For the second time in less than 18 months, I had ended up in the emergency room, worrying YunHo half to death. He was splayed out on the chair on the other side of the room, snoring heavily. EunHee was perched on my bed, smoothing the hair away from my forehead.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Unnie. I missed you so much!” I pulled her into a tight hug. “It was literally hell not being able to talk to you every day and hang out after schedules.”

“I missed you, too, but how are you feeling?” she asked, leaning back, worry painted on her face.

“I’m doing great. Just a little fatigue-.”

“I know everything. YunHo told me. How are you really doing?” YunHo knew? Well of course. He always seemed to find out everything. I wonder who else knew the whole story. I made eye contact with EunHee. Her eyes urged me to tell her what I was feeling. But how are you supposed to describe how betrayal and heartbreak feel? I gave her the only answer I knew for sure.

“I’m coming back to Princess 7 whether Lee SooMan likes it or not. If I can focus on, I can forget them both.” I was still mad at Taec for keeping this from me. How could he believe his presence was worth less than DongHae?

“Maybe you should take a breather.”

“No, unnie. I know you want to take care of my mental health, but the group comes first. I need to start promoting again.” I sighed. “I don’t want to work through it this time. I just wanna be over it.”

Suddenly, the door swung open. The two bodyguards watching the door were trying to hold DongHae back. YunHo, awakened by the loud noise, shooed the guards away and grabbed DongHae by the collar.

“You dare show your face around here?!” YunHo barked. DongHae cowered in the taller man’s presence.

“YunHo-oppa, put him down please.” I said. EunHee had gripped my hand dangerously tight in fear of a fight. YunHo looked at me as I were insane, but let the poor, shaking guy down. “Can you guys give DongHae-sshi and I a moment?”

“First, you want me to let him go. Now, you want me to leave you alone in a room with him. No, I won’t do it.” He crossed his arms defiantly.

“EunHee-unnie. Please help him out.”

“I don’t approve of this either, but I’ll give you five minutes.” EunHee said, before pushing a very pissed YunHo out into the hallway.

“Hey, Fallon.” DongHae said awkwardly. I looked at him with weary eyes. He looked messy. His hair and clothes were crumpled and in disarray. The paparazzi must’ve had a field day. I sighed, looking down at hands in my lap.

“Just say what you need to say and go because I can’t forgive you for what you did.”

“I know you’ll hate me forever, but don’t hate TaecYeon. He was just covering for me.”

“What?”

“YoonA found out what was going on and told Taec. He paid her off to not tell and told me he would only cover for me because it would hurt more if you found out the truth than if you believed he betrayed you.”

“Is that why you never trusted me with him?”

“Yeah. I thought he’d have a change of heart and tell you, but he never did. He was hon-.” He hesitated.

“He was honest unlike you. How did he find out?”

“He saw me and EunHyuk at a café late one night……kissing…” My stomach lurched and I began a coughing spell. DongHae reached out to pat my back, but I waved a hand to tell to back away. He ended up standing there awkwardly again. I cleared my throat once I was able to speak again.

“Taec’s a good person. How could you do this to him? Didn’t you think it would hurt him to see his friend’s boyfriend-?!”

“Friend?! Is that what you thought you were to him? The guy is madly in love with you! You thought he was being super nice to you for no reason, didn’t you?!” Taec was in love with me? I shook my head furiously.

“This isn’t about me! This is about you and your affair! You cheated on me without any regards to how I’d feel. And with a guy! I can’t compete with him! On top of that, you’d let one of the closest people in my life take the blame for your infidelity.”

“If the idiot wanted to take the blame, then of course I’d let him! The only cared about your happiness. He should’ve been selfish and taken you for himself when he had the chance!”

My skin was boiling with anger. How could he talk about someone who would’ve gone the rest of their life having the one they loved hate them so that he could keep his affair a secret? I slid uneasily from the bed. Staggering slightly, I walked over to DongHae. He held out a hand. Even in all this, he was trying to get me to come back. Every bone in my body wanted to forget the affair and fall into his arms, but my heart…my heart wanted to fight for Taec. I smacked his hand away, throwing myself off balance, but not enough to make me fall.

“And you would let him sink like that?! You would let me hate him, so that you could continue your little affair?! Get out! You’re a horrible person without any morals and I can’t believe I fell for you. Get out!” DongHae hesitated, but then opened the door.

“I’m sorry.” He left and I collapsed to my hands and knees. I heard the guards pull YunHo back, his voice ringing in anger throughout the hallway. EunHee rushed in and pulled me into her arms. I wiped at my eyes like a little child. That day, I sat on the cold linoleum and cried.

Sometimes, sorry isn’t enough.

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