“Hongki shi?” Suzy pulled open the door but blinked in surprise when she couldn’t find him. “Hongki shi?” she peeked out of the apartment & found him loitering near the lift. “Suzy shi! Can you come here for a moment?” Hongki waved her over. Scrunching up her nose curiously Suzy walked towards him. “Hongki shi.. What’s wrong? I thought you had left when I couldn’t find you.” Suzy smiled at him. 

However Hongki didn’t smile back. In fact he wasn’t even looking at her but was staring at the cement floor as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen in the world. “I almost wanted to leave but I thought I should speak to you before I leave.” Hongki shuffled his feet nervously. “Is something the matter?” Suzy asked him.

“Well I haven’t heard from you for a while. I missed you.” Hongki replied finally meeting Suzy’s eyes. “I missed you too.” Suzy answered honestly. Hongki had become one of her good friends in a short time & Suzy loved how she could speak to him about anything under the sun. “You did?” Hongki’s eyes sparkled. Warning bells went off in Suzy’s head.

Apparently Hongki had misunderstood the definition of her missing him. Her missing him and he missing her was two entirely different feelings. “Hongki shi.. before we talk any further I have something to say. I.. I’m Jonghun’s girlfriend now. Well for a month anyway.” Suzy shook her head trying to organise her train of thoughts.

Hongki’s face fell. “Oh.” he said quietly. “I’ve been meaning to tell you but you were busy with your Jeju Island trip & I just lost track of time..” Suzy finished lamely. She knew that Hongki deserved better than her half-assed excuses but she really didn’t know how to break the news to Hongki without breaking his heart.

“It’s alright.. Guess you really couldn’t stay away from each other even though you told me you were going to..” Hongki said sadly. Suzy swallowed the huge ball of guilt swelling up inside with extreme difficulty. “You must really love him.” he smiled at her his eyes still sad. Suzy averted her gaze from Hongki’s sorrowful one.

“I..I like Jonghun and it was something that started off as a childish bet but I like being with him. I’m sorry Hongki shi if I hurt you. I really am.” Suzy apologised sincerely. “Don’t say that Suzy shi. You don’t owe me an explanation. I did say I liked you but you already made it clear you just wanted to be friends with me. It’s my fault for getting my hopes up too high..” Hongki instantly quipped noting how upset he was making Suzy with his dejection.

Hongki & Suzy gazed at each other awkwardly after apologising to one another. Usually they would be chatting away happily about anything and everything but not that time. “I hate this.. Hongki was one of those rare people I could be myself with & now he probably thinks I’m a for hooking up with Jonghun behind his back.” Suzy sighed inaudibly.

“Here.. I got this for you.” Suzy felt something small & cool being pressed into the palm of her hand. She looked down & found a sparkling green crystal hanging from a delicate chain held together by tiny silver hoops. “Wow.. This is beautiful. Where did you get this? Looks expensive..” Suzy was struck by her guilty conscience again.

“I got it at Jeju Island while I was just taking a stroll. The crystal reminded me of you so I bought it. It wasn’t even expensive. Just 3000 won.” Hongki shrugged. “Thank you Hongki shi. It was very sweet of you to remember me enough to get this present.” Suzy touched the cool crystal with a soft smile. “I never forgot you to even start to remember you.” Hongki’s answer made Suzy blush.

Jonghun was her sweet silly babo but Hongki’s warm presence & sincere words did strike a chord with her. “If only..” Suzy smiled at him feeling a little sad. “If only..” Hongki leaned foward & brushed his lips against her cheek. “Goodbye Suzy shi.” He told her in a serious tone that rang with finality. “Wait.. Aren’t you coming over for dinner?” Suzy asked him as Hongki pressed the elevator button.

“No. I think I’ll pass. I’m not sure Jonghun would want me there & I don’t think it’s right for me to be there too since I’m not your.. boyfriend. I’ll see you around Suzy shi. Take care of yourself.” Hongki gave her a two finger wave before the elevator door closed shut blocking him from Suzy’s view.

