Three Months Later

Amber’s POV

 

“Yiyun, that girl has been eyeing you since earlier,” my half-drunk friend, Soryong whispered and pointed at the other table. Henry, Wu Fan and Minseok traced the direction of Soryong’s finger except me. I was already aware of the presence of a smoking hot brunette sitting with a group of thug-looking guys just across us but I wasn’t interested like my friends.

 

“She’s looking at Wu Fan,” I replied and took a long gulp of beer. I was so sure that the chick from the other table was looking at Wu Fan who was way more handsome than anyone in our group. Such girl wouldn’t bother looking at someone like me.

 

“But dude, she’s really into you. Even if we trace it with a ruler, she’s really looking straight at you,” Daeryong, Soryong’s twin brother, argued. I just shrugged my shoulders and continued emptying my bottle of beer until the last drop.

 

“Henry, one more bottle please—no, make it a bucket,” I told my friend who nearly spit out the beer in his mouth with what he heard.

 

“Liu Yiyun, your liver had enough for tonight. Well actually, you had enough for the whole week. Why don’t you just get a room and have an awesome night with that girl?” Henry replied before glancing at the girl’s direction again.

 

“No, thanks. I want my beer.”

 

“Getting drunk every night won’t resolve anything. You have to know that,” Wu Fan advised me.

 

They’re starting again.

 

Tired of hearing the same thing from my friends, I stood up and was about to leave for the counter but Minseok grabbed my wrist. I didn’t look back at him and just maintained my stance. “You have three seconds to remove your hand,” I warned but my friend still held onto me.

 

“We all know how devastated you are with what happened to K—

 

“Say her name and you’re dead.”

 

“Yiyun, it’s not your fault that you couldn’t be there when she needed you. It’s not your fault that Krystal couldn’t remember—

 

BLAG!

 

Minseok was taken aback when my fist landed on his face.

 

How dare you slap it in my face?!

 

The other guys quickly came in between us but I still managed to find a way to hit Minseok for the second time. I was more than furious; he just pulled the trigger by saying her name. The alcohol’s effect was wearing off that everything started coming back to me again: the night when Krystal rejected my proposal, Yixing’s information about Krystal’s accident, Yuri’s phone call telling me about Krystal’s condition, my frustration of a happy ending with the girl I love the most.

 

How can this happen to me?

 

BLAG!

 

Bumping the bar table, smashing the glasses and splashing the drinks everywhere, I fell back on the floor when Minseok responded with a kick to the abdomen. It was damn painful but overwhelmed by the pain in my heart, I managed to stand up instantly for another attack.

 

“Stop it you two!” Henry yelled as Wu Fan and Soryong started to get in between us again but they were a step late. I already jumped onto Minseok once more and started throwing punches at him.

 

“You! You don’t know anything!” I shouted at his face, tightly gripping the collars of his red shirt. I raised my fist again in attempt to hit him but I was frozen on the spot when someone called my name.

 

“Yiyun!”

 

It was such a beautiful voice that sounded so warm and familiar. The way she called me ‘Yiyun’ in a tone of mixed authority and worry caught me off guard that I wasn’t able to dodge Minseok’s counter attack. I received a straight punch to the face, strong enough to make my world spin. My vision started to blur when I felt blood flowing down my nose uncontrollably.

 

“Oh my god, don’t hurt her! Please!”

 

“Minseok, that’s enough!”

 

I taste blood.

 

“Yiyun, you’re bleeding!”

 

Blood, I felt nauseous seeing how blood-stained my white shirt was. My nose never bled like that for the past ten years and the fact that I couldn’t breathe properly in that instant made it worse.  I started to panic. I was running out of breath, my air passage was blocked. I spat out the thick red liquid in my mouth but it didn’t help at all.

 

I wasn’t just feeling dizzy, everything started to get dim. Next thing I knew, I fell in the arms of someone, someone familiar but my heart couldn’t recognize. I was so sure that I’ve seen those beautiful eyes before, that innocent pretty face that every guy would kill for.

 

“Y-You, what are you—

 

And everything went black.

 

Suzy’s POV

 

Damn that Minseok guy. How could he punch a girl like that?!

