(beta by -dolce-)

--

“Hey, where’s the dress I want?” Kibum's shrill voice echoed inside the photo studio, a man half-ran towards her to hand her the expensive dress. It was very rare. The designer only makes five of it every year.

Kibum smiled in satisfaction as she looked at the dress, giving compliments to the model wearing the dress. “She’s ready.” She announced and Eunhyuk and the other photographer took their positions.

“I want you to watch me and take note of my conversation with Kibum. Do you understand, Heechul?” Heechul was not paying attention and was too busy admiring the dress. Her boss just rolled her eyes in annoyance and approached Kibum. “Hello Kibum.”

“Hi, Zhoumi. Long time no see. How’s my ex-boyfriend? Is Henry still playing violin?”

Zhoumi once again rolled her eyes in annoyance. This was one of her biggest worries in interviewing Kibum. She was holding a grudge towards Zhoumi since Henry broke with her to date Zhoumi.

“Yeah, he’s still playing violin and still has Mochi cheeks. Can we get down to business now so we can ended this interview as soon as possible?”

“Still y as always. Fine, let’s get down to business.”

The tiring interview finally ended, (in Heechul’s opinion) mostly because they kept throwing sarcasm that has no relation to the interview at all. After making sure her boss won’t need anything else, Heechul chose to wander alone inside the studio. She passed by an empty dressing room and saw the dress that she was admiring earlier.

“It’s okay, you can try it.” A husky voice startled her. “Sorry if I surprised you. My name is Yesung. I’m a photographer here.”

“I never saw you before.” Said Heechul as she shook his hand and noticed he had tiny fingers.

“Well, because you rarely come here. Come on, try it and I’ll take your picture.”

Heechul hesitated at first but she really wanted to try the dress. She swore she saw awe and maybe lust in Yesung’s eyes as he eyed her in the long strapless dress exposing the expanse of her back.

“Wait here,” He exclaimed before storming out. He came back few minutes later with a petite girl in tow and a blonde tomboy following closely behind.

“Well, Cinderella, your fairy is here to make you become a princess just for tonight.” Eunhyuk jested and Heechul just stuck her tongue out at her.

“She’s Ryeowook, my girlfriend. She’s a makeup artist here. She’ll fix you up, Heechul-sshi.

After exchanging smiles and pleasantries, Ryeowook quickly put makeup on her face. A few minutes later, Heechul almost couldn’t recognize herself. She knows how to put on makeup although not very often and she wore a dress similar to this one before (during the high school prom of course), but this petite girl seemed like she had the magic touch to make her look like a completely different person.

“You’re beautiful Heechul-sshi, I just accentuated your features with makeup.” She smiled at her.

“Okay, let’s go!” Eunhyuk led them to the studio and after taking pictures, they ended the session.

“You know, Hyuk, she should become a model.” Heechul heard Yesung outside the dressing room while putting back her own clothes. “Yeah, but she loves writing more than modeling. But you’re right, I’ll try to talk to her later.” Heechul smiled after hearing Eunhyuk's answer. She felt proud that she really knows what Heechul wants in life.

Crrrrk.“Eh?” Heechul was dumbfounded to hear the unfamiliar sound. Her eyes widened when she saw that one of ribbons attached on the dress was torn. “Oh, ing . What should I do?” Heechul was starting to panic. Finally, she took the ribbon with her and pretended that nothing happened although she knew that sooner rather than later, someone will discover it and she will be facing her doom.

"Why do you look so nervous, Heechul-ah?" Eunhyuk asked when she saw her biting her fingernails.

Heechul immediately denied it, "Wha-What? No! I'm not nervous . . .uh, I'm going home first, bye!" Heechul rushed to the parking lot. She entered her car and heading to her apartment. She stopped when traffic light turned red and saw an old lady collapsed on the pavement. By impulse, she got out of the car and helped her.

Heechul's face was glum when she paid for the old lady’s medicine. Part of her scolded her for using her rent room money for a stranger but the other part kept telling her that she's just doing charity.

"Hello, ma'am. Are you awake?" She asked softly when she entered her room and the old lady just nodded.

"We already called your family. They'll be here soon. I will go now. Get well soon, ma’am."

"Thank you." She croaked. Heechul just bowed and left the hospital.

