Bae Joohyun, now at the mature age of 27, has got a lot of things to lose.

Crown. Title. Attention.

Those are the things that she loves to keep. But would she be the saddest if she lost them?

Not really.

Glory. Status. Prestige.

Those are the things that she managed to achieve, having worked hard to earn and polish these past four years. But would she be the saddest if she lost them?

Not exactly.

There is only one thing that keeps tugging at her heart, trying to convince her to stop going the rough path, to stay still where she's at, to forget about what she has truly desired in the past year and just go on. The only thing that makes it almost a nightmare to imagine losing even though she has already determined to.

Influence of goodness.

The quality that not a lot of people possess, not even some of the people like her- people who won the title of Miss Korea.

Times like this make her reconsider.

Like right now, as she is attending a fundraising charity event for the disabled, and speaking to the mic held by a reporter in front of her, answering related questions.

Joohyun enjoys it to her fullest. She enjoys the way everyone pays attention. Enjoys the way her answers are sure to be put out there and the mass would take those words into action.

Of course, however, not every question thrown at her will be particularly relevant. One irrelevant question leads to another, and it comes to the point where Joohyun has to backtrack to figure out how this reporter has managed to gear the topic to her marriage life.

"Perhaps you could share with us some fun episodes with your husband lately?" The reporter in front of her asks, his natural smile almost making Joohyun think that it is one of the most necessary questions to be answered. Her attention to his practiced demeanor does not last long, however, because she genuinely has difficulty coming up with an answer appropriate enough.

"Fun episodes?" she asks back, stalling as much time as she can. For the first time after several interview questions, she has to pause and think about what to say, still hoping to appear professional and composed despite being asked about him.

"Now, now, I feel a little pried, dare I say," a familiar voice chimes in as she was about to say something- and even though it was enough to let her know it is Woohyun, her shoulder raises in reflex to his hand as it rests gently on her waist, a tiny part of his palm grazing in milliseconds over the bare skin that her tied shoulder, backless dress fails to cover. "Pardon me, but all memories with my woman are to be kept between ourselves. Only between us and no one else."

Woohyun is now by her side, his left eyebrow raising, gaze not leaving hers as though he was waiting for a response. She returns a knowing smile that she is sure would satisfy not only Woohyun, but also the reporter. Leaning closer to Woohyun so she can whisper only for him to hear, she said, "you ended your call in good timing, Woohyun."

Woohyun gives her a lop-sided smile in return, and he is the first to break the eye-contact, now taking charge of answering his questions that are thankfully back to being relevant to the event itself.

Attending events with Woohyun is never a regular. He is a successful businessman of a large, thriving corporation; his busy schedules simply do not allow him to attend any public events with Joohyun as a plus one, unless it can benefit his business in some way, which today's event can.

For that reason, the public gets even more eager every moment the couple is seen together. No matter the occasion, Joohyun is not the most comfortable when Woohyun appears alongside her. It is mainly because she minds that her private affairs get analyzed under public eyes. All the more reason to make her feel grateful to Woohyun for always trying to shield her from sensitive questions, with the most respectful ways he can do.

And perhaps that's one of the things she will sincerely miss having when she leaves him.

To her, she will leave him in good accord. But to him, she knows it will pain him in certain ways that she assumes she understands.

Having known Woohyun since they were teenagers, Joohyun knows Woohyun well enough to be able to guess what is on his mind through his actions. It is currently midnight, when the event has been over and Joohyun currently taking off her make-up to call it a day, while Woohyun is out at the balcony of their luxurious apartment, having only taken his jacket off, and his tie loosen down to the low level of his chest, smoking.

She usually copes with stress by watching a happy movie, or go out with her non-celebrity friends to lift up her mood. But Woohyun is the opposite type, where smoking and drinking are his go-tos, and Joohyun feels bad from time to time that she fails to do anything about this unhealthy habit of his, despite having been one of the people closest to him.

She has been constantly feeling bad, because Woohyun has been constantly smoking.

It is not a good sign. And she hates to admit it, but she is almost certain that it has to do with the divorce that they are going to go through in the next few weeks.

"What are you doing?" Woohyun asks, his eyebrow raised for the second time of the day, but Joohyun knows it does not carry the same innuendo compared to the first one earlier this evening- it is laced with pure confusion and annoyance. And she almost regrets taking the cigarette from him.

She fights back the odd lump that has formed at the back of , ready to cough out any given time. She doesn't know if her lungs are just weak by the way they feel they can suffocate any moment now, or the little area of the balcony- even though it's enclosed by open space, has been completely filled with Woohyun's smoking too much that there is no oxygen left for her to breathe in, or both.

"I just." She has to pause because there it goes, a series of coughs coming out of her, to no one's surprise. "Wanted to try this for once. See what's so nice about it."

As soon as the tip of the cigarette touches her lips, however, Woohyun is quick to yank it off her, his mouth agape and his eyes digging holes into hers. "You can't be serious."

With concerned frustration, Joohyun silently watches Woohyun as he raises the half-burnt piece up, but he pauses when he looks at the tip of it, and for some reason, he drops it down to the ground before crushing the burning part with his shoe.

Her eyes trace the ground and she can't help but gasp. "Six? You are going overboard, Woohyun!"

"Get inside, Joohyun," Woohyun snickers, completely dismissing her exclamation, "It's none of your concern."

"You are my friend." Joohyun retorts, grimacing at the taller one now resting his head on the heel of his palm as he leans on the rails. "How can I not worry when you have been smoking a lot more lately?"

At that, the male raises his eyebrow once again, now as a sign of amusement and something bitter as he turns to her, "I think I might smoke another just to get your attention, darling."

