“Hey, Uki. There’s a pile of clothes that needs to be washed when you have time. Make sure you separate the lights, darks, and whites, too. Oh, and only use Gain detergent and Snuggle fabric softener, yeah?”

My deadpanned gaze slowly rose from my laptop screen as I shot Void one of the dirtiest looks I could possibly muster. You would think that, after almost two months of Void taking full advantage of this “slave” thing and telling me what to do every chance he got, I’d be used to it by now.

Nope.

Every time he came near me, every time he opened his mouth to speak, every time he so much as looked at me, my irritation levels would spike to all-time highs. I mean, before, I was willing to tolerate him, and I was even willing to put up with him ordering me around since I knew that I screwed up big time, but this was quickly getting old, and quite frankly, my anger towards him has simply been building up, and I was only waiting for the huge eruption that was bound to happen sooner or later. And when it does… Boy, do I feel bad for everyone within a twenty-mile radius of me.

“I’ll get to it later,” I mumbled, knowing that it was the best answer I could give lest I wanted to shoot up and rip him apart just to satisfy the anger residing deep, deep within me.

“Um… No, you should get to it now,” Void replied, giving me his all-toothed smile.

Anger flashed through my eyes as my grip on the sides of my laptop tightened so I wouldn’t be tempted to punch him square in the face. Letting out a slow breath, I calmly—sorta—said, “Void, I said I’ll do it later. As of right now, I am busy, meaning that I will get to it when I have time. Now please, walk away before I’m tempted to inflict major, bodily harm on you.”

My irritation levels spiked to a dangerous level when I heard him chuckling at me, enjoying the sight of me being upset with him. I unconsciously grinded my teeth as he said, “What could you possibly be busy with? All you’re doing is surfing the internet. What, are you creeping on your Sea?”

I twitched when he mentioned Donghae. What nobody in the dorm knows is the fact that these last two months, Donghae and I were slowly back on the road to recovery. Well, not really recovery per say, but we’d gotten past the “I never want to speak to you for as long as I live” stage and were now sending a few text messages back and forth, asking how the other was doing every now and then. I know it wasn’t much, but it was something, right? At least we were somewhat talking again, which is definite improvement if you ask me.

“For your information, Void, I was looking up something rather important. Now, if you’d kindly leave me be, I will get back to—VOID, DO YOU WANNA ING DIE?!”

“Chill out, Midget,” Void said, holding the laptop above his head when I stood up to try and get it from him. I glared at him in anger when I realized that despite standing on the couch, I still couldn’t reach the damn laptop. “Now, if you’ll be a good girl, I’ll give you the laptop back, ara?”

“Go to hell,” I spat, the anger within me slowly beginning to seep out and make itself known.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he clucked in disapproval. “That, my dear Uki, is the exact opposite of being a good girl.”

“Void, if you don’t give me back my laptop, I will make sure that nobody is able to find your body after I’m done with it, got it?” I said as calmly as I could manage.

“That could be misconstrued so many ways, dear,” he replied lightheartedly, winking at me with a devilish smirk to match.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. “Only in your erted world, Void.”

He simply smirked at me in response but decided not to comment. Instead, he turned his attention to my laptop screen, and, after a few moments of scrolling around, his face paled. He looked at me, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Y—you’re leaving, Uki?” he asked quietly.

“As a matter of fact—” I seized the moment of him being shocked and snatched the laptop from his hands “—I am. Actually, had it not been for the fact that Siwon threatened to follow me back to Cambridge and kill me, I probably would have left two months ago. However, seeing as though the boys are set to come back home any day now, I’m gonna be gone before they can get back.”

“But—But—Uki!” Void stammered, giving me a flabbergasted look.

“What?” I replied coldly, shooting him a cold look to match.

“You can’t leave yet! Who’s gonna be doing all my chores?!”

“Yah! If that’s the only thing you need me for, then maybe it is a good idea for me to leave sooner than expected!” I screamed, shutting the lid on my laptop and angrily marching to my room. I slammed the newly-fixed door and quickly locked the locks on the door before he could find a way to come in.

