I knew that I shouldn’t feel so obligated towards keeping Myung Soo’s trust, that I shouldn’t be so afraid to lose it because, although he was quite serious about these things, I was his getaway, nevertheless, and I knew that he wouldn’t leave my side for such trivial matters. he needed me, just as much as I needed him. Its granted that no girlfriend could fill the spot of a best friend; and since Myung Soo considered me as such, I wouldn’t contend, I would keep my position and maintain it, because, no matter what, I had always felt a tad bit of pride to be school’s ice-prince’s (I had no idea how they came up with the name, I mean, Myung Soo? Ice Prince?) Best friend.

But when Sung Gyu actually asked me to call him up, I was stuck, frozen in my posture, staring down at his phone which had most undoubtedly the most beautiful picture of Myung Soo as the contact image.

I really really wanted to go and hit my head on the nearest wall. How could it be that it slipped my mind! Of course Myung Soo have mentioned his name to me several times, although he always addressed him as Hyung, and he had shown me a photo of them together a long time back too. I didn’t remember how exactly it looked like, yet it was the only photo he had of him, I didn’t exactly remember why though…

I was a fool, a fool who took the simplest things as granted. Wasn’t I given so many hints as to him being his hyung?

Didn’t Sung Gyu ask me himself if I knew him? Didn’t he appear just by the corner when I was following Myung Soo? Didn’t he mention his dongsaeng so many times?

How on earth did it slip my mind?

Now how on earth could I face Myung Soo? He would be furious that I had been keeping it from him, let alone that I couldn’t recognize someone about whom I’d been hearing for two whole years. I was a fool, simply put. I was such a dumb, ignorant fool; a fool who ignored her own instincts. I did feel I knew him, I did feel that he was closer to me than I thought he was but I shouldn’t feel too close. I knew that there was…something… I could have guessed, by his words, by his conduct, everything, I should have guessed that it could be him.

Why didn’t I even try?

Feeling completely drained and out of it, I laid Sung Gyu’s phone on the bed beside him, sank into the chair and buried my face in my hands. It was irrational. How could it even be possible?

How could I be so dumb?

It saddened me then, being dumb was possibly the most depressing factor on earth.

“Eunji-Ssi” Sung Gyu called out, and I could feel his fingers hovering above my head, he didn’t make a move to touch. “Look, Eunji…it’s alright…”

“How could I?” I screamed, my voice muffled into my hand. “I couldn’t recognize my friend’s brother after all this time…how could I?”

“Hush now….we all do mistakes, Eunji-Ssi…”

I wasn’t crying, really, but I whined loudly as though I was.

Sung Gyu finally laid his hand on my head, sending thunder bolts down my spine. “I was wrong too…I should have told you….I was waiting for you to find out”

“How did you find out?” I asked.

He gave me a smile. “Ah! Just bluff and intuition…anyway I knew your name”

I widened my eyes. “You…did?”

He nodded. “Yeah, he told me that he had a good friend who had a forgetting problem”

“He…did?” I asked in a small voice. Maybe I was being over dramatic, but Sung gyu’s affection felt so…warm, and I wanted to be a child for a while, and get over it.

“Yeah…a long time back, back when I was in college…he told me over Skype”

“You guys…talked about me?”

He smiled. “Well, he would tell me about you, once in a while….”

“Oh…” was all I could manage.

It was strange, really, to know that Myung Soo had actually mentioned me and my problems to his Hyung; his hyung was a stranger to me, and back then, I’m certain I knew next to nothing about Kim Sung Gyu while he actually knew something about me.

I felt my throat tighten at the thought. He had known me for so long….

With a heavy gulp, I looked straight at him. He was now sitting up, after I had helped him to raise the bed. He wasn’t allowed to consume anything for the moment, except for water, and I didn’t feel like leaving him although he seemed perfectly well; a strange, strange feeling…

“What else…did he tell you?”

He made a thoughtful face and looked ahead. “Well, you know how he is like…he didn’t say much; but he did mention that you were witty…kind and that you were beautiful…”

My heart skipped a beat, and felt dizzy at his words. He said I was beautiful?

Sung Gyu turned to me then, there was a soft smile playing on his lips, his tiny eyes held a strange shine which made them even more beautiful. I stared back, unable to move my eyes from his; it was as though he were holding them, as though he had casted a spell on them, as though he had bonded me by a strange force. I could barely take a breath.

“And he had never been more righter….you are, indeed”

It took me a moment to realize that I had stopped breathing. Every cell inside me went numb, my blood ran cold, and all I could do momentarily was staring at him, dumbstruck. What was happening to me? Why did I feel so…shy to be around him? Why was I reacting so easily?

How did he do that? How did he draw me towards him as would a skilled artist of some sort?

Truly, I wanted to run away, cower in a corner, cry my soul out and never come back. It was so confusing, feelings were so unreliable, they change almost immediately, and slowly was I realizing, It would be harder for me to see Kim Sung Gyu in the same light, now that I knew whom he was, now that I knew where he came from and what he was capable of, now that I knew that he thought I was beautiful…

Why did his words set my heart fluttering when it reality it was Myung Soo who had said that?

Maybe I was being delusional again, I was probably overwhelmed that Myung Soo actually said such a thing.

Upon having Myung Soo returning to my mind, I felt even more miserable that I simply borrowed my face in my hands once more.

