"W-What?" He managed to choke out when Grace dropped the news on him. Myungsoo had the urge to not roll his eyes on how slow or typically dimwitted Hoya was behaving. He turned his attention to Eunhye who was busy trying to get the little cherry from her glass to even bother (or at least she was acting like she didn't care at this point). 

Grace, on the other hand realized that it was spiraling down and signaled Hoya to take it outside. "Excuse us." She told Myungsoo and rose from her seat without waiting for his response. Hoya followed suite, begrudgingly as he tried to comprehend what Grace just told her. Once they were outside, they stood a good distance away from the cafe and away from Myungsoo's view. 

The late 20s woman folded her arms across her chest and looked at Hoya. "You are Eunhye's father, Hoya." She said, not liking to repeat herself. Even for her to admit that this man fathered a child with her close friend, someone she once knew so well. The words that rolled off her tongue left a bitter after taste and it was written all over her face. 

"You're not pulling my leg?" He asked, his fingers raking his scalp and grabbing a lock of his hair and tugged it. 

"Why would I joke about something like this?" She half yelled at him. Really, why would she even pull something like this as a joke?

"I don't quite understand. Haerin and I... We never had ." Hoya reasoned with Grace or trying to reason with himself, she wasn't sure which.

"But Haerin told me otherwise." Grace countered and Hoya rubbed the nape of his neck, breaking out into cold sweat. 

"It is Haerin we are talking about, Gracie. She was never the sanest person to begin with." Hoya said, his eyes narrowed at her. The brunette was taken aback by his answer. She would've countered him but she was too stunned to even reply. She felt anger bubbling inside of her as she clenched and unclenched her fist trying to keep her cool. 

"Is that why you cancelled the engagement?" He asked, dawned upon the realization. "You thought I would cheat on you with her?" 

Grace was too stunned to even speak and all she did was nodded in response. 

His face crumpled with hurt and he slowly reached out for her hands. When she didn't back away, he slowly took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. His eyes were slightly blood shot, tears filled his eyes to the brim. His thumb brushed the back of her baby soft hands and stared intently into her warm brown eyes. 

It felt unreal to stand there with him. She wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not but it felt like she was trapped in a daze when she looked at him. 

"Why didn't you talk to me? We could've figured it out. You are a lawyer, Gracie. You should listen to both sides of the story."  

There was something in the way he spoke that she couldn't quite place it. Why would he suddenly call Haerin a liar after all those years? Why now, when she drops the bomb shell that when Eunhye is his daughter, he is denying that he cheated on her? 

She realized he was spilling sweet nothings in front of her and tears fell involuntarily down his cheeks and forming droplets on the back of her hands. The woman in a fitting white blouse and in black denim pants stood there trying to reason out all those years for him. 

"Haerin was always jealous of our relationship." 

"Is Hoya a good fiancé?" 

She tried to find excuses for him but it all came down to one question: why? 

"I am just asking whether he is a good fiancé." 

Yet, there was the other compelling question as to why she only listened to Haerin's story and didn't want to find out Hoya's version of events. Even when she spoke to Minah the first time after Haerin told her about the affair, there was some sort of relief in her tone when Grace told her that they broke up. Was it really because they were jealous of their relationship?

Were they conspiring to deliberately end her happiness? 

There was a nagging feeling as Grace looked back. She knew, from all those years of being friends with Haerin, that she knew that she wouldn't pull such a stunt. She knew what she was capbale of but this, conspiring to end her happiness (because Haerin was her cheerleader in all things Hoya and Grace) was something she was definitely not capable of. 

She knew her and Hoya, doesn't. 

"I love you so much, Gracie. I don't know what I would do without you." Hoya lifted her right hand to his lips, his eyes never pulling away from her gaze, as he planted a chaste kiss on the back of her hand.

The words took her by surprise and so did the gesture. She immediately pulled her hands away and her fingers on her left hand brushed where he lightly kissed her hand. There was something unsettling in the way he said those words. Sure, she felt elated and flattered that he still felt the same way after all those years but those words were lacking. 

