Ever since that night, Hyejin started to avoid Byulyi.

It was easily done since she had to start working on her new album.

Byulyi was being a completely understanding girlfriend, which made Hyejin felt even guiltier. She managed to distract herself from missing Hyejin long enough until the doctors took off her bandage and cleared her to start working with Yongsun again.

By the time Hyejin started missing Byulyi, nearly three weeks had passed.

She was a little disappointed that the texts and calls from Byulyi lessened over time and horrible thoughts started invading her mind, but she quickly shook them off. After debating with herself for nearly an hour, she decided to make a surprise visit to Byulyi’s workplace.

After making sure all her tasks for the day were done, Hyejin roped Wheein into driving her to Yongsun’s agency. Wheein was more than eager to oblige because she finally got to see her extremely busy girlfriend.

When they arrived at the agency, the office was almost deserted – except for the receptionist and Yongsun.

“What are you two doing here?” Yongsun asked with a frown after the receptionist ushered the two into her office. “Hyejin-ah, don’t you have to work on your album? And Wheeinie, isn’t this still your office hours?”

“I got special permission from the CEO,” Wheein said with a proud smirk. “He doesn’t want Miss Princess here to run off who knows where with who knows who.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes and completely ignored the shorter woman. “Is Byul-unnie here?” she asked Yongsun.

“She’s doing a photoshoot right now,” Yongsun replied, shifting her attention back to her computer, “but she’s almost done…” she glanced up at Hyejin and smirked, “want to wait in her office?”

Hyejin didn’t care how red her face was or how big the smile on her face was right now. She nodded eagerly and followed Yongsun’s direction towards Byulyi’s office.

It was smaller than Yongsun’s, but it was still spacious and comfortable, complete with the usual office décor. The only sign that the room was occupied was the picture on the wall behind the office desk; it immediately became the center of attention as soon as the door to Byulyi’s office opened.

Hyejin was there now, frozen in the doorway, staring intently at the picture.

It could almost pass off as a painting if not for the glossiness that became evident once lights were shone on it. The picture was of a lone girl, her back facing the camera, and she was leaning against a railing, looking down at the forest scenery below while bathed in the warm glow of the evening sunset.

Hyejin felt a throb in her head as well as in her chest as she continued to stare at the picture…

I didn’t have to turn around to know that she was taking a picture of me. Let’s just say that I had developed an instinct for her sneaky camera shots.

I gave her a whole minute before I slowly turned around and leaned back against the railing, smiling amusedly at her. She let out a surprised yelped and quickly tucked her phone away.

“Unnie, I want to see them someday,” I said deliberately, watching in fascination as a myriad of emotions crossed her face, “your pictures, I mean…”

“Wh-What pictures?” she stammered, giving me her most innocent smile. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hyejinie…”

I wanted to laugh and expose her right then and there, but where was the fun in that?

“I’m sure you took a picture of the sunset, right?” I asked innocently. “I mean, you’ve been taking pictures the whole time we’re here, right?”

“O-Of course I have,” she hastily replied.

I could see the relief washing over her face and I had to bite back a smile. Ah, it would be a shame to part with this interesting person after this trip. Maybe we should create some memories here since it’s our last night…

But Unnie fell asleep as soon as we got back and my plan was ruined.

Seeing her adorable sleeping face, an idea suddenly struck me. I rummaged through her backpack and took out her precious Polaroid camera.

“I can’t let you be the only one with sneaky shots,” I murmured as I gently sat next to her, careful not to wake her up.

She must be really exhausted since she didn’t stir at all despite being a light sleeper. Then, I inched closer until my face was hovering over hers. I positioned the camera an arm’s length away from our faces and then I puckered my lips towards her before pressing the button.

I waited patiently for the picture to appear, my eyes constantly glancing at her sleeping figure from the other side of the room. When the picture finally appeared, I smiled with satisfaction and returned the camera back to its rightful place. Then, I sat down at the writing table and started writing at the back of the picture…

Hyejin snapped out of the flashback just in time to feel a presence behind her.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

She didn’t have to turn around to know who the owner of that low voice was. She just smiled and nodded her head.

“It’s the very same picture that kick-started my career in photography.”

Her smile widened, feeling a little proud that she had had a hand in helping that happened even though she wasn’t aware of it. But then again, was that girl in the picture really her?

“Who is she?” Hyejin asked curiously, acutely aware of the anxiousness in her voice, “the girl in the picture…”

Hyejin felt an arm circling around her waist and then something soft pressed against the back of her neck. She bit her lip, suppressing a moan, her eyes fluttering close as she leaned back against the warmth radiating from behind her.

“It’s you,” she heard Byulyi whisper in her ear, “the girl is you, Hyejinie…”

She felt her body being turned around slowly and gentle hands caressed her face, coaxing her to open her eyes and stare into warm chocolate orbs.

“It’s actually a picture I took of you when we were on a trip,” Byulyi confessed in a soft voice, a look of shame and guilt in her eyes. “I mean, the rules didn’t apply since we weren’t dating then, so I shouldn’t feel guilty about it, but…”

“But it was taken secretly,” Hyejin finished, nodding slowly in understanding, “so you have mixed feelings about it…”

“It’s a pity that your face wasn’t displayed,” Byulyi sighed as she leaned her head against Hyejin’s. “I would have needed to seek your permission first before using it. Maybe then I could have found out about your condition sooner…”

“It’s okay, Byul-ah,” Hyejin murmured, sighing happily as her hands went around Byulyi’s neck, “it’s in the past…” Then, she frowned as something finally hit her. She pulled away from Byulyi and stared at her with wide eyes. “We were on a trip but we were not dating?!”

Byulyi blinked, looking a little startled. “Um, I guess you haven’t remembered that far yet…”

No…that’s wrong…if we weren’t dating, then why was I feeling that way about you?

Hyejin disengaged herself from Byulyi and stepped past her into the hallway. “I-I need to go,” she said in a shaky voice, avoiding Byulyi’s confused gaze. “Tell Wheein I’m taking a cab home.”

Then, she fled as fast as her two feet could take her.

As soon as she entered her apartment, Hyejin immediately made a bee-line for her room.

She rummaged through her closet, tossing out her mementos and old albums until she found a small tin box. She slowly opened it and found exactly what she was looking for – a yellowed Polaroid picture of her and Byulyi; she was sporting a short haircut, eyes closed and lips puckered, hovering over a sleeping, dark-haired Byulyi.

Her hands trembled as she slowly turned the picture around. She let out a stifled gasp when she saw the writings on the back, tears pricking at the back of her eyes as she read them over and over.

My dear beloved Moon Byulyi,

I will wait for you, even if it means forever.

Lots of love from your future wife,

Ahn Hyejin

Hyejin clutched the picture against her chest and started sobbing uncontrollably.

She remembered now.

The trip was her one last wish before Byulyi went away to America; her only chance to reconcile with her ex before she leaves for who knows how long. She was supposed to give the picture to Byulyi on the last day of the trip – a promise for the future; a future where they would be reunited once again.

Just before they left though, she changed her mind and had it tucked away; she realized that she needed to let Byulyi go and trust that she would come back to her safe and sound. Even if it meant Byulyi would fall in love with some stranger in a faraway land.

She had never expected the accident to happen – she was filled with deep regrets during the chaos; she thought about what could have happened if she had given the picture to Byulyi earlier. At the same time, she also realized it didn’t matter because Byulyi wouldn’t know about this; no one knew how much she meant to Byulyi or how much Byulyi meant to her. How could they when she had purposefully hidden their relationship, and her own feelings for Byulyi, from the world?

She felt her head pounding, but she didn’t care; she was too tired to fight against the scene invading her mind…

I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance and vaguely remembered that I had crawled out of a burning taxi moments before.

Oh, the ambulance must be near…

I opened my eyes slowly, but the world seemed to be painted in red. Even so, the stars shone just as brightly in the night sky above me.

I felt something dripping on my face and I shifted my gaze to the face hovering over me. I lifted my hand, quite painfully I might add, and wiped away her tears.

“Wheeinie…why are you crying?”

My voice sounded hoarse in my ears and my chest hurt from just talking. She immediately froze and looked at me with wide, frightened eyes.

“Hy-Hyejinie…y-you’re alive!”

I managed a smile, hoping to reassure her that I was generally fine, but she just scowled at me, as if sensing what I was thinking.

“Th-the ambulance is on its way,” she mumbled, slowly regaining her composure, “y-you can’t leave me just yet, Hyejinie…”

But I wasn’t planning on going anywhere…not when my body was hurting all over. I couldn’t say it out loud though, my chest hurt too much, so I just blinked my eyes, hoping that she understood.

And she did.

She finally smiled; I could still see the tears and fear in her eyes and the slight quivering of her lips, but it was still a genuine smile.

Then, my eyes shifted to the sky again and I smiled when I saw the stars, thinking about my beloved Byul who was now so far away from me.

Dear God, if this is my last day on earth, I only have one wish. I wish to fall in love with Moon Byulyi again in my next life. I wish to be her first love and she will be mine. I love you, Byul-ah. See you on the other side.

The flashback ended abruptly.

Hyejin remained on the floor, still clutching on to the picture, but her sobbing had stopped. Her memories were slowly coming back to her, piece by piece, without needing anymore flashbacks. It was a satisfying feeling and heart-wrenching at the same time as the guilt and regret over how her relationship with Byulyi began and ended finally dawned on her.

The sound of her phone ringing snapped her out of her thoughts. She picked it up absent-mindedly, not bothering to check who it was.

“Hyejin-ssi...?”

She realized that the voice belonged to her manager and a frown formed on her face. “Ah, Eunbi,” she said, to suppress the annoyance in her voice, “why are you calling me? I thought I have finished for the day…”

“Ah, yes. I just need to run through some things with you.” A brief pause. “Is this a bad time?”

It was surely the worst timing for a call, but Hyejin suddenly thought it was actually the perfect opportunity.

“Eunbi, I apologize in advance for what I’m about to ask you, but believe me when I say that I need this.”

“O-Okay…?”

Without any hesitance, Hyejin began telling Eunbi about her plan.

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A/N: Hi, sorry for the late update, but hopefully I made it up with this long chapter... ^^;

The next update will be late too because it's the last chapter and I want to tie any loophole left. *whisper* And I also have a bonus Wheesun chapter planned...hehe *whisper*

Until next time! Thank you for reading and commenting! ^^