The past few weeks had flown by in a breeze. Seulgi’s wounds were healing slowly but steadily while Joohyun already had her stitches removed and was back at the bridal boutique going about her usual routine. The latter was going back and forth between the hospital to take care of both her work and her girlfriend and even if it was tiring, Joohyun didn't mind at all. 

 

Because Seulgi was worth it. 

 

She didn’t mind the long hours standing by the stove, making herbal soup for Seulgi, or watching her sleep for hours on end when she arrived at the hospital when the bear was hibernating or spending her nights at the hospital sleeping with Seulgi. At this moment, everything else was secondary and Seulgi’s recovery was her primary concern. 

 

Joohyun was feeling as though she was living in a dream. Sharing kisses with the artist, laying on the hospital bed with her, burrowing into her neck to inhale her scent, waking up to feel the artist’s arm thrown possessively over her waist…everything felt so right when she was with her. 

 

Which was why Joohyun knew that something was wrong the moment Seulgi’s manager stopped her in her tracks. 

 

“You aren’t allowed to visit Seulgi anymore.” 

 

“What?! Why?”

 

“The media’s starting to smell a rat,” was all her manager replied as he ed the newspaper article into Joohyun’s hands. Her eyes widened when she saw her face printed on the front cover of the paper.

 

‘She was the artist’s date at the red carpet…’

 

‘Same person found at the scene of the accident…’

 

‘Has been seen going to the hospital daily to visit the artist…’

 

Scanning through the article, Joohyun knew that the media were starting to pick up something regarding her relationship with Seulgi and she hated to admit it but they were spot on. 

 

“So? They can report whatever they like. What Seulgi does in her personal life won’t affect her artworks no?” Joohyun retorted, letting her anger get the better of her.

 

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the manager pushed his glasses up his nose. “You know that being gay isn’t accepted well in our country. The moment the media confirm their suspicions, the price of Seulgi’s artworks will skydive.”

 

“You mean the price of Seulgi’s artwork is more important to you than her happiness?” 

 

“Are you implying that you make her happy?”

 

It was a simple statement but it sent Joohyun boiling. 

 

“Yes, I do. Now please move. I have a girlfriend to see,” Joohyun muttered through clenched teeth as she pushed her way past Seulgi’s manager. 

 

“Really? I don’t think you will make her very happy when no one wants to buy her artwork.”

 

That stopped Joohyun in her tracks. 

 

“You see, Joohyun-shi, do you think you can compete with Seulgi’s other love — her art? Everything Seulgi does revolves around her artwork. She wants you because to her, you are a piece of art; yes, you are beautiful. But the moment you grow old and are no longer youthful, she will put you aside. You're lucky she didn't throw you away after the crash since it did nothing to your face.”

 

It’s not true, he’s just spiting you, ignore him…

 

“Oh and she brought you as her date to the exhibition because you were wearing a dress she had designed. I guess that’s gonna sell pretty well since you wore it. Ah, seems like I forgot to tell her that we chose to mass produce it. Remind me to tell her soon.” 

 

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

 

Tears were forming at the corners of Joohyun’s eyes with every word the manager spewed out. She hated how, with just a few sentences, Seulgi’s manager had managed to sow the seeds of doubt in her heart. She only knew Seulgi for a couple of months. Seulgi’s manager had been with her for years. What if just like all her previous schoolmates she got together with her just because of her appearance? And Seulgi cared nothing for who Joohyun was inside?

 

Moreover, what if Seulgi’s work would no longer sell because of their relationship? What if she would be forced to quit the art business? What if by being with Joohyun, Seulgi would have to sacrifice her first love that has been with her for nearly her entire life? 

 

Joohyun’s fists were clutched tightly in both anger, hurt and confusion she could only glue her gaze to the floor.

 

With her mind in a haze, she could come to one conclusion. 

 

For Seulgi’s sake and to stop herself from getting hurt by being in a bad relationship, she turned around and left. 

 

———

 

“Where’s Joohyun?” Seulgi sensed something was amiss when her girlfriend didn't appear at her bedside on time. 

 

“I have no idea. Maybe something cropped up at the bridal boutique. It must be pretty urgent if she didn’t even have time to call and inform you about it,” Seulgi's manager replied, leaning against the doorframe with nonchalance evident in his tone.

 

“Oh okay. Guess I’ll just take a nap now,” Seulgi stretched her limbs and closed her eyes, settling  into a comfortable position for her nap. 

 

But the moment the door clicked shut, her eyes shot open. 

 

She had her suspicions but she could not confirm if her manager was lying. 

 

Picking up the phone at her bedside, she dialled the number of the bridal boutique. 

 

“Hey, Bogum. It’s Seulgi. Is Joohyun around?”

 

“No…I thought she went to visit you?” 

