The night is still young and clear skies show the millions of stars shining brightly in all of Seoul. Far from the internal storm brewing inside of Irene.  The said woman is sitting on her couch drinking her jasmine tea. The television is on yet she barely pays attention to some random drama playing in the background. Instead her mind has been time-traveling to the moment… that particular moment that changed her life.

It has been a full month since the incident at that boardroom happened yet the events are still as clear as water in her memory. How their own pandora’s box has been opened and shook their lives to the core. Up until this day, she cannot believe how she was thrown on a roller coaster of events that day. That unfortunate day…

Flashback

Bang

Bang

The sound of gunshots echoed in the room they are in. Irene’s mind went blank after that ear-splitting sound. One second… two… yet the ringing in her ears persisted. Her vision also started getting blurry. It’s like she has been submerged underwater. At first, it was all white and foggy. But as her sight started clearing up, she saw the silhouette of a woman’s face a few inches closer to her own. Initially, she could just make out the outline and no other feature can give her a clue about who the woman is. That is until her vision gradually gets clearer and she made out who this woman is.

Seulgi…

Seulgi who is speaking so distinctly against Irene’s face.

Hyun….

That time she cannot make out the words…

Hyun

Hyun…

That’s her name. She recognizes how Seulgi’s mouth seems to be saying her name. Yet the rest of the words are incoherent.

Hyun … okay?

Please…

“Why are you saying please?” She wanted to ask yet seems to be frozen shut. She tried closing her eyes to at least calm herself down. Trying to override her body to hear and understand what Seulgi is asking her. It took her about five.. ten seconds before she opened them again. Thankfully this time, she managed to hear the words clearly.

Hyun baby, please. Are you okay? Are you hurt?

And there it is. The soft and affectionate voice of this special woman is filled with worry with every word that gets out of her beautiful lips. Something thugs at her heartstring seeing Seulgi this agitated over her well-being. She’s happy yet hurt at the same time.

“I’m okay.” Irene managed to say, hands which are still shaking badly slowly finding their way towards the younger’s cheek. She saw Seulgi leans against it, with the latter’s own hand going up to hold hers.  The moment their hands touched, Irene realized that Seulgi’s are shaking a lot just like hers. And it dawned on her that the woman is as shaken as she is but, despite Seulgi’s state, she is prioritizing Irene over anything else. And truthfully it sends tingles in her chest.

“Krystal…”

The two who are starting to get lost in their world hear almost at the same time. It was Bogum, crawling to get to his sister who is lying facedown on the floor unmoving.

“Stal please open your eyes. Don’t sleep.” That’s the time when Irene, noticed Krystal. Krystal who is still has her arms extended wide. A proof that during the crucial moment when the gun went off, she got out of Seulgi’s hold only to go around and wrap her arms around the two.

Krystal, who is now unconscious and has a red patch on her back.

The girl who used her body to shield both her and Seulgi from the gunshot from Jung Il-woo who she realized is also laying flat on the floor, bloody and unconscious.

Just in time for several people to swarm into the room and Irene remembered being led by Seulgi, one arm protectively on her shoulders and a hand holding her own as they made their way out. They are taken inside the ambulance while the Jung siblings rode another.

End of flashback

Her mind has been brought back to when she heard a familiar name on the tv. As it turns out, the show she has been watching is over and a brief news flash is showing now. And what contains it is the person she has been missing for the past few days.

Chairman and CEO Kang Seulgi has been doubling her efforts of making the company afloat despite recent events involving Jung Corp’s previous president and suspected criminal Jung Il-woo.  The CEO held a press conference to give her official statement regarding the whole fiasco that happened a week ago…

The broadcaster continues her report but Irene’s attention has been fully captured by the girl standing confidently in the middle of the press conference. The woman looks so good in a black suit, pants, and even an undershirt. Just like what she did in the board meeting, this Seulgi stands in the crowd while explaining the future endeavors of the company. Irene’s chest is heaving with pride. Seeing the woman confidently speaking in front of everyone, she has gone a long way since then. It made Irene bittersweet.

Especially since she is not there besides Seulgi…

Flashback

During her entire stay at the hospital, Seulgi never left Irene’s side. Although her tests came out negative, the younger insisted for she stays for the night or at least a day just to make sure that there is nothing wrong with her. Those are the times when Irene felt frustrated with Seulgi. So she eagerly takes the comforter away from her body intending to give the woman a piece of her mind, when the said person came out of the door. Before Irene can even say a word or atleast stand up from the bed, Seulgi already made a way toward her.

“Hey, the doctor said that you should take it easy.” And just like that the younger hovers beside her like a mother bird looking out for her babies.

Irene was so ready for a rebuttal but as she looks up and saw Seulgi she immediately discarded the idea. The younger looks like she aged about ten years in a span of a few hours. Her eyes look sullen, her cheeks and lips a little pale and she looks like she hasn’t eaten in days with the way her body is slouched. The scene caused her to shut and just give a curt nod. That is until the questions on her mind started resurfacing.

“So you have been working with Krystal all this time?” She carefully asked. She was answered with a small smile which prodded her to ask further.

“Care to tell me the details?”

Not wanting to keep her beloved in the dark anymore, Seulgi started retelling the story with Irene listening to her attentively.

“Remember that night when I broke up with you and told you that I picked her? I was planning to do the opposite during that time. I wanted to meet up with her to clear everything up. That despite regaining my memories, I still want to be with you and put everything else behind me including her. I wanted to finally be with you without the burdens of the past clinging to me so I agreed to meet up with her. It’s you who I picked that time Hyun.”

 Irene’s eyes shifted into Seulgi’s face upon hearing those words. Seulgi has this faraway look on her face. It’s as if her mind has been transported back to that night.

“Did you know that I was already planning a lot of things by then? A month-long vacation where I would propose to you and ask you hand in marriage again? Then in about a year or two I am gonna try and convince you to have a baby with me. It doesn’t matter who will bear as long as she’s both ours. I used she because I am actually praying to have a baby girl who will look like you whom I will treasure so much. She will grow up to be the most amazing child in the whole world and will be the proof of our love. But I guess it’s not our time yet.” She saw how Seulgi’s face became crestfallen.

“Krystal has met with me not because she wanted to go back together but because she discovered a sinister plan of her father. As it turns out Ilwoo has been pushing Krystal to win me so he can easily take over th