Being a chef was Sooyoung’s biggest dream. With her love for food, the countryside girl followed her dream to the capital city. But, although she had been told before, she never truly knew how scary it was the people in Summer’s world. And with her exact same appearance with the heiress, being in the city meant she had just put herself in the danger itself unconsciously.

Summer was missing at that time, with everyone looking after her, and unluckily for her, she had herself met the person who hired to searched and kidnapped Summer.

Sooyoung woke up in a suite without her hands or legs tied, which was rather odd, Sooyoung expected to wake up at deserted room or some kind of garage, the kind of place where you expected to be at when you were kidnapped. When she looked out through a round window in the room, then she realized she was in the middle of the sea, so that explained how there were a distinct smell of salt.

To kill her then threw her at the sea, no one would found her body, what a clever plan, Sooyoung thought.

When the door was suddenly opened, Sooyoung had prepared for the worst. But the person in waiter’s outfit in front of her was no other than Summer, much to her surprise.

“We need to hurry!” spoke her in a hasty voice while lowering her mask, revealing her face to Sooyoung for notice, “the other guard will come in a minute!”

Sooyoung still confused when Summer grabbed her hand and half-ran out of the room. There were unconscious guards outside the room, which made them had to skip a bit at their lying bodies. “Are they death?” whispered Sooyoung, terrified.

“No, they just faint… Hurry! We have to go to the deck!”

“Hey! She ran away!” a black suited guard, who had just come, shouted from behind them. The two guards immediately ran to catch them. Summer turned back with a gun pointed at both men. With several loud ‘Bang’, both of them fell on the ground.

Summer kept pulling the shocked Sooyoung in the arm all the way in the hallway. “Summer! You got shot!” gasped Sooyoung after seeing a large stain of red in Summer’s shirt.

“It’s okay! Come on!”

***

They managed to reach the deck Summer’s mentioned before although Summer had been bleeding heavily with her wound. The bullet didn’t get the vital part, but the blood lost made Summer became weaker and weaker time to time.

“You can swim, right?” asked Summer, with Sooyoung’s nod she then added, “Put the life vest then jump to the sea, we’re not really far from the harbor.” 

“But your wound!” Sooyoung widened her eyes.

“I think I can’t do this..”

Summer’s faint smile was seen in the deck’s dim light, a sad smile… Sooyoung could feel her tears b down her cheek as Summer bloody hand touching the side of her face in a very gentle yet weak manner, “No, you can!” Sooyoung whispered, more to assuring herself than to Summer.

“Sooyoung, I’m sorry…”

***

Sooyoung screamed.

She dreamt about Choi Summer again. How faint her apologize was, she remembered it vividly. Because until now, the one who she thought needed to be sorry was her, not Summer. Sooyoung took everything from her, her place, her husband, and… her life. The excuse to protect Siwon was no longer logical, because now, Siwon had a firm position in the company, and relatives who used to oppose him was no longer had power.

The guards immediately burst in to her bedroom, checking her condition. After Sooyoung assured them it was only a nightmare, they left. But Sooyoung felt something strange, she felt like she had experienced the familiar scene.

The scared feeling she had from the dream, and a black suited guard.

On the ship.

She never observed it before, but the guard here and the ones on the ship, they wore the same uniform. Sooyoung could recall clearly the uniform of the lying guards on the floor. But, the guards here were the Choi’s private guards who were ordered directly from Siwon to protect her.

And the relatives. There was no more try to kill her. They had no power. Some of people in Summer’s list in her diary was never seen anymore. The relatives were no longer a threat.

Siwon suddenly came inside the room with an unreadable expression. “Summer…” He called tonelessly, “I heard you come to Cho’s resident this morning…”

“Yes, I need to talk to Kyuhyun…” Sooyoung answered, fixing her seat at the edge of the bed, trying to control her unsteady heartbeat due to her earlier dream.

“You know he was harsh at you the other day.” Siwon pointed out.

“We kind of argued back then. It’s okay... We’re fine now.” Sooyoung smiled convicingly.

“No, you don’t know…” He said, “You don’t know how much the Cho’s family wanted to take over the company, they even managed to persuade the shareholders.”

“But it has nothing to do with Kyuhyun.” Sooyoung argued, even she herself quite unsure that she was saying the truth or not.

“You’re not this naïve, Summer… You know how this work. He used you, he lured you.”

“Kyuhyun is not someone like that!” Sooyoung raised her tone, but then shocked by her own reaction. Why did she defend Kyuhyun this much? “He is my bestfriend.” She added slowly in a whispering manner. Who was he kidding?

Kyuhyun was Summer’s bestfriend, not hers.

He was Summer’s bestfriend, who loved her too much that could recognize her at once, which even Siwon couldn’t do.

The one who loved Summer sincerely even when she loved someone else.

“You will not meeting him anymore.” Siwon stated.

