“L oppa, what are you doing here?” Eunji was stunned when L suddenly appeared at her doorstep, but she also knew that it was coming. Especially after the awkward moment they had during lunch, she was expecting him to say something about it. Was she waiting for him to say it wasn’t true? Or that it was true? She didn’t know. Eunji didn’t want to think about it because the more she thought about it, the worse she felt.

Imagine having a crush on someone and you can’t show it, yet they are in love with someone else. Moreover, with your best friend. That made Eunji felt a whole lot worse and so she prayed. She prayed so hard that it wasn’t true, that she won’t be hurting her best friend.

“You said you weren’t hungry for dinner. So I brought over some food, just in case.” L sat down awkwardly. The atmosphere between the two friends has gotten a lot weirder ever since this afternoon but L was determined to set things right. How can he live with this awkwardness, it was just impossible. He needed things to be all right again. For him, for Eunji.

Eunji managed a grin, “gomawo oppa.” They remained silent for a moment, each trying to find the right words to say.

“So…” Eunji looked around, not wanting to meet L’s gaze, “what Woohyun oppa said… is it true?”

L too, couldn’t find the courage to look at her, “neh.” However, the truth is already out, if not now, then way? When will he ever have the chance to confess to her? Plucking up every last bit to courage he has left, L decided to do it. Because he avoided it for so long, that’s why this had happened. He just needed that push.

“Eunji-ah,” he tried to match her gaze but seeing that she wasn’t looking at him, he cupped her cheek so that she would be looking straight into his eyes. “I like you, more than you’ll ever know. I liked you since we were kids and from then on, I promised myself that I would never ever let anybody else hurt you. Every time a tear escaped your eyes, it hurts me. It hurts me to see you upset, in pain. Because more than anything, I want to see your smile.”

Eunji was stunned at the confession; she had no idea what to say to L in this situation. She could only listen as he carried on.

“I wanted to tell you, for so long, but I never had the guts to. Heck, I even composed a song, just so I could make my confession a special one. But when Hoya hyung came in and told me happily that he liked you as well, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I respect him and so I couldn’t do it. Watching you from afar was what I could only do. It hurts so much, but seeing you smile, I can only be happy that you’re happy. So, I really like you Eunji. No, I love you. And I have been in love with you since forever. I don’t need you to love me back or anything. I just want you to know I’ll always be there for you. No matter what, I love you.” He breathed out the last line. There, he said it. Despite it not being at the right timing, L had finally confessed.

“I… I’m so sorry L oppa, I didn’t know.” Eunji looked down, she felt so guilty because she had been hurting him all along. Her favourite oppa, her best friend.

L gave her a hug as she snuggled closer to his chest. “You don’t have to apologize. The ones being loved never have to apologize.” And Eunji cried in his arms for a very long time.

--

At Lee’s Mansion

The house butler had come knocking at Hoya’s door after dinner. It was getting late and Hoya was studying before he got disrupted. “Come in.”

The butler bowed politely, “young master, Mrs Lee would like to see you for a short moment.”

“Mrs Lee?” Hoya was confused. What does she want from him? Mrs Lee had made it clear to him that he wasn’t welcome and she did not want to have anything to do with him, so why would she want to meet him?

“Neh.” The butler bowed and led him to the balcony where Mrs Lee was sipping tea and enjoying the night view from their mansion.

She set her cup down and motioned for him to take a seat opposite her. Hoya cautiously took a seat, still dazed. Mrs Lee proceeded to pour a cup of tea for him. “Go on, it’s not poisonous.” Mrs Lee said when she saw Hoya hesitating to drink the tea. Confused as he is, he downed the entire cup of tea bravely, trusting Mrs Lee wouldn’t do such a thing as to poison his tea.

“Tell your father you will be going to America.” Mrs Lee shot him a cold glance, just like she always does. Her facial expression never changes except for that cold and intimidating look. It was as though that expression is plastered on her face, and she isn’t capable of any other expressions.

“N-neh?” Hoya was taken aback by her straightforwardness. Something he still hasn’t quite gotten used to.

“After you finish high school here, you’ll be going to America. I’ve prepared accommodation for you. You will be taken care of and I have also applied for you to enroll in a good university.” She took another sip of her tea, ignoring the shocked look on Hoya’s face as she continued, “there will be private tutors to coach you with the language so you don’t have to worry about that. I will send people there to take care of you as well. You just have to tell your father that you’re willing to go.”

The entire conversation didn’t make sense to Hoya. Why would he want to go to America when he lived his whole life in Korea? For the first time, he challenged Mrs Lee. “What if I say no?”