Sung Gyu sighed and patted lightly on my head, sending a series of constricting bolts under my skin.  “Hey, hey…cut it off, would you? I’m sure he would understand?”

“I must be the most pathetic fool ever!”

“Forgetting something doesn’t make one pathetic or a fool, Eunji”

I shook my head. “But it makes me not trustworthy!”

There was a moment of definite silence afterwards, and I could almost hear the sound of his breathing, so soft and even, I felt suddenly reassured, after the terrible episode of him being cold and trembling that he was now back to normal. I couldn’t feel the scent of apples anymore, since it was overpowered by the reek of plastic and medicine in the ambiance, but the warmth he was emitting was pacifying. If it wasn’t for the moment, I would have curled up against him. I suddenly missed my father.

After a while, I felt him move. I looked up then, only to see him looking down at me, with his phone in his hand.

“This won’t do…you have to talk to him…”

I widened my eyes. “Don’t you get it? I can’t-!”

“Then aren’t you ever going to face this? Are you going to run away from this forever?”

I stared at him for a moment, unable to reply.

“Are you? Or are you going to just tell him and get over it once and for all?”

I looked into his eyes, noticed just how grave and sincere they were, with a tinge of unwavering determination. I stared down at his hand, which was still attached to the IV tube, grasping his phone, I notice how his fingertips had turned the color of cherry petals, and I looked back at his face, he gave me a reassuring nod. Thus I took a deep breath, uttered a giddy prayer to myself, and gathered my audacity before reaching out, taking his phone. Just as I was about to dial, I remembered how stupid I was.

“Wait. I’ll call on my phone and tell him. He doesn’t have to know that we met before! Am I not smart?”

Sung Gyu shot me a glare. “Eunji…”

“What?”

“Then what should I do? Tell him that I randomly met the Eunji he told me about who volunteered to take me to the hospital?”

I nodded. “Yeah…that sounds very convincing…”

“That you recognized me right away when you met me at the bus stop?”

I smiled. “Well, didn’t I?”

“As his brother?”

I bit my lip and stayed still.

“Wouldn’t it be another lie to cover one lie? How many times are you expecting to lie to him now? That would make you foolish, Eunji. That would make you not trustworthy”

“Then….what do you think I should do?”

He nodded at his phone in my hand. “Tell him the truth…”

I looked down at the phone, at the photo of him on the display. I thought of what he told me that day, about me losing the key to his heart, about how important I was to him as his escape. If I told him the truth, would things change between us? Would he think of me less than what he did then? Wouldn’t our friendship last longer?

Would I lose him?

But if I kept dragging this, lying to him again and again, wouldn’t things be worse?

Finally, with a deep sigh, I looked at Sung Gyu and nodded, which he returned with a smile. He was watching me, eyes fixated with grim determination as I dialed him. Boldly I placed the phone against my ear and waited with all the patience I could muster, staring at Sung Gyu’s hand with the IV tube.

He picked up at the fifth ring.

“Hyung?”

And I lost my audacity. I couldn’t tell him, I couldn’t tell him the truth; no matter how much Sung Gyu was coaxing me with his eyes.

I quickly thought of a plan and executed right away.

“H-hello? Is this…Kim Sung Gyu’s family?”

By the corner of my eyes I could see Sung Gyu palming his forehead.

I spoke with a perfect voice impersonation, covering my identity, and wishing to god he wouldn’t recognize me.

“Yes? I’m his brother” My throat went dry at his words. “Is-is…anything the matter…?”

“I am a…passerby…talking and I found your brother…” I told him the entire incident, avoiding certain points which were irrelevant, still keeping up with my impersonation as though I was dubbing voice to some unknown character. Hearing his voice was making things even worse, hearing how worried he was, and I seriously wanted to melt into a puddle and die.

“Okay…tell him I’ll be there…” He said in the end and cleared his throat. “And Passerby-Ssi, may I get your name?”

I bit my lip, closed my eyes and finally breathed out. “Sometimes, you don’t need a name to give a simple thank you...sir”

There was a definite silence on the other end before he finally reciprocated; “But of course….Thank you very much…for all the trouble you went through, and I apologize”

With a click, I cut of the line and buried my face in my hands once more. Yes, I just confirmed it myself, I would be the most pathetic idiot in the world. But how could I? How could I risk my friendship? How could I risk it be lost and gone forever?

If I was to lose him this way, I couldn’t think of just how I would go through it.

“Eunji….” Sung Gyu muttered after a while, and I realized, there was something strange in his voice. “Why?”

“I can’t…” I muttered, shaking my head. “At least…not now…”

“Will you tell him? Ever? I don’t want to hide things from him either, Eunji, you’re dragging us both into this…”

I looked up to face him. “But…”

“Why are you so afraid? What are you afraid of?”

I took a deep breath and looked away. “I don’t want to lose his trust…”

“Eunji...”

With a sigh, I reached down and took my bag into my hand. “Myung Soo is coming, I should be going then…be good, Sung Gyu-Ssi!”

He reached out and took my hand, setting my blood cold “Wait….stay and settle this first”

“Not today…he won’t be in the mood”

“How would you know?”

I shrugged. “I just do?”

“But just why…Eunji, this is such a trivial matter!”

Closing my eyes tight, I took another deep breath and turned to face him. “I can’t Sung Gyu-Ssi, not today, not now!”

