The day after the horrendous day at the Jungs, as much as Krystal just wanted everything to go back to normal, it looks like that it had became awkward between the two. Maybe she was just assuming. It was still early, 10am. Maybe Mansae would like to eat cereals at 11am. Who knows? This is all that had happened in Krystal's mind. 

If it wasn't for her phone ringing, she would have not stood up from her bed. It kind of when a lot of people knows about your feelings for a guy. They make it so awkward for her. What if Myungsoo deduced everything from her family's reaction? What if he was already teasing her that's why he was calling her Jungie and she has to call him Myunggie-oppa. Maybe he was playing all along? What if- a lot of what ifs were still in her mind but the phone is continuously ringing. If all her what ifs would actually come true, her family is in a big trouble. 

“I said I would do my best to get them out of my system.” Like a mantra, Krystal kept on repeating that to herself until she answered the phone. The caller id showed that it was her manager. As if she was waiting for someone’s call. 

“Manager-oppa, what’s up?” Krystal flopped down on the bed again. 

“Krsytal-ssi, I’m going to drop by your house today to give you the list of photoshoots that you would have. Kindly go over them now so that we’ll have time to coordinate with them.”

“Okay, but can I just meet you at the coffee shop at Dongdaemun? I’m up for some shopping and me time today.” 

“Sure. Do you need me to drive you there?”

“No need oppa. I’ll drive there.” Krystal hung up.

“I need to get my mind out of this apartment.” Gomdori rushed up to Krystal's legs. “That includes you Gomdori-yah. Your aura is filled with Mansae.” She picked up Gomdori to feed him. “I’ll be back later. Should I put up a note at the door? Or should I - Aish! Stop. I have to stop.” Krystal opened her closet to look for what to wear. 

“Maybe I’ll call unnie to come shopping with me.” Remembering that her unnie was still part of the family that made her life miserable yesterday. “No. No. No. Stop. I have to be alone.” 

After showering and dressing up, she bid Gomdori goodbye and took off. 

-At a cafe in Dongdaemun-

Krystal loved these days that she could just be herself and be in her favorite places. Gangnam might be a place frequented by people but if you know the right choices, you’ll find your paradise. At the moment she is in the second floor by the window. She can just forego the sunglasses and cap, people here are very respectful for the privacy of other people.

As soon as her manager came and dropped off the drafts of the photoshoots, she looked at them. It seems that after her one month vacation, her schedule would be packed to the brim again. Not just individual work, it seems that F(x) is also in demand after their teaser for their reality show. 

One of the photoshoots is exactly a day after her vacation ends. She does not even have the extra time to spend it with the Kim siblings. She quickly closed the files. No, no, no. She has to stop thinking about those two. Even if she only thinks about the younger one, the older one pops just right in. 

But who was she even kidding. They're celebrities. It would be definitely hard to have a relationship with another even if they repeatedly say that they are just friends. She understands that this is the life that she chose and she has to live according to it. 

“Wow, I really do get deep when I go me time.” Krystal was just stirring her coffee when she stared outside. It was such a sunny day. Perfect time to go walking around the city. She even saw couples walking hand in hand and families having their family time. Now that she looks back at the grocery shopping incident, crazy as it may sound, she was actually imagining what it would have been like if it was her own family she was with. With her husband like that, and a son like that. She dropped her head on the table. “I was doing so good not thinking about them. Now gone to waste again.” She said all these quietly, just in case people might think that she is one crazy person.

“Work. Focus on work.” She was about to look at the files again, just to make sure that the themes of the shoots are not clashing with her own standing and such. She flipped through the photoshoots sections and reached the lone acting job that she could audition in. Because of the other things that the company was preparing them for, this drama was the only one that could fit in her schedule. So far, she had different roles that she had played. She tried the snobby rich girl attitude, newbie songwriter, hyperactive student. This one was for the lead as a nutritionist. The girl is described as a typical ‘no boyfriend since birth’ but had a one night stand with a man whom she left hanging until they met again three years later. Now, see this is the reason she likes to have the outlines or the gist of the work she would take. With this kind of a role, it makes her double think the possibility of even auditioning for this. 

With another sigh, she finished her coffee. Even the auditions she has is making her think of her own love life. One more thing that she liked about this coffee shop is that you can leave notes on the table about anything and you can get some notes also. For each table there is one small tin bucket of folded notes, you can be as creative as you want with the folds. There are also papers provided but you can choose to use your own. She mixed the papers and felt one with an odd shape. It was folded as a frog. She really likes animals and frogs are not an exception. She quickly took a shot of it before opening it, learning at the same time on how to fold it.

“Do you smell something burning?” 

Krystal stifled a laugh. She remembered this from a drama she watched way back before. It was a line by Shinhwa’s Eric, where even years after, he is still teased about. This definitely made her day. She started to take acting jobs because she wanted to have these kind of memorable lines. One of her dreams is that even though people would not remember her, just seen as one of those singers turned actresses, at least she gave justice to the work made by the writer. 

She took a pen and a yellow paper then scribbled a “My heart is burning right now.” Although she had known about the bucket of notes never did she write one. With careful hands, she tried to recreate the frog. Satisfied with what she made, she buried the frog at the bottom of the notes. The opened green frog that she took found its place at the back of her phone, inside her case. With one last satisfied look at the bucket, she took all her belongings and went out of the coffee shop. 

-Back in her apartment

Night time had always been problematic for Krystal. Although she wants to sleep, it seems that her body can’t accept that she does have schedules for the day and thus, keeping her awake. It was just 10PM, and usually when her work is continuous, she’d be lucky to sleep at 3AM. Realizing that she won’t find sleep any minute now, she rose from the bed and moved to the living room. She the TV and it was showing a news report. She was not actually listening or watching, there are just some times that she wants to have something to hear. It’s quite complicated. Although she likes quiet places, sometimes she feels more at ease with an environment where she could hear things. She’s crazy like that. 

For an hour, she tried to empty her mind. She listened to the news reports but failed. She tried to think about her members and how they were doing. But eventually, it led her back to the image of a man with an eye-smile. The members found out that she had a crush on somebody. But all that they knew was that, he was also a celebrity, she acted with him, and that he has a killer eye-smile.

She stood up and closed the TV. “Well, at least they don’t know his name.” Gomdori was following her and she picked him up. “I do have to give them credit, they might figure it out sooner or later.” With a flop on her bed, she sighed, “I could just go back into pretending. Yeah. I did it earlier in the cafe… I so can do it now.” 

Although she was on her bed already, she can’t sleep just yet. She took out her phone and started playing songs. Her bedtime songs won’t be those classical lulling type of songs either, she needs songs that are upbeat and dance songs. But nothing seems to be going her way and she eventually she just turned off the music. She tried to think of a song. She tried to think of a voice. A voice that matches well with the plucking of the guitar strings. And the owner of that voice is someone who had changed her. Not only her sleeping habits, but in a span of a week, had her heart beating much faster. The voice and the beating of her heart calmed her down and finally slept came in.