Soojung has been sitting in front of the gallery when the person she has been waiting for about half an hour now called her name. Despite her back against the hallway and her gaze fixated on the glass window on her left, she has known and memorized Seulgi’s voice that she is confident to be able to recognize it from miles away.

“Ms. Soojung. I’m sorry, I’m late.” She smiled despite the bitterness she is feeling inside. It feels foreign to be called differently by the person in front of her.

Sluggy Bear. I’m sorry for making you wait too long.  Her mind imagines what the Seulgi that she knows would’ve said. It did not help that the two have a personalized nickname for each other. She calls Seulgi, Jungie Bear which is a phrase indicating that Seulgi is the bear that Soojung owns (SooJungie’s bear) while Seulgi calls her Ddeulgi Pup indicating that she is a puppy that Seulgi owns (Ddeulgi’s puppy). She smiled at the memory. But her distant thoughts when Seulgi waves her hand in front of her.

“Are you okay Ms. Soojung?” She heard Seulgi asked.

“Ohh sorry, I just remembered something.” She forced herself to put up a smile but it was soon replaced by a shock once she heard another familiar voice called out to the woman in front of her.

“Are you that excited for you to run off like that Seulgi? Gosh. I really thought my knees would give out. Especially since we did not take the elevator to go here.” Wendy ranted although she is busy catching her breath.

“Wendy Unnie I can’t help it. I am late and I don’t want to waste time waiting for the elevator. And I don’t want Ms. Soojung to wait even more.” The blonde girl just smiled at her boss’s kind nature that is until she turned her attention to their client and widen her eyes upon seeing someone she knows so well.

“Krys….” She did not manage to continue what she is saying when the girl spoke loudly.

“You must be Ms. Seulgi’s secretary. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jung Soojung.” And Wendy just found a hand offered in her direction.

At first, she wondered what game Krystal Jung is playing by using a different name and acting like she doesn’t know Seulgi or her but one look at her boss’ expectant face, Wendy decided to just play along for now.

“Yeah. It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Son Wendy. I’m sorry that I was missing in action for the past weeks and let my boss handled the sale. I was just caught up in a lot of things.” Krystal just shrugged her shoulders at this.

“Oh, no worries. Ms. Seulgi handled it well. So well that there are no problems with the paperwork so I am here now to transfer the money and sign the documents to finalize the sale.” Wendy tried to find any hint of malice or any ill intentions but she found none of it. She badly wanted to believe that Krystal just wants to buy some paintings from Seulgi but there is this nagging feeling inside her that there is something that she is not seeing here.

“Oh, Why don’t we all sit down inside so we can proceed with our agenda for today.” Seulgi broke the invisible tension with her usual jolly self causing the two to just abide.

The rest of the meeting went well. The papers have been signed and turned over while the payment has been transferred smoothly. It was mostly Seulgi and Krystal talking while Wendy is just quietly observing the exchange. That is until Seulgi received a text from Yeri. The two agreed to meet after the younger’s class as Seulgi is buying her something in the mall later. The latter then excused herself to Wendy and Soojung intending to go to the lobby of the building to fetch the kid.

“That was Yeri. She said that she is already nearby so I’ll just go down to get her.” Seulgi said while standing up. Wendy also stood up to follow her boss when the girl quickly stopped her.

“Just stay here and keep Ms. Soojung company Unnie. I’ll just bring one of the guards with me downstairs to meet Yeri.” And with that Seulgi turned her back and disappeared through the door leaving the two.

Wendy who was mum the entire time decided to break the silence.

“I wonder what brought you to Seoul Ms. Jung Soojung or should I say, Krystal Jung. Because the last I heard you are in the US which I say is miles away from here.” She tried to sound calm but Wendy can’t help but lace her voice with poison.

“Is it wrong for me to be here? I am still a Korean so technically, I am just coming back to the country of my origin.” Krystal answered in her usual cold and serious tone far from the one she uses when talking with Seulgi.

“It’s not wrong to come back here. But to approach Seulgi who has no idea about you nor the past relationship that you had with her and pretending to be another person doesn’t sit well with me. Makes me think that you are planning something.” Wendy gritted her teeth in annoyance while Krystal is just sporting her poker face.

“I’m warning you Krys. Seulgi is happy now with her wife. So if you have any ill intentions toward them, I suggest you back off. I will not let you destroy Seulgi and Irene’s relationship.” The blond girl said in a warning tone.

“First and foremost I don’t answer to you, Son Wendy so I don’t need to explain myself but let’s say for the sake of it, I will satisfy your curiosity. Ever since I met her, I always have the Seulgi’s best interest at heart. And may I remind you, I was the one who held Seulgi when she was on the brink of depression. I was there for her when she was at her lowest. Not as her girlfriend but as her friend. Because before we entered into a relationship I was also her friend like you. I also value our friendship before anything else. Much like how she helped all of you, she also helped me a lot back then so I won't do anything to harm her like what you suspected me of.

I came here as soon as I can after I heard the news of her accident from Byul Unnie not to ruin anything between Seulgi and her wife but to help her in any way I can. I was a huge part of her past and I figured that I might help her recover some of her memories. I approached her as Jung Soojung because I don’t want to overwhelm her of my presence. I don’t want her to avoid me just because I am her ex. I plan for her to get to know me first and become her friend so that she will know what kind of person I am before judging me just because I am her ex-girlfriend who might do something to break her and her wife up. I just want to support her not as anything else but as someone who cares about her, as her friend.  I don’t care if you will report about this with Irene or not but I just want to help Seulgi. I don’t want to overwhelm her by revealing who I really am. So for her sake, I’m asking to just keep this between us. I will be the one to tell her about everything when I feel that she is ready.” What Krystal said struck Wendy hard. For the years that she’d known Seulgi, she is aware that most of what the woman said about her friend is true. Seulgi was barely even alive back then. It was Krystal who brought her back, who brought back the genuine smile and the spark of happiness in her dear friend’s eyes. And above anyone else, Krystal has been