With earphones plugged in, Sungmin was on his morning jog near his apartment. It has been two weeks since he has returned from the trip in Jeju. Life started to return to semblance of normal for him since the extended period of grief for Siwon had begun. He had started to take on some work projects – shooting for a print advertisement as well as for the menu for some new restaurant which was about to be opened. Sungmin started to return to his exercise routine – hitting the gym twice a week, jogging three times a week in the mornings.

As he came out from the shower feeling refreshed after the morning jog, he sat down at the small dining table and his laptop while munching on some cereal with fruit and milk. He clicked on the folder with the recent photos of his Jeju trip. There were still many photographs that were yet to be uploaded online. As he clicked through the photos, he found the shots which he had taken during the sunrise at Seongsan Ilchubong. 

And then he paused at one particular picture. It was particular of a man with a slender silhouette gazing wistfully at the horizon.

Sungmin stared at the picture for some time as his heart fluttered and palpitated.

It’s only a picture of Kyuhyun-ssi. What’s wrong with you Sungmin?

He continued clicking on the photos, but the next few pictures were that of Kyuhyun.

I don’t think I should upload these pictures of him. It would be an invasion of his privacy. I should just keep them in the folder. Should I develop the photos and give them to him or should I send these to his email? But I don’t have his email. Maybe I should just print a set for him and mail it to his office or I could pass them to him personally at his office.

As Sungmin searched for the glossy photo paper, he wondered how Kyuhyun was doing. They had never contacted one another since the quiet and quick goodbye at the restaurant that evening.  Come to think of it, it wasn’t even possible to keep in touch since they did not exchange their personal contacts.

Sungmin decided to airbrush and touch up the photos before printing. As he polished the photos, he could not help but feel his heart pulsate as he thought about Kyuhyun.

He said he was going to see a specialist when he returns to Seoul. He has some heart problems. Has he seen the specialist yet? Is his health okay? He didn’t look too good that night. Is he feeling better now?

He remembered Kyuhyun looking rather ghastly when they were in the washroom. Sungmin had just emerged from the cubicle when he saw Kyuhyun leaning with his hands on the wash basin.

“Kyuhyun-ssi, are you okay? You have been unwell this whole time, haven’t you?” Sungmin asked. “Do we need to get you to the hospital?”

Kyuhyun shook his head.

“Are you sure?” Sungmin queried with concern. “You look pretty bad. Are you sure? Wouldn’t your life be in danger?”

“I’m having heart palpitations,” Kyuhyun replied.

“That sounds serious.”

“I’ll be fine. Anyway dinner is about to be over soon. I can return to the hotel and take a rest,” Kyuhyun reassured.

Kyuhyun turned away from the basin and headed towards the door. His footsteps seemed rather unstable and Sungmin rushed to his side and held him by his arm.

“Thank you Sungmin-ssi, but I’m fine. I can walk by myself,” Kyuhyun rejected coolly as he gently took Sungmin’s hand away from his and then hobbled out.

……

Sungmin returned to touching up on the photos after being momentarily distracted by his thoughts of Kyuhyun.

When he was done he printed the six best photos he had taken, stole glances at the subject (Kyuhyun), and then slid them into an envelope.

And now he needed an excuse to head down to Younique.

He opened his work email. There were some spam messages which he deleted without taking another closer look. There were some enquiries about the hiring of his services. He clicked at the emails and replied them. There was another work offer for the next week for a print commercial which he accepted immediately since he had worked with the company before.

And then an email caught his interest. It was an email from Younique requesting him to collect his payment for his work done.

That was it. It was the perfect excuse to meet Kyuhyun again.

Later in the afternoon, Sungmin found himself standing outside a skyscraper in the Gangnam area.

The building housed SM Publications, the publishing company of Younique, as well as a host of other publications. This was the first time Sungmin had worked for a magazine under the SM banner. SM Publishing is considered one to the biggest publishers in the country as it held the rights to many foreign magazine titles that are published in Korean in the country.

He headed up to the tenth floor where the Younique office was. A receptionist greeted him on his way in. He stated his name and purpose of the visit and handed her a print out of the email sent by the accounts department.

“I’ll page for the accounts department. Someone would come out to receive you. Please have a seat,” she gestured at the seats.

Clutching on his bag with which carried the envelope containing the photographs of Kyuhyun, Sungmin asked the receptionist cautiously, “Is the editor-in-chief Cho Kyuhyun-ssi in at the moment?”

