"Mmhm, bye darling." Hwayoung said sweetly as she closed her phone looking happy as ever.  

"Just ten minutes before I get off from work." She said as she closed her laptop screen only to open her make up bag and taking out the red lipstick she was wearing not too long ago before it faded. 

"They say when you swallow bits of lipstick it can cause cancer... well," 

Hwayoung smirked and  begun laughing at the theory. It still wouldn't stop her from adding more lipstick.  

Soon enough, the clock signed the end of her shift and she slowly got up from her chair only to grab her purse (she bought it yesterday) and head outside her office.  

The red high heels she was wearing didn't seem to grab everyone's attention yet. 

"I heard she goes out with different men all the time"  

"Yeah well, she has money and all, who wants to miss that?"  

They started discussing, but Hwayoung knew it wasn't about her. It couldn't be.  

With a deep breath she begun tiptoeing her way to the entrance. hurryingly bowing to the co-worker who were gossiping few seconds ago, before she took the elevator that led her to the first floor then out of the building her father owned.  

her father, the owner of the forth big marketing company in south Korea. If you asked Hwayoung's friends they will tell you she was the most honest person a one will ever encounter.  

With that being said, she wasn't going to lie about the fact she was only in this business and this position because of her father. Without him, she would probably be cleaning one of the alleys next to the company. She got in through connections, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that. At least not to herself. 

Hwayoung made her way to the car, grabbing the door handle before spacing out looking at the car windows. she continued to stare blankly into space for what seemed like four minutes long, before remembering that she has to open the car to sit in and drive. she hurriedly shook her head and gotinto the car.  

The restaurant wasn't really far from the company Hwayoung was working in. due to that, she perfectly arrived just in time her boyfriend arrived. she smiled warmly at him the moment she saw him. 

Kim Mingyu, she has been with him for a week now. and everything has been going great this time, at least that what she thought.  

the two reserved a private room few days ago, that why with only Hwayoung's name being said, the waiter immediately accompanied them both to their private room for the night.  

"So, which would you like to order?" Mingyu threw the first question and then both decided what they wanted telling the waiter shortly after.  

Mingyu kept on tabbing his fingers on the table as he looked at the door direction. seemingly bored although he has just arrived.  

Hwayoung sensed something was wrong so she attempted to make a conversation.  

"Have you been here before?" She asked sweetly and he only made a brief eye contact with her before his eyesight followed something else with the answer, "No." and that was how the first conversation ended. 

slightly afraid, Hwayoung tried to approach a different subject, 

"Do you want to go somewhere after this?" And that worked the spell. Mingyu's eyes immediately lit up as he swiftly made eye contact with her.  

Mingyu cleared his throat before answering casually,  

"Sure." Hwayoung happily clapped and mentally nodded to herself. she was fine as long as Mingyu was happy.  

Mingyu coughed again to gain the woman's attention,  

"I-... you will pay right?" Mingyu asked losing eye contact with her.  

Hwayoung hastily nodded and assured him that she will pay for everything.  

"umm." 

Mingyu hummed in return. 

That's it, Changwook officially decided that he will sue his drama queen neighbor, Hwayoung.  

The muffled screams got even louder when Changwook got to the bathroom,  

"Please! Don't leave me! I swear i'll-"  

Changwook exhaustedly sighed as he washed his face to get rid of the drowsiness he was feeling.  

When was the last time she ever was quiet? Changwook asked himself as he remembered the same scenario and words were repeated a week ago.  

Changwook mentally came to a conclusion that she deserved what was happening. No one is forcing her to date any guy she sees on the street. That stupid girl. how can she get attached to a guy in a mere week is something Changwook is amazed of.  

Even a month wouldn't make Changwook attach to someone this much. She was a weird woman. yet, he has yet to know why his heart ached so much whenever she cried. He tried convincing himself that maybe, just maybe he was a guy who had a soft spot for woman who cries.  

But as time passed, Changwook didn't find that excuse appealing nor it was benefiting him in any way.  