I angrily threw myself on my bed, brows furrowed in anger. Honestly, there was no reason for me to be here anymore. It’s gotten unbelievably awkward between the other boys and me, Heechul is still uberly pissed off at me and still refuses to speak to me unless absolutely necessary, every time Leeteuk looks at me nowadays, it’s always a really sad, regretful look, and Void has just gone above and beyond the level of irritating me these days. I had to get outta here before I ended up either murdering someone or killing myself. After taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I reached for my laptop and opened the lid again. The site of airline tickets instantly met my sight, just begging me to click on one of them so I could finally reach my freedom and get away from the overwhelming environment of Seoul. After a moment of staring at the list of flight tickets, I smiled sadly before clicking on the 2:00 flight, set to leave on May 22^nd; otherwise, known as the day before the boys get back from Taiwan. Flying out on the 22^nd only ensured that I won’t have to see them before I leave.  

I turned my attention to the calendar hanging on my wall.

May 22^nd.

That leaves me two days.

Two days to do what I needed to do.

Maneuvering the little white arrow to the other tab I had open in the Mozilla window, I clicked on it and brought up the article I had been reading and re-reading all morning on AllKpop.com.

Otherwise known as the article that completely destroyed my life.

I read through the article for the millionth time that morning; no matter how many times I read this thing, the feeling of raw anger was just as intense as the first say I came across this stupid fallacy. I hated this article. I hated this article with a hatred that has never been known by any man or alien in this universe. Honestly, if I had the choice of destroying this article over Michelle, Jessica, and Troy in one go, I would choose to destroy this article in a heartbeat. That’s how much I hated it.

I scrolled back to the top of the article where the writer’s name was.

Park Wookjae.

Just the sound of his name irritated me already.

Before I let my anger get the best of me, I instead reached for my phone and dialed a number that I had been staring at for the past two weeks. After about four rings, a deep voice finally answered, “Yebeoseyo?”

“Yebeoseyo? Is this the producer of Strong Heart?” I replied.

“Yes…? Who is this? How’d you get this number?” he asked in suspicion.

