She twirls gracefully under the pale chandelier light.

Her face is immaculate, and she moves around the dance floor looking like a fairy, the classical melody following her every move. Everyone is transfixed, and you are no exception. Ji Hyo didn’t have a dancing bone in her body back when you first met. But she’s worked so hard over the years, and now you could watch her pirouette for days. 

“Is it just me, or is that guy not handsome enough for Ji Hyo?” 

You nearly burst out laughing at Dong Hoon’s comment. 

“Shut up. It’s a touching performance put up by a... loving couple.” 

Just then, he steps on Ji Hyo’s foot. It completely throws a wrench in the whole performance. She winces, then laughs it off quietly flashing a sheepish smile at the audience, before continuing whatever choreography they’ve learnt. You grimace. Can’t help but think about how if it were you up there dancing with her... 

But you aren’t up there dancing with her. Someone else is. And less than an hour ago, they just got married to her in front of hundreds of witnesses. Till death do they part. 

Speaking of the wedding ceremony... when the officiant was saying the part about anyone objecting to their union, didn’t you see her glance at the crowd, in your direction? 

“I don’t really know why we’re watching this,” Kwang Soo quietly comments. “I didn’t think Ji Hyo Noona would be the type to dance at her own wedding.” 

You stop thinking about the way she looked into the crowd, almost searching, hoping. You stop thinking about how she might have wanted someone to say something. Wanted you to say something. 

“Unnie told me he wanted it,” So Min responds. “They had a dance instructor come in and everything,” she quietly snickers. “I don’t know why he bothered. He really can’t dance.” 

“Don’t be rude,” Jae Suk says. “I’m sure he just wanted to create a good memory with–“ he pauses–“what is this guy’s name again?” 

“Ah, so I’m not the only one who doesn’t know?” Suk Jin pipes up. “I think they had his name somewhere, I just...” 

“Honestly, this is the first time I’m seeing this guy,” says Se Chan. “I get that Ji Hyo Noona is private, but...” 

“No. It’s the first time I’m seeing him too,” Dong Hoon says. “Honestly, I was shocked when she told us.” 

“Right?” So Min leans in, heavily involved in the gossip. “I heard they haven’t known each other all that long either. I thought he must’ve been some guy to capture Unnie’s heart so quickly. Looking at him now though... he isn’t all that great.” 

He trips over Ji Hyo’s foot this time. 

“This dance would be more bearable to watch if they had gotten someone else to dance with Ji Hyo,” Dong Hoon snorts, looking knowingly and pointedly in your direction. “Like Jong Kook Hyung, for instance.” 

You jump in shock, having kept silent on purpose this whole time lest you say something wrong. “What? Me?” 

“He’s not wrong,” Jae Suk almost reluctantly agrees. “You’re a good dancer. And unlike Dong Hoon, you’re actually taller than Ji Hyo,” he teases.

Dong Hoon glares at Jae Suk as the others laugh quietly at his solid burn. “While I am taller than Ji Hyo–“ he seethes quietly, moving on to his point–“what I meant was that Jong Kook Hyung would look better dancing with her–“ he looks at you pointedly again–“don’t you agree?” 

You flush red, heart nervously pounding. “What are you getting at?” 

He looks around. “Hyung, I was near Ji Hyo’s dressing room earlier. I heard everything.” 

You want to kick him far away from this table, but it’s too late, and all the other members are now curious. 

“Heard what? Did something happen?”

They’re all looking at you now. 

“Nothing,” you firmly deny. “Nothing happened. It doesn’t matter now anyway.” 

Failing to respect your boundaries, they now turn to Dong Hoon for answers. 

“What did you see?” 

“I didn’t see anything, but I heard them talking. Ji Hyo was–“ he looks at you now, gauging your reaction–“Hyung, if you really don’t want me to say...”

“I told Ji Hyo I was in love with her.” 

Jaws drop all around the table.

“What?”

“Daebak...” 

Their shocked reactions cause all of you to receive stares from nearby tables. It’s incredibly embarrassing, especially since all of you are celebrities and pretty much everyone at this wedding knows who you all are. Weirdly, letting go of this secret takes a weight off your shoulders in a way you can’t comprehend. Is this why people don’t keep their feelings to themselves? 

“You really told Ji Hyo you were in love with her?” Dong Hoon confirms in a shocked tone, hand over mouth. 

“You said you heard everything!” You say in an angry whisper. 

“Well... not everything. I definitely heard Ji Hyo crying and shouting at you.” 

“Ji Hyo Unnie... cried?” 

“And she still went through with the wedding...” 

“But if she cried... she must have had second thoughts–“

“Let’s not discuss this here,” Jae Suk says gently but sternly, ever the wise one. Thank god. You give him a small smile of thanks. “I just want to say though, you really are an idiot.”

Your smile falters. Just then, the dance ends. Everyone stands up to clap. You find yourself doing that too. 

You nearly stumble back when you see her standing at your front door, luggage in tow. What is she doing here? The wedding was last night. Ji Hyo should be halfway across the country right now, not in front of your door, impatiently pressing the doorbell again because you still haven’t let her in. 

Oh, right. You should be letting her in. Either that, or, well, you should be saying something. But you can’t wrap your head around the shock. What is she doing here?

“Yah! Are you going to let me in or not?” She jabs at the doorbell again, causing the sound to reverberate in your ear. Her face of annoyance falters into one of disappointment. “Are you not home?”

Immediately, coincidentally, definitely not because of the sad face she made, you tap hard at the ‘unlock door’ button displayed on the control panel. You bite your lip as she lights up, happily pushing the door open. You nearly fail to take your eyes off in time from watching her through the screen to watching her come in through the front door, walking towards you, hand dragging her luggage behind her. 

