"I don't know...These past few days have been so hectic. They went by so quickly yet so much has happened," Ji Soo said. "Let's just have a nice conversation."

     "Is that what you wanna do? We should go to our break room then so we won't disturb Jung Shin," Min Hyuk suggested. 

     Ji Soo helped him up and handed him his crutches, and they made their way around all of the equipment scattered around the room; Ji Soo in her socks and Min Hyuk with his crutches. I should really be careful since I'm only wearing socks, she thought. Knowing myslef, I'm probably gonna fall.

     They were a meter from the door when unexpectedly,Yong Hwa burst into into the room, which made Ji Soo jump in surprise and stumble on some wires on the ground. 

     "Hey, Jung Shin--" Yong Hwa began.

     He didn't finish his sentence because Ji Soo tripped on the wires on the ground and ended up falling into the arms of the person right in front of her. Yong Hwa caught her, but he couldn't believe what was happening. How can one person be so clumsy? he thought with a smirk. Do I have to save her on a daily basis?

     She hastily stood up from Yong Hwa's involuntary embrace and peered up at his face to see if he was angry, but to everybody's astonishment, he didn't even seem annoyed. 

     "Oppa, I'm so sorry," Ji Soo apologized. "I should've looked where I was walking. I'm so cumbersome." 

     "I don't know what that means, but I accept your apology," he said.

     Yong Hwa noticed everyone's curious expressions. "Is there something wrong?"

     "Hyung, what's the matter?" Min Hyuk inquired. "You seem...different."

     "Hm? Why would you think there's something wrong?" Yong Hwa asked. "I'm in a good mood today."

     "That's rare," Jung Shin acknowledged. "What happened?"

     "I just...feel good," he replied. "Throw me my phone."

     Jung Shin grabbed Yong Hwa's phone and threw the it for him to catch, but Ji Soo intercepted it by snatching it from the air before Yong Hwa could even get his hands on it.

     "It didn't look like you were going to catch it," Ji Soo explained before he could even ask. "You look like Goku charging his energy ball thing."

     Yong Hwa quickly crossed his arms and averted his eyes from Ji Soo's gaze in embarrassment. Psh! Why should I care if she caught my phone for me? It's the very least she could do after all I've done for her.

     He uncrossed his arms and held his hand out to Ji Soo. She placed Yong Hwa's phone on his hand and turned to Min Hyuk.

     "Oppa, kaja."

     'Oppa?' Yong Hwa thought. He probably told her to call him that. 

     They exited the practice room and walked towards the break room a few meters away while Yong Hwa went to prepare his solo album on a different floor. They went into the break room and sat down at a table. 

     "Oppa, do you want anything to drink?" Ji Soo asked.

     "It's fine," Min Hyuk replied. "So what do you wanna talk about?"

     "I don't know...What's your favorite color?" 

     "My favorite color?" Min Hyuk repeated. "I like turquois, I guess. What about you?"

     "I like white and red," she said.

     They sat in awkward silence, both of them not knowing what to say to the other. 

     "You should ask me a question, Oppa," Ji Soo proposed.

     What should I ask her? he thought. Hmm...It's funny when her face is surprised.

     "Why did you help me out the other day?"

     Ji Soo was taken aback by his question. 

     "What?"

     Min Hyuk laughed silently as Ji Soo's facial expression turned from a gentle smile into a wide eyed demeanor with just one simple question. She's so cute, he thought.

     "When Hyung was driving us to the dorm, why did you help me?"

     "Well, if I didn't help you, then who would?" she repsonded. "Your ankle was sprained, so it's not like I could have just leave you alone like Yong Hwa Oppa did."

     Min Hyuk smiled. "Ji Soo, I'm a grown man. I think I could have managed--"

     "On your own?" Ji Soo finished the sentence for him. "That would have just unnecessarily prolonged your ankle's healing process, and how could I have just stood there as you endured the pain all by yourself?"

     Min Hyuk looked into Ji Soo's eyes and saw that she wasn't just referring to his ankle.

     "Enduring pain yourself?" Min Hyuk restated. "It's just a minor sprain, but you make it sound like a stab in the back. Wae? Did something happen to you?"

     "Of course not," she lied. "Why would you think that?"

     "Ji Soo, you can tell me," Min Hyuk said. "If we're going to be fake dating, I at least want to be your close friend. You can tell me whatever you'd like, and I'll be on your side. We're strangers, but I'll at least be able to call you my friend after today."

     What will he think of his boss if I tell him? she thought. I've never told anyone, but he'll understand, right?  