“Is anything the matter? Do you have an appointment with him?”

She sounded cursory.  

“I…don’t…” Sungmin stuttered.

 “He isn’t in the office at the moment,” she informed in her still perfunctory tone. “It’s better that you call and make an appointment with him if you want to see him for any matters. He’s usually quite busy.”

“What a haughty attitude,” Sungmin thought. He also couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Kyuhyun wasn’t around. Just then a rather tall lanky male emerged from the office and approached him.

“Lee Sungmin-ssi?” he asked.

“I’m Shim Changmin from accounts. Follow me,” Changmin motioned Sungmin to follow him.

Changmin led Sungmin through the office as they passed by workstations where staff was furiously working away on their computers. The staff count wasn’t huge. Sungmin did not see any familiar face from the shoot two weeks earlier.   

“Is this your first time here?” Changmin asked.

Sungmin nodded.

“This is where the editorial team works,” Changmin informed.

“I don’t see Heechul-ssi around,” Sungmin remarked.

“Not sure where he is,” Changmin said. He stopped in front of a small office opened the door and invited Sungmin inside. “Have a seat.”

Sungmin took a seat as Changmin sat at his desk and took out some paper and handed over to Sungmin. “Sungmin-ssi, this is the invoice which you had submitted along with the claims for any reimbursements spent on the Jeju trip. Please check that it is correct.”

Sungmin scanned through the invoice, confirmed that the number was accurate and handed it back to Changmin.

Changmin then handed a cheque over to Sungmin and asked him to check the details of the cheque. He then handed a payment slip for Sungmin to sign as acknowledgement.

As Changmin walked Sungmin out of the office, he mentioned casually, “Kyuhyun was telling me how talented you are. It looks like we would be seeing you here more often in the future. Looking forward to working with you.”

As Sungmin strolled out of the building, he opened his bag and took out the envelope, looked at it and sighed, before placing the envelope neatly back in the bag.

Just then he received a phone call from Eunhyuk asking to meet him for dinner to which he agreed.

……

Sungmin and Eunhyuk were eating at one of the street stalls and were downing shots of soju.

“Sungmin, do you remember Mr Jung, our teacher?”

Sungmin nodded.

“I ran into him a few days ago. He’s still teaching in our school. And he asked about you. So I told him about you,” Eunhyuk continued.

Sungmin did not utter any word except to nod his head in understanding.

“You remember those career talks they used to have at the weekly assembly?” Eunhyuk reminisced. “Some of the speakers were so boring and uninspiring…”

“I do…I remember spacing out during most of the talks,” Sungmin added.

“And they still have them,” Eunhyuk groaned. “Our poor juniors.”

“Anyway,” Eunhyuk continued, “when Mr Jung learnt what you’re doing, he was wondering if you would be keen in giving a talk next week. The theme is on creative industries, and he thought that you have an interesting profession to share with the students. So I said that in principle, you would agree to do it, but I just need to get a confirmation from you.”

“What?” Sungmin spluttered. “Why did you do that without asking me first?”

“Because I know you’re a really helpful person…after all Mr Jung is after all your favourite teacher and he treated you well…” Eunhyuk quickly explained.

Sungmin sighed. “But what happens if I have to work that day?”

“That’s right,” Eunhyuk laughed absent-mindedly.

“When is it?” Sungmin asked.

“Next Wednesday afternoon.”

“Let me check my schedules. Is Mr Jung still contactable via the school?”

“I guess so…”

The meal carried on with Eunhyuk complaining about one of his dance students. Sungmin seemed to be drinking more than he was eating. He was stealing glances at the bag and feeling disappointed that he wasn’t able to pass Kyuhyun the photos.

“Sungmin-ah, why aren’t you eating?”

“I am,” Sungmin quickly took a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

“Ahjumma, could you bring another bottle of soju?” Sungmin called out.

“Ahjumma, please cancel the order. We have enough. Sorry,” Eunhyuk shouted out.  

“Hyukkie, why did you do that for? I want to drink,” Sungmin grumbled. “I’m not drunk. I still can drink more.”

“It’s no good to consume so much alcohol,” Eunhyuk advised.

“I want to celebrate,” Sungmin protested. “My life is getting back to being normal. I just got paid for the job in Jeju. Hyukkie, I want to thank you for staying by my side all this while, for taking this job on my behalf.”

