“What are you looking at?” Caroline’s cheerful voice caused me to snap around and close my folder before tossing it underneath my bed as she entered my room.

 “Some stupid files. Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.” I fell over on my bed, putting my acting skills into play.

“Well, then alright.” Caroline shrugged as she sat down on my bed. She was in her pajamas, which was a rare sight to see her in ever since we arrived in Seoul. Almost every night she went out to explore and came back with... random objects. Such as a temporary nose lift that was made from plastic and was frankly, uncomfortable.

“What’s up?” I questioned as I grabbed my pajama shorts and changed out of my jeans. “You know, it’s rare to see you like this. Especially since we’re in Seoul.” I analyze her movements as she shifts uncomfortably around my bed and her eyes are a bit puffy. Crying perhaps?

“I’m going back home.” She blurts out, nervously eyeing me. I find myself bewildered and I force myself to stay composed. She must have a good reason for ditching me. At least, I hoped. “My grandmother got a and she’s paralyzed now.” Caroline admits in a quiet voice and my eyes immediately soften.

“Caroline...” I take her into my arms and I try my best to comfort her. I’m not much of a hugging person, but for this, I think I can pull off.

“It was just way too sudden.” Caroline breaks out into tears as grabs onto my shirt and wets it with her tears. Her grip on me is tight and I know she needs nothing more than my presence. “Just a few weeks ago, she was ecstatic to see my going off to gain some experience in the medical field. I even promised I’ll come back and be able to solve anything and everything that’s causing her pain. Look at her now- paralyzed. I- I don’t know if I can even go back and face her.”

I stay silent as Caroline continues to speak of her grandmother, saying only the nicest of things about her grandmother and the worst of things about herself. I interrupt her at times to remind her, she isn’t a bad person and that her grandmother couldn’t possibly blame her. She takes in my words and she calms down a hour later.

“I’m leaving tomorrow night. I’ve already booked my plane ticket back.” She hiccups and I get up to get her a glass of water and she follows me like a puppy. “I’m sorry for ditching you here.” She manages to plaster a smile on her face. “At least, I won’t be a third wheel when you bring your boyfriend over.”

The moment she says it, I’m tempted to shoot her a glare, but understanding what she’s going through, I decide not to and I keep silent. I had her a glass of water and she takes it from me gratefully, wiping her nose with a tattered tissue she had used to dab at her eyes.

“It’s okay. Just make sure you Skype me often enough so I know how you’re doing and I don’t die of complete boredom here.” I say softly. “Does your boyfriend know?” Caroline nods.

“He’s with my grandmother right now. I’m so thankful of him. He really does deserve better dates now.” She says jokingly and I crack a smile to lighten the mood.

It doesn’t take long for Caroline to fall asleep and I’m sitting on my bed, thinking. Caroline served as my only hope in Seoul. Someone who would be able to reassure everyone that used to know me, that I was not Ji Hee. That I was a whole different person. Emily.

I wake up bright and early in the morning to make Caroline a nice hearty breakfast with the packs of frozen waffles we had in the freezer and some potato soup along with a nice note. She was leaving today and I would be staying at the hospital until six today. I wouldn’t be able to catch her in time before she left, so I wanted to make sure she left Seoul happily.

I arrived at the hospital and I spent the day working quickly and following doctors to help them with simple tasks such as cleaning equipment under a nurse’s watchful eye. It hits 3:30 and it’s the most dreadful time of the day in my opinion. I drag myself to his room and I knock on the door. After he responds, I take a step in and close the door after me.

“Ji Hee-,”

“Intern Lee or Emily, please. I’m not exactly comfortable with that name.” I state. “I’ve harbored some negative feelings for this Ji Hee person already without meeting her. She seems quite- burdensome.” Dong Ho is silenced and he has his arms crossed over his chest as I notice his eyes analyzing me.

I ignore him and decide to focus on the real reason for my presence here in this dreaded room as he moves about the room.

“Any pains?” I questioned him as usual and he answers my questions one by one. “Alright, you seem to be doing well. Just take the medication regularly and-.” I was cut off when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and a whisper from him.

“You’re the same height as Ji Hee.” I wiggled out of his grasp and snapped my head towards him, trying to keep myself composed.