Mrs Lee’s face darkened for a moment before she broke into a smile. Or more like a smirk. “My dear Howon-ah, you will learn so much more there in America. More than you will ever know.”

Those words sent chills down his spine, did it have double meaning? Or was Mrs Lee just speaking the truth? He couldn’t tell because she was just not was just not easy to read.

Keeping her smile, Mrs Lee continued, “you see, I have to protect my daughter as well. If you are the heir to the company, what does that make of my daughter?”

*So this is it? This is why she wanted me out of the way? Just for Hyeri?*

“I never wanted to be the heir.”

“But for as long as you are here, there is no space for my daughter. And I have to protect my daughter, before she is left with nothing else. This is my family. A family I built up on my own. Your father never really cared because he loves that woman.” She spat out as though ‘that woman’ was the world’s most disgusting person and that made Hoya angry. How could she just denounce his mother like that? Not that he had ever met his mother or know anything about her, but he was certainly not pleased with Mrs Lee. “He never truly love me, no matter how much I give myself up to him. Even with Hyeri, he doesn’t even give me a second glance. But all that woman had to do was smile and he’s all hers.”

For the first time, Mrs Lee had a different expression on her face. It was hurt. For the first time ever, Hoya saw hurt on her face when talking about her husband. He knew that his father and Mrs Lee were in an arranged marriage but he didn’t know that Mrs Lee actually loved him so deeply.

As if she remembered that she was in a middle of her conversation with Hoya, she regained her cold composure and continued. “Do not test my patience Lee Howon. You don’t know what I’m capable of. So if you want to keep your pretty little girlfriend safe, you have to do as I say. She’s too precious to be hurt isn’t she?” She smirked. “Go to America.” Mrs Lee threatened him once again before she left the balcony, leaving him all alone in the darkness, at a loss for both words and thoughts.

--

Minhyuk finally got out of the shower after a long and tiring day. It was usual that the CEO had lots of things to do and settle and also lots of people to meet, therefore being the secretary wasn’t an easy job. Plus, Minhyuk is also his right hand man, where Mr Lee would go to him for anything and everything. However, Minhyuk never complained. He was glad to have a job, to have shelter over his head and enough money to sustain himself.

Looking around, he stays in an apartment that Mr Lee had gotten for him. It was neither too big nor too small, just right for a single man living alone. Despite being a bright child, Minhyuk never got the chance to go to a university. Straight out of high school, he started working for Mr Lee. Two years into the job and now he’s also the secretary after Song Jimin passed on.

He owed that much to Mr Lee, hence he would rather give up furthering his education than leave Mr Lee’s side. Mr Lee of course, wasn’t okay with it because he wanted Minhyuk to complete his studies but Minhyuk had insisted.

Drying out his lightly coloured brown hair with a towel, he sat by his bedside, ready to lay down any moment to cure him of his fatigue and sore muscles. However, his phone rang.

“Who’s calling me so late at night?” He decided to pick up, in case it was Mr Lee who needed him in an emergency. That was his level of loyalty.

The caller was silent even though Minhyuk has responded and it kept at that way for a few more seconds. “Hello? Hello? Is there anybody there?”

Silence.

“If it’s a prank, I’m going to hang up.” Minhyuk was about to put his phone down when the caller finally answered.

“That person… that person contacted me again.” The voice was shaky and Minhyuk was confused. Who was ‘that person’? Also, the caller had a familiar voice but he couldn’t put a name to it.

“T-the… the one be-behind it all. They contacted me again.” There was fear in the voice and that was when Minhyuk finally remembered.

“Tell me, what did they say?” He asked anxiously, hoping to be able to find more answers this time. He stood up from his bedside and had a hand on his waist while the other holding the phone. His grip tightened because this time, he was determined. Determined to find out the truth and protect the ones that needed to be protected.

The caller is none other than Choi Hyuk.

Exciting exciting!!! This is getting more and more exciting! (If not for you guys then maybe for me hehehehe) more and more things will start to fall in place and I'm so excited about it hahaha. So if anybody is interested in my life, I had a great time meeting up with friends becuase finals is over and I'm still really happy about that and of course, I did not forget this story. So here's an update which I hope everybody will love! Do leave me a comment or anything becuase I really appreciate it! Once again, I will always love y'all for the support! Honestly, when I first posted the story, I did not really expect much. I did not think anybody would even read it at all but I just wanted to put my story out there instead of keeping it in my head. It's such a waste to keep my ideas to myself hahahaha. Okay, I'm rambling again, have a good week ahead everyone!