Author's Greetings: Hey there, vitamin-blue back with Chapter 13 to celebrate the feature with you! I want to thank all of you for your support and for all the messages of congratulations, I really appreciate them and they're all precious to me! I couldn't have done it without your love for the story. So this is yours to celebrate as much as it is mine!

Before you get started, if you're a fan of reading while listening to music, I've prepared a list of songs you can listen to as you read this chapter. I didn't want it to be a spoiler as you'll notice many familiar tracks, so I decided to release at the same time with the chapter! Here's the list, in sort of an order with the scenes:

1. You, Just Like That by Seulgi

2. The Only by Raiden, Irene

3. Irene by Jimmy Brown

4. Talk Love by K.Will

5. Lean on me by 10cm

6. Last Love by Wendy

Check the Author's Note at the end of this chapter for a clearer break-down of how each song goes with different scenes. (If you hate spoilers, don't skip to the end for that broken-down list now. Read the chapter first.)

Also! As I have already spoiled you a little on Twitter, a major portion of this chapter takes place in Switzerland, so any dialogue in full italics would be in English! Enjoy!

[Back at Mrs. Park’s house, an hour after visiting Haneul’s grave]

Seungwan nurses the mug full of hot tea between her hands wordlessly. Millions of thoughts fill her mind, yet she feels awfully cold and empty. Opposite her, Mrs. Park sits quietly, tearful eyes focused on the floor. After several minutes of quietly deliberating where to go from here, Seungwan finally takes a deep breath.

“Did she ever tell you what happened after coming home?”

“No, by the time she came home, my girl, she—” Mrs. Park pauses, the emotions overwhelming her again, “She looked so…broken. Lifeless. She refused to speak to me when I asked her about why Joohyun didn’t return with her. She just hid in her room all day for three weeks.”

Seungwan sighs, “…Jang decided to debut Joohyun and not Haneul.”

“That I’d realised a week in,” Mrs. Park replies weakly, “But that’s what life is, right? Joohyun has always been an outstanding girl. It made sense that they would pick her, yet I hated my daughter’s closest friend for a while. Can you imagine? My bright, smiling Haneul reduced to a…an empty shell. Because of her. I just— I couldn’t help it.”

“You’re Haneul’s mother after all,” the blonde points out, “You couldn’t understand your daughter’s pain because she couldn’t talk about it then. And…sometimes it’s…easier to find someone to blame, just so that everything will make sense.”

“I wanted to keep on blaming Joohyun. I really did. But I realised all I could do was to wait for Haneul to come to me with the truth,” Mrs. Park sniffs, “For her to be ready. Ready to talk. Ready to cry. Ready to move on. But that day never came.”

[Seven years ago]

“Neul-ah! It’s dinner time! I’m coming in!” Mrs. Park calls as she approaches her daughter’s room, carrying a tray full of food.

She hears no response and sighs. Haneul must have fallen asleep again. It had become a clear pattern over the time she’s been home. The girl just stays in her room all day, never leaving unless she had to go to the washroom. Other than that, Mrs. Park hardly hears or sees a peep of her daughter. She pushes the door open with her shoulder, only to find the room shockingly empty.

“Neul-ah? Haneul!” She yells, sweeping her eyes across the room for signs of her missing daughter.

Panic setting in, Mrs. Park haphazardly sets the tray down on the floor, the soup in the bowl swishing out and spilling across the wooden surface. The woman starts to search every corner of the room, only to find no trace of her daughter. She rushes out of the room and darts across every room in the house, yelling for Haneul, only to be met with an eerie silence that tells her gut her daughter is nowhere in the vicinity.

Mrs. Park stumbles out of the house, desperation clawing at as she screams her daughter’s name continuously.

“Neul-ah! Where are you?! Haneul!”

Her curious neighbours join her, and soon enough, the small town is rallied in search of the missing girl.

“What about that cliff that Hyun and Neul always go to?” A voice cuts through the panic and chaos.

Mrs. Park whirs around and meets soft, kind eyes of her close friend. Or well, someone who used to be close, until that unspoken incident, presumed to have sent Haneul home, empty and broken.

“Don’t ever call her so familiarly again, Mrs. Bae. Leave.”

Joohyun’s mother can only cast her eyes down to her feet in sadness as she ambles away from the search party.

“She could be right though. We should search the cliff,” the town chief points out, much to Mrs. Park’s reluctant agreement.

They hike up the cliff, Mrs. Park running ahead as she prays for her daughter. Prays hard that her biggest fear isn’t real.

She finally reaches the top, sweat and tears coating her face. She stumbles weakly towards the lone tree several metres ahead of her. She then sees a familiar figure lying down, back leaning up against the tree, facing the truly majestic view of green lushness and golden skies.

