“Sulli, can you give this to Minho?” Taemin said as he handed out Minho’s watch. “He dropped it when he left the bar.”

“Ah, jinjja? Minho’s really irresponsible,” Sulli mumbled to herself. She received the watch and said, “Gomawo. I’ll just go to his unit now.”

Taemin nodded. When Sulli left, he grabbed his phone and started calling Krystal. “Krystal, she’s about to go there.”

“Arasseo, arasseo,” she said.

Krystal applied red lipstick to her lips and started kissing at the various parts of the polo’s collar. She wore it and wiped the lipstick off with her hand. She waved her hair, making it look like it’s messy.

She then lied on the bed beside Minho. After minutes, Minho woke up.

Sulli’s eyes widened as her body froze when she saw Krystal wearing Minho’s light blue polo. Minho pulled Krystal away from the door and he walked closer to Sulli. “Sulli, this is not what you think it is.”

Sulli couldn’t look at Minho directly. She was hurt deep inside, and she’s trying not to show it. She bit her lower lip hardly as she tried stopping tears falling down her eyes. She turned back and slowly walked down the hallway.

“Ssul!” Minho shouted as he chased Sulli. He grabbed her arm, but Sulli abruptly removed it. Sulli looked at Minho with her watery eyes. “Sulli, nothing happened between us. I don’t know what happened last night. I was drinking with Taemin and—”

“And what? You’re going to make me look like a fool?” Sulli said. A tear fell from her eye as her blood’s boiling in anger. “You don’t have to lie. It’s obvious.” Sulli continued walking as she wiped her tears.

“That’s not what I mean. Ssul, nothing happened. This was just…” he said as he grabbed Sulli’s arm once again. In a split second, Sulli slapped Minho hardly. Sulli glared at him.

“Here,” she said. She gave Minho’s watch and pulled her necklace that they bought during their Running Man guesting. She threw it to Minho and said with a cracking voice, “Thank you. Thank you for making me believe that you’re the one.”

Sulli couldn’t help it. Her tears started falling as she left the condominium. It was hard for her to accept what she saw. It was hard for her to accept that Minho did that to her. She went inside the car, and there, she stayed still on one side and sobbed.

Krystal, on the other hand, was delighted as she watched the two. Minho scowled at her, and partly inside, Krystal felt appalled.

“What kind of show is this?” Minho shouted.

“This is not a show. It really happened,” Krystal insisted in a y voice. She walked closer to Minho as she touched his chest. “Maybe… you want to do it again?”

Minho abruptly removed Krystal’s hand and walked heavily inside. “No, no.” He went inside his room and picked up Krystal’s clothes and bag. She threw it outside and said, “Get out!”

Krystal stayed still in front of him. She stared at Minho and her eyes watered as her arms crossed. Minho did not hesitate to pluck her arm and dragged her towards the door. “Minho! It hurts!” Krystal said. He continued dragging her and he slightly pushed Krystal outside and said, “Never show me your face again.”

~~~

“So, that’s it for today,” Director Kangta said. “You all did a good job in producing Sulli’s album.” Sulli, Minho and the staff clapped and left soon.

Sulli quickly walked out the office and congratulated the staff for a job well done. Afterwards, she walked out of the crowd. “Sulli!” Minho shouted. Sulli continued walking and pretended not to hear anything. After what happened, she felt that there’s no need for his explanations. Minho pulled Sulli’s arm, making her turn to him.

“Is there something wrong?” Sulli asked blankly.

“Sulli… about what happened with me and Krystal…” he said as he looked down.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked as if she didn’t witness anything. “What about you and Krystal?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. Sulli paused for a while as Minho’s sorry rang in her head.

“What’s to be sorry about? And, who is this Krystal?” she said. Minho slowly looked at her and he saw that her face’s not showing any expression. It was blank.

“Sulli…” he said. He held her hand and said, “L-L-Let me explain. D-Don’t do t-this to me…”

Sulli clenched her fist as she tried to control her feelings. She removed her hand from Minho’s and said, “You don’t need to. I’ve seen enough.”

“Ssul…”

“We’re here to work. Let’s not put our personal problems here,” she said.

“Oh, you’re here!” Taemin said. Sulli looked back and tried to smile. “You want to go out for dinner?”

Before Sulli could answer, Minho said, “Taemin! W-What happened the night we went to the bar?”

Taemin felt tensed. After what happened, he promised to himself that he wouldn’t want to be associated to it anymore. He gulped and said, “Y-You left the bar early. After you’ve drank your second glass of wine, you said you needed to go home because… someone’s waiting for you there. You even said that it would be a romantic night.”

Sulli looked to the side. Her heart was again pierced by a thorn.

“I-I-I don’t remember saying that,” Minho mumbled. He was embarrassed to see that Sulli was hearing what Taemin said.

“You don’t? Y-Y-You could check your phone to see if you had any messages that night,” Taemin suggested. Minho grabbed his phone and he was shocked to discover a message from Krystal.

            From: Krystal, 10PM
            Message: I have a big surprise for you. I’m sure you’ll love it. ;) I’m here now in your unit.

“Is there anything?” Taemin asked. Minho looked at him with his mouth slightly open and his hand shaking.

Krystal crafted the plan perfectly, not leaving any loopholes. Taemin knew this in the first place and he was really stunned on it. He looked at Sulli and said, “Are you okay, Ssul?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Sulli said as she smiled at Taemin. She looked up, preventing her tears from falling.

“Let’s go,” Taemin said as he put his hand on Sulli’s waist. Sulli nodded and they both turned their backs on Minho.

“Sulli! Please believe me. Krystal had all of this set up,” Minho shouted as the two continued walking away from him. Minho’s voice continued echoing the hallway as he called Sulli’s name.

As they were eating their dinner in the restaurant inside the building, Sulli had deep thoughts wobbling in her mind. She wanted to believe him, but from what she saw, it’s hard. She wanted to hug Minho and say that she believes him, but she can’t. Unknowingly, tears started falling from her eyes as she ate the rice. She sniffed as she wiped her tears. She didn’t want Taemin to see her like this and worry about her.

Taemin placed his chopsticks on the side. He couldn’t help seeing Sulli like this. He was wrong. He shouldn’t have done it. “Sulli, I have something to confess,” he said.

Sulli looked at him in curiosity. “W-W-What is it?”

“Minho didn’t really do it. I-I-I… Krystal and I… connived to break… you two up,” Taemin confessed as he looked down.

It was hard for Taemin to confess it. Even though it may mean breaking their friendship up, he took the courage to do it.

Love doesn’t always mean having the person by your side. Sometimes, love means giving way for her to be filled, he thought.