Chapter 7
Run, It’s The Only Way

☆☆☆
 

“Yuri-sunbaenim!”

She ran and ran, turning corners after corners, frantically trying to find a hiding place.

“Kwon Yuri!”

Ignoring the shouts of her name, she increased her speed heading toward a certain goal.

“Yuri-sunbaenim! Please stop running away!”

She did not give in to their pleading and continue to run endlessly.

Searching left and right, she tried to recall its location: the only place that she could hide. Behind a tall tree was an isolated garden that not many know of. A secret garden just for her and… a princess.

There it was.

Yuri halted for a few seconds, turning her head back to check if they had followed her here. She could still hear their voices but it was at a decent distance that would guarantee her ‘safety’. Bearing no other thoughts, she squeezed herself between the bushes and landed into the garden.

Then she heard a voice. An angelic soft voice that echoed through the small forest.

As if being lured in by the beautiful melody, she stepped closer and closer to the center of the garden, hiding behind a tree as she listened carefully to the singing of an angel.

It was her. The ice princess: Jung Jessica.

Jessica stood under the bright spotlight as her brown hair flowed smoothly with the direction of the wind, and her voice being carried through the waves of the air. To Yuri, it was as if a goddess had landed on earth.

Spell bounded. Kwon Yuri had been unconsciously enthralled to the beauty in front of her.

“You’re here again.”

Jessica broke the mood and she knocked Yuri back into her senses with a cold, icy tone of expectance.
Yuri showed herself from behind the tree, walking forward Jessica looking embarrassed because she had acted like a stalker. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“It’s fine.” Jessica replied, not having a bit of care upon the matter. She sat down on the grass and laid her head on the tree, her eyes began to close.

Yuri crouched down and leaned her back on the bark, resting one of her arm on her knee, as she tilted her head to the right to face Jessica. “Can you sing again?”

“Why do I have to?” Jessica asked coldly, eyes still closed.

Yuri repositioned herself, turning her body more to the right. Being the teaser that she was, Yuri whispered softly into her victim’s ear… in a rather daring, provocative tone. “I love it. Your voice.”

Jessica’s eyes opened wide upon hearing Yuri’s husky voice ever so clearly right next to her. She shivered slightly as she could feel Yuri’s breathing on her skin. Jessica immediately took notice of how close the distance was between her and the tanner girl and quickly scooted herself further left. A hint of a pink blush appeared on her cheeks. Normally she would have slapped the person who did that to her, but for some odd reason she just couldn’t when she knew it was Yuri who was her teaser.

Averting eye-contact with the mischievous girl, she rejected the request in an attempt of bearing a cold attitude but failed when she suddenly stuttered. “N-no.”

“Why not?” Yuri pouted in a cute manner that was different from her actions a few seconds ago.

“It’s e-embarrasing.”

Yuri moved herself closer to Jessica, who, surprisingly, didn’t even bother to move away. She thought that it would be useless since Yuri was the stubborn type.

“Hey, Sica.” Yuri called, dropping the formal speech completely and even giving the girl a new nickname.

“What?” Jessica asked, annoyed, while uplifting her eyebrow.

“Did you sing just now because… you knew I would come to listen?” Yuri grinned playfully, placing her hand under her chin, as she stared into Jessica’s eyes that tried to deny the ridiculous assumption, or possibly, the truth.

“Yah! Kwon Yuri!” Jessica suddenly hollered, causing Yuri to cover both of her ears with her hands. “I seriously want to slap you. Just who do you think you are? Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Jessica crossed her arms, trying her best to put on an angry look, but in fact she was slightly flustered by the question.

‘I was only joking so why is she so worked up about it… Did I hit the mark?’ Yuri giggled at the sight in front of her.

They entered a short silence, neither one closing their eyes or planning to sleep. They watched as the clouds passed by, while their minds were occupied with only one thought: ‘Just what is she to me?’

