"Sod off, Baek"

She hissed at the phone first thing when she picked up the 34th call from the guy a day after they broke their 2 years relationship. She ended the call almost immediately when her hell of a lady superior glared at her, he was calling in the middle of a job, for goodness sake!

"Kim Hyunah, a minute"

She prodded her to follow her a bit far from her other colleagues who was making it their life mission to send her a mixed signals of 'You're dead', 'Good luck', 'I'll pray you come out alive' and 'I'll miss you'. That definitely made her feel better. Her stomach churned as she fixed her ponytail under her cap and followed the dragon lady.

Discovery Channel's Son Ga In was the iest, meanest, most heartless superior. She was named the most ruthless boss of all time by her seniors at the journalism faculty so generally most graduates would avoid at all cost, interning with her. Stories from the past candidates done that perfectly. But despite all her damnable qualities, interns that came out from her turned out to be successful journalists, writing award winning articles, going to places everybody only dream of going. That's what she was aiming for back then when she was ridiculed for choosing her as her choice for interning. She was very lucky to be the only one chosen from 250 graduates from all universities that was interviewed for the same position. The problem is with Kim Hyunah is that she's a wild child, never backed down for a challenge, it was really surprising why Ga In hadn't fired her yet for all her antics and mishaps, a lot of people were fired for what she had done back then, sometimes for lousy reasons. Which is why she accepted Chanyeol and Kyungsoo's dare for her to answer a call right in front of the dragon lady in a middle of a shoot.

"And she came back alive!" The petite black haired girl exclaimed and rushed towards the two men, jumping to catch them in a headlock, which is a major fail in Chanyeol's case but worked perfectly well on Kyungsoo. "Pay up" The two men grunted at the tiny lady, reaching into their pockets and handed out a fifty dollar bill each to her, which she accepted happily with a smirk on her face.

"How did she even manage to get out of that, I will never know" Kyungsoo mumbled at her, loud enough to be heard by the two.

"Me neither. Yah, did you feed her something weird?" The taller man pouted, looking at her accusingly and earned a smack on the shoulder for it from her. She sniggered.

"Yah, I'm not like you. I was about to treat you guys both, but I guess I'll only bring Soo with me" Pulling Kyungsoo's arms and linking it with hers, she made face at Chanyeol before pulling Kyungsoo forward with her and started walking away, sulking. Chanyeol being the tall pole that he is, easily caught up and pull both of them back, rubbing his hands together with apologetic grin.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Don't leave me here with that dragon lady" He tried to bribe by acting cute.

"Oh, I don't know~ You will have to ask my date here. What do you say, Soo?" She turned to Kyungsoo, the latter only chuckled.

"I think...hmm...let's leave him here" He replied, pulling her this time. They both laughed at Chanyeol's miserable face when he said that.

"Aww, come on! We're the only Koreans here beside that dragon lady, how could you leave me?"

Hyunah turned back. "Well, hurry up you pole!" Kyungsoo actually already dragged her quite far from that miserable prankster. As fast as he could, he chased them and engulfed Hyunah in a bear hug while Kyungsoo only watched with an amused grin. "Yah! Put me down!"

...

"River in Ladakh. Swim in it. Video for prove" Chanyeol flashed his infamous wide toothed smile, showing a picture to the group. Hyunah as usual, was the only one showing a slight interest while the others chided the childish VJ for suggesting such a dare.

"I heard that river in Ladakh was freaking cold. It's dangerous. You would freeze to death, Hyun" Krystal commented, shoving her hair aside before tying it up to a messy bun after finding it being impossible. "Not worth it. Just ignore this freak"

But Hyunah being Hyunah, just ignored the girl's warning, crossing her legs casually before stretching her arms lazily. "And what do I get if I do it?" She grinned under her black shades, raising her chin slightly towards the cap freak VJ, making him smile evilly as he understood the gesture.

"One thousand dollars"

And cue a hard smack on his head from Kyungsoo whose face clearly disapproving the dare. Everything has its limits.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Chanyeol whined, rubbing his head receiving a glare from the shorter guy.

