[CONTENTID1]37.[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Seoul, 2019[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

“You cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.”

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

[/CONTENTID3]

[CONTENTID4]

“This is a bad idea Ji.”

Sehun says in a stern voice. He stares at Jihye with his sharp and serious gaze. But Yoongi on the other side is sitting across Sehun, deep in thought. The three of them are currently sitting crossed legs in her living room having an ‘emergency’ meeting just as Sehun said. “But I think this has to be done sooner or later.” Yoongi says calmly.

“You know…” Jihye starts. She is fiddling with her half empty glass of lemon tea. “I never hate her. Not even once. I only felt a little bit jealous of her and mad but I realized that I never really hate her. I wish that I had.”

“Instead I blame myself. Sometimes, it’s better to blame and hate someone else rather than yourself.”

“Because it’s easier to forgive other people than yourself.” Yoongi finished her sentence. “Yeah.” A small sad smile graced her lips. “It’s been a long time and I think it’s time for us to finish this.” Jihye says. “So, I asked you both not to make me change my mind. I just want you to know about what I’m going to do.” 

Sehun sighs in defeat. He moves closer to Jihye and pulls her in a tight hug. “Since when did you become this mature huh?” Sehun whispers. Yoongi quietly moves to them and leans his head on Jihye’s shoulder. Jihye giggles and wraps her arms around Sehun and Yoongi’s waist. “Thank you for being such a good friend to me.”

***

Sometimes she questions herself, what is love? 

She can’t define it but when she thinks about it, love comes in the form of Byun Baekhyun. Love is the feeling when she's mesmerized at his soft laugh when she beats him in a game or whenever he looks up from his food and grins at her. Love is the way Baekhyun always snuggles closer at her when they have a Disney movie marathon. Love is the warm hugs Baekhyun gives her when she feels tired or down. 

Love is the way her heart skips so many beats even when they just do nothing. Love is how she wants to shower his face with kisses just because he’s being his cute self. Love is how she can easily tell what he’s thinking or feeling just by watching him from the side ways. Love is when she feels her shoulder relax at once when she sees him.

Just like right now.

Jihye is walking alone along the sideways to the bus stop near Samsung’s office. Then a car honks at her. The wave of happiness hits her hard when the windows of the passenger seats of the Audi that stops in front of her rolls down and reveal the face of her beloved darling. Baekhyun grins brightly at her. “Good evening gorgeous lady, do you happen to need a ride home?” He greets her in his usual goofy way. Jihye chuckles quietly while covering with her right fist. Then she opens the passenger seat’s door and slides inside. She pulls the door close in a soft thud. 

For a few seconds, Jihye only stares at him with a soft smile on her pink lips. “Miss, are you okay?” Baekhyun asks, still sticking with the character he plays. “I’m fine. I just want to admire the fine-looking gentleman in front of me.” She answers him. Baekhyun chuckles then leans forward and whispers, “Tell me to kiss you.” 

“Sorry sir, no matter how good looking you are, I have a boyfriend.” Jihye replies slyly. Baekhyun groans. “He won’t know.” He whispers again and moves even more closer so that their lips are only a few centimeters away. “I don’t know. My boyfriend is way more handsome and famous than your kind sir.” Jihye says with a smirk.

Baekhyun mimicked her smirk. “I promise it’ll be thousands of times better. So, tell me to kiss you, my lady.” Baekhyun now looks at her with half lidded eyes. Jihye feels butterflies fill her stomach no matter how composed her face looks right now. 

“Kiss me.”

Without any second being wasted, Baekhyun presses his lips on hers. His hands move from the steering wheel to cup her face. He pulls her closer and deepens the kiss. 

“I love you Ji.”

Baekhyun says in between their kisses. 

She doesn’t know how but now she ends up on his lap. Jihye pulls aways when Baekhyun lowers the recliner of his seat. Baekhyun tries to pull her again but Jihye covers his now red and swollen lips with her right palm. “Stop.” Jihye manages to say while catching up her breath. “We’re in public, oppa.” 

Baekhyun, eyes haze with lush, chest heaving up and down heavily, finally nods after a few seconds. Jihye pulls down her hand from his lips then caresses his hair, down to his cheeks then stops at his shoulder. She put one final kiss on his left cheek. “I love you.” She whispers. Baekhyun says nothing and only stares at her with his half-lidded eyes and lips open.  

“You’ve heard it from Sehun oppa, haven’t you?” 

Baekhyun sighs then nods. Jihye smiles knowingly. How can her cheese ball look this cute when he’s worrying her wellbeing? She then rains his face with soft kisses. “Nothing will happen. Promise. Let’s go celebrate with pizza after I talk to her, kay darling?”

“Okay.”

***

She wants this to end quickly.

Taeyeon feels even more anxious as she knows nothing of Lee Jihye's intention of asking her to meet. After ten minutes of waiting in anxiety, the door of the restaurant’s private room that Jihye already booked for them finally opens and reveals the young girl who now has blonde hair. Taeyeon straightens her posture and puts on her immidating face. 

“Hello, sunbae. Have you waited for long?” 

Jihye takes a seat across from her. “Not really.” Taeyeon answers curtly then takes a sip of the water that the waitress has served. “So what do you want?” she asks. Jihye’s lips curve up in a small smile. Her face looks so calm that it makes Taeyeon a little bit scared of her. “Peace.” Jihye answers simply. “I want peace.”

“Peace?” Taeyeon scoffs. “Aren’t you tired? I’m tired of being in this kind of relationship with you. We used to be very close, weren’t we?” Jihye says. Closed? Maybe they were. Does she want to try to repair their broken relationship after all that happens? Lee Jihye is more naive than she thinks. “If only you didn’t betray me, I probably would think of you as my own little sister.”

“What? I never betrayed you, sunbae. If you talk about how SM wanted to debut me, it’s not my fault. I wasn’t the one who made the decision so how can you keep on blaming me?”

“Oh come on. You asked your father to pay SM so that you can debut instead of me.”

Jihye's eyes widened in surprise. What? It’s impossibl