get rid of all the pent up frustration she had, but all she did was stare blankly out the window.

“Seohyun ah…” he hesitantly spoke up. “Do you want anything to eat? You didn’t eat before since you were afraid of getting it on your dress.” He wanted to be the caring father he needed to be, but he had no idea how to deal with the situation. That was one of the biggest downsides to being a single father. Had his wife been there, she would know how to fix everything.

“Ani appa. I’m fine,” she replied with a feigned smile. “I’m really fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

President Seo opened his mouth to speak up but couldn’t find any words to say to her. She was obviously not fine. The girl probably had enough anger and despair in her to last an entire lifetime. Even so, if she insisted she was fine, there was nothing else he could do. All he could do was drive her home and hope that she would come back to her senses soon.

“Lady Seohyun!” Seon Nyeo called out. Seohyun’s assistant ran over to the abandoned bride with a look of distress plastered on her face. Seohyun was like a daughter or a granddaughter to the older woman. It broke her heart to see her little girl in such a state. “Let’s get you upstairs and out of that dress.” Seohyun nodded weakly while shuffling over to the front door of her massive house.

“Seon Nyeo, could you please take care of her extra well today?” Seohyun’s father begged. “I… I don’t know what to do.” Seon Nyeo  also cared very much for the head of the Seo household. He was much like a nephew or another relative to her. It pained her to see the strong and stubborn man so vulnerable.

“Ne, I will try my hardest to see that everything is fine.”

Seon Nyeo could only curse at Hyuna and Joon in her mind while guiding Seohyun back to her room. The elder knew that Hyuna would be up to no good. Many times had she berated Hyuna for being so greedy and rude, but Seohyun always stopped her. The kind hearted girl overlooked all of Hyuna’s faults and defended her fiercely. The woman had high hopes for Joon. She loved the way that Seohyun became more active because of him, but now all those praises went down the drain.

“Seon Nyeo, I appreciate you trying to help me,” Seohyun began. “I need to be alone and get some sleep right now.” Seon Nyeo would have protested, but the dejected woman had so much sorrow in her voice, she couldn’t deny her request.

“Call me if you need anything,” the assistant said while pulling her into a hug. “Please get better Lady Seohyun. I hate seeing you like this. Don’t be upset for those two pieces of trash. They will be hurt where it hurts them the most in due time.”

Seohyun nodded weakly before lying in her bed. She didn’t even have the strength to take off the wedding dress that was now a symbol of her rejection. Her brain kept telling her to cry. The only thing her body knew what to do in that situation was cry, but she couldn’t. She tried her hardest to force tears and sobs to come out of her, but they were blocked off by something. If she couldn’t even cry, how was she expected to get over it?

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Sunlight streamed into the room in which Yonghwa slept in, forcing his eyes open. After stretching to get the tightness out of his body, he looked out the window and noticed how the world still kept on going even after what happened the day before. After a deep sigh, he set out to find something to fill him up. Even though he hadn’t been the one stood up yesterday, he couldn’t eat. Everything seemed like a bad nightmare that he would wake up from soon enough.

“Hey, you ready for breakfast?” Eun Jung asked softly. “You should eat since you didn’t even look at the food last night.”

“Yeah, I should…” he responded absentmindedly.

Because he loved Seohyun so much, he felt all her pain. His entire body felt weak and numb after yesterday’s events. When he saw her crying so hysterically, he felt his soul jump out of his body. It was then replaced by a demon’s tainted soul that wanted revenge. He felt so much murderous intent, so much bloodlust inside him, that it scared him. All he wanted at that moment was to drive something through the hearts of those two traitors.

“Seohyun’s dad called last night,” Eun Jung spoke up while setting the table. “He says Seohyun isn’t doing too well and he wants us to go cheer her up.”

“Has she been crying the whole time? Poor girl,” Jang Woo commented. It was not only Yonghwa that felt her pain, but all her close friends. Seohyun didn’t deserve that. She was such a good person that nobody could hate. It would be a crime against nature to hurt such a pure soul.

“No, her dad says all she’s done is sit on her bed and stare out the window. She hasn’t cried a single drop except for the time we were at the airport,” Eun Jung explained. “I guess she’s just that traumatized about it.”