"Gracie, Eunhye isn't my daughter. Haerin, from the start hated my guts and this is her way of getting back at me." He told her, his voice was in the verge of desperation. 

That was it right there. 

It lacked desperation. 

It lacked passion. 

It lacked... truth. 

It was like he was trying to convince himself that he still loved her, chanting it over and over like a prayer that it sounded almost too rehearsed.

"So, you're saying that she is lying? My best friend has made it all up for fun? Is that what you're telling me?" Her voice was rising at each word. 

Hoya was perplexed but he quickly recovered, his eyes narrowed at her. "Are you saying that I did it then? That I fathered a child with a woman I never loved?" 

"Women or Haerin for that instance, do not just conjure up a story about something as crucial as this." 

"I told you, Grace Fang." The only time he ever called her Grace Fang was when he was mad at her and she could tell that his temper was rising. Yet, she was too angry herself to even care. "She was jealous of our relationship. So yeah, why wouldn't she make up something like that? As it turns out, it worked - you're doubting my love for you." 

"How am I supposed to react when she told me that you both had an affair behind my back!" She said, her eyes narrowed at him and for a brief moment, she could see the flash of hurt in his eyes but it was quickly replaced by his cocky side. He sneered at her. "How sure are you that she's my daughter? Have you done any blood work?" 

Grace brought her gaze down to the ground and she knew that Hoya couldn't stand silence. He was loud, noisy, an extrovert and he just couldn't sit still. He wasn't the most patient man while Grace was good in waiting and in keeping silent if she wanted to. She could hear the gears in his mind turn like clockwork as she waited for him to respond. 

He once again raked his now slightly tousled hair with his fingers and sighed. "Okay, she may have come on to me." 

"What?" 

"You were in Daegu and we both had a few glasses to drink at one of the guy's house. I can't remember who. A banter that went a little too far." Grace felt went dry and he panicked. "Gracie, I stopped immediately when I realized where this was going." 

"It still doesn't explain Eunhye. She is your child. The dark hair, the dark eyes, the nose. She looks like you." Grace hissed when she realized that patrons at the mall were staring at them from the ruckus. 

Hoya raises his hand and Grace double back as if he was about to strike her but realized when he opened his mouth, he was about to say something. "You're supposed to trust me, Gracie love." He sighed again and reached into his pocket and took out a few dollar bills and trusted it in her hand. "Look, never mind. If you don't want to believe me, then fine. Just, let me tell you this... I didn't want to tell you this earlier because she was your best friend and like a twin sister to you. Haerin never liked me and she was always out to sabotage me, to sabotage us. I will never hurt you, Gracie. I love you too much to ever do that to you." 

Hoya reached down and planted a kiss on her forehead and she closed her eyes to savour this kiss. It was soft, chaste and for the briefest moment, she wanted to loop her arms around his torso but the other half of her - the logical part, decided against it. It was something in her heart that was saying that something was not right. The atmosphere surrounding them was too awkward. He pulled away and took a few steps backwards, his eyes locking on hers before spinning around on his heel and disappeared from her view. 

She stood there before she walked back into the cafe, her legs wobbling and shaking slightly as she made her way to the table. As she was walking towards the table, she saw Myungsoo feeding a piece of chocolate cake. He made a silly face which made Eunhye laugh and giggle, her pudgy hands covering her smiling lips. 

Grace heart fluttered at how happy the two of them are. She could feel the thumping of her heart growing louder as her eyes lingered longer on Myungsoo, realizing how good he was with Eunhye and with kids in general. Myungsoo was not obligated to follow her to meet Hoya and he was not obligated to be her friend but he was there all the same in a heartbeat for her and for Eunhye. 

Why didn't I feel this way when I was with Hoya? 

As she pull her seat and gave a soft smile at Myungsoo whose had worry written all over his face, she knew why. 

Hoya was no longer the boy who gave you the stars and the moon. He's the man who has betrayed you, defamed Haerin and denounced Eunhye as his child and you didn't even have to ask why. 

