“Oh!” Naeun turned to SooHo hearing his excited tone, curious to know the reason, “As you know the photographer has been living here for a year now, he suggested that we consider a few more places for the shoot” “What do you think?” he suggested, his smiling face constant, as she continued to watch him thinking now.

They both were walking together across the long corridor of the palace in Italy, which was one of their fixed locations, to have their first meeting with the same photographer today.

“But Rin is coming next week and she has only two days for us” “We already have the best three locations, so I don’t think we should waste time on the other places at this point of time” she added, trying to make her point.

They were already walking through the arched opening of the building at the end of the corridor that had opened into a vast land of green lawn, as they looked at the gazebo on their left, where they saw her editor and team manager and SooHo’s manager, waiting for both of them.

“It’s my first overseas project oppa!” “I don’t want to take any last minute risk” “I’m already very nervous” she murmured turning back to him after seeing a whole bunch of people waiting for them, “I know and I want the same dear” he whispered leaning closer, as he patted her shoulder softly assuring her, making her turn ahead to start walking again, “You’re the fashion director, everything will happen as you decide, don’t worry” he added, making her pout on his words, blushing then, as he smiled himself.

SooHo was the creative head of the magazine since five years now and so of course he wanted to make sure everything goes smooth, as the magazine was his responsibility as well, but he knew Naeun was going through a whole new process with her fresh responsibility, so he was making sure to not stress her out, and instead calm her for the plans to go well as they have been.

“You should focus on explaining your ideas to the photographer today” “We can discuss the rest together later, okay?” he added, making Naeun nod quickly, watching him, who had his eyes fixed on the photographer now.

She followed his gaze as she saw their team again, there was their editor in chief- Mrs Da hee(42 yrs), Naeun’s team manager- Ms Haeri(28 yrs), Soo ho’s manager- Mr Doh(28 yrs), and the photographer, Mr Lee Taemin.(31 yrs)

As Naeun finally got a glimpse of each one standing there, she finally got her eyes on him, which went wide in surprise then, as they walked closer for her to confirm her doubt, making her gasp softly, with her jaw falling in shock then, seeing Taemin again after such a long time.

As SooHo was continuously mentioning him as photographer-nim, she had missed that she never asked for the name of this photographer they were meeting today. 

SooHo had worked with him before and he was also Kibum’s friend, so she was easily convinced to have this photographer on board for this project just by seeing his previous work in magazines being so incredible. 

She was also busy planning everything else to check the other details about this person and it came to turn out like this now.

She hadn’t seen him in the last four years. No call, no message since he left Seoul. She only knew he was working as a fashion photographer in Europe since last year, through his family. But she hardly had expected for them to meet again.

She had made up her mind that she would never see him again and he had not contacted her once in these four years. She tried calling him to talk to him, and he ignored her calls for almost a month after that. She had to move on for her own peace, so she eventually gave up.

He was looking completely different than before.

His wavy hair was longer covering his entire length of nape but his head was covered with the black baseball cap to keep the locks away from his face. So his face was looking quite slimmer with the chiseled jawline, being one of the main highlights of his charms. 

He had lost the baby fat of cheeks, his shoulder was broader, he looked a lot taller too.

He was looking a bit more adult & manly now, flexing his muscular body with the black t-shirt on him showing his buffed up chest muscles even under the long brown jacket he was wearing over the top.

SooHo was still holding onto Naeun’s shoulder, as they walked up the steps to enter the gazebo, getting everyone’s attention, who were talking with each other till now.

Naeun couldn’t take her eyes off her long lost friend, seeing him suddenly in front of her, as he was now looking back at her in the same surprise, to make her eyes go wider, as his eyes turned softer immediately, blinkling cutely, watching her reaction.

He had a subtle smile on his lips, reaching for his cap to remove it from his head, watching her staring at him endlessly, as he ran his hand through his hair to fix the long waves back that were messed up, as he got the cap back on his head.