“This is Uki Seohae Choi, and I’d like you to save me a time slot for your show tomorrow.”

~~~~

To: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

8:43 AM

Hey, oppa. I know you said that I’m not allowed to leave until you guys get back, but I’m gonna be a bad sister and disobey you once again, meaning that I’ll be leaving tomorrow before you all arrive back in Seoul. Hope you don’t get too upset with me!

Love you, and have a safe flight back to Seoul!

From: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

8:44 AM

You do that, and I swear to you that I will not only disown you as my sister, but I will also go and hunt you down in Cambridge, ara?

To: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

8:48 AM

Well then, get ready to disown me.

I’ll be flying outta Seoul by 2:00 tomorrow.

From: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

8:56 AM

I am going to kill you, Uki.

To: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

8:59 AM

I love you!<3

“Miss Choi, we need you in hair and makeup please,” one of the stage handlers said to me.

I looked up from the screen of my phone and nodded, instantly locking the phone and sliding it into the back pocket of my dark skinny jeans. I followed the stage handler toward the makeup tables and immediately took my seat in front of the mirror. Almost instantly, a group of stylists swarmed around me, beginning on my hair, my makeup, and even arguing about what I should wear. I sighed. This was precisely why I hated being on these stupid things. I hated going through the process of having people do my hair and makeup for me. I mean, hello? I can do all that just fine by myself, thanks.

“No, no! Her hair needs to be curled!” one of the stylists yelled, and I could see from the reflection of the mirror that he was holding up a curler at the throat of another stylist, as though the weapon of mass destruction could seriously kill him or something.

Well, actually, now that I think about it… It kinda could.

“No! Her hair needs to be straightened and her bangs pulled back to show off her face!” another stylist yelled, his weapon of choice being a hot pink, Chi flat iron.

“I said no! This is Choi Siwon’s little sister we’ve got on our hands here, Wang! We need to make sure she looks perfect going out there since she rarely ever shows her face on public shows like this!” the stylist with the curler yelled.

“Which we’ll do by straightening her hair, Cho!” the stylist with the flat iron, Wang, replied loudly.

“Alright, that’s it!” I yelled, getting fed up with their arguing.

I snatched the flat iron from Wang’s hands and began curling my hair into soft waves. Within a matter of minutes, I had all of it done into cascades of soft waves, which I pulled to the side and fastened with a silvery beret so all my hair was sitting on my left shoulder.

“There. I curled my hair using your flat iron. Compromise,” I said once I was done, glaring at the two stylists who were staring critically at my hair for a moment.

After a minute or two of silence, both their faces busted into a smile before they high fived each other and exclaimed in unison, “Brilliance! Oh, we’re such geniuses.”

I gave them a flat stare. Tch. So like stylists to take credit for others’ work. I rolled my eyes and ignored this as they began arguing about what to do with my makeup next. By the end of everything—two hours it took them to come to an agreement about everything!—I was literally on the verge of shooting myself. In the end, I had on neutral makeup, dark skinny jeans that were cuffed right above my ankles, and a white, off the shoulder shirt with the words “Kiss Me” written on it in black and gold ink. I sighed as I waited for the show to begin. Honestly, I think I’m a bit overdressed for this. I mean, all I’m gonna be doing, really, is putting this stupid writer on blast. No big deal.

“Miss Choi, are you ready?” I turned to see that one of the stage handlers had rushed up behind me, a microphone set in his hands.

I nodded and allowed him to clip the microphone to the collar of my shirt. He handed me the pack that went along with it, which I took and stuck in the back pocket of my jeans. He then led me out to the set of Strong Heart, which had been radically altered to only have three red armchairs sitting on the stage thing. I blinked for a moment, not entirely used to this format, but didn’t have time to question it as Kang Ho Dong walked onto the set, causing the audience to instantly cheer. Oh, there’s an audience here. No wonder people were cheering the instant I walked out onto the set…

“Uki, how are you?” Ho Dong asked me with a smile.

“I’m good, thanks,” I replied with a smile of my own.

“I must say, I was quite surprised when I got word from the producers that you of all people wanted a time slot with me. I mean, we’ve been trying for years to get you to come out, and all of a sudden, you decide to show your face? What gives?”

“Well… I just decided that I had some things to set straight was all,” I responded with a forced smile.

“Ah, I see. The article of you and Donghae?” he asked with a sympathetic look on his face.

“Kind of. More or less, a score to settle with someone.”

Before he could respond, one of the stage handlers came up to us and said, “Mr. Park is here. He’s already gone through hair and makeup.”

“Who?” Ho Dong asked, brows creased in confusion.

“Ah, I’ll explain that. Mr. Park is actually my guest. I hope you don’t mind that I invited someone else,” I interjected, giving him a sheepish smile.

“You’ve gotten this approved by the producers, correct?” Once I nodded, Ho Dong shrugged his shoulders in indifference. “Well then, it’s fine. But, who is he? I needa know at least that much so I can introduce him and whatnot.”

“Park Wookjae? He’s the journalist who wrote the article about Donghae and me,” I replied coolly, an obviously-irritated expression making its way onto my face.

