A bunch of mistakes and some scenes are not as well written because I was in a rush to get this out and posted. Sorry if anything is bad, and I must say now that this chapter has two different pairings, with two entirely different vibes, so prepare for this roller coaster, lol. Don't forget to leave some feedback for this slow author, haha  <3 

Before Chanyeol even started his job of doing a DJ, he played classical music first just to get the mood going. Checking the time before the opening ceremony started, he saw from his watch that he had exactly thirteen minutes to spare, and his stomach was telling him to put some food in it before it gave up on him. The walkie talkie headphone that was on the left side of his ear consisted of mostly Tina, Jong In and a few other of the employees who answered them... Then again, it was mostly just Tina, in which he found amusing. He didn't even know where she disappeared to because the last thing she said on the walkie talkie was about flowers being placed on the wrong stand near the lobby area. 

"Excuse me. Why does the bench in the waiting area of the lobby not have any flowers beside it? I said two flower stands! Where are my two receptionists for the front desk for people signing in? Ya'll better be in the bathroom as an emergency or something, I ain't having this." was the thing Tina was currently yelling into the walkie talkie, making Chanyeol laugh. He understood the chaotic yelling though because it was an event that she was in charge of, so she was bound to be more stressed than usual. If anything were to happen, it would all go to her. Chanyeol just couldn't help but laugh because hearing her yell was the funniest thing ever, not to mention she had a high-pitched voice, so it wasn't really all that intimidating. 

Since she was outside, he seized the opportunity to grab some food at the table where all everything was. If she didn't see him at where his station was supposed to be, she might've spazzed out at him, but he wanted to grab food real quick just so he could stay for a few more hours. As he looked around the area of the hotel; the high ceilings, the crystal chandeliers, the ribbons hanging elegantly from different corners of the ceiling, and how the entire theme was such a gorgeous sight, he couldn't help but admire Tina's hard work of making this happen. Well of course, Jong In too, but all the work went to Tina. 

As he stood in front of the table filled with small finger foods and drinks, he constantly kept checking the headphone to see if anything important was up, but Tina was currently shouting out that chairs weren't enough, while Jong In replied back to her to calm down because his ears were about to explode. It made Chanyeol laugh at these two because they were the funniest pair of friends that a person could ever encounter with. And Tina was just cute to him, so he found everything she did amusing. 

All of a sudden, Chanyeol thought his vision went mad because he saw two familiar girls walking behind Krystal's father, Sang Min, as if they were following him to go somewhere. The sandwich he had been chewing on suddenly became stuck in his mouth while the loud noises in the headphones of the walkie talkie suddenly became faded out. 

Minji and Dara. 

It was Minji and Dara. 

Even though Dara being there shocked him, the bigger shock was Minji being here... With Jong In here. The moment those two saw eachother again... Chanyeol didn't even want to think about what happened. What Jong In did to her was the worse possible thing that could ever happen to a girl, and he didn't even know how Minji managed to cope with it for the past five years. The stress immediately striked through his head, making him massage his forehead at this point, because he didn't know what was going to happen. 

, was all Chanyeol could say in his head right now. The moment Chanyeol saw the two girls about to go up to Jong In and Krystal, he couldn't help but stare in awe, trying to figure out what to do. He absoutely knew that the moment Jong In was going to see Minji again, all hell was going to break loose right then and there. "Holy ." That was the only thing that was able to come out of his mouth, because  was literally about to go down. Oh good god, Jong In couldn't just drop everything right now, this event was way too important. The more important question was... Why were Minji and Dara even here? 

“Minji, Dara…” Sang Min called for them, starting the introductions. “I would like you to meet Jong In, the general manager of our Oakwood Hotel, as long with the lady right over there, which is my own daughter, Krystal.” Turning to Jong In and tapping his back, he continued on, “Son, this is the new girl I have been talking about. I’ve finally found the chance to have you guys meet.” Trying not to make eye contact, Minji tried to remain calm, bowed to him and Krystal, while Dara followed the gesture. Sang Min smiled and told her, “Jong In and I are very close. If there’s any questions or concerns that you have about Oakwood, apart from me, you can always go to Jong In. All of you are around the same age, you guys should be able to talk amongst yourself.” The reason why Sang Min was introducing these two was because he wanted Minji to feel as comfortable as she could working here, and he wanted to be someone that she could count on. Jong In was one of the people he trusted the most at the hotel, so if he introduced her to a trustworthy person like him, she’d hopefully be thankful for what he was trying to do for her.

Minji stood there very still, stiff as a rock as she felt her muscles tightening up and a pit feeling building up in her stomach as she saw the face she had feared to ever see again. This couldn’t be real… Minji had to be dreaming right now. Well, in her case, seeing Jong In again was practically a treacherous nightmare to her. When she had prayed and begged to whoever she was pleading to, this was the only person in her life that she didn’t wish to see ever again. The moment the word ‘Ji Ji’ came out of his mouth, it felt like someone punched her in the stomach.

What the hell was happening? Why the hell was this happening to her? Why was the person who made her life a living hell standing right in front of her right now? Everything flashed through her head like the speed of lightening. From all the times she catered to him when she desperately wanted her attention, the day he told her to stop annoying him when he thought she started a fight with his girlfriend, the moment she heard Ha Yi die on the phone and he basically blamed her for the death, to the moment he used her body to vent his anger out on her, then up until the she found out she was carrying a child with the man who her.

The guy who made her life miserable… The guy that literally ruined her life.

Holy , Dara thought to herself, turning around to look at Minji to see if she had bursted out crying in any way. Surprisingly, Minji kept a straight face, staring at him in awe if anything. The only thing Dara hoped for right now is for Minji to keep strong, no matter what was going to happen after this. All Minji could do was stare at him in shock, and if she could fall down a hole to get out of his face right now she definitely would. A lot of curse words also came to her head when it normally didn’t, basically feeling trapped at this point.

“Ji Ji,” Jong In called again, being the only one in this entire situation that was absolutely ecstatic right now to see these two again, obviously more towards Minji. Sang Min had gotten distracted by one of his business partners that he had been working with for over years, so he politely excused himself with Jong In, making sure Minji and her friend noticed as well. “I’m going to excuse myself for a little, Jong In. One of the representatives from our partnering companies wants to secure a deal with working with our hotel, so I’m just gonna need to talk to him.”

Not really taking his attention from Minji, Jong In nodded at him lightly, then turning back to stare at Minji again. What Sang Min said to excuse herself was heard loudly an clearly, but Minji didn’t know what to do. If she had excused herself to leave Jong In, and Krystal, who she knew hated her with a burning passion, especially how she was glaring at her right now, then she would look rude to the biggest person running the hotel. Why the hell was Jong In a general manager for this hotel? Didn’t he have his own hotel that he could’ve easily become a general manager at? Why did this hotel have to be owned by Krystal’s father? Why was everything just going this way to make Minji’s life harder again? At this very moment, Minji just wanted to pull hair out right now with what was happening… Even better, she wished she could just wake up right now. Reaching out to grab Krystal’s hand, Sang Min called for her and told her, “Krystal, come with me to meet Mr. Sungjae. He’s interested in putting the wedding dress studio for one of his sponsors for his hotel, I’ve been talking about you since we started doing this new project together.”

“Appa, why do I have to go?” Krystal whined, not wanting to leave Jong In with this girl that he’s been searching for God knows how many years now. “There’s other times we can talk, why does it have to be today?”