Her heart skipped a beat, which was followed by her taking a deep breath then, making her realize her reaction consciously now.

She blinked, looking away to get her head around this situation. 

How can such a coincidence happen to her? 

She was flustered a lot to say anything right now.

“So everyone’s here now” Ms Ha’s enthusiastic voice reached her ear, as she turned herself to her, trying to smile wider to hide her anxiety inside, 

“Hello Naeun!” “Hello SooHo-ssi!” Naeun pressed her lips together, blinking softly, matching the eye contact of everyone watching her now, as she bowed to greet them.

“We have already discussed a few things as we got here early, Naeun should explain the theme to Taemin-ssi so that we can confirm the layouts and backgrounds quickly“ Mrs Dahee added, taking Naeun’s attention, as Naeun nodded getting a seat beside Mrs Dahee, making SooHo sit on an empty chair beside her, which was apparently in front of Taemin.

“Let me introduce both of you to Mr Lee Taemin” Ms Ha went on looking in Taemin’s direction and then SooHo, as SooHo had a broad smile on his face, “We don’t need introduction” 

Taemin ended up giving a soft smile back to him, blinking embarrassed with his habit, as Naeun took a glance at him, as they ended up having brief eye contact then, making her dig her head in the laptop in front of her, 

“He photographed Kibum’s spring collection magazine issue last year” SooHo went on with his explanation, making Ms Ha mouth an ‘O’ in return, “So we ended up meeting few times then” 

“Glad to see you again” Taemin reached to take SooHo’s hand, “I had to say yes when I heard it was you” he extended his smile wider, “And I was going to stay in Paris for a while anyway”

Naeun was flustered by the new discovery of SooHo and Taemin working together last year, when she was busy with her responsibility for their brand’s department store at that time. She would have met him a year ago then.

“Naeun-” Ms Ha was about to wake Naeun from her lost self staring at laptop for more than few minutes, but-

“Nice to see you again,” Taemin intervened, waiting for her to respond now.

She could feel his gaze on her when everyone went completely silent, making her take a long breath before looking up at him with a raised eye, “Yeah!” she exclaimed in a plain tone.

She knew he liked teasing her, and he was doing it again like nothing happened in these four years. He was as annoying as he was four years ago, at least that she could confirm hadn’t changed at all.

Finally he heard her voice and she was trying to match his eyes but her trembling gaze was too obvious, as he had an immediate sly smile forming on his lips, making her more angry.

SooHo had a surprised face now, with this unexpected interaction, “You guys know each other?” he asked, looking at Naeun for his answer.

Naeun was still quite confused and even angry now, seeing the jerk she called her closest friend for 14 years at a time, in front of her eyes enjoying her flustered face.

“Yes” “Kind of” she answered, looking back at Taemin, whose face fainted watching her dead expression, making SooHo and others watch between them awkwardly.

“Let’s get to work” “Shall we?” Naeun interrupted, making everyone nod, as she began her presentation then, explaining Taemin about the theme and clothes and jewelry designs so that he can decide the spots at the location accordingly.

She was way too serious than usual, and Taemin had turned serious opposite to his unserious puns a while ago, and this was only making the atmosphere heavy but everyone was trying to ignore, to get through the whole meeting smoothly for now.

---------------

“Okay I’ll check everything again once I get back to the hotel, you guys make sure that you get every brand well distributed in boxes and we can have the meeting in the evening then” 

Naeun was talking on the phone with one of her teammates about the arrival of the clothes and accessories from the warehouses, as she turned around while talking, to see Taemin standing in front of her, as if he was there waiting for her for a while.

She had come walking away to have this call in peace, incidentally landing up in one of the four largest balconies of the palace, as she was leaning on one of the walls then, watching the view of the vast frontyard of the palace.

He waved at her, watching her with a soft smile, making her take another nervous breath, as she saw him walking to her, making her pull herself forward from the wall she was leaning on, to stand straight, with her feet firm on the ground, “I’ll call you in a while Hara” she murmured, pulling off the phone to disconnect, continuing to watch him.

