Something that Sulli was grateful to be born with, was that the more she was upset, the easier it was for her to act like she wasn't. The momentary pain and shock that flickered through her eyes a second ago was immediately wiped clean. Despite her heart was beating painfully fast and she could still feel her legs wanting to shake as she had to continually swallow to keep any possible tears from coming to the surface, yet none of her turmoil showed on the outside. Her eyes were strangely blank but Sulli forced her lips to stretch into a small smile.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Said Sulli and her voice was oddly small but it showed no sign of wavering.

Quickly, Minho spoke up after, "She's the new interior decorator. People have been telling us for ages that the building needed to be remodeled and Chanyeol hired her company to do it. I heard she's the best interior decorator in the city."

"She is." Krystal quickly agreed. Unlike Sulli, she wasn't so adept at hiding her emotions. She looked visibly shaken with a weak smile on her face.

"How have you been?" Asked Krystal softly, her eyes lowered.

Sulli watched her former bestfriend for any signs of fakeness but found none. That was Krystal, she was too busy living her life to the fullest to be fake.

"Great. I'm going to be made partner at Daylight Designs after I finish remodeling the Shinin' Tower. It's going to be a lot of work but it will be worth it." Sulli gave an easy laugh after, sometimes even herself, Sulli was surprised with how good of an actress she was.

Minho, who was on the side next to her, also couldn't believe how naturally she was acting. If it were him, he would have torn Taemin and Krystal in half and brought them to tears already.

"That's good to hear, it's what you always wanted." Taemin finally spoke up, sincere tone laced in his voice.

Once again, Sulli mustered up another weak smile. After all what had happened, she should hate them but they made it so goddamned hard to hate them sometimes. She wanted to hate them and make their lives miserable. But how could she, when they were looking at her like they expected her to tear them to bits at any second?

An awkward silence ensued and this time Sulli did nothing to break the awkward tension. If she opened , she was sure that she would let loose the curses and insults that were dying to be let out. If that happened, it would only be her who would be crying and hysterical in the end, anyway.

"Maybe we should reschedule lunch for another time." Said Krystal softly, looking up at her husband and Taemin nodded. 

The look of love that was so evident in their eyes made Sulli diverted her eyes away and it collided with Minho's. She frowned a bit, how much had he been watching her with such look?! It annoyed her that this man could read too much into her.

Sulli looked back to the couple and she wished she did not. They decided to forget about the lunch and parted ways for now. Taemin leaned his head in slightly as if to give Krystal a kiss for a goodbye but pulled back abruptly at the last minute. He gave an uneasy glance at Sulli and instead gave Krystal's hand a gentle squeeze, mouthing 'See you later.'

Taemin was so stupidly dense, sometimes. Minho thought angrily as he also saw what his dense brother did, noting the uncomfortable glance he gave Sulli. They were behaving like they expected Sulli to take out a shotgun and gun them down at any moment.

Krystal walked by when she stopped by Sulli, her eyes softened and she considered giving her best friend a hug but knew better than that. Instead, she gave Sulli a soft smile and said sincerely, "I'm glad you're doing so well."

Sulli clamped down hard on the anger she felt as Krystal left. She felt a tingly kind of numbness go through her body and she wanted nothing more than to just slap Taemin and Krystal across their faces for betraying her.

At the moment, Sulli was saved from her possible act of hostility by a familiar smooth and masculine voice.

"Taemin! You're back!" Chanyeol sauntered over to the awkward trio but did not notice the tension among them. "How was Maldives?" He asked Taemin but when his eyes landed on Sulli, he quickly and naturally put his arms around her. Once again, oblivious to the dark look Minho sent his way.

"So you must have met our gorgeous new interior decorator." Chanyeol grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

Sulli burst out laughing and was secretly glad for his distraction. Chanyeol was so warm and friendly. He had definitely saved her from an awkward position and she was very thankful inwardly. Unlike Minho who stood woodenly by her side, Chanyeol lent a nice kind of comfort.

"Can I talk to you about some arrangements that need to be made for the lobby?" Sulli asked Chanyeol quietly, looking up at him through her eyelashes, the same way she had with Minho.

And no difference from Minho, Chanyeol was instantly enchanted. "Of course. Come into my office, shall we?"

Sulli gave Chanyeol a grateful smile that swept through her features, instantly erasing the tension in her face. Both of them left the two brothers.

On the other hand, Minho had to bite down hard to keep from bolting after the two of them but his brother was the one who apparently needed comforting. Sulli could deal but Taemin couldn't. He would probably be mired in misery if Minho didn't talk some sense into him.

Minho stepped into Taemin's office, closing the door behind him.

- - - -

"What about the lobby?" Chanyeol asked sweetly to Sulli, sitting on the corner of his desk.

Sulli could finally feel her tension faded away as she took off that horrible fake smile. "We're going to have to close off sections of it to redecorate it. We'll need to retile the whole lobby but for now, we can just section parts off." Replied Sulli, sitting down on one of Chanyeol's chairs. She was feeling so weary now and Chanyeol's office was such a nice, quiet sanctuary from what had happened outside.

Sulli closed her eyes for a second, leaning her head back against the leather armchair when she felt warm hands gently knead her shoulders through her thin silk blouse.

"You're tired." Said Chanyeol softly. He slipped his fingers beneath the silkiness of her blouse, working his knuckles into the knots at the base of her neck.

Sulli let out a little sigh at his touch and Chanyeol's deep chuckle rumbled through her ears. His hands were smooth yet strong as they delicate circles across her shoulder.

"Does that feel good?" Asked Chanyeol.

"Yeah…." Sulli's voice was breathy and low. Her eyes were closed from drowsiness but her body was reacting with his touch.

Slowly, Chanyeol leaned his head down and placed a light kiss where his fingers were. "Does that?"

- - - -

"Did you hire her?" Taemin demanded, his eyes burned with pure panic and frustration. He was pacing his office in a frenetic pace, glaring irritably at his brother.

"Yes and no. Chanyeol was the one who found her company but I signed the contract with her." Said Minho.

Taemin shot his brother an accusatory glance. "I suppose you know her, hyung. Are you doing this to punish me or something? Why couldn't you have hired another interior decorator?"

"I am not doing this to punish you, my idiotic brother. This business decision has absolutely nothing to do with you. She is the best decorator in the city. Shinin' Tower will have nothing but the best. You were the one who ed up, so why should she be punished for your mistakes?" Minho lashed back and it stunned Taemin into silence.

Minho could feel his disdain for his brother grow by the second. Sulli had been so passionate about working, regardless of what had happened in the past. But Taemin was acting like he was the one being punished. As if he was the one who would be in pain every time she came around. He couldn't even imagine what the woman he screw was going through.

"No one says you have to interact with her. Chanyeol and I will handle it." Minho told his brother swiftly. There was no ounce of sympathy in Minho's voice, only a hard edge that was completely decisive.

"Do…do you think Sulli completely hates me?" Asked Taemin miserably, still miring in his own self pity.

"I wouldn't blame her if she did. I'll tell you this Taemin, at least she's acting like an adult and not whining about she can't control. Be a man and own up to what you did."

Taemin stared at Minho. Minho was always straightforward but he was hardly ever judgmental. Minho sounded angry and thoroughly an