Before the could bring their chopsticks to their mouth for their first meal of the day, the heavy metal door shot open. Upon opening, a familiar face was revealed to them. Krystal was breathing heavily as if she had just run a marathon in order to get to the door. What worried everyone the most was the somber expression she wore. The last thing they needed was more worries after what happened the day before.

“Krystal? What’s wrong? What happened?” Eun Jung asked in worry.

“She’s gone,” Krystal said without further explanation. Everyone present looked at each other as if asking ‘Who is gone?’ but remained silent. “Seohyun unnie… she’s gone.”

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Yonghwa asked in an excited voice.

“I wanted to go apologize to her for being so mean to her lately and try to cheer her up,” Krystal began to explain. “I got to her house and her dad told me that he went up to her room but she was gone.”

“What? How can she be gone?” Eun Jung questioned.

“She went on her honeymoon alone,” Krystal stated. “Her credit card history shows that she bought a ticket to Hawaii where she and Joon were going to spend their honeymoon.” Yonghwa was completely snapped out of the stupor he had been in since he woke up and jumped into action. He quickly put on his shoes before snatching Jang Woo’s keys from the small hook near the door.

“Oppa where are you going?”

“Isn’t it obvious Krystal? I’m going to go see what the hell I can do to bring that girl back to Korea,” Yonghwa stated in a matter of fact way. Eun Jung and Jang Woo sprung off their seats to hold him down. Even if Yonghwa did want to help, they couldn’t let him drive anywhere in his current state of mind. Yesterday they had to almost tie him to his seat in order to calm him down.

“You can’t leave like this. You don’t even know what you’re doing Yonghwa,” Jang Woo stated. “Calm down and let’s make a plan alright? You know you can’t just make heated decisions like this.”

Yonghwa wanted to shake them all off and run to that door. He needed to do something or else he would go insane. The frustrated young man felt so useless. Not only did he continue to beat himself up about how he never caught onto the cheaters, but he also felt like he needed to help Seohyun get better.

“Let him go,” Krystal commanded in a serious voice. Everyone present turned their heads to the younger girl in surprise. Krystal would be the absolute last person in the world that would allow Yonghwa to help Seohyun. Eun Jung, Jang Woo, and even Yonghwa all believed they heard wrong so they let Krystal speak again. “Guys let him go.”

“Krystal what are you saying?” Jang Woo asked confusedly.

“Let him go. We have to. He is the only person that can talk any sense into Seohyun,” Krystal unwillingly admitted. The WooJung couple hesitantly let Yonghwa go and allowed the Jung siblings to have a much needed talk. “I want to stop you. I want to stop you so bad that I wish I had some rope on me to tie you up inside my closet.”

Yonghwa could sense the seriousness she had in her words. Krystal only spoke like that when she was sure of what she was saying. “Krystal…”

“Even after all of that, I know I have to let you go,” she conceded. “I have no right to interfere with your life and I’m worried about Seohyun unnie. If anyone will be able to help her through this, it will be you.”

Yonghwa dropped his guard he normally put up with Krystal when Seohyun was the topic of the conversation. The younger woman shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out a blue piece of plastic. Yonghwa’s eyes shot open once he reached over to grab it. It was a credit card, and one without any limit at that. With it, he had virtually unlimited funds to do whatever he pleased.

“Seohyun’s dad gave that to me to give to you. He believes you’re the only one that can help her through this.” Krystal walked closer to her brother to give him a hug before he set out to the island paradise where Seohyun had run off to. “You know how strongly I feel about all of this. I really hate everything you do for her even though you just end up getting hurt. I want to tell you to not go so bad, but I can’t.”

“Krystal, it means so much that you’re doing this for me,” Yonghwa answered with tears in his eyes.

“Just hurry up and go,” Krystal demanded while pushing away from him. She hated feeling like a weak little girl since she was such an independent and strong woman. The fact that she was on the verge of crying in her brother’s arms made her self-conscious. “Don’t wait too long or I might regret letting you go.”

Yonghwa gave his little sister his goofy smile he kept hidden for the past day before ruffling her hair cutely. “Thanks a lot Krystal. I owe you big time.” Krystal crossed her arms when he did that to try to keep up the harsh attitude she was known for.

“Seohyun, you better be alright you crazy girl,” Yonghwa told himself as he threw whatever clothes he could into a small suitcase. It hadn’t been long since he was back in Korea yet he was already leaving the country so soon. He only hoped he could find her soon or else she might end up doing something stupid.

