Everything felt unreal to Hyuk. Jaemi loved him, didn’t she? She loved him and he loved her. They were each other’s favorite person. At least, that was how he thought it always was, so how could she tell him that their whole relationship was a lie? “You…really? How? Why?” Hyuk interrogated. “Am I not good enough for you?”

                “No!” Jaemi immediately interrupted. “I’m the one who’s not good enough. I don’t deserve you. At all.”

                “So that’s why you cheated on me?” Hyuk responded bitterly. When Jaemi didn’t answer Hyuk rolled his eyes. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’m hanging u—“

                “No! Hyuk! Wait! Please!” Jaemi begged. “I cheated…” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and took a deep breath before continuing, “I cheated because I needed money. I needed money and work and he said his dad could give me all of that if I dated him. But I don’t like him at all, Hyuk! It wasn’t that kind of relationship. Please believe me. It was only for money. You’re the only one I love. Please, please believe me.”

                “If that’s true then why didn’t you just tell me? Why didn’t you tell me that you needed money? Why do you keep hiding things from me? Why can’t you just trust me for once?” Hyuk nearly yelled back. He wanted to feel relieved that Jaemi didn’t have feelings for anybody else, but he couldn’t help but feel angered that she didn’t trust him.

                Jaemi bit her lip in a feeble attempt to keep herself composed. She knew she had to give up whatever pride she had left. There was no way she could hide it any longer. “I was ashamed that I couldn’t do it on my own,” she tearfully admitted. “I didn’t want anybody, let alone you, to know that I was failing at my job. You’re a model student and you’re going to be so successful and I’m so proud of you, Hyuk and… and…I just wanted to be somebody you could be proud of too.”

                Hyuk didn’t know what to say. He would have never guessed Jaemi felt that way. From the snot dripping out of her nose and the way she hiccupped uncontrollably while she cried, he knew that she had been suffering about that for a long time. He felt like a terrible boyfriend for not noticing.

                “How long?” was all he could bring himself to ask.

                “About two years,” she answered despondently. Hyuk felt his heart squeeze. She had been cheating on him for over half of their relationship.

                Reflecting on their relationship thus far, the first half of their relationship was definitely better than this half of it, and Hyuk started to wonder if this was why. He used to attribute it to the fact that their relationship was new and exciting; everything they did was a “first” for them. Even their first long distance phone call was a big deal. And he would never forget their first Valentine’s Day. They dressed up and had dinner together through video chat, pretending that they were physically with each other. It was a terrible idea, but being able to pretend to be on a date with her and to talk to her all night made him feel so close to her. But now, she felt like a whole world away. How did he not realize that she had been cheating on him? And for so long? Hyuk’s head hurt thinking about all of the signs that he missed. She had two phones. She would always disappear on their dates after getting a phone call. She was hiding a large amount of jewelry under her bed. But his headache was not nearly as bad as how hurt his feelings were that she couldn’t confide in him about her problems and how she felt. He would have understood, and he would have understood better than anybody else. But apparently she didn’t have any trust in him from nearly the beginning of their relationship.

                “I’m sorry Jaemi. I—I need to think about this…and about us,” he stated dryly before abruptly ending their video chat.

                The chime of the bells rang, signaling that a customer walked in. Jaehee smiled seeing that it was Hongbin. She checked the time on her phone and commented, “You’re late.”

He returned the smile and answered, “I know, I know and I’m hungry. Have you eaten yet?” Jaehee shook her head and pulled out two cups of ramen from underneath the counter. He laughed airily before taking the cups from her and cooking the ramen for the both of them.

Hongbin tapped the side of his cup of instant noodles with his chopsticks while waiting for them to finish cooking and Jaehee copied him. He didn’t realize what she was doing until a few moments later.

                “Are you copying me?” he asked with a playful smile on his face.

                “Are you copying me?” Jaehee repeated, deepening her voice to match Hongbin’s. He laughed at her playfulness. He and Jaehee had become fast friends with each other. Hongbin ended up returning to the convenience store to buy more painkillers, snacks and drinks several times. Then one night, after a particularly long schedule, he went to the convenience store to have ramen and other snacks. Jaehee happened to be eating at the same time as well, and they talked to each other for hours. All their initial awkwardness seemed to be replaced with an easiness that neither of them has experienced with anybody else before.

