Yuri’s POV

“As in a date?” I guessed.

L.Joe nodded. “Er, yea, that is, if you want to,” he blabbed. “So if you don’t want to, then it’s okay; I’m cool with it if you’re not —”

“Wow, when you’re nervous, you babble a lot,” I cut in, pointing the obvious.

“Ahhh . . .” he grinned at me sheepishly. “Was that obvious?”

I smiled. “Sure, I would love to go to the dance with you as a date. Pick me up at seven?”

“It’s a date,” he said, putting his arms around me.

I smiled as I snuggled closet to him. “Oh, gosh,” I said, “I wonder who my Secret Cupid is.”

“How are you expecting your Secret Cupid to reveal himself to you?” L.Joe asked.

I frowned thoughtfully at that question. “You know, I never actually thought about that. Maybe give me flowers. Or maybe sweep me off my feet. Or maybe give me a box of chocolates. Or maybe —”

But L.Joe interrupted me. “You sure have too many expectations,” he commented.

I shrugged. “A girl can dream, can’t she?” My eyes twinkled. “Oh! I know!”

“What?”

“I wish my Secret Cupid would dedicate ‘Heaven By Your Side’ from A1 to me and then while everyone is looking, he give me a kiss on the cheek.”

L.Joe studied me carefully. “You really want him to do that?”

I shrugged again. “Why not? It’s soooo romantic.”

“Hey, you’ve got me. Ain’t I romantic enough for you?” he teased.

I blushed. “Well . . .” Yes, he is romantic and very sweet, kind, incredibly smart in his own ways, and was also smoking hot. Yes, I thought to myself, closing my eyes as I rested my head on his shoulder. You’re so amazing, L.Joe.

L.Joe’s POV

“What if it’s someone who you don’t know? Or, I don’t know, someone you don’t like?” I asked her. That thought just came to mind.

But she shrugged. “Well, it’s not like it’ll actually happen, anyways,” she replied. “I mean, no one knows what I want and such.”

“But your Secret Cupid managed to get almost all the things you want.”

She shrugged again, frowning. “But not Woo Chul,” I heard her muttering under her breath.

“Woo Chul?” I repeated, lost.

She smiled sadly at me and heaved a huge sigh. “My boyfriend,” she muttered under her breath. “Appa still doesn’t let me talk to him. It’s killing me, not knowing how he is.”

I nodded, knowing what she meant. She told me about her life as Annie Tan a long time ago. She told it to me, Minzy and Taemin. She also told me that Minzy has a huge crush on Chunji and it was funny because I know that Chunji likes her and that he had picked her name for the Secret Cupid. And Yuri told me Minzy picked his name for Secret Cupid. Talk about a coincidence.

“Why don’t you try sneaking a call or something?” I suggested to her. “It couldn’t hurt. Maybe you don’t need to contact him, but at least contact one of your friends. It’s worth a try.”

She nodded, fishing her phone out. But then she frowned. “, low battery,” she cursed. She sighed, stashing her phone bag into her bag. “I guess I’ll have to call later.”

I kissed her forehead, nuzzling her softly.

Mir’s POV

Aish, how am I going to ask Yuri to the dance with me tomorrow? I thought as I walked around the park. The dance is tomorrow. I stopped, kicking the leaves.

I looked up and froze.

Why is Yuri with L.Joe?

As I watched carefully, L.Joe planted a soft kiss on Yuri’s forehead and she snuggled up close to him.

My heart dropped.

Am I too late?

Yuri’s POV

“I have to go,” I said, standing up. L.Joe smiled and nodded. “Thanks for listening, and . . . well . . . yeah.”

She laughed, hugging me. “Take care. Text me once you’ve reached home so I know that you’re safe.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Mom,” I joked.

He whacked me on my arm. “Yah, I care for you and I want to make sure you get home safely.”

I laughed again. “Okay, okay. Don’t worry, I’ll text you. Bye!” I walked off, back to my house. I thought of what L.Joe suggested me to do about Woo Chul. I’ll go home and try it out later when I get home.

Honk!

I looked up and saw Joon in his car. I smiled and waved, knowing he was on his way to Mir’s house. I walked back home safely and texted L.Joe after I had charged my phone. I made a few calls as well.

After the calls, I sighed, frowning. Who should I choose? Tony or Jerome? I decided to go for Tony. He’s the safest bet and I know that he would be able to keep a secret. So I grabbed my phone and flipped through my contact list until I reached his name.

I hesitated before pressing on the call button.

Ring, ring . . . ring, ring . . . ring, ring . . .