Minji and Dara stood awkwardly as they noticed Krystal gripping onto Jong In’s arm, holding it tightly. Sang Min tried to stay polite as he saw his daughter acting up, so he went behind Jong In to pass him and grabbed Krystal’s arm lightly. “Jong In has other things to do, Krystal. He can’t be glued to you like how you want when this event is clearly one of our most important events. Don’t forget why he was able to get the GM position here.” His low, whispering voice made Krystal know that her father was beyond serious, also being strict as well, trying not to show it off as much. Giving her a demanding look through his eyes, in a forceful tone, he said, “I don’t want my co-workers thinking that I raised a daughter with no manners who only wants to be with her boyfriend the entire night. Don’t make me look bad, Krystal.” She didn’t want to, but Krystal slowly gave in, knowing her father was going to have her head if she didn’t follow his orders. Slowly and unpleasantly, she let go of Jong In, glaring at both Minji and Dara as she walked with her father. Before Sang Min completely walked off, he tapped Jong In’s lower back and told the three of them, “Excuse me for a moment. You youngsters go ahead and talk, I’m just gonna grab Krystal to meet a few people.”

, Minji thought to herself, feeling sweat starting to trickle from the roots of her hair to how nervous she felt. She could not be left alone with Jong In right now, this was not happening. Even though Dara was there with her, she still felt like she had to deal with the torture for herself. , what was she going to do? Krystal glared at the two girls as she walked away with her father, making them look down so they could avoid eye contact. Even though she was hesitating to leave them with him, she still was forced to go with her father, so Jong In was basically out of sight from her with how far away she was with talking to Sang Min’s co-workers.

He couldn’t wait for any longer, so he took a step closer to her. “Ji Ji, I-“

“Excuse me.” Minji was super quick to cut him off before he could go on with anything he was about to say. She didn’t think she was even ready to hear that voice that she used to admire so much… The voice that she ended up hating with her entire heart. Getting the courage to look at the same bronze-toned face of his, taking in a deep breath , and taking a step back from him, she said, “I… Umm… I… I… Excuse me. I need to excuse myself for a few moments.” As she bowed to him, his eyes widened, knowing why she was excusing herself, but he needed her to stay. To say all of the apologies he had to say to her, no matter how much she was trying to get away from her. She didn’t think for any longer, but she just turned to look at Dara to give her a signal, and it was like she already knew what Minji was going to do. With that, she didn’t even look back, she just started to walk another way, anywhere that was far away from Jong In. She didn’t even acknowledge how many people were attending this event, she just needed to get away from him the best that she could.

With only Jong In and Dara left standing in the middle of hundreds, nearly thousands of people, Jong In was still in a state of shock, but his eyes were glued to Minji as she walked away from him. She didn’t even give him the chance to say anything, she just walked away from him. Well, he didn’t blame her, but that didn’t stop him from being determined to make everything up to her. He glanced at Dara and made eye contact for her for a few seconds, not saying a word. With that, he ran passed her, brushing against her bare arms of the strapless dress she was in and then ran after Minji, calling her name a few times and telling her to wait up. Now Dara was left alone in the middle of all of these people, huffing a few breaths with everything that was happening. She just didn’t want to believe that all of this was happening to Minji, and that Jong In was really chasing after her right now after he never even gave a about her for everything he did to her.

No, no, no… She needed to help Minji deal with this bastard. No matter how strong she was now, she felt like Minji was always going to have a weakness for Jong In… Despite all the pain and torture he ever brought to her. Love was always a hazardous thing, and Minji definitely fell under that category. Shaking her head, she started running as well, trying her best to catch up with Jong In who was running after her.

From a distance where he was able to see, Chanyeol was completely dumbstruck as the small ham sandwich was stuck in his mouth because he was too shocked to even swallow anything. The moment he saw Minji and Dara getting introduced to Jong In and Krystal by her father, Mr. Sang Min, he knew something had to go down. Ever since Jong In realized how wrong he was and was on this search to find Minji just so he could make it up to her, he’s been determined, nearly obsessed, with trying to find her just so he tell her how guilty he felt. However, the more important question running through his head was… Why were those two even here at this event? Why did this have to go down today? Jong In was the general manager of this hotel and Tina had worked really hard to make all of this happen, he didn’t want all of this to go down today if it was going to have a bad impact on her event in any way. When he saw Minji make a run for it, with Jong In following, then Dara right after them, all that he was worried about was this entire thing blowing out of proportion… In which, he didn’t want that to happen, and he didn’t want Tina being more stressed than how she already was. Letting out a sigh, he excused himself to everyone who was standing right there, and ran after them as well. Jong In, do not do anything stupid right now, not at an important event like this. Not when it was going to make an impact for him, Tina, and their entire career basically. Jong In could not drop all of this right now.

When Tina came back inside of the grand ballroom from putting her flowers in place outside of the lobby and the waiting area, she entered through the doors as tall as the ceiling, nearly having to take a step back with a girl who just ran by her as fast as the speed of lightening. She was trying to process through her head because she remembered Minji wearing that exact same dress, so she turned to see the back of the girl running, her long hair bobbing up and down as she sprinted so fast. “Minji?” She asked with her eyes narrowed, highly confused to why she was even running. If that wasn’t strange enough for her, she then saw Jong In run by her super fast, making her pause for a few seconds. Out of everyone that was there, why the hell was Jong In running? That made absolutely no sense at all.

“The , is that Jong In?” went wide open in shock, wondering why her best friend was running like his life depended on it. No, more like, why was he even running when there was a lot of customers and guests that he had to take of? “Why the is Jong In running?” Was he running after Minji, because that’s what it seemed to look like right now, which confused the heck out of her.

First of all, he had no reason to run and second of all, he was the damn general manager. If anyone should be running, it should’ve been either her or any of her workers that should’ve been doing that. And if they needed to run, it wasn’t supposed with everyone standing there in the ceremony.

Another person who got added to this confusing running equation was Dara, Minji’s friend who came along with her. At this point, she just shook her head and became completely taken aback at this point. Like, why are these three running right now? She huffed with open and staring at them bewildered. “What the is going on right now?”

Pressing very hardly onto the speaker of the walkie talkie, she spoke into and said very clearly, “Excuse me. Anybody wanna tell me why the general manager of this hotel is running around the event like a little child at the zoo? If ya’ll love me, one of ya’ll better grab his for me because he’s got more things to do than run around this hotel.” A few moments later, a female voice answered her back and said, “Unnie, are you talking about Jong In Oppa? Where is he running? I don’t even see him.” She knew it was Suhyun who was the person speaking and she just wanted to pull every strand of her hair out right now. After a few moments, she heard Ricky's sweet voice speak loudly into the walkie talkie. "Noona, just for you. I got you. I will tackle him down for you when I see him." 

"Can you even reach him though?" Tina knew that voice was Min Yoongi, the marketing strategist that worked under the marketing department at Oakwood. His lazy, deep voice usually made her laugh, but she was really not in the mood to even deal with stiff jokes right now. Ricky replied back to Yoongi, "For Tina Noona, I can do anything. We all need to have her back."

She was about to answer back, but she turned her head to see Chanyeol running now, so she tried to snap out of her confusing state of standing there bewildered, and get a grip of herself. Also, she was able to snapped back when she realized the only person who was controlling the entire music at this entire event was Chanyeol, so this was the only person she really needed to get right now. Because Chanyeol had long legs, long arms, long body... Basically, he was just long and was easy to reach, she knocked some senses back into her brain in making herself have to grab him so he could stop running. 

He was one of the people that seemed to be so occupied with running right now, so she quickly had to put a stop to that. Despite whatever feelings she had for Chanyeol that she always tried to avoid, she remembered that the opening ceremony was about to begin in less than ten minutes. Chanyeol was the only person controlling the music, so he had absolutely no right to be running like this... By the looks of it, it looked like they were individually running after girls, and no one had time for that right now.