                They started eating their ramen at the same time. Neither of them talked while they ate, but the silence between them was comfortable. There was no obligation to say anything to fill the space between them. Being with each other was enough.

                “Is your drama doing well?” Jaehee asked, breaking the silence. She had learned very early on that Hongbin was an idol, and although she was extremely shocked at first that an idol would show any particular interest in her, she was ultimately unfazed. Of course a guy with Hongbin’s looks would be an idol.

                Hongbin being a celebrity didn’t seem to affect Jaehee in anyway. Most likely because she was the assistant to a famous photographer, in addition to working other part time jobs, and worked with a lot of celebrities often. Hongbin really liked that about her. She was really down-to-earth and really fun to be around. And best of all, they both loved photography.

---

                “Cut!” the director shouted angrily. “Jaemi! Get a hold of yourself! This is already the seventh take of the scene! Don’t miss your cue this time!”

                “I-I’m sorry. I’ll work harder,” Jaemi replied automatically. It had been over a week since her fight with Hyuk and he still hadn’t contacted her at all.

                “Action!” the director yelled. The server set down the cups of coffee in front of Jaemi and Hongbin as scripted.

                “Why do you even want to inherit the company? You already get what you want and you don’t even have to work for it,” Hongbin recited.

                Jaemi stared blankly at her cup of coffee, trying to think of her line instead of Hyuk. Just as the director was about to call cut again, Jaemi said, “Just… because.”

                “Because…what? Because you hate her?” Hongbin replied.

                Jaemi couldn’t think of her next line and winced when the director called cut and ordered everybody to go on a break. “Jaemi, go get a hold of yourself or go home!” were his exact words. She sighed heavily before retreating to the back area of the set. She couldn’t model, act, or be a mother. What did she have to offer Hyuk? She didn’t deserve him in the slightest bit, but she wanted him so badly.

                Hongbin sensed that something was really wrong with Jaemi. Although she had her off days, they were never this bad. He saw her go through the back door of the set and contemplated following her. On one hand he wanted to help her and comfort her, but on the other hand, he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t want to hold her and have him in his arms again.

                He looked around at the annoyed and tired faces of all the staff members and decided that maybe talking to Jaemi would help more than it would hurt and went through the back door. He found her quietly crying around the corner of the building.

                “Jaemi?” he asked timidly. “What’s wrong? Do you want to talk about it?”

                She looked up at Hongbin, shocked that he had followed her, but also thankful that it was him. Truthfully, she didn’t want to talk about anything but holding it in was so painful. She was just starting to get used to sharing everything with Hyuk, and now she had to go back to holding it all in.  

                “I… Hyuk…” she started tentatively. Was Hongbin really the right person to be telling this to?

                “You and Hyuk? What? Did you fight again?” he urged, knowing that their break was going to end soon.

                “We broke up. For real,” she cried.

                Hongbin looked at her in sympathy while she cried. He slowly and unsurely wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. Hongbin used to imagine this moment and how he would hold her in his arms until she realized that he was the one for her all along, but now that it was actually happening, he didn’t feel happy at all. In fact, he didn’t feel anything, except pity for her.

                “I messed up,” she continued crying into his chest. “I messed up and I lost Hyuk. It’s all my fault.”

                He hugged her tighter. If this had happened a month earlier, he might have told her something about how maybe this was for the best. Maybe she and Hyuk weren’t meant to be. Maybe she was meant to end up with somebody else in the end, somebody like him. But this was happening right now, and he wasn’t confident that he still had any feelings for her and so he whispered, “Shhh. It’s going to be ok. Don’t cry anymore. It’s going to be ok.”

                “No it’s not,” she argued. “I messed up really badly, Hongbin. I messed up so badly and I lost Hyuk forever.”

                “No,” Hongbin said more definitively. “Everything is going to be ok. You—you and Hyuk are meant to be. It’s going to be you and Hyuk in the end.”