Yoona tossed another tissue on the coffee table and grabbed a fresh one from the box. She didn’t know why she was subjecting herself to this, but she couldn’t stop. She was watching a television special on the Celebrity Rag channel. It was about her and Yul, how they’d met in high school and bits and pieces of their past. The story was choppy. Clearly their source hadn’t been close to either one of the Kwons. And what they hadn’t known, it seemed they’d fabricated. They were up to a segment about Yul Jr, and Yoona’s eyes were fixed firmly on the television. They were flashing through pictures of him like a slide show…some of them Yoona had never ever seen before. She had no idea where they’d come from. She watched his little face pass across the screen, realizing that he’d been six years old now and how devastated he’d be at the fact that his mommy and daddy weren’t together anymore.

She swallowed past the ever present lump in , and felt her eyes well up with tears again, letting them fall. She took a deep breath and tried to get a hold on her emotions, but she just couldn’t. She watched as pictures upon pictures of her family flashed on the screen. She felt a sudden longing in her heart, and wondered if it would ever go away. She sighed as she realized that it could. But there was only one way for that to happen. Yoona needed someone by her side for this…she knew she did. But she didn’t want her mother, and she didn’t want her sister. She didn’t even want Jessie…her best friend. She wanted the only person who knew exactly what she was going through. She wanted her husband. She wanted him now… and she wanted him forever.

When there was a knock on the door, Yoona turned off the television…for the first time in days, and quickly wiped the tears at her eyes. Tissue in hand, she walked to the door and opened it. There was an unfamiliar face standing there in an expensive black Armani suit…pressed and tailored perfectly.

She sighed. “Just because you’re in an extravagant suit doesn’t mean that you’re any better than the rest of them.” She made a show of looking around. “Where’s your camera?” she snapped.

“Ms Im,” he said. “I’m Kwon Yul’s lawyer.”

Yoona swallowed nervously. What in the hell did he want?

“Yul asked me to give this to you,” he told her, handing an official looking manila envelope out to her. She hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding it. She looked down at it.

“What is it?” she asked, trying to keep the panic from her voice…but she already knew.

“Ms Im…” he started.

She grabbed the envelope roughly from him and tore it open, pulling out the contents. She looked at the first page then quickly flipped to the last. Yul’s signature. He’d signed the divorce papers and there was a yellow post it note with his handwriting scrawled across it. You win, Yoona.

“Could you wait just a moment, please? I have something for him, too,” she said.

“Ms Im…”

“I’ll only be a second,” she said, heading for the kitchen. When she got there, she placed her hands on the counter to steady herself and took several deep breaths. Yul was finally giving her what she wanted. Only she didn’t want it anymore. She only wanted him. She finally stood tall, and very slowly, very deliberately, tore the papers in half, again and again and again. Then she found an envelope in one of the drawers and stuffed the pieces into it, along with a post it of her own. After quickly writing her message on it, she sealed the envelope and walked back to the front door. “Please give this to him,” she said sweetly.

He took it with a curt nod and turned around.

“And just so we’re clear, my name is Mrs Kwon,” she said concisely, slamming the door with every ounce of strength she held. She walked over and grabbed her cell phone off the coffee table, hitting the speed dial button. Hey, this is Yul. Leave a message.

“Yul,” Yoona breathed into the phone. “It’s me. I…I need to talk to you. I need to see you. I...there’s a lot I need to say to you. Please call me,” she said, then closed her phone and prepared for the wait.

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As soon as his phone beeped Yul dialled his voicemail, waiting to hear her voice. He’d been shocked when her name had come up on his caller ID. He was certain he’d never hear from her again after the other morning…after his ultimatum. He listened to her message once and then deleted it. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say anymore. He’d meant what he’d said to her before she’d left him. He wouldn’t put his heart on the line for her again, wouldn’t live in that state of limbo. He needed to get on with his life, and he had decided that Charlotte was going to be a fresh start for him. That’s why he’d signed the divorce papers. He needed to get rid of every shared of hope and move on to reality. Reality without Yoona. He signed tiredly and continued to pack his suitcase.

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After a few hours of not hearing from Yul, Yoona decided that she couldn’t stay home and pace anxiously until he called. She was in a taxi sitting at a stop light when she heard the song. She’d heard it a thousand times before and she’d always like it, but now it really struck a chord with her.