As his tall, giant self was about to pass her, Tina gripped onto his arm to stop him from running, causing him to stumble forward because he came to an abrupt stop trying to brake with his feet. His eyes widened as he saw that Tina was the one to stop him, looking down at her nervously. Oh God, how the heck was he going to help those three now? Damn, more importantly, how was he going to explain to Tina about why the hell he was running after them? 

All Tina did was look up at him, giving him an unpleased face right now, intimidating him with her glare. "Boy, the hell are you doing? Do you know what time the ceremony starts?" He would've been in one of his teasing modes right now because her hand was still holding onto his wrists, but she didn't look her best to get her to blush right now. 

"I... Umm... I... Was gr-grabbing food," he stuttered, wandering his eyes nervously. Cocking an eyebrow, she sassed back, "Did you need to digest or something? Did you need to run a lap or something after you eat?" 

"No, I just..." 

"If you give me that excuse, then I might let you slide by," she cut him off, also trying to intimidate him. "Because if you tell me you're trying to holler at a girl by running after her... Number one, no one got time for that because the ceremony is about to begin and you're the damn DJ. When the event is finished, I will run after her myself for you if want it that badly. And number three, my question is, why the heck are you running after girls? He lucky I didn't catch him from running because Oakwood would have no more general manager. So, you lucky I caught just you." 

"Ah, so you don't wanna hurt me, right?" He tried to make her lighten up, or make her try to seem less tense by pulling out words in a joking matter, but she just looked like she wasn't having it right now. She stretched her jaw, making sure to contain herself before she went off at him, even though his flirty words always made her heart beat a little quicker than usual. She just glared at him and responded, "Trust me, if I knew how to control that damn music control board, I wouldn't have any trouble hurting you. But since I can't, your better go on that stage and do what you were instructed to do. We are basically working, there is no time for you to be running after a girl." 

"I really wasn't running after her. Those two girls are just old friends of ours and we all left on a bad note, so he was just-"

"It's fine, Chanyeol. It's done for, I don't need to hear an explanation. All I care right now is someone controlling the music for the opening ceremony. We'll deal about the girls later, and I will deal with your friend later," she provoked, making Chanyeol feel uneasy about the entire situation. He swallowed the lump in his throat very deeply, not liking the serious look on her face when she was misinterpreting the entire scene. He didn't like the fact that she thought he was chasing after another girl, when he didn't even want that girl. 

"And someone better get your friend too because he has twenty eight minutes to go up on that stage with President Jung," she demanded, widening her eyes at him. "Someone else needs to do it because if I do it, I'm going to do much more than grabbing onto his arms. And that will not be safe for that fool right now." 

"Okay, but Tina, I swear I wasn't chasing after that girl," Chanyeol tried to tell her truthfully, hoping she didn't get the wrong idea. "I just know her..." She cut him off by putting her hands and saying, "No need to explain, I don't mind that you're trying to holler at her, but finish your job first, then I will help you." 

"Tina, no, that's not it," he raised his deep voice much louder, wanting to punch himself for running after them now. "I just needed to..."

"Boy, you are running out of time. Just get yourself on the stage and do your job. I will deal with all of this later. Do not worry, I didn't ruin any chances." 

Even though Chanyeol wanted to explain to her as much as he could that he was not trying to "holler" at this girl, he had to be professional and think about the event that was going on right now. Chanyeol looked at her with a troubled expression and said before walking off, "She's not the girl that I'm chasing after." Right after that, Chanyeol forcefully went back to where he was supposed to be because he knew he had no more time to wait for any response, which was on the stage, behind those curtains. She was already heated with the entire running around, so he didn't want her to get more aggravated than she already was. He still turned to look back, wanting to know what was going on between Jong In, Minji and Dara, but more specifically towards those two. However, Tina was just throwing him glares, so he wasn't daring enough to go anywhere else but I'm on that stage. 

He just couldn't stop wondering what was going to go down between those two. 

Dara really wanted to keep running but the heels she was wearing were really not cooperating with her - she had tripped on her own dress since the back of it was really long, so she had to stop, which left only Jong In running after Minji right now.

Oh gosh, why was all of this happening? Minji spent all these years trying to get away from him, trying to move on from him, and the moment she comes back and is about to settle down with her new life with her new self, this had to happen. Out of all the hotels that were in Seoul, how did Jong In end up being the general manager for this one?

Breathing heavily, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath and also saw the burning red at her ankles. Minji and Jong In had disappeared at that point so all she could hope for was Minji being able to handle this the best she could on her own. Minji was a strong person now, she believed that she would be able to deal with the guy that made her life this way. She was praying that Minji would be able to handle this. 

"Ji Ji!" Jong In yelled from behind Minji, but she tried to ignore his voice and kept runnng to get away from him. Why didn't this damn hotel have another path that she could take a turn at? How the hell was she going to hide from him? It wasn't the fact that she was scared of him... It was the fact that she was afraid of herself if she was going to face him again. She kner her feelings well, no matter how much hatred was in the mix. She was just sick and tired of her own stupid emotions, she just didn't want to deal with it anymore. She started to get scared when she could hear Jong In's footsteps scurrying behind her against the floor carpets. She wasn't sure where she was in the hotel, but it was quiet and there weren't too many people. "Ji Ji, stop running please! I need to talk to you." 

Who the hell would stop running? Is he stupid? And damn it, stop calling me Ji Ji... I'm not that stupid Ji Ji anymore. 

Her worst nightmare finally came when Jong In was able to grab her from behind, which made her stop abruptly. this, why didn't she run any faster than this? 

He didn't let go of his grip on her arm; he held her in place and took a few steps to stand right in front of her, so he could catch a glimpse of her face. He didn't wanna believe that she was actually right here, not wanting to believe that he finally had the chance to apologize to her face-to-face. Even though he was so happy that this was happening, there was still a strange feeling inside of him that made him feel weird that he was going to be apologetic towards her. 

Maybe it was because they never interacted with eachother besides him ruining her life. They were basically strangers because of his stupid self, but that wasn't going to stop him from making everything up to her. 

Every part of Minji's body trembled, seeing him look so deeply into her eyes that made her scared. For some reason, there wasn't any hatred in his eyes like before, in which surprised her, but it didn't make her any less mortified. What scared her the most was not being able to control her emotons. She wanted to cry seeing him again when she had been doing so well for so many years, she didn't just wanna break down now. 

The Minji that he had called Ji Ji had died long ago and that stupid girl wasn't ever going to come back. She tried to move her arm so he could let go, but his fingers tightened as he said, "No Ji Ji, please stop trying to get away from me. Can we please talk?" 

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied with a cold tone. "Please let go of me. I need to go." The more she tried to get away, the stronger he became. Now he had both hands on her upper arms as he begged, "We do need to talk, I-" As he started talking he began to stutter, feeling like the right words weren't coming to his mouth. All of a sudden, he felt so overwhelmed that she was finally here in front of him because he wanted to say so much to her from the day she went missing up until today, but he couldn't explain all in one sitting. He started to realize apologizing was a lot harder than he expected, especially when he's never done it before. He looked at her eyes, actually looking at her for the first time in forever, his chest tightening with everything he wanted to say to her. After biting the insides of his lips for a while, he sighed heavily and said, "Ji Ji... I'm... S-Sorry." The tears that started forming around her eyes began coming down her cheeks, and she was so disappointed in herself that she let herself cry, right in front of him again. However, she still kept her head strong enough to not break down, so she just casually wiped them off, still trying to be as emotionless as possible. Was she hearing this correctly? Was he really apologizing right in front of her? Did he really feel guilty for everything that he did? She looked back at him sternly, using all of her strength to push his hands off of her arms. Jong In was pretty shocked by her unpleasantly rough gesture, but wasn't surprised, and he really couldn't blame her after all that he did. 