---

Minah hated Seoul. 

She hated how noisy and how everything was so crowded and jam packed like a sardine can. She hated how the motorists were out to kill her even though she has looked right left and right again before crossing the busy intersections. She had no idea how Grace could live here for the last 5 years but she certainly couldn't. 

The only time she ever had to come to Seoul was either work related, boyfriend related or Grace related. Sometimes, even all three. Grace hardly comes up to Busan with the fear of seeing Hoya again. 

It made her blood boil at the thought of Hoya and how it has ruined both women physically and emotionally, even to death. She couldn’t stand by and watch the man who had done this to both of her friends.

So, when Minah, a Masters' student in Criminology calls her the following Saturday, Grace thought that someone died. The person who always starts her sentence with a high pitch 'Hi babykins' or 'Babe' or 'Gracie darling', went to a low yet short greeting: 

"Hello Gracie. Are you free tomorrow?" 

"What's wrong?" It took Grace by surprise on how serious her tone was. This was Lee Minah the least serious one in their little group. 

"Oh, just wanted to catch up with you that's all and since I am in town...." Her voice trailed off when Grace started laughing.

"Woman, you scared me there a moment. I thought something bad happened." 

It was the Sunday of Minah's arrival and Grace and Eunhye were having lunch in front of the television. They were watching Enchanted, Eunhye's favourite movie of all time after Tangled. Eunhye would always sing "Happy Working" song when she was doing the chores. Of course, she couldn't pronounce some of the words properly so she would either mumble that particular part or create her own word to substitute the lyrics she couldn't pronounce. 

After the Hoya incident, to Grace's amazement, she didn't ask her anything about her father's whereabouts and Grace didn't want to bring it up either. Myungsoo on the other hand, was a different story. He was angrier than Eunhye and Grace combined and looked as if he could commit murder at the sight of him. She told him to calm down and there was no point in harbouring any hatred for him. 

Also, neither of them didn't know how to bring the subject of their so called date. It was strange that it was not their ideas but a little girl. Grace wasn't sure about Myungsoo but she couldn't help but look forward to the date - if it ever decided to happen. 

The knock on the door broke her out of her concentration when Edward thanked the 'magic mirror' or television in the movie. She sat her plate down on the table and unlocked the door, revealing Myungsoo and Minah next to him. Minah clamped shut, her words left hanging when she saw Grace standing in front of them. 

"We came at the same time." He said and Minah wanted to face palm herself. 

"I think she knows that." Minah said matter of factly, still facing Myungsoo. "Is he always that socially awkward?" She turned to face Grace and her lips turned to a smile. Myungsoo felt his cheeks grow warm and his eyes down cast when Grace grinned at the young man's misfortune, which she realized, had been happening a lot lately. What was also happening a lot lately was his visits to her house (although, she didn't really mind). It was so frequent that she wasn't even surprised to see his toothbrush in the guest bathroom. 

She stepped out of the way for the two of them to enter and Minah hugged her tightly. The woman who has sleek copper coloured hair that curls at the bottom wore a plain t shirt and shorts, her sunglasses rested on the top of her head. Minah gave her a bone crushing hug making Grace wince in the slight pain. 

"How are you?" Minah asked, her voice soft and sweet.  

"Uncle Soo!" Eunhye gasped and waved at her favourite male before Grace could answer her. Minah turned around to look at Myungsoo who's face lit up immediately and ran towards her. He picked her up and spun her around, making her squeal with delight as she clung onto him. Grace looked at the sight and felt her heart warm up as Myungsoo gave an Eskimo kiss and blew raspberries on her cheeks making her squirm as she tried to pull away. 

From her peripheral vision, she could see Minah looking at her and a knowing look on her face. "What?" Grace asked turning her attention towards her friend and she shook her head. "Shall we talk in the kitchen?" She asked, pointing at the kitchen. 

Grace nodded, her eyes still trailing on Myungsoo who was asking her about something school related. It wasn't for Minah's sudden tug on her wrist, Grace would have stood there all afternoon watching them.

