She was infuriating. So damn infuriating and stubborn yet she was the only one who could push his buttons that way. “So you are telling me that you are not coming with me?” Jonghun demanded. “Yes. I’m not going with you. Please just go back home.” Suzy looked away. “Why are you acting like a child?” Jonghun asked. “Wh.. I’m acting like a child. Yah Choi Jonghun.. You are the one acting like a bratty kid now.” Suzy’s eyes flashed.

“Guys.. Come on.. Stop arguing.” Hongki said in a neutral tone. “Stay out this!” Jonghun growled. “Choi Jonghun.. I will say this one last time. Go back home or else I’ll beat you up right this moment.” Suzy warned. Jonghun didn’t answer.

He knew that Suzy meant it and it would be extremely embarrassing to get beaten up in front of that stranger Hongki. “Suit yourself but we need to talk tomorrow.” Jonghun told Suzy. She didn’t answer. “Be careful. I.. Just be careful.” Jonghun took one last glance at Suzy before walking to his Ferrari his shoulder slumping miserably.

“You should have talked to him.” Hongki said as he & Suzy watched Jonghun’s Ferrari disappearing into the distance. “That I don’t have energy for. This is all too sudden. I need some time to process all these things.” Suzy’s eyes had lost the sparkle Hongki had seen when she was laughing at his jokes. Now she just looked exhausted. “Come on then. Let’s get you home so that you can rest.” Hongki started walking again. Thankful for his understanding Suzy followed him quietly.

Two Weeks Later

“Oh god.. What have you done? It is supposed to be crispy not burnt to a crisp.” Hongki scolded Suzy as she took out a tray of badly burnt biscotti from the oven. “No matter how hard I try I can’t get this recipe right.” Suzy pouted. Hongki laughed. “Did you baste the biscotti with egg yolk like I told you to?” Hongki asked. Suzy smacked her forehead. “Crap! I forgot that!” Suzy answered sheepishly.

“You really have the memory of a goldfish Suzy.” Hongki . “Stop it! It’s not as if you are the master of remembering everything.” Suzy looked at him through hooded eyes. “What’s wrong with my memory?” Hongki wanted to know. “You cannot remember the recipe for hazelnut latte that I taught you.” Suzy accused. “Alright. Alright. You got me.” Hongki raised up his hands in surrender. “Hmph. That’s right.” Suzy said with a satisfied smile.

“So.. have you spoken to him yet?” Hongki asked as Suzy dumped the charred biscotti into the trash. She stiffened immediately. “I told you I needed time to process things.” Suzy said in a soft voice. “That was two weeks ago Suzy.” Hongki pointed out the obvious. Suzy fiddled with the empty tray. “Well okay if you don’t want to talk about it. Hey.. have you heard about this?” Hongki handed a flyer to Suzy. “A marathon for couples?” Suzy’s brows rose a few millimetres.

“It says it’s for couples but we could go as friends. I even have a gay couple in my social circle who have signed up for it.” Hongki said. Suzy giggled. “Did you just compare us to a gay couple?” She laughed. “Well we could have it that way too if it makes you comfortable. You need a distraction and there is nothing more perfect than this.” Hongki tapped the flyer. Suzy stared at the piece of paper & then sighed in resignation. What was the harm in joining that marathon with Hongki? He was right like he had always been.

Jonghun tapped his fingers against the cold glass of his office table & leaned back on his office chair tiredly. It had been two weeks. Two weeks. Fourteen days since he had spoken to Suzy or even seen her for that matter. Ever since that run-in with her where she clearly told him to sod off Jonghun had been feeling downright miserable. It was sudden how the rush of unfound feelings for Suzy had grown in his heart. He missed her so badly. It was like a constant ache inside the open cavity of his heart.

Suzy wouldn’t answer his calls neither would she see him whenever he visited her apartment to attempt meeting her. Somehow she had learnt to dodge him even when Jonghun was sure she couldn't avoid him.

Jonghun got the hint that Suzy needed time to sort out her feelings. Her boyfriend whom she thought was her world had dumped her unceremoniously for a wealthier woman and then there was Jonghun himself who had somewhat confessed to her of his growing feelings.

“She must be confused but why doesn’t she just talk to me?” Jonghun groaned when Suzy refused to answer his call for the countless time. Suzy might need time but Jonghun needed her. He had become reliant on Suzy for his every little need that the absence of her presence had hit Jonghun badly. Without Suzy & her nagging Jonghun couldn’t get any of his work done.

A soft knock sounded on his office door & Jonghun told the person to enter. Hyuna’s y profile appeared as her miniskirt clad body entered the office in her trademark sultry manner. “Hey babe! Are you busy?” she asked him sashaying up to Jonghun. “No. What are you doing here?” Jonghun asked her not even looking at her.

Hyuna had tried her best to distract him for the past days but somehow she wasn’t succeeding. Already slightly suspicious at the ambiguity of Jonghun’s relationship with Suzy Hyuna was growing very annoyed at Jonghun’s need for Suzy for every little thing. Was he really relying on Suzy for such mundane things? To be honest Hyuna found Jonghun’s dependency on Suzy to be slightly nauseating but she was too crazy about him to point it out.

“I’ve got something for you.” She planted herself gingerly on the armrest of Jonghun’s chair. She placed a flyer on Jonghun’s chest & winked seductively. Ignoring her Jonghun took the flyer and started reading it. “A couple’s marathon? Since when did you have interest in running?” Jonghun put down the flyer & looked at Hyuna. “I’ve been running after you for the past two weeks so I thought maybe for a change we BOTH could run together.” Hyuna joked.