     "Okay, but you can't think badly of my parents. Also, you need to listen until the end. No interrupting, araso?" 

     "Araso," Min Hyuk agreed. "Tell it in full detail. I bet you've never told anyone before."

     What in the world...How does he know? It's like he can read minds, she thought. 

     "Okay...This was before I met Yong Hwa, and it was before FNC Entertainment was even established. Appa was having financial issues with his business, so he didn't come home until about one in the morning everyday. Then, he would go back to work four hours later, so I didn't see much of him during the majority of my childhood. Since Appa was struggling with his failing business, Umma had to work extra hard in order to keep our tiny apartment and put food on the table," Ji Soo told.

      "She worked full time at a nail salon, but she still brought food every night. With my parents so busy with work, I was often alone at home everyday, wishing they were with me. One morning, my stomach started aching really badly, but I had no one to tell--my parents were gone, so I tried to ignore it, thinking that it would go away eventually."

     Min Hyuk listened Ji Soo tell her story with much interest and watched as the words flew out of , almost as if she was dying to tell somebody this story for years. This is good for her. She must have felt like exploding since she kept all of this in, he thought. Min Hyuk smiled and continued to listen to Ji Soo's story. 

     "I withstood the agonizing pain throughout the entire day, but I still had nobody to tell since I didn't have any friends, or even an acquaintance, so I clenched my teeth and waited for Umma to come back from work. Finally, when she got back, I told her about my stomach aching all day long, but she brushed me away by telling me to put ice on it. I tried begging her to take me to a hospital because it hurt so much that I could barely bear the torment, but she fell asleep on the couch, and it felt wrong to bother her after her stressful day at work."

     "I tried sleeping that night, but it was excrutiatingly difficult because I developed a fever and felt extremely nauseous. I don't even remember if I ever slept that night, but anyways, the next morning, I tried telling Umma again that my stomach hurt way too much to be ignored. She told me to eat something in order to feel better, but I didn't even have an appetite since my head and stomach ached like mad and my fever was at 38.5ºC." 

     "I decided not to trouble Umma about it anymore since she's normally overworked every single day, but I don't even know how little ten year old me endured it for another couple of days. Eventually, I collapsed in school during a lesson, and I woke up in a hospital the next day."

     "The nurse told me that I had peritonitis and that the doctor already performed the surgery. She told me that I was going to be alright, but that's the exact opposite of what I felt. My mom and dad weren't even there to support me during my first surgery. They were...gone."

     "I sat in the hospital bed alone, wishing I had someone to laugh with and joke around with, but there was no such thing. A few days later, once I've recovered from the surgery by myself in the hospital room, Umma came to pick me up, and everything pretty much just went back to normal. Neither of my parents took breaks from work to accompany me, so I felt abandoned and bitter at the time. I held a grudge against my parents all through my teenage years, even after Appa's company succeeded, but now I know it wasn't just me who suffered, but it was the both of them as well."

     Ji Soo finished telling her story and gave a large sigh of relief. It was like a burden was lifted from her shoulders because she's been keeping it in ever since it happened. 

     "Wow...You must have suffered a lot by yourself. But Ji Soo, why didn't you tell anyone?" Min Hyuk asked. 

     "Because people might think Appa is a work obsessed freak who doesn't care about his family, so articles, rumors, and scandal will form and Appa might even lose his job, so I'd rather just keep it bottled in. Plus, I didn't have any friends until I met Yong Hwa Oppa. I know it's dumb to not tell anybody, but I'm glad now that I told you."

     Ji Soo gave Min Hyuk a smile, and he ree. 

     "You're not dumb. Are you okay?" he asked.

     "I feel guilty about holding a grudge against my parents, but other than that, I'm fine."

     "That's good. The past is in the past. Don't feel too sorry," Min Hyuk said. "Which reminds me...Jong Hyun told me about Jun Hee's story. It's like everybody here has a sob story from their past."

     "A sob story? Is that what it's called?" Ji Soo asked. "Then you have one too, Oppa?"

     Min Hyuk chuckled and shook his head.

     "Of course I do," he admitted, "but I'm not gonna tell you just yet."  

     "Oppa!" Ji Soo complained. "I shared mine, so tell me yours. Please."

     "I'll tell you, but only if you grant me one wish that I can cash in at any time."

     "Okay. Tell me your story now!" Ji Soo said, eagerly.

     "Now? Who said I was going to tell it now?" Min Hyuk said. "I'll give you a teaser. It happened five years ago."

     "Oppa! Just--"

     Ji Soo didn't get to finish her sentence because a deafening alarm blared, which meant one thing: fire.