Hongbin didn’t expect to see Jaemi again, but there she was, walking towards him with two other people he didn’t recognize. Hongbin hid his face behind the menu, but still peeked up enough so he could see them. The three of them were all physically attractive, but she was the most stunning. She wore a simple black dress that was neither tight nor loose, neither long nor short; it just fit her perfectly. Her silver hair and rose gold necklace stood out nicely against the dark color of the dress. It was hard for him to take his eyes off of her, but she didn’t see him, yet again, and walked right by him and sat at the table behind him.

                “Guys, wasn’t that Jaemi?” Ravi said in a quiet voice to the rest of the members.

                “Yeah, didn’t you see her earlier? She was on our plane. She was sitting right in front of you, idiot!” Ken exclaimed. His loud voice caught Jaemi’s attention. She turned around and was surprised to see that she had just walked right by all of them. She was seriously so oblivious.

                “Do you know them?” her friend, Dani, asked in amazement. Jaemi never told her anything about having connections with five super hot guys. Well, Jaemi never told her much about her personal life.

                “Yeah… I went to high school with them,” she answered plainly. Joohyuk raised an eyebrow at her, knowing there had to be more than that to make the guys huddle around the table and talk in hushed voices.

                The waiter came and gave them their menus and then went to take VIXX’s orders. Jaemi scanned the menu for the cheapest thing, and settled on getting a soup and salad because that was all she could afford. She glanced towards VIXX’s table and saw them huddled together, talking quietly, probably about her. She wondered about what exactly they were saying about her, or what they usually say about her if they’ve ever talked about her. She bit her lip and decided to clear the air between her and them by going over to start a friendly conversation. She took a deep breath, smiled, and walked as confidently as she could towards her ex-boyfriend and his friends.

                “Hey, I haven’t seen you guys in so long. Congratulations on your debut, by the way,” she said graciously. He was honestly surprised by her soft voice. It had been so long since he heard it that he was just starting to forget what it sounded like. She was standing within mere centimeters of him. He could still detect her natural scent under her expensive, high-end perfume. He was suddenly reminded of all the times when she’d nestle up against him and he’d be able to smell that light, flowery fragrance that she always smelled like.

                “Thank you, Jaemi. You’ve gotten even prettier since the last time we met,” Hakyeon replied courteously. Hongbin gave him a look, telling him to shut up. Jaemi noticed him out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t do anything to respond to him.

                “Are you coming to our concert tomorrow?” Ken asked. Hongbin gave him a look as well. The last thing he wanted was for Jaemi to be there when he was supposed to have his full attention on his fans.

                “Hm, I’ll try to, but I might be busy with fashion week prep and everything,” she half lied. Ken nodded understandingly. She smiled again and said, “Well, it was nice talking to you guys again. Good luck on your concert tomorrow. I hope you guys have a great time in New York.”

                She flashed a smile at them, making sure to make eye contact with Hongbin before she left so he’d know that she was being sincere. Her smile made his heart skip a beat, just like it used to, but he knew she was playing him again. He watched her stride back to her seat, full of pride, as if she wanted everybody to know she had that effect on him, and he hated that she still did. One of the girls sitting at the table noticed his reaction to the gorgeous girl and couldn’t help but be curious about them.

                “Who was that?” the makeup artist asked interestedly. She had seen Hongbin interact with countless beauties: idols, models, the occasional pretty fan, but she’d never seen him act like this around any of them.

                “That, Yeona noona, was Hongbin’s ex-girlfriend,” Ravi answered in a whisper, making sure nobody outside the table could hear. “They were really serious in high school for a while, but then they broke up when he joined the company and now she’s dating one of our old friends,” he elaborated further. “Wow, even I can’t believe how hot she got,” he stated, with regard to her more slimmed and toned body. Hongbin contorted his face with disgust. He was even more displeased seeing that the other guys were also in a trancelike state.  

                “Are you guys delirious?  She looks like a walking bean pole wearing a trash bag if you ask me. It must just be her makeup or the lighting that’s making her look not completely horrible. She looks way uglier now that she cut her hair and dyed it,” Hongbin insulted. The all the members, even Leo, looked at each other, completely shocked. They had all thought he had gotten over her years ago, but judging by his harsh words, it was clear that he still harbored resentment towards her.

                “Wow, why is the food taking so long to come out. It’s been almost… six minutes….” N said in an attempt to steer the conversation in another direction. Yeona glanced at the girl, sitting quietly while her friends laughed about something. She wanted to know who that girl really was to Hongbin and why he was still so affected by her.

                After their final rehearsal, the boys went back stage to get ready for the real show. Hongbin and Ravi went to explore the place after they put on their outfits. Yeona brushed foundation onto Ken’s face and used this opportunity to get more information on Hongbin’s past.