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Seohyun stepped out of the taxi that had driven her from the tiny Kapalua airport to the resort where she and Joon chose to have their honeymoon. In the pictures, the place seemed to be the perfect spot to have their newlywed getaway. The beaches had the whitest, cleanest sand they had ever seen. Palm trees covered every open area they could possibly occupy. The stunned girl looked up at the hotel she would be staying at and was awed by all the beauty of the area.

“Welcome to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at the Kapalua Resort,” a dark skinned, exotic looking woman greeted in English. “We greatly appreciate your stay here at our hotel and we hope that you enjoy every second of your trip.”

“Thank you,” Seohyun replied in her awkward English. Being from a rich background, she had many private tutors help her with every subject. She could say with confidence she had better English than the kids who went to normal schools, but she still had an accent. She almost giggled when she realized Joon’s English would be even more awkward than hers was.

“Ugh, I can’t think of Joon now,” she thought to herself. “I’m here to enjoy myself.” Seohyun’s friendly smile faltered while she was in her thoughts but she quickly regained her composure.

The woman asked her for identification as well as a credit card for payment. Seohyun had made the reservations almost two months ago back when Joon was still with her. Once more she thought of Joon and it soured her mood. After all, she supposed it would be impossible to not remember him since the pain of his betrayal still stung her heart.

“Thank you Mrs. Lee,” the woman responded. “You and your husband may put all your luggage in the hands of our employees. They will help you to your rooms. Where is Mister Lee?” Seohyun felt herself blush with the way the woman called her Mrs. Lee. She hadn’t even gotten married to Joon so her name hadn’t changed. Also, what was she going to do about Joon? Embarrassment coursed through her when she realized the woman would judge her for coming to her honeymoon without her husband.

“He had a family problem,” Seohyun lied. “He will be here in a little bit.” The clerk found it strange for someone to come without their husband to their honeymoon, but she wasn’t allowed to judge anyone else. The woman pointed Seohyun over to the bellboy that would take her things to her room. 

All along the way up to her room, Seohyun felt extremely self-conscious about her situation. Everywhere she looked there were couples on their honeymoon. People from every corner of the world were present in pairs, except for her. She had to walk the lobbies and halls alone while everyone else walked by holding hands. This only saddened her more since she had such high expectations of her honeymoon. Ever since she was a little girl she had everything planned out.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” the polite man said before leaving. Seohyun had the urge to bow to him in respect but quickly remembered that she wasn’t in Asia anymore. 

Seohyun didn’t even bother to take a look around the room she was supposed to spend a week with her husband in. Nothing appealed to her except the bed that seemed to call out to her. The view from her window was exquisite, but it didn’t matter. All she could think about was how she had potentially ruined her entire life by choosing Hyuna as a friend and Joon as a partner.

“Seohyun what are you doing with your life?” she asked herself angrily. “What am I doing here?” She contemplated just packing up all her things in order to head back to Korea, but sleepiness caught up with her. She slept the entire flight but for some reason, her eyes felt heavy still. The only thing that could keep her from hurting and thinking about the events of the past days was sleep.

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Yonghwa walked around the small airport he arrived at aimlessly. He continuously read the email Seohyun’s father sent him on his phone, but he couldn’t make sense of anything. The names of everything in this place were so foreign and weird even if he was technically back in the United States. The names on the signs seemed to have too many vowels than they needed to have.

“Excuse me sir are you lost?” an old Caucasian man asked Yonghwa. “Do you need any help?” Yonghwa almost felt insulted with the way the man was speaking to him. The older man was speaking as slow as possible, probably since Yonghwa looked like a lost tourist that couldn’t even speak English.

“Yes I am. Could you help me find my way?” Yonghwa answered, surprising the man. “I’m looking for the Kapalua resort. How would I get there?”

“You could hop on into my taxi and I could take you there in no time.” Yonghwa smiled towards the man while following him to the yellow car that would take him to where he hoped Seohyun was. The ride was comfortable as the man asked Yonghwa why he was in Hawaii. He had to lie and say that he was meeting his wife for his honeymoon. The man found it strange that they would come separately, but he wouldn’t question it.

“Thank you so much for the ride,” Yonghwa responded while handing him some money. “I really appreciate it.” The man bid Yonghwa farewell, leaving him to head towards the hotel.