Minah, although hardly visits the capital, made herself comfortable by placing her Furla tote on the marble island and opening the fridge to find something to drink. She pulls out the orange juice carton and began rummaging the cabinet as Grace stood there and watched, her arms folded and her lips plastered in a smile.

"Yah, are you the owner of this house or I am?" Grace asked and Minah laughed.

"I was doing you a favour since you were all lovey dovey over there for Myungsoo." She said not to softly and Grace's eyebrows shot up in horror. She immediately turned around to see if Myungsoo heard them but he was too busy with Eunhye to bother.  

"Shut up." Grace hissed and when Minah pulled out the glasses and set them on the counter, she raised an eyebrow with amusement. 

"But, you're not denying it." She pointed out. 

"I hate you." 

"I know but you love me more." She said when she was done pouring the orange juice and passed it to Grace. Minah took a long sip and sat at the bar stool while Grace took the seat opposite her. Minah, although 28, she looks the same. Her skin was flawless, head to toe in designer and beautiful without even trying. 

"So, what's going on?" Grace asked. "You don't randomly visit me unless you are in town and last I check, you aren't due to come to Seoul in another two weeks." 

She tapped her chin, her eyes narrowed at her old friend. "Are you stalking me, Miss Fang?" 

"Please, as if." Which made Minah laugh and Grace smile. 

"I came here to ask you about Hoya." 

Grace's smile faltered and she took another long sip of her orange juice before she spoke again. "What about him?" Her hands tightened around the cylindrical glass as Minah eyed her up and down. 

"You met him, yes?" 

"Yeah." 

"You told him."

"Yeah."

"And?" 

Grace sighed. "He doesn't believe me obviously." 

"What did he say? I want details." Her tone very serious and her expression stoic. 

There was something quite not right with how the conversation was flowing. Minah was the Queen of gossip back in the day and the way she asked the question wasn't like how they would gush about their boyfriends or good looking boys, no. It was like she was trying to confirm something. 

"Well, he told about how it must be a mistake cause he never slept with Haerin and Eunhye is not his daughter." She could see Minah in a breath and her fingers curled tightly around her glass, her knuckles turning a sickening white. 

"And then?" 

"And then..." She tried to remember the conversation but it was all bits and pieces. "He said that Haerin was jealous of our relationship from the start and that Haerin came onto him." 

Minah's lips formed a straight line and she could see that Minah was shaking. "Minah, are you-"

"-That bastard knows that Eunhye's his child." 

"Huh?" But she continued to rant. 

"That idiot, how dare he say that Moon Haerin came onto him when he was the one who came onto her." 

"Minah, what are you talking about?" 

Minah finally let go of her glass and stared intently at her. "Grace, what did Haerin tell you?"

"Minah, I told you-"

"-That Hoya came home drunk and had with her and because she missed Kevin, she let it slip and pretended he was Kevin. Right." She recited and Grace was becoming more and more confused. Minah took a deep breath and she looked at Grace before she uttered the secret that was slowly eating her alive all those years.

"That was a lie." Minah confessed, her face still serious. 

What?

"You're saying that she came onto Hoya?" Grace asked, her voice slowly failing her. She lifted the glass to her lips and took a few gulps before Minah started talking again. 

"No." She took in a deep breath, a shaky one. Minah rubbed her arms as goosebumps began to form as if something was scaring her. 

"Kevin and Haerin, their relationship was on the rocks for a while. They were on a break when Kevin left for the States. Before you think it was Kevin's idea, it was Haerin's. Kevin loved Haerin but Haerin, although she loved him, she felt that she was cheating on him with someone else." 

"Hoya?" She blurted out his name before she could stop himself. 

That bit-

"No." Minah said which took her by surprise. "The day you went to Daegu, Hoya invited Haerin and I to go for a house party. They were a lot of people who were drunk and tipsy while Haerin and I were the only ones who were quite sober that night and this is saying a lot. Hoya, didn't drink much either but he was acting tipsy, slapping Hyuna's and lying down on Haerin's lap and telling her how beautiful she was. Haerin for the longest time didn't like Hoya and you know that because she never saw how someone like him was going to end up with you." 

