Eunji Apartment, 

MangWon Dong       

          “Eunji-a? Eunji, is it you?” Yookyung asked when she heard someone entered their house. She quickly headed to the living room, and get ducked with Chorong and Bomi.

          “No, It’s me...”, they found Yoseob in their home rather than Eunji. “Where’s her?”, his face looked concerned. “Why you are looked worried? Is there’s something happened to her?”

          “A-ah oppa...”, Yookyung nervously looked at Chorong and Bomi, not really know what to said to Yoseob, about Eunji and Hoya. “No, there’s nothing, we just waited her, that’s all. And what about you, oppa. When did you arrived? Are your matters in Japan already done?”

          “Just before. It’s all doesn’t matter anymore. I need to talked to Eunji. I have to talked to her. I heard that she would get married, with Lee Howon? Is it true?”

          Yookyung, Bomi, and Chorong looked at him, startled. “How can you know, oppa?”, Chorong asked.

          “So, is it true?”

          “That...that...”, Chorong can’t find a words how to told him. She just helplessly looking at Yookyung and Bomi. Bomi looked at her. “It’s true, oppa. She told us last week. Why? We don’t know either, but we think there’s must be something big happened until she have that decision.”, Bomi at last talked to him, honestly.

          Suddenly they heard someone opened their door. They all looked nervously to the front door. “Are you all didn’t go? I’m sorry girls...”, Eunji voice heard from the front door. “Oppa! How can you were here?”, Eunji said startled to see him here. Her eyes and her nose are red. Anyone can tell that she’s cried. Again.

          “Just coming already, Eunji-a...”, Chorong said, “I guess you will need sometime to talked together.” How much her curiosity told her to stay and interrogated her, she knew deep down that one of all the reason to her marriage is Yoseob, called it an intuition. And she feel that they would need time to talked together, just the two of them. “Come on girls, let’s go out....”, she dragged Bomi and Yookyung outside.

...

          “Eonnie!!”, Bomi crossed her hands upon her chest and yelled at Chorong, “Why you dragged us outside... I’m deathly to know what happened to Eunji, don’t you see that she positively cried? That bastard must be done something to her.”, she pouted to her cousin, the three of them is in the cafe near their apartment after Chorong dragged them out.

          Chorong glared to her, “I know, and I’m so deathly curious myself, but don’t you see too that they need to talked. Alone. And Eunji must told him her self, that she’ll get married with that bastard.”

          “You’re right, Eonnie.”, Yookyung sipped the caramel machiato and face Bomi, “She’s got the point Bom, stop pouting and act like a child. We’re all curious, we’re all have the same concern about Eunji, but she’ll need time with Yoseob oppa alone, he deserved some explanation from her.”

          “But we have to know what happened to them, that’s the way we can help her.”, Bomi insisted, can’t just watch after she looked with her own eyes how Hoya treated her friend.

          “Believe me...”, Yookyung said, “She know what she’s doing. Can we just backed her up?” Chorong and Bomi just silently sipped their drink, drown in their own mind. Suddenly Bomi snapped her fingers, “Eonnie! Don’t you know that Woohyun-ssi? Is he in head over heels over you?”

          “What?”, Chorong glared her, once again, “Why suddenly he’s in this conversation?”

          “I mean, Eonnie... He is a friend of him, right? Hoya? Don’t you think he’ll know something. Or we can asked Sunggyu-ssi, although it seems much harder. After all he is his cousin, and I bet he won’t say anything. Beside, I think that Woohyun-ssi will tell you everything, Eonnie...” Bomi looked at her, eyes shining brightly to think how briliant her idea. Yookyung seems think about it too and said to her, “Yes, Eonnie. I think Bomi i’s right, maybe Woohyun-ssi knew something and he would tell you.”

          Chorong just twirled her eyes, unavoidable blushed when they mentioned him, “What do you think that he will do that?”, thinking that she’d already do that before, fruitless. Except now, everytime that she heard his name, she feels hot in her cheeks. Embarrased when she remember the things she done to him. For all this weeks, after that night, after all the things he called date, she tried so hard to avoid him. After that kiss.

          After that day until yesterday, she didn’t even took her usual classes, and fortunately her hapkido class are in rest, so she can avoid him for now. He tried to called her several time, but she just can’t help feels shy to face him. After all that she’s done. That night. In his car. Until she thinks that she must stop drinking from that day. Otherwise how can she did something that absolutely not like her.

          “Come on, Eonnie... Just try to ask him. Maybe he can help us.”, Bomi pushed her.

          “No..no.. He won’t.”, Chorong refused with all her might, but that time her phone ringing with a phone call came in. From Woohyun. She want to turned it off, but Bomi’s hand faster than hers. She picked it.

          “Hello?”, she said. “Hello? Is it Chorong’s phone?”, they heard his voice in the other line, asked, as he feels weird about the voice that answered his phone. Chorong tried to take her phone back, but Bomi and Yookyung hindering her.