“Oh. Ohhhh… Goodness, please don’t tell me that this is gonna turn into an all-out brawl,” Ho Dong said in a pleading voice.

“Not entirely…” I responded slowly, giving him a Cheshire grin.

Ho Dong sighed and nodded. “Arasso. I’ll alert the paramedics ahead of time.”

I chuckled as he walked away backstage, muttering something under his breath. Now left alone on the set, I took a seat in one of the armchairs and pulled my phone out. Once I unlocked it, the conversation I had with Siwon popped up with one new text message:

From: Choi Siwon

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

9:06 AM

Uki…

Aish. I don’t even know what to say anymore.

Fine. Do whatever you want.

Just be safe.

My lips creased into a slight frown. Ever since the incident at the Han River and everything, things have also become tense between Siwon and me. It just wasn’t the same anymore, and I seriously hated it. But as of right now, there was nothing I could do. He’s there, and I’m here, meaning that we both needed to focus on whatever it was that required our utmost attention. And as of right now, the thing that needed my attention the most was completely destroying this writer.

I exited the conversation between Siwon and me and opened the conversation between Donghae and me. Our last text message sent or received was about two weeks ago, when he texted me asking me if I were still sick or not. I sighed as I turned the phone sideways so the keyboard could be turned length wise, and began typing.

To: Lee Donghae

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

1:36 PM

Hey, Donghae. Even though you’re probably super duper busy, make time to watch Strong Heart today, alright?

From: Lee Donghae

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

1:36 PM

Why?

To: Lee Donghae

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

1:37 PM

Just trust me. You might find something interesting on there today.

From: Lee Donghae

Sent information: May 21, 2011

1:43 PM

Siwon told me that you’re leaving before we get back home…?

To: Lee Donghae

Sent Information: May 21, 2011

1:48 PM

Um… Yeah…

Have a safe flight back to Seoul!

I’ll see you all next time I come for a visit.

I exited from the conversation, not wanting to have to explain myself to him. Do you see how awkward it is to talk to him nowadays? Conversations with him never would have been this strained in the past. Even if we were in the middle of a fight or something, it still would have never been this awkward. Aish. I’ve just become awkward with everybody these days. Except for maybe Void. If there’s one thing I can always count on staying the same no matter what, is Void remaining Void-like.

“Alright, Mr. Park, you can take a seat right there next to Miss Choi,” a voice said.

I snapped out of my mental babble and looked up to see the stage handler from before leading a thin man probably no older than Donghae himself toward me. He was a handsome-faced man, with a head of thick, jet-black hair and warm chocolate eyes. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled happily, letting everyone know that his smile was a genuine one. Just looking at him, I never would have pinned him as a man who had the capabilities of completely ruining my life, but I guess what they say is true: looks can be deceiving after all.

He sent me a sweet smile and sat down next to me, but I didn’t let that faze me. I came here for a purpose, and no matter how sweet this man may have looked, he was the one responsible for the stupid article that ruined my life.

“Anneyong, Uki-ah. Park Wookjae imnida,” he introduced, extending his hand to me.

I halfheartedly shook his hand and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m a big fan of you and everything you do for Super Junior,” he said with a smile.

“Oh really? Was that before or after you completely ruined my life?” I asked coolly, shooting him a cold, sidelong glance.

His eyes widened, but he didn’t have a chance to respond because the next thing either one of us knew, Ho Dong came back and said loudly, “Alright! Time to start the show! Are you guys ready?”

“Yeup,” I answered, straightening myself in my seat so that I wasn’t facing Wookjae anymore.

In a matter of seconds, Ho Dong completely transformed and smiled toward the camera, saying in a bright voice, “Annyeong, everybody, and welcome to today’s episode of Strong Heart! Today is a very special episode indeed because we have today, someone who rarely ever makes herself known in the public limelight. Please help me welcome Choi Siwon’s little sister, Choi Uki!”

The audience began cheering loudly, clapping and whooping and hollering, as I smiled brightly toward the camera and waved, calling out clearly and brightly, “Annyeonghaseyo! Uki Seohae Choi imnida!” This managed to bring in louder applauses, which caused me to smile brighter.

“And with her today, Uki brings Mr. Park Wookjae, the writer of the article concerning Uki and Donghae’s engagement!” Ho Dong continued in a bright voice.

“A-annyeonghaseyo, Park Wookjae imnida,” Wookjae called in a slightly trembling voice.

“Now, Wookjae-ah. You were the writer of the article about the engagement, correct?” Ho Dong asked, giving Wookjae a questioning stare.

“Yes sir, I was,” Wookjae responded timidly.

“And Uki, you brought him onto this show to set a couple things straight?” Ho Dong asked, giving me the same questioning look.

“That’s right,” I answered clearly, nodding as if to validate my words as truth.

“Well then, I shall let you both talk. Don’t mind me. I’ll only be here in case the audience needs any clarification on things.”

I smiled gratefully at Ho Dong before turning my attention to Wookjae.

And here’s where everything begins.

“Tell me, Wookjae-sshi. Where did you get your information from? Regarding the article, that is,” I started out, giving him an expectant look.

“From different sources that I won’t name,” Wookjae answered, blinking at me. “Also, one of my photographers brought the picture to me, so I assumed that what I had been hearing was right.”

“Oh. So you find it perfectly okay to write an article based on your assumptions? Because that totally wouldn’t have any terrible repercussions, right? Because that wouldn’t ruin someone’s life, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Wookjae answered, giving me a look crossed between confused and fearful.

“Of course you don’t. Because all you paparazzi people are all the same. It doesn’t matter if the story is true, or if the picture is misleading, or if the people within the picture are just innocently friends, just so long as you get your money, right? And I bet you got paid big bucks for being the first one to announce that one of the Super Junior members is engaged, am I right? Well, I’ll be the first to congratulate your huge commission, which came at the expense of my misery,” I remarked coldly.

“It was an article stating the truth,” Wookjae replied, folding his hands in his lap.

Anger flashed in my eyes, and I had the sudden urge to fly forward and knock the living daylights out of him, but seeing as how I was on national television, I couldn’t exactly do that, now, can I? Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I calmly—sorta—said, “Truth? The article stated the truth? HA! You are so funny if you think that, that article stated the truth. The truth, my dear Wookjae, is the fact that Donghae and I were not engaged, nor had we ever been engaged. Actually, the day that article was released, do you wanna know what happened between Donghae and me? Do you want the truth of what happened? I’m sure this will also be a huge story that you can later write about and get an even bigger commission.”

“Did he become inspired by the article and properly propose to you?” Wookjae asked with a naïvely hopeful smile, one that made me want to knock every single one of his teeth out of his mouth.

“Nope. Quite the contrary, actually. Donghae and I broke up. We’ve been broken up for the past two and a half months, all thanks to your article. So, congratulations, Wookjae-sshi. You succeeded in completely ruining my life.”

The audience gasped at my revelation as murmuring swept throughout the entire studio.

“Wh-what?” Wookjae weakly stammered, giving me a wide-eyed look as his face paled.

“I’m pretty sure you heard me loud and clear, Wookjae-sshi. The day that article was released, Donghae and I broke up. And ever since Donghae and I broke up, my life has literally been a living Hell, and I don’t mean because I’ve had to put up with Kim Heejong every day, either. I’m not gonna go into the details of all that, but I just wanted you to know that because you assumed something, I literally lost the one thing in my life that I could always count on. The one thing in my life that truly made me happy.” I sighed deeply as I sadly turned my gaze toward my hands sitting in my lap. Quietly, “The one thing in my life that I truly loved.”

An eruption of “Aww!”’s swept through the audience as they began applauding for me.

“U-Uki… I’m so sorry. I didn’t—I didn’t know—”

“I don’t wanna hear it,” I interrupted, shaking my head slightly. “Honestly, if you continue speaking, I’ll only grow to hate you even more. Please, just stop talking. I’m done with you from here, but be warned: if I ever come across another article based on your assumptions again, I will make sure that you will never be able to have anything published in Seoul again, ara?”

Wookjae could only nod; what else could he do, ya’ know?

“Um… Okay, how about we go to commercial?” Ho Dong asked, but I quickly shook my head.

“Ani. I just have one last thing to say before I leave,” I said, giving Ho Dong another grateful smile. Sighing one last time, I turned to look straight at the camera, biting my lower lip for a moment before I began speaking. “Lee Donghae… I know you're probably not watching this right now, but you'll see it sooner or later. I just wanted you to know that I love you. And… And if I were to say yes to any guy in the world… You'd be him. Do you hear that? You're the only guy in the world I'd say yes to, Lee Donghae. I'm sorry I messed things up for us, but I wish you the best of luck in the future. Just promise you'll never forget me, ara? I—I love you, Donghae, and nothing can ever change that.”

Void’s POV~

I grinned when the final words escaped Uki’s mouth.

“About ing time, you midget!” I shouted in victory. The grin never left my face as I said, “Void, you’re ing awesome, do you know that? Because you were so absolutely irritating and annoying to her these past two months, she finally got fed up and did something about it. We have our Midget back, Void!”

“Why thank you, Void, I am pretty damn awesome, aren’t I?” I replied to myself.

“Why yes, yes you are,” I said, high-fiving myself with that same grin on my face.

“Alright, enough with this. Bad swag, bro, bad swag,” I said, shaking my head slightly.

After a moment’s pause, I couldn’t help but to say, “Che. Bad swag. Void can never have bad swag!”

“…Touché.”

Donghae’s POV~

My and just about everybody else’s jaws was literally on the ground in shock as Uki made her confession on national television. Was this seriously Uki doing this? Was this all her own doing?

“…I—I love you, Donghae, and nothing can ever change that.”

My eyes widened as my jaw dropped even further. Did she just—

Instead of finishing the thought, I instead found myself saying quietly, “I love you, too, Uki…”

 

UHAE HAS BEEN REUNITED.

Er... Sorta.

C:

LOLL. C'mon now, I couldn't make things THAT easy, now, could I?(;

Anyways, I hope you all liked this. LMAO. Honestly, it didn't turn out the way I imagined it, but meh. :3

And, and, and... It's chapter 73, JS. C:

Any who... Yeah, I have nothing else to say. 

Except for:

I LOVE YOU ALL SO DAMN MUCH<3