“So you’re the fashion director for this magazine” he looked happily surprised, as his eyes went down on the phone in her hand, grabbed in the tight grip in the anxiety she was feeling suddenly now, after hearing his voice so clear and real with the decreasing distance between them.

“I am!” she cleared to speak louder, feeling like losing her voice suddenly, “Yeah!”

“It” “shouldn’t be” ”a” “surprise?” she was hopelessly stuttering, blinking impatiently, as he chuckled at her response, moving ahead to stand right before her eyes, “Yeah! I shouldn’t be surprised about that” he squinted, wrinkling his nose, watching her, “Son Naeun?“ he smiled, “I thought it was just a similar name” 

“Wasn’t expecting you here?” he confessed making her roll her eyes at him,

“At least you remember my name” she scoffed, looking away from him feeling anger build up which she had left behind for a time now 

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her words, before speaking again, “It’s so nice to see you” he commented nonchalantly, making her look back at him now to see him smiling calmly,

“I don't think you wanted to see me again though” his voice had toned down and he had that helpless regret in his eyes right now.

She had no answer.

She wasn’t really completely happy to see him again, more of her was still angry, while a part of her was just curious how he had been living for these four years alone away from his family and friends.

They had been friends for 14 years and he just disappeared one day, sending a goodbye text to her, and didn’t even consider picking up her calls when she was trying to understand him.

What was she supposed to feel now other than that disappointment resurfacing in her mind once again?

Taemin and Naeun were childhood friends, they did their school, high school together and that’s how they ended up spending 14 years of their life being the closest friends of each other.

One fine day, out of nowhere, Naeun received a text from Taemin saying he was going to London to do his majors in photography, and he was leaving the next day, and she didn’t know anything from the process of this decision.

She knew nothing about this internship he had applied for in London, and that was heartbreaking enough to know, when they had grown to share everything about each other till that day.

Both of them were apart without much news about each other, and four years went by this way, with her hating him for treating her this way.

“Of course I never wanted to see you again” she retorted, the bitterness was prominent in her tone, as she looked down, staring at the colorful tiles beautifully decorating the ground under their feet. 

She said it, but it wasn’t true, she missed him at the utmost precious moments of her life, in this period of four years.

She wanted to tell him about her recruitment in her dream brand, and her being the fashion critic and writing columns on her favorite magazine. She wanted to tell him how happy she was when she got this opportunity for being a fashion director last year but he was not there with her for any of this.

She didn’t even know why he went away like this. He had just come out of his break-up and then suddenly he went away to London. She was worried too if he was harshly heartbroken to go away, but he had to cut her off of all people, and that was unforgivable.

“Are you still that angry with me?” he knew now what he had done was still a big problem between them to have a normal talk again.

She had to look up to smirk at his nervous face, “Didn’t you give me the reason to?” 

“You didn’t even bother to tell me you were applying for that London internship” “Let alone you leaving” “Like forever now” she blurted, as his eyes softened with guilt now.

She was screaming silently she missed him and he couldn’t bring himself to say sorry, knowing he had hurt her more than that.

“Anyway” “Why are we talking about this now?” she took a long breath turning away, ready to leave, “Let’s focus on the work only” “I am already occupied with bigger issues right now” she managed to murmur, before she could walk past him..

He stayed silent, as she walked away.

Many thoughts were going through his head suddenly.

His friendship with Naeun, her dating life, his relationship of five years, then his decision to break up, the longest time of his life that included Naeun suddenly came back to him, in a flash of seconds.

All of these events had led him to a surprising fact a few years ago that Naeun was more than a friend to him.

And then his first thought was to accept the London internship and go away for the time. 

