Jumin was immersed in checking and signing paper works at his office when someone knocked on his door. Jumin knew it was Chief Assistant Kang Jaehee from the knocking sound itself, so without adverting his eyes from his desk Jumin said, “Come in.”

Jaehee entered the room and slightly bowed to her boss. “Mr. Han, V is here to meet you. I told him to wait on the waiting area for a moment.”

Hearing his best friend’s name mentioned, Jumin looked up from his pile of work. “Tell him to come here, I’m done with most of this anyway.”

Jaehee swiftly collected the paper works that Jumin had signed or checked before bowing politely. “Yes, sir. I’ll bring him here.” Jaehee disappeared behind the door and came back with V behind her.

“Thank you, Jaehee. Have a nice day,” V said warmly.

Jaehee nodded, “Then, please excuse me.” She left and closed the door on her way out. Jumin stood up to meet V and hugged his best friend.

“It’s nice to see you, V. How’s the exhibition?” asked Jumin as he gestured V to take his seat.

“It went well, thankfully.”

“All of your work is amazing, V. You’re going to get more recognized from now on. Congratulations.”

V smiled while keeping his head low. “I met Hana in Vienna.”

Jumin’s cool exterior wavered a little. “Kang Hana? Did you contact her to meet up?”

“No,” V sighed, “we met by accident at the exhibition. She looked well, I’m still glad I got to meet her.”

“Did you talk a lot? When will she be back in South Korea?”

“Oh, I don’t know…”

Jumin furrowed his eyebrows. “Didn’t you guys meet? What did you talk about, then?”

Long silence. V replayed the scene on his head—he remembered clearly how surprised Hana looked when Rika introduced herself as his fiancée, how Hana didn’t come back after leaving him and Rika, and how Hana didn’t reply any of his e-mails afterwards.

“Something happened?” Jumin figured while examining his best friend. “By any chance, did she meet Rika?”

“Yeah.” Again, V let out a long sigh as if by doing so, the guilt he felt inside would evaporate. “Rika came out of nowhere and introduced herself as my fiancée to Hana.”

“Oh… I figured she didn’t take it well?”

V shook his head in defeat. “I wanted to explain but Hana said she wanted to explore the exhibition more, so I suggested her to come back once she finished. Guess what? She didn’t come back.”

“She must be surprised.”

“She looked so happy when she saw me, it was the same for me! I missed her so much, I wanted to catch up and she looked like she wanted to as well because she offered herself to be my companion in exploring the city, but her expression… her excited expression changed when Rika said that she was my fiancée.”

“Did you try to reach out to Hana after that night?”

“I did, but she didn’t respond to my e-mails and I don’t know where she lives. I had an idea of asking Luciel to track Hana down, but I guess I was just as not ready as her, so I left Vienna without meeting Hana once more.”

“How did Rika react to the situation?”

“She looked glad to meet Hana, you know how she was always curious whenever Hana’s name was mentioned in our conversation. When I told her we couldn’t meet Hana because she was busy—yes, I lied—Rika said she was disappointed. Gladly, Rika didn’t ask more questions and enjoyed touring the city.”

“Probably it’s for the best, V. Asking Luciel to track her down is going to violate her private space, since she clearly didn’t want to be found,” Jumin tried to reason. “Though, I’m quite surprised that her reaction would be thatdefensive. I know she used to like you.”

V straightened up from his seat. “How—how do you know?”

“You think I don’t know?” Jumin asked, slightly amused. “First, it was obvious. Second, I heard when she whispered it to you at the airport on the day she left for good.”

“So I was the only one who didn’t know?”

“I might look indifferent, but Hana is our best friend and we met up almost every day. Thanks to my amazing observation skill, it was not hard to observe her reactions towards you. It was only natural for me to notice her special feelings for you.”

V let Jumin’s words sunk in. If he recalled, Hana was always nice to him and Jumin. However, now that Jumin said it, V realized how Hana acted around him was a little different when Jumin was also around. Sometimes he noticed how Hana would glance at him when she thought he didn’t know. How Hana seemed shy but happy when he complimented her. How she blushed when he smiled at her. She didn’t blush when she was with Jumin, but V noticed how often Hana would hide her face in different ways to hide her blushing cheeks from him. When his mother passed away, Hana was the one who comforted him the most. As his precious best friend, of course Jumin also comforted him, but Hana was different. Behind her concerned and swollen eyes, she tried to be emphatic to tune in to his grief, to be tough for him to lean on. And he did. He did lean on her at that time. He remembered how comfortable it was to lean on Hana’s compassion towards him.

“When… When Hana left, I felt like there was something’s missing in my life. I thought it was normal, but I missed her attention, her warmth, her support… Her everything,” V spoke up, hanging his head low. “When I met Rika, I felt that warmth that I had missed. Somehow, Rika reminded me of Hana for her kind heart, for her compassion. The timing was right for us—Rika and I—so we naturally fell in love.”

“I agree that Rika and Hana have resemblance in several ways, but they were quite different for me though,” Jumin stated. “Hana is not Rika, vice versa. As much as you thought the vibes are similar, there must be a reason why you are able to love Rika and not Hana.”

“I guess you’re right, Jumin,” V nodded, slowly processing Jumin’s words.

“By the way she acted since your last meeting, it’s possible that she still has feelings for you.”

“I know, and I honestly feel guilty that Hana had to know my engagement from Rika instead of me. Jumin, I couldn’t even look at her properly because I wanted to avoid the hurt look on her face!” V covered his face with his both hands. “I want to apologize and explain everything to her…”

For Jumin, feeling guilty more than you should gained you nothing and wasted your energy in the process. Jumin knew V’s tendency to blame himself more than he had to, but he didn’t want to lecture him now. “When the timing is right, you will get the chance,” assured Jumin, “not now, when she doesn’t want to be found.”

V nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Jumin, for listening to me rambling this afternoon. I feel better after talking to you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jumin dismissed V, “feel free to talk to me whenever. If you have time, come to my penthouse and let’s drink wine together. Just us, without Rika.”

“Let’s,” V easily agreed. “I have to go now, Jumin. Sorry for disturbing you during work hour, but I’m glad we get to meet today.”

Both men walked out of the room in silence, busy with their own thoughts. As they passed Chief Assistant’s desk, Jaehee called them out. “V, are you leaving the office?”

“Yes, Jaehee. I have to pick up something for my work. Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you, but we’ll talk on the messenger later.”

Jaehee flashed her smile. “Sure. Have a safe trip.”

“I’ll accompany him to the elevator, I’ll be back soon,” Jumin said to notify Jaehee.

“Yes, Mr. Han.”

As they reached the elevator, V immediately hop in and nod to Jumin, who nodded back. When the elevator door closed, Jumin stayed at his spot for a while. Kang Hana… How he missed her. Hana and Rika were the only female friends he had and warmed up to, but Jumin realized that he might trust Hana more than Rika. He hoped that they would get to meet soon, when the timing was right. With that thought, Jumin walked back to his office.