- Mingyu's POV -

After the party, while everyone was bidding their goodbyes, Wonwoo caught up to me.

"Hey. Where do you think we should go?", he swung his arm over my shoulder.

"Hmmm... I know a lot of places in Gangnam...", I trailed off.

"But I know your family used to own a restaurant in Gangnam. Do you own Gangnam now?", he hit me playfully. Wow, I missed this.

I laughed, "Well... you could say it like that..."

"Ya~ my Kim Mingyu is different now! But why are you working for Soojin then?"

I shrugged. "It just happened. Come on, I'll tell you everything once we get there."

We decided to bring my car, as Wonwoo was taken to the venue hall by a driver. While on the road, we were catching up and laughing.

"But seriously, we should really save up some stories for Soojin. She might not like it if she missed out on some of it.", Wonwoo said.

"Oh... but you know, Soojin changed.", I said in a serious tone.

He sighed. "Really? I thought it was just from the shock, but I felt that too earlier. What happened?"

"I also don't know, it's best to hear it from Soojin herself.", I decided not to tell Wonwoo, as it is a secret and Soojin doesn't know that I know.

We went to one of our restaurant, a different one this time. I chose a table at the far back. I texted Soojin the address, and even though she didn't reply, I know she will come.

When Soojin arrived, I was quite surprised by her clothes. She was wearing a white shirt and jeans; very unlike her usual outfits in the office. I'm really liking the Soojin I am seeing so far. And I saw that Wonwoo is also looking at Soojin the same way.

When she approached our table, she went straight for the empty seat on the other side of the table. Wonwoo and I have empty seats beside us but she didn't even glanced at those.

I noticed Soojin is just staring at the menu. "Coffee please.", she handed it back to the waiter.

"You're not going to eat?", Wonwoo asked her.

"I don't eat with other people.", Soojin said. "Well, do you have anything to say? Why did you made me come here?", she looked at her watch then at somewhere else.

"Soojin-ah, mianhae... sorry for not telling about me. I also didn't know! They suggested you as the best person to organize the launching party. And when they mentioned your name, that's when I knew...", Wonwoo looked at me. "But I never expected to see you here too."

I smiled. "Look at us, all in the same field and company after all these years. It's so amazing. Right?", I cautiously looked at Soojin.

But the girl didn't even move an inch. She was just looking at her coffee. I'm getting annoyed.

"Sooj-", I started but Wonwoo beat me to it.

"Kwon Soojin. Why are you being like this?", he seriously asked. I forgot how he can be a bit scary when he's serious or mad.

That made Soojin look at Wonwoo. "You still don't get it, huh... don't you see? Looking at you both reminds me of that day... and I hate it."

"I know I shouldn't be angry, I know I shouldn't blame you for what happened... But what is this? Somehow... I want to know, I really want to know... Where were you that day? We promised to meet and I waited... Both of you, you didn't come.", Soojin's voice was shaky.

"Is that why you left?", Wonwoo suddenly asked.

"Did you really think I left because of that? I had to leave... I was forced to leave. You wouldn't understand...", Soojin looked down.

"Then make us understand.", I calmly said. There's no best time than now, now that Wonwoo's here.

Soojin hesitated, then she took a deep breath and told us everything; about her family, what she went through and goes through until now, and what happened the day she left. Wonwoo and I just sat quietly, listening and absorbing everything.

It turns out what I heard from the drunk Soojin that night was not yet everything. Her mom died when she was very young and she was sent to America along with her stepbrother to study and live there. All her life, she lived with people teaching her to lie about her identity, until it became routine and natural for her. Because her father's reputation comes first; it always come first and it must come first.

Who would've thought we had an president?

Soojin meant in her note that she left in the greenhouse that day was she was hoping that someday, we'll come find her. She didn't know how, but she hoped. Eventually, she gave up on hoping and slowly forgot. She returned to Korea after graduating college and entered the industry; as an adult where no one will ask about her family anymore.

"That's why I do PR and marketing.", Soojin sadly said. "I promote stuff as if they're so great... even if they're not. Because I'm good at that. That's the only thing I'm good at; lying."

Wonwoo and I were clearly out of words and can only look down. Wonwoo spoke first, "I'm sorry we couldn't come earlier. We really had no idea. I hope you understand."

"But please hear us out too.", I added. "It was raining hard that day and Wonwoo and I just stayed inside... thinking you wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes. When the rain wasn't stopping, we decided to just run to the greenhouse... but found it empty except for your note. We ran back to the school and looked for you but no one knew."

"No one knew where you went, Soojin. Even the teachers. We couldn't believe it. It was like there was no trace of you.",  Wonwoo explained.

"After finishing grade school, Wonwoo went to study to London and we eventually drifted apart.", I finished.

Soojin was fiddling with her coffee cup and sighed. "We all had something that happened, huh."

"I think the most important part is... when will we hold a press conference about all of this?", I suddenly asked.

Of course, it was a joke. It's like we instantly had an unspoken agreement that what we talked about here will stay in this restaurant. But Wonwoo and Soojin laughed anyway.

Suddenly, everything was alright again.