There was one thing Yonghwa was dreading and it was not being able to find a room. Seohyun’s father gave him a credit card with basically unlimited funds on it. He hated taking money from people, but he dropped his pride since it was related to the love of his life. Money wasn’t an issue. It was the fact that the rooms in the hotel were always occupied. Honeymooners booked them months in advance. The odds of him finding an empty room were probably 1 in a million.

“Hello, are you here to check in?” the woman that checked Seohyun in earlier that morning greeted. Yonghwa looked over at a sign on a counter that read: ‘Rooms available only on reservation. Sorry for any inconvenience.’ He sighed when he realized that he was pretty much screwed over since there was no way he was going to get a room now.

“Uh… yes I am,” he hesitantly replied. The woman was about to ask him for his name and room number when a smile was brought to her face.

“Ah, you’re Mr. Lee aren’t you? Are you Joon Lee?” the woman asked, putting the family name last as in the Western custom. “Your wife is Joohyun is she not?” Yonghwa almost laughed at the way the clerk butchered Seohyun’s name, but he kept quiet. He lucked out and he knew it. He didn’t know what room Seohyun was staying in and he was sure nobody would tell him. If he impersonated Joon, he risked getting into trouble, but it was the only lead he had.

“Yes I am,” he lied.

“Thank goodness you’re here. I hope your family problem was solved.” Yonghwa had no idea what the lady was talking about but he figured that Seohyun probably made that up when she was asked about her husband’s whereabouts. “Your wife seemed so sad when she got here that it almost broke my heart. The way she looked at everyone else so dejectedly was so depressing.”

Yonghwa’s face twisted into a small frown when he heard that. Seohyun was always an easy person to read. This woman who was nobody in Seohyun’s life could accurately describe the girl’s feelings without any effort. It saddened him to think that Seohyun’s dreams since she was a teenager were shattered. “Ah… thank you for taking care of her,” he awkwardly replied.

“Our bellboy will take you up to your room,” the explained when the person next to her greeted him with a smile. “Enjoy your stay at our resort. I hope you can make your wife happy. I have a knack for knowing how long couples that come here last and I can tell you two will be together forever.”

Yonghwa smiled in response to that comment before following the man carrying his bags. There was only one piece of luggage that Yonghwa was allowed to carry and that was his guitar case. He figured he would be able to cheer her up a bit with his music before bringing her back to Korea. He hated to waste all the money Seohyun spent on this trip, but she had to come back. It was unhealthy for her to run away to another country alone just so she could cry herself to sleep every night.

“Here you are sir,” the bellboy indicated when they got to Seohyun’s room. Yonghwa slid the keycard into the slot and noticed that Seohyun was missing from the room. “It seems the young lady went to the beach. She just left under an hour ago. You might be able to catch her.” Yonghwa thanked the young man with a bigger tip than he was used to before dropping all his things on the floor.

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Seohyun walked around the now darkening beach barefoot without a care in the world. The sound of the waves reminded her of the trip to Busan they all made, but there was somewhat of a difference. In Busan the waves were familiar and comforting. They made her feel at home as if somehow the rocks in Korea knew how to speak her language when the waves collided with them. In Hawaii, they sounded fiercer and foreign. At first she thought a stroll on the beach could bring her comfort, but it didn’t feel right. Something was missing.

She sat on a lone rock in the middle of the beach while looking up at the twilit sky. The sun had disappeared, leaving the blue sky to turn into an array of dazzling reds while a dark blue slowly crept up on it. The lonely girl sighed deeply to clear her mind of all the negative thoughts that plagued her mind. While in her daze she heard the light strumming of a guitar coming from nearby, but she paid no attention to it.

(The song is It’s Okay Even If It Hurts which is by our lovely Seohyun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mVYcmc0U9g )

It's okay even if I can't see
It's okay even if I can't breathe
If I could meet you only once
If I could give you all my heart

Yonghwa lightly played his guitar as he rested his back on a palm tree close to the resort. He spent a good hour looking for her on the enormous beach, but he hadn’t even caught sight of her. He figured if she was going to come back, he would run into her if he stayed near the hotel. That gave him a chance to sing his heart out while he waited.

How much more do I have to miss you
So that maybe you could know my heart?
How much more do I to cry and cry
So that tears could be dry?