“For the last time, I’m not her.” I clicked my pen and my grip on the clipboard got tighter. “Haven’t you heard about the fact that there are seven other people in the world that look just like you? So what am I going to do?” I questioned. “Call every single person that looks like you Dong Ho? Ask them for autographs?”

“Perhaps. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind looking like an idol.” He shrugs and it’s playful. I relax a bit and he sits on the edge of his bed. “Though you look oddly similar to her and your actions as well. You do have a point though.”

“I don’t get how important Ji Hee was to you. If she was just that important to you, where is she now?” I don’t know why I’m trying to belittle myself and ruin my reputation in front of him, but I figured it’ll probably keep me from seeming suspicious.

“Somewhere.” He answers and tilts his head to the side. “I find it odd that you’re asking me questions about Ji Hee. To be honest, it’s your face- I feel like you should already know. If you want more technical information about her such as her birthday and such, I would suggest the internet. Her relations with me,” he broke out in a sneaky smile. “You can always come to me. I could use some company.”

“Great, I think I’ll stick with the internet.” I plainly state as he lies down on his bed. “I have work to do. Besides, I’m not too interested in Ji Hee anyways. As an idol, shouldn’t your relationships be more of a confidential topic?”

“I guess, but then again I have the right to share it with whomever I want and that includes you. Besides, staying with me is work.” He breaks out into playful grin. “You could always say that I wasn’t feeling well and you were trying to make sure I was alright.”

“I’ll pass. I’d rather be with other patients than you.” I scribble a few more notes on the piece of paper on the clipboard and I turn back to him. “You’re leaving the hospital in two days by the way.” He groans.

“You’ll be seeing me on TV soon then.” I wasn’t surprised. I loved standing on the stage, singing, dancing, and hearing my fans cheer us on and doing their fan chants, but there were times when you just hated the stage. Being sick was one of those times.

All those camera surrounding you with the persistent noises of screaming from fans that made you feel dizzy. Not to mention the heat the lights on stage gave. If it was an outdoor stage, it was either hot, cold, or even raining and that was the absolute worse when an idol was sick. I winced at the thought of him getting ushered back to the stage despite his conditions.

“I wouldn’t bother turning the TV on for you, you know.” He holds his chest as if he’s shocked and hurt by it and I know he’s playing around. With a light smile, I turn on my heels. “Well, I’ll be going now.”

“Can’t you stay with me for a bit longer?” He pesters as I head towards the door with him right behind me, begging me to stay. “I hate being in this hospital room all the time! My managers won’t let me take a step out just in case any reporters see me. I have nothing to do here.”

“We have nothing in common. I don’t see what I can do to amuse you here.” I raise an eyebrow at him as he steps in front of me, preventing me from leaving.

“Well for one, I could get to know you and you could get to know me.” He beams and it’s hard to even imagine that I’m younger than him. I take a step back to give the both of us space.

“My name is Emily. That’s all you need to know. As far as the patient’s personal life goes, I have no interest of finding out. Now, please excuse me.” Dong Ho doesn’t budge and instead has his arms crossed and a frown on his face like a little child.

“I’m Shin Dong Ho and I’ll be sending a mean report to your supervisor for not treating me.” I almost glare at him but I stop myself from doing so and I finally give in to him. Letting him drag me over to the chair by his bed, he sits on the bed and we talk. About the most random things ever. Mostly, it’s him talking and I find him filling in what I’ve missed all these years I’ve left. Not that he would know.

“I’m a Cancer. What are you?” He questions as he lazily slumps onto his bed. We’ve been at this conversation for a hour and it feels pretty much casual.

“Scorpio.” The word casually rolled off my tongue and I realized my mistake. Time to improvise some more.

“Really? What day? Ji Hee’s a Scorpio too.” He says as he sits up straight and faces me. “At this point if you told me she was your twin, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“October 25th.” I answer. “It’s just a coincidence.”

“Have you heard of the girl group, Horoscope?” He questions and shake my head.

“I live in America. KPOP isn’t too big there, but it’s definitely growing.” I supply him with this knowledge to make it seem as though this is my first time here in Seoul.

