Ji Hyo opened her eyes slowly. Her room was dark and messy. She didn’t what time was it so she tried to sleep again. But somehow her body refused to have some more rest. She tried to sit on her bed but suddenly she felt pain in her head. The dizziness became more painful so she lay down on her bed again.  It must be because of soju. That can explain all this pain. She tried to remember what happened exactly before she fell asleep but she still couldn’t remember any. She massaged her forehead a few times before she chose to force herself to sit again. Well, it didn’t make her feel better so she tried to ignore the pain and walked to the kitchen to have some water.

She grabbed her phone on the way to the kitchen. It was 7 in the morning and the house was empty so she assumed manager unnie had left earlier in the morning. She looked at the phone’s date again and realized that it was 14^th February. Suddenly she couldn’t hear any sound. It was quiet and cold and dark and… lonely. Every single thing about her past relationship came into a flash. The flowers, the chocolate, the smiles, the love. Now she was left with nothing. She was left alone on the valentine’s day.

The thoughts of loneliness came suddenly and she only could blame herself for being a loner. She wished she didn’t break up with his ex boyfriend, but she knew she had to. The regret still existed in her mind, though.

Didn’t want to accept the fact that she was alone on valentine’s day, she continued to walk to the kitchen and drink some water. It felt cold in . Ji Hyo stood beside the dispenser for a few minutes. She tried to wash away all the memories she kept thinking about. The sorrow that once was forgotten came back again and made everything felt harder than before.  The pain that could not be described was hurting her all over again, creating some kind of punishment for her. She was the heartbreaker. She was the one who said she didn’t love him anymore. Those words now became a burden to her.

Ji Hyo took a gulp of her water again, trying to clear her mind. Then she noticed a note attached to her refrigerator. She took it down and read it. It was manager unnie’s handwriting. It said:

Ji Hyo-ah, I’m sorry for leaving you earlier in the morning. I need to help my sister preparing the party for her daughter’s birthday. I invited Chang Joo-sshi and of course you are invited too. He wants you in his office at 8 a.m. He knows the place so you better go with him. –Unnie—

Ji Hyo’s eyes were widened. She wasn’t in the mood of going out, especially to a little girl’s birthday party. She never met unnie’s niece before so she really didn’t knew the birthday girl. But for the sake of unnie’s happiness, she set aside her feelings and decided to go. Unnie would be upset if I don’t come. We are best friends and she always accompanies me everywhere. She thought.

She went to the bathroom in a rush, worried that Chang Joo-ssi was waiting for her. She brought her digital camera with her and grabbed some random stuff from the table and put it in her bag.  The actress drove by herself to her CEO’s office downtown. It took a half hour for her to arrive at the tall building. She headed straight to the third floor and knocked Chang Joo’s office door. The man told her to come in and said a polite greeting to her. She greeted him too and sat on a chair across his huge marble table.

“Ji Hyo-ah are you ready to go?”

Ji Hyo answered the question with a nod. She observed Chang Joo’s look.  He was more casual than usual. He wore a red checkered shirt with jeans. Obviously he wasn’t going to have a meeting or something for the rest of the day. It seemed like he really were planning to spend his entire day at the birthday party. Besides, he looked more cheerful than usual. He even brought a present with him. His different behaviors made Ji Hyo thought there was something going on between manager unnie and the boss. Probably they were closer than she thought they were. She assumed that the two were dating. That would explain the whole thing about his appearance.

Without hesitation, Ji Hyo and Chang Joo drove to the place where the party was held in his car. Chang Joo was driving in silence all the way to the place. It was awkward but Ji Hyo wouldn’t mind that such of awkwardness. She kept doing two things alternately: listening to music and sleeping the car. Sometimes Chang Joo asked Ji Hyo two or three questions and she answered them with a short sentence in a really polite way. After all, she didn’t intend to make friends with him in the first place.

When they arrived at the party, it was already being started. The party was located on the manager’s sister’s backyard. It was crowded by guests and It was quite hard to find manager unnie. Ji Hyo’s main purpose to come here was to be a good friend to manager unnie. But how could she be a good friend if she couldn’t even find manager unnie.

