Hanul’s POV

In fact, where exactly had I been hired?

 I turned around and walked back for a little.

My mouth dropped. No wonder the building structure had been so familiar. I’d been there before.
No. way.

YG ENTERTAINMENT!?!?!

Not only does YG Entertainment never just hand out random job offers to inexperienced strangers, but YG Entertainment happens to be JYP’s biggest rival for the Kpop Music Industry. And my brothers, biological and otherwise (like Wooyoung) … were JYP representatives. Holy crap.-.-

How did this happen? Why did this happen?

I had been so caught up about moving here, about capturing my freedom that I hadn’t even bothered to care about how I made that dream come true.

Reality’s a real , isn’t it?

Dude. Was I screwed or what?

I slowly turned around, and started the trudge back home.

Nickhun’s POV

Jaebum had attempted to make lunch for us, although most of it was on his hands rather than on plates. “Khun, I’m going to wash my hands. Will you make sure my phone doesn’t drop into the sink or something?”

“Yeah”, I said, and he left. I picked up his phone in my hand and sat down absently.

My heart had finally calmed down from this morning’s incident. From both of this morning’s incidents.

I had talked quietly with Wooyoung about the surprise visit from SM President and we had decided that we wouldn’t tell anyone about Hanul’s past or Jaebum about the visit. Jaebum was sure to overreact.

Ding. I felt the phone buzz in my hand. I looked down.

“Jaebum, hey. I promised your sister I wouldn’t talk to her again, but I have to know- how’s she doing? Is she okay? Take good care of her for me. I miss her already.” –James (*The Professor in the first Chapter)

Suddenly, I felt fury like I had never felt before. It burned in my body like fire, particularly in the left side of my chest. Who was James?

Frankly, I didn’t care who he was. I just wanted to know Hanul’s feelings for me. Up until now, even though she had left, I had always thought of her as my girl. I loved her and I would protect her. So who the was James?

I vaguely heard people talking outside.

Taecyeon’s POV

It was seven o’clock and I had been reduced to waiting on the doorstep for Hanul. I rested my head on my hands, sighing.

Suddenly, she appeared. She was walking in the gate towards the front door and was about thirty feet away when she saw me. Out of nervousness, I stood up abruptly. She stopped in her tracks. I hesitantly approached her.

“Hanul…”
She just stood there, calmly blinking.
“Ibrokeyourphone, I’msosorry!”, I blurted out. I bowed and extended both my hands to her, holding her phone tightly between them. I closed my eyes.

…. and waited. I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid or more ashamed. ><
I sensed moment and I winced, anticipating pain of some kind.

She gently tugged it from in-between my hands and examined it, gently pressing the home button.

It wasn’t going to work. I had desperately pushed all the buttons in all sorts of combinations for hours, trying to CPR it back to life. It had stubbornly and meanly rejected my efforts.

“Where’d you find my phone?”, she asked mildly, not looking up from her phone.
“In the living room, you must have dropped it.”, I answered shyly.

I was still in a bowed position, watching her from the corner of my eye. I saw her glance at me, and I looked down. Her hand whipped down on my shoulder. Oh, man, I was going to get it, wasn’t I? Then she gently pushed me into an upright position, looked straight at me and said quietly, “It’s okay. Really, it might be better this way. I won’t wait forever for a text that isn’t coming.”

She started to walk past me, but I said, without thinking, “Whose text are you waiting for? Can’t you just go see that person?”
She stopped to look at me and shook her head slightly. “That person lives in America.”

I hesitated and then said, “Your boyfriend?”
She smiled gently but said firmly, “Don’t misinterpret. We weren’t like that, at least, we weren’t that superficial.”

“So…your fiancée?” I asked, confused.

She shook her head.

“Your husband?”, I asked, amazed.

“No”, she said, smiling wistfully. “He was someone who knew I would never return his feelings, and still generously stayed by my side as my partner, never asking anything from me. That kind of person.”

I stared at her. What was she talking about?

“He was an American?”, I asked, not able to see her with anyone but a Korean.
“Yes, his name was James.”, she answered. Then she smiled sorrowfully at me one more time and went inside.

Hanul’s POV

I opened the door and went inside. I was startled by Nickhun, who was right beside the door. My heart jumped in response. And then I realized, too late, he had heard every word I had said to Taecyeon.