“What scares you?”

I stepped away, making it towards the door, and before I left, I turned to him once more. “I don’t want to lose him, Sung Gyu-Ssi…not just yet…”

And I must have been delusional again, but it seemed to me, as though understanding dawned on his face just before I left.

I went to Sung Yeol’s that evening, drained and exhausted which he noticed and set me off the hook right away. I wasn’t in my right mind the entire time, pondering upon Myung Soo and Sung Gyu and how those two brothers could really set my soul on fire. It was unfair, really, that they make so much of grim effects on me while I didn’t affect them in any possible way; I wasn’t the prettiest, the smartest or the most popular, but I couldn’t be that bad…

And them seeing me pretty was probably just a false complement, maybe Myung Soo didn’t say it at all, Sung Gyu was probably being such a tease, guessing it would affect my heart since he knew that I was not romantically involved with anyone.

All I had to do now was convince myself with ‘maybe’ scenarios.

Maybe he’s just teasing me.

Maybe Myung Soo knew it already.

Maybe he had let me off this time.

Maybe he was waiting for me to admit it.

Maybe he knew nothing at all…which brought me back to-

With a frustrated sigh, I stood up from behind the counter and walked into the kitchen.

It was ten at night already, and we had already closed for the day, winding things up before we leave; Sung Yeol, of course, asked me earlier that day if I could wait a little after we close because he had something to talk about with me. I was nervous, to be honest, and he too didn’t seem to be in his best mood after all that I had put him through; he was probably giving second thoughts about hiring me since he did so in the first place because I was Myung Soo’s friend. After all, I wasn’t the best employee here, and his café had to keep running.

Sung Yeol was wiping the counter while Chorong unnie was sweeping the floor. I was asked to count the profit of the day which I most deliberately did, before laying my head down since it was so heavy to hold on. Sung Yeol paused on what he was doing and asked me how the day had been, I muttered to him the amount he had earned.

“That’s good…” He said with a smile. “You know, the sales are going up”

“Really?” Chorong unnie said excitedly. “Our Sung Yeollie will be better than Starbucks in ten more years!”

He laughed. “I wish…ah, by the way…” He turned to me. “Eunji, we need to talk.”

“Do I need to leave?” Chorong asked playfully to which Sung Yeol replied with a smile. “Ah, no no noona, Eunji and I’ll go out and talk”

With that, he gestured me to follow him.

The interior of the café was still scented of espresso yet it felt so hollow now that the chatter of the customers and the sound of espresso machines were gone. Sung Yeol was scented of coffee too, he always did, which was really warm and nice; I saw him as an ideal brother, that Lee Sung Yeol. No matter how miserable he would make me feel, at the end of the day he’d talk to me with a genuine smile, as though to assure me that he cared.

He and I walked to my usual spot, and we sat, overlooking the bustling street. Despite it being late, the streets were still crowded with teenagers heading to karaoke bars and late night workers heading home; several couples would pass by once in a while, and in resolute silence, Sung Yeol and I sat, as though we were waiting for each other to speak.

After a while I felt him move, soon he was holding out to me a slightly crumpled piece of paper. My heart skipped a beat, everything went cold inside.

“Is that…?”

He nodded and urge me to take it, which I did, with much hesitancy.

This time the letter had only one line;

‘You’re beautiful, inside out’

I stared down into it, reading the single line over and over again, feeling a little dizzy. Who on earth could it be? How did he come across my letter?

Why was he doing it?

With everything running inside my mind in a horrid mess, I could barely concentrate on one thing. The puzzle was terribly complicated, it had no lose ends to connect, it had no possible explanation, and I was tangled up in a labyrinth which had no way to be solved.

Sung Yeol reached out and placed his hand on my arm, and I looked up.

“Eunji…I’m concerned…”

I didn’t say anything, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know who it was or how it started out, all I knew was that this was a secret admirer, who had found my letter and who wrote to me against my will; and seemingly, I had no way out but feign ignorance at all costs.

“This…admirer of your, do you know who it is?”

I shook my head in response.

“How did this start?”

I stared at him a little longer, and then I realized, he deserved to know all that happened; thus without wasting a second, I told him the truth about the letter, about Myung Soo, about all which happened on that fated day. Sungyeol, as he always would, listened to me without budging once, and when I had told him everything, he smiled and patted lightly on my hand.

“So that’s how it went…so tell me Eunji...”

“Yeah?”

He cleared his throat. “This…person…what do you feel about him?”

I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, what I mean is, what do you think of this person referring to…what he write to you…do you think he might know you?”

I pondered upon it for a while and shook my head. “I’m not entirely sure. I tried to grasp his voice, but he’s so…viciously honest…so it might even not be a voice I had heard before”

“I see…” Sung Yeol nodded, with an amused smile gracing his lips. “So you think he’s honest”

“Hmm…he is, his words are…”

He nodded again, and took a moment before he carried on. “So, this person…if he, in the end, confessed to you…what you would do?”

“I would ask him to reveal himself, first” I said.

“What if he would reveal himself, would you go for it? Because he’s honest?”

I nodded. “Hmm, I guess…yeah. I would” I wanted to be honest, truly, and listening to him, I felt there was an underlying message in his words.

I suddenly remembered what Myung Soo said the other day. Could it be? Could it be Lee Sung Yeol?