“Ji Hyo?” You say her name tentatively. You still can’t believe it’s her. And that she’s here. You try not to look like you think her presence brightens up the room better than the sun. “What… what are you doing here?”

She gives you a stern, calculative look. “Don’t get any ideas,” she points her finger at you. 

“Never,” you say, but it’s a lie. Too many ideas are in your head right now. A good ten of them end with you kissing her on the couch. 

She brings her luggage to a stand still before her, leaning her forearms on the extended handle. “Well, so, I live here now.”

“What?” You nearly choke, you must have misheard. 

“I ended things, with him,” she almost glares at you again. “Not because of you–“ she seems to reconsider this–“well, it was technically because of you, but I didn’t leave him to be with you.”

Your throat goes dry. But you nod. “Of course.”

Her expression falters. Was it something you said? “He didn’t take it too well. And so far, I don’t blame him. Who tells their husband on their wedding night that they want to end things?” She laughs dryly. “That’s got to be some kind of record.” She plays with her nails. “Anyway… he kicked me out, and I would rather not go back home because my family’s just gonna ask so many questions I don’t feel like answering right now. I’m here because I have no where else to go.” She gestures at you with a strict look again. It’s so cute. She’s so cute. “Keep that in mind! I’m not here to confess my love, because I don’t love you.”

“Okay,” you say, because it hurts too much to say anything else.

It seems your curt reaction is too short and doesn’t sound convinced enough to her. “I’m not lying!” She insists. You almost want her to stop, but it’s still kind of cute, how she protests, almost stomping her feet. How can she remain so adorable while crushing your soul? Song Ji Hyo, always working wonders. You might never truly, completely, figure her out. But that’s what makes her so interesting. “I don’t love you, okay? I just. Realized I don’t love him. Either. And that maybe loving him is more important than I thought. I thought if I could be that shaken by something stupid you said then I probably shouldn’t be marrying him at all. I don’t love you,” she says again, almost as if she’s trying to convince herself of it too. 

You wish she wouldn’t work so hard doing that. 

“Are you okay?”

She looks almost taken aback, like she didn’t take the time to check in with herself. “Huh. I guess so. Not really. But also better than if I had forced myself to stay with him after realizing I didn’t actually want him,” she clears . “But that’s not something I wish to bother you with. I just need a place to stay. So… can I stay here? I mean,” she realizes she’s forgotten to maintain her stubborn domineering persona. “I mean I am staying here. Where’s your guest room?”

You snort. It’s the only thing you can do, because she is amazingly funny, just the way she is. You take her luggage from her. Even though the thing has wheels, it looks heavy and she must’ve dragged the thing here from… god knows where. She shouldn’t have to carry it around anymore. 

“Follow me,” you say. 

She flops onto the bed the moment you open the door, gushing about how soft the sheets are. “Gosh, this is even better than I thought it would be!” She looks so happy. You nearly want to give her your bed. It’s bigger and has massage functions. 

“You like it?” 

She nods, spread like a starfish across the bed, eyes shut in bliss. “Mm, I could sleep here for days.” 

“You probably should,” you say, “you’re always so tired. Besides, if you sleep for days at a time, I can pretend you aren’t here more often.” 

Her eyes flash open angrily at your teasing, and she sits up to scowl at you. “Nope! I’m not going to do that. In fact, I’m going to be around you constantly, until you’re annoyed and sick of me.”

“Ah, what a shame,” you say, lying through your teeth. 

She begins to rub her tummy slightly. “Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.” 

“You haven’t eaten?” You ask, it’s almost way past a healthy time to have lunch. 

“I didn’t exactly have time to stop for a meal in the middle of duking it out with my now soon to be ex-husband,” she jokes, but there is a lot of obvious truth to what she’s saying. Now that you look at her, really look at her, she seems tired. It must’ve been a long night. You want to ask, but what she wants to eat seems to be a better question. 

“We could order something,” you suggest. “Or we could look in my fridge. There’s plenty of food in there too.” 

“Ah, the food your mom makes for you?” Ji Hyo lights up and it’s all you can do not to smile. “I was wondering how her cooking tasted.” 

“Oh, it’s top notch,” you say, starting to lead the way. “You’ll see why I can’t get enough of it, as burdensome as it feels to still have her cook for me at this age.” 

Ji Hyo frowns almost disapprovingly. “Still, you should give her a break once in a while. She shouldn’t be in the kitchen so much at her age.” 

“I try,” you insist. “She rarely cares for that. She told me she’ll only stop if I get married.” You lean against the fridge, watching her open the door, eyes widening at the array of choices. “Wanna help with that?” 

The words shock you almost as much as they shock her. falls agape for a second, before closing up twice as hard. She doesn’t say anything yet, and it makes you worry that you’ve ruined things. 

“I’m kidding,” you say quickly in efforts to smooth things over. “Besides, aren’t you technically still married?” 

“Sadly, yes,” she sighs, then looks at you with a cheeky smile. “Also, you really expect me to believe you’re kidding?” 

“I was!” You insist, like a liar. 

“Right. And I’m supposed to believe a man who confessed his undying love for me on my wedding day doesn’t want to marry me.”

“I didn’t say it was undying,” you say, lying again. “Besides, being in love with you is one thing. Wanting to marry you is another.”

She pouts. “So... you really don’t want to marry me?” 

“How can I marry someone who keeps insisting that she doesn’t love me? You said you have to love your partner to get married. I think that’s true too.” 

She looks down. “Right.” 

“You know, you sound oddly disappointed that I don’t want to marry you,” you point out, because she really does look disappointed. This fact makes you feel like a million dollars. 

She startles at your words. “No! Who said that? I don’t sound disappointed at all,” she insists, and it