 

I silently cursed the guy who hurt my fiancée at the bar earlier. Yiyun’s nose was bleeding nonstop that she fell unconscious by the loss of blood. We rushed her to the nearest hospital for treatment but I didn’t know it was quite serious that the doctors had to perform an operation on her broken nose. Neither did I know that Yiyun was that vulnerable.

 

It’s not that I look down on Yiyun since in the first place, I’m fine with marrying a girl but she should at least be strong enough to protect me. How could I marry someone who couldn’t even protect herself? She should get well soon and take revenge on that guy.

 

What could have happened to her if I didn’t come to interfere? *sigh*

 

Aish, Bae Suzy. You shouldn’t even be there in the first place!

 

“Thank you for bringing Yiyun here, Miss Bae.”

 

Why do they have to get drunk and fight like kids anyway? Gosh, they’re in their early twenties and they still act like children? What if Yiyun got hurt even more? What if they ended up killing each other? I don’t want to be a widow!

 

Uh, you’re not even married yet.

 

“Ahem! Don’t worry about her too much, Miss Bae. I’m sure Yiyun will be fine.”

 

My thoughts were interrupted by a soft manly voice in broken Korean and strong Chinese accent. There was Zhang Yixing, Yiyun’s personal secretary/bodyguard whom I first met three months ago at Eastbrook Seoul when I met the Lius. He was also the person I contacted to know Yiyun’s whereabouts earlier and just like what he said, my fiancée could be found at her friend’s bar in this district.

 

“Worry? Who’s worried?” I asked. Yixing looked at me fishily and curved a teasing smile. Aish, what is this guy thinking? “Mr. Zhang, worrying is just a natural reaction when someone bleeding just fainted in front of you,” I defended.

 

“Right, I have no right to question that, Miss Bae,” he replied with a bow and walked towards Daeryong and Soryong, Yiyun’s friends who accompanied me to the hospital. They were talking several feet away from me, standing by the operating room.

 

Those twins look like thugs who are up to no good. I can’t believe that Yiyun who’s gentle, polite and witty hangs out with guys like them.

 

Suzy, that’s not for you to care. She has every right to hang out with anyone.

 

“Miss Bae, can I ask you something?” It was Zhang Yixing for the second time. I was too focused on my thoughts that I didn’t realize he was back standing in front of me.

 

“Yes, what is it?”

 

“How come you went all the way here for Yiyun?”

 

Oh, believe me, Zhang Yixing. I don’t even know why I wanted to see her all of a sudden.

 

“I just happened to be in Hongkong and I know that she’s here,” I stated briefly. Actually, I had an academic convention at Hult Business School Hongkong this morning and I heard from dad’s secretary that Yiyun is currently here too so I decided to see her.

 

“Are you sure it’s the only reason, Miss Bae? You didn’t come here just to see her?” the guy asked me in a suspicious tone and looked at me questioningly. Gosh, this guy asks a lot.

 

“Well, my birthday is coming and my friends are bugging me to introduce my fiancée to them so yeah, I came to invite her personally,” I explained. I was actually planning to celebrate my birthday with my friends in Seoul but the idea of inviting her only came up now. Isn’t it just right to invite my fiancée? Good thing that Yixing looked satisfied with my answer and smiled, slightly shaking his head.

 

Why is his reaction like that?

 

“It’s my turn to ask a question then,” I told him. He met my eyes and nodded. “What happened to Yiyun? I mean, she’s not like that before, right? Getting drunk and fighting even with her friends? You know what I mean.”

 

Yixing looked hesitant for the first time. He pondered for a while before letting out a deep sigh as we both stared at the operating room’s door.

 

“I’m glad you met Yiyun before this and already have a good impression of her,” he said. “I’m also glad that you came at the time when she needs you the most, Miss Bae. I have no idea of exactly how she feels right now but I’m sure that the pain in her heart can’t be describe in words.”

 

I fell silent upon hearing Yixing’s answer. I wanted to know the reason why Yiyun changed, why she’s not the same calm, dorky and gentleman Yiyun I met before. Yes, she made a very good impression deep within me and I already admire her personality for the short time we had talked. But what could be the pain that Yixing was referring to?

 

“Yiyun had a girlfriend in Seoul,” he started. I didn’t know why but I felt a pang inside when I heard that. Yixing, who was oblivious of what I felt, continued telling Yiyun’s story.

