eleven.

“Joohyun, are you alright?”

She looked at him with a dazed look in her eyes, having been preoccupied by her thoughts and she blinked twice, coming back to the present.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She replied and diverted her gaze down to the food in front of her before mindlessly cutting the food into smaller pieces.

“If you’re tired, I can take you home after this. We don’t have to watch the movie today.” Bogum suggested, sensing her lack of energy and smiles.

“Oh no, it was hard for you to get the tickets so we can’t waste it like that. I’m fine, really.” Joohyun responded quickly.

“I’m fine, really.” That’s what you said when you saw Seulgi after a year although you clearly weren’t fine too.

Bogum tried not to let that bother him and he nodded in silent agreement, continuing to eat his dinner with minimal interaction between the two of them.

Joohyun placed her fork and knife down after a while, clasping her hands together on her lap nervously. “I’m sorry Bogum.” She blurted.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Why are you sorry?” He asked with a light chuckle. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’re too kind to me. I don’t deserve you.” She admitted. “You give me so much but I can’t give you anything in return and you never ask for anything back either. You really deserve someone better…Someone who can love you back just as much and make you feel wanted. Not someone like me who only uses you to give myself the illusion that my life is fine when it’s not.”

“I don’t mind being used by you.”

“You should mind.”

“I’m happy with the way things are now. I don’t need anything in return, just being able to see you is enough.” He insisted.

She stared at him for longer, unable to figure out whether he was just too kind or too stupid. “Alright.” Joohyun sighed, she knew there was no point in arguing with him if he was still set on being selfless like this and she was too tired to continue pushing it. “But if you ever want to stop all of this, promise me that you won’t hesitate to do so. I want you to be happy too.”

“I promise.” He said. Maybe one day, he will choose to stop whatever was between him and Joohyun right now. Maybe, if he finds someone who can make his heart beat fast like Joohyun does and someone who he wants to see smile for every minute of the day. But until then, he was going to stay by Joohyun’s side.

She tried her best, but he insisted so it wasn’t her fault right? At least that was what Joohyun told herself to reassure her own conscience that she wasn’t to blame. Even so, she couldn’t shake off what Seulgi had said a few days ago.

The car ride was painfully and awkwardly silent alongside the secret glances being exchanged by the two of them. There were countless times where Seulgi almost caught Joohyun staring at her through the rear-view mirror and vice versa.

There was not much to say, especially not after spending a night together in the same room. All Joohyun remembered was watching Seulgi fall asleep and then almost crying because it had been so long since she had last seen Seulgi in her most peaceful state. If she ignored their surroundings and only focused on her, it almost felt as if nothing had changed.

Joohyun snuck another look at her while she was focused on the road and her eyes lingered on Seulgi’s lips and the way she was biting the corner of her lip due to her concentration on making a right turn. Her phone started ringing, the vibration on her lap startling her and she immediately looked away from Seulgi to answer the call.

“Hello?” She mumbled quietly, turning her head slightly to the side.

“Morning Joohyun! I just wanted to call to check if we’re still good for breakfast at 8 later?” Bogum asked cheerily.

She gasped and glanced at the time displayed in the car to find that it was 7:40 already. She wasn’t even home yet and she still needed to shower since she was pretty sure she reeked of alcohol and smoke, then she had to prepare for another day of work. It would be a miracle if she even made it to work on time. There was silence between them for a while and then he chuckled. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I’m so sorry.” She said, palming her face for letting him down once again. Before she could make up a random excuse since Bogum had no clue about her second job at night, he was speaking already.

“Hey, it’s fine. We can always go on another day. Would you like me to buy you something so you can eat when you get to work?”

“That would be great, thank you so much.” Joohyun felt a small smile form on her face. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe how impeccable Bogum was. He was obviously perfect boyfriend material and she wished she could have real feelings for him – that would really make her life a lot easier..

“See you later then!” He ended the call just as positively as he had started it and Joohyun smiled, nodding and bidding him goodbye. She dropped the phone back onto her lap, drumming her fingers lightly on her knees as she glanced at the time again.

“Boyfriend?” Seulgi asked in a nonchalant tone that was surprisingly free of any sort of jealousy or bitterness. One would not be able to tell that she was her ex and still had feelings for her.

“Y-Yeah.” Joohyun wanted to slap herself for stuttering.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying this but…” Seulgi started, but paused when she had to check the mirrors before changing lanes. Joohyun felt her heart beating fast, just at the fact that they were talking about the topic of relationships. “Bogum is a great person and all, but I feel like it must be a little difficult to be with someone you don’t have feelings for.”

“What do you mean?” She asked in a small voice.

“I mean, I want you to be happy. Truly happy.” Seulgi said, meeting her gaze briefly before looking back at the road. “By being with someone you actually like in a romantic way and not someone you like as a friend but still force yourself to be in a relationship with.” She said and Joohyun wasn’t sure how to respond to that so Seulgi kept talking. “You can get literally anyone you want, so why not give it a shot and find someone you have real feelings for?

“Because I don’t want anyone else…” Joohyun whispered, regretting it straight after and the heat rushed up to her face because of her accidental confession. Hopefully Seulgi would think she was referring to Bogum.

But judging from the look Seulgi gave her after she parked the car in front of Joohyun’s home, she knew exactly who Joohyun was referring to.

“I-I need to go now, thanks for the ride.” Joohyun said, fumbling with the lock on the car door before pushing it open and getting out hastily before even getting a response from Seulgi. The ‘bye’ hadn’t even left Seulgi’s mouth before the car door slammed and she watched as Joohyun ran into the apartment without looking back, unaware that she was still wearing Seulgi’s coat.

…

“Miss Kang, there’s someone requesting for you in the lobby.”

“Who is it?” Seulgi asked with a sigh, rubbing her forehead and taking another sip from her coffee cup only to find it empty. She muttered something under her breath, throwing it in the wastebasket and huffed impatiently. “I don’t have time for-”

“They gave me the name ‘Squirtle’.” Her secretary said, eyebrows furrowing with slight confusion and Seulgi stopped speaking or moving altogether. “Should I tell them to leave?”

“No!” Seulgi stood up abruptly. “I’ll be down in a second.” She said, dismissing her secretary and started to pull her blazer back on.

“Where are you going, Seulgi?” A deep voice made her pause and she looked up at her boss who had just entered her room with Krystal beside him. “I was just about to come to get you to go out for that dinner meeting. Don’t tell me you forgot about it?”

“O-Of course not.” Seulgi mentally cursed.

“Good, let’s go then.” He said, turning around to exit the room but stopped when he saw Seulgi still standing immobile and looking dazed. “Is there a problem?” He asked.

“No.” She quickly replied, picking up the folders from the side of her desk. She had stayed up for the entire night to get the reports and documents sorted, but she was thankful that she did or else she would be in trouble right now. She sped up her pace to keep up with the group which consisted of Sangmin, Krystal and their bodyguards. How on earth was she going to be able to talk to Yeri now? Perhaps she could hide behind the tall bodyguards and escape the building without encountering her.

The elevator doors opened and they walked out. Staff immediately greeted their boss and bowed, everyone making way for them to walk and Seulgi mentally facepalmed because there was no way she wouldn’t be noticed now-

“Seulgi-unnie!”

She halted in her tracks, shutting her eyes and sighing. The younger girl ran up to her and when Seulgi opened her eyes, she realised that Seungwan was with her too.

Great. Just great.

“Seulgi?”

She whipped around to face her boss. “I’ll take care of this, Mr Jung. It won’t take too long, you can wait in the car first!” Seulgi said, desperately trying to throw them off.

“Oh no, it’s fine. We’ll just wait here, it won’t take long right?” He responded, giving her a supposedly kind smile but Seulgi saw right through it. She knew what he was waiting for, what he wanted to see: a weakness of hers. Either that, or a good show.

Well, Seulgi was going to give him a good show.

Eyebrows knitted in determination, she forced herself back around to face them. “What are you doing here again? I thought I made it clear that I didn’t want to see you again.” Seulgi said spitefully, giving them both a glare. “I’m busy and I have somewhere to be right now so I would really appreciate it if you wouldn’t waste my time like this.” She crossed her arms defensively.