Still, she was a dumb woman.  

with heavy footsteps towards the door, Changwook opened his entrance door only to find her crying with her face buried in her palms in front of her door.  

"Will you ever stop causing a scene? I want to live peacefully you know." Changwook stated not so rudely and Hwayoung immediately glared at him through the tears.  

"Mind your own business." She threatened him and Changwook may have found that amusing. he smugly leaned on his door frame with his arms crossed between his chest.  

"or what?" he asked and she scoffed as she hastily wiped her tears with the sleeve of her seemingly new dress. 

"Mind your own business." she aggressively said the sentence again.  

Changwook only shook his head from side to side before sighing loud enough for her to hear. she immediately turned around to open her the front door to her apartment. slightly in a hurry to get away from Changwook. 

Changwook watched in amusement as she suddenly stopped all her movement making Changwook raising a brow as he watched her being frozen to a few seconds.  

He narrowed his eyes in confusion as she looked up as if she was thinking before finally snapping and opening her front door. she got inside without casting Changwook a glance like she usually do.  

Changwook slightly laughed as he yawned in tiredness. even though he literally did nothing the whole day, he was just tired. a coffee would surely bring his mood up. but the key word was a coffee that ISN'T made by him. his own coffee makes him depressed thinking over the fact that he cannot make himself a decent coffee.  

wearing a jacket in a hurry, Changwook finally got out of his apartment and into the street right outside the building.  

"Finally got rid of her man.. she was a clingy one o'right." Changwook caught a guy wearing some real fancy clothes leaning on the building door while talking on the phone.  

Changwook wasn't stupid, he knew he was talking about his dumb neighbor Hwayoung.  

Changwook was almost sure that this guy knew the one that broke off with Hwayoung. They always used her for her money, her father is the CEO of the whatever number it was famous trade whatever in south Korea. And she really thinks that it's true love. Oh what a dumb dumb woman. 

They said 'third time's a charm'. maybe they meant third time as in in the month. because in one month, this is the third boyfriend she got with. Strangely enough, he knows someone named Mingyu. She heard him talking with him on the phone. But she wouldn't think anything of it. She didn't want to make her new boyfriend mad. she wanted a new and fresh start.  

She will work hard to make this happen, no matter what, she will.  

"You hear me woman?!" Her new boyfriend snapped at her and she raised an eyebrow as she looked away from her menu. she hummed in question and the new guy sighed heavily with frustration. "I repeated the sentence five times already." The guy said angrily and Hwayoung almost couldn't believe him.  

"I didn't hear anything." she innocently said and the man repeated again. 

"I said, will you pay for this?" Hwayoung smiled sweetly and eagerly nodded her head.  

"Of course!"  

"Why are you staring at my cheek?" her boyfriend asked and Hwayoung nervously laughed as she focused her eye vision on what looked like his eyes.  

"Just looking at your beautiful skin." She covered it up and the man scoffed mockingly.  

The rest of the day went by and she finally got to her apartment sadly on the same time as her mean stupid neighbor, Changwook.  

She didn't even have it in her to fight him like she usually does so she just ignored him even when he said something to her she couldn't quite catch. She got into her apartment hurriedly throwing out her jacket in the nearest place her hand reached, she basically ran to her bedroom and threw herself on the bed. She just wanted to sleep the night away.  

When Hwayoung slipped out of the elevator and into the way to her office, As per usual, she heard people talk about her in hushed voices. She sadly smiled as she acted as if she couldn't hear anything. 

As she closed the door behind her into her private office, she released a heavy sigh as she sat on the chair in front of her laptop and work papers. She should get started on the papers as soon as possible. the moment she went out to reach for the papers, her hand suddenly stopped moving and she only sat there with a smile on her face as her hand was frozen in air. She kept staring and smiling at the papers while waiting for basically nothing to happen. Her smile grew wide when she finally grabbed the papers and started reading them. She was happy, and that's all that mattered. 

Her phone signaled that a new message arrived to her phone and she almost threw the papers she was holding away from excitement. she recognized that sound. it was a message from her boyfriend. Her true one.  

