Chapter 7

I stared at the beautiful woman before me, nervously waiting for her reply. She looked back at me with her round sparkly eyes, and her lips trembling as she was struggling to answer.

"E-Eunbi, I.." Sakura began, stuttering.

I unknowingly nodded with each word that came out from . The anticipation had driven me half-crazy.

She continued. "I-

Sakura never managed to finish her sentence, she stopped when the restroom's door was suddenly flung open, startling us both. I turned to the door and ready to vent out my anger at anyone who disturbed us at such crucial moment.

But I didn't.

In turn, I was frozen like a cursed statue when I saw the person who came in.

It was Irene Bae.

She entered the restroom, alternately moving her gaze from Sakura and me with a displeased look on her face.

"Rene..." I heard Sakura mumbled, at the same time letting go of my hands that she gripped tightly earlier. And from the corner of my eyes, I saw her taking a few steps away from me.

I don't know how to describe the feeling, except that it hurts so much.

The young heiress crossed her arms and continued to look at us suspiciously. She was scanning me from head to toe, like a police that was about to question a criminal. I am not a criminal.

"What is going on here?" She asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing. I'm just about to leave." Sakura replied nonchalant as she turned around to face the mirror.

Irene looked at her girlfriend for a few moments, waiting for a better explanation but she received nothing more than just silence. Sakura avoided her gaze and pretended like she was fixing her make up in the mirror.

All of a sudden, I became invisible. Irene didn't look at me, as if I wasn't there.

She sighed.

“That's good. Everyone was looking for you. Let's go.” Irene said, grabbing Sakura's hand.

And that was my limit. I couldn't stand another minute of being in the same room as Irene Bae. It irritated me how perfect and how better she was than me. I grabbed my bag and walked to the door. I could feel Sakura's eyes on me as I made my way to the door and I chose not to look back. If I did, I might run to her and drag her away with me. The decision belonged to Sakura and I won't do anything to ruin it.

But I can't help but glance at Irene. It was hard not to notice her sharp glare on me when I was passing her.

Our gazes met.

Though it was only a mere second but I won't forget the look in her eyes.


She was threatening me.



**


After Eunbi left, Irene turned to look at her girlfriend with an eyebrow raised.

“Do you know that photographer? You two seemed… friendly?” She interrogates.

“She’s a friend.” Sakura replied short.

"Oh really?"

Sakura ignored Irene, she hurriedly walked past her to leave the restroom and the topic once and for all but the latter suddenly grabbed her arm. She stopped and gulped.

“Should I worry?” Irene asked, her tone serious.

Slowly, Sakura turned to looked at Irene.

"Rene, can you send me home now? I don't really feel like being here." She replied gently, diverting her from her question.

Irene let out a sigh and nodded.

"Okay."


**


Sakura sat on a wooden stool in the middle of the room with a white canvas in front of her. The room was surrounded with paintings hanging on the wall and some are neatly stacked on the floor. It was Sakura's favourite part of the house, her art workshop.

She was smiling as she lifted her brush to touch the paint next to her, so carefully so that it won't be mixed with another. And then she turned back at her canvas, where a portrait of a woman was sketched on. Her smile grew wider upon landing her eyes on the portrait, so wide that her eyes were smiling along.

"You're so pretty, Eunbi." She mumbled as she jerked her body closer to the canvas. Then she brought the brush to the portrait, and gently grazed the brush on it.

The young painter continued to smile as she gave colour to the woman on her canvas. At times, she would even hum a song, expressing her joy. Though it was only her portrait, Sakura felt as if she was really spending time with Eunbi. And it made her so happy.

Suddenly, she heard someone knocking on the door.

Sakura's head jerked up, glancing at the door, wondering who dared to disturb her while she was working. She could only think of the maid. It was impossible to be her father, as he rarely step into the workshop. She chose to ignore the knock and got back to finishing her painting.

And to her surprise, the door was opened, followed by the sounds of footsteps.

Sakura gripped her brush tightly in her hand, trying to control her anger. She really hated being disturbed while she was in the workshop. She stood up angrily to shove out whoever that had just entered the room.

She grunted. "How many times I've told you-

But she couldn't continue, instead she swallowed her saliva and froze.

The person who came to visit her late that evening was Irene.

Irene walked into the room with her eyes briefly scanning the workshop. Sakura glanced at the Eunbi portrait and gulped. Just a few steps ahead and Irene will see it. Quickly, she grabbed a white cloth n