Sooyoung frowned then shouted at him, “You can’t do that to me!”

“Yes, I can. I’m protecting you.” He said again. Yes, Sooyoung knew for sure he was. Siwon would do anything to protect Summer. But then again, there were no Summer to be protected, Siwon.

“But Kyuhyun would not do harm to me!” to Summer, the thought popped out in her head, but maybe to Sooyoung, yes… He basically hated her to his core. In which, Siwon wanted to protect Summer, not Sooyoung.

“Listen to me, Summer. I’m doing this for you.” Siwon walked closer to Sooyoung then caressed her cheek lovingly. His touch was so gentle as if she was a vulnerable glass that would break any moment. “I’m not going to lose you anymore. We’ll always be together. Only you and me..”

Sooyoung froze in her spot while her eyes looking straight to Siwon’s eyes. The same love was there just like the last time. The love for Summer. But why couldn’t he see that she was not Summer? He loved Summer just like Kyuhyun… Why could he?

“Siwon-oppa…” Sooyoung called carefully, wondering if it was okay to ask the question she was really curious of, “What happened to some of the relatives?”

Siwon smiled, his usual gentleman-like, “Why do you ask?”

“I’m curious.. I don’t see some of them recently...”

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore, Summer… I take care of them for you.. You’re safe now.” He said while patting Sooyoung’s head. “The rest of them will be eliminated soon too. You can relieve now. And Cho Kyuhyun wouldn’t bother you anymore.”

“Eliminated?” Sooyoung repeated in whisper, her eyes widened in fear.

“Yes, Summer..” Siwon smiled again, “So you can’t leave me anymore. You’re going nowhere.”

Siwon left the room after kissing Sooyoung’s forehead. But Sooyoung still froze in her bed, still too shocked from the sudden information. What did that suppose to mean? Did Siwon kill the relatives? Was he going to kill more? Was he going to kill Kyuhyun?

***

When Siwon said she couldn’t go anywhere, it really meant she was caged in the Choi’s mansion all day long, with full protection from the Choi’s army (because the bodyguards was became too much that it basically looked like the whole South Korean’s army to Sooyoung). From a precious feeling to a bird in the golden cage, that was what Sooyoung felt.

Sooyoung couldn’t disagree that living in the castle as humongous as the Choi’s was everyone dream, but trapped in this place was different case. The luxurious bedroom became suffocating, the grand diner became bland, and the fragrant air became too thick. She grew up in the countryside, where she was literally close to nature, as free as everyone could ever want. This was something she couldn’t handle.

“I’m not even allowed to go to mall?” Sooyoung’s voice began to rise, and even the big guy in front of her a bit shrunk by it.

“It w-was Mr. Choi’s order, M-madam..” He stuttered.

Maybe Sooyoung became more and more like Summer day by day or it just her defense for her freedom that she had the charisma to intimidate the bodyguard who’s twice her size. “It is me who own this house, not Siwon. I’m the one who hired you. I can decide on my own what I am allowed to do!” 

He only gave Sooyoung an apologetic look, that Sooyoung could understand what it meant. She (as Summer) was the one who owned everything, but Siwon was the one who controlled it. Sooyoung was only a powerless princess that caged in her very own castle.

***

It was the day when Kyuhyun suddenly came out from Summer’s closet.

Sooyoung might have some similarities with Summer, but she didn’t have the ability to sneak out or run away or something on the sort like Summer. That only one person which had the same ability, the one who practically grew up with her, Summer’s bestfriend.

“Don’t look at me like that,” the pale man said, “Summer taught me a lot of bizarre things.”

“This is girl’s room, you know.” Sooyoung began to say, she gave the taller man a teasing smile, then added. “A married woman’s room.”

Kyuhyun flustered then scratched his nape in nervous manner, “I-I d-don’t know you still sleep in here. You should be in Siwon-hyung’s.”

Sooyoung didn’t know how to react, that she really couldn’t understand why she felt relieved to see him here. Maybe because she was caged for too long that she missed talking with a real person than arguing with the guards.

And she felt relieve, seeing Kyuhyun safe and sound, after hearing the implicit threat to Kyuhyun’s life from Siwon just days before.

“Why are you here?” she said with a genuine curiosity and a not really well-hidden happy expression.

He gave Sooyoung the book she had given him last time they met. His serious face turned the light feelings she felt just before to really bad feelings. The sad eyes she saw last time was on his face once again. “I’m sorry…”

“Why?” was her response, She didn’t understand why everyone kept apologizing to her.

Well, it was just Summer, and now Kyuhyun… was not counted as everyone, was it? But for Sooyoung, the apologized seemed unfitted since they didn’t do anything to her, right?

“For lying to you…” He then said again.

Writer's Note: The story is finally nearing the end, please bear with me... I know there's a lot of confusion here and there, but I hope the final chapter will make up for it. *Bow 90^o*