Thirty days. Exactly thirty days ago they said good-bye. Thirty days ago he made her heart fuller and fuller with his looks and his words, and made her arms fuller with a huge stuffed bear, the first bouquet of flowers she ever received from a boy, and a pink guitar, the one they had seen together a year before. Thirty days ago she kept turning back because she couldn't bear the thought of it coming to an end.

She had seen him since then -- they passed by each other backstage at broadcasting stations. He would smile and wave at her, warmly, but nothing more. Was it just her? Was she confusing real emotion for acting on a TV show? He probably viewed her only as a dongseng. One he liked, but only as a friend. Maybe he was only nice during their stint on We Got Married because she was in the biggest girl group and as an industry newbie, he couldn't afford to make her or her fans mad so he pretended to be kind. Or maybe he did have genuine feelings for her but now that the show was over, he kept his distance because she was in Girls' Generation. Which one was it?

Argh, she was driving herself crazy. Because all she could think about was him. How they were no longer supposed to be a couple, the feel of his hands holding hers, why he wasn't calling her, his lopsided grin, his childish ways of teasing her. Mostly, she missed the way he would look at her. There were moments during their time together when he looked into her eyes and she saw .... she wasn't sure what it was, but he looked at her with so much emotion it made her insides tingly. He would usually look away quickly, but not before she noticed the intensity of his gaze. Novice as she was at relationships with boys, she knew that there was something in his looks. Right? Maybe. Oh, what did she know, she had never had a friendship with a boy much less a romantic relationship.
 

It was a show. To him, it was just a show. She had to move on. He was moving on. Let it go.

But then the stupid show aired tonight. The feelings she had worked so hard to suppress were brought up as she watched the final broadcast of the Yongseo couple. Tears silently streamed down her face as she watched their last moments as a "married couple." When the show ended, she sat on her chair, full of hurt. She was still confused about him, about them. But she was not the type to keep silent. She faces challenges head on. That's what leaders and winners do, according to the books she read. She had read enough biographies about successful people to know that she had to go get what she wanted, or at least try before she could move on. Besides, there was still one piece of unfinished business between them.
 

"Hello?" he answered, surprised by the name on the caller ID.
 

"Hi Nation's Friend, Jungshin Chingoo. Do you have a minute to talk?"
 

"Sure, what's up?"
 

"I need your help."

---------

He came home around 1am, exhausted. He had a solo TV appearance and the recording had gone longer than expected. He wanted to plant himself face-down in bed and go to sleep, but he needed to finish a song he was working on so he could move to the two other unfinished songs. As he walked through the door of his dorm, right behind his manager, he was surprised to see his bandmates dressed up like they were going out.
 

Jungshin, Minhyuk, and Jonghyun moaned that they were super hungry and were in the mood for soondae soup, their manager's favorite food. When they mentioned where they were headed, the manager eagerly agreed to join them. Their leader was a bit annoyed when they insisted he stay home to take advantage of the quiet and finish his song. They could've at least invited him. Jerks. But they had a point about working on his song. Sigh. One day he would get a break, but not in the foreseeable future. He was in a season of life where he had to work hard, everyday. No time for anything else.
 

He walked to his bedroom and opened the door. To his immense surprise, there was someone sitting on his bed. Well, not just someone. A beautiful girl. Wearing an innocent but determined look.
 

"Hi Yong oppa," she quietly said.

 

"Seo Joohyun."