“Sungmin-ah, are you drunk?”

“I’m not. I’m just feeling a little high.”

“Come on, let’s get you home. You’re almost on the verge of getting drunk,” Eunhyuk said as took Sungmin by his hand, got him to stand him, set some money down on the table and dragged Sungmin off.

“Hyukkie, is it okay to forget Wonnie?” Sungmin asked as he and Eunhyuk made their way back to Sungmin’s apartment.

Sungmin was thinking about Kyuhyun – his smirk, and his gentleness when he tried to blow the dust away from Sungmin’s eyes. He could remember the pained look on Kyuhyun’s face when he was experiencing all the discomfort in his heart.

“Is it okay that I worry and think about someone else?” Sungmin wondered aloud. “Am I betraying Wonnie?”

Eunhyuk clenched his fists.

“There’s nothing wrong about it. It’s time that you should move on,” Eunhyuk gritted his teeth as he tried to reassure Sungmin.

……

“Kyuhyun, we’re ready to eat,” Victoria called out for Kyuhyun. She had just finished preparing a dinner of Chinese stir-fry dishes and had just laid the table. She brought the dishes and two bowls of rice out.

Kyuhyun sauntered over to the table and wrapped his hands round Victoria’s waist to cuddle her, her hair, and planted a kiss on her cheeks. He rocked her body a little. Victoria turned around to face Kyuhyun and responded to the intimacy by kissing him on his lips. She parted her lips, asking for entrance and Kyuhyun obliged. Soon their tongues really rolling on one another as they engaged in a deep passionate kiss. Victoria broke away from the kiss first and led Kyuhyun to the dining table, pulled out a chair and sat him down before settling in herself.

“Let’s eat before the food turns cold,” Victoria said.

There was an aromatic whiff emitting from the dishes. The food certain looked appetising and invited with its array of colours.

“Smells good, looks good, I shall tuck in,” Kyuhyun remarked as he picked up his chopsticks and picked a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. He then took some rice and stuffed his mouth before picking at some vegetables again.

Kyuhyun seemed to be enjoying the food when Victoria suggested, “Perhaps I should come by and cook for you more often or let’s get married soon and I can cook for you every day.”

Kyuhyun paused from his meal and put down his chopsticks. “But you can’t possibly cook for me every day. You have to work. You still have a promising and bright career in modelling.”

“I can give it up if you want me to,” Victoria offered sweetly.

“You worked so hard to get to where you are today. I won’t ask you to give up the job because of me,” Kyuhyun affirmed.

Victoria leaned forward and kissed Kyuhyun on his cheek. “Thank you. You’re so understanding. I’m so glad that I have you as my husband.”

“Husband…?” Kyuhyun stuttered. His face blushed. He fidgeted in his seat as felt anxious as Victoria said the word ‘husband’, although he tried his best to conceal it.

“You look as though you can’t wait to marry me,” Victoria teased.

Kyuhyun laughed awkwardly.

“I don’t have any projects in October as yet. I could take a month off from work to get married. Let’s have a fall wedding,” Victoria suggested.

Kyuhyun gulped at her suggestion.

“Is it too late for you?” Victoria continued with her teasing.

“No…no…” Kyuhyun stammered. “But it’s already June. Do we have enough time to prepare for the wedding…?”

“Kyuhyun, I’m happy with just a simple wedding,” Victoria reassured. “Anyway my parents are coming to visit in two weeks so I took the liberty in contacting your parents and arranging for them to meet my parents formally. I know they’ve met before, but those circumstances were far from ideal…”

Victoria noticed that Kyuhyun was starting to tense up. His expression started to stiffen.

“Kyuhyun, I’m sorry. Are you unhappy with that I did?” Victoria treaded cautiously. “I’m sorry for not asking you.”

Kyuhyun shook his head as he recovered from Victoria’s surprise announcement as he forced a smile. “It’s okay. Let’s just go ahead with the meeting. When is it?”

Victoria squealed it surprise as she leapt off her seat and wrapped her arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and planted kisses on his cheek. “Thank you so much! Thank you so much!”

……

Sungmin awoke the next morning as he groaned. His head was throbbing slightly from the drinking last night even though he wasn’t totally drunk. He struggled to get out of bed to head for the kitchen to drink some water and get some breakfast. After a quick breakfast, Sungmin took his own sweet time in the shower only to come out feeling refreshed.

