Hello here the new chapter

sorry if there a mistake in my writing

enjoy the reading!

June 2021

When her secretary told her a friend was waiting for her at the receptionist area, Joohyun expected it to be Seungwan since that woman knew her workplace.

However, standing by the receptionist desk, writing something on paper, is Kang Seulgi, wearing a leather jacket and black bootcut jeans.

Joohyun overlooked the fact that Seulgi was also aware of the location of her office, which is ten minutes away by car from Seulgi's art studio.

Why is Seulgi being so persistent this time?

Joohyun sighed as she walked towards the monolid woman.

‘Oh Joohyun,’ Seulgi greeted the woman with a bright smile, then turned to the receptionist. ‘Here, thank you for your support’ Seulgi said it with a warm smile.

Its Seulgi sign with a message on the A4 paper. So, this receptionist is a Seulgi fan?

Joohyun side glanced at the receptionist for a second.

‘What are you doing here?’ Joohyun asked.

‘To pick you up.’ She grabbed the woman's wrist without a warning: ‘Let’s go, my car is –

Seulgi paused since she could feel Joohyun being resistant. The petite woman stiffened her whole body so Seulgi couldn’t drag her.

‘My stuff still in the office’ Joohyun stated, ‘Also, I wanna take a cab like usual’ she added.

'It's just a hassle; just let me take you home; we live at the same place anyway.’

It’s an order, not a statement or a question.

Joohyun accepted since she knew that arguing with Seulgi would be useless.

Seulgi helped Joohyun get into the passenger seat; she was about to help with the seatbelt too, but Joohyun slapped her hand away.

‘I know how to wear a seatbelt, thank you.’ she said, her tone dripping with venom.

Where is the warm and bubbly Joohyun that Seulgi knew?

Seulgi felt excited when she sat in the driver seat; having Joohyun sit in the passenger seat was such a new found feeling for Kang Seulgi.

They never had this kind of date in the past, where she took Joohyun for a drive. She didn’t have a car yet at that time.

It was always the bus or the subway for them back then, or sometimes Seulgi walked to their rendezvous place since she couldn’t afford to pay for transport.

She always covered in sweat; the back of her clothes dampened. She felt ashamed to walk by Joohyun's side, even though it was not like people knew they were lovers then.

They are just friends in society's eyes, but Seulgi is still ashamed to walk by someone so beautiful like Joohyun.

She received a lot of disapproval looks from passersby, making her wonder what those strangers will think if they know she, who is so shabby, is a Joohyun lover.

Same- relationships are already sins; it would be worse if one came from a wealthy family while her partner couldn’t even afford to pay for a meal… Society would curse and spit on her face.

Blaming her for spreading her stained mind to this beautiful young lady.

‘I never had a chance like this before; you know, picking you up and driving you home’ Seulgi voiced out excitedly as she drove off into the road.

‘I'm too poor to even afford a place to stay back then’

Joohyun turned to look at the scene outside through a window, her heart aching so bad when Seulgi mentioned the past.

She knew Seulgi had had a really hard time in the past. And Seulgi went through all of that alone while she was in college.

She tried her best to be there, but Joohyun knew it was never enough… Her effort could hardly be seen because if Seulgi saw it.

They wouldn’t have broken up.

‘I couldn’t take you out on a simple date; all I could afford was to cook ramen for you’ Seulgi chuckled bitterly, then she let out a sigh… preparing herself to say things she had been reciting the whole night.

An idea for them to give another chance, since she is more stable now.

She can pay for their date, the meal, the movie tickets with popcorn, and she can even take Joohyun on a trip to Europe.

She opens to say, but Joohyun beat her

‘You know I never want anything from you… I never asked for expensive gifts. All I want is to be with you back then…’

‘I know…’ Seulgi responded, her voice getting smaller. ‘You’re my sources of strength’ She glances at Joohyun for a second. Studied the woman deepened sombre expression… Joohyun still resent her, a lot.

There is a tightness around Joohyun’s mouth; she's holding herself back.

Seulgi can tell Joohyun is determined to put a wall between them after the woman got her closure back in that chalet.

‘I missed the old us...’ Seulgi said.

Joohyun wasn’t sure if that was a confession or just a mere statement to not let silence succumb to them.

‘Where we always laughed when we were together...’ Seulgi continued, trying to make Joohyun remember the good old days.

That she is capable of giving Joohyun a glimpse of paradise, even when she was so unstable back then.

However, hearing about all of these just served to sharpen Joohyun's memory of the evening they got into a fight.

When it comes to their past… their fight and countless arguments are all what remained in Joohyun's mind, because it is still too traumatic for her.

‘I used to wait for you –

‘Stop it, Seulgi’ Joohyun gripped the seatbelt, using the safety equipment as a source to hold herself together.

She doesn’t want to burst out crying in front of Seulgi anymore.

‘It’s over.’ Joohyun stated, sternly wanting this talk to be done,

Yet, after a few minutes of silence, a sniffling can be heard.

‘I'm sorry’ Seulgi muttered, forcing a laugh while she apologised. ‘I didn’t mean to cry’

Joohyun let out a sigh, going through her purse looking for a tissue.

‘Why are you crying?’ She handed the monolid woman a tissue.

‘Seulgi… If this is how you're going to be, then why did you break up with me?’

Her voice and action are so warm, yet everything felt so cold, like a winter wind cutting right through Seulgi's soul.

Joohyun's question only made the monolid woman's tears pour even more, forcing her to pull over by the side of the road.

‘You begged me to let you go; you asked me why is it hard for me to let you go when things are over already?’ Joohyun said back what Seulgi said to her years ago. word by word.

‘You should have lived a happy life if you wanted to break up with me that bad Seulgi. You ended us by accusing me of something I didn’t commit! Why are you…’ Joohyun paused, her tears now pooling in her eyes.

She choked up in tears.

She tried so hard to be strong, yet Seulgi managed to break her shield once again.

‘Suddenly you want to start over? After you hurt me that bad?’ she cried.

‘Will you keep bringing up my mistake, Hyun…? I'm trying to work things out here… Can you just,’ pressing her lips, Seulgi swallowed the lump. ‘Can you just let that go? Hmm? I begged you, Hyun...’

‘If you were me, would you be able to let it go?’ Joohyun replied, still feeling hurt from the fight they had years ago.

call her immature for bringing up this issue over and over, but to be called a at the age of twenty-one by the person that matters to her the most is too cruel.

…

November 2013

Joohyun flinched when Seulgi slammed the front door; it echoed through the basement like the sound of a gunshot in the deep forest.

This is not the first time they have had a fight in five years of a secret relationship, but this is the first time they have had a fight about a third person.

Joohyun braced herself to face Seulgi's wrath; she knew this was her fault for hiding things from her girlfriend.

She thought it was the best for them, but it turned out to be the cause that made their relationship crack even more.

Joohyun swallowed when Seulgi faced her. The monolid woman's fine features were adorned with a wild, angry expression in her eyes.

‘Baby I –

‘Don’t!’ Seulgi hissed, ‘Don’t you ing call me that after you went out with a man!’

Panic burst within Joohyun when she heard Seulgi curse at her for the first time. Her lips quivered, wanting to deny the accusation, but the frightening feeling that slowly eating her