Does it hurt because of loving you?
Is it the punishment for loving you so much?
Even though you say that I can lose everything
It's okay if I just have you to be with me

If anyone were to listen to him they would be in tears from the heartbreak in his voice. The lyrics spoke about a man who desperately wanted the person of his desires to pay attention to him. He wanted to find Seohyun and sing this to her directly, but it wasn’t something he had the courage to do, even if it was about her.

Even if my heart is broken when loving you
Even if my heart is separated when waiting for you
It's okay because I love you
It's okay even if I get hurt

The farther I turn away so as to forget you
The more I miss you, What can I do
Even when you keep telling me it's not right just to keep me away from you
You are the only one to me, What can I do

Seohyun’s thoughts were broken when she caught the use of her native language amongst the guitar notes. She looked around the beach to see where the faint music was coming from and spotted a figure sitting under a palm tree in the distance. A smile fire lit the area around him, but she couldn’t really make out a face from how far she was.

Does it hurt because of loving you?
Is it the punishment for loving you so much?
Even though you say that I can lose everything
It's okay if I just have you to be with me

Even if my heart is broken when loving you
Even if my heart is separated when waiting for you
It's okay because I love you
It's okay even if I get hurt

Seohyun walked closer and closer to the man singing under the tree with so much sadness in his lyrics. When she had been far away, she couldn’t really make out what he was saying. She hadn’t heard any of the song until the last few words he sung until just now. If she had heard the rest of the song, she would have heard Yonghwa’s honest thoughts.

Even if I get poisoned and pricked
My love for you can't stop
I will wait for you until forever
I will endure even if it hurts and hurts

Because of loving you more
It's okay even if tears fall down
It's okay even if it hurts...

Yonghwa sighed as he strummed the last chord on his guitar before getting up to wait for Seohyun in the room. Before he could head out to the hotel, he noticed the girl he was looking for standing right next to him. Seohyun stared him down, not believing the sight before her eyes. “Y-Yonghwa? Is that you?”

The fire cast long shadows across the faces of the pair that just met, preventing them from clearly making out who it was they were staring at. Yonghwa stepped forward closer to the fire, revealing himself to the startled girl. “Yeah, you’re not seeing things. It’s me.”

Seohyun felt herself step closer to him to actually make sure that it was him. Something about the situation made her not want to believe it. Another thing that bothered her was the song he was singing. She only caught the last few lines of it, but they sounded as if they were directed towards her. He was saying he would “Wait for you forever” and “I will endure even if it hurts.” The song had to be about the girl that betrayed them both or herself. Even she knew Yonghwa wasn’t stupid enough to still want to see Hyuna, so it couldn’t be about her. Deep, deep down in the back of her mind, she hoped that it was about herself, but the thought disappeared as soon as it materialized.

“W-what are you doing here?” she suttered, still surprised from what was going on. “How did you know I was here? How did you get here?”

“That’s not important. What is important now is that we have to go back home Seohyun,” Yonghwa explained. “Do you know how worried your father was when he found out you left in the middle of the night to a different country?”

Seohyun felt guilty for having worried everyone in Korea, but she needed time to think. She knew that if she told everyone she was leaving, they would have tried to stop her. The only way she could get away was if she did it secretly. “I’m sorry, but it was the only way I could get away. I needed to leave Korea and clear my mind. I’m sure you know how I feel since you were betrayed too.”

“Still, it’s not the right thing to do. I know you want to be alone, but we’re here to help you. Everyone wants to make you happy again, no matter how hard it will be,” Yonghwa spoke for all his friends. Seohyun smiled for the first time in the last two days when she heard about how worried everyone was for her. “Come on, we can talk about it later. Let’s head to the airport and go home.”

Before Yonghwa could get very far, Seohyun ran up to him and grabbed a hold of his arm from behind. Yonghwa spun around to meet her eyes filled with betrayal, sadness, and sorrow, but also determination. “I’m not going back, at least not yet. I paid for this vacation and heaven knows I need it. I can’t go back to Korea now, it’s too painful.”

“Seohyun, please. We need to go back. I promised your father I would bring you back,” Yonghwa explained. “You can’t stay here like this.”

Seohyun let her hand travel down to hold his without any hesitation. Yonghwa looked down at the place where their hands were linked and felt heat rush up to his face. His first reaction was to quickly let it go, but instead continued to hold it. He felt her give his hand a squeeze before she spoke up again. “Can you stay with me?”