Please be busy, please don’t pick up.

Ring, ring . . . ring, ring . . .

Please don’t let him be anywhere near his phone. I don’t want him to answer.

Ring, ring . . . ring, ring . . .

I could feel my heart thumping wildly against my chest as I waited impatiently. I was tempted to end the call, but at the same time I was curious to know if he would pick up. You know what? I'll just end the call.

“Hello?”

.

“Tony?”

“Who’s this?”

Oh right, Korean number is different than Malaysian number. “It’s me . . . Annie.”

There was a moment of silence and then —

“HOLY ! ANNIE! IS THAT ING YOU? OH MY GOD, WHERE THE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!?! What the ?! Is this some sort of joke?” he shouted into my ears.

I winced, pulling the receiver away from my ear. He is still so loud. “Are you done rambling and swearing yet?” I asked him when I was sure he had calmed down a bit.

“What is going on?!” he demanded to know. “And where are you? Do you have any idea how worried we all have been when you suddenly disappeared without even leaving a single trace behind?”

“I’m in Korea,” I replied flatly.

“. . . Are you serious?”

“Deadly.”

“Why are you in Korea? Wait, does Woo Chul know about it?”

“No!” I quickly said. “And you cannot tell him that I’m in Korea.”

“Why??”

“No one is supposed to know,” I replied. “That’s why I left without telling you guys. Don’t worry, it’s not like I knew that I was leaving.”

“What happened?” he asked. Damn, it felt good to be talking to someone from my old life. I really missed his voice.

I told him everything that had happened staring from when I arrived home to find out that I’m actually Lee Yuri until now, me calling him. He listened quietly and patiently, never making a sound so I was not sure if he was still listening or not.

“I wanted to call, but my dad wouldn’t let. Believe me, I would have called sooner,” I told him, hoping that he wouldn’t be mad.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Tony?”

“Woo Chul is going to freak when he finds out,” he said finally.

“No, no, he cannot know, he’s not supposed to know. Please, don’t tell him,” I begged my friend. “You’re not supposed to know either. But I felt like I at least owe you that much.”

“Annie . . .”

“Please.”

He groaned. “Fine,” he muttered. “Ugh, I hate it when you do this.”

“Anyway, so, how are you?” I asked, lying down on my bed. “It’s been months since we last talked. How is Jerome and Woo Chul and everything? Wait . . . first, is Woo Chul okay?”

“Ah . . .” he hesitated. “Erm, Annie, were you and Woo Chul, by any chance, dating?”

I blushed. “Why?”

“Just tell me. Because, judging from how close the two of you were, it’s sort of obvious.”

I cringed, remembering the night Woo Chul told me that Tony and Jerome liked me too. “Yes,” I started to say slowly.

“Oh.”

“Tony, what’s going on?” I asked. With Tony, there will always be another truth behind every sentence. You just have to know when to catch it. And right now, I can sense that he was hiding something from me.

“Woo Chul was really depressed at first,” he said slowly into the other end of the receiver. “I think he was miserable, dead miserable. And then he confessed to us that you guys were dating and —”

“Wait, if you knew, then how come you asked me?”

“I needed confirmation,” he explained. “Anyway . . . the reason was because . . .”

I sighed, hating it when he keeps hesitating because that means it’s something bad. But what could it be? I know for a fact that Woo Chul isn’t —

“He’s not dead, is he?” I shrieked. He’s not that kind of person!

“No, of course not, you silly goose,” he snapped. “I doubt he’s that kind of person.”

“So . . .?”

“Will you let me finished?” he asked impatiently.

“Sorry, sorry . . .”

“Anyway, well . . .”

“Stop hesitating!” I said, irritated.

“Just shut up and let me finished!”

“Why can’t you just say what you want to say and just stop hesitating and pausing?” I retorted.

And this is one reason why I actually didn’t want to call Tony and would have called Jerome: because Tony and I always argue with each other, even when the conversations don’t even make sense.

But the reason why I called Tony because he’s trustworthy and Jerome tends to blabber out stuff by accident. And I didn’t want the entire school to know that my dad is some big-shot company because then . . . well, I shouldn’t care since I’m no longer there but it’s my private matters.

“Annie, I hate to tell you this but . . .”

“Tony, I swear, if you don’t tell me in the next —”

“Woo Chul found a new girlfriend. He found a new one a week after you left,” he blurted out.

What?

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CLIFFY! Sorry D:

I'm so tired. I just came back from ice-skating. I'll reply to your comments later.

And for those silent readers, do comment! I want to know what's going in your miiinnnddd. If only I'm psychic D: