SONG HYE KYO

I rubbed my temples as I woke up. What a killer hangover.

I got up from my bed and wondered how on earth I got home. My last bit of memory was of Kwang Soo pouring me soju and Ah In trying his best to snatch away my glass. I groan as another wave of nausea and headache hit me. 

I groggily walked out of my bedroom and towards the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water, and maybe, if I still had any, a hangover medicine. It was a good thing that my schedule was free for the day, because I cannot, for the life of me, function at this state. 

After feeling the instant relief the hangover medicine provided, my thoughts went back to the events of last night.

Seeing Song Joong Ki at TMI was something I never anticipated, drinking with him was also not something I thought I would ever do again, but I guess I was proven wrong last night. 

He didn't even look at me during the whole time, or the whole time up to the point I can remember. He only greeted Seung Heon Oppa and although I wouldn't have said anything to him if he greeted me too, the thought that I was ignored irked me. As always, since our divorce, Song Joong Ki acts as if I never existed whenever he's around other people. 

I did my best to ignore his presence too and instead concentrated on the rest of the people seated at our table. I engaged in conversations without any acknowledgment of him being there. The alcohol too was a really good help in my attempt at trying to act normal. I drank so much since it helped me lighten up and forget about the feelings of uncomfortability that I had last night, thus my current state.

I felt a lump in my throat as my eyes water.

Our divorce was something that we both settled on, because we figured it was the best for both of our sanities. We were becoming unhappy, and forcing to stay together would just result in us detesting each other. We both didn't want that. It was settled peacefully, but that didn't make it any less painful. I thought, since we separated amicably, that we could atleast go back to being friends, because after all, we were such good friends before we decided to date and get married, but I guess that was just wishful thinking on my part.

There were a few times we'd see each other accidentally at cafes or TV stations, and I would prepare myself to greet him whenever I see him from a distance, but he'd always end up walking past me with a straight face. He acted as if I was air. I ended up hating him for that, something that we were trying to avoid in the first place. Being blatantly ignored by the person I used to spend all my time with, and used to love with all that I have hurt like a knife piercing through me. From then on, I decided to ignore him just as he ignores me.

After that divorce fiasco, I only took two days off to cry myself senseless, just to allow myself to release a little bit of the pain, but after that I never took a break from work because it was a welcome distraction. I busied myself with my overseas schedules, endorsments, photoshoot, and drama filmings. I had commitments left and right, and before I even noticed, months and years have passed, and my hectic schedule had numbed and dulled the pain that I was feeling. Or so I thought. 

Just a few days ago, I saw him at the park and he was asking me to talk to him. I thought I have recovered from that after sulking for a few days, but seeing him again last night just puts me back to square one. I don't exactly know what this is, but the familiar sting I felt after seeing him had definitely awakened something in me, and my senses are screaming that it should be something that I should ignore and bury deep.

How is it possible to still have a speck of feeling for someone that had put me through so much pain and embarrassment? Just the sight of him, and I become restless and undone. It's unfair how he's faring well whenever he's faced with my presence while I had to drink myself to the limit just to be able to tolerate him being around me.

I shook off these depressing thoughts as I fumbled for my phone, deciding to call Ah In to fill me up on the remaining details of last night.

It took a few rings before Ah In answered the call.

"Noona! How are you? Your hangover must be killing you." He laughed on the other line.

"Yah. How can you laugh at my current state?!" I exclaimed.

"You always overdo it whenever you drink." He laughed once again, ignoring my complaints.

"Anyway, how did I get home last night? Did you bring me home? Or was it Seung Heon Oppa?" I asked.

"You don't remember?"

"I don't, that's why I'm asking you." I rolled my eyes at his obvious question.

"If you don't remember then that's good enough. You don't need to know." 

"What do you mean? Yah. What happened?" 

"Nothing. It was me, I took you home, Noona." Ah In said hurriedly. "I need to go, Noona. Hope you feel well! Bye!"

And with that, Ah In hung up. 

I scratched my head in confusion. Ah In is being weird again. 

I tried thinking about it some more and see if I could remember anything significant from last night, but all I got was another massive headache in return. 

I groan in pain and frustration and decided that I would just let it go. No use trying to remember something my alcohol-muddled brain refuses to.

I sighed and decided to just sleep off my hangover for the rest of the day.

After my day off from work was spent recuperating from my hangover, it was now back to filming. I still have a bit of a headache but it was nothing intolerable. My age can't keep up with my drinking habits. 

We were currently on an on-location shoot at Daegu for Remembering You. I had 8 sequences to shoot today, all of which were me crying and being emotional, and doing that with the remnants of my hangover was going to be a challenge. It was a good thing that my Manager had decided that now is not the time for me to get a scolding for drinking so much that night, especially when I'm currently doing a drama filming. I'll probably face her wrath once we're in the car on the way home. I sighed at the thought. 

"Still have a hangover?" Seung Heon Oppa suddenly showed up, sitting on a chair beside me. 

I nodded. "A bit."

"Here." Seung Heon Oppa handed me a bottle of hangover medicine along with a bottle of water. 

"Thank you, Oppa." I said, gladly accepting both.

"Sorry about the other night. We were supposed to have a friendly date but it ended up as something of an awkward get together." He said. 

"It's okay, Oppa. I had fun, despite the circumstances." I said, pushing a small smile.

"Hye Kyo, if you don't mind me asking. Are you and Song Joong Ki friends? Despite being an ex couple?" He asked trepidly. 

I shook my head. "No, we're not. "

"Ah. Then, I must've put you in a really tight spot that night." He said apologetically. 

"It's fine, Oppa. Like I've said, we're part of the same industry, having run ins like that was inevitable. I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised at seeing him there, but quite surprisingly, I'm not as shaken as I thought I'd be." I said. "And over all, I had fun. Drinking with In Sung Oppa and Kwang Soo was fun too. I haven't been able to hang out with them in quite a long time, which is a shame because I'm quite fond of them." 

"Breaking up really , huh? You don't only part ways with the person, but you're forced to not spend time with people you've become friends with through him." He said.

"Well, it's not like I was forced to not be friends with them, I did it to my own accord since it would be awkward to still spend time with my ex-husband's best friends." I replied.

"I've come to realize, during the few times that I got to spend with you, that you're really a strong woman." Seung Heon Oppa said. 

I gave him a small smile. "I had to be. It's all part of life anyways. I had to push through that part of my life and come out stronger since it'll just be too sad if I wallowed in self pity." 

He just gave me a small nod. The silence that came after what I said was quite concerning as I looked at Seung Heon Oppa deep in thought. 

"Anyway, I came by to ask you to have dinner with me after our shoot. Consider it as my apology for the other night." He finally said.

"There's no need for that, Oppa. Really." 

"No, I want to. This time, it's just us two, Promise." He grinned at me.

"Are you going to use your sunbae powers on me if I decline?" I laughed. 

"No. I won't force you if you really don't want to, but I'd really like for you to give that date another chance." He said, putting emphasis on the word date.

"It's no longer a