He was just intimidated by the cold look that she was giving him. He never remembered her with this look on her face before; the only look she ever had on her face was sadness and happiness... He's never seen this cold look on her. He knew there was some change in her over the past five years that he hasn't seen her. He swallowed the lump down his throat and repeated, "I-I'm... Sorry. Ji Ji, I-" 

"I don't need an apology," she said stiffly, trying to look anywhere but inside of his eyes. She didn't want to get trapped into them again. "I don't need anything. I need to go." She moved aside to her left to try to walk away, but he slid rather quickly just to block her way... To make sure she couldn't go anywhere, not when he was able to be in front of her like this. She started clenching her fingers together when he was still blocking her way to leave anywhere. Why was he even doing this? He breathed heavily and nervously, gulping down. Sighing, he said, "I know I'm probably the last person you want to see, but I need you to know that I'm sorry. And that I'll make ever-"

"Excuse me," she interrupted him, without any care with what he was going to say. She spoke up clearly and said to him, "I need to go." When she moved to her right, he blocked her again as fast as he could and asked, "Where are you gonna go, Ji Ji?" 

Away from your damn face, she wanted to answer, but instead, she took a deep breath and responded, "Just somewhere else." It literally felt like a game where both of them kept moving left to right, just Minji trying to get pass him while Jong In continuously just blocked her way. When she had enough of his weird bull, she looked at him angrily and took another approach, turning her entire body around and started walking the other way. It didn't exactly work because Jong In gripped onto her arm within a split second, turning her around. He waited so long for this moment to happen, but he just didn't know why all of the words couldn't come to his brain.

If he wasn't so close-minded, they could've been more than acquaintances.

If he wasn't so ignorant, he would've talked to her more.

If he wasn't so dumb, he would've listened to Minji the day Krystal ended all ties that they had. 

If he was just a different person, he wouldn't have ruined her life... But it all happened, he was ready to apologize and make up for everything, but words just weren't coming to him. 

Taking short deep breaths, he held onto her wrist and started, "Listen, the past five years... That we didn't see each other... A lot of things..." 

No, she wasn't listening. Enough making him your weakness, Minji. Stop putting up with this . She roughly pulled her arms out of his grasp, being able to see a sign for the women's bathroom that was somewhere she could go into without Jong In being able to come in. She looked back at him and said coldly, "I said I needed to go. Excuse me." As fast as she could, she ran to the women's bathroom and prayed it could help her out a little. Jong In couldn't follow her forever... And she knew he wasn't going to. The moment she entered, she was a little disappointed that it wasn't an individual bathroom with a lock because three stalls were aligned next to eachother, so she stood in front of the door, seeing an open space behind it, so she went to press her back against the wall, hoping that this was the best place to avoid him right now. 

Jong In pushed the doors of the women's bathroom, not being ashamed that it was a room that he shouldn't even be in, but Minji just kept running away. When he pushed the door open, she was pretty happy that it was able to fully hide her. Nervously, she bit down on her lip trying not to make any sounds; she even tried to stop breathing just so he could leave her alone. "Ji Ji, please just give me a minute. Hear me out." The door was constantly pushing her more back, but tears fell down from her eyes, and she had to bite her lip to refrain from all the sounds he could've heard from her. She tried to make herself stop crying, but seeing his face, hearing him call her Ji Ji again, just everything about his presence made her break down... And she really hated that about herself. 

When Jong In was literally about to fully enter the women's bathroom, he heard a small voice call for his name. "Jong In Oppa." Quickly, he turned around and saw Suhyun, coming up to him in her white lace dress, looking quite serious today, rather than her goofy and smiley self that she usually was. He stopped right at his tracks and looked at her, a bit disappointed that he got interrupted. He sighed loudly and took a step back. "Suhyun, what's up?" 

She came close to him, with an intimidated look, not sure if he was in the middle of something. "Everyone's been looking for you, Oppa. Is everything okay? Do you need help with anything?" Jong In smiled at the younger girl who was always fully prepared to help him with everything he needed help with, tapping her head a few times in response. "I'm okay, Suhyun. Thanks though."

When Jong In was literally about to fully enter the women's bathroom, he heard a small voice call for his name. "Jong In Oppa." Quickly, he turned around and saw Suhyun, coming up to him in her white lace dress, looking quite serious today, rather than her goofy and smiley self that she usually was. He stopped right at his tracks and looked at her, a bit disappointed that he got interrupted. He sighed loudly and took a step back. "Suhyun, what's up?" 

She came close to him, with an intimidated look, not sure if he was in the middle of something. "Everyone's been looking for you, Oppa. Is everything okay? Do you need help with anything?" Jong In smiled at the younger girl who was always fully prepared to help him with everything he needed help with, tapping her head a few times in response. "I'm okay, Suhyun. Thanks though."

Beggining to loosen up, seeing that he was okay, she started to giggle lightly and fidgeted around with her hands. She asked softly, "Did you have to go to the bathroom, Oppa?" Then he realized he was about to enter the women's bathroom and gave her a rather shy look now, pressing his lips together. She continued chuckling and said, "Can you hold it in a few more steps? The guy's bathroom is over there." Suhyun pointed to where the men's bathroom was, assuming that he was looking for a restroom to go in. Shaking his head in response, he just said, "No, I'm fine. Did you need something though? Why is everyone looking for me?" 

"You're supposed to be standby on the stage with President Jung in exactly thirteen minutes," she informed him, linking her hands together. "Don't forget that you have to announce your speech as General Manager for the opening ceremony, Oppa. Also, President Jung wants to talk to you about the speech before you both go up on stage. He said it's urgent. Also, Tina Unnie is yelling for you in the walkie talkie." 

"Walkie talkie?" Jong In realized, looking down and saw the headphones detached from his ear. It must've dropped when he was running after Minji. "I didn't hear any of it." 

Suhyun chuckled again and replied, "Oh, no wonder why. If you had your headphones on, you would've probably known she was mad at you from what she was saying in the walkie talkie. It was hard to miss, I'm pretty sure she dominated everyone's headphones." 

"She's mad at me?" Jong In asked out of concern, knowing that Tina was frustrated with him. Ugh, too many things were just going on right now, he didn't know how to organize his life at this very moment. She must've seen him running after Minji then, there was no other reason why she could be angry. He just nodded at Suhyun and tried to give her a decent look, but she knew there was something with him. After working with him for nearly a year, seeing him so often because he was Tina's best friend, it was easy to tell when something was up with him. "Let's go then." 

They started walking together, as Jong In just tapped Suhyun's shoulders, signaling to go together. Before leaving, Suhyun asked once more, "You sure everything is okay? Did you finish your bathroom business, Oppa?" Without responding, he just grinned at her and pushed her to walk back together to the ceremony. When Suhyun wasn't paying attention, Jong In turned back to the bathroom where he saw Minji going in. He thought heavily about what he was going to do next, but he couldn't do it right now. Time wasn't on his side yet, but he knew he was gonna see her again. Now he was about where she was. 

Dara felt like her neck was going to rip off of her body by the way she was stretching out to see if Minji was coming back in yet. She had been standing by the entrance doors of the grand ballroom of this hotel for the past fifteen minutes after Minji and Jong In disappeared outside, but she hadn't seen one of them come back. By the looks of it, something was about to begin on stage, and it seemed like people were preparing themselves. If Jong In was the general manager of this hotel, or whatever hotel, then he should've been here. Besides, she saw Krystal from a distance poking her head out and probably looking for him, so she assumed that a lot of people were looking for Jong In. 

Dara scratched her head and clicked her tongue and teeth together. "Where the hell are they?" She was more than worried about Minji, that she wasn't sure how she was going to handle coming face-to-face with Jong In again. 

