Once outside, she didn't head for the toilet. Instead, she just walked further ahead. She wanted to get away from there, but she didn't want to completely leave either. She just needed time to get her act together again so that she would not appear to be too pathetic in front of everybody. They already think that she's too young as it is, she didn't want to validate their thoughts by portraying herself as someone with a childish crush.

She went on walking aimlessly on the hotel lobby, although she made sure to appear like she knew where she was going so people who recognize her won't think anything much of it. She had not realized just how far she had gone until she found herself on the other side of the hotel—where its indoor pool area is located.

It was already a quarter to midnight, so pool restrictions were already imposed. But even without it, everyone else was busy with their respective year-end celebration to bother taking a dip at this time. Thankfully though, the pool area is enclosed almost entirely out of glass—from its walls to its orbed ceiling—so even without any lights on, the moonlight, as well as the lights from the posts on the snow-covered garden outside, provided the area with enough lighting for her to find her way around the place. In fact, it gave the room a somewhat dreamlike, almost magical, appearance—especially with the way the moon was reflected over the pool waters.

She slipped off her shoes, gathered the ends of her gown between her legs, and sat by the edge of the pool, allowing her legs to submerge into the water. Thankfully, the pool heating system is still at work, otherwise she would've dipped her feet into negative temperatures.

Now that she was alone, her mind was clearer, although her heart was nowhere near settled. She knew she shouldn't be feeling like this but she just couldn't help it. Despite taking pride in herself for mostly being a very logical person, all her logic seemed to fail when it comes to him. She could not help but fall for him, could not help but want him near her—could not help but want him all to herself and feel insecure at every girl he smiles at.

Worst part is she could not even hate Lee Yoon Ji for being close to him. After all, they are friends and have known each other far longer than she had known him. They were even involved in a scandal together, just because of their close relationship and the way they call each other by their drama character's names. She heaved a painful sigh as another realization hit her. He still calls her princess, but he never once called me Soon Shin off the set.

Besides, what's there to hate about Lee Yoon Ji? She's a really warm person—probably one of the nicest people she ever got the chance to work with. She is super talented—with great acting chops and a penchant for music. Also, it would make sense for them to be close. She and Jung Suk have a closer , so they probably have more things in common with each other. Both have also been involved in theatre, so they hang around the same crowd as well. The more she thinks about it, the more natural it seemed to her for those two to end up falling for each other, and by the way Yoon Ji acted earlier, chances are it may have already happened.

Her heart sank at the thought and she felt the first sign of tears forming along the rim of her eyes. Quickly, she took out some tissue from her purse and dabbed the corners of her eyes with it, careful not to smudge her make up. She should really get a hold of herself. She had no right to cry over this matter. After all, it was not anyone's fault that she harboured some unrequited love for the man. No, the fault was all hers.

"There you are! I wondered what took you so long."

She turned around to see Jung Suk approaching her. No, not right now…not while her heart is still in this indecipherable mess. She quickly tucked away the used tissue into her purse and fixed her hair.

"Oh, you know. The place was getting a bit stuffy, so I came here to take a breather."

"You should've told me. I would've gone with you." He replied as he squat right by her side.

"Oh, I didn't want to keep you away from your friends. You must've missed them a lot, after being away for so long while filming." Don't lose your cool, Lee Ji Eun She reminded herself as she bit her lower lip to stop them from quivering.

"Oh, that's not important. I could always—"he stopped midsentence, just as he turned to face her. "Jieuna, is something the matter?"

"Oh, nothing really." she tried to cover her pain with a timid laugh "I just felt a bit nostalgic, that's all. Especially now that the awards show is over, I no longer have anything in line for Soon Shin. I feel like I have no choice but to let go of her"

No choice but to let go of you.

Jung Suk nodded as he shifted his gaze ahead unto the empty pool waters, seemingly oblivious to her own painful thoughts. "That's good. You should definitely start to shed off Soon Shin's character. After all, you're stronger—better—than her."

She snorted "I'm not so sure about that." At least, I'm definitely not braver. She thought to herself before turning to him "How about you, Daepyonim? Have you already let go of Shin Jun Ho?"

He gave a low chuckle "Shin Jun Ho is not who I would like to hold on to."

"Oh, I see…" his crude honesty has always amazed her. Now, it just hurts. "I guess he's nothing compared to pure idealistic Eun Shi Kyun huh? No wonder you still can't get over your princess." She said, trying to pass it off as a joke, but as soon as she said it, she felt the tears start pooling again in her eyes. She immediately turned her gaze at the glass orb ceiling to keep the tears from falling down.

"That's not—" he started before his voice trailed off, and she didn't know what hurt the most—him being overly defensive about it, or him not even being able to make an excuse.

A few stray fireworks started to show, lighting up the otherwise starless night sky "We better go back, or we might miss the countdown" She said as she momentarily turned away from him to wipe the tears that have escaped her eyes, before she started to get up.

"Wait—"

She was already on her knees when his deep soft voice stopped her from her tracks. "Before we go back, can I ask you one thing?"

She didn't answer, but she didn't move either. For a moment, neither one of them did. Both remained silent while a few more loose fireworks were heard from a distance. Then he cleared his throat.

"Those tears" he started, "are those Lee Soon Shin's or Lee Ji Eun's?"