“Chang Joo-ssi, where do you think manager unnie is now?”

“I don’t know Ji Hyo-ah, let’s go find her.”

Chang Joo left his present on a table that was already full of birthday gifts and then they went through the sea of people to find the manager. After spending a few minutes trying to find the birthday girl’s auntie, the finally gave up. Some people who saw Ji Hyo started to recognize who she was and asked her to sign her autograph or take a picture with them. The actress was soon becoming exhausted and excused herself.

“Chang Joo-ssi, it’s hot here and I’m tired. Let’s go find a quiet place.”

“Okay if that’s what you want.”

Ji Hyo walked away from the house and started to walk aimlessly with Chang Joo following behind her. Soon Ji Hyo found a small park near the party location. They sat on a bench under a big tree and began to start a conversation.

“Chang Joo-ssi, I didn’t know you were this close to manager unnie.” It was actually a quite sensitive topic but Ji Hyo couldn’t hide her curiosity.

“Ah, it’s not like that Ji Hyo-ah.” Chang Joo avoided eye contact with her. He looked at another way, as if he was too embarrassed to face her.

“Ooh I get it. It’s alright, I won’t tell anybody about your relationship.”

Ji Hyo nodded and smiled happily. She knew Chang Joo was hiding something from her. Teasing people was Ji Hyo’s profession. She liked the way people blushed whenever she made a joke on them.

“Aigoo, it’s not like that Ji Hyo-ah!!!” He blushed.

The joke broke the silence but still couldn’t break the awkwardness between them. They talked about daily basic things like weather, health, food, or family. But most of the time, they talked about works, like “How’s the new movie going on?” or “How’s the meeting with the ABC company’s CEO?” Ji Hyo honestly hated this kind of conversation. It showed her how much they weren’t suitable for each other. But she kept on behaving properly, professionally, and politely.

Ji Hyo put her hand on her bag and tried to reach for her phone. She wondered what time was that because the sun started to shine more brightly. Her fingers were still digging up for the electronic device when she touched a cubical object. She didn’t remember putting that stuff in her bag so she took it out to see what it was. It was the chocolate she bought yesterday at the supermarket.

She was going to give it to someone special at the end of the day but it seemed that she hadn’t find the person yet. Without thinking any further, she gave that chocolate to Chang Joo. She didn’t feel attracted to Chang Joo or anything, she was just desperate. She thought it was best for her to give it to Chang Joo because he was her boss. It was some kind of thank-you-for-your-hard-work chocolate.

“Chang Joo-ssi, today is valentine’s day, right? Here’s a chocolate for you. Thanks for all the help. I wouldn’t be an actress without you.” She said sincerely.

“Really Ji Hyo-ah? Thank you very much. You’re such a great person, you would’ve succeed too even without my help.” He smiled happily like a child who just received an awesome toy.

“You’re exaggerating, Chang Joo-ssi.” She replied his smile with such a beautiful smile.

“Anyway Ji Hyo-ah, you can just call me Chang Joo Oppa.”

Ji Hyo was surprised to hear that. She didn’t really like to call him oppa. It would sound weird. Chang Joo oppa. She repeated the three words five times in her head. It still didn’t sound right.

“Chang Joo-ssi, is it really okay to call you that?”

“Yes, I wouldn’t mind. Moreover, I always called you Ji Hyo-ah.”

“Okay Chang Joo-ssi… Chang Joo oppa.” She quickly corrected her words.

Talking about  the ‘oppa’ word made Ji Hyo remembered about someone. Jong Kook. She loved to call him oppa. His name sounded good with the ‘oppa’ word following in the end. Jong Kook oppa. She repeated his name a few times. I wonder what he is doing right now. Does he get some chocolate from his fans? He’s very lovable so he must have received a lot of valentine’s gifts from women. Jong Kook oppa…. Why am I thinking about you…. 

I wonder, do you guys like my story so far? Honestly I love it very much *just saying* but I feel like there's something missing here although I don't know what it is. Can you guys tell me? I would really appreciate your coments and critics :)