“Ji Hee was part of that group. I’m still surprised you haven’t heard of it. Once again, it’s because you look like her.” He chuckles and I raise my eyebrow at him, my insides getting a bit squeamish from this topic. I was nervous to be speaking of myself to him, but I had to fight everything to keep it from showing. “Anyhow, Horoscope made it pretty big to be completely honest with you. They’ve won first before. Can you rap?” The question threw me off, but I managed to give him an answer.

“Of course.” His face seemed to brighten but I crushed his hopes. “Anyone can rap. However, not ever can rap well. I can rap as well as pigs can fly.” He broke out into laughter as he paused.

“Well, Ji Hee was a good rapper. Better than me by a mile.” I shifted in my seat and forced a interested smile onto my face.

“That’s interesting. I’m sure I’ll be able to find this online somewhere.” I want to change the topic badly and I check the time. It’s almost five.

“Oh right. You wanted to know why Ji Hee was so important to me right?”

Please don’t. I thought as I cocked my head to the side, faking my curiosity. It’s only going to make me feel guiltier for leaving in the first place.

“To be honest, it may seem as though Ji Hee has brought a lot of glory to Horoscope and NH Media as a whole, which is true. Not everything about her were just rainbows and unicorns though.” He stared straight at me and it made me feel uncomfortable. What could’ve possibly happened? I don’t recall hearing any bad news about Horoscope or NH Media. In fact, saying that I’ve heard no news should be the right term.

“If I had to live in such a happy world, I don’t think I could make it.” I joked around to conceal how uncomfortable I was. There was obviously something going on and Dong Ho wasn’t making it easy for me by beating around the bush.

“The moment she left- I’ll be straight forward with you here only if you promise to keep quiet.” Our eyes met and I nodded my head to show him I was willing to. It wasn’t like he was telling me something that would benefit me in any way. It’ll only add on to the guilt I felt for leaving. “It doesn’t matter if you say anything anyways, but it’ll save the trouble. Ji Hee’s such a mystery, reporters already have stories going in all sorts of directions about her. Besides, you look like Ji Hee- reporters will turn this onto you either way.” He shrugs and I follow his logic.

“I’m sure they will. Besides, I’m not going to force you to tell me anything. Though, keep in mind- I’m an intern and my shift will end at six today. I don’t plan on staying ‘overtime’.” I state as I look down at my watch once again.

“She didn’t necessarily leave, but she disappeared. Almost literally. NH Media isn’t the biggest entertainment company out there and they couldn’t afford to give us dorms to stay in, so we all had our apartments. Some of us shared with other members. In this case, Ji Hee shared an apartment with another member of Horoscope, Yoon Ji.” I was sure that even fans knew about our dorming arrangements. “It wasn’t exactly noticeable at first. We all thought she might have some solo activities to tend. Until Yoon Ji claimed that Ji Hee’s belongings were all missing.”

I remembered packing up discreetly. I began locking my room and getting irritated whenever Yoon Ji walked into my room without permission. She backed off and I packed at night when she was sleeping and made my visits to a place specifically used to store large items/ large amounts of items. My boxes are still there as I pay to keep the storage area monthly. However, I don’t know what to do with the items. I was no longer Ji Hee- or so I was pretending not to be, having the items around me would be suspicious and odd.

“Horoscope was still pretty big and they had more promotions. They had a Japanese promotion coming up and they were in the middle of recording the songs for the albums. The title song of the album was set but the rest had yet to be recorded. Ji Hee was practically the only rapper in the group.” I notice how his lips are twisted into a frown as he recalls the memory. “Yoon Ji spent days trying to live up to her name as the lead rapper of the group. Japanese wasn’t a language she was too familiar with and rapping wasn’t exactly her specialty in the group either.”

I also remembered how enthusiastic the other members were to be going to Japan again as we sorted out the parts amongst ourselves. I was of course, given the raps. I had been learning Japanese at school and with a tutor NH Media has hired to be the idols’ Japanese teacher. My Japanese was considered to be one of the best and with rapping as my specialty, I lifted the burden off of the other members who didn’t exactly specialize in rapping.