Yuri and Jessica’s relationship was complicated. They weren’t enemies, nor were they strangers. Actually, ‘friend’ wasn’t even the right word. Yuri and Jessica would never interact with each other outside of the garden. Even if they crossed paths, one of them would pretend they didn’t know the other because of the controversies it would cause. (Their fan clubs were never in good terms to begin with, fighting over who’s the best.) They had only met two weeks ago by a coincidental incident, both seeking some peace and quiet. They understood each other in terms of their wishes, since both were quite similar because of their status. Furthermore, they never minded the other’s presence. Yuri and Jessica had only just managed to drop their formalities with each other a few days before. Their meetings had always been like this: never knowing anything more about each other or less about one another. It was always a simple conversation leading to nowhere. However, both Yuri and Jessica also understood one fact: they were strangely attached to each other. Like a magnet.

“Do you want to become a singer?” Yuri spoke up, in hopes of starting a serious conversation. She wanted to know more about the girl next to her. The person whom she was so interested in. Yuri merely wanted to become closer with Jessica. She wanted to be her friend.

“Yes.” Jessica answered truthfully. Without knowing it herself, just being with Yuri had calmed Jessica from her daily stress. “My goal is to someday debut.”

“How come you never sing in public?”

“I do. Just not here. I have enough trouble to deal with already.”

“What? So you think you’ll get more stalkers if you show off your singing?” Yuri teased, although she had also meant it to be a real reason. “Just kidding.”

Jessica sent a glare at Yuri, then calmed herself so that she would not slap the latter in the face like she had been wanting to. Jessica sighed, being reminded of her creepy followers. They had been giving her a lot of worries lately and Yuri understood that for a fact because of her own experience.

“Will I be able to listen to you sing again?”

“Maybe.” Jessica replied in a sing-sang voice, creating a pout on Yuri’s face. Jessica unconsciously let out a small giggle at the adorable face in front of her. Yuri had never seen the girl laugh, and this was the first time.

“Yuri…” Jessica turned to face the tan girl next to her, catching the latter off-guard for the sudden intense stare that held no cold intentions. Yuri could sense that it was a different feeling. The look in Jessica’s eyes was gentle and warm. “If I ever become a singer…will you really be there to hear me sing? Will you be there, by my side, to support me?”

Yuri smiled sweetly. It was a genuine smile just for her. She placed a hand on Jessica’s head, patting it softly. “I’ll be right next to you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Thank you…” Jessica whispered under her breath in an almost inaudible tone.

“What was that?” Yuri asked for clarification, withdrawing her hand.
Jessica lifted her head up to face Yuri. There it was again, those pair of innocent eyes. Unexpectedly, a sincere smile appeared on the ice princess’ face, one that would rarely be shown to anyone. “Thank you… for loving my voice.”

Yuri was speechless. It was a cute and pretty smile that had made Jessica even more loveable. Jessica felt lighthearted with Yuri’s presence and had not stopped herself from showing her true feelings. She did not mind breaking the border between them, and Yuri was glad that Jessica had opened up to her.

‘Sica, you are a warm ice.’
 

★★★
 

Sitting on her bed with her back against the wall, feeling restless as ever, Yuri brushed back her hair and groaned in frustration. She gazed over at the numbers on a certain digital device. It was the second night that she woke up before her alarm sounded.

Yuri had wished to get enough sleep since the worn-out interview session the day before, but it seemed that her occupied mind had not allowed her to do so. As much as she wish she could fall back to sleep, she was in fear of having the same dream again.

Ever since that unexpected, fateful encounter on Sunday night, she had made up her mind to completely rid of any romantic feelings toward her former best friend, Jessica. However, she had failed to do so the moment she started. It was something too difficult for Yuri to deal with herself.

Deciding that it was a rather waste of time if she was to sit and not do anything for another hour or so, Yuri got up from her bed and readied herself for work, first refreshing herself with a morning shower.

Yuri stepped out from the steamy bathtub and hanged a towel around her neck as she dressed herself in the right attire for work. She exited the bathroom, drying her hair in the process of doing other multi-tasking activities. She then took a quick glance at the clock near her bed. It was another hour and a half until she had to set off to work.

Yuri prepared herself some healthy breakfast, along with a mixed Ma drink like usual, and sat herself down near the coffee table where her laptop was. She switched on the piece of technology and waited a few minutes for it to be fully ready-to-use.