My head started to throb even more.

“You would…okay…So here’s the thing…since you weren’t here yesterday, I couldn’t tell you-,”

“You couldn’t tell me what?”

He looked at me gravely before he continued. “We’re moving…Eunji”

My breath almost caught up in my throat. “M-moving?”

He nodded. “Yeah…you see…we got this incredible offer from someone…its very good for us, extremely profitable. I’m planning to hire more employees and make everything perfect before we really settle-,”

“So, what is this offer?” I asked impatiently.

And he told me then, the most unexpected fact that I had never seen coming.

“We’re taking up the cafeteria…of SK C and C”

My blood went cold, and all I could do was stare at him, unbelievingly.

If we were moving there, wouldn’t that mean Sung Gyu and I would me running into each other almost every single day?

“S-SK? H-how…did you get this offer?”

He smiled triumphantly. “Well, someone I know…offered me that?”

Realization dawned upon me like a wild fire. “Was it…was it Kim Sung Gyu?”

The look in his eyes proved to me that I was right. “How…how did you guess?”

“I know that he…works there…”

He stared back for a moment and nodded, finally before sitting back. “Right…work…So….what I was getting at is…do you still want to continue the chase?”

“Oh?”

“The secret admirer…do you want to still want to find him? Do you still want him to write to you?”

I didn’t take my time to think. I wanted this mystery unveiled, and I needed to do it myself.

But why would he ask that?

“Why would you ask me that, now?” I inquired, and making the throbbing of my head worse, he leaned over and gave me a sly smile.

“Why do you think?”

I widened my eyes. “B-by…by any chance, this person…is it you?”

He laughed. “Eunji, be honest and tell me, do you?”

I sighed exasperatedly. “I do! But really Sung Yeol, tell me the truth! Why would you ask me?”

He laughed again and proceeded to stand up. “Well, find out yourself….Take care, Jung Eunji…you can go home now”

And with that, he left me there, just like that, leaving me in dilemma and a severe pain in both my head and heart.

Could it really be him? Or could it be that he knew this person?

Or were my assumptions inaccurate once more?

The next day was declared a holiday by college, and I happened to receive the message darn late at night when I was just about to sleep. I decided to work overtime the next day without staying at home the extra time I had in hand, therefore, feeling much energetic to work despite all the miseries I had to live through the previous day; I fed Puppy its morning meal, gave him a bath, locked him inside and headed off to Sung Yeol’s.

Sung Gyu happened to call me while I was in the bus, telling me that he would be discharged that evening and that he was yet again thankful for what I did. He didn’t mention a word about Myung Soo or what happened yesterday, for which I was grateful, and he promised to treat me to lunch sometime to repay for all I did.

Sung Gyu was a nice guy, really, he was exactly as Myung Soo had described, which I had felt, initially, and also which my snail brain refused to believe let alone make a wild guess. I was disappointed in myself, honestly. I couldn’t be any stupider. Myung Soo was right, I was just too ignorant, which caused me all the troubles. I was just glad that Sung Gyu wasn’t taking the issue as gravely as Myung Soo would, which made me less trouble. All I needed to do now was face the reality, as fearlessly as possible, and suffer the consequences of being such a dumb ignorant fool.

And spend the rest of the time trying to resolve the puzzle, adding Sung Yeol to the list of possibilities.

What I happened to learn from the entire ordeal was to trust my instincts. There is something that my father has always told me during the time I was taking therapy to heal my trauma. Believe in yourself. Although it didn’t exactly associate with self-instincts, It’s essential that we believe in our instincts nevertheless. Taking this one factor as granted was what which send me into all these trouble.

I was sitting behind the counter taking orders when Howon came around looking calm and dandy with a new hairdo. He looked ridiculous, honestly, but he had this thing with changing his hair color and pattern like a chameleon, although he never got my approval.

“That’s one ugly head you have there” I commented, after I had returned the change to Sung Yeol who had just taken an order. “You’re never going to get girls like that”

He smiled and came around the counter to approach me. “Ah, I don’t need girls, I’m tired already”

I raised my brows. “Is it because of Song Naeun?”

He reached out and hit my head. “Idiot!” a sigh. “But I will get over it…one day….besides Sung Gyu hyung is not that bad…”

“Hmm”

“Although they don’t look compatible”

“Hmm”

“Although they have quite an ”

I was beginning to get really pissed, however I refrained myself from leaping over to him since his phone buzzed before I could respond. While he was at it, I returned to great the customers.

“Oh! It’s Nam Woohyun” Hoya said after a while, amusement underlying in his tone. “He says he’s coming around”

Although I wasn’t entirely fond of him, I was willing to meet someone out of the Kim circle. “Really?”

“Hmm…he says he’s going to make a surprise visit.”

“Ah. But why would he tell you that?”

“He wants to surprise you, and tells me to not to tell you”

I slammed my hand on the counter and rolled my eyes. Howon had that side of himself too. He was totally oblivious at times, which ruined practically everything. There was one time when he actually told Sung Yeol that we were planning to surprise him on his birthday, and he literally walked into the place, all dressed up, ready to party.

“Idiot! Why did you tell me then?”