"Why don't you come with me to the karaoke tonight?" She read the message out loud and with a silly smile she immediately typed a reply saying that she will pay. The next message she got was of her boyfriend telling her the time and place of their so called date. Hwayoung excitedly worked as she waited for her work to end. And only three hours later, she finished and texted her boyfriend that she will be there now.  

of course, being the good woman she is she bought him a famous fancy watch on the way. She remembered how he said that he really love this watch and would do anything to have it. He kept talking about it and Hwayoung found it really cute. Their so called date finally started when Hwayoung and her boyfriend got into a room alone together with the music screen on waiting for any music to be played with it. She gave her boyfriend the gift and he casually thanked her and Hwayoung thought that it was really cute how he didn't know how to react. The both sang together or rather she insisted they should because all couples does that. and by the time their date ended. The man actually offered to take her to her car. She happily agreed as she latched herself of his right arm and the both started walking outside the building. And just when they were a few steps away from the car an unrecognizable voice came from behind them. 

"Ryuwook?" A voice questioned and her boyfriend, Ryuwook bit his lips as he slowly turned around to face the voice and slowly unlatched Hwayoung's arms away from his.  

"Ryuwook! what the hell are you doing?!" A woman younger than Hwayoung said as she was with her group of friends. They were all women.  

Ryuwook nervously laughed and Hwayoung had to ask, "Who is she?" The woman apparently heard as she neared the two and shouted, 

"Who am I?! I'm his girlfriend!" Hwayoung didn't know if this was also a symptoms because right now her whole body felt like it was paralyzed. She didn't know what to do, or even say when Ryuwook defended himself, 

"She forced herself on me! I swear!" he assured his so called girlfriend before he quickly added, 

"She also forced herself on Mingyu and Wonwoo." A gasps were heard here and there and a few seconds later, Hwayoung was on the ground having her hair pulled from different angels with some fouls words.  

She didn't know what to do, she only stayed right there confused as they kept slapping her and pulling out half of her hair. 

She didn't know when it all stopped, but she only knows that now there wasn't anyone in front of her and the streets were suddenly empty.  

"You are a really dump woman." a voice she recognized well enough to make her get her mind back and getting off of the dirty ground said. 

she immediately got her glare ready as she turned around and looked at the one and only Changwook. 

"Those men around you, you know, they use you."  

Hwayoung scoffed in a mocking manner and started laughing a little looking slightly crazy and soon enough her laughter turned to cries as she pushed past Changwook and onto her car. 

It really hurts, to have someone throwing the harsh reality at your face like this. She did a good job hiding that from herself but when someone thinks he can state facts like that it really hurts.  

She only wanted true love, but on this condition, she was afraid she wouldn't get to it. her hair was messy and she doesn't even know what she had cooked right now. she half did it absent-, no, she fully did it with an absent mind. she didn't even know if it was edible or not. the only thing she knows is that it's hard to swallow.  

Or rather, she couldn't swallow. to make the matter worse, she doesn't know what day it is today. or how long has she stayed in home. but all she knows is that she didn't change from her white dress. the dress she wore when she was out with Ryuwook.  

Hwayoung realized that her left leg had been numb for a while now since she woke up. she wasn't going to do anything about it though. what could be done to it anyway? 

a very hushed and hysterical laugh fell from her lips. 

--- --- ---  

Changwook wasn't the one to be worried for days, especially if the matter didn't concern him. but now, he found himself pacing outside of Hwayoung's apartment for three days straight without any signs of her that she left to work or came from it. she has been strangely quiet for these past three days ever since Changwook caught her on the street being beaten up by some women. he did a pretty good job in scarring them though.  

But Hwayoung didn't seem like she was paying attention at all. No men came to her apartment like they always do, Changwook didn't hear any screams coming from outside of the apartment.  