He checked his schedule for the day. There were no jobs lined up for the day. As he sat down in front of his computer, he remembered Eunhyuk mentioning to him about their former teacher’s request. Sungmin checked his calendar, and fortunately there were no jobs for him that day. He rang up his teacher at his former high school and gave him a positive reply.

As he had nothing to do, Sungmin decided to go to the gym for a workout. After that Sungmin just walked around aimlessly when he came across a bookstore. He decided to enter, and his legs led him to the magazines section. There, magazines of different titles and genres lined the shelves, screaming out for the interest of the readers. Sungmin browsed through the titles, not picking up any until he set his eyes on a glossy cover with the word ‘Younique’ in big bold letters and a picture of Victoria Song adorning its cover.

Sungmin picked the magazine up, checked for the publication date. It was the latest issue. He took it to the counter for checkout. It was his first time purchasing a copy of the title. He had read through previous copies of the bi-monthly periodical to get an idea of the style and direction of the magazine as preparation for the shoot. 

Sungmin found a quiet corner in a café, sat down and browsed through the magazine. He turned to the centrespread which comprised the photos that he had taken of Victoria. Sungmin felt proud and pleased at what he had accomplished with the finished product, and he could not help but smile when he saw his name listed as the photographer. This project would definitely add on to his portfolio and open up new opportunities in the future.

But Sungmin could also not help but marvel at how gorgeous Victoria turned out in the photos. It wasn’t much of a difference from how she actually looked in actual person. No wonder she would be able to capture the heart of someone as good-looking and talented as Cho Kyuhyun, Sungmin thought.

He’s one lucky guy and she’s one lucky girl.

Sungmin then continued flipping the magazine till he found the masthead which listed the details of all the staff and their email addresses.

Maybe I should email Kyuhyun-ssi, Sungmin thought. He could drop a courtesy email. He could mention about the photos he has of Kyuhyun. But would he be too busy that he won’t read the email? Or would someone check the email and filter out the less important emails? Maybe he should talk to Kyuhyun about a job, but wait, would that be too desperate on his part?

Sungmin groaned as he shut the magazine. I guess I would have to wait for him to contact me first even though I won’t know when that would be, Sungmin sighed with a resigned thought.

……

Nothing much has changed as Sungmin made his down the corridors of his former high school. There were a few cosmetic changes here and there – a fresh coat of paint, a change of furniture and the upgrade of some facilities. It was still the familiar place where he had spent his teenage years. Seeing the students out and about, he could imagine himself still in his uniform complete with jacket, pants and all, laughing amongst his classmates such as Eunhyuk who had been his classmate since middle school.

As he approached the teachers’ room, he could feel his heart pounding away faster at his chest.

Maybe I’m just excited at seeing Mr Jung after so many years. He has been a great mentor to me. Maybe I’m just feeling nervous about giving the talk in front of so many students, Sungmin thought.

He took a deep breath and told himself not to be nervous and his heartbeat relaxing its frenetic pace. He knocked on the door, paused for a moment, before turning the knob and opening the door.

Standing right in front of him was Mr Jung who was beaming with joy. Sungmin bowed politely towards his former teacher. “Jung seon-saeng-nim,” Sungmin greeted.

“Sungmin-ah,” Mr Jung bowed in return as he stepped forward to embrace his ex-student. “It’s been a long time. It’s so good to see you again. Thank you for coming today and agreeing to present a talk.”

“It’s my pleasure. Anything for you seon-saeng-nim,” Sungmin responded.

Just then Sungmin could feel his heart thumping again.

Mr Jung stepped away from the embrace and Sungmin spotted a familiar tall lanky figure with the tousled hair relaxing in the sofa.

“Sungmin-ah, let me introduce to you,” Mr Jung said while motioning for the other guest to come forward which he complied. “This is Cho Kyuhyun. He’s also an alumnus of the school. He’s working in the magazine industry. He would also be presenting at the talk later.”

Sungmin gulped as the other male sauntered confidently towards him with his trademark smirk on his face. 

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I think this wouldn't be a surprise for most of you by now to know that Sungmin and Kyuhyun were from the same high school, but probably in different years. They probably have met and all that but can't really remember one another. You know how sometimes with time and all that, people, names and faces can be forgotten.

I won't be updating next week as I won't be around. Do check for updates in about a fortnight.

Thanks for all the comments so far.

Please continue to show your love and support for this.

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