 

“They are very much in love with each other and though they parted for two years due to some misunderstandings, they found their way back to each other. My boss was so happy when they got back together until she found out about your—

 

Zhang Yixing stopped for a moment and sighed again. He hung his head low, afraid of meeting my gaze. But I knew exactly what he was about to say.

 

“O-Our engagement,” I said, my voice was shaking for some reason.

 

“T-To avoid the engagement, she proposed marriage to her girlfriend. Everything was set already, they could even marry right after the proposal but unfortunately, the girl didn’t say yes. She didn’t say no either but asked for more time instead. Yiyun was hurt by the rejection and as scheduled, she went back to Shanghai, leaving the girl behind to think about it for a while.”

 

I wanted to cry upon hearing Yiyun’s sad story. Maybe it was really my fault how they ended up like that.

 

Suzy, how could you ruin such a beautiful relationship?

 

“But the girl should have followed her here if she really loves her. She knows you, right? She could just contact you and ask for Yiyun—

 

“Fate is really cruel, Miss Bae. It was damn hard finding that one true love but then again, it’s harder to keep that love with you,” Yixing said, smiling sadly at nothing. “Sadly, the girl won’t look for Yiyun now and maybe in the future too. She got into an accident the night after the proposal and can’t remember anything including her love for her.”

 

I was speechless. I felt sorry for them all of a sudden. I never thought love could be this tough.

 

But why do I feel disappointed hearing thatYiyun proposed to someone else? *sigh*

 

Feeling sorry for her, I decided to stay over at the hospital. She was transferred to a suite room as soon as the operation was over. I heard the doctors implanted a metal support in replace of her broken bone inside her nose. I also found out that she had a broken nose all along and the operation was supposedly to be performed two years ago but Yiyun just didn’t show up at the hospital.

 

I didn’t know why but I had the urge of taking care of her. When Daeryong and Soryong left at dawn, I still didn’t leave Yiyun’s side and asked my secretary to deliver some fresh clothes instead. Zhang Yixing who also wanted to stay couldn’t say ‘no’ when I pushed him out of the room and sent him home. Everybody needed a rest except me. I had to take care of my future wife.

 

Let me take care of you, Yiyun. Even just for now.

 

Amber’s POV

 

I slowly opened my eyes when I felt the uncomfortable warmth on my surroundings. My head felt like being cracked into two when the brightness of the white fluorescent lights flashed through my eyes. I wanted to remove the duvet covering my body but my hand wasn’t free to do so.

 

What the—

 

I almost freaked out when I found a stranger sleeping on my bedside, holding my hand tightly. My widened eyes roamed around and I felt relieved when I realized that I wasn’t in a hotel room but in a hospital room instead.

 

BUT WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!

 

I tried to carefully free my hand from the girl but failed. She stirred up and our eyes met.

 

“Yah, what are you doing here?!” I yelled in surprise upon realizing who the person was.

 

The girl removed her hand from mine and started wiping her eyes cutely. She looked so tired though. “Oh, good morning, wifey. You’re awake,” she said before flashing a sweet smile.

 

I just misheard it, didn’t I?

 

“W-What did you say?”

 

“I said, good morning,” she said and checked her wristwatch. “Oh, it’s 4pm. I mean ‘good afternoon’,” she corrected and smiled again.

 

“I don’t care if it’s morning, afternoon or evening! What the hell did you just call me?!” I asked her again, raising my voice this time to verify if what I heard was right.

 

“Wifey, you shouldn’t yell. You should take more rest, go back to sleep.” I just rolled my eyes when she tried to tuck my blankets back. I shoved her hand away and attempted to get out of bed.

 

“Who the hell gave you the permission to call me that?” My eyes widened at the thought. “Don’t tell me we got married when I was drunk?”

 

“Dork. We’re not married yet. You were too drunk the other night to say ‘I do’,” she kidded but it struck me like lightning.

 

I was ready to say ‘I do’ with you, Krystal. How can we end up like this?

 

My mind was starting to stream sad thoughts again about the girl I love when the other girl’s voice pulled me out of my trance.