Okay, Changwook soon decided to admit that he was, indeed, worried about her. And soon enough, he found himself knocking on her apartment door silently telling her 'where were you?'. '. Changwook heard a little bit of rustling sounds before a strange pace of footsteps were heard in a distance and soon enough the door was opened only to reveal what looked like a demon witch version of Hwayoung.  

Her lipstick were smeared till her chin, the eyeliner blended into her skin making her look as if she got a bruise on her eyes. brown hair messy and Changwook almost swore that he saw something moving inside of it. She looked totally worn out. "What... What happened?" 

Changwook shockingly asked and Hwayoung only stared at him with absent mind. She looked so..., soulless.  

"Hey, Hwayoung, are you okay?" This time she stared at him right in the eye for a while before saying, "I didn't do that yet." Changwook eyes widened a little in question as if asking what was she even talking about.  

"Hwayoung-"  

"I told you no!" Hwayoung screamed before she closed the door and locked it right in front of his face. Changwook eyes widened till the end and he only stared at the locked door slightly wondering if he was imagining things. 

It's been a week, she just woke up yesterday, and she knew her time has come. She was already too tired to do anything. the only thing she had the strength to do was to take a shower and wear some decent clothes since it was already time.  

Hwayoung decided if she was going to do it, then she might as well do it in something more comfortable. she slowly went to her fancy looking bedroom and crawled on her bed until she found the suitable position and laid down. everything was hard to see already and she couldn't quite hear anything right anymore.  

this was it. 

"This is it, I'm going to do something about it." Changwook made a decision that he will finally do the right thing to calm his heart down. Maybe Hwayoung was depressed because she had no one. and since Changwook was finally being honest to his feelings. he came to conclusion that he indeed wanted to date her. So with the best outfits he wore, he knocked on the apartment he once stood in front of it a week before. When a few minutes passed by and there was no signs of anyone showing up at the door Changwook got slightly worried and begun knocking louder and louder until he was kicking at the door. Where is she? 

Changwook's heart was beating so fast from worry by the time the landlord came.  

He asked Changwook what was he doing and Changwook explained the situation to which led the landlord to take out his set of keys and opening the door to Hwayoung's apartment.  

Changwook hurriedly begun calling her name along with the landlord but nothing happened or rather, nothing showed up. Changwook's eyes travelled to what looked like it could be the master bedroom and he immediately opened it only to find the one and only Hwayoung sleeping on the bed. Changwook eyes widened as he realized that none of the shouting nor the bounding on the door was enough to get her attention and wake her up. 

 "Hwayoung.." Changwook softly called out her name as he shook her left shoulder to wake her up. but the more he did that he silencer the room got. Strangely, Changwook didn't get any response from Hwayoung which made him panic. He worriedly called out the landlord and told him to call an ambulance.  

Changwook has been sitting outside of the emergency room for what seemed like a day already. People came and go and he was still waiting for Hwayoung until the doctor finally got out of the emergency room along with other doctors and nurses.  

"Doctor! what happened?!" Changwook fearfully asked as he stood right in front of the doctor. The doctor smiled bitterly at Changwook before shaking his head. 

"Sorry." He apologized looking as equally as upset as Changwook was. 

Changwook eyes and mouth widened in shock as tears willed up in his eyes. 

"That doesn't make sense! why?" He asked holding back his tears. 

"She had a brain cancer... and this was the end of it." The doctor apologized and Changwook slowly shook his head as he ran outside of the hospital building while all thoughts ran across his mind.  

"She..." He was at loss of words as he muffled his cries with his right hand and thought about how everything was before. 

It didn't make-... 

No, wait, Changwook is seeing it now. 

He finally understood the strange act Hwayoung was showing in the past few months. and he finally understood why Hwayoung was obsessed with dating and didn't take everything slow 

"She only wanted to be loved..." 

The End 

Note for the contest; 

"I took the quote when Changwook said 'those men around you...' and the scene. in the trailer Hwayoung seemed to be dating different men and I thought that there should be a deep meaning behind the reason why she was with different men. and hence the story.  

thank you so much for making me compete in the contest. it was super fun writing this!"