He held up his palm. “Oh! Sorry, it slipped my mind. Anyway, I’d take up the shift for you, he says he need to have a chat”

I hit him on his arm then for being so silly and took off my apron. “Sure…work hard. I’ll leave to you the whole shift for what you did”

He shrugged. “Whatever, but act surprised-, wait, you can’t go then!”

“I’m going to use the rest room silly, just stay there”

Woohyun was fast, for when I returned from the ladies’ ten minutes later to take over at the counter, he was already there, sitting on my favorite spot, looking out into the street. Since it was barely noon, there was soft sunlight pouring inside through the glass panels, they had formed spectrums, and where he sat, one had landed on his porcelain skin; he was smiling gently to himself, hands clasped before him on the table; although my level of likability on him wasn’t that impressive, momentarily, my heart skipped a beat.

“He’s here…act like you’re surprised!” Howon said from the counter. Sung Yeol was there, with a tray and a smug look on his face. I smiled apologetically and grabbed my apron from Howon who was leisurely sitting back in the counter.

“Just ten minutes, Ji.” Sung Yeol said, as he passed by to serve the tables. I, on the other hand took my note book and went ahead with serving the tables. I wasn’t the best actress out there, you see. I hardly passed any auditions back during high school, and when I did, I would always be playing the part of a tree or a flower. Thus the moment I went to Woohyun’s table-,

“Ah! Woohyun-Ssi!! I didn’t even know you were coming!”

He looked up and greeted me with a wave. He had a beautiful smile, honestly, and I loved the way his eyes disappeared whenever he did.

“Hello there pigiee! Did I surprise you?”

I widened my eyes and deliberately placed a hand on my chest. “Oh my! Of course you did!”

He chuckled and gestured at the seat before him. “Sit sit Eunji-Ssi”

“I should take your order first, since you paid a surprised visit, Sung Yeol won’t let me off” I explained, showing to him the notebook I held. “May I?”

He stared at me for a moment then, still smiling and nodded in the end. “Oh, yes yes…” He didn’t even look through the menu then, as though he was certain of his choice, he looked at me and said;

“I would like to have iced green tea latte…and ah, make sure you add extra cream!”

I almost dropped my pen, along with my entire self, and then my sanity.

“W-what-what…was it, again?”

“Iced green tea latte, with extra cream…That’s my usual order…oh, and also add to it whatever you would like to have”

I couldn’t even utter a coherent word in response, let alone move a limb. To be honest, I didn’t know what I was trying to link, and conspire, I didn’t know what his preference and my ideal type made connections with; everything seemed surreal, as though the puzzle was breaking into smaller pieces other than building up.

But then again, why was I being so delusional?

“Eunji-Ssi…?”

“Oh-oh?” Clearing my throat, I ventured a quick nod. “I-I’ll be…back…Woohyun-Ssi…”

In quick steps, I retraced my way to the kitchen and began to make the beverage myself. I really didn’t know how it got into me; but Myung Soo liked it the best when I make his drink myself, claiming that he never knew what Sung Yeol must have been doing with his hands. I didn’t know why I did the same to Woohyun, I didn’t know why my hands had their own set of mind, however, as though I was a trained dog, I poured it into a glass, added a swirl of cream, and almost forgot to dip in the straw. All through this, I was being watched by Sung Yeol’s inevitable eyes.

“Eunji….you’re weird”

“Eh?” I asked, placing the class on a tray. He shook his head and returned to what he was doing. “Tsk, never mind”

I sincerely didn’t have any mood for anything to drink, but since Woohyun asked for it, and since I didn’t feel it was polite to decline, I poured myself a glass of lemon tea and headed out in a rush.

He was there, sitting just as how I left him, watching me with a smile. I gulped hard, feeling my heart skip a beat.

“Ah! Look at our Piggie, such a diligent worker eh? Sit sit now, we should talk!”

I hesitated first, but anyway sat before him, trying to smile.

He took a sip of his beverage, closed his eyes, showing it that he was really enjoying it and finally turned to me. “This is just nice…” He giggled a little before continuing, at which I cringed in disgust. “You made it right? Ah Eunji-Ssi…I really really missed you”

I decided to ignore it, although it did make my heart feel lighter and looked into his eyes with a fake smile. “So tell me, what brings you here?”

He took another sip. “So I heard…Gyu hyung said you saved his life yesterday”

I stayed silent, memories from the day before returning to me.

“That’s quite brave of you…but he was nagging the whole day about you lifting his shirt…not even I have seen that tummy of his you see”

I cleared my throat at his words, feeling my cheeks burning. That’s probably why Sung Gyu never wanted to talk about it, my head throbbed at the memory so I continued to stay silent.

“Anyway…to the hell with it, do you know why I’m here?”

I shook my head. “That’s what I asked you before!”

He laughed and reached out to what seemed to be a carrier bag on his right, before handing it over to me. “Here…I got a surprise for you”

I widened my eyes. “Sur-surprise?”

“Hmm! Take it…I’m sure you would like it”

At first, I wanted to urge him to take it back and reject his gifts; really, I didn’t feel really fond of his conduct towards me, although he was being really really sweet; but honestly I didn’t want to break his heart while he was being so nice to me. And by his eyes, I could see just how sincere he was. I didn’t want to break such an honest heart.

With much hesitancy I reached out and took it. It was quite heavy, and looking at the bag, I realized that it was from quite an expensive boutique. I panicked momentarily.