“Neul-ah!”

She rushes forward to her daughter, kneeling by her left side. Mrs. Park ignores the small rocks digging into her knees as she takes hold of the girl’s hand, “Neul-ah, Mom is here, it’s time to go home.”

Haneul remains unresponsive. Unmoving.

Mrs. Park shakes her, “Neul-ah! Enough of this! Let’s go have dinner together!”

Her pleas are met with silence as Haneul’s eyes remain closed.

“Haneul-ah! Wake up! Please speak to Mom!” Mrs. Park feels a greater desperation wash over her as she shakes her daughter by the shoulder even harder, “Neul-ah… Open your eyes please…”

The woman breaks into broken sobs as she grips her daughter’s cold, limp hand harder. The rest of the search party finally catch up, and the chief runs over to Haneul’s right side, taking her free hand in his. He places two fingers on her wrist, where her pulse should be and waits. He watches the girl with keen eyes, hoping to see a breath escape her.

But, there’s nothing.

Not even the slightest lift or fall of her chest.

He releases her hand and takes off his chief cap weakly, placing a shaky hand on his head in sad remorse.

“Mrs. Park… She’s gone.”

The words finally shatter the dam. The broken-hearted mother wails loudly in anguish as she lifts her daughter’s lifeless hand to her cheek. Perhaps the warmth of her body will return life back to Haneul.

“Come back to me, Neul-ah… Don’t leave Mom all alone. Please…”

The fellow town residents look on in vigil, helplessly watching one of theirs grieve over the death of her only family.

The paramedics arrive not long after, only to pronounce the girl dead on scene.

[At the hospital closest to the town, an hour later]

“Cause of death, stress-induced cardiomyopathy.”

“What does that even mean?!” Mrs. Park screams at the doctor, barely held back by the town chief.

“Mrs. Park, please…”

The doctor dips his head apologetically, “Your daughter seems to have gone through something intensely stressful or traumatic. Usually, most recover, but there have been rare cases where stress cardiomyopathy can be life-threatening, but this is nothing like we’ve seen befo—"

“S-Slow down, young man,” the chief urges him, “It’s very hard for her mother to understand right now.”

The doctor sighs, “What I’m saying is…she’s young, so age was not the factor.  My guess is that she must’ve gone through a terribly painful or shocking experience that was prolonged for too long that her heart weakened too much and eventually gave out.”

“Your guess?!” Mrs. Park struggles against the chief’s hold, “My daughter’s dead and you’re taking guesses?!”

“Calm down, Mrs. Park. He’s trying to help.”

“My Haneul’s dead, what help can I possibly get…” Mrs. Park sinks to the floor in utter despair, “She’s gone…”

Mrs. Park grabs the death certificate off the dining table and is about to head out the door when she hears the doorbell ring. She stalks over to the door and pulls it open, only to find a rather sharply-dressed middle-aged man waiting outside.

The man’s black hair, peppered with slight grey, is combed neatly to left, held in place with pomade. His dark blue suit is fitted, with white dashed lines running down it vertically. He adjusts his stiff crimson red tie, revealing cufflinks that spell out “LR”.

Mrs. Park feels a boiling rage rise within her, “You…”

“Mrs. Park,” the man dips his head solemnly, before looking back up to meet her wrathful glare, “I’m Jang Hajoon, CEO of La Rouge Entertainment. I would like to have a word with you.”

“I’m going to the police. I don’t have time for bastards like you,” Mrs. Park tries to step past him, only for him to block her.

“I’m here to talk to you about Haneul,” Jang quickly adds, “I can tell you what happened. Don’t you…want to know what happened to your daughter?”

Mrs. Park considers his words, gripping the death certificate tightly in her hand. With a sigh, she lets him through, “Bear in mind, Mr. Jang, if you cannot give me a proper explanation, I’m taking you to the police.”

He slips past her into the house, and she closes the door, preparing her heart for the truth.

“Haneul…must’ve been very disappointed that I couldn’t debut her.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

Jang sighs and dips the tea bag pensively in his cup, “She was under tremendous stress, Mrs. Park. My company was planning to debut her in a group this year, but during the preparations, the stress must’ve weighed on her so much that she kept lashing out at the other trainees. That was when I decided…that for the sake of her mental health, it would be best not to debut her since life will only get harder from there. So I encouraged her to go home, take a break and perhaps she might recover enough to come back.”

“Well, she’s not coming back anymore, Mr. Jang,” Mrs. Park remarks bitterly.

“Believe me when I say that I didn’t expect her to go through such a…tumultuous time at home either,” he bows his head, “I was hoping it would’ve been a time of recovery for her. It’s really unfortunate that things turned out this way. My condolences, Mrs. Park.”

