Chapter 1: Confrontation

She wasn't sure how the wedding ended, how people reacted to her just leaving—especially one just married couple—or how the reception went. She had left, up and left, and wandered the streets of Seoul in her heels. The small framed girl cursed when it started to downpour and she found herself taking refuge in a bar.

The bar was small, cheap, almost empty. The bartender was taking a nap when Sulli slammed the wooden door. He jolted up and presumed to arrange some shot glasses even though there wasn't much to be done. She walked over to the barstool, hopped up onto the stool. Her fingers played around in her hair until all the pins were removed and her brown waves fell around her form.

"Hey," the bartender began, "are you even legal, doll?" Oh how she dreaded, despised the name. Just because she didn't look exactly like she was an adult, Sulli didn't have to be treated like that. She sent the bartender a menacing glare before scoffing.

"Liquor. Ask any more questions and it'll be your head." The man sought not to anger her anymore. He picked up a shot glass, filled it with liquor, slid the glass right in front of her. As she stared at the clear liquid, Sulli began to wonder why he was stupid enough to believe her. She wasn't old enough but her menacing glares and clever wit made up for her lack of  age. She grasped the glass in her hand and downed it before she thought about it. In response, she coughed violently.

"You okay?"

"Fine…" She coughed a few times, her voice beginning to rasp. "Go away." The bartender did just that.

Sulli folded her arms across the countertop, her mind drifting to the inner sanctums of her mind. Some would've called her childish for what she did; she 'embarrassed the bride and groom and ruined the entire wedding'. Yet, she already knew that being there in the beginning was a bad idea. As they were planning for the wedding, Krystal and Sulli spoke on a one word basis. Her best friend acted as if Sulli wasn't there and the two fiancés shared their love right in front of her as if she wasn't there, as if she wasn't hurting. Taemin barely spoke to her; maybe he figured it was awkward enough.

And Sulli and Krystal weren't even friends anymore. She was highly surprised when she found the invitation in her apartment mailbox. She was even more surprised when Krystal got her phone number, which had changed. She shook her head all while downing another shot. Drinking herself senseless—or somewhere close to that because she didn't want to end up with a tattoo of some guy's name on her thigh—was just a way to cope.

Some smoked, some cut, some drank. Sulli figured drinking was the least painful way.

She cursed. She cursed Taemin, she cursed Krystal the perfect girl, she cursed love. She cursed everything for completely backfiring on her. Just when things seemed okay, they totally screwed her over. Like she wasn't doll-faced enough. Now she was doll-faced, alone, heartbroken, friendless, and low on money.

Could her day get any better?

About six drinks later, Sulli had given up on the drinking. She was bordering on the drunk line and would rather not step over it. Her hair covered her red face, her eyebrows slanted down. She was still upset and the alcohol in her blood wasn't making it better; it was only making her feel warm and angrier.

The girl's white phone buzzed on the table. It buzzed until she couldn't ignore it any longer. She snatched it off the countertop and flipped it open. As she coughed, she opened the text messages.

From: Krystal

To: Sulli

Where are you? Why did you just leave like that? We need to talk! Call me. :(

From: Krystal

To: Sulli

Rima? Where are you? Please respond ASAP. It's important.

From: Krystal

To: Sulli

I don't understand why you left the wedding and stormed out like that. It really embarrassed Taemin and I. I hope you'll call me…or I'll call you when the reception's over. And maybe visit your place before the honeymoon. Either way, I hope you're not mad at me.

"All these ing years later and now you ask that? Krystal, you may look smart, but you sure are as dumb as ," Sulli cursed. She was highly tempted to text it back but she wasn't sure if that was the greatest idea. And arguing wasn't what she wanted to do since she was in a more irritable mood. So she continued to look through the texts.

From: Unknown

To: Sulli

This is Taemin. Krysta's very mad…come back to the wedding, please.

"I'd rather die alone than go back to the wedding." She deleted the texts, her legs then sliding her off the barstool and walking out of the bar into the rain.

Sulli  had walked to her apartment in the rain, simply because she didn't have an umbrella or a car or anyone to give her a ride. She unlocked her apartment door and was welcomed with warmth. She sighed as she removed the tacky heels she was forced into and stepped into her apartment. Through her clumsiness—and thanks to the previous drinking—she had managed to stub her toe, fall onto her face, and knock over her favorite cup in the process.

Yes: it was not her day.

But she didn't let it stop her or control her anger. She simply stood despite the throbbing in her big toe and picked up the cup; she placed it back into the sink of dirty dishes she had forgotten to do. Sulli then stretched her arms, ped the hideous zigzag dress Krystal had picked out for the bridesmaids and walked to her bathroom for a much awaited shower.

It was just as Sulli was about to step in the shower that the doorbell rang. A groan escaped her chapped lips. She threw on her old, but absolute favorite, orange polka-dotted robe, tying it as her legs carried her to the front door.

She wasn't all that surprised when she saw Choi Luna and Minho at her door.