“Eh? What was that?”

“Umm…” Seohyun shyly muttered. “Can you not go back? Can you stay with me for the week?”

“Seohyun we have to go back…” he responded quietly. As much as he wanted to take her offer, it wasn’t right. She was hurt and vulnerable right now. He feared he could end up taking advantage of her weakened state and do something they would both regret.

“I wanted to be alone at first when I came here,” she professed. “Now that you’re here though, I don’t want you to leave. Could you not go back to Korea please? Can you stay here with me?”

Yonghwa opened his mouth to protest again. He had to stop himself from saying yes. He couldn’t stay with her. No matter what, he made up his mind to take the girl back to Seoul. Seohyun sensed he was going to say no once more which made her make a bold move. In order to prevent him from speaking again, she pressed her body against his forcefully.

“Seohyun ah…”

“Please, don’t go,” she begged in a pained whisper.

Yonghwa could sense that she was hurting and that someone needed to be there to get her through it. For the first time since the airport, tears began to run down Seohyun’s cheeks. After all the times she tried to make herself cry, she could only do it in Yonghwa’s arms. The warmth of his body, the swell of his chest when he breathed in, and the sound of his racing heartbeat consoled her. She finally had some kind of assurance that things would be okay.

“We have to go…” he pointed out once more. “We can’t stay here, it’s not right. Your dad really wants you back home.”

Seohyun’s body began to shake violently as her silent crying turned into full on sobbing. That prompted Yonghwa to return the gesture and hug her back. He placed one hand on her back and another on her head to bring her closer to him. His right hand slowly caressed her long hair in efforts to calm her down. He could feel his shirt being soaked by the massive amount of tears coming out of her eyes, but he ignored it.

“Why did this happen to me?” Seohyun cried in despair. Yonghwa hadn’t ever heard anyone so heartbroken in his life before. Even when he had been at his worst, he never sounded like that. Even when Seohyun hurt him so much that he felt like dying, never had he cried like that. “Why did they do that to me?”

The crying girl startled him with the way she was bawling her eyes out. Seohyun was always a very strong girl. She had a weak body, but she never ever cried. The sickly girl endured everything that life threw at her. Even when she was in the hospital on the verge of being knocked out from the pain, a smile always found its way onto her face. The mean words other people spoke never got to her once. Crying was something Seo Joohyun just never did.

Yonghwa desperately wanted to make things right. He wished he had a genie he could tell his wishes to. All three wishes would be spent on making her happy. Even though he would have the chance to finally have her, he wouldn’t take it. All that would matter to him was her happiness. He wanted to have Joon and Hyuna in front of him to force them to apologize to Seohyun on their knees. The anger filled man wanted to humiliate them so much that they would be considered worse than a pair of mangy dogs. It just wasn’t fair that such an innocent soul had been wounded so harshly. It was a crime almost as cruel as killing an angel.

“Is it because of me? Is it my fault?” Seohyun continued to cry. “It’s because I’m not good enough that Joon did that to me. It’s because Joon was unhappy with what I lacked that he went to look for it in another girl.” Those words only made Yonghwa want to kill Joon even more. How dare he ever make Seohyun feel inferior?

“No…” Yonghwa growled, startling her out of her self-pity. “You’re not to blame for this.” Yonghwa pulled her off of him and gave her a harsh glare. “Listen to me. You, Seo Joohyun, are one of the most wonderful, extraordinary, and beautiful people on this planet. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Don’t you EVER blame yourself for this.”

“Yonghwa…”

“Kwaenchanha,” he whispered in her ear. “Everything is okay now. Don’t worry about it anymore.”

The tears continued to run down her face without stop, but her sobbing finally stopped. Yonghwa felt relief as his words got through to her. “Thanks Yonghwa. I’m sorry for being so pitiful. It’s just… It’s been a long day. I think I need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah I think you’re right.” He threw some sand over to small fire in order to head back to the hotel. “I kind of had to become Joon for me to get into the room. I hope you don’t mind that,” Yonghwa joked in hopes to lighten up the atmosphere.

“I do actually,” Seohyun teased in an angry voice. “I don’t want to spend my honeymoon with the jerk that stood me up at my wedding.”