“Is that all you came here to say? That my daughter was weak and couldn’t handle the pressure so she died?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Mrs. Park,” Jang straightens his back and rests his folded hands on the table, “I’m here to help.”

“What?” The woman scoffs, “You gonna bring my dead daughter back to life?”

He sighs, “No… but I was wondering…if you’d let me, I would like to cover the costs of the funeral and for the burial ground. You can pick any place, I will pay for it. And I understand that she was your only family, which makes me even more sorry. So…I want to support you financially for the rest of your life, as your daughter would’ve, had she been able to finally debut and become the star she was always meant to be. Think of this as my life-long reparation to you, Mrs. Park.”

[Back to the present, an hour later]

Seungwan slips into the driver’s seat, slamming the car door. She sighs and glances at the bottle of barley tea in her hand. She takes a swig from it and swirls the earthly-tasting beverage in and swallows. She sets the bottle in the cup holder and pulls out her phone, speed-dialling a number. She holds it up to her ear. It rings for several seconds before the call is picked up.

“Kangta,” she says, without missing a beat, “Set stage two of the plan in motion.”

His voice crackles through the receiver, “Are you sure about this, Seungwan?”

“Yes, it’s now or never.”

“Okay. I’ll begin with those…calls.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, I’m still worried about you. It’s like you’ve become…so fixated on him.”

Seungwan tightens her grip on her steering wheel until her knuckles turn white, “He’s my prey, and I will hunt him down, if it’s the last thing I do.”

[Three days later, approximately at 12.00am]

“Hey, could you play those chords again?”

“O-Oh, sure!” Seungwan obeys, shuffling through the chords again.

Joohyun hums along quietly. It’s soft, but Seungwan’s ears, well attuned to her voice, hears her loud and clear. It’s not a melody she’s ever heard before. She fixes curious eyes on Joohyun, a little starstruck by how determined and engrossed the soloist looks with the song. She plays through the chords again, giving Joohyun the space to work out the melody.

The soloist grows more and more confident with the tune and soon she’s testing it with words. Seungwan follows her lead, having picked up the melody quickly. She hums along, experimenting with words where Joohyun isn’t sure of what to sing. The soloist’s eyes light with excitement as Seungwan joins in.

“Keep playing and remember those words!” Joohyun squeals with excitement and runs back into her apartment.

A few seconds later, she reappears with a notebook and pen in hand. She flips it open and begins writing in it. She looks up and smiles brightly at the guitarist, who bashfully chuckles as she continues playing the instrument.

“This is amazing, Seungwannie!” Joohyun exclaims, showing the blonde the notebook, revealing scribbled words and endearing cancellation lines scrawled over some mistakes, “A whole song in twenty minutes!”

Seungwan grins, “You’re a really good lyricist, Unnie.”

“Are you kidding me?” Joohyun nudges her, “Yah, you came up with a lot of good lyrics too!”

The lines I came up with… They’re all about you.

“Only because you inspire me.”

“Hey, what do you think of…recording this with me in the studio?” Joohyun asks, still breathing slightly hard from the exhilaration of producing a song with her close friend, “I mean, I have an overseas schedule in Switzerland tomorrow, but I can ask my manager to put in an official request to the company and get you in for a collab production when we’re back!”

Seungwan freezes. Right off the bat, her mind screams “no” for several reasons. For one, she knows she can’t be in the recording studio with Joohyun as both her manager and collaborator friend. But a “no” from her just like that is bound to make Joohyun suspicious.

Not to mention the promise she’d made to Sejeong, branded on her heart painfully.

“I’m sorry, Unnie,” Seungwan apologises, “But there’s something I should tell you.”

Joohyun raises a curious brow, “Mm? Go on.”

“I…” Seungwan takes a deep breath, the cold, fresh air entering her lungs but doing nothing to lighten the heaviness in her chest, “I made a promise with a childhood friend that I…wouldn’t record a song until she gets to sing again.”

The soloist registers her words carefully for a moment.

“Did she…make you promise?”

“No, it was all me,” Seungwan shakes her head, “I think…it was a pride thing.”

“I’m…not sure I understand, Seungwannie.”

Memories filled with guilt rush through the blonde’s mind.

“She was supposed to be a singer and maybe… I could’ve been one of her songwriters,” Seungwan explains, soft and defeated, “But just before she could debut…she was diagnosed with vocal nodules. The vocal trainer who caused it abandoned her. The company terminated her contract too. I felt awful. So even though she told me to move on and keep pursuing my dream to be a songwriter… I knew I’d feel guilty leaving her behind. So I…forced that promise on her.”

Beat.

“I’m really sorry, Unnie.”

“It’s…okay,” the soloist hums in understanding, “We don’t have to do it, Seungwannie.”

But Seungwan knows. She hears the distinct hint of disappointment in the older woman’s voice as her eyes flitter down to the floor. She wishes to dispel it. Anything to ease her down gently.

“Really! I promise it’s okay,” Joohyun continues, “You don’t have to—”

“I also don’t want to share this song with anyone else because it’s special to me.”

Seungwan squeezes shut her eyes after blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.

Oh no.

The soloist stares at her, befuddled, “Eh? Special?”

“Because I…”

Quick, Seungwan! Think!

“Because I like you!” The words come tumbling out past her lips before she can stop them.

Silence hangs in the air between the pair. A sense of regret and shame, stronger than any that she’s felt before in the longest time, overtakes Seungwan’s body. There’s nothing else she wants to do besides moving out to some distant land and never showing her face around Joohyun ever again.

Damn it, Son Seungwan! You and y-your stupid mouth! You stupid idiot! Of course, you’d think this is the solution to all your problems! This just got a whole lot worse. Seul was right, I am dumb! And useless, and—!

“Seungwannie…”

Joohyun feels her heart quicken its pace as she fully registers that Seungwan likes her. This whole time. Just like she’s been hoping for. A vindicating kind of happiness explodes in her like a thousand dancing butterflies. Seungwan inches an eye open to see Joohyun staring at her with an indecipherable look.

The blonde finds herself scrambling yet again and the word vomit begins.

“It’s all right! Y-You don’t have to say anything!” Seungwan waves her hands and shakes her head, “I’m just an o-ordinary face with an ordinary name a-after all, I- I don’t expect you to return my f-feelings or to even answer! So please ignore w-what I said!”

She buries her extremely warm face in her hands, “Oh my god…this is so embarrassing. I’m so sorry, Unnie. If you don’t ever want to talk to me again, I understa—”

“Seungwannie.”

The stern tone snaps Seungwan out of her rambling, and she looks up to meet Joohyun’s eyes. The soloist’s lips are drawn tight. Seungwan feels a shiver run down her spine in fear of what the older woman is about to say to her.

“I’m human too,” Joohyun begins, “You’re the one who told me that. Don’t place me on a pedestal. You’re not an ordinary face with an ordinary name. You’re my close friend. The only one. So please…stop putting yourself down like this. It hurts me.”

I really need to tell you the truth.

“Unnie, I—”

“Your feelings…they’re important to me,” the soloist continues, “They’re precious. So don’t think so lowly of them.”

Joohyun takes her hand in hers, “Talk to me, Seungwannie.”

With the earnest sparkle in Joohyun’s eyes and her warm hand encircling hers, Seungwan feels her determination crumble to ashes yet again.

“I… I’m actually not ready to talk about it, Unnie,” Seungwan’s voice trembles, “I didn’t mean to tell you…so early. I’m…sorry.”

“Okay,” Joohyun senses her discomfort and releases the blonde’s hand, “We don’t have to talk about it now.”

Seungwan swallows thickly, “Um, w-we can…t-talk about it after you’re back from Switzerland?”

The soloist nods, trying to ignore the way her heart throws itself at the bars of her ribcage yet again, “Let’s do that then. Until then…please wait for me patiently. Promise me…you won’t run away.”

“Y-Yeah, I p-promise,” Seungwan dips her head, “I think you should go and sleep, Unnie. You have an early start tomorrow. I’d…hate to be the reason you didn’t get enough rest. Have a safe flight! Good night!”

The younger woman bows and darts away back into her apartment. Joohyun sighs, letting her hand fall to her side. Three days in Switzerland is going feel like forever…

A wide, uncontrollable smile breaks across her lips.

I can’t wait.

[Seven hours into the flight to Lucerne, Switzerland]

“Son Wendy.”

Joohyun watches her manager’s head bob as she dozes. The soloist really doesn’t want to do this to the blonde. But it’s been one full hour of waiting and she really needs to go. She knows her bladder can’t hold up any longer. She taps the manager’s shoulder again.

“Son Wendy.”

No response.

She must be really tired…

Joohyun lets out a sigh and drags her hands over her face in pained exasperation.

I’m really sorry that I have to do this, Wendy, but I have to—

She reaches out a tentative hand and pinches the blonde’s arm. Wendy jolts out of her sleep, shooting up from her seat with a yelp. Several passengers swivel their heads around to glare at her.

The manager clears and bows apologetically, “I’m sorry. Sorry.”

She sits back down and throws an accusing stare at the soloist, only for her angry embarrassment to melt away in the face of Joohyun’s pained expression.

“Joohyun?”

“I…need to…go…”

It finally strikes the blonde what the older woman is trying to say. She scrambles out of her seat. The soloist wordlessly bolts past her, heading straight for the lavatory. The door slides shut with a haphazard clang.

Several minutes later see the soloist well-relieved as