“Goodbye Hongki shi.” Suzy clasped the necklace in her hand & turned back to walk into the apartment when she crashed into Jonghun. “Jonghun? What are you doing here?” Suzy blinked in surprise. She hadn’t even seen him leave the apartment. Had he heard the entire conversation between Hongki & her? Judging from his dour expression Suzy presumed he had.

“I was just taking a walk.” Jonghun answered coldly his eyes on Suzy’s closed palm. Suzy smiled at him uncertainly. “So.. Hongki is not coming for dinner? Funny I thought he would jump at the first chance to meet your parents especially after he gave you that dorky necklace.” Jonghun rolled his eyes.

Suzy saw that he had his arms crossed around his chest defensively & realised that her boyfriend was jealous. “Well he looks pretty attractive when he’s not acting all cool & collected.” Suzy smiled once again. “What exactly is so funny?” Jonghun demanded.

“You. The jealous look is a good look for you.” Suzy teased Jonghun. He however wasn’t even smiling. “That dude obviously has a thing for you & he gave you a necklace. The worst thing is that you accepted the necklace. I almost expected you to start crying.” Jonghun answered in a biting tone. “Hongki shi does like me Jonghun but I told him that I’m with you now & I like you very much. I drew the boundary clearly enough.” Suzy answered patiently.

Usually it was her who was emotional but that time around the tables had turned. “So you refused his proposal but you accepted his necklace? That sounds legit.” Jonghun muttered. “Jonghun!” Suzy was losing her patience. “Yes I’m jealous alright! I’ll gladly admit it that I’m jealous! I mean I only have you to myself for one month & now I have to share you with Lee Hongki.” Jonghun raised his voice. Suzy kept silent for a minute to gather her thoughts.

“You have absolutely no need to get jealous Jonghun. How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t like Hongki the way I like you.” Suzy replied her voice even. “Really?” Jonghun took a step towards Suzy. “Then why haven’t you told me you loved me yet?” he asked. Without waiting for an answer Jonghun walked back into the apartment.

“Because I don’t want to cause you more grief when we part ways after a month babo.” Suzy answered ignoring the stab of pain in her heart at the thought of parting from Jonghun. He might not understand it now but it was better if they didn’t get too emotionally attached to each other. “Then why were you going to sleep with him?” her conscience pricked her painfully.

Unable to quell the voice taunting her indecisiveness Suzy made her way back into her apartment very slowly. At that moment all she wanted to do was to just disappear off to a deserted island for just one day to clear her cluttered mind.

“Oh hi! You’re back! Where is Hongki? I wanted to meet him. He sounded like a nice boy.” Mrs Bae asked Suzy. Jonghun glared daggers at the older woman. “Why don’t you make Lee Hongki your son in-law Mrs Bae while I Choi Jonghun am standing less than 3 feet away from you?” Jonghun pursed his lips dourly. Noticing his look Suzy shot him a warning glare.

“Hongki shi had something to attend to & he didn’t want to interrupt our family dinner too.” Suzy answered. Jonghun brightened slightly. She had said ‘our family dinner’. “Maybe I should take that some sort of acknowledgment since this woman probably wouldn’t tell me she loves me till I’m seventy & in a wheelchair.” Jonghun snorted. Suddenly feeling everyone’s eyes on him Jonghun realised that his snort had actually been a rather deafening one. “What is so funny?” Mr Bae asked. Jonghun had no answer to that.

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Author's Note : Firstly I'm really sorry for not updating for almost a week. There was some problems with the internet connection at home & I couldn't get access to AFF, Youtube or AKP properly. The connection kept on dying so I couldn't really update. The good news is my assignments are done and now I have more time to update my stories for at least a week before I go into my cave to study for my exams.

I hope this chapter was good. Sorry if it was too short. I promise the next one will be longer. Comments & suggestions are welcome! And I hope I haven't lost any subscribers in my absence.