But it seemed that bad luck was not done with her today. On her way to her apartment, she rear-ended an expensive sports car. She groaned and hit her head repeatedly on the steering wheel, regretting her carelessness.

A man with well built body wearing aviator sunglasses stepped out of the car. He checked his car’s condition and winced when he saw the damage. He approached the car that hit him and knocked on the driver’s side window. Heechul reluctantly lowered her car window and the man outside her car leant closer to the window, removing his sunglasses. When both of them recognized each other, they couldn’t help but shout at the same time.

“YOU!”

--

Heechul folded her arms and unconsciously tapped her forefinger on her arm as a sign of annoyance. She threw her gaze outside, refusing to stare at the man beside her or at the expensive interior of the car. She thought how cruel life was. She destroyed an expensive gown, helped an old lady but sacrifice her monthly rent money, hit a car and the worst of her bad luck was the owner of the car which was no other than. . .

“I will pay for your car repair, Choi Siwon. Now let me go. I must go somewhere else.”

“You’re not in position to order me around, Kim Heechul.” He said coldly.

“Pfft. I’m not ordering you around. I just voiced my thoughts.” She grabbed the door release but it won’t budge. “! Open the door!”

“Language, Kim Heechul. You never change.” Siwon scolded but Heechul chose to ignore him and shook the car door violently. “Hey! Calm down, Heechul! Heechul!” He gripped both of her hands, forcing Heechul to stop her violent act towards the poor door.

“I will pay. I will pay.” She chanted weakly. She felt her legs turn to jelly when she stared at his deep brown eyes. She didn’t know why, but she feels uncomfortable every time Siwon’s with her inside a small enclosed space like right now. The funny thing was, this was the first time they met after 8 years and again, during unpleasant circumstances.

“Calm down, okay. Now, give me your phone number. After that, you can leave and I’ll call you where you can meet me to pay for my car repair, okay?”

Heechul gulped nervously and nodded. She scribbled down her number when Siwon’s phone rang. “What? Grandma’s in the hospital? Fine I’m on my way.” Siwon unclocked the door and without said anything, Heechul ran to her car and drove away. Somehow, she was not feeling good about this. It felt like something unpleasant will happen again in the future.

She arrived at her apartment and frowned when her stuff was outside her room. She knocked on the landlord’s door, asking for explanation.

“You didn’t pay your rent for three months. I need money Heechul-sshi. Go and find another place,”

“But Ahjusshi! I have the money but give me time, tomorrow I'll pay my rent.” she begged.

“Mianhae, Heechul-sshi. My wife told me to no longer accept you as tenant. Don’t worry, we took your television, refrigerator and your DVD player as payment for your three-month rent.” And he closed the door in front of her face before Heechul can saying anything.

Heechul fumed, kicking the door repeatedly amidst the cursing, “ you! You’re no better than the loan shark! The price of my appliances are bigger than my 3-month rent! Give half my money back, bastard!” But she didn't get any response. She checked her stuff and sighed in relief when he confirmed that they didn’t think anything else. She loaded the stuff in the car and drove to Eunhyuk’s place. “Three bad luck a day is a jackpot.” She muttered while driving across the busy streets of Seoul.

--

“Grandma, are you okay?” Siwon asked as he caressed her wrinkled hand.

“I’m fine. Have you broken up with her?” She asked.

Siwon mentally sighed, couldn’t believe that his grandma can actually think about this when she was laying on the hospital bed. “Yes, I already broke up with her.”

“Why didn’t you fight for your love and just complied to my request?,” She asked again.

“Grandma, don’t talk about this anymore. Rest, okay?” He kissed his grandma’s forehead and headed out after seeing the Doctor beckoning him.

“She’s just tired. Luckily, a young woman helped her.”

“Thank you, Kangin-hyung. Do you know her name?”

“Unfortunately, no, I don’t.. When your grandma came, I was taking care of another patient but the nurse gave me this after knowing that I’m your family doctor. She said the girl was in a hurry and didn’t realize she had dropped her book.” Kangin handed a black book to Siwon and left after he telling him all the information that Siwon need to know.

Curiously, Siwon opened the book and gasped when he realized that the book was actually his book. He lost the book in high school and couldn’t find it until he graduated. Now, he was wondering about person that helped his grandma. The biggest possibility was that she’s also a Neul Paran student but if she’s his junior or his senior or his classmate, he didn’t know. He thought it was a mere coincidence.

-TBC-