She signed and closed her eyes, letting the lyrics was over her. She would swear the song was written just for her, and she straightened, taking note of the artists name. She was definitely going to have to buy this CD, she thought as her phone rang.

“Hello?” she said.

“Yoona, its Kangta,” the voice on the other end said.

“Hey, Kangta, how are you?” she asked, taking a sip of the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha she’d snuck out of the penthouse for. Onew had helped her escape through the back again, and it worked like a charm. As long as she came in the same way she’d left, the press wouldn’t even knew she’d been gone.

“Not so good,” he said with an edge of panic in his voice.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“There’s a problem at the factory and the record is supposed to be going to press any seconds, but it’s not going to happen and you don’t even have a name for the album yet!” he yelled.

Yoona tried to not laugh at his melodrama. “Kangta, it’s going to be ok,” she told him.

“No, it’s not, Yoona! We need to get this album out on time,” he insisted. “With this story about you and your husband breaking, this album is going to sell like hotcakes!” he said. “And since you haven’t come up with one, the studio has come up with a name for you. We’re going to call it ‘Sweet Goodbye’,” he told her.

“No we’re not,” Yoona said, frowning. “I have a name for the record, but listen, I have an idea. Do you really want this album to break records?” she asked conspiratorially.

“Yes,” he said emphatically.

She sighed. “There’s this song,” she told him. “It’s an older one, and I want to do a remake of it,” she told him.

“There’s no time,” he said briskly.

“Are you saying that the great Kangta can’t make this happen?” she taunted, knowing he could never back away from the challenge.

She heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. “What song is it?”

She grinned and told him the name of the song. “Thank you, Kangta,” she said.

 “When are we going to record it?” he asked. “It’s going to have to be right off.”

“Are you at the label right now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

Yoona snapped her fingers at the taxi driver. “SM Entertainment, please,” she told him. He swung the cab around. “I’m twenty minutes away,” she said.

“We don’t have the music yet!” Kangta said.

“I don’t need it. I can lay down the track without it,” she said assertively.

“Yoona…”

“I can do it,” she said again. “See you soon, Kangta.”

“Yoona!” she heard him yell as she snapped her phone shut.

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Four hours later, Kangta was sitting across from her in the studio. “Well, I think it’s your best yet,” he told her.

She grinned at him. “Really?” she asked, excited that he thought so.

“Yes,” he assured her then sighed. “Tell me again why I’m losing you,” he told her.

Yoona laughed. “I remember the day I walked into this studio,” she said. “You took one look at me and told me I wasn’t thick skinned enough to make it in this business. You were right,” she said softly. “I don’t want this, Kangta.”

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Two point five kids, a house with a pool, and an NBA superstar husband,” she said.

He laughed and looked down at the insert for her CD. “We made a lot of changes to this album here today, Yoona,” he said. “If this doesn’t work…it’s my ,” he said seriously.

She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. “Record sales are going to soar,” she assured him.

He took a deep breath and leaned back. “I pray to God that you’re right, Yoona.”

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Yul had just picked up his suitcase and opened the door. He almost bumped into Taemin when he started walking out. “Oh, hey,” he said, surprised to see his lawyer. He hadn’t asked for confirmation that Yoona had received the papers, he was confident that Taemin would get them to her. But now he was curious as to what he was doing here. “What’s going on?” Yul asked.

Taemin shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said.

“Did she look ok?” Yul couldn’t help but ask. He hadn’t wanted to, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“She’d been crying,” Taemin told him.

Yul nodded, not surprised. He’d broken her heart when he’d talked to the press.

“She asked me to give this to you,” Taemin said, holding out an envelope.

“Thanks,” Yul said, taking it.

“Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Taemin. I appreciate all of your help with everything,” Yul said sincerely. “And your discretion.”

“No problem,” Taemin told him leaving.

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Yul sighed and took a step backward into the apartment, closing the door. He put his suitcase down and tore into the envelope, wondering what the hell she would have had to give him. He tore into it quickly, little bits of paper falling to the floor. He leaned down and picked a stray piece up, immediately recognizing his divorce papers. A bright green post it caught his eye, and he picked it up. Over my dead body. Yul blinked, confused, then stood up. He stood there for what felt like several minutes staring at the post it note. Did it mean what he thought it meant? He ran a hand through his hair. “What the hell do you want from me, Yoona?” he whispered.