Yoonhee kept appearing everywhere. The name was like parasite, eating away my insides so it could live as long as it wanted to. It appeared over and over again, in the most unexpected places as well. It was on the news with a woman who died in a car accident, on a drama with the mean mother, on a magazine with a model, and on a large board in the middle of Seoul showing a skincare lotion. I hated how much I saw the name. It came to the point where I needed to ask about her. The problem was that I couldn't. 

The boys only mentioned her once or twice, on accident. It escaped their mouths in the thrill of the moment. After her name was mentioned, Yongguk would leave the room and demand to be alone. I wanted to go up to him, try to calm him down or have him speak to me about what bothered his mind. He pushed me away all those little times. And every time he pushed me away, my chest would start to slowly cave in. So, obviously, the only solution was not to ask him. The solution was to ask one of the boys, which would either be Daehyun, Youngjae, or Himchan. It ended up being Daehyun.

We decided to meet in a small and quaint coffee shop in the thirteenth floor of the Artreon Cinema building after I got out of work and he finished whatever was that he was doing. The cafe was quiet, with a few tables set of Korean boxwoods and an open space topped by a network of vines. I sat on one of the tables by the window, overlooking the city and tapping my nails against the wood. Right by my hand was a cup of delicious, and freshly brewed, coffee with my phone sitting right besides it. There was a blue light blinking from the top of the screen, which indicated that I had a notification. It was either a text message, a missed call, a notification that I had email, or another notification from one of the games that I had—Junhong decided to download them for his entertainment while he waited for me in the emergency room after school.

A few minutes later, Daehyun arrived with a smile and his phone in hand. As the rest of the boys, who were fashionable and sometimes helped me pick out clothes, he wore a nice white shirt with a blazer and trousers. He smiled when he saw me, ordered, and then sat down right in front of me to wait on his order. 

"I hope you don't mind," he began while clearing his throat, "but I ordered a sandwich for you as well."

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. 

"Thought you'd be hungry," he shrugged. "You didn't eat since your lunch, I assumed, so I decided that it would be good to order something good to eat. They're really good, for your information." He chuckled and nodded, laying his arms on the table and slightly leaning forward. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"We can talk after we eat," I smiled, leaning back on my chair. "I can see that you're hungry, so."

I watched him eat a burger instead of a sandwich filled with chicken and numerous amount of vegetables with a fruit smoothie on the side. In front of me, there was a sandwich with stripped pieces of pork, caramelized onions, and melting cheese. I couldn't tell him that I wasn't a fan of cheese, so I ate it without a word and swallowed it with large sips of the watermelon smoothie he bought me as well. Still, as we ate, I watched and thought. How could I exactly ask him about Yoonhee when he wasn't expecting it? It was like asking someone about their dead relative a few hours after they died. I thought that it would bring him pain if I asked, or maybe it would cause him to hate me. 

After out meal, when we were finishing our smoothies and eating a slightly large piece of strawberry cake, I had the power to ask him my questions. Slowly, of course. I had to ease into the careful conversation of Yoonhee.

"Daehyun," I began with a deep breath, "I need to ask you something."

He swallowed the piece that he was eating and cleaned his mouth with one of the napkins. "What is it, noona?"

"Now, I don't want you to hate me or anything for asking this, so please understand that I'm just really, really curious about it." I straightened my posture and crossed my legs, slightly leaning back against the chair. 

"Noona," he laughed, "I don't think I'd hate you for asking me something."

"But you might hate me for this." I took a deep breath, looked down at my fingers and in a fraction of a second, imagined every little thing that could go wrong with my question. He would hate me. Absolutely hate me for asking about someone that I had no business with. There was a part of me that wanted to keep quiet and continue our interesting conversation about how Yongguk was planning on taking us on a vacation out of Korea. And how Junhong and Jongup made the basketball team since he was tall and knew how to play. And how Himchan was planning on surprising all of us in buying a house in either Itaewon or Seonbuk-dong. And how Youngjae planned on taking online classes for university. If I asked him about Yoonhee, the happiness that came from the conversation would disappear. 

I took the courage that was hiding deep in my gut, and asked: "Tell me about Yoonhee."

Daehyun choked on his drink, coughed for a few seconds, swallowed, and then looked at me as if I just mentioned something taboo. "Y-Yoonhee?"