Just then, her eyes went round and really big when Jong In entered back into the ballroom with a young-looking girl that Dara had seen around the event since she had arrived here. She assumed that it was one of the staff members from the badge hanging around her neck and the headphones she had in her ear along with the walkie talkie clipped to her sides. If Jong In had come back inside the room, where on earth did Minji go then? When Jong In came pass by her, she was afraid of him seeing her, because she wanted to avoid being asked questions, and by the looks of it, he seemed super determined to actually talk to Minji, which confused the heck out of her. She stared at his direction as he was being grabbed in the arm by Krystal, with her staring at the younger girl who walked back into the ballroom with him. Narrowing her eyes to see this scene, she knew that Krystal certainly hadn't changed. Still claiming Jong In like he was his territory by the way she had glared at the young girl, with her looking scared as ever, as she went another way. 

Chanyeol came down from the side of the stage, officially on his break now, because the opening ceremony of the grand opening of this hotel was about to begin, so there wasn't any music or anything that needed to play. He now had about thirty minutes to spare, according to the schedule, right after Jong In and President Jung finished giving their speech. As he stepped onto the side of the backstage, the area where everyone had to be on standby, he was about to push the door open, but was surprised that Wendy stepped in, which made it hard for him to go out now. He's known Wendy for a while now, since he's seen her around the hotel a lot, but he was more familiar with Suhyun, just because she was a part of the sales marketing section, which made her meet up with Jong In often. Wendy was more in the creative department of marketing, so he didn't really have anything to deal with her, so he wasn't as close with her. However, being the friendly person he was, always just greeted everyone. So when he saw Wendy, he tilted his head down at the smaller girl, smiling at her. "Hey Wendy." 

"Ah, Chanyeol Oppa," she replied back happily, holding a glass of water in her hands. "Just the person I wanted to see." 

He raised an eyebrow a little, a little confused, but still kept his smile. "Is there anything I can help with?" 

"Chanyeol Oppa," she giggled softly, tucking her tan blonde hair behind her ears. "You're the one doing all the hard work, I should be the one asking if you need help with anything." She looked at him rather sweetly, making him feel a bit uneasy with the gaze she was giving him. Shaking his head, Chanyeol simply answered a bit confused, "I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." 

"I bought you water," she quickly said, handing over the water to him, nearly spilling it because she wanted to please him as much as she could. She's had the biggest crush on Chanyeol ever since she saw him because she found him smart and super adorable, and she's always tried her best to get his attention, in every way possible. It was obvious Chanyeol was friendly with every single person, so she wasn't sure if he saw her in a way that was more than just an acquaintance. However, she was so determined to be more than that. Chanyeol pointed at himself and asked, "Huh, for me?" 

"Yes, Oppa. I was afraid you'd be thirsty." 

"I'm okay, thanks," he said gratefully, a bit confused to why she brought him water, but still thought it was a nice gesture. She sighed loudly and still smiled at him. "Chanyeol Oppa, you need a break. You've been working for too long." 

Slowly, he took the glass of water that was in a curvy glass, taking a small sip. He still felt a bit uncomfortable by the way she had stared at him, that it made the water he was drinking have a weird flavor, and water didn't even have a flavor. The best friend that she worked with, which was Suhyun, was forever flirting with him, but never looked at him like this... That's probably why it was easier to talk to Suhyun, because she didn't give him this strange look that Wendy was giving him right now. He awkwardly chuckled and answered, "It hasn't been that long now." 

"Besides, I saved you the trip to walk all the way to the refreshments table." 

"I was gonna go there anyways," he told her, scratching his head uncomfortably. "I need to walk around. I can't stay in the same place for too long. Thanks anyway though, Wendy. That was really nice of you." 

"Anything, Oppa," she said in a sweet voice, linking her hands together and still making this uncomfortable for him by the way she was staring at him. It was easy for him to read people, because he dealt with a lot of patients and know what they went through, but this Wendy girl was sending him signals that he didn't necessarily want. Trying to get away, he pointed towards the door and said, "I'm gonna head to the bathroom." When he tried to walk, she strangely blocked his way of leaving and replied fast, "You didn't even finish you water yet, Oppa." 

With how small she was compared to him, he could easily just make his way outside, but she seemed really determined to be around Chanyeol. He huffed a little and said, "Don't you have a lot of work to do? I hear everyone in the walkie talkie going crazy. You should see if Tina needs help with anything, your boss sounds like she's about to go crazy if she doesn't get any help." 

"Tina Unnie is always overly stressed when it comes to events," Wendy tried to brush it off, wanting to spend more time with Chanyeol when she didn't get the chance. Chanyeol snickered and responded, "Yeah, I don't blame her. She's working hard to make the event smooth, so I'm sure she needs all the help she can get." Wendy started to look down, a bit flustered that those words slipped out of . She forgot that Chanyeol was best friends with Jong In, who was best friends with Tina, so it's no surprise that he would defend her. The moment Chanyeol saw her getting a little quiet, he took that to his advantage to excuse himself, and tried his best to get out from the side of the backstage. However, Wendy tried to block his way again so they could talk more, which caused Chanyeol to stop at the wrong track, bumping into her, and made the entire glass of water spill onto his tan pants. He closed his eyes as he felt the ice cold water absorbing through his skin and seeping into his skin inside, letting out a deep sigh.

Great... Just great.

"Oh my god, Chanyeol Oppa," Wendy exclaimed. "I am so, so, so, so sorry... I didn't mean to spill all the water on you. I'm so sorry, let me help." 

"It's fine, Wendy. I'm going to the bathroom anyways." 

"No, no, no," she pleaded, grabbing the nearest tissue paper she could find on the table next to them. "Here, I'll wipe it off for you." She tore the tissue paper that was rolled up all messily because she was still afraid of him leaving, or just being mad at her, then started wiping the water off his pants. He was rather confused because her wiping it off was not going to make his pants dry up and it made him stand more uncomfortable because it was right near his crotch. He could literally feel her hands brushing against it, which was strange for him because she should've been the one feeling weird, not him. 

"Wendy, it's seriously fine," he said sternly, trying to stop her from helping him. She shook her head and argued, "No Oppa, this is my fault. This is the least I can do to help." Not really. It really didn't help that she bent down so her face was about to be near his private area so he grabbed her wrist as she was still bent down. He just wanted her to stop because he didn't want anyone else seeing this, especially Tina. 

As he was right about to tell Wendy that she needed to stop helping, the doors opened widely, and Tina walked in like she was on a mission. His eyes went wide as well, knowing that he was absolutely ed that Tina had to walk in and see this scene. Tina stopped for a few moments, looking at Wendy being obnoxiously so close to Chanyeol, with him grabbing her wrist. And her face was way down below him, so Tina didn't even want to think about what they were trying to do backstage over here. 

"Tina," Chanyeol called for her, with the most shaky tone ever. Wendy then stood up quickly, turning around and seeing her boss. "Oh, Tina Unnie... When'd you get there?" As much as she didn't enjoy seeing whatever Chanyeol and Wendy were doing, she tried to brush it off, because she needed to talk to the production team who were handling the sound systems way in the back of the stage - that included Yoongi, Taehyung and a bunch of other guys in that field. Seriously, she didn't have time to be irritated over what Chanyeol was doing with once again, another girl. She always told herself to stop getting so worked up when Chanyeol was with another girl because he wasn't her boyfriend... Or even her friend, for all that matters. What right did she have to even be upset? All she could do was give them a look that made her seem like she was weirded out, when really she was covering how upset she was, then walked right by them without muttering a word out of . Chanyeol wasn't even able to grip onto her arms fast enough because she walked like lightening speed when she passed by them, making him feel upset and frustrated with himself once again, for causing a misunderstanding with her. Misunderstandings with the only freaking girl that he cared about. 