He couldn’t bring himself to talk to her before leaving. She would have asked many questions which he wasn’t ready for then and even now

He was in Italy for a fashion show and Kibum, his designer friend, had contacted him about doing this magazine photoshoot, as they needed a good photographer and he was already in Italy. Taemin was quite popular in the fashion industry now and SooHo wanted to work with him since he had shot Kibum’s collection, so when Kibum suggested his name to him he had to get him on the project. And for Taemin of course this was another good opportunity to get back to Korea, which he was trying by getting work from Korean brands to assure his position there.

He actually considered that this fashion director was not the same Son Naeun he knew for 14 years.

He was equally unprepared for this meeting, which was stirring up his emotions again surprisingly.

As much as he doubted this feelings he had for Naeun to be just a fleet of thoughts, he realized again that he really liked her a lot for god knows how long for real.

Naeun was the only person in his life that he had considered when he had these crazy deep thoughts to share with someone. She would take his absurd ideas seriously, and listen to him patiently for all the time he needed, which made him talk more and more to her, and she was now the person who knew almost everything about him.

He wasn’t the person who knew how to share his emotions but she knew a part of him no one else in his life could discover. He felt comfortable with her, but he knew his newly discovered emotions were going to disturb her life at some point.

Given that they had spent a lot of years together, they both knew how much they affected each other’s life, but it was ridiculous then to think of it as something serious like love.

They were friends for so long, and he was kind of sure he was alone in this emotion, which led him to take the decision of going away without bothering her with his complicated feelings.

He preferred staying away from her, making her angry than staying with her with these unsettled emotions for her, and interfering with her life then.

After having clarity about what she meant to him, he obviously was not that strong to see her with another man being in her life in future.

-------------

Naeun was showing Taemin photos of their models and they were discussing more about the shoot again.Taemin suggested a few ideas for props and the setup, as Ms Haeri had finished writing her summary of the meeting, and asked Naeun if she could leave.

Mrs DaHee was ready to leave as well as she had another meeting, so SooHo asked Mr Doh to drive Mrs DaHee & Ms Haeri back to the hotel then. 

So now SooHo, Naeun and Taemin were sitting together, discussing a few more things about tomorrow’s shoot. 

“I heard from Kibum that you’ve worked with Rin before?” SooHo interrupted with a question, making Naeun widen her eyes as she looked at Taemin again, “Rin has worked with him?” “When?” She had the expression as if they had betrayed her, by her not knowing about this.

Rin was not only the leading model of their brand but Naeun and Rin were quite close friends after working on various projects together in the passed year, since Naeun had started as a fashion director in the brand they were working for.

“I don’t remember much” “Just once maybe” Taemin said, trying to remember, as he looked at her, his lips formed into the usual pout, making Naeun chuckle softly, “She’s not even here and you’re acting coy about it”

Her response made him half-smile to her in response, “Maybe I'll remember when I see her again” Taemin’s answer made SooHo chuckle, taking their attention to him.

Soo ho was watching Naeun and Taemin converse sitting there silently beside them till now.

“Okay tell me how you both know each other?” he asked, glancing between them, as Naeun gulped now awkward again, “We were friends, I don’t think i can say the same now” she looked at Taemin with the dead stare again, who was dumbfounded by her answer,

“As much as I know Naeun, you must have really done something wrong to her, my friend” he reached for Taemin’s shoulder to give a strong pat, watching him smile nervously at him, 

“Are you dating her?” Taemin asked, turning his gaze on Naeun who sent him an angry stare, which made SooHo chuckle again watching them bicker. He had hardly seen Naeun behave so cold with anyone in his three years with her.

“We are-” SooHo began to answer but stopped, taking glances between Taemin & Naeun for a moment, as Naeun got a peek at him seeing him go silent suddenly.

“Don’t tell me, you both were a thing in the past?” he asked, confused now by their strange looks to each other, as Naeun was first to interrupt, “No!” she exclaimed, a bit loud enough to startle the staff that was cleaning the table.