 

“Don’t fight with someone else again. Your broken nose got worse that they had to perform a surgery to replace the broken bone. You don’t know how worried I was,” she said, evident care in her voice. I recollected the last memories I had before I fell asleep and I remembered fighting with Minseok in Henry’s bar. The idiot luckily punched me square in the face that I out.

 

“Aish, I still need to beat the hell out of that guy,” I mumbled upon remembering what my friend did. “Suzy-shi, help me. I need to get out of here and kill that bastard,” I told the girl in front of me while attempting to remove my IV.

 

“You’re not going anywhere, wifey. Your nose hasn’t healed yet.” Suzy pushed me back on the bed tucked me between the sheets.

 

“Yah, don’t you ‘wifey’ me! We’re not a married couple, we’re not even friends!”

 

Okay, I was going overboard but I just didn’t like the way she treated me. She’s acting like a girlfriend when Krystal’s the only person who had every right to do those things to me. I sighed at the thought. There’s no way that Krystal would care about me when she couldn’t remember me at all.

 

Now Amber Josephine Liu, you have to plead on your knees in front of your father for the nth time to lift your travel ban. If you’re successful this time, you can fly to Korea as soon as possible and make Krystal fall for you again.

 

“Wifey.” Aish, that irritating voice again. I shot a glare at Suzy but she still maintained those sincere pretty eyes and heart dropping smile. “I assume you’re hungry after sleeping for two straight days,” she told me, holding a tray of porridge and biscuits.

 

“Seriously, what are you doing here? Did the old man summon you here or something?” I asked her, referring to my father as the old man.

 

“Eat first, let’s talk after you eat,” Suzy simply replied and sat on my bedside. She placed the food tray on the table just across the bed and started spooning some porridge for me. “Wifey, say ‘Aaaaah’.”

 

“Cut the crap, Suzy. I have no appetite. And please, don’t call me that stupid nickname. It makes me cringe,” I told her, turning my face at the other side opposite her to avoid the spoon of abalone porridge. She sighed deeply, defeated.

 

“Fine, don’t eat. But I won’t give you my gift unless you eat,” she threatened.

 

“I. Don’t. Care.”

 

I felt Suzy moved away from my bed and walked towards the couch. She withdrew something from her bag and kept it behind her as she walked back towards me.

 

“Are you sure you don’t care about this?” Suzy said, teasing me this time. She waved a dark blue booklet and a piece of white paper that froze me for a minute after realization.

 

“W-What, h-how—

 

“You don’t know how much I pleaded to your father to let you go with me. I told him about my upcoming birthday bash this weekend in Eastbrook Seoul, he was hesitant at first but agreed in the end,” she explained. I was busy looking at her face, wondering how she made my father agree on such a thing. “I already booked the flight but I won’t let you have this unless you eat.”

 

“Aish, you should have just told me,” I retorted and voluntarily ladled a spoon of porridge until I finished the whole bowl. It felt so good to finally fill my stomach after several days that I asked for another portion from Suzy who gladly gave me another bowl.

 

I finished my third bowl as I watched Suzy peeled some oranges for me. She was treating me so well that I felt guilty for yelling at her earlier. I wanted to apologize and thank her for everything.

 

I could just make it up to her later, right?

 

“But Suzy, why are you doing this?” I couldn’t help but ask, afraid that she would ask for something in return that I couldn’t give.

 

Suzy just smiled at me sweetly and said, “I don’t know either, wifey.”

 

Wifey my .

 

“Do you know where my phone is?” I asked her, remembering that I haven’t checked my email for a week already. Yuri must have sent me tons of mails again about Krystal and her Sica baby.

 

“Here, Zhang Yixing asked me to keep it for you,” Suzy replied and handed me my mobile phone. I began scrolling for my latest emails and as expected, most of them were sent by Yuri.

 

Yulseobang14: Hey, dino bro. How are you? I hope you’re done with the night-after-night-drinking phase and decided to come back here. Everybody wants to see you, Am. By the way, Krystal met Sung Jin people today. Victoria and the rest cried buckets upon hearing her condition. I think Key cried the most tears. You should come back too and cry with them, okay?

 

As expected for the diva who’s very close to Krystal.

 

Yulseobang14: Ottoke, Ambro? Sica baby won’t go out with me since she’s busy taking care of Krystal. Their parents just left for the States again and all the responsibilities were left to Sica. Please come back and take care of her instead. Please please. I’ll treat you unlimited ddeokbokki if you come back.

