The elevator doors separated and Yoona stepped off, heading for her apartment. Her steps faltered a bit when she saw Tiffany leaning against the wall next to her door. “Hi,” Yoona said cautiously.

Tiffany smiled hesitantly. “Hey,” she said softly. Then, “Do you hate me?” she asked coyly.

Yoona didn’t think twice, just picked up her pace and gave Tiffany a bone crushing hug. “I don’t hate you,” she assured her friend. She pulled away and unlocked her apartment door.

“Jessie said you wouldn’t,” Tiffany said.

Yoona grinned over her shoulder. “That husband of yours is pretty insightful,” she teased.

Tiffany closed the door behind them. “How are you?” she asked Yoona.

Yoona’s smile got even wider. “I’m fine,” she said.

Tiffany’s face filled with confusion and she titled her head, studying her friend. “I actually believe that,” she said.

“Good.”

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Yoona said, sitting down on the couch and motioning for Tiffany to do the same.

“You really do seem fine,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you like this. Well, except for when you were in Wilmington with…” she trailed off.

“Yul,” Yoona said.

“Yeah,” Tiffany said quietly.

“I tried to call him,” Yoona said, grabbing the pillow next to her and putting it in her lap. She was running her hands over it nervously. “He never called me back. He’s so mad at me, Tiffany,” she whispered.

Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t think he’s mad at you, Yoona. I think he’s just done.”

Yoona nodded and smiled sadly. Tiffany moved to sit next to her best friend and put an arm around her.

“You’re going to be ok, Yoona. I mean…you’ve lived all this time and you’ve been fine. And now, just like you wanted, you can live the rest of your life without Yul,” she said softly, no trace of accusation in her voice, just fact.

Yoona’s head snapped up. “I’m not living the rest of my life