Joohyun sighs, rolling her eyes in the act of avoiding his gaze on her. Masked under the frustration that Woohyun completely ignored her concern, the guilt creeps up her mind again as she is reminded countless times that her friend unfortunately has been seeing her as a woman since long ago.

"I'm ready to take all the blame if you are worried about your company's stocks." Joohyun says, a genuine smile tugged on her lips as she looks at Woohyun.

He scoffs, "just how far can you go for that guy?"

Marrying you. Joohyun wants to voice it out, but she knows Woohyun will take it more heavily than she wants him to, even though she has yet to accept nor understand her friend's past actions.

Marrying Woohyun is not something she couldn't steer away from. She had a choice not to, yet she still chose to do it and it would be a lie if she says she suffers from this choice, but she would never regret it.

"I love him." she says, tearing her eyes from his penetrating gaze, "I can do anything for our sake."

Woohyun heaves a sigh before he speaks up.

"Is it important whether he has the same idea as you do?"

"Well-"

Joohyun has to pause herself to think about his question.

"I don't know, to be honest," she finally says, looking out into the beautiful night view of the starry sky, of city lights and traffic, "I don't think it matters. But I believe he feels the same way."

"How long have you lost his contact?"

Joohyun knows what he wants to imply.

"Woohyun, he probably had to change his number for various reasons, like when he had to go to the US for a business trip. I still use my old number, so once the news about us breaks out, he will know and-"

"Go back inside, Joohyun. I need a moment," Woohyun cuts in before she can state the obvious. Maybe Woohyun is jealous and she completely understands that. But somehow, he looks more sorrowful than bitter like usual, and as much as she loves someone else, she still loves Woohyun as a friend and she feels sorry that she cannot reciprocate his feelings.

"Woohyun, I-"

"It's not what you think, Joo," Woohyun cuts her again, "just go, and I'll tell you something important in a few minutes. He sent something to us and we are meeting him sooner than you think."

Maybe it is the mention of Youngho that she does not question Woohyun's solemn tone in his delivery, nor the way he used 'we' and 'us' instead of 'you', Joohyun obliges and goes back inside after telling Woohyun not to smoke anymore for the night.

Just the thought of seeing Youngho again after two years makes her realize that once again, nothing truly matters at the end of the day, besides the fact that she would be able to get together with her love again.

She was in a movie club back in her senior year in college when they first met. Woohyun forced her to join it with him, and she guessed it was more so that he wanted her to break out of her shell and interact with more people of the same interest, rather than his actual interest in gaining the club's occasional voluntary activities to decorate his already impressive resume, save for the fact that he would inherit his father's company anyway.

And it was one of the best decisions she could ever make. Because that was when she met Youngho.

The first time they talked was when Woohyun poked him for literally towering over Joohyun with his unusual height, as she was struggling to read the poster in their first gathering at the club.

"Dude, you have the decency to move to the back or?" Woohyun called from behind. And as soon as he finished his sentence, Joohyun had to elbow the former, well aware that they arrived late and the 'dude' had no idea there were two people in the back.

"Oh god my bad," Youngho said, stepping by the side and leaving enough space for one to come up in front. He was ready to step back but Joohyun touched his elbow to grab his attention.

"Sorry about my friend," Joohyun said, trying not to react to Woohyun's scowl in her peripheral vision, "please just stay where you are."

"Well in that case," Youngho smiled, his attention then full on Joohyun, "I wouldn't want to miss out the opportunity to stand next to a lovely girl."

Youngho had this disarming demeanor on him, that Joohyun, despite having difficulty looking him in the eyes, felt comfortable when he asked what her name was, whether she was also a dual credit high school student like him.

"You could pass as my little sister," Youngho said, with no hint of exaggeration in his voice, "I know I look a bit older than I am, but you know what I mean."

He was friendly but not overstepping with the way he asked and shared tidbits about himself with Joohyun, so much that when he asked for her number to contact outside of club activities, she gladly agreed to.

Despite being younger than her, it was his eloquence, the warmth in his gestures, and the burning passion in what he liked to do that won her over. They naturally got closer to each other, until it was finally time Youngho confessed to Joohyun one year later.

"But you are too young for me," Joohyun could only come up with age problems because she herself had been waiting for that moment since when she didn't quite pinpoint. She guessed she only wanted to see if Youngho was the type to care about age, though she was sure what Youngho felt about it.

"Since I'm no longer a minor, you can't say I'm too young for anybody, Joohyun," Youngho said, pursing his lips playfully at her, "give me a chance, and I will do my best to prove it to you."

Youngho was not her first love, but she experienced a lot of first's from him and by him, which made their love that much more special than any previous ones she had before.

One of the most significant first's she had thanks to him was the first time she steeled herself up for the national beauty pageant contest. He was the most encourageous of her despite her concerns about her chances at winning. He helped her overcome her fears by constantly telling her that height didn't matter, age didn't matter, and most importantly, it was the beauty inside and her intelligence that he believed would win her the title.

And she came out of the contest with a second place crown, proud and happy as ever, with a supportive boyfriend by her side.

Nothing could have gone wrong.

Yet fate seemed to have everything in store, and maybe luck was Youngho's greatest enemy and so was hers; because while passion and adventurousness were Youngho's outstanding personality, it was proven to be a double-edged sword.

That was how their unfinished love ended, with her marrying Woohyun as his condition of helping Youngho out of his losing lawsuit.

But Joohyun has faith. She has never once lost hope that Youngho is still in love with her as much as she is.

So when Woohyun steps back inside their bedroom, tossing a porcelain white engagement party invitation envelope onto their shared bed, Joohyun realizes how much she has missed out, and maybe the love she has always been putting herself into is not as ideal as she has always imagined.

A/N: I might throw in a few bonus chapters to further explain the past and what happens after. Regardless, I hope it wasn't too bad of a read lol. Do participate in the poll right below to let me know your presence!