*** Four Weeks Later ***

 

“Eunyoung! Are you finished with the song yet?” Byungjoo called out to her from down the hallway. She turned around setting her guitar case down as she closed the door to the practice room she had just been in. She gave him a smile as she nodded her head. He gave her a broad smile as he came to stand in front of her, leaning forward to land a sweet kiss on her cheek. Again, she felt nothing.

 

“I actually just finished it right now.” She held up her leather-bound manuscript journal and smiled. He grabbed the book and opened it up to the bookmarked page. Sure enough, she had completed not only the guitar and vocals, but also the piano accompaniment.

 

“Eunyoung. You are seriously just so amazing!” This time he pecked her lips and wrapped his arm around her waist as he picked up her guitar case and slung it onto his shoulder, guiding her out of the building. “Where do you want to go for lunch?” He smiled once again at her as her lips formed a pout. She was in thought.

 

“Home.” She looked down as she said the word. He frowned. Ever since the press conference she had refused to go anywhere in public. Even when she was walking to class at University she was given cold stares and even harsh words. He hummed in response and guided her to the bus stop that would take them to her apartment.

 

After lunch, Byungjoo had to leave to practice with his band. Eunyoung didn’t protest as she normally did. It did not go unnoticed by Byungjoo. He let it go as he had done for the past month. Eunyoung lounged around her apartment, watching TV or playing one of her instruments to pass the time. She started another song and finished it within a couple of hours, although she was not satisfied with the quality of the lyrics.

 

She let out a groan as she stretched her sore limbs. She should probably grab something to eat. She was sure that Byungjoo would not be back until the wee hours of the night so she chose not to cook. She shuffled to the corkboard where they kept all of the takeout menus that were plastered on their apartment door almost every day. She picked a random restaurant and ordered some galbi to be delivered. She really loved the options she had for food delivery in Korea as opposed to the limited options in America.

 

A few moments after she had ordered, there was a knock on her door and she quickly grabbed her wallet to pay the deliveryman. To her surprise, instead of her food her best friend stood at her doorway, a smile on her pretty face.

 

“Heemin-ah!” She gave Eunyoung an adorable smile and quick hug before pushing her way into the apartment, raising a black plastic back that most likely held bottles of soju. Heemin was one of Eunyoung’s first friend’s in Korea. They had met when Eunyoung got lost on her way to the grocery store. Eunyoung happened to be forced into a café where Heemin had been working and the two seemed to become friendly quite quickly.

 

Heemin was always a curious type of girl and was fascinated with Eunyoung almost instantly. It was actually she who had given Eunyoung her Korean name. By chance, they found that they were both music majors attending the same university. The two were inseparable.

 

Not long after Heemin’s arrival, the food came and the two shared the galbi and the role of kimbap that Heemin had gotten as they poured shots for one another. They talked about their classes and joked about their professors. When they got to the third bottle of soju, the conversation changed.

 

“So… Eunyoung-y!~ How come you never t-told me about that idol?” Heemin gave a chuckle as she stumbled over her words, obviously impaired by the alcohol. “I know you’ve liked him forever! That Park fellow!” She giggled again, patting her free hand on Eunyoung’s shoulder.

 

The mere mention of Chanyeol slightly sobered Eunyoung and she stiffened at Heemin’s hand. “Th-There was nothing to tell you, Min. We were only acquaintances. There’s nothing to it.” Eunyoung pour another shot and downed it quickly, letting out a khehk!

 

“Yah! Don’t you lie to me! I can tell that you two had something! Why else would you be acting this way! You avoid most physical contact with Byungjoo, you don’t go out anymore, and you compose less! I can tell when you’re upset, Young-y!” Heemin pointed her purple nail in Eunyoung’s face and gave her a knowing (and half drunk) smile before taking another shot.

 

“I only avoid public places because I was told to do so. I don’t have to explain my actions!” Eunyoung let out a huff of breath and turning away from her friend. She was right, though. She really did have feelings for Chanyeol. How could she not? It seemed like they had been fated for one another. She laughed bitterly to herself as Heemin kept babbling on about how crazy Eunyoung was for letting go so easily. How could they work when she was nothing but a mediocre sound recording technician and songwriter? And to top it off, she was a foreigner here. Chanyeol also had Dara, his number one choice of a partner. And Eunyoung had ruined it.

 

Instead of being helpful to Chanyeol, as she had planned to do when she came to Korea, she had burdened him and hurt him in more ways than one. She was foolish to think that she could come here and try to work for SM Entertainment so that she could work side by side with her idol and inspiration. She hadn’t wanted a relationship with him at first. She just wanted to work with him, and even befriend him. She had given up her childish dreams of ever dating the man when she heard of him dating his ideal girl.

 

Yet, why did her heart beat so erratically when she thought of him? Why did she not refrain from agreeing to meet with him? Why did she give in to desire? Why did she let herself get carried away?

 

Eunyoung had questioned herself this way every day for the last four weeks, torturing herself in the process. She would not let herself be happy after what she had done to Chanyeol and the other members of EXO. The amount of guilt she felt could not be measured and she was ashamed.

 

She drank another shot of soju and tuned out the constant nagging from her friend, choosing to stuff with the kimbap they had gotten to pair with the alcohol. That night she decided to go back to Heemin’s apartment since she was not capable of getting home alone and she refused to stay at Eunyoung’s apartment. She sent a text to Byungjoo so he wouldn’t worry and cared for her friend.

 

The next morning Eunyoung woke early, despite the slight hangover already plaguing her body. She decided to go out to get some hangover soup for the two of them and knew a good restaurant nearby. As Eunyoung walked through the streets, earphones in listening to her newest composition to critique it she didn’t notice the tall man standing on the other side of the crosswalk where she came to a stop.

 

Chanyeol was relieved to finally have a day off. He had just finished filming yet another commercial and done another photo-shoot on top of it the previous night. On top of it all, he had been working on composing songs for the next comeback. Although it was something he loved to do, he was exhausted.

 

Since it was his day off Chanyeol had decided to visit his parents. His first stop was going to be to his mother’s restaurant. It was still very early to go, but he wanted to pick up something for his mother on the way over.

 

Over the past four weeks his mother had been very supportive of him. She had even done a short interview to help wit