Wendy stood there a bit unfazed, wondering why Tina didn't say anything to them. But she just shrugged it off, and tried to proceed with helping Chanyeol. However, he was already so frustrated, that when she went at it again, he just pushed her hands out of the way and gave her a rather irritated expression, shaking his head, slamming the glass of water down on the table in front of them, then stormed out just to get away from her. 

 was the only word coming to his head right now. 

The moment Dara saw Chanyeol coming from somewhere, also coming to stand by near the food and refreshments table, she thought heavily for a few minutes about if it was a good idea to actually go up to him. Because honestly speaking, Chanyeol wasn't part of that Minji-Jong In mix and Dara was more than over all of the puppy love crush crap they had during middle school and high school, because her mind and heart had been drawn all on Mino right now, that she actually felt bad if she spent the night ignoring Chanyeol when he was right there. 

However, she tried to figure out a way where she could actually go up to him but not actually make herself eager to see him. Chanyeol already had a big head, if  she had casually just gone up to him after five years of not seeing eachother, she didn't want to make it seem like she still liked him. When he was the previous guy she had a crush on before moving onto Mino. And plus, she wanted to know what was going on with Jong In and why he seemed so ecstatic to see Minji more than usual. She just had to find out.

As he leaned against the table and played around with his phone, she just let out a sigh, and hoped Minji wouldn't hate her for doing this. Part of this was for her because she wanted to know what the hell was going on with Jong In and why he seemed like such a different person now. 

She started walking towards where Chanyeol was standing, leaning his lower back against the table so comfortably, that it looked like he was about to sit his onto the table. However, he just stared down at his phone so Dara was wondering how she was going to get his attention without actually calling his name. She knew she was making it complicated but it's been five years, she just didn't want to approach him first. Now that she was standing quite close to him, she took a deep breath in and then began walking, having the idea of going pass him so he could look up from his phone. The moment she reached to be right in front of him, she made herself stop, rolled only her eyes towards his direction to see if he had noticed, but the guy was still focused on his damn phone. 

Should she take a step back and start again? Or would that be too weird? Should she just give up with this weird approach and call his name then? No, no, no... Too easy. She decided to take a step foward, slid her eyes back to look at him again, and was begging in her mind for him to just see her because people were starting to look at her strange. 

Damn, how long was he gonna be on his phone for? 

As Chanyeol was looking down on his phone, he felt a womanly figure right in front of him and he was a bit afraif that it was going to be another girl that he knew of. It wasn't Wendy because she had on a white dress like Suhyun, and this girl had a pink one, so he was a bit timid if it was another girl he knew.

He took the courage to finally look up and nearly choked when he saw Dara standing right in front of him. So damn shocked that he nearly dropped his phone. "DARA?!" Doing her best to be casual, she turned to look at him and kept an extremely straight face. "Oh Channie, is that you?" 

When he knew it was Dara, he got super excited, and went closer to her, putting his phone into the pocket of his suit jacket. It still was the same old Dara that only reached up to his chest area. She barely even grew after five years. "Damn, Dara. Where'd you go for five years?" He asked out of concern. "Both you and Minji. What happened to you guys? Are you guys alright?" 

She gulped nervously, unsure of whether or not to answer for Minji. To switch up everything, she decided to say the first thing that came to her. "I don't like you anymore." 

"Huh?" He asked back, mouth wide open, completely taken aback by that sudden greeting that first came out of . Well, that wasn't necesarily the first thing he expected her to say. Dara coughed and repeated clearly, "I don't like you anymore." 

"Well, it's good to see you too, Dara. It didn't feel like you were gone for five years," Chanyeol replied back sarcastically. "Like, we haven't been worried sick about how you guys were and what you've been doing and how you guys were living." 

Dara looked at him with a straight face for a few moments, but then replied with a scoff. "I honestly thought you wouldn't have cared. I didn't expect me being gone for five years would even matter to you." 

Chanyeol sighed and started to become quite serious. "I've always considered you a friend, Dara. I don't know about you, but you've always been my friend since day one. You and Minji both disappearing out of nowhere worried the out of me. You probably didn't know how much Jong In and I were worried about you guys, and how much work we've been through just to find you guys."

"Jong In?" Dara questioned confusingly, raising an eyebrow. "What does Jong In Oppa have to do with all of this? Why would he even put in the effort of trying to find Minji when he was the one who made her..." Dara stopped herself before she went on, trying not to let her anger spill out everything. Chanyeol watched her as she stopped talking, scratching the back of his neck and letting out a deep sigh. Dara coughed and tried to correct what she was about to say. "Why would he even care?" 

"A lot of things went down the moment you guys were gone," Chanyeol explained, shaking his head. "It's not something that can be told for only a few minutes.  But Jong In has been waiting to see Minji again just so he can explain everything and possibly make it up to her." In response, Dara chuckled bitterly and replied, "It might be too bad for him because Minji isn't even gonna spare a minute after what he did to her. I hope your friend knows that he doesn't deserve any sympathy from my best friend in any way. Nothing can be made up." 

Chanyeol sighed and nodded his head. "I know. I know that. I'm not saying I'm trying to help him. I'm just stating a fact. In this entire situation, I am just standing here and waiting to see how everything happens." 

"Those two have no way of going back to normal," Dara stated, looking at Chanyeol intensely, thinking about the anger she still had towards Jong In. "If he thinks he can make it up for her and getting that sweet bone back in her body, he should know that it's not gonna work this lifetime. There's no way." 

"I get that," Chanyeol sighed once again, feeling stressed for his best friend. He turned to look at Dara and asked, "What about you and I though?" Dara raised an eyebrow at him quickly as he used his hand gestures of indicating herself and himself. She moved her head back and asked back, "What about you and I?" 

"Is there any possible way that we can go back to be friends again?" He asked genuinely, taking that chance he got. "Despite everything that happened during high school and you not wanting to look at my face after that... Can we be friends again? You and Minji disappearing for that long made me realize a lot. Like how I should've been a better friend to you guys. If I was a better friend, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened, you know?" 

Dara's heart began racing a little quickly, realizing how serious Chanyeol was being. It got silent for a few moments, because Dara was just thinking so much. 

“Dara,” Chanyeol called, making her turn around to look at him. Her body faced him but she didn’t really look at him, and the height difference was quite extreme so she was staring at his white buttoned down shirt that was inside of his beige blazer jacket. “Why can’t we just be friends, huh? I don’t wanna go through life with someone looking at me like they hate me because of what I did. Our incident happened when we were in high school. How old are we now?”

“Well if you put it that way, you just make it sound like I’m some bitter old woman.”

“You know what I mean though. Can I just say sorry and then we can just go back to being friends again?” Chanyeol asked seriously, pleading for her to be civil with him again. “I’m not the same playboy who goes around asking for girls numbers and taking them out on dates the same day anymore, alright? I’ve stopped that part of my life already. I just don’t want you to hate me anymore.”

Staying silent for a few moments, Dara sighed loudly and crossed her arms. She moved her head up slowly to make steady eye contact with him. With a straight face, she said, “I don’t hate you, Channie. I never hated you.”

“Can we just be friends again?” He pleaded, looking down at her small self. “Life is short, Dara. If we spend it holding grudges, then we’re gonna spend the rest of our lives holding up to something that pulled us down in our life.”

Her eyebrows furied up at his extremely deep comment about life as she moved her head back a bit. “Damn Channie, that was too deep for my liking.”

“I am a psychiatrist,” he stated, nodding his head. “You know how deep that job is? My life consists of making people feel better.”

“I think I got that after your life analogy.”

“Come on, Dara,” he said cutely, nudging her with his elbows getting her to scrunch up her face, feeling annoyed. “Just friends. I obviously don’t like you anymore and you are way pass over me. If we’re over that stage, can we just move along and be friends again? You don’t have to be annoyed by my face when you see me and I don’t have to be scared of talking to you everytime I see you. Does that sound good?”