Yuri then quickly browsed through the internet and decided to check out the Korean Pop news that she had missed due to her pre-occupied mind with her business at the company. Being the daughter of a famous figure herself, even if not directly connected to the entertainment circle, Yuri personally knew some celebrities, a few who are even in tight relationships with her. She had promised Taeyeon that she would keep up with the latest music releases, since her dear friend was involved in the entertainment industry both as a singer and a composer, and she felt bad that she had been unable to do so in the past weeks even when she was in Japan. Yuri knew that she was also behind on Yoona’s acting activities, as she was lacking on giving support to her cousin. Furthermore, Yuri had canceled various meetings with her dance partner, Hyoyeon. Now that Yuri was nearing the title of an official CEO, she gradually lost even more of her free time day by day.

‘This is what happens if you make too many promises in life…’ In fact, it was one of the main reasons why guilt still remained in her heart.

Yuri sighed as she continued scrolling down the page, reading the headers to decide if the article would be worth reading.

Just then, Yuri stumbled upon something that had immediately caught her eye: a name.

A familiar name of the person whom she had wished she could forget.

‘The Rising Star: Jung Jessica
101109 The First Single Release – “Tears”!’

Without thinking much, Yuri smiled gladly as her eyes ran through the words on the screen. It had always been Jessica’s dream to someday being in the music industry as a singer, and she had achieved that goal.

The only thing was… Yuri was never beside her when it happened.

The promise that Yuri had broke deepened her guilt even further. There was nothing she could do.
She could never turn back time.

Out of curiosity, and maybe even out of care, she wanted to see how she was doing. Moving her mouse cursor, Yuri viewed through the whole article and read every single bit on the page, despite her mind telling her not to.

‘Stay away Yuri… Stop yourself. Aish, you absolutely have no self-contr-’

“What are you looking at?”

A voice startled Yuri, as she frantically slammed the laptop’s lid closed to the point where she could easily break it into half. She immediately turned around and unexpectedly felt a rough collision on her forehead. The person on the other side of the impact backed away, also rubbing her head in pain.

“You scared the heck out of me! Why are you even up so early?” Yuri exclaimed while attempting to heal her wound that was now turning into a visible bump.

“I should be asking you that.” Sooyoung, the silent creeper still dressed in her pajamas, responded. “What’s with all the suspicious acts? It’s not your usual routine to be checking your laptop so early in the morning when you have other important things to do.”

“Like what?” Yuri eyed Sooyoung with a raised eyebrow, although she knew it was true, since the first thing in the morning that Yuri would always do was something more productive, like preparing files for work later in the day or making br-

“Make breakfast for me.”

Yes, that.

At work, Sooyoung was Yuri’s loyal secretary, who was always the one organizing meetings and reminding her of her appointments. At home, their roles would switch dramatically, as Yuri became somewhat like a personal house-maid to Sooyoung, making her breakfast, lunch, and dinner…daily. However, both thought that this was a fair-trade off to relieve each other’s stress in life.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Yuri asked in concern as she observed Sooyoung’s face while preparing a meal for both of them.

“Yes I did. Why’d you ask?” Sooyoung replied with no sign of exhaustion in her voice.

“You have bags in under your eyes and you woke up way earlier than usual today.” Yuri explained, serving the plates with the delicious food on the counter table.

Sooyoung took out her cell phone and checked her reflection on the small screen of her device, and Yuri wasn’t lying about her appearance for she could see for herself the obvious marks of her lack of sleep. She shook it off as she thought about later applying some foundation as a cover, and felt that her hunger was much more important as of now. In fact… it was always her first priority.

“You were talking to Sunny all night again.” Yuri made a wild guess, showing off a smirk after knowing that she was absolutely correct judging from Sooyoung’s speechless expression, who was wondering how her friend knew. “You two sure are close friends.” Yuri took the chance to improve her own mood and emphasized the tease behind her words, nudging her currently annoyed victim.

“Yah! We’re just friends! Nothing more and nothing less!” Sooyoung exclaimed in an outburst from being the sudden target of Yuri’s stress relief.