          “Yes, you’re right, are you WooHyun-ssi?”

          “Yes ?”

          “Chorong eonnie want to see you. Can you come here? At cafe near our apartment in Mangwon Dong? Do you know where?”, Bomi said. Chorong almost get a heart attack when she heard what Bomi said, she tried harder to get her phone, panickly. And Yookyung just laughed at them.

          In the other side, Woohyun almost get the heart attack too. His heart stop beating for a while when he heard that Chorong want to see him. He just called her like a habbit of him. Spent his time missing her, wondering what that she do, and unconciously called her.

          As she tried her best to avoid him, he tried his best to talked to her again. He thought that after that night, she finally opened her heart for him. At least a small open for him to come in. But he just found it harder to approach her now. Honestly, he felt dissapointment towards her. And for truth, he felt a slight regret for acted too gentleman that night. Sometimes, when he can’t see her again in her classes, or when she didn’t even bother to picked his calls, he thinks that if, just if, he take that advantage from her that night, maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to approach her now.

          And sometimes he felt unfair. How his heart become more and more deeply for her, when she just drove far and further away from his reach.

          So when he called her today, he didn’t expect much beside her voice mail, but suddenly someone picked his call. And told him that she want to see him. He almost jump from his chair. In happiness.

          “I know...I know... Yes, I’ll get there in a mean time.”, he answered her. Can’t believe that he will see her. She that he missed the most.

          He quickly get dressed, picked his best clothes, after contemplated as fast as possible. Chic? Cool? Casual? That blue jumper? Or the black one? God why there’s nothing that looks good today?

          “I know...I know... Yes, I’ll get there in a mean time.” They heard his voiced echoed from the other line. Chorong eyes become rounded with shocked. “Ya !!! Yoon Bomi! You...You death now!”, she glared to her.

          “Why, Eonnie.”, she giggled, “He just called at the perfect time. We need to interrogate him. And he must be want to see you desperately, he said yes in a second.”, Bomi and Yookyung laughed. “Eonnie, he’s won’t be that bad as you imagined all this time, maybe?”, Yookyung said assured the panic Chorong. Her horror face just priceless. She patted their eonnie shoulder, still with giggled.

“Don’t hate him that much, Eonnie. Or you will find yourself in love with him.”

          Yeah, you bet. And I can’t said anything to them. What can I said. That I already kissed him? That I avoid him because I feel embarassement everytime I remember him? And yes, I already know that he is not that bad. So not bad, until I found myself can’t hate him anymore. And it’s terified me more.

...

          “Eunji-a...”, Yoseob hold her hands, “Tell me what happen. You know you can trust me.”

          “I flew back from Tokyo when our representative told me that you’ll gonna be married. I just too shocked to heard that. It’s so sudden, I never know before that you have a boyfriend. And he said that you’ll married with someone from Lee company. Their representative told us. That stirred me. I’m worried that something happen to you, for it’s just so sudden.”

          She looked at him, her friend, her brother. The one that always protected her since she was a little girl. And now, she will protect him. “Oppa, I will marry to Lee Howon. Maybe in this week...”

          “What? This week? Why, that’s just too sudden... Is it about our company? I heard some rumors. Are you make a deal or something like that?”, he squinted his eyes, looking at her.

          “No, oppa...not that.” she shakes her head tried to assured him. “You know the man that I told you about someday ago? The one that I left, my ex-husband?”

          “Yes, the one that you hate...? What’s about him? What’s his connection with all of this?”, he said,  “No...no... Is he... No, for Heaven sake, is he Lee Howon? Your ex-husband? God Eunji, is he?”, startled he looked at her, can believe his own thought. But if he is Lee Howon, all the weird gesture, all the weird behavior of Eunji everytime she has to face him is clearly reasonable.

          “Yes, oppa. He is. And I just know that we didn’t divorce yet.”

          “What? Did you already sent him a divorce paper before you left?”

          “He didn’t sign it.” Eunji told her everything about that, everything beside her reason of his safety. She know that he won’t let her if he know that the reason of her decision is to protect him self.

          “Are you still love him, Eunji?”, he asked her. His question throbbed her, the question that always in her mind, but always she avoided before. Is she still love him after all? She looked at his eyes, she looked all the worried for her. She asked herself again.

          “I don’t know oppa.” She answered honestly, to him and to herself, “Maybe... maybe, oppa...”, she mumbled.

          “If that’s the reason, I’m happy for you. You know I will. I always want the best for you. But are you sure? Why it’s just so sudden? I almost can’t believe that. I thought you hate him, or dislike him. But how can we know a depth of a heart, right?”, he smiled at her, caressed her hair.

          Eunji looked at him again. I’d made the right decision, I know it. For oppa, and for me. She hugged him. “Thank you, oppa...” thanks for all these time, for stay with me, for always be my strength, my savior, and my shelter.  Thanks for be my family.

...