“The title song was kept in the album because they didn’t want Yoon Ji to overwork herself with the raps. She had her own share of vocal lines as well. However, the rest of the album had to be scraped and rerecorded with a change of parts. Mi Rae took on more vocal lines. The dance had to be rearranged as well. In Hye stayed up nights to create another dance with the choreographer. Overall, more money was spent on the album and as a brother group, U-Kiss, which would be me as well- had a limited amount of money to release our next album.”

I had to admit I felt pretty guilty, but if I didn’t leave then, when would I be able to leave? Idols had such busy schedules all around and it was either a Korean promotion, Japanese promotion, or even a world tour. I had to leave some point.

“The CEO also had hopes that Ji Hee would come back for the Japanese promotion, which was why the Japanese title track was kept. She, unfortunately didn’t. Fans began to question her disappearance and wondered where she was. The thing was- Ji Hee left us in a very tricky situation. She hadn’t spoken to the CEO nor was her contract coming to an end either. She just left a sum of money behind to pay for breaking off the contract. Which I guess, meant she quit- but we can’t really tell for sure.” He averts his gaze to the floor. “It gave the CEO a major headache. He didn’t want to say she quit as this would lead to a scandal and a question to why she quit. So he simply said she wanted to pursue better education and left to study abroad for a while.”

“A while, huh?” My throat was dry, but I had to pretend that I was engrossed in this topic. “Did the fans even buy it?”

“Some did, some didn’t. Some of her fans were naive and thought she would come back. It’s been how many years? Two years already, almost three. As time goes by, her fans are getting more and more skeptical and most of them have already stopped waiting. All together, Horoscope lost a lot of fans and garnered quite a bit of negative attention. It wasn’t to say that most fans were fans of Ji Hee since she constantly had her own solo activities including acting and modeling and going on various types of variety shows. It was also the fact that the fans began to distrust the company. Ji Hee hadn’t made any public statements about her whereabouts and if what the company had stated was true through social media.”

“So she was important for a bad reason, I guess.” I muttered as he looked up.

“Well, she was important to me for a different reason.” He states and it makes me want to question him but I figured he’d get there sooner or later. “The CEO was desperate to find her, but it was impossible to. She had only given her address in Korea and her contact information was of no use to us. To make matters even worse, we think she has a name in another language, making it even harder to find her. Ji Hee was her Korean name.” He looks blank and I look down at the floor.

“I mean, they could’ve hired another rapper as good as she was, right?” I questioned, my voice coming off as strong though I knew I was really weak inside.

“They did. Trust me. They tried. They found someone, but the rapper found that she was getting nowhere with Horoscope and left after one promotion and joined a different group.” He said grimly.

“Do you think...” I hesitated and Dong Ho looked up and seemed to question me. I continued. “If Ji Hee came back, suddenly- they’d accept her again?”

“Honestly?” I nodded and I knew for a fact I was nervous to hear his answer though I sported a poker face. I had hopes that they didn’t hate me after everything they had to go through. I hoped. “There’s only two ways things could go.”

“And the two ways are?”

“They’d be happy to have her back.” He states as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. I can almost hear the second way.

“Second way?” My voice wavers and I look at him for a reaction. No reaction.

“They’d ask her to leave or possibly even want to sue, though I doubt they’ll sue. It’ll bring more questions up. They’d probably want her to live quietly too avoid getting Horoscope into the spotlight with such a topic again.”

Of course. They wouldn’t want me back- not that I was even thinking of going back as of right now. It was a mistake that I even came back to Seoul in the first place.

“Either way, they’d have a hard time trusting her.” I hear him shift around on his bed and then the noises stop. “Hey, are you still listening to me? Did you seriously fall asleep?”

His hand shakes my shoulder and my eyes open. When did I close my eyes? I blink back at him and I force a smile onto my face. I was secretly dying inside and I knew it was right to have done this to the company. It would only be right that they hated me.

“Yes, I’m awake. I heard everything. I’m still surprised you entrusted me with such personal information.” I say. It was dangerous information to me. I felt like it could eat me and swallow me up as a whole and I was scared of the consequences. Perhaps I didn’t suffer any yet, but I felt bad knowing that Horoscope did.