“Ugh, fine," she groaned, agreeing to be civil again She really did agree though, because it seemed Chanyeol was way over her and she was definitely way pass

over Chanyeol, well because of obvious reasons in her life. Just then, Chanyeol saw Wendy from afar, looking for something from what it seemed, so he got

scared of her coming up to him once again. He looked at her and asked, "We good then?"

"Yeah bro, we good."

“Friends?” He made sure, giving her a little smirk. She glared at him and sighed annoyingly, “Yes bro, we are friends.”

"Good, as a friend, you need to help me now,” he demanded, seeing Wendy get closer to him as they actually made eye contact. Now, she was really coming his way, and he needed help to get her away.

"The , Channie?" Dara aggressed, sneering at him confusingly. "That escalated quickly, what the hell do you need me to help you with? If it's about Jong In and Minji, then no. I agreed to be your friend, I didn't agree to anything that deals with Jong In."

"Yeah, as my friend, I'm asking you to help me out."

"Do what?"

"There's this girl that’s getting on my nerves and I’m trying to get her off my back," Chanyeol explained, Dara giving him the strangest look ever. "Trust me. You don't want to see when Park Chanyeol gets mad... Because I never get mad. Tell me one time you saw me get mad since you've known me." Dara rolled her eyes up to think for a few moments, but it wasn't coming to her. It was taking too long for Dara to answer, so Chanyeol snapped her out of her train of thoughts and hissed, "Okay, that answer is already given if you have to think for that long. Can you help me get this girl away from me now?"

“Ah, you still getting girls after all these years? Damn, that charm of yours never disappeared, huh? It’s probably cause you’re tall. Girls be loving that.”

“Anyways,” he raised his voice, changing the topic to more important matters. “Long story short, I am not into her, but I don’t think she gets it. I feel like the only way to get her off my back is if she thinks I came here with someone, so you’re gonna have to pretend to be my date, friend.”

“Yah, yah, yah, date?” Dara aggressed, not enjoying this idea, and not liking how he emphasized friend so much. “You know this event is filled with a lot of handsome men? I could be meeting my future husband here and you want to me and be your pretend date? What do I get out of it? On top of us pretending to be a couple, other people will think I’m not single.”

“You get a good friend award,” Chanyeol joked, giving her a pleading smile, seeing Wendy come even closer and closer to them. “Please.”

“An award is not enough.”

“I’ll buy you shoes,” he offered, continuously looking at Wendy’s step because he seriously didn’t want to deal with that anymore. Dara’s eyes lit up pretty wide, actually liking that offer. It was much better than the good friend award, what was she gonna do with that? She raised an eyebrow and made sure, “Okay, now we’re talking. You’re gonna get me shoes for real?”

“Yeah woman.”

“Sneakers?”

“Yeah, I got you, are you agreeing?”

“We can work something out then.”

“Good. Now girlfriend, come come,” he gestured her to come near him, because Wendy was literally just five steps away. Dara slid over next to him and stood there awkwardly, not even knowing what this girl looked like. When she was standing there stiffly, Chanyeol hissed at her and said, “Yah, act like we came together or something.”

“The , Channie? How the hell does one act like that?”

“You’re killing me,” he groaned, forcing her hands to be wrapped around his arms. Her eyes widened in disgust with all of this skin touching… This was going to be so bad, she hated touching in general, how was she supposed to act like a clingy date? She hissed at him and said, “Channie… This is going to fail. Why would I be grabbing your arm? We are not taking a prom picture.”

“Girl, when you find a boyfriend that looks like me, you’ll want to cling onto his arm.”

“Ew boy bye. I ain’t finding anyone who looks like you, I’m running for the hills if they have your face," she complained, standing there and cursing at herself for wanting to be a genuine human being now. It wasn't helping that Chanyeol was being cocky with her, but she wanted to laugh at the fact that he was still his silly self, and that he didn't change the happy side to him. Maybe having a friend like him wasn't so bad as she thought.

"Chanyeol Oppa," Wendy finally came up to them, Chanyeol gave her a very cheeky smile, trying to put on his act in front of him. Nearly chuckling, he replied, "Hey Wendy." Secretly, Dara sulked for just a bit from hearing how cutesy she sounded when she was trying to call Chanyeol Oppa, but for the sake of being his friend again, she obviously was going to help him because Chanyeol was trying to get away from a cute girl, which is something that he would never do. Also, she didn't like the small look of disgust Wendy gave her, because she glanced at her arms that were linked around Chanyeol, then back at her face. She just wasn't liking the vibe this strange girl was giving her. This made her want to egg this girl on, so she was not letting go of Chanyeol at this point seeing that nasty glare she was getting from this girl named Wendy.

Before anything else was said, Chanyeol chuckled nervously and pointed to Dara. "Wendy, this is Dara. My... Um... My..." Since he was struggling to figure out the words, Dara spoke up with a bright smile and said, "I'm Dara... His date." Very quickly, Chanyeol turned to look at her as she said that so confidently so she bit her teeth down and said to him quietly, "I'm helping you out, man."

"What she said," Chanyeol agreed, telling Wendy that. Without even acknowledging what Dara said, Wendy had opened and responded, "Chanyeol Oppa... I didn't know you brought someone with you here."

Oh wow... Dara thought to herself. She literally just introduced herself to this girl, and she wants to be concerned that Chanyeol actually came with someone. God damn, who was she? Why was she trying so hard? Since Chanyeol seemed quite slow and lost for words, and Dara already being annoyed by how ignorant she was, Dara just coughed and said stiffly, "Babe... I'm hungry." At the speed of lightening, Chanyeol completely whipped his head at Dara with his large eyes even more widened, completely not aware that she was going to pull the babe card on him. Well, for someone who wasn't going to help him, she was doing a fantastic job.

"Babe?" Chanyeol asked softly, wanting to know what she was trying to do. Trying not to be too obvious, she whispered back, nearly hissing at him and said, "I'm helping you act. To make the acting successful, you must make the audience believe in the acting. So god damn, do your job if you want her to believe this ." Processing that quickly through his head, he looked back at Wendy, giving his awkward chuckle again, then said, "I'm gonna head over to get some food for her. See you, Wendy."

"Babe, are you done yet?" Dara whined jokingly, trying her best not to laugh, so she rubbed her stomach. "I'm so hungry."

"Let's just go," he replied back bluntly, giving her a small shove. They both walked past Wendy, as she gave Dara a weird look, and Chanyeol tried to act dumb and just flashed her a small grin, which probably left her confused. He just did the best he could to ignore her. Dara still had his hands clinging onto him when they walked right past her, trying to make sure she wasn't in the area anymore so their acting could continue on. When they were near another refreshment table, Dara annoyingly asked, "This is getting too much for me now. Can I let go?"

"Not yet. Let me check if she's still watching. You know crazy girls got eyes on the back of their heads like they're owls, or some . Spare me two more minutes of being my fake girlfriend. You won't die," Chanyeol refused, making her roll her eyes. As Chanyeol was turning around to check, his attention turned to Tina, who was coming out of the door when he had passed by her earlier, completely afraid of seeing him in this position with Dara - it would create more misunderstandings with the person he wanted to have it with the least. Without even thinking twice, he abruptly pushed Dara out of his way and she stumbled backwards, confused as ever to why he just pushed her with no warning. "Yah, Channie. You said two minutes, that was like two seconds."

"Girlfriend, go go."

Her eyes widened in complete shock and frustration, wondering why he was being so confusing and annoyed by how he switched up on her out of nowhere. Chanyeol fidgeted around, making sure Tina finally saw him in a state where he wasn't close to a girl. Dara put her hands on her hips and asked, "Homie... I thought you said two more minutes."

