4 years later…

Joohyun stepped quietly out of the board meeting with more responsibility than when she left. Her hands were full of confidential documents meant to be filed and then destroyed. Her face bore an emotionless expression which was the norm these days.

Four years earlier, she would have escaped this life of useless meaning to pursue her dreams, except it was different now. Now, she had responsibilities and obligations to the family, which she understood on a different level. At first, the idea of becoming the heiress of a thriving multi-million company was unappealing to her, but now it had become a routine… a way of life. Such decisions came with serious payments.

Since her comeback into the high society, she lost all emotions and care for life. Her days were spent exhausting all her energy at the office and then burning even more energy at the local bar on the regular. As she blindly sat at the bar later that night, her mind kept her frozen in time.

“Yo,” a voice drifted to her hazed mind, “you’re still here?”

Joohyun turned to face a smiling Seulgi, “oh, yeah… sorry, I’ll leave.”

“No, it’s fine,” Seulgi joined her at the bar and poured herself a cup of straight whiskey from Joohyun’s personal bottle, “friends are always welcome at my bar.”

Joohyun couldn’t stop herself from smirking as she welcomed her friend’s company. Though she harbored no ill opinions of her college friends, Seulgi was the only person who had stuck around when things went sour. Though her opinion of Seokjin was not the best, she never questioned Joohyun’s decisions or opinions, which suited Joohyun just fine. She no longer needed friendship in that kind of manner. All she needed were allies, which was a far cry from what a friend was.

“Yah.”

Without looking at Seulgi, Joohyun responded, “hm?”

“Some of the girls are gathering this weekend,” Seulgi started carefully, “are you going?”

“Gathering where? For what reason?”

“Yerim’s back in town,” Seulgi sighed, “from Milan.”

Joohyun turned to her, feeling pleasantly surprised, “why was she in Milan?”

“Don’t you ever look at the chat?” Seulgi chuckled, “she was there for a photoshoot with Jungkook.”

“Oh,” Joohyun nodded, understanding immediately. Upon graduation, Jungkook had been scouted by a small start-up entertainment agency to be a model. And to everyone’s shock, he had accepted and landed jobs instantly. In just a few months, he had become the talk of the town, and then in just a year, he was landing photoshoots and fashion shows left and right. From their entire group, Jungkook was arguably the most successful, followed by Yerim. Both of those dongsaengs of hers had followed their dreams and succeeded in proving everyone wrong. Even Seulgi had eventually ditched her lackluster plans for theater to pursue the spontaneous dream of opening a bar in Itaewon.

After four years, it seemed like the only person stuck living a life they didn’t want was Joohyun. Four years of doing what her mother bid her. Four years of living for others. Four years of living without Seokjin to straighten her out… to love her.

She frowned into the golden liquid in her glass.

“What’s on your mind tonight?” Seulgi nonchalantly asked her as if it was a recurring event.

Joohyun turned to her and smiled, but never letting it reach her eyes, she callously responded, “nothing.” Which was closer to the truth.

“Liar.”

“No.”

“You are.”

“I’m not,” Joohyun turned back to the glass in her hand.

“Whatever,” Seulgi stood up, “go home… I’m closing soon.”

“Alright.”

“Oh,” Seulgi stopped in front of her once she was behind the bar, “I’ll pick you up on Saturday, so make sure you put it on your calendar to be there.”

She sighed, “I’ll pass this time.”

“That’s what you always say,” Seulgi was stern, “you’re going this time!”

Before she could respond, Seulgi smiled and walked away, holding up a hand to end the conversation. I guess it doesn’t hurt to go once.

On the day that they were supposed to meet up, Joohyun didn’t feel any better. She was still hungover from the night before, or at least that was what she would be blaming her headache on, and she was not ready to face everyone just yet. Though she was obviously the richest out of their group, with a company to take over one day, she was arguably the unhappiest member. As soon as she stepped through the threshold of the restaurant, her legs seemed to freeze up as she confronted the smiles plastered on each person’s face. They were so happy with their lives. Yerim was living the way she wanted as a photographer. Wendy and Rose had married and quickly had children of their own. Joy was acting in films and dramas. Seulgi opened a bar and lived as a minimalist. Jisoo became a journalist, Lisa was back in Thailand as a world-renowned dance choreographer, and Jennie was the CEO of a successful line of haut couture fashion in Paris.

“Unnie!” Seulgi tapped between her shoulder blades to get her moving, “why are you standing here? Go inside.”

“O-oh, yeah,” Joohyun slowly entered and put on a fake smile, “hi everyone.”

Everyone simult