“Well it wouldn’t be beneficial for you to spread the information. Besides, maybe now you’d become a fan of Horoscope as well as U-Kiss. Horoscope needs some support right now.” He stands up and stretches and I do the same. “I won’t be afraid to tell you this now, as I’ve already told you pretty much everything, but Horoscope isn’t going to last much longer like this.”

“Hm?” I questioned. Stretching had never felt so good.

“Horoscope might be disbanding in the winter. This upcoming promotion might be their last if their album doesn’t sell well. Their comeback stage could be their last truthfully.” I’m shocked as I’ve been living all these years believing that they were doing just fine. But who knows? I’ve found out many things today. “Do you think you could help them out by pretending to be Ji Hee?”

“Absolutely not!” I blurt out, almost too fast to be considered normal. He sighs and massages the back of his neck and nods.

“I suppose not. It makes sense though.” He murmurs and he takes my hand. “Can you come with me to the company?”

“No.” I answer. I was nervous to be in his presence alone. He has already questioned my identity too many times for my liking. If the whole company plus Horoscope was at it, I would surely break down.

“Please? I just want you to meet Horoscope. You’ll be meeting famous idols!” Oh ho. How ironic. I’ve already met them and I know more about them than he did.

“I’m busy. I have an internship here if you forgot.” I remind him and he shakes his head.

“But you’re free on weekends. I’ll be leaving the hospital on Saturday. I’ll even pick you up or you could come here and we could go there together. I just want you to serve as support to them.” He pleads and I feel a large amount of pressure falling onto my shoulders. I shoot a glance at my watch and I break away from his puppy eyes.

“It’s six. My shift is over.” Grabbing my wrist, it felt as though it was a little child tug at my arm and I heave a sigh.

“Fine, you won’t have to meet them. I just want you to see them. I promise that none of them will see you nor will I tell them anything about you. I know you’re scared of being mistaken as Ji Hee, but I’ll hide you from them okay?” He was persistent as always.

“I’ll see you Saturday then.” I pulled away from him and left with cheerful shouts of ‘thank you’ and I can’t help but smile a little hearing how happy he seemed to be, but nervous all together.

A/N: It's been almost three months since I've last updated. I'm super sorry, but I didn't have any motivation for the story until recently xD. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for my absence and you guys can definitely hope to see the next chapter up soon! :) This chapter is a bit boring, but it talks a little about the past so you guys get a bit of insight to what happened after Ji Hee left. She's important in a - bad way as you can see. o-o. Hopefully the next chapter will be more interesting! :)

Shin Mi Rae

Age: 22

Date of Birth: May 4, 1992

Blood Type: AB

Height: 167 cm (5'6)

Signed Under: NH Media

Group: Horoscope

Horoscope Signs: Taurus, Cancer, Aries

Position: Leader, Main Vocalist, Power Vocal

Occupation: Singer/Idol

Aries (March 21st- April 20th)

Aries are known to be adventurous, courageous, versatile, lively, positive, and passionate. These are the good traits of Aries. They’re not afraid to step past their boundaries and explore, this making them adventurous and courageous. They are often the ones who will try new things and seem to never be low on energy! Aries are very positive and can definitely lift the mood of many individuals. They are also very passionate in things they’re interested in.

Proving the Yin and Yang theory of good existing in bad and bad insisting in good, Aries too have a share of bad traits. They are believed to be arrogant, stubborn, impulsive, undisciplined, confrontational, and also tend to stop midway in projects. They are often insensitive to others’ emotions and can be very stubborn when it comes to discussing opinions. They can also be rash and impatient. With their high energy levels, they tend to spread their energy all over the place causing them to be undisciplined. They are also not afraid to confront people even if it’ll harm their relationships and have the tendency to lose interest in projects easily.

Read more about it at this site!

http://www.ganeshaspeaks.com/aries/aries-traits.action

I hope that you guys enjoyed this tiny section on the Aries. This does not mean that all Aries are like this. This is purely made for the fun of it and was not made to hurt or offend anyone. Are you a Aries?

Are you not a Virgo or a Scorpio or a Capricorn or a Libra even an Aries? Comment on what horoscope you wish to see next chapter! (Or not. I'll take the liberty of choosing then.) What sign are you? Or if you're curious to know more about someone else (friend, family, or even crush), what sign do you wish to learn more about?