Part One

“Let’s just go back to being strangers.”

Those words often haunted Minho when he allowed his mind to catch a break. Taking a small vacation with Seonho had helped, but only to a certain extent. It hit him hard how much he had truly felt for Jieun, and how it was mostly his fault for them to end this tragically.

Tragically only for me, he reminded himself. Jieun had chosen Namjin over him and he didn’t know why. He didn’t want to know why. But his mind couldn’t stop speculating her reasons.

Was it because he was late in opening up his feelings to her?

Was it because he indeed was incapable of being the man she needed him to be?

But he was willing to change, to be more perceptive, more open. To make her feel understood and secure. To take the initiative. But maybe, his efforts were lackluster in comparison. Maybe because whatever he was going to make an effort to be, Namjin already was.

It wasn’t her fault at all for choosing what was best for her.

But it wasn’t his fault either. She was the best for him and he wanted to be with her.

He sighed, realizing that he had a bunch of photos to edit and he was staring at the screen for the entire break. People had started pouring into the studio. Chief Do spotted him and approached him right away.

“You have been looking a bit dull recently. I thought it was a hangover or maybe just a bad day, but it’s been days. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Minho sighed, “I guess I am just tired.” It wasn’t a lie, really. He really was tired. He had been pushing himself too much lately so he could keep himself busy. Distracted. Keep himself from thinking about Jieun and all the possibilities of still having a chance. That he still could do something about it. He wanted to, but he knew it wasn’t right to. She was dating someone else now. He had no right to ruin it for her by acting like a clingy jerk.

“Yeah, you’ve only been editing pictures all week. Let’s give you a change.”

“A change?” Minho managed a small smile as he looked at Chief Do. “What kind?”

“A new VIP request came in. You can take it up solo since it’s just taking profile pictures.”

“Chief, it’s a no if it's another college kid.” Minho had grumbled a bit about it to Chief Do because the last request for profile pictures was from Shim Doyoung, who still hadn’t paid him. Minho wouldn’t take money from him anyway, he was just a college kid–now dropped out–and Minho didn’t feel right about it. Doyoung was doing well now–he got hired by an agency as a model and had even moved out from his apartment since he was dating, but Minho still wouldn’t let him pay–for the shoot or the rent. He had grown a bit attached to the young guy, after being constantly treated as an older brother by him. And feeling like that, he could never take money from him. Especially since as a younger brother he never paid for anything when he was with his elder sisters.

“Don’t worry, it’s not a college kid this time. And I’ll settle the payment beforehand.” Chief Do got up and returned with a file from his desk, “An idol switching careers to acting after he returned from his military break. He needs some latest pictures for his acting profile. Originally, I set up some time to meet tomorrow morning, but we can postpone it.”

“That's fine. Tomorrow works.” Minho took the file from him but didn’t open it. “I’ll take a look when I’m done editing these.”

“Sure. And just go home after you’re done. Take the file with you.”

“You’re letting me off early?” Minho asked, amused yet definitely not unhappy about the offer.

“Don’t get used to it!”

Minho chuckled, watching the Chief gather the staff around to resume work on the shoot. After watching a while more, Minho decided to finish his editing, but before he got to it, he stuffed the file into his bag.

Despite being let off early, Minho returned to his apartment late in the night. He wasn’t up for hanging out with his friends, especially after being so painfully rejected by Jieun. She might be there and he didn’t know how to face her, but he had to. He wanted to. But maybe not yet. Her words about being a stranger hurt and Minho knew he would be sullen about it and make things more awkward in the state of mind that he was in. So he had declined Seonho’s invitation and roamed the streets after a quick dinner, taking pictures. It was the only thing that seemed to keep his mind occupied wholly, working on the pictorial Chief Editor Ahn asked him to work on. But he didn’t quite like any of the pictures he had taken. Something felt off about them to him. And he finally gave up when he noticed shops close around him and headed home.

After washing up, he remembered the file in his bag and grabbed a beer before settling with it.

“Lee Taemin.” He read out the name. It didn’t ring any bells. Of course, he didn’t actually follow any idols although he remembered the famous ones well. He pulled out his phone and googled the guy because it would be etiquette to know a bit about him before working with him. Some background information would also help him decide the vibe of the photoshoot, just in case Lee Taemin had no ideas for it.

“Hmm.” Minho was definitely intrigued by what he had found on the guy. The group he was a part of wasn’t that famous. They had debuted four years ago and did decently, but had disbanded while Taemin was in the military; the reason being multiple scandals of the other members. A couple of the members had restarted their solo careers after a break and the same seemed to be the case for Taemin. Minho had watched a random performance out of curiosity and though Taemin wasn’t a main vocalist, he had a nice voice and was a good dancer. Minho was curious now, why the guy was restarting his career as an actor instead of doing something with music.

His watch beeped midnight and Minho broke from his trail of thoughts. He closed the file and called it a day, hoping that at least tonight his thoughts would rest and let him sleep.

Minho had brought his jeep to work instead of his scooter since he had to pick