 

“Oh, is that so? Maybe she got caught in a jam. I’ll call her directly. Thanks!” 

 

This was beginning to get worrying. Fingers shaking, Seulgi urgently punched in Joohyun’s phone number only to be sent straight to voicemail. 

 

. 

 

Without a doubt, there was something wrong. And this probably had to do with her manager. 

 

But that was her least of her priorities now. She had to figure out where the heck Joohyun was and whether she was okay. 

 

Glancing to the wheelchair next to her bed, Seulgi knew what she had to do. 

 

And it wasn’t going to be easy. 

 

———

 

“Seulgi! My lord what do you think you are doing! Stop moving this instant and get back onto the bed!”

 

Shooting an angry glare at her manager, Seulgi gave no regard to what he said and tried, once more to get herself onto her wheelchair. 

 

She had been trying to accomplish the deceivingly simple task for the past hour but had failed on all accounts. Sweat was dripping off her chin and her arms and legs were shaking from the exertion. Her breath was coming out in small pants but despite everything, she was still trying. 

 

She needed to get to Joohyun. 

 

Her manager’s shout had succeeded in getting a hoard of nurses rushing into her room to help her get back onto the bed. 

 

“No! Put me on the wheelchair! Now!” 

 

“Are you stupid? Do you not want to recover? Seulgi! Look at your hands! They’re, for God’s sake, trembling!” Seulgi’s manager was livid. “What if they don’t recover and you can never draw again?!”

 

“Is that what you said to Joohyun?” 

 

“What? I told you-“

 

“YOU WILL NOT ING LIE IN MY FACE!” 

 

Only the sound of breathing could be heard as Seulgi glared at her manager, her hands now shaking not in exhaustion but in anger. Seulgi scrutinised his every single move, from his thumb twitching to him chewing his inner cheek, and she knew that she had hit the nail on the head. 

 

“You saw Joohyun didn’t you.” It was more of a statement than a question. 

 

“And so what if I did?” Seulgi’s manager challeneged her stare. “What does that matter to you?”

 

“It means the entire world to me!” Seulgi was nearly screaming at this point. “Look me in the eye and tell me what you ing said to my girlfriend!”

 

“Seulgi. Manners.” 

 

No it could not be. Seulgi’s breath caught itself in . 

 

“Mom…”

 

———

 

“Hey.” 

 

“Hey.” 

 

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Seungwan let out a short chuckle, pretending to be amused but her dark eye circles and exhausted look gave her away. 

 

“I didn’t think I was going to come here either myself,” Joohyun replied curtly, settling herself down on the seat. An awkward silence filled the air before Seungwan let a deep sigh escape her lips.

 

“I’m sorry,” Seungwan kept her head down. “I wasn’t in my right mind. I shouldn’t have-“

 

“It’s all over. Don’t dwell on it anymore. If anything, I blame myself,” Joohyun cut her ex short. “If I had tried to forgive you before we split-“

 

“Thank you but don’t try to make excuses for me Hyun,” Seungwan smiled. “Whatever I did was wrong in every sense of the word. Thank god this place managed to knock some sense into me.

 

“I’ve come to accept that we can’t get back together. And I understand why Hyun; I’m sorry for lying to you and I didn’t realise that with each lie I told and each secret I kept, it just led to more lies and more secrets. And everything was eating away at me inside. If I were you, if I had found out everything…I don’t think I would be able to forgive myself either. 

 

“But thank you Hyunnie, for uncovering this, because it has given me a chance to start anew. We have shared beautiful memories and it is time we left them in the past, to move on and carve out new futures for ourselves.”

 

“Seungwan…” Joohyun mumbled, wanting to reach across to take Seungwan’s hand but the window was in the way. 

 

“Don’t look so sad Hyunnie. Aren’t you with Seulgi already? You should smile and be happy with her,” Seungwan rested her head on her hand and looked at Joohyun expectantly. 

 

“That’s precisely what I came to talk to you about,” Joohyun let out an exasperated sigh, feeling her eyes starting to get wet once more as she recalled whatever Seulgi’s manager had said. 

 

“Hey, I’m here,” Seungwan gave her a soft smile. “You can tell me everything.”

 

Looking at Seungwan’s earnest eyes across the mirrors, Joohyun knew that this was the Seungwan she had fallen in love with. And even though their romantic relationship was over, the Seungwan she knew was caring, thoughtful and possibly one of the few people in the world she could truly lean on. 

 

And thus, she let go of all her inhibitions and poured everything out for Seungwan to hear. 

 

———

 

“Your fears are unfounded, do you realise that?” Seungwan gave a light smirk once Joohyun was done. Dipping her teabag into her cup of hot water, she took a light sip before continuing. “I don’t think you should even be considering doubting Seulgi’s feelings for you.”

 

“But-“

 

“See, Hyun, the moment you doubt her, the entire relationship falls apart.”

 

Seungwan let her words linger in the air for a moment as she toyed with her teabag. 

 

“If I read Seungi correctly, I think she had feelings for you since a pretty long time ago.

 

“You might think that Seulgi is some other person who only wants you because of your exterior but I can assure you that isn’t the case. For every doubt you have in her, think about the times when she cared about you. Do you remember when she saved you from me nearly choking you? Do you remember when she designed that dress for you? Do you remember when she drew that portrait of you? She didn’t need to design anything for you, draw anything for you or even gift you expensive things but the point was that she did.”

 

Silence ensued for a moment as Seungwan let her words sink in. 

 

“What I’m saying Joohyun, is that Seulgi cares. And she cares more than a normal friend would. Remember when she told me she would never let me doubt her character? If my little experience with her is anything to go by, I would say she’s a truthful person. That is something I won’t doubt.

 

“Trust her Hyunnie. If she loves you. She will find a way to make this relationship and her love for her job work.” 

 

———

 

“Seulgi, what Manager Kim is saying is not baseless you realise that, no?” 

 

“Mom…what are you doing here,” Seulgi shot daggers at the woman who was wearing a fur coat which looked all too expensive, over a high end leather jacket coupled with a pair of high-heeled boots. 

 

Or rather the woman who controlled her life. 

 

“That’s not the point Seulgi, this is.”

 

A stack of grey papers flew in Seulgi’s direction and landed squarely on her lap. 

 

“Joohyun?!” Seulgi held the papers up in shock. 

 

“Congratulations Seulgi, your so-called ‘girlfriend’ has landed herself on the front page.”

 

Seulgi gave no reply and kept her head down, allowing her mom to continue. 

 

“Fortunately, all these are just speculations and will probably have no effect on the prices of your paintings. Of course, I will expect no more such behaviour from you. You are to break off your whatsoever relationship with her otherwise I will do it. Do you understand me?”

 

Taking her daughter’s silence as her consent, Mrs Kang simply smirked and with her heels clacking, walked out of the room.

 

———

 

"Hey, it's Seungwan. Joohyun's here visiting me you know."

 

"Huh, that's weird. Shouldn't she be at the hospital."

 

" happened. Do me a favour and bring Seulgi here? I'll keep Joohyun here for as long as I can. Do it fast though."

 

"I'm trusting you on this okay."

 

"You have my word."

 

———

 

“No.” 

 

“What?”

 

“I said, NO!” 

 

Seulgi finally looked up and, with angry tears flooding her eyes, stared at her mom for the longest time. 

 

“I will not break us up.” 

 

“Sure, Seulgi, if you don’t want your art pieces to sell-“

 

“I’M NOT A ING CASH COW BORN TO MAKE MONEY FOR YOU TO BUY YOUR FUR COATS AND LEATHER SHOES!” Seulgi shouted. 

 

“Seulgi, you will not shout-“

 

“I DON’T ING CARE!” Hot angry tears were making their way down Seulgi’s face now. “I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS !

 

“Since I was a kid,” Seulgi swallowed her anger down. “You’ve told me what to do, who I could or could not be friends with, what career path to take…hell you even chose my manager and agency for me! Yes, you are my mom, I won’t deny that but have you ever showed care and concern for me? Did you even care about my happiness? Have you even acted like a mother to me?

 

“All you’ve truly cared about is how much money I can rake in. What you can spend the money on. If the money is enough to support your lavish lifestyle. You didn’t even come to visit me when I got hit by a car! But Joohyun-” Seulgi continued in a quieter voice as she pictured Joohyun’s beautiful, calm face in her mind.

 

“Joohyun was with me every step of the way. 

 

“She was right here when I woke up. Every morning without fail she buys coffee for me because she knows I can’t function without it. She knows I hate hospital food so she makes an effort to cook for me. She knows that the hospital is too cold for me so she keeps me warm when I sleep. Tell me mom, have you ever done that for me? Do you even know half of what Joohyun knows?”

 

“Wow, my daughter knows how to give moving speeches huh,” Mrs Kang scoffed as she adjusted the obnoxiously large ring on her finger. “But you see, Seulgi, I am your mother. Imagine what would happen to you if word gets out that you are a forgetful little child who won’t even give her mother money to survive?”

 

“Then I quit.”

 

“What?”

 

“I will quit being an artist. If me being an artist is just to support your high maintenance lifestyle, to rake in profits for the company, to partake in flashy events where I have to spend days shaking people’s hands, then my very existence is, to me, superficial. I can’t live like this. I quit.” 

 

"Hey someone! Help me onto the wheelchair here please," Seulgi called out as she waved to get a nurse's attention.

 

“Seulgi, now you can’t be serious about quitting-” 

 

“I did, I said I’d quit.” 