“I-I just..” Yeri faltered when she didn’t get the greeting she had been expecting and she completely forgot what she came to say. Seungwan frowned at Seulgi’s attitude and swooped in to protect Yeri.

“Can you lay off that rude attitude? Yeri just wanted to come and personally thank you for giving her the chance to study overseas.” Seungwan said, angered at how Seulgi was treating the younger girl. Seulgi had always been the one who spoilt Yeri the most and she had always loved the kid like she was her own daughter. Seungwan could remember how Seulgi and Joohyun used to pick Yeri up after school and Seulgi would always carry Yeri on her back and run around until Joohyun told them off for playing dangerously. Who would’ve imagined that Seulgi would be saying hurtful words like this to her today?

“Is that all?” Seulgi replied, tone still icy and hostile. “You don’t have to thank me. I only helped you out of pity. I think of it as doing charity work.”

“How can you say something like that?” Seungwan exclaimed. “How can you pretend that you don’t care, when you obviously did that night-”

“I don’t care, alright?” Seulgi cut her off. “You came to me sounding so helpless and pitiful, I knew there was nothing I could do except help you with whatever you needed so that you can all leave me alone.”

“You’re lying…” Yeri said in a small voice.

Seulgi forced a laugh out. “Deny it all you want. But it’s the truth, I only helped you so that you can stop bothering me. I mean it when I say I don’t want to see you ever again.” She said firmly. “And you, who let you in? Aren’t you blacklisted?” Seulgi scowled, shifting her gaze to Seungwan.

“You’re a jerk.” Seungwan said through clenched teeth and Seulgi laughed at the weak insult; it was so typical of her. “I can’t believe I had hopes that you had changed. I really thought you were still a good person but I was just stupid. You can’t be saved, Kang Seulgi.”

“I don’t need to be saved.” Seulgi replied indifferently, looking at her watch as an excuse to not have to see how disappointed Seungwan’s expression was. She didn’t know if she would be able to stand being looked at like that. “Are you done yet? I have actual important things to attend to.”

“Take your stupid jacket back.” Seungwan threw the folded jacket at her and Seulgi caught it as it hit her chest. It was the one she gave Joohyun and forgot to take back, not that she minded too much. She didn’t even expect it to be returned but it was, and judging from the whiff of an all-too-familiar fabric softener smell, it had been washed and ironed too. “I’m not sorry for wasting your precious time.” Seungwan said poisonously before grabbing Yeri’s arm. “Let’s go, Yeri.”

Seulgi didn’t wait to watch them walk off and her heel, ready to get out of the place when Yeri spoke up again, in a voice that was much louder than before.

“At least we know Joohyun-unnie won’t be marrying someone as heartless as her.” She said to Seungwan but projected her voice so that Seulgi could hear it as well. She gave a small smirk when she saw the way Seulgi’s steps faltered.

“What?” Seungwan’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t know?” Yeri asked. “Bogum-oppa is planning to propose to her on their next date. I think unnie knows it too and she hinted to me that she would say yes.”

“Really?” Seungwan gasped. “No wonder she’s been in a good mood recently.”

“And I think Bogum is planning to take her back to Daegu and live there. Since there’s so many bad memories and people here, they want to start anew.” Yeri continued speaking. “How cute is that? I think they’ll make a really nice married couple, how many children do you think they’ll have?”

Seulgi couldn’t hold it in anymore and her patience snapped, making her turn around to storm back to them. “You’re lying. She wouldn’t say yes to him.”

“What? You can’t accept that Joohyun has someone else who can make her happy?” It was their turn to taunt her. “You can’t possibly think she would still choose you, right?” Seungwan challenged, sticking her chin out and she enjoyed seeing how Seulgi’s emotionless façade was breaking.

“Deny it all you want, but it’s the truth.” Yeri said, mimicking her previous words. “Once they leave, you won’t see her again. Which is good, she can finally live peacefully without you ruining her life.”

Seulgi’s jaw tightened and she looked away, taking sharp breaths to regain her composure. “Good for her. What they do doesn’t matter to me, I don’t care.”

