While Shin Hye was brooding over the fact that she could have a chance, Yong Hwa and Seohyun went to Han River for a date. Because Seohyun's classes were still in the afternoon, she could hang out with her fake BFF for the meantime.

She spread a quilt on the grass and placed the basket on top of it.

"Please sit down, Oppa," Seohyun said sweetly.

Yong Hwa sat down in silence and looked at the river far ahead. Ever since his accident, it was the guys who had been bringing him here to play ball or to take some nap. But right now, it did not feel so right, like he was wanting to come here with someone else but Seohyun.

"Oppa?" came Seo's call.

Yong Hwa did not turn to look at her. Why did all things feel so wrong? What did he miss? He felt things started to go awry when Shin Hye came to the manor as the new boarder. Just who is Park Shin Hye, and why was she crying in front of him?

"Oppa?"

Shin Hye's melancholic look gave him a lot of things to think about. That night when she first cried in front of him--no, on top of him, he felt that her body connected with him just perfectly, like she was made just for him. She was so delicate and feeble that he felt his masculine nature was more suited to her than he was for Seohyun.

"Oppa?"

Shin Hye's tears made him wonder why she was crying. Something in her wanted him to know, wanted him to comfort her. Just who is Park Shin Hye, and why did she cry?

"Oppa!"

Yong Hwa finally arrived from lala-land, awakening from that jolt of call.

"Mwo?"

"Hello!? I have been calling you, Oppa, but you weren't listening to me," was Seohyun's tantrums.

"Mianhae, I was in deep thought..." he apologized.

"Is it about the new boarder?" Seohyun asked jealously. "Did she say something to you before I came?"

"Ani," Yong Hwa snapped back a bit. "And why do you care if she did?"

"We are best friends!" Seohyun retorted. 

"But you are acting like a jealous girlfriend!" Yong Hwa snapped.

Seohyun grabbed Yong Hwa's hand and begged.

"Please let me be your girlfriend, Oppa?" she begged.

"Seohyun-ah..." Yong Hwa responded uneasily.

"Seohyun-ah," a male voice called out to her.

Seohyun and Yong Hwa turned around to see a handsome young man with pretty eyes, wavy hair, and flawless skin. But to Seohyun, he was a memory of the past that she did not want to see again.

"Marcus?" Seohyun asked in shocked.

The said stranger got near the two, looked at Yong Hwa in disdain, and turned to Seohyun.

"Who is he?" the stranger asked in jealousy.

"He is...my best friend!" Seohyun said with a stammer.

"Geojitmal (Lie!)" the stranger screamed as he grabbed her by the arm, dragging Seohyun with him.

"Let her go!" Yong Hwa screamed back as he grabbed the stranger's hand away from Seo.

But then, the stranger boxed Yong so hard, and unrest happened to the other people by the River Han.

"Marcus Cho! Please stop!" Seohyun begged.

Marcus wiped his lips with his hand and looked at Seohyun.

"Must you always call me by my American name?" Marcus asked her. "Tsh, hell, should you, by now, be calling me by my Korean name?"

""Kyuhyun-ssi," Seohyun gingerly said.

Marcus looked at Yong Hwa and pointed at him as he spoke back to Seohyun.

"And who is this guy? Your best friend, you say?" he demanded. "And who am I to you? Some stranger?"

"Please don't talk to her like that!" Yong Hwa snapped, but he fell again at Marcus' fist.

"Seohyun-ah, did you forget that you were once betrothed to me, by our parents????" Marcus asked.

"Betrothed?" was Yong Hwa's shocked statement.

"I told you I don't want to get married with you!" Seohyun screamed at Marcus.

"Should you not tell your parents that as well?" Marcus asked her. "And what's this, 'best friend' thing? You're lying!"

"Ani!" Seohyun screamed, but to Marcus, it was evident that she was scared of what he might say.

"That man," Marcus said of Yong. "Is not your bestfriend. In case you have forgotten, I will be very glad to remind you. His best friend is Park Shin Hye!"

"Mwo?????" asked Yong Hwa. "How...how come?"

Marcus scratched his face before replying. By now, the crowd had listened and had wanted to call the cops to put order to the riverside.

"Listen, Jung Yong Hwa, I don't care what you are to Seohyun, but she is my bride-to-be! And my family of lawyers will see to it that our parents' agreements will come to pass."

"Why not let her decide?" Yong Hwa asked as he held Seohyun's hand. 

Seohyun began to sniffle due to too much embarrassment already.

"Stop crying, Seohyun!" came Marcus. Then to Yong, "And you, stay out of this. If you wanna know how Park Shin Hye became your best friend, then, let me tell you. The son of your neighbor, whose dogs your Uncle Kang detested so much, was your batch mate in high school. And he is my cousin too! So whatever things go inside the house, we know. And we know that--this flirty bride-to-be of mine (aigoooooo, sighs)... she once lived in your uncle's manor as a boarder. I was a habitue to my aunt's house because of Seohyun. I want to see Seohyun all the time. And I don't want to lose her. And with the things going around in your campus, I have learned from my cousin that Park Shin Hye is your best friend. But where is she now? Why did she settle in Hong Kong?"

"Marcus, stop!" Seohyun came back with.

"Ani. And Yong Hwa-ssi, I remember that my cousin used to blabble about you and Shin Hye-ssi going together like both of you are glued together. And that both of you were really famous back in high school with your other guy friends," Marcus informed Yong acidly. "Go ahead! Ask her!"

Yong Hwa looked at Seohyun in hurt, asking for some confirmation.

"Ani, Yong-oppa, Marcus is lying!" Seohyun begged.

"Liar!" Marcus screamed at her.

Seohyun begged Yong Hwa to listen to her, but Yong Hwa said that he felt some things just did not match with the other things Seohyun said to him in the past. In his confusion, he left the two alone by the riverside.

And Seohyun looked at him helplessly, while the crowd looked on.

"Let him go, Seohyun-ah," Marcus said. "He's not the one for you."

But Seohyun slapped him before running towards Yong Hwa. But it was apparent to Marcus that Yong Hwa ran away faster for Seohyun not to catch up with him.

****

"I have to ask her," Yong Hwa thought as he ran with all his lungs. "Lead me back, Shin Hye-ya..."

~~~~