“I didn’t say you weren’t, now did I? Or could you possibly be hiding something more from your best friend.” Yuri snickered, knowing that she had Sooyoung at the tip of her finger. Her teases were endlessly skillful.
The shikshin continued to eat her morning breakfast in quiet while ignoring the jokester’s eyes. Sooyoung quieted herself, knowing any further remarks would mean digging herself into her own grave. Just then, a somewhat devious smile crept upon Sooyoung’s face, as she plotted the right revenge against her friend.

“Just because I respect your privacy, so I didn’t bring this up earlier but you know… I saw what you did.”

“What?” Yuri asked, arching an eyebrow in wonder, being somewhat nervous.

“You were searching Jessica up on the net didn’t you?”

Yuri immediately avoided eye-contact with the taller girl and attempted to distract herself with the dishes, pretending that she did not hear anything or even witness that mischievous smile plastered on Sooyoung’s face.

“You really fail at doing anything you promised.”

“I didn’t search her up. It was a coincidence, and you didn’t see anything.” Yuri denied, trying hard to keep her cool as she pushed away her unwanted emotions.

“Still, you were having those intense stares. Don’t lie to me, Yuri. You didn’t even notice I was right behind you for one whole minute.”

Yuri was unable to give a proper defense for her side of the case, and decided to stay silent as she gritted her teeth hoping that Sooyoung would stop… although knowing her friend, that was not what was going to happen.

Sooyoung recognized Yuri’s expressions being similar to when they were at the airport discussing about the same person, then decided to suddenly change her tone from a playful to a serious one. “I thought you said you would give up on her.”

Yuri lowered her head and let out a heavy sigh, as she closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. “I miss her and I still love her, but-” Yuri confessed, pausing at the last bit of her sentence as she met Sooyoung’s caring gaze filled with concern. She didn’t want to say those next words, nor did she want to do what she must… but, even so, she had to. “I can’t go back.”

“How can you be so sure that she doesn’t love you?”

“She already had someone else, Sooyoung, and the love she has for him is not the same as the love she has for me.”

Sooyoung stood up from her seat and faced Yuri, who was surprised at the sudden clank of the chair that almost fell backward onto the floor. “Then why do you still stay at the same place for nearly a year? Yuri, if you want to forget her, then you have to start picking up those feet and move on.”

Yuri fell into silence once again. She knew what she should being doing and she had always understood that for a fact, but she just couldn’t help it.
Yuri knew she could not easily bring herself to throw away her love for Jessica. She never wanted to.

“I think it’s best that you find someone els-”

“Sooyoung.” Yuri signaled a warning under her breath, calling upon the latter’s name. She had forbid that idea to ever be spoken again after the first time it was said as a suggestion.

Yuri had indeed tried going out with other people so that she could forget the person she loves. However, anytime that her hand was held by someone else, as an unfamiliar touch reached her skin, her mind would retrieve itself back to its former state, wanting Jessica and no one else. When her partner would say the, “I love you,” to her, Yuri would never know the right way to respond, giving the other person a sense of insecurity. She had never said those three words while bearing romantic meanings behind them to anyone else but Jessica. Thus, she always felt the guilt that she was merely ‘using’ the person for her own selfish reason.

“Okay, I’ll stop now.” Sooyoung ended the conversation, knowing her limits, while not wanting to hurt her friend anymore than she already had.
Sooyoung walked over to the sofa and the television with the nearby remote. The screen flashed brightly as it began to broadcast the channel that was last watched.

“Fortunately, we have been able to get a new star on the show today with us.” The man behind the screen spoke excitedly.

Yuri finished washing the dishes as she placed them in the automatic dryer to do the rest of the errand. She walked away from the kitchen and grabbed her bag along with other materials. As she was gathering her belongings, having her attention suddenly alarmed by the screening show, Yuri’s eyes wandered accidentally to the flashing screen in front her.

It was a bad timing.

“After having debuted under SoShi Records Entertainment, Jung Jessica has finally released her first album, ‘Tears’, which will be on sale starting today!”

The camera changed its focus, as it moved slightly to the right, revealing another person on the other side.

“Wait isn’t that-…?” Sooyoung, who had not paid attention the topic being spoken on the show, had finally recognized the girl next to the emcee.

Yuri’s grip tightened as she deliberately forced herself to move away or do anything to block her view. It was useless. She couldn’t do it.