"For being birdbrained enough to even thought of this idea at the first place! This is dangerous, Chanyeol!" He hissed. "And you, young lady" He pulled on Hyunah's ear making the girl scream in pain while Krystal just sat, sipping on her iced americano, letting Kyungsoo handled everything. "I don't want you anywhere near that river, forget that you ever heard of this idea"

"But Soo~" She whined in protest but gave in anyway when the guy threatened not to let go of her ear until she said she wasn't going to do it. Hyunah waited until Kyungsoo diverted his attention before jabbing Chanyeol on the rib and mouthed something that made the infamous troublemaker smirked proudly.

"It's on"

...

It was a beautiful sunny day, the river in front of her was bright blue and shimmering from the sun's kiss. Hyunah stretched her stiff body from carrying the heavy weight that was her backpack of supplies and camera stand. She set up the video camera at one edge of the river that was quite high so it can catch her best angle. She waited for the red LED to blink, took a deep breath and remove her shirt to reveal a yellow swimming gear.

"This is Hyunah, doing the Ladakh challenge. Yeol, prepare to lose. Again. Here we go"

She closed her eyes and jump, feeling herself diving into the deep blue water. It was very refreshing, until something stabbed her, sharp. The cold was nothing like she has expected. She panicked, the pain was so unbearable it cuts off her supply of oxygen, yes, she was drowning. She tried calming herself down but nothing seemed to work when she saw a man standing at a further side of the river from where she was earlier. Possibly a soldier from his uniform. She screamed on the top of her lungs and shouted for help, hoping that it was loud enough for him to hear. The man stood still, regardless of the loud noises she was making and the hope of getting out of this alive faded. Is this really her end? Realizing that thought in her head, she stopped struggling and let herself being pulled into the coldness. Soo would be pissed.

She felt something heavy pumping her chest, then something soft touching her lips forcing air into her lungs, her vision blurry, she was half conscious. Three more pumps and air, she coughed out water and her body was pushed to sit upright. Forcing herself to open her eyes, she was rapidly shivering, her teeth chattering as she rubbed her arms against her body, trying to warm up and glared at the man.

"It you came any later, I could be dead"

She spat at him in Korean, seeing that she should be at least grateful to be alive at the very moment, at least he wouldn't understand me.

"Just be grateful that I came to save you at all"

He handed a steel mug of warm water at her, who was already gaping at his perfect Korean.

"You're Korean?"

He ignored her question and proceeded to pack up his things into a backpack before heading towards his bike. She tried chasing after him before he could go anywhere, her attempts failed miserably when he speeds away from the river, leaving her wondering what he was doing here at the first place. She walked back to the river bank where she was laying half-conscious earlier, picking up the mug she left and finished its content when her eyes caught glimpse of something leathery on the ground. She picked it up and inspected it all around. It was a small journal. Perhaps it was his. She went to her spot to take a look at the recording and lights up. Bansai! All is not lost.

…

Hyunah beamed proudly as her friends were all over the small video cam, praises flowing about how badass she was, except for Kyungsoo who didn’t look too happy with the fact she indeed went through with Chanyeol’s dare. She has received a handful from him when she was back last night looking like a wet kitten draped around her leather jacket, shivering from the extremely cold Indian night. Krystal attend to her before she could become the next case of hypothermia they often deal with the staffs. He softened up a bit when he saw Chanyeol’s precious reaction upon realizing that he was about to lose a thousand dollars, anyone could predict that, especially when you’re on the heads with Hyunah, who had never lost a bet once in her entire life. She even won a bet on how long she would last with Baekhyun, a guy she met in the States during their assignment about two years ago. There’s really nothing that girl couldn’t do.

“Have fun with that video, Yeol. The money in my account by tomorrow morning”

She winked playfully at Chanyeol, who was on the verge of losing his mind and left the group to have some alone time in her room. By the time she got to the room and settled on her bed, her phone vibrated. She took a look at the screen, it was Baek, again.

“Baek, I told you..”

“Hyunah please, don’t do this to me. Is there anything I do wrong?”

She fell into silence at his question.