"Yoonhee," I confirmed. "I'm sorry if it's something I shouldn't ask, but I need to know who she is, Daehyun. It's been bothering me for so long, and I don't know why because she shouldn't matter! Her name has been everywhere. I saw her on the news, on a magazine, on the newspaper, on a beauty surgery advertisement. I even treated a woman named Yoonhee, twice! Daehyun, it's bothering me and I don't know why. I'm sorry, but I need to know about her."

I watched Daehyun stare down at the unfinished slice of cake, and I wondered whether he was deciding that he hated me for asking such a question. But, he did the thing I thought would never happen. He let out a soft smile and nodded. "I guess you deserve to know about her. Did you ask me because you couldn't ask Yongguk hyung?"

​"I can't exactly ask him about it," I said, shaking my head and hands. "I don't think he'd speak to me if I even mentioned her."

"Well, it is a touchy subject." He nodded, leaning back on his chair and crossing his legs. "I'll try to tell you about her, but I can't promise that it'll be the complete thing. It's from what I saw, alright? If you want the whole story, you'll have to ask Yongguk hyung."

"Please, tell me." I pleaded, leaning forward and biting my lower lip in anticipation. 

Daehyun took a deep breath and began to speak. "Im Yoonhee was Yonggyk hyung's first love, you can say. He liked her, really liked her. I think they met in high school, or was it before that? I don't remember, but they met each other a long time ago. Anyway, they were together when we met, and that was the happiest I've seen hyung be. That was my first impression of him—the completely terrifying guy that was the opposite of his looks. But then, after a few months, or was it years, of being together, she died. It wasn't anything big that would make the news, because they didn't report her accident. The newspaper did, but it was a small column that only had her name, how she died, and where she was going to be buried." He looked up at me and smiled. "There's nothing more to tell about Im Yoonhee."

"Was she going to become a doctor?" I asked, raising a brow.

"That was what she planned to be," he shrugged and continued with his slice of cake. "She worked at a makeup shop, though. I think it was because she wanted to pay for tuition with the money she made."

"And what happened to Yongguk after she died?"

"He shut down," he shrugged once again. "He became ruthless and angry, really angry, and started this whole different thing. I don't think he let anyone in until you came along." He kept his eyes on me, head slightly tilted and lips straight. Then, a small smile was spread around his lips. "I think we all owe you a big thanks for making him smile again."

"Are you sure?" I raised a brow. "Daehyun, I did nothing. Absolutely nothing. The first time we met, he smiled like any other stranger would. There wasn't anything special about it."

"Was his smile big?" he asked. "Like, really big that his gums showed and his eyes crinkled that they looked closed?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" 

Daehyun smiled and nodded. "That's the smile that he would give Yoonghee."

After our conversation, which made me think even more than before, I made my way back to the hospital so I could pick up the things that I stupidly left behind. It included my book so I could study, the continents of my wallet that I took out while cleaning, and sadly, and hilariously, my purse. It was right on the chair of my desk, along with my scarf. The insides of my wallet were in the middle, and only, drawer of the desk, which I immediately arranged back into my wallet. I set everything back in my purse, picked it up along with my book and scarf, and made my way to the car in the parking lot. 

The sound of my heels echoed around the slightly empty lot. Which, in a way, was making me even more hesitant to get to my car and make my way home. My phone began to ring, and the caller ID revealed a number I didn't know. With a sigh, I answered. "Hello?"

"Jung Mone!" a female voice began. "Let's meet up tomorrow."

"Who is this?" I asked as I got in the car. 

"Jung Munhee."

I stopped moving when I heard the name, and let out a big sigh. "How did you get my number, Jung Munhee? The last time I saw you, I told you to never call me again."

"You are my sister," she sighed. "We are family. We should at least see each other before I leave for Hong Kong. Bring that man with you, as well."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I mumbled as I drove out of the lot. There were thoughts running through my head, all of them about Jung Munhee and the mysterious meeting she wanted to have with me, and Yongguk. All of those thoughts included a scenario in which I didn't have to go and meet Jung Munhee. And then, I remembered that it would feel good to somehow be in a higher position than her. I wanted to feel better than her, be better than her. And like that, I ended up agreeing to meet her and her husband in a restaurant with Yongguk.