Sooyoung was confused whether or not she should be pressing the red button on the remote. Yuri’s expression was clearly painful, but Sooyoung knew there was something even more obvious: real happiness, something she hadn’t seen in Yuri in a long while.

“Jessica-sshi, would you like to say a few words to your fans?”

“Hello there, I’m Jessica.” The blonde girl made a light bow before her viewers while flashing a cute smile that would make guys swoon over her. “Thank you for all your support so far, and I hope that I will continue to be able to receive your love.”

“I heard that you had personally participated in the making of your debut song. Everyone was curious about who these lyrics were meant for, so if it is not too personal, would you care to share it with us?”

“I’m going to be honest about it.” Jessica’s face revealed a hint of red as she lowered her head in embarrassment. Jessica let out a small unintentional giggle and repositioned herself so she could face the camera. “Truthfully, this song was meant for the person I’m in love with.”

Yuri’s heart tightened with pain as she tried to keep in the tears that were trailing on her eyes. Just thinking about how that ‘person’ would never be her deepened her pain even more.

“The lyrics are very sad though.”

“It’s one-sided.” Jessica replied, earning an understanding from the emcee.

“May I ask who is this pers-”

The screen suddenly flashed black. Witnessing Yuri in that state was unbearable for Sooyoung, as she had reached for the remote and turned off the television before the man even finish his sentence.

“You shouldn’t watch this.”

“I know.” Yuri wiped away the tears on her eyes with her sleeves and quickly recovered herself. Although surprised, Yuri was glad that Sooyoung did something for her that she couldn’t do for herself.

Yuri grabbed her stuffs that were dropped on the ground then headed toward the door.

“Where are you going? You still have another hour.” Sooyoung asked as she watched Yuri headed toward the entrance. “Besides, you don’t even need to get there early, ‘boss’.”

“Setting up a good example for my fellow employees.” Yuri answered, although that was only part of her reason, or rather an ‘excuse’. She thought that work would be able to occupy her mind and relieve her of anything she didn’t want to think about.

“This is not like you. Has the new employee grabbed your interest? Song Qian was it?” Sooyoung asked curiously, inspecting her suspicious.

Yuri shook her head at her friend’s endless ways to make her suffer. But then again, she knew it was Sooyoung’s way to cheer her up. “Don’t even think about it, Choi Sooyoung.” Yuri balanced herself with one hand placed on the wall as she fitted herself on her black heels. “I’ll be off to work now. Remember to organize the appointments for this evening.”

Yuri turned the door knob and opened the door, but paused for a few milliseconds before looking back at Sooyoung. “And just to let you know, Song Qian is the Song Victoria of the Song family that helped my family out of the gutter. Your jokes will get yourself into trouble. See you later, Secretary Choi.”
Watching as Yuri left and hearing the lock of the door as it clicked in its right place, a random thought wandered into Sooyoung’s mind as a smile crept onto her face.

‘This could be even more interesting than I thought.’
 

☆★☆
 

Yuri took off her helmet as she flipped her hair backwards, drawing much attention from the people around who stopped and gaze at the beauty in front of their eyes. Without even trying, Yuri started a hustle of whispers around her, with ‘Miss Kwon Yuri’ as the main topic. Yuri ignored it, even though she could hear almost everything, and walked into the Kwon Enterprise entrance. She was then immediately greeted politely by the guards and any employers she walked by.

It was almost as if the gloomy atmosphere had been brightened by a dazzling light.

She walked into her own responsible work area, and as she expected… it was noisy. Her employees were not even at their assigned places or even working to begin with, as they chattered their way through work, as if being there just to pass time. Yuri was tired of this.

As soon as she was in sight, the workers signaled each other as they quickly returned to their own table and stood up to greet their boss as if nothing happened. Yuri merely flashed a fake smile at them.

Out of the crowd, her attention was drawn to a girl sitting at her own corner in a seat that was never occupied before. She was diligently working as she had her eyes focused on the computer screen in front of her. Yuri ignored the rest of her colleagues and walked up the girl and lightly tapped her on the shoulder as she called out for her attention.

“Excuse me. You are…?”