“No, you are a good guy. It’s just me”

“I told you I would…”

“Baek, there is a lot of things I wanted from my life. Being tied up in a commitment is just not in my list right now. I’m not sure if I want to be with one guy for the first time and for the rest of my life and I’m sure you didn’t want that, either”

There were silence on the other side of conversation and Hyunah knew that was cue for her to end the call.

“Let us find ourselves first, and if we were meant for each other, I’m sure fate will brought us together for that matter. Farewell, Baekhyun-ah”

She ended the phone call before he had any chance to argue with her anymore and turned the square device off. Releasing a contented sigh, she went back to relaxing on the comfy bed when her mind triggered something, reminding her of the small brown journal sitting inside her bag. She stood up abruptly and retrieved the journal, silently praying, convincing herself that it was only the right thing to do when she opened the very first page of the journal.

Till this last breath.

Minseok Kim'


"Till this last breath?"

She wondered curiously, turning to the next page where everything makes more sense.

...

12th December 2013


Oh, I still remembered clearly that fateful day, the first time we met. It was very harsh for me back then, when I first step foot on the beautiful London land. But there she was, gliding through the white snow, in a breathtaking light pink gown, rushing. What troubles her so much that she had that look on her face? Unconsciously my feet took me closer, following her into the church, quietly peeking through the curtains. I could see her on the center aisle standing on both knees as she talks. No, she was making a deal. I slightly chuckled but not loud enough for her to notice another presence with her.

She was complaining at how her father used to arrange random dates for her which she said she went through very patiently, now was the time He paid her back for going through that tortorous moments. She asked for the man she was about to meet with today to not fall for her and that the marriage proposal that came after would be cancelled, she would stop smoking as an exchange. A honk startled both her and I. She bid her farewell like it was one of her old friends and left. I too, prayed that day, that she will get her wishes.

It was just a matter of time.


...


She jumped when she heard knockings on her door, swiftly she threw the journal under her pillow and acted like she just got up from sleep when the door flew open.

"Last time I checked, your room is at the end of the corridor. Is this a revenge?"

She faked a yawn, almost glaring at the recognizable head that peeked through her door. Chanyeol was grinning from ear to ear, deeply indicating that he caught her doing something interesting. She ignored him, walking towards and pass him out the door.

"Ya! Wait, I'm supposed to call you down for dinner"

He called out, chasing the black haired girl, to actually persuade her about the money he owed her.

...


16th December 2013


Mr Crouch begged me to fill in a position that night, even offering to pay triple the usual pay. There was an old friend of his having a party here tonight, an important engagement. I would have said yes even if he didn't offer the money, I owed him once too many.

English men and their bloody etiquette. Making sure the white uniform was crisp and tidy, I straightened my back, carrying glasses of champagne to the waiting guest when there was a sharp tingling sound begging for everybody's attention. Stood an unusually tall, Korean, smiling at the audience as he cleared his throat for what he was about to say.

"Thank you for having wasted your time coming here, ladies and gentlemen, those who I appreciated their presence"

He cracked a joke, I think, when I heard laughter filled the whole hall.

"I was very happy to announce this party, as surprising as it might be to some if you, is intended to celebrate the engagement of my daughter, Soonkyu with the son of an old friend of mine, Andrew. Soonkyu dear, can you come forward? And Andrew, you too"

And stood in a stunning light pink evening gown, her blonde hair shimmered under the chandelier, was her. Looking not too happy, but still smiling sweetly at her father, she glided towards him on the slightly high stage. They exchanged rings and everyone clapped, and smiling, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the newly engaged couple but my gaze kept fixating itself at her slight frown at the back. I dismissed myself from the party and went to work at the back.

The people inside sure didn't eat that large proportion of food but they do accumulate a large amount of waste. Working at the back meant nothing but preparing the fine Chinas and cutleries, and taking out thrashes. My colleague handed two enormous bags of thrash and pointed to the door at the back.

I had not expected her to sit there, having a puff and lost in her own thoughts. I swear I was just trying to mind my own business, dumping the plastic bags and went back to the warmth inside.

"You know, smoking is bad for health. Just saying"

Damn it.

She looked confused for a while, trying to decipher the not so familiar language I just uttered before deciding to look offended.

"Well, if you sincerely asked for a bargain and it didn't go as well as you wanted to. Then, it would be a waste of time trying to fight. Don't you think?"

She puffed out another smoke as she replied in her mother tongue, English for short. I handed her an empty food wrapper which she thankfully used to extinguish the cigarette stick. She threw a glance at me as she went back inside her party again.

I never saw her again since that night. Good thing, as I was starting to think more of her. Stop thinking about her.

...

"Hyun, why are you so quiet these days?"

Krystal asked her one day, throwing a worried look.

"Yeah, and you never join the dares anymore. It's so boring"

Chanyeol made it his job nosing on the girls, but he too, was a bit worried at Hyunah's weird attitude nowadays.

"It's not like you ever won any of them"

She scoffed, erupting a chuckle from the taller guy. Looking back at Krystal, she gave the younger girl a reassuring look that she was fine.

"Nothing's bothering me, Krys. Stop being a mom"

She teased. Krystal's frown suddenly disappear forming a slight relieved smile.

"Well then, stop being a child"

"Aww, group hug!"

Chanyeol exclaimed, engulfing both of the girls into a bone crushing bear while Kyungsoo watched the whole ruckus from the kitchen with an amused grin. They had a meeting with Gain later. And Hyunah knew just what thing to discuss with her after.

...

22th December 2013

Some lines are better left uncrossed. But I found it hard resisting her offer to coach me to speak English better if I could somehow get her to sing Nilliria perfectly. I found myself trying hard to keep my speech broken, so she would always correct me. She's someone else's fiancée, Minseok.

"You totally piss that man off"

She was still staggering, trying not to fall off her laughter after our weird encounter with that American. Apparently, I was still that clueless after all these years roaming the London streets. I was walking her to the train station, it was a little challenge for her actually, to take the subway everywhere she went, for the day. In return, I must tell her one of my deepest secret. Well, there's one.

"Oh, the train's here"

She kissed my cheek, thanking me before walking towards the train.

"Sunkyu?"

What are you doing?

She turned her body back. I can't think straight anymore. I walked closer towards her.

"Don't hit me"
 

I wrapped both my hands on her cheeks and let the softness of her lips took my breath away before pulling away, anticipating the hit. To my surprise, she just stared back, her nose red, biting her lower lip, as if contemplating something.

Then, she leaned and kiss me back.

...

19th January 2014

"What if your father doesn't sit well with this? Andrew?"

"Andrew was only my friend, nothing more or less. About father, well we'll just convince him that you're not some random guy I met just to get this engagement off"

Her smile still took my breath away, as it did the first time. She kiss my cheek before sending me off, she was to attend her best friend's prenup.

Still her smile was the last thing I remember before the accident. It was nothing serious, a broken leg and a light concussion. Never did I thought this will be all it took for fate to take her away from me.

Three weeks with no news and she said she was going to marry Andrew and forget me for good. She said that was her price to pay for me to stay alive. I told her that was ridiculous. Her promise with fate had nothing to do with my life. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears she held back.

"You were lying there. You stopped breathing. Only after I swear I would leave you, only then, you responded"

She caressed my cheek.

"I love you. I'll always will"

Her last words, before she walked out the door and never come back.

...

"Oh please, Gain. Please, please, please"

Hyunah will beg if she have too, but she just have to had this story. Gain was twitching her lips, something she did when she was reluctant. But Hyunah wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Gain please. You were the one who always told me to travel to the end of the world to get my scoop if I have to. And now I have. Please?"

There was a long moment of silence before Gain finally blew a breath.

"Fine"

And she was engulfed into Hyunah's happy dance hug.

"Thank you, thank you. You won't regret this"

"With condition, you have to do it all on your own. The camera works, the lightings, editing"

Still dancing.

"Done"

"And I get to have the first look"

More dancing.

"Done"

...

14th February 2014


The 89th bomb defused. I'm sorry I failed you again my love. I will keep searching.

Till this last breath.
 

-To be continued