 

It must be hard for Jessie noona. *sigh*

 

Yulseobang14: Amber, I’m in the Jung’s apartment and your bestfriend is here again. Choi Minho has been visiting Krystal since day 1 and they got pretty close already. He even sent Krystal home when she got discharged. Do you know about this? Does he update you about Krystal too?

 

What? I haven’t heard a single thing from Minho since the day I left!

 

Upon reading that email, I scrolled even more for Yuri’s messages, curious about what’s happening.

 

Yulseobang14: Are you even reading my messages?! When was the last time that you replied to me?! I won’t update you about Krystal anymore if you don’t reply!

 

Yulseobang14: Sorry for the last email, bro. I’m still waiting for your reply, okay? Please reply soon. Sica and I are worried about you.

 

I might come back there soon, Yul. Don’t worry.

 

Yulseobang14: Something fishy is going on here, Am. Minho asked Krystal to watch a movie again this afternoon. It’s for the third time this week for god’s sake! Will you just let him do that? He used to have some feelings for Krystal, right? Please come back and punch the bastard’s face!

 

My heart raced upon reading the message. I debated inside whether Yuri was just making things up or my bestfriend did betray me for real. The answer, I found it on Yuri’s last email.

 

Yulseobang14:

I don’t know where to start but let me begin by sayingsorry. You have been a parasite roommate to me who eats up all my ramen and uses my shampoo without consent, a dependent classmate who raids my bag for a pen before exams and one fourth pieces of paper during quizzes, a lazy lab partner who let me do all the work when you’re mood swings are on. But apart from all that, you have been a friend who was always there for me through thick and thin. You were there as I pursue my dream of being a chemist. You were there as I deal with my heartbreak over Sica baby two years ago. Since then, I promised myself that I would be your friend for life. But bro, I think I failed this time.

Please forgive me for being a bad friend to you, for not looking after Krystal 24/7, for not taking care of her well. It’s just that she doesn’t like me at all. Everytime she sees me with Sica baby, she will constantly dart the Jung’s signature glare. She’s not in favour of our relationship anymore, Am. Krystal changed. She thinks my relationship with Sica is disgusting that I can’t tell her about the two of you too. And I don’t know how to break this to you but I think you’ll find about it sooner or later.

Krystal is together with Minho now. They’ve been official for two weeks already. I found it from Krystal herself when she told me that she hopes her sister will find a guy like Minho soon. I don’t even know what she found in your bastard bestfriend. Seriously, Am? Is Minho really your bestfriend? How can he do that to you? You surely have to come back and beat him up.

I know you’ll feel even more devastated after reading this but I just felt like you have every right to know what’s going on. And for the last time, I’m begging you. Please come back. I don’t know how long will I be able to play the bad guy’s role in Krystal and Minho’s relationship but Sica and I will make sure that Minho won’t take advantage of Krystal.

Just hold on, okay? Take care, bro.

Your friend,

Kwon Yuri

PS: Amber, I’ll see you soon, right? I need to ask you a favour. I might propose to Sica baby soon and if she says yes, I hope you could be the best man in our wedding.

 

I felt numb after reading Yuri’s last message. Tears just kept flowing like a river as I scrolled down to read it again, hoping that my eyes were just deceiving me. My heart in atomic pieces was broken into quarks this time. There’s no way I could get Krystal back when she even hates Yulsic’s relationship. She’s not the same Krystal anymore. My bestfriend’s betrayal made it even worse.

 

Minho-yah, how can you do this to me?

 

I sent a message to Yuri before throwing my phone to the wall and it shattered into pieces. I sobbed like a child, unmindful of another person’s presence in the room. A pair of arms took me in and caressed my back to calm me down. In that person’s arms, I felt warm and secured for the first time in three months.

 

 

 

 

 

“Everything will be fine, wifey. Trust me.”

 

 

 

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A/N: Some suzber development. Is it just me who think that Suzy is the best rival for Krystal? Lol. I should have written a heartbreaking chapter but I ended up writing something light. How can I write some angst when I’ve been reading for the last two days? Lololol. I know I’m terrible in writing angst and , guys. I really should stick to fluff next time. xD -krystallized