The girl turned away from her focus point to look up at the person who had halted her ‘in-the-zone’ moment. She carried a mature look, and had long brown hair and beautiful, round eyes that drawn you in with just one look. It was none other than Victoria.

The new girl rushed to get up from her seat and bowed numerous times as she greeted her boss in apology for her carelessness, almost dropping her glasses on the ground. “Good morning, Miss Kwon!”

Yuri smiled gently at the older girl in front of her, who looked like a soldier saluting to her captain. Victoria had eased her mood in a second, and it seemed as though others around them weren’t so happy about it.

“Good morning to you, too, Miss Song.” Yuri smiled sweetly, not hiding her comfortableness that she held toward her new colleague.

Yuri’s eyes then glance over at the pile of paperwork on the girl’s desk and tilted her head in wonder. Yuri knew that had never once assigned the girl any work and Yuri understood that her father was considerate enough to not have done that to a new employed worker. Besides, that mountain of paperwork could never possibly be done by one person alone in one day. Yuri took a glance at her other employees, who had immediately avoided eye-contact and pretended that they hadn’t been looking. Yuri had an idea what went on.

“May I ask what those are?” Yuri asked Victoria, pointing to the half finished assignments.

Victoria trailed her eyes to the direction Yuri was pointing to and reverted back to face her boss. “These were given to me this morning and said that they are to be done by the end of today.”

“Who gave them to you?”

“Um…” Victoria fidgeted with her fingers, appearing as though she was uncomfortable to answer.

At that point, Yuri could have already guessed.

Yuri walked pass Victoria and observed the files. She recognized those were the ones that she handed out in the first place, and she knew who she originally gave them to. Picking up the portfolios, she organized them into different stacks. Holding them in her arms, she placed the right ones on the desks of the people who were supposedly responsible for them, then walked back to Victoria, leaving the rest of her employees frozen because of her actions.

“Those who don’t turn in their work by 12:00AM will not be dismissed to break. I will accept no excuses from anyone.” Yuri demanded in a straightforward tone.

Not that they were shock because Yuri found out so easily, but they didn’t believe she could put them under such pressure that they were in fear of her just from the serious look in her eyes. Victoria was also surprised at how quick her boss resolved a problem, and bore even more respect to the younger girl.

“Are these finished?” Yuri questioned, looking through the stack that was on the other side of the small space.

“Y-yes.” Victoria answered, somewhat nervous that she would make a mistake in any way.

Yuri picked up the files and did not even look through them, as she fully trusted Victoria’s work ethics.

“Could I talk to you for a minute?” Yuri asked Victoria politely.

Victoria nodded and followed Yuri into her private office. Once they disappeared and were out of sight, the employees gathered and began to gossip about the scene just before them.

“Just who does she think she is?” One girl said, flicking her hair in disgust.

“She easily earned herself the Miss Kwon’s favor just like that.” Another employee said, snapping her fingers to emphasize her point.

“Hey, I heard she’s the only who had passed the interview out of all the people who had sent in their résumés.” The first girl stated in a tone that was degrading. “What kind of special power does she have over the boss? Wasn’t Miss Kwon the one who did the interview?”

“Do you think there’s more going on behind the scenes than we think?” Another suggested.

“Either way, she’s a threat to us and the best way to deal with this is to get rid of her.”
 

---
 

“Have a seat, Victoria.” Yuri guided her colleague to the empty guest seat as she walked around the table to sit in her own. She had purposely dropped her formality with the older girl, and Victoria noticed it, but had decided not to comment on the matter.

Yuri opened the files that Victoria had completed for the others and inspected the reports. They were above her expectations and she was glad that Yuri had gained such a great person under her.

“Is there anything wrong with them?” Victoria asked worriedly as she observed the way Yuri looked at the paperwork.

“Nope. Nothing at all. Absolutely perfect.” Yuri praised as she gave Victoria a quick assuring smile while pushing the reports aside.

Victoria exhaled in relief and smiled back at her boss.

“I called you in here because I want to let you know that you had showed me how great of an employee you are, even if it had been less than an hour. I’m really glad to have you here, and I hope you won’t get discourage by the stress this company had given you and might give you in the future. My point is if you have any problems, troubles, or just anything at all, feel free to come and talk to me at anytime.” Yuri reached for a nearby business card and flipped it to the back, quickly scribbling some numbers on the blank space. She then handed it to Victoria, who picked it up with a surprise reaction, “That’s my cell phone number. Since you’re not only my employee but also a good friend of mine, I thought you should have it.”

“I-”

A few knocks on the door then interrupted Victoria. Yuri granted the person permission to enter, as it was revealed to be none other than her personal secretary, Choi Sooyoung.
Sooyoung bowed politely to Yuri’s guest and was returned with one. She then approached Yuri and made a quick announcement. “Miss Kwon, you have an appointment to attend to right now with one of Mr. Kwon’s partnering companies.”

“Alright, I understand.”

“I’ll excuse myself then.” Victoria stood up from her seat and lowered her head in respect. “Thank you, Miss Kwon for your encouragement. I’ll do my best so that I’ll reach your expectations.”

“Take it easy, okay?” Yuri said in concern, knowing her other employees almost too well.

Victoria nodded in respond then headed out the office as she closed the door behind her.

“She’s really pretty.” Sooyoung complimented the young lady who had just stepped out. She then turned back to Yuri, and now knowing that there were now only two of them, Sooyoung immediately dropped her formalities. “Hey, Yuri, are you interested in her? No one is ever in your office before besides me for any other reason other than interviews and meetings.”

“It’s not what you think. Now let’s go.” Yuri replied, almost completely ignoring the whole point, and began to walk toward the door.

“Yah! Kwon Yuri, I’m talking to you!” Sooyoung chased after her friend then immediately changed her composure and the way she act once Yuri opened the door. Now Yuri had made her even more curious.
 

---
 

“Thank you all for attending and have a nice day.”

The meeting ended two hours after it started and Yuri was starting to feel that her stomach was crying out for food. Dismissing herself and leaving the rest of the task to Sooyoung, she headed out to have lunch by herself.

Yuri decided to exercise while she was at it, choosing to walk instead of driving on her motor bike. As she strolled down the streets, heading toward her favorite coffee shop, a store caught her eye.
Sometimes Yuri wished someone would give an answer to her question, ‘Why does this always happen to me?’

Yuri was unintentionally in front of a music store that was, in fact, promoting Jessica’s new album.
Standing still like a mannequin, Yuri gazed at the poster that was hanged in front of the shop as she thought about how pretty Jessica looked.

“Yuri, if you want to forget her, then you have to start picking up those feet and move on.”

Others stared at Yuri as they passed by, and were beginning to identify the individual. Being known to the public as the daughter of the one of the biggest companies in Korea, Yuri drew much unwanted attention. Taking one last glance at the poster, Yuri forced herself to walk away, clenching her fists as restrained herself from looking back.

Without knowing it, Yuri had started running instead, as if once again being chased.

But this time, she had nowhere to run to…and no one to lean on.

Kwon Yuri was by herself.
 

===========================

Because I have both a Soshified account and an AsianFanfics account, I forgot to post up the first part of Chapter 6, so some of you might have gotten confused since I only posted up the second part (>__< )  I apologize OTL

I'm sorry to say that this chapter had been super boring (>__< )
I had stress over my finals so I wasn't in the right mind for writing but I didn't want to delay my updates any longer than two weeks.
This chapter was very disorganized but I hope you liked it even by a little bit. I didn't intend it to be this long since there was supposedly another scene right after this, but I couldn't fit it here so I decided to make it a separate chapter instead.
Sorry that I kept you waiting (>__< )
This chapter was necessary to mostly describe Yuri's love for Jessica and how she's currently trying to move on. The last scene was to show that Yuri's love for her was not something she could merely 'walk away' from, but instead she had to 'run'.
I tried my best to word Yuri's feelings and I used a lot of short sentences, which I have never really put to use before. Hope it's not bad (>__< )
I know my grammar is already terrible so yeah OTL...

I encourage that you read this small section everytime so that you could have a better understanding of the story 'cause I usually go in depth with opague ideas.

Thank you for reading everyone! Please continue to give me your support by commenting~
-June