Jonghun sighed. As mind numbingly y as Hyuna was she wasn’t Suzy. He imagined Suzy’s reaction to a joke as flat as that & started smiling. Misunderstanding that as a sign of Jonghun agreeing to her plans Hyuna stood up excitedly.

“Great! Then I’ll sign us up both for the marathon!” Hyuna nodded with enthusiasm. Jonghun opened his mouth to protest but then thought better. Maybe that marathon would be a good idea to take his mind off.. things. “Fine.” He agreed half-heartedly & picked up his phone again to dial Suzy’s number.

“The luck I have been having lately.” Suzy sighed. It was the Saturday that the marathon was supposed to happen & it was raining cats and dogs. The couples were all stuck in the ballroom of the hotel in their sports attire.

“Come on now.. Are you seriously going to blame yourself for the rain? You’re not the Rain Man, sorry Woman.” Hongki laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if my bad luck is the one that caused this downpour.” Suzy returned Hongki’s laugh with a tight smile. “Shall we leave?” Suzy asked when she spotted Jonghun heading towards her with a sour faced Hyuna.

Jonghun noted the ogles & stares Hyuna was getting from the other men in the crowded ballroom. With her short tight pink shorts & top complete with a perky ponytail Hyuna was wet dream material to the countless me in the crowd. From the envious looks he was getting from the men Jonghun realised that he should be happy that a girl as hot as Hyuna was his.

However if he asked himself truthfully Hyuna was nothing more than a beautiful trophy that can be showed off at events such as these. She was good for invoking jealousy & lust but when it concerned affections. No. “Choi Jonghun you should be happy. You should be busy showing off Hyuna to the men here not wondering how Suzy is doing.” Jonghun tried to comfort himself.

As his eyes scanned the crowd listlessly Jonghun brightened when he saw the very girl he was thinking about 24/7 only ten feet away from him. “Suzy.” He breathed. Hyuna noticed his look & followed the direction of his gaze to where Suzy was standing with some cute guy. “What the hell? What is she doing here? I’ve been trying to get Jonghun to cheer up & she shows up here!” Hyuna grumbled inwardly. Cursing her rotten luck she reluctantly followed Jonghun who had already stood up & was striding towards Suzy.

“I told you it’s my luck.” Suzy looked at Hongki who shrugged. “Hi guys.” Jonghun came to a stop in front of Suzy. “Hi Jonghun.” Hongki greeted him. “Hi.” Suzy said tonelessly. “Hi Suzy shi. It’s been a while since I saw you.” Hyuna quipped up. Suzy smiled at her grimly. “It has. You look well Hyuna shi.” She told Hyuna who smirked. “And you look.. like yourself.” She answered.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Hongki dispersed the tension by holding out his hand to Hyuna. “Oh sorry.. this is Hyuna.” Jonghun introduced Hyuna to Hongki. “His girlfriend.” Hyuna added. “Nice to meet you Hyuna shi. I’m Hongki, Suzy’s friend.” Hongki grinned at her. “The rain really did ruin everything didn’t it?” Hyuna asked Hongki & Suzy. “I think the rain is a great help.” Jonghun said quietly. Suzy’s eyes were fixated on the bare threads that were coming loose on the carpet.

“Excuse me ladies and gentlemen! May I have your attention please?” a tall thin man walked up to the podium and tapped the mike sternly. “We are really sorry for the inconvenience caused by the rain. We regret to inform you that the marathon has been cancelled.” The man announced amidst groans & grumbles from the participants.

“However we have organised some indoor couple games that you may wish to participate in. To those not interested you may claim your refund from the counter set up outside the ballroom.” Almost half the ballroom emptied as couples rushed to claim their refunds for a marathon that was not going to happen.

“Are you guys staying?” Jonghun asked Hongki & Suzy. “Are we staying?” Hongki turned to Suzy. Feeling three pairs of eyes on her Suzy nodded in resignation. Even if she said no Jonghun would still pursue her till she talked to him. If Jonghun had one admirable trait it was his persistence. He rarely gave up.

“Let’s leave then Jonghun. We can go have lunch at the darling French place I was telling you about.” Hyuna squeezed Jonghun’s biceps. Jonghun shook his head. “The rain is too heavy Hyuna. Since we’ve already paid for our tickets let’s just stay for the indoor games.” He told her in a tone that didn’t allow for any more arguments. Muttering under her breath Hyuna nodded stiffly.

“Thank you to those of you who stayed back. The first game we are going to play today is the three-legged game. I don’t think I need to explain the rules of this game to anyone. Our staff are going to hand out ribbons to tie your feet together.” The announcer spoke into the crackling mike. Suzy picked out a pink ribbon & handed it to Hongki who bent down to tie his right leg with her left one.

“Just a minute people. This three-legged race will not be with your own partner but another person other than your partner. You may now pick your partner.” The announcer added in at the last minute. “What? What kind of stupdity is this? I’ve to find another partner?” Suzy was annoyed at the new rule.

“I’ll partner up with you Hyuna shi if you don’t mind.” Hongki held out the pink ribbon to her. Hyuna glanced at Jonghun & then took the ribbon from Hongki’s hand with a small smile. “Why not? At least someone is making an effort here.” She sighed. “So I guess it’s you & me?” Jonghun took Suzy’s hand & pressed the blue ribbon onto her palm.

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Author’s Note : Thank you for your comments as usual my lovely readers! I know Hongki seems more mellow & mature in this while Jonghun is the more playful type while in real life it’s quite the opposite. But that’s what makes it interesting if you ask me. :) haha!

Comments & suggestions are welcome! :D Hope this chapter was good! And guys I was just joking about people liking HongkixSuzy more than JonghunxSuzy. Hehe.. I don’t mind which couple you guys like more, I’m already thankful for the comments & love! <3