 

“But honey,” Mrs Kang began sugarcoating her words. “Even if you go find Joohyun now, what are you going to do? You have no income and technically, you still signed onto the company-“

 

“I will find a way to make it work. And I have enough in my account to severe my contract with the company so there’s that,” Seulgi refused to be bought in by this woman’s words. 

 

“Don’t be stupid Seulgi, even if you get on that wheelchair, you won’t be able to go anywhere by yourself in that state. Stay here and we can discuss things,” desperation filled Mrs Kang’s voice as she tried to convince her daughter to stay. 

 

“Why are you assuming that Seulgi is alone?” A handsome figure appeared at the door and Seulgi’s face immediately brightened up when she realised who the person was. 

 

“Bogum!” 

 

“Hey, I think I was a tad late in visiting you? I mean, I do have to cover for Joohyun who’s been the main representative of the boutique coming here,” Bogum joked around, blatantly ignoring Seulgi’s mother and manager as he helped Seulgi onto the wheelchair and wheeled it towards the door. 

 

“You are not taking Seulgi anywhere.” A hand landed on Bogum’s shoulder. 

 

“Really? And who are you to tell me that?”

 

“I’m her manager.”

 

“Oh, from what I know, you just got fired.”

 

“What?!” Seulgi’s manager blinked furiously at Bogum. 

 

“Our bridal boutique just paid for the severing of Seulgi’s contract. From now onward, she is a full-time employee of our bridal boutique and is no longer an employee of your art firm. So I believe you don’t have any jurisdiction over what I do now. If you don’t believe me, I believe that your boss is going to call you about,” Bogum glanced at his watch. “Now.” 

 

And right on cue, Seulgi’s manager’s phone began to ring. With a smug look on his face, Bogum pushed the wheelchair bound individual out of her hospital room, leaving a fuming mother and ex-manager in their wake. 

 

“Watch it Kang Seulgi. This is not over.” 

 

———

 

“How the heck did you do that?” Seulgi glanced up in awe at Bogum as he pushed her down the hallway. 

 

“Let’s just say the boss and I are good friends. And I was standing outside long enough to hear whatever y'all said. Not to mention you were practically screaming so loudly that made it easy for my old ears to pick whatever you said up,” Bogum replied lightheartedly. “But on a more serious note, are you sure you can move about? I mean-“

 

“I’ll be fine. Where are we going?”

 

“To see Joohyun of course.”

 

———

 

It was dusk when Joohyun finally left the rehabilitation centre. Her talk with Seungwan had taken longer than expected, with short breaks in between as either of them needed to go to the washroom. 

 

Her gaze was on the ground as she walked, contemplating about what she should do now. Should she call Seulgi? Go back and just walk past her manager to her room? She didn’t know. 

 

She had let herself become so submerged in her thoughts that she did not realise that she was stepping onto a road until a car horned her way. Shock, she stumbled back onto the pedestrian pathway just as the car skidded to a halt in front of her. 

 

“You need to be a bit more aware of where you’re going Hyun,” a familiar voice rang out as the car door opened. "I don't think we want a repeat of the previous incident."

 

“S-Seulgi?” 

 

Joohyun could barely believe her eyes as the person she was longing to see appeared as the car door opened.

 

“You didn’t come to me today, so I figured I’d come to you instead,” Seulgi laugh as she tried to get out of the car. But weeks of not using her legs had left them weak and she stumbled. 

 

And Joohyun was there to catch her. 

 

“You idiot! Why did you leave the hospital in this state? Who even-“

 

“Heyyo Joohyun! Work ended early today so I figured I should drop by to say hi to your girlfriend. Dammit! Why do you get all the hot ones and I have no one?” Bogum popped his head out of the front window as he waved hi to his co-worker. 

 

“Bogum! You should have forced her to stay in the hospital! What were you think-“

 

“Hyunnie. It’s not Bogum’s fault. He was just helping,” Seulgi explained as she leant her forehead against Joohyun’s. 

 

“But Seul-“

 

“Shhh. Let’s just stay like this for a while? Hmm?” Seulgi whispered and smiled as she closed her eyes, enjoying her close proximity to her girlfriend. Closing the rest of the gaps, she placed a gentle kiss on Joohyun’s lips before whispering against them. 

 

“I don’t know what my manager said to you but I want you to know this. I don’t care what the media reports or if it affects the prices of my paintings. The media is not important. You are. I care about you above everything else. I want you and I need you but above all, I love you. I will find a way to make this work. 

 

“Never doubt me.”

 

And with that, Seulgi sealed her promise off with another kiss to Joohyun’s soft, plump lips.  

 

--------

Oh the drama.

I know I've been quite chill about the silent readers thing but I guess after writing so much, I really need comments to motivate me.

In short, more comments please? :)

Thanks for reading guys :)