“Woohyun-Ssi, what is this?”

“Open it and see, my gift!”

“Here?”

“Mmhm”

I stayed still for a moment, unable to think what I really should do. Really, I couldn’t figure out just why he was being so nice to me. But then again, it wasn’t anything I should question, not just yet.

When he urged me to open it again, I did, my hands trembling the slightest. I peeked into the bag to find two boxes inside, which I pulled out one after the other and placed them on the table before I proceeded to pull of the lid of the first.

I almost held my breath; inside there was a pair of salmon pink heels.

“Woohyun…”

He giggled. “I’m getting excited now, open the next!”

I didn’t say a word; because my heart was beating so fast in my rib cage. Without wasting a second, I reached for the other,

Inside was a dress, pale pink, studded with stones and ribbons.

“Is it pretty? Do you like it? It’s for the occasion…And I’m sure pink looks good on you”

“Woohyun-Ssi…”

He laughed it off. “You can thank me later…it just makes me happy that I got to pick them for you…”

I stared at him, waiting for him to say ‘Ha! I was kidding, you need to pay!’ But he didn’t, instead, he was smiling, and seemed definitely pleased of himself.

“But…Woohyun-Ssi…how do you…?”

“Your sizes?” He offered, and smiled even more. “Just bluff and instincts…but don’t worry…I’m good at this…”

I could only manage a nod.

We dropped the subject of the dress afterwards, and talked about this and that for the next thirty minutes. I happened to learn that his parents owned a clothing line, and that he was super rich (Which made me quite uncomfortable) and also he was humble despite his status, because he still drove a rickety old scooter. He told me about his college days with Sung Gyu and how they participated almost all the Underground performances; in the end, he said that he had to leave.

“I’ll call you tonight…it’s the big day tomorrow” He said, pulling out his money to pay. “Be good! Work hard but don’t stress yourself much…”

I nodded, following his words, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“And also, tell that bastard Howon that I know he ruined it”

“Eh?”

“And you’re the worst actress ever! See you Eunji!”

With that, he left, and all I could do was staring down at what he got for me, feeling burdened by it. Was I doing the right thing? Was I being unfaithful by keeping this all from Myung Soo?

Or was it me, slowly building my love life, after being miserably dejected by the one whom I really loved.

Myung Soo didn’t attend the lectures next day; I called him the same morning just to be nice, and he happened to tell me that he had something cropped up and that he honestly wasn’t playing hooky this time. I was careful enough to listen closely to his voice, to catch any sign of anger and distress; luckily he sounded just as he always did. I silently prayed Sung Gyu for being such a Noble man. However when Myung Soo started prattling about his ignorant Hyung who didn’t care for his health as much as he care for others, I remained silent, afraid that I might give away.

Sung Gyu was right. Lying would only make things worse than they already were.

After the lectures during which I literally fell asleep, I called Howon over and went to my place. He was complaining all the way home though, even when he lived just a few blocks away from mine. He was simply one of those typical guys who hated to help out their best friends when they wanted makeovers. I could have asked Chorong unnie to come if she wasn’t held back mercilessly by Lee Sung Yeol; and it saddened me, really that I had less girlfriends than guys.

I checked out the dress once I got home last night; it was befuddling, for it fit me just fine. It was beautiful, honestly, beautiful and simple; it had the color of cherry blossoms, which reminded me of the time when Myung Soo and I sat under the cherry tree in our college curbs, laughing on trivial things. Maybe the reason why he never saw me more than a friend was that I wasn’t as eye catching as the girl he liked; he himself was eye catching, any girl would stop by to just gawk at him, I on the other hand could pass by absolutely anyone without catching any unnecessary attention. Maybe this led me to go unnoticed, not only by the people around me, but Myung Soo as well.

And Sung Gyu was making fun of me, probably, because, of all the girls he was going out with Song Naeun, why would he see me as beautiful? He was just making fun of how I looked like, and this truly was heart wrenching for me.

I wished I had one chance to be dressed beautifully before Myung Soo, so that I would catch his attention once in my life; but instead I will be with Woohyun, who would say, however I go, I was beautiful no matter whether he meant it or not.

Hoya really liked it though, when I showed him the dress; I wasn’t wearing it, but he seemed satisfied since it covered me wholly from head to toe; he was that kind of a guy who wouldn’t like it a bit when girls showed too much of skin.

“I didn’t think Woohyun had that good of a taste” He commented, looking down at my bed where I have carefully laid it. “Since his parents own a clothing line, I though he hit on chicks in mini dresses”

I shot him a glare. “Wonnie, you can’t judge a book by its cover”

He cleared his throat and gave me a strange smile. “Why are you defending him now?”

“I was not! I was just…saying…”

He laughed it off then, yet all before he could say anything, my phone buzzed; it was a text from an unknown number.

‘Get ready, we’re going early’ it read, and I was immediately answered for my doubts.

“It’s Nam Woohyun…”

Howon scoffed. “You have his number too…”

I showed the phone at his face. “See! Unknown number, unknown number!”

“Alright, alright!” He returned irritated. “Now get dressed! He would come any minute now…” And with that he left the room; and I watched his retrieving back.

Was it only me, or was there a tinge of jealousy in his voice and conduct? For the moment though, I decided to let him off.

After a quick wash, I get dressed, hurry with my makeup, pinned up my hair, brushed my bangs down and ran around with the skirt hiked up in order to save it from one excited puppy.

Puppy had grown up quite, his ears had begun to stand up, and by the look of it, Howon declared it to be a Jindo, a breed which was quite popular in our country. He was beginning be to be a really nasty lad, turning the house upside down; despite all this though, he was the reason for me to return home happily. My father wasn’t against the idea of raising him either although he didn’t quite approve the name; I didn’t care though, because I love him, because it was Myung Soo who found him first.

Howon did a once over while I stood on our dining table, saving the dress from puppy and fully approved it.

“I won’t tell you this every day, Ji” He said, handing me the heeled sandals which I put on, while standing on the table. “But you look pretty today?”

I smiled in return; “Well, thank you, Wonnie” It didn’t affect me much though, since I knew he didn’t mean to say it in a different way; but I was in doubt. Was it affecting him? Me going with Woohyun even though I barely knew him? Was it upset that I actually rejected him two years ago and now I was going to be the date for a stranger?

All these questions remained unanswered though; For Howon was more of the resolute type who always kept his feelings to himself.

It was after a while that we heard a vehicle pulling over up the slope, soon followed by a knock on the door. Puppy immediately reacted to it, as would a good guard dog and ran to the front door, barking. Howon followed suit, telling me to wait a moment. I heard him open the front door, and soon after then came an unimaginable scream of a man.

I rolled my eyes. Why on earth were men worse than women? What could that tiny dog possibly do to a grown man?

“Take it away! Howon, Take it away!”

I stopped in the middle of climbing down, deadpanned.

Was it…?

It wasn’t Nam Woohyun, most definitely it wasn’t him but someone else….

It was Kim Sung Gyu…

And yes, I remembered Myung Soo mentioning it to me once, his Hyung was afraid of dogs. I burst out laughing.

Truly, I had no idea what on earth he was doing there when in all reality Nam Woohyun was supposed to come and pick me up. I was Woohyun’s date, no matter how strange it might sound, and he was Naeun’s date. Whatever the even he must be attending, he should be going with her; what the hell was he doing here?

I was laughing nevertheless, and it must have sounded louder than I intended to that his voice soon began scolding me; all through that I could hear Howon trying to calm Puppy down.

“Wonnie! Can you please take him to my room?” I called out from the kitchen. “That gentlemen there is scared of dogs”

“Yah Jung Eunji!”

I laughed even more.

 It took a while for the whole turmoil to die out, and when it had, both the men came around to the kitchen, Howon looking bored, while Sung Gyu looked so dashing in a black suit, his hair brushed up. My heart skipped a bit; he was definitely the epitome of perfection.

How the hell was it possible that the Kim brother were both drop dead gorgeous? The world was so unfair.

He looked a little out of it though, as though he had just encountered a life-threatening experience. His small eyes widened even more when he saw me standing on the table. I smiled shyly and gave a quick wave. “Hi! Umm…why…? You…?”

He cleared his throat. “I’ll tell you on the way…but, what on earth are you doing over there!?”

“Ah, well…puppy was trying to ruin my skirt, so-,”

“Exactly!” He yelled all of a sudden. “Why the hell did you take in that-that-beast!? He wasn’t here before!”

“Whatever Sung Gyu-Ssi! Not everyone’s pathetic to be scared of puppies!”

Sung Gyu opened his mouth to argue but Howon cut in, sounding unconcerned. “I guess my work here is done…I’ll get going, Ji”

I diverted my attention to Howon and gave him a smile. “Well, Thank you, Howon…be careful”

“You too” He muttered before he disappeared out the front door, surprisingly closing it really hard. Maybe I was right, maybe he did feel a little jealous since he had feelings for me before and because he too, lost his hopes owing to Kim Sung Gyu.

There was a definite silence afterwards, throughout which I could hear Puppy scraping the door upstairs, once he had gained his posture then, he turned to me and looked up.

“Aren’t you getting down now?”

I gestured at my feet. “Umm…it’s a little hard”

He sighed loudly and approached me after much thought. “Come come, let me help”

The idea of him holding me in any possible way made my heart beat faster.

“O-okay…” With a deep breath, I neared the edge of the table, and since he was quite tall, he could reach out and place both his hands on the either sides of my waist. My heart thudded so hard in my ribcage, I couldn’t even catch a breath.

“Now hop down at three…okay?”

Another deep breath. “Okay…”

He too, took a deep breath. “Okay then, at the count of three…one…two…three…”

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall. Honestly, I didn’t think I was that heavy or that I was that so hard to handle, however so, the moment I fell into him, my heart stopped, the world stopped in time;  I fell right into his arms; he toppled and fell flat onto the floor.

For a moment, my breathing stopped, virtually, and I remain unmoving, completely aware to it that I was crushing him under my weight. I had my hand pressed on his chest where I could feel his heart beating equally as hard as mine; which was surprising; but of course, it was a nasty fall, he must be so surprised…

I didn’t dare to open my eyes, nor to move; the shock was so much that him too didn’t seem to be in the best state to move a limb. I gulped hard, and took in the marvelous scent of him of apples; it filled my lungs, the sensation ran through every single cell in my body, a shrill coldness ran upwards my spine from where his hand still rested awkwardly. It was strange truly, what I was feeling while being held in his arms…

It felt so surreal…

It felt as though I had been waiting for it all my life…

“Eu-Eunji…Ssi…” He groaned after a while, bringing me back from my reverie. I wasn’t intending to, yet I opened my eyes-

And I could swear I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I thought of the first time he made my heart beat so rapidly, that time when I wondered why he wasn’t my hero instead. I thought of his voice, how sincere his words were, how genuine his sentiments were; my heart fell thousand miles into oblivion.