“Of course you don’t. It’s not like you still love her or anything.” Yeri replied with a shrug. “But I’ll still be sure to send you wedding pictures so you don’t miss out.”

Seulgi turned and left without another word.

“Sorry for the wait, let’s go.” She said, bowing stiffly to her boss and then going straight out of the front entrance before the tightening feeling in her chest and the suffocation she felt inside the building could choke her. She clenched the front of her shirt, forcing herself to keep it together and not fall apart. At least, not now. Not in front of so many people and right before an important meeting. She held back the tears as well as she could, brushing off Krystal when she asked her if she was alright and blamed the tears on dust that got into her eyes.

…

“Pull yourself together!” Seulgi told herself repeatedly, her hands gripping the edges of the sink tightly as she glared at her own reflection in the mirror. “Don’t let it get to you.”

But how could she not?

Even when faced with a few of the most powerful businessmen in the industry waiting expectantly for her to present to them their plans, all she could think about was Joohyun and how she was soon going to be married to someone she didn’t love.

It all seemed like one big joke, a joke that the Gods were playing on her, just to see her suffer. To think that Seulgi had been preparing to propose to her when she got offered the job of taking down the biggest tyrant of the industry; if she hadn’t taken the job back then, perhaps they would be the ones living in Daegu now, happily married and spending every day together.

But no, she was marrying someone else.

How ing ironic.

Seulgi couldn’t properly focus on pitching their idea to their potential partners and she stumbled over her words a few too many times, missed the questions thrown at her and forgot a lot of the points she had memorised the night before. Sangmin immediately called for a break, giving an excuse that Seulgi might be getting sick since this was very unusual behaviour coming from her.

She sighed, slapping her face lightly to ‘wake’ herself up and she exited the restroom to see Krystal waiting outside. Her face lit up when she saw Seulgi and she sprang off the wall to cling onto her.

“Are you feeling better now babe?” She asked, rubbing her back lightly.

“Don’t call me that.” Seulgi replied, shaking her off and walking past her. She really wasn’t in the mood to put up with her today.

Krystal frowned, stomping her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. “Kang Seulgi!” She shouted, making Seulgi stop in her tracks and she heaved a tired sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Krystal stormed up to her, giving her a glare. “If you keep treating me like this, I’m going to break up with you.” She threatened.

Seulgi laughed dryly in amusement. “How many times do I have to tell you that we were never together? Now excuse me, I need to get back to the meeting.” She tried to walk past her but she quickly sidestepped to block her path.

“You’ve been acting strangely today.” She said, narrowing her eyes. “Is this because of that person called Joohyun?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Seulgi muttered.

“Who is she to you? You seem to care a lot about her.” Krystal said with a bitter tone. She had to be completely stupid to not notice the change in Seulgi’s demeanour and behaviour after hearing about Joohyun from those girls at the lobby. She had never seen Seulgi so disorganised and distracted before, especially not for something as important as this meeting. To think that this was all because of that one person, Krystal knew that person was no ordinary acquaintance.

“She’s no one.” Seulgi snapped back almost immediately. “I have to go now.” She said with finality and Krystal didn’t try to stop her from leaving this time. As she watched Seulgi quickly make her way back, a sardonic smile crossed her face.

“Oh Seulgi, you’re such a terrible liar.”

She whipped her phone out from her designer handbag and dialled a number. It was picked up within two rings and a cheerful voice greeted her. “Hey Soojung, what’s up?”

“I told you not to call me that!” Krystal hissed, feeling the urge to hunt her friend down and strangle them herself when she heard the laughter over the phone. She huffed, “Listen Amber, I need your help with something.” She said seriously.

There was a short period of silence. “Oh no, I am not going to dig up dirt on someone else for you again.”

“It’s your goddamn job.” She deadpanned. “You’re a private investigator.”

“Yeah, but for actual important things! Not for your petty friendship dramas and blackmail purposes.”

“Please! I really need some info on this person.” Krystal pleaded. “I’ll buy you anything you want. I just need all the information you can find on one person.”