The hotel clerk immediately smiled when she saw the new couple walking up to their room. The woman did truly have a gift for seeing everyone’s true feelings which let her see what would happen to them in the future. It was obvious to anyone that saw them that they were meant to be together. The natural way they laughed and brought happiness to each other’s lives showed it. If only they could see it themselves, everything would be set right.

“Go to sleep,” Yonghwa commanded once they got to the room. Seohyun noticed the way he found a blanket to set up on the couch and frowned. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Seohyun walked over to the couch and ripped the blanket off of him. “Hey what are you doing? I’m trying to sleep here.”

“Sleep on the bed,” she ordered shyly. “I don’t want you to complain in the morning that I didn’t let you sleep well.”

“Yah! How can an unmarried woman ask a man to sleep with her on the same bed?” Yonghwa asked in a tone that Seohyun couldn’t determine whether he was serious or not. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Hyunnie… I thought you came here because you were heartbroken about your lost love. If only everyone here knew you were trying to trick innocent men into sleeping with you.”

“Y-Yah…” she stuttered. “Don’t put it that way.” Yonghwa burst out laughing when Seohyun’s face became her usual shade of red when he . “I was just worried that your back would be sore in the morning.” Yonghwa continued to laugh hysterically, turning her embarrassment into anger. “Forget it then! Stupid Yonghwa…”

“Arasseo, I’ll give you my innocence since you want it so bad,” Yonghwa replied. He hopped onto the bed and patted a space for Seohyun to lie on. She scoffed at his actions, but kept comments to herself.

“Let me go change into my pajamas. I suggest you do the same since sleeping in jeans will be uncomfortable.”

After a few minutes of being separated, they were both in more comfortable clothes. Yonghwa decided to sleep in a plain white t-shirt and some flannel pajama bottoms. Seohyun’s choice of sleeping attire included a two piece pink pajama set that looked someone in 1^st grade of elementary school would wear.

“You look like a five year old in that,” Yonghwa commented rudely when both were in bed.

“And you look like an idiot all the time but I never say anything,” she answered back. Yonghwa scoffed at her comment without adding more fuel to the fire even if he really wanted to keep the banter going. She needed to sleep off all the things going through her head in order for her to feel better in the morning.

“Just go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” Yonghwa turned over on his side to avoid as much contact with her as possible. Even if he wanted to be with her and make her his, it wasn’t right. If he ever made a move, it would have to be when she was in her right state of mind. He would be a total scumbag if he took advantage of the situation she was in.

“Did you really mean what you said back on the beach?” she asked in her trademark shy voice. “I mean… you don’t have to mean it, but did you?”

“I don’t know did I?” he asked sarcastically.

Seohyun reached over to turn him so he faced her after his comment. She slowly inched over to where he was before nestling herself in his arms just like they had been on the beach. “Thanks for being here. I really appreciate everything you do for me.” Yonghwa uncomfortably tried to push her off of him, but she would just hold on tighter. Tears formed in her eyes only this time they were made of happiness.

“Whoa what’s wrong? Are you okay? Why are you crying?” he asked. He hadn’t even been able to protest her hugging him against his will. Well, it wasn’t really against his will since he enjoyed it, but she didn’t really ask for permission.

“I’m just glad that I have someone that will always be there for me. You’ll never let me down right Yonghwa?” she sleepily asked him. A yawn escaped before she nodded off into the world of dreams where she could finally get away from the problems the real world brought her. Of the tears that threatened to run down her cheeks, only one managed to do so.

Yonghwa brought her closer to him and gave her a protective hug. Before the lone tear of happiness made it too far, he brushed it aside while caressing the soft porcelain skin of her cheeks. “I’ll never let you down Seohyun. As long as I live, I’ll always be there for you.” With those last words, he let himself melt into her embrace and finally fall asleep. It wasn’t right to sleep with a girl who had just a few days ago was going to be married to his best friend, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was making sure that she would feel safe enough to sleep without worrying about anything else.

Author’s Note: I really, really enjoyed writing this chapter. The beginning bits were boring but it really picked up at the end in my opinion. Krystal’s permission to go find Seohyun was one of the highlights of this story since she’s been against it from the beginning. Also, Seohyun and Yonghwa’s heartbreaking hug on the beach really got to me. I hope you all enjoyed it. YongSeo will be all over the place in the next chapter so be ready for it. I think you all deserve it after the crappy chapters from before.

p.s. the resort is real by the way. I’m just going to be throwing in my own little made up places in it hehe.