“Yeah!” Taemin added, blinking calmly at Sooho who was staring at him now, “Just friends!” he confirmed, making Sooho laugh again, “Your expression is scaring me though” he confessed, taking a scoff from Taemin in return, as he shook his head in firm denial, “Just friends and-”

“Not even that now” he looked at Naeun who had a frustrated face, as she stood up, “You can finish the meeting with Taemin-ssi, right?” she looked at SooHo to get his frozen face, before he nodded, “But you should wait we can go together” “How about we take a look at the place Taemin is talking about” “We still have two extra days, and everything else is almost ready” SooHo wanted to check out the place Taemin had mentioned again during the meeting, as it seemed interesting and he had a feeling it would go well with their theme.

Naeun had got her hands on SooHo’s wrist to pull him up with her, “We’ll see you tomorrow then” she looked at Taemin, who was blankly observing her as she began to walk ahead.

Taemin nodded quietly, as SooHo watched between them in amazement, “But we haven't finished talking-”

She started walking ahead without responding, “You’re overreacting” she heard SooHo but didn’t stop, as SooHo got a look at Taemin before deciding to follow Naeun, “I’ll call you back”

"Naeun-ah” he had to stop her, when they were out of the palace now, “We should really go check out that place” he added, as she turned to him, anger still so alive in her eyes, “I’m sure it’s gonna help our photoshoot in all ways” he tried talking to her patiently, calming down the mood for them, “Don’t you think so?”

They had seen the pictures Taemin showed them and she was also thinking about considering that place as it was unique and matched their concept much better, but she was more enraged to admit that till now.

“Okay” she agreed, taking a smile from SooHo, “We can go tomorrow with him” “But don’t expect me to act normal with him” she warned, making him nod, agreeing to her.

—------------

“You liked him back then, didn't you?” SooHo asked, taking a glance at Naeun who was beside him on the passenger seat of the taxi as she stared at him for a while blankly then before looking out of the window again.

“Why would you ask me that?” she murmured, hearing his soft chuckle in response, “I think our relationship has helped me know you at least that much”

She looked at him with a blank face, as he was observing her face, “I’ve seen you get angry with people but this is so different” he added, trying to understand her.

“It is just four years of anger” she tried advocating the emotions she was feeling at the moment.

It was four years of anger stored inside her but it was also true that she did like him for seven long years before that.

She was always frustrated with the fact that she always found it hard to date someone when Taemin always was in a relationship since their highschool days. She dated for a while in university, but it turned out to be a bigger mess when that led her to a realization that Taemin was the center of her life for all these years and eventually she had started liking him as a man now.

Everytime he had a breakup she was there crying with him, comforting him, and at the same time cursing him for being such an ignorant fool with their friendship. 

Seeing him act the same for years, she started to believe that he was not going to like her back ever, and it was better to keep their friendship than act childish and confess to him.

But then he went through a breakup and this was a relationship of five years and Taemin was really serious about it. Naeun was worried for him after that, he had not talked about the reason for his breakup when she asked, he was ignoring meeting her again and again, and then he just went to London after that, he was not acting normal, but there was also no way to know what he wanted.

She didn’t know how to process her emotions after losing contact with him this way, she had to move on from that self of her.

After a year, she met SooHo and they started casually dating after a few weeks, he knew how to make her laugh, it was easy for her to talk with him about her insecurities, they didn’t have much to complain about each other and ended up carrying the relationship ahead for two years now. He was the perfect man a girl could date ever.

She turned to SooHo who had his eyes on her since a while, “If I tell you I did like him back then, is it gonna change anything between us?” she asked, making him blink calmly, watching her for a second before continuing to answer, “No” “Nothing's gonna change between us” he smiled, making her nod silently, as she went back to looking out of the window.

Of Course nothing was gonna change !

A/N : It took really long for me to come back but I can assure it will be a continuous update from now. I had some technical issues with my laptop and I also needed some time with Taemin being back with us forever so here I am forever too now ^^

This story came out longer than I expected for a single story so I had to divide it in two parts. Hope you enjoy it!! And thank you so much for waiting for the update so long , I am really grateful for you all coming here again!