Sitting in front of me and clad in designer clothes was my best friend, Kwon Yuri.

I hadn’t seen her in over a year. She started modelling as well back in college. I took her to one of my fashion shows and pointed her to one of the agents. They were interested and so was she and was soon put in training. Her first fashion show was with me in Korea. We modelled for Aunt Taeyeon’s clothing line. After that, she was offered a lot of projects but she declined most of it, wanting to concentrate on her studies. She was still modelling for Aunt Taeyeon though. After graduation, she began taking the other projects. She also started learning how to design clothes. The last time we met was on the annual New York fashion show. She was telling me how she was planning on making her own line under LE.

I was rooted on my spot with shock. Yuri was smirking at me from her seat. I managed to snap out of my reverie when she called my name.

“Yoong!” she said with her hands on her hips.

“Yuri!” I ran to her like a kid. We hugged for a long time before we let go. I haven’t emailed her in months. We’ve both been busy.

“What are you thinking not contacting me for months?” she said with one eyebrow raised.

“Why, YOU were the one not talking to me. I was simply waiting for your call,” I said. We both laughed. We sat down side by side and immediately lunged to our stories. Before we knew it, Suzy was already calling me for a photo shoot.

“Do you have something to do tonight?” I asked.

She checked her planner before answering, “Nope. Don’t have anything but your fashion show in a few days.”

“Oh which reminds me! Are you really sponsoring clothes for it?” I asked worriedly. Her line is just starting and it may not be a good thing for her to spend so much in things like this.

“Of course! Anything for your Good Samaritan events,” she laughs. When we were in college, I dragged her to a relief mission in Japan. Then to another one in China. And to another one in the Philippines.

I laughed before asking her if she’d like to come with me to my photo shoot. Having nothing better to do, she obliges.

We were on our way back to the hotel when Yuri suddenly brought up Donghae.

“He’s rumored to be going out with Eun Seo, you know. That . I just knew she wouldn’t care if she was your cousin,” Yuri exclaims angrily. My staff were suddenly silent. They knew “Donghae” wasn’t a name to be mentioned when with me. “I just knew she’d had her eyes on Donghae-oppa way back in college,” she adds after a while.

I turned to her and smiled forcibly. I’ve heard about the rumors. But just that. I was no masochist. I didn’t want any of the details. The others went on chatting while I look out of the window of the car. I felt somebody’s hand hold mine. I turned to see Yuri looking at me with a small smile.

“You know, they were just rumors,” she says quietly. I nodded and leaned my head on her shoulders.  I was fighting hard not to cry.

Later that night, as Yuri and I laid in bed-I insisted that she stayed with us rather than get a suite of her own-I braved up and asked about Donghae.

“Oh I see him rarely. I used to hang out in their building once,” she blushed and I knew there was a secret behind it. “I always see him talking to somebody rather seriously. Hmmm. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him laugh in a while.”

I turned to her with a frown. When I went away, Yuri took the liberty of updating me with the happenings back in Seoul.

“I know I told you he smiles. But just that. He smiles. He doesn’t laugh like he used to. Nor does he have that easy-going feel around him. A lot of people are actually afraid of him nowadays.”

“I wonder what’s bothering him.”

“Probably the ghost of his past,” Yuri said with a joke. She chuckled before adding, “I think he still thinks about you. All the time.”

“Why is that?”

“A year ago, when he found out I went on a fashion show with you, he came up to me with an odd look.

Donghae slowly approached Yuri just as she walked away from a staff. Seeing him approaching, she waved and met him half way.

“Hae-oppa! I haven’t seen you in a while!” Yuri exclaimed as she approached him.

“Yeah. Well, I’ve been busy,” he scratched the back of his head. “Uh, I heard you were at the New York fashion show,” he adds.

“Uh yea! It was so fun. New York is simply amazing!” she said excitedly.

“Congrats with the show,” he said. He had an odd look on his face. His phone rang and Hae looked at it irritated. “I have to go,” he said with an uneasy face. He seemed to want to say something but decided against it. Just as he was walking away, Yuri called him back.

“Oppa!”

He stopped and heard her say, “She’s fine.”

He turned to smile at her and waved goodbye.

I was silent for a while. Yuri turned her head at me and said, “You know. That was the only sincere smile I’ve seen of him these days.”

“You know, he probably didn’t want to hear about me,” I said after a while.

“Oh come on Yoona. You know he only approached me because of that,” she said.

“He has Eun Seo now,” I managed to say despite the heavy feeling I felt. It was as if my heart was being stabbed into a million pieces.

“Yoong, we both know that’s not true.”

I stayed silent. Yuri went on telling me how Eun Seo was the one clinging herself on to Donghae while Donghae just stood there ignoring her.

She took a job in his company a few months after graduation and that was when the rumors started. She seemed to always hang around with Donghae. There were rumors of them going out and Eun Seo never seemed to deny them. She just smiles and blushes every time. Donghae’s assistant released a statement against it but of course this wasn’t anything reliable. After a few days, she was still seen around Donghae and so the people regarded the rumors as true.

“We both know it’s you he wants to be with.”

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