Minho and Luna were paired together to walk down the aisle. Minho looked rather bored; Luna looked like she wanted to be with Onew, who was paired with Sulli. The blonde woman narrowed her brown eyes at Sulli before stepping inside and crossing her arms over her chest. Minho followed suit but leaned against the door of the apartment. Sulli yawned. If it wasn't for the drinks finally affecting her attitude, she would've been even more annoyed than she was already feeling.

"Let me guess," Sulli began, "Krystal sent you here instead of coming herself because it was honeymoon time."

Luna raised her eyebrows before saying, "Actually…yeah." The brunette rolled her eyes.

"We're not going to be here for long. We simply came to get some information for Krystal," Minho added. Sulli looked him over; she wasn't sure what had gone wrong in their relationship, but Minho looked happier after ending it with Krystal.

"Like?"

"Krystal wants to know why you left the wedding so suddenly," Luna stated as she examined her perfect nails, "and why you've been acting so oddly." Sulli wanted to laugh, which she ended up doing. Krystal was an idiot and so was the guy she was married to. If she really cared about her that much, their friendship would've never ended, Krystal would still be the same, Sulli would actually be moving forward.

"Maybe something came up." Luna glared at the doll like girl, her foot tapping impatiently. The blonde didn't like games nor did she like to have to be here on someone else's accordance when she would rather be with her boyfriend. Luna sighed heavily, Minho looked around.

"Did something come up?"

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out," Sulli stated as she went to turn on the lights. Minho groaned softly.

"I don't know what went on with you and Krystal—"

"I do know what went on with you two though. Krystal blabbed a lot." Minho rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. But can you just tell us so we can leave? I have plans." Sulli knew better than anyone that the Choi siblings were stubborn and weren't leaving unless they got what they wanted. They would leave if they were annoyed enough, so annoying them to the bitter end would work just fine.

"Tell her to talk to me herself. I don't like messengers." That was all Minho and Luna needed to hear. The two left with a soft click of the door. Sulli sighed and proceeded to her bathroom.

A week. It had been a week since the wedding, since Sulli's heart was surely broken beyond doubt, since the speeding up of her retrograde life.

She had just finished another long day of school—she didn't think her professors could be so dry with their humor, even if it was sarcasm—and was walking home to enjoy some comedy and hot cocoa. She had pushed the wedding into the recesses of her mind, had pushed her feelings for Taemin into to chew them up and spit them out, and pushed her annoyance for Krystal into the tiny hate gland Sulli was sure she had. She sighed heavily but continued her way home; despite the bitterness she was feeling.

She wasn't exactly sure when she had started to notice Taemin in a different light. She didn't even realize it right away that she was in love with him. She had been too busy listening to Krystal's woes and love-related pains and dealing with her broken family to worry about her own personal matters. All she knew was that when the two announced their relationship, Sulli remained calm although there was a fire on the inside of her. Back then she considered breaking them up, but Krystal was her friend.

Now, she didn't care anymore. Caring was what got her in trouble. Caring was the enemy.

Sulli approached her building when her brown eyes caught sight of a black Acura parked outside the building. She usually wasn't one to know which neighbors drove which cars, but she knew that the Acura wasn't familiar around her neighborhood. She assumed someone was visiting a neighbor or someone new moved into the building. She didn't dawdle on it for long. Her fingers fumbled in her purse for her keys.

"Ssul!" Sulli stood straight, her body rigid. The last thing she wanted to hear right now—especially with the pounding in her temple—was her voice. Krystal's voice. "Ssul, we need to talk!" So she had returned from the honeymoon. And as Sulli turned around to face the problem, she prepared herself for the sight of him.

Taemin and Krystal, holding hands. Her other hand was on her hip, her dark orbs gleaming with anger. And Taemin…he looked calm, a frown on his lips, but anger in his eyes. Krystal released his hand and stormed up to her with her arms crossed over her chest.

Sulli sighed heavily as she closed her purse and leaned against the apartment. Krystal was here and there was nothing she could do about it. She figured just getting it out of the way as fast as possible would just be best. For her, her heart, and her temperament.

"What the hell, Sulli?" Krystal exclaimed. "I trusted you to be my bridesmaid and you just stormed out of the wedding." Sulli rolled her eyes. The girl was being overly dramatic, as always. She sent her a sideways glare before shaking her head, her tongue wiping over her lips a few times.

"The wedding's over, isn't it? People aren't coming to you screaming 'you're wedding was horrible because that one girl ruined it'," Sulli explained. "Get over it, princess." Krystal's cheeks became aflame at the a little bit shorter girl's words. She hadn't remembered Sulli to be so cold, bitter, unfeeling. Sure, shewas a bit rough around the edges but she was in no way like that.

"The attitude isn't necessary."

"Your ing about a wedding that's already over isn't necessary," Sulli retorted, her annoyance reaching higher levels. Krystal groaned and threw her arms into the air before standing right in front of her.

"Why are you acting like such a child? What's wrong with you?" Sulli had to mentally laugh about it. If she didn't, she wouldn't have been able to hold her spiteful tongue back. The brunette smirked and looked up at Krystal, her eyes reading annoyed.

"You're the one that decided to have me stalked in order to get your silly little questions answered. If you were man enough, you would've come to me the day of, not a week later, and not by other people who didn't want to be there." Krystal opened to respond but Taemin interjected.

"What happened to you? We used to be such good friends." Sulli looked at him, the familiar tightening of her chest constricting her lungs. Her heart began to run relay races as her eyes caught his: brown, angry, but still the same lovely eyes she remembered. She felt the sickening heat run throughout her body—from the top of her head to the tips of her toes—and it made her feel odd. She had feelings for another woman's husband. She shook her head hard and tore her eyes from him to Krystal.

She bit her lip, hard, before uttering, "Didn't you hear yourself? Used to be."

"So what? That didn't give you the right to just—" Sulli had droned Krystal out, had droned out every sound—the wind, the occasional chirp of the birds, the sound of cars zooming by—and focused on the sound of her beating heart. The thump, thump was faster, barely making a full thump before the next came to overlap it. That's what her heart was: a mess of overlapping beats. And she hated it. Her nose took in a large sniff of air, expanded her lungs, exited . It was a repetitive motion until her heart had calmed down.

"—are you even listening to me?" Krystal exclaimed. Sulli glanced at her and shook her head. The beauty rolled her eyes. "I'm here because I—"

"Krystal, darling, maybe you should calm down. Your face is really red." Sulli watched as Taemin took her face into his hands, laughed at her and called her 'Maknae' before his lips ghosted over her nose, her eyelids, her lips. He lingered there for a bit longer before pressing his forehead to Krystal's. The dark haired woman smiled, her fingers touching his as they cupped her cheeks. When they looked back at her, their eyes were once again filled with anger.

Sulli's lips parted, her heart beating slower. Her anger was increasing. Krystal knew. She definitely knew and the fact that they were being so lovey-dovey right in front of her sickened the her. She hated it and wanted it to end. She hated Krystal, she despised Taemin. The fact that she invited her to be in the wedding was beyond Sulli.

Sulli couldn't take it anymore. If she didn't leave soon, she was going to snap.

"I have to go," she abruptly said. Krystal gasped and moved to grab her wrist.

"Wait! We're not done here!" Krystal exclaimed, her fingers curling around the girl's wrist. Sulli snatched her arm away and glared death at her.

"Leave me the hell alone." And before the two of them could stop her, Sulli was inside her apartment building and running up the many flights of stairs to her apartment.

"It's hard to decide when you're too tired to hold on. Yet, you're too in love to let go." A quote by an unknown author that Sulli had grown quite fond of. The meaning on the quote, interpreted by herself, was Sulli's inspiration. Her inspiration for moving on, for becoming a new Sulli that wasn't so in love and didn't fall for people so easily.

But it seemed almost impossible. She couldn't get the image of Taemin out of her head, the sound of his voice out of her ears, the feel of the sickly heat.

The girl closed her sociology books and flopped onto her back with an exasperated sigh. Why was love such a to her? She hugged her pillow to her not-so-little-but-still-to-develop chest, a sigh escaping her lips. When did he become so attractive? When did she start to feel so self conscious of herself? Oh yeah—when Krystal started getting all the guys' attention with her long creamy legs, round s, sweet smile. Another sigh escaped her lips. Sulli wasn't beautiful. In fact, her beauty had disappeared when—

The loud knocking on her door snapped her out of her depressing thoughts. Her feet touched the ground and made her run to the door. When she opened the door, Sulli raised an eyebrow.

"What're you doing here?" She asked Luna. The girl wore a strapless blue dress that stopped just before her knees with black gladiator sandals, toes painted blue, oversized Gucci sunglasses atop her head, and two bangles on her wrists. Her purse rested on her shoulder and Sulli blinked.

"I was in the neighborhood," Luna replied. Sulli shoved her hands into her jean pockets, her 'That's What She Said' t-shirt making the girl feel less out of her beauty. Luna scanned the girl over, her eyes narrowing at the sight. "Krystal and Taemin are off being lovey-dovey, Minho is working on a new song, Onew's practicing for a big soccer championship, so I came here."

Although Sulli was a bit flattered, she smirked before asking, "So what am I supposed to do?" Luna glared at the girl but smirked herself.

"Come shopping with me." She probably would've jumped at the chance to get some new t-shirts, but she was low on money.

"Can't. I'm short on money." Luna rolled her eyes.

"Put your shoes on. Your coming anyways."

Sulli wasn't sure why she had listened to Luna, but she put her shoes on.

Author's Note: Here is the official first Chapter, I hope you read the Forword first, because there is the Prologue of the story :) This will be Minstal/Minsul/Taelli/Taestal, so for everyone somethings in. In this story Minho and Luna are siblings, because I liked the idea and the Characters are a little bit OCC, but I still like it. I don't know how the story will end, so hopefully you are interested in this :) Leave a comment if you like :)