Is Hoya a good fiancé? 

This can't be true. 

"I went home earlier with Luhan. Haerin told me that she was hitching a ride with Hoya since her house is on the way back." She said and the way she pronounced Hoya's name was filled with malice and laced with poison. 

It was a mistake! 

Minah reached into her bag and took out her iPhone. She began to open her audio folders and when she found a particular folder, she didn't open it yet and she met Grace's eyes again. Grace was on the verge of hyperventilating but she tried to not let it affect her. 

Not yet. 

"Haerin didn't go back home that night. You know that right? She told you that she was staying over at Hoya's place." 

Grace nodded and she felt her chest tightened. 

"They were on the way to her house when he stops the car at a secluded area behind his apartment and... He forced himself on her." 

Grace shook her head. 

"No. You're lying." Her voice was barely a whisper. 

"I wish I was." She in sharp breath and closed her eyes. "That night... She was texting me and from all the chaos, she pressed the call button. That's when I heard it. Everything." Minah looked as if she has aged as she told the story and with a shaky touch on her iPhone, the audio began to play. 

"Hoya let me go!" 

"Rinnie, don't be like this." 

"Please, let me go. You have Grace." 

"And Grace doesn't have to know. It will be our dirty little secret." 

"Please stop!" 

It wasn't Haerin's voice anymore but Grace's. And Minah immediately stopped the audio. Grace rest her elbows on the table and she was shaking so hard. She couldn't even control hot and fresh tears that were rolling down her cheeks, forming a puddle on the marble counter top. She could even hear Haerin's voice replaying in her head like a broken record. The pleads, the begs. 

"I am so sorry, Gracie. I wanted to tell you this sooner." Minah's voice sounded so distant and so frail. Minah reached out to touch Grace and she didn't flinch away. She brushed her arm with her thumb in order to soothe the crying woman. "But Rinnie didn't want to tell you the truth because she knows how much it will devastate you." 

"But she's my best friend! Why didn't she report it to the police? She was ." She choked out in between sobs. 

"I told her to do it but she said that she loved you too much to do that to you." Grace felt so guilt ridden and betrayed. Her best friend took the fault for her happiness. She always put herself before someone else and she did it once more for her. All for her and what Grace did in return? Slam the door in her face and told her to not see her again.

There was a pregnant pause before Minah spoke again. 

"There was also something else, another reason why Kevin and her broke up." She took another gulp of her orange juice. "Haerin told him that she had been living in denial for so long now and she wanted to finally leave that denial feeling behind and come clean as to how she feels." 

Minah sat the now empty glass down and as soft as she possibly could, she spoke. 

"Haerin liked... No, she loved women." 

Grace choked out a laugh. "Sorry?" 

"The reason why she left Busan was not because of starting afresh or Hoya tormenting her. It was because she was looking for her first love." 

Grace lifted her head and looked at Minah, tears still rolling down her cheeks and splatting all over the marble counter top. "Her first love? She didn't tell me about this and we are best friends." 

"She told me that her first love left Busan and that's why she left as well to look for her. Hoya was trying to prove a point, trying to make her straight by forcing himself on her. He knew that she wasn't attracted to men and that was why he forced himself on her. She loved Kevin but not in that way." 

"Are you telling me, all this time...." Grace felt lightheaded and she saw Minah standing up and Grace's vision becoming foggy. She could even feel her speech slurring slightly. "Haerin was gay and she was in love with a woman?"  

"I am and for the longest time..." 

She was in love with you, Gracie. 

And the darkness took over her once again. 

---

A/N: OHMYGOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?! Were you expecting this? I am sorry another bombshell right there. I just couldn't resist. :P Tell me your thoughts and I hope it isn't too much of a shock. So, comment, subscribe and upvote my darling readers! Till then xx