                “So, is the girl from last night coming today?” she asked casually.

                “Jaemi? Hm, I don’t know, but I think it would be better if she didn’t come. She would put Hongbin in a really bad mood before the show,” Ken answered, not thinking anything of it.

                “Ah, I see. Can you close your eyes for a second?” she requested while she thought about what to ask next. “Why is Hongbin so mad at her? Did they have a bad break-up?”

                “You don’t even know half of it,” Ken replied. “She told him not to wait for her because the company was sending her abroad, and then when she came back, he said he wanted to start dating again but she told him she was already in a relationship with one of his closest friends.”

                Yeona’s mouth formed a little ‘o’ and she almost dropped her brush. “Really?” she asked incredulously. She couldn’t believe that somebody would ever do that, especially to a guy as sweet as Hongbin.

                “Really! But to be honest, we all saw it coming. She and her current boyfriend were really really really really close friends and it was only a matter of time before they started dating,” Ken revealed. Yeona nodded, intrigued by this new information. She also felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to compete with such an attractive girl who had history with Hongbin. She finished Ken’s makeup without asking about anything else. She already felt petty enough that she, as a mature 27-year-old lady, had to resort to snooping around to find out about the 22-year-old guy she had a crush on.

                Jaemi sprawled out on the floor of her hotel room, exhausted from her workout. Miyoung entered the room and looked at her questioningly while talking to her husband, Jaemi’s older brother, on the phone.

                “Ok, yes, I got it. Don’t overwork yourself honey, ok, I’ll see you in a week. I love you too,” she said into the phone before hanging up. Jaemi started laughing by herself, remembering the time Hyuk accidentally farted after one of her relatives commented about how loving Jonghwan and Miyoung were at their wedding. Thankfully, the music masked the sound of it and it didn’t really smell, but Jaemi knew he farted and she nearly died of laughter.

                Miyoung thought about asking Jaemi about what she was laughing at, but she decided it might be better for her to not know. “Hey Jaemi, didn’t that guy invite you to watch his performance or concert? Aren’t you going?” she asked.

                “Hm? Oh, that. I don’t think so. I’ve already talked to them a lot in public. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea,” she answered casually.

                “Oh I see. That’s a good idea,” Miyoung agreed. “Oh, and have you been practicing your lines? The read through is going to be the day after we get back and your schedule is pretty full until then.”

                “Yeah, I’ve been reading through the script whenever I could. Do you mind practicing with me?” Jaemi requested.

                “Of course, but I don’t think I’ll be very good,” Miyoung replied.

                “It’s ok. I won’t be good either,” Jaemi laughed. They spent the next couple of hours reciting her lines and figuring out the best way to say them.

                Hyuk called her a little past 9 o’clock, which was later than he promised, but she didn’t care what time he called, as long as he called.

                “Jaemi, I’m so tired. I just spent the last four hours reading about effective ways to question people on the stand,” he whined as a greeting.

                “Why didn’t you take any breaks?” she inquired.

                “Because I was too tired to think of that,” he complained further. “It’s only the second week of school but I’m already buried under a huge pile of work.”

                “Well, that’s what you get for being such a genius,” she teased.

                “I know,” he groaned. “Well, I just wanted to hear your voice before I had to get back to work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ok?”

                “Oh, alright,” she answered, trying to hide her disappointment. “I love you.”

                “Me too, I gotta go, bye!” he said hurriedly before hanging up. Jaemi stared at her phone screen. The call lasted less than two minutes, making it one of their shortest phone calls ever, but she tried not to be upset about it. It was his last year so of course he had to be extremely busy.

                “You know, I admire you and Hyuk. Jonghwan and I have a hard time being apart whenever I go to fashion week with you, but you and Hyuk have to do it for most of the year,” Miyoung commented.

                Jaemi sighed. “Yeah, it’s hard, but it’s the last year we’ll have to do this, so I just tell myself to hold on until he graduates.” Being in a long distance relationship really . If they were in a normal relationship, they could go on dates whenever they were both free, but all they had now were calls, texts, emails, and the occasional video chat when they were both free and awake. It , but they’ve somehow made it work for the past three years.

                “That’s so romantic. He’s really lucky to have you as a girlfriend,” Miyoung complimented.

                Jaemi had to let that comment sink in for a moment. It had always been the other way around to her and to everybody else who knew her and Hyuk. He was funny, nice, warm, cute, tall, handsome, smart, caring, and basically everything she could ever want in a guy, and he loved her! Even those who didn’t like her would say that she was lucky to have snatched a young, good looking guy who was undoubtedly going to strike it rich. She knew that she wasn’t his trophy girlfriend, but it was really nice to hear somebody else recognize that as well. For once, she felt pretty ok with herself.