Just as that night, he had outlined his small eyes perfectly with dark eyeliner; a touch of makeup on his cheeks flushed pink, and his lips…just as I remembered….were the softest, loveliest, in a light touch of pink; I realized, I was too immersed in seeing just how beautiful he was that I didn’t even realize when his eyes had focused on me.

“Eunji…Ssi…” He whispered then, his breath scented of mint. For a moment I wondered if I had died.

“Mm?”

“Get off”

It was only then that I realized what exactly I was doing. With my cheeks burning in mortification, I quickly rolled off him and landed on the cold tiled floor; he too followed suite by sitting up and panted rapidly as an old man would. The situation was so embarrassing that I could barely get a glimpse of him as he too looked away into nothingness.

To make it less awkward, I raised my voice.

“You! Always causing me trouble! What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“Who are you raising your voice at?” He yelled back, and I realized that he too was in a futile attempt to make the atmosphere better.

“At you! Omo! Why are you so clumsy? What the hell were you doing there, eating all the cheese in the states, you can’t even maintain your balance?”

“What does that have to do with this!?”

“Why?” I shot back, irritated. “Isn’t United states the country of cheese? You should have eaten a lot and stop being such a clumsy old man-!”

Before even I could finish, though; Sung Gyu burst out laughing. My ears burned, and hands were itching to grab a handful of his perfectly done hair.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, nothing” He said, still laughing and finally stood up with the help of the kitchen cabinet. “Get up now, we should get going”

I was confused though. What was there to laugh at, I was stating my point perfectly well. Yet even after he had pulled me up to my feet, he still seemed amused, as though he was a balloon waiting to be triggered to explode.

He was good looking alright, and a noble gentleman too, but whenever he would climb up my nerves, I would desire to do nothing else but pull at every single strand of his hair.

Due to all that previously took place between us, the right in the car was extremely awkward and uncomfortable. None of us dared to utter a word let alone steal a single glance. The sun was in the process of setting, thus the sky possessed a brilliant shade of lavender and gold. The golden raise poured across the street, making slight ripples against the cold tarmac; despite the season of rain, the weather was balmy and warm; Sung Gyu had turned the air condition to maximum.

Just as always did he play a different album of Nell, humming along the tune; I, on the other hand fixed my eyes on the scenery of sunset outside, and basked in the silence inside, letting my mind wander off through time. After a while though, surprising me out of my skin, Sung Gyu suddenly pulled off at a side and switched off the ignition.

It was then that I awakened my voice for the first time, and that was to prattle my panic and concern.

“Sung Gyu-Ssi, what are you doing?”

He remained silently, his hand resting on the gearhead, and I began to panic. Was he playing around all along? Was I tricked?

Or was I being delusional again?

“Sung Gyu-Ssi…”

“Eunji-ah…” He muttered, in a voice so low that I could barely grasp what he said. “You and I need to talk first before we go”

I widened my eyes, sincerely horrified. “T-talk?”

“Hmm” He nodded, staring ahead; there were few other vehicles whizzing by. “There’s something you should know before we go to this place where we are going now”

I was terrified, truly, being unaware of what was going on; I couldn’t understand why he sounded so…serious.

“Su-Sung Gyu-Ssi…where are we going?”

“To my house” He replied, with a hint of sincerity.

“To…your house?”

He nodded. “Yes, where my parents and my sister live in…”

I tried to analyze the situation yet I was in too much of panic that I could barely form a word.

Yet, when I built the tale in accordance to my knowledge which I had gained from watching all the dramas, with my heart beating heavily, I asked; “Is it your engagement? Are you…a chaebol?”

His reaction to this was chuckle lightly. “Eunji-Ssi…your imagination is definitely something….but that isn’t the case…but close enough…”

I gulped hard, feeling something strange, unexpected running under my skin.

“Then…what is it?”

He turned to me. “Eunji-Ssi”

“Yeah?”

On his lips was a soft smile, a strange shine in his eyes which was truly undesirable. My heart stopped in time, everything halted in existent when he laid a hand on my bare shoulder.

“I’m a chaebol indeed…sadly though…”

My blood went cold.

“I’d be something more than that starting tonight”

“Ye-yeah?”

He squeezed my shoulder the gentlest, and with a softest smile, he finally replied;

“Starting from tonight, Eunji …I would be the new CEO of SK C and C”  

Long and crappy, Ah! Forgive my incompetence, I'm in my depressed mode again, really needing someone to talk to. Anyone willing to listen to my blabbering? Even if you don't want to, its just fine...I'm just feeling useless after doing the biggest mistake of my life.

If you feel like the story is getting crappier by the day, you can leave it, really, I don't mind. I hope you understand that i'm going through a terrible time right now.

By the way, excuse my typos and grammar mistakes too, too bored to proofread.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

And promise that next chapter would reveal to you your long awaited answer!

Love,
Achini

Ps: anyone on Kakao talk? My ID is Achini