There was a long sigh over the line. “Give me a name.” She said finally.

“Joohyun.”

“Last name?”

Krystal paused. “I don’t know.” She admitted quietly and she heard the scoff of disbelief.

“Do you know how many ‘Joohyun’s there are in this world?” Amber questioned. “How do you expect me to-”

“She’s connected to Kang Seulgi in some way. Also if it helps, she’s also connected to some people called Bogum and Yeri, I think.”

“…That does help. I’ll see what I can find.”

The response made Krystal heave a sigh of relief and she grinned. “Thanks Amber! You’re the best.” She said excitedly. “Oh, and I want results by the end of today.” She added, hanging up the call before she could hear the protests and complaints.

…

The phone call came through at night just as she was getting ready for bed. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Got the info I asked for?” Krystal asked, climbing into bed and settling back comfortably against the silk pillows.

“I dug up a lot, you’ll be impressed.” Her professional-stalker responded proudly and Krystal smiled. Bingo. Let’s see who this Joohyun really is. “I’m sending you all the intel now. Most of it are pictures from social media that have been deleted already but it wasn’t hard to dig them up.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know.” She replied smugly. “But Krystal?”

“Hm?”

“What are you planning to do with this information that I’ve given you?” Amber asked cautiously.

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to get to know some friends better.” Krystal replied smoothly, hearing the notification on her laptop that meant the file had been received in her inbox.

No one ‘gets to know’ their friends better by asking a private investigator to dig up details on their personal life. Amber knew better than to believe her.

“Promise me you don’t do anything reckless.”

“Yeah, I promise.” She replied dismissively. “So, what did you find out?”

“Her name is Bae Joohyun. She went to the same high school and university as Seulgi. And uh…”

“What is it?” Krystal asked impatiently.

“They were together for a long time; 7 years actually.”

Krystal bit the inside of her cheek. She should’ve known. Of course she would be her ex, otherwise why would Seulgi care so much about her?

Amber continued talking but Krystal had zoned out just thinking about the fact that they had been together for 7 years. 7 whole years; that was a lot of commitment and it was no wonder that Seulgi couldn’t fully move on if they had spent that much of their life together.

“Are you still listening?” Amber asked after a while of no response.

“I’m going to look through the files myself. Thanks again for your help. Talk to you later!” She hung up the phone before Amber could reply, tossing it aside on the bed and focused on her laptop screen. She clicked open the file labelled ‘social media photos’ and she felt her heart drop when she saw the amount of photos that included Seulgi and one other girl who Krystal guessed was Joohyun.

She hated how she had to admit that Joohyun was very pretty. That only made things more difficult.

Damn you. Krystal clicked through the photos angrily, seeing picture after picture of either Seulgi or Joohyun or both of them that they had taken on their dates. She hated how happy they looked, how in love they looked and most of all, she hated how she had never seen Seulgi smile in the way that she did in most of her pictures with Joohyun.

Jealous was an understatement of what she felt and she almost screamed in frustration when she saw a picture of Joohyun kissing Seulgi on the cheek.

It angered her that she herself had not been able to go further than holding Seulgi’s arm while they walked despite her many efforts to push their relationship to the next level. Now she finally understood what was stopping Seulgi from giving in to her advances. No living being had been able to resist her until Seulgi came along and it was damaging to Krystal’s ego that someone could reject her. It only pushed Krystal into trying harder and becoming more determined to get what she wanted.

It’s all because of this . She’s trying to take Seulgi away from me.

Krystal balled the sheets in her fists, feeling the mixture of anger, jealousy and possessiveness bubbling up in her. She was used to getting everything she wanted no matter how ridiculous or unrealistic it was. In fact, Krystal Jung had never not gotten what she wanted. What she wanted, she would get. The same goes for Seulgi.

Seulgi is mine.

She was going to do whatever it takes to get what belonged to her and she was going to make sure no one would stand in the way of that.

Especially not Bae Joohyun.

…

a/n: this took longer than i expected haha
sorry for making krystal a dislikable character here :( but you might thank her later who knows

i started this thinking it would be around 10 chapters long but.. lol