"Girl, that has changed now. You may leave. I thought you said you were hungry. Go satisfy your hunger, my friend."

", what do you want from me? You mad confusing."

Chanyeol just shooed her away and said, "Listen girl, I will search for you on Facebook or something, and we will catch up from there. But for now, we really have to separate."

Before she left, she stuck the middle finger up at him, as he just laughed at her vulgar gesture, but she just walked away, confused and amused at the same time. Whatever though, she gained a friend back, so it didn't really matter what he did since there were no feelings of like for him anymore. And it was really obvious that he had no other intentions with her besides being her friend. Just because Minji and Jong In were having problems, didn't mean that Chanyeol was ever a part of this. Sure, he was a flirt with all the girls, but she knew Chanyeol always had good intentions with Minji.

Although Chanyeol pushed Dara away, expecting Tina to come his way, she went the other way towards the stage area, passing by a couple of businessmen who were rather older and wearing really nice tuxedos, so she stopped to talk to them. He was just at relief that he was finally free from standing next to any girl, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea, once again. He was tired of that. Right when Chanyeol was about to take a big deep breath of relief, the walkie talkie suddenly and on the other end was a female's voice. "Suhyun. You there?"

"Wendy, I'm near the loading zone area. What's up?" Suhyun answered back, making Chanyeol know that it was Wendy who was talking. Wendy spoke back up and replied, "Did you know that Chanyeol Oppa came here with someone? I thought you said he came here by himself." His eyes went into shock mode again when his name was mentioned into the walkie talkie, the conversation that was filled with twenty people, and in that group had Tina. What the was this, why was Wendy doing this to him?

"Huh? Chanyeol Oppa came here with someone? He said he came here alone. He brought a date with him? Where?"

Chanyeol couldn't answer fast enough, because Wendy went in again. "He just introduced me to his date. She's a wearing a long pink dress, she was holding onto his arms."

"Chanyeol Oppa, is that true?" Suhyun asked him this time, literally sounding like she was pouting. Chanyeol still wasn't able to answer because another voice came in, and it belonged to Yoongi. "Guys, I don't mean to pry but what the does this have to do with work? What does Chanyeol and his date have to deal with this party in any way?"

"Yah! What the hell, guys?! No side conversations! Get back to work!"

God damn it, he knew that was Tina's voice. this, why was Wendy ruining this for him? Why was she doing this to him? Why did it have to be with the person he avoided having these misunderstandings with?

"Dara," Minji called out as soon as she saw her best friend standing at a medium distance away from the ballroom's entrance door, immediately walking towards her. Dara turned around so fast when she heard her voice and saw that Minji looked like she had got beaten up, since the braid that was wrapped around her head as a waterfall braid had fallen out already. They held onto eachother's wrist as Dara said, "You okay, girl? What happened?" 

"He talked to me," Minji answered, her very dry lips and blinking her dried out eyes. Dara could already tell that she had cried, making her sigh. Biting the insides of her lips, she asked back, "And what did he say to you?" Minji tried to think back about everything that happened a few moments ago with Jong In, feeling like it was all just a blur; at some ponts, it just felt too unreal to her. There had been one thing that stuck out in her head that came out of his mouth, and his voice haunted her brain at this very moment. She looked at Dara and softly said in disbelief, "He said sorry to me." Suddenly, the lights dimmed down, the music faded out, and a spotlight was pointed to the middle of the stage, so everyone turned their attention to the lit area.

The MC of the event came out to talk for the ten minutes of the introduction, thanking everyone for attending the event, and also having everyone giving a big round of applause for everyone who put this event together and also the production team for setting up the fantastc stage and the wonderful slideshow introduction that was presented to everyone. Right after that happened, she began to introduce two very important people who had helped make this hotel happen in Incheon, which made Minji feel uneasy at that point.

"Please welcome the CEO and also the President, along with the General Manager of Oakwood Seoul Hotel... Jung Sang Min and Kim Jong In. A big round of applause who made this hotel actually happen," the MC announced, everyone clapping, then after a few seconds, Jong In and President Jung had come on the stage together, standing right behind the microphone, as President Jung urged Jong In to go ahead and speak first. 

Minji felt like she had stopped breathing properly when Jong In began to talk on stage. That deep voice of his and seeing that face of his, it just felt like she was being ripped apart. Jong In coughed into the microphone and began, "Good evening everyone. I am Kim Jong In, the general manager of Oakwood Seoul Hotel and I am very pleased to see all of our special guests here tonight. It is an honor, as a general manager, to be cooperating with everyone here who have only made our hotel corporation more successful by the years, and I really hope that it will be a long and successful future ahead of us." As Jong In had been talking, there were a few applauds and claps that had been made. It was just everytime he talked, or everytime he smiled, a little piece of Minji just died painfully. She grinded her teeth against eachother, just trying to hide how horrible she felt right now. When Dara saw how she looked, she gave her a nudge. "You gonna be okay?" 

"Why did he have to be here?" Minji asked in response to her question, making her go quiet. Maybe it was best to keep silent right now, especially how she was feeling with seeing the man who made her life hell. 

Minji looked at Jong In give his speech for about ten minutes until President Jung came in front with the microphone to begin his part of their introduction. So, Krystal Jung was President Jung's one and only daughter... This was the hotel Ha Yi was always talking about when she bitterly mentioned Krystal, but failed to say the name of the hotel. Mostly because Ha Yi never cared for Krystal, but if Minji had known it belonged to Krystal's father, she wouldn't have even stepped foot in the bulding. 

But she had no idea what to do... Marriot Hotel didn't respond to her interview and Oakwood was the only highly serviced hotel that accepted her to work. What the hell was she going to do? It's not wonder why he was the general manager, it was his beloeved girlfriend's father's business. When President Jung had been giving his speech, Minji noticed Jong In standing next to him and looking out into the crowd. Mini really didn't want to think ahead of herself and assume that he was searching for her in the crowd, because it just made her entire body tremble. Why did the thought of him looking for her made her heart skip a beat? She shouldn't be feeling this way at all, and she wanted to smack herself for feeling this way.

Minji felt like she was holding her breath in watching Jong In be on stage for what felt like forever... when it was only twenty five to thirty minutes total. This included other VIP guests and more people who went up stage, with Jong In standing there on the side. She was pretty surprised that he didn't mention Krystal's name into the speech he gave. He thanked a bunch of people to getting where he was today, and her father was one of them. It was just a surprise to her. He even gave a special thank you to one of his best friends Tina... who was basically her boss right now, and the person who made this entire launch party even happen, and the person who made it turn out really well. It was a pretty heartwarming speech how he dedicated the entire night to Tina and thanked her for sticking through everything, which got a lot of awws from the people in the crowd. It was to the extent that Minji was able to notice Krystal glaring at Tina, but Tina just smiled, like the positive person she was. However, it just made her nervous because she remembered Tina saying that was best friends with the general manager, and he would always come to bother her at the department when he had free time. Damn it, why was everything connected back to him? 

When the two men were coming off the stage, the MC had announced that the next person who would come up on stage would be the general managers of Oakwood Incheon Hotel, which would be in a while. For now, she had invited Jong In and President Jung to go down and take photos right in front of the stage. After taking a few pictures with just the two of them, Krystal was somehow placed in the photo as well, so she went to stand next to Jong In, also grabbing onto his arms as she smiled for the camera. Minji bit down the insides of her lip, those painful memories just flashing through her head within a second, when all she wanted to do was forget about everything. 

It didn't help that they officially opened the dance floor, so Krystal and Jong In were literally pushed to slow dance with eachother, while people were still taking pictures of them. 

"I can't anymore," Minji finally broke out, shaking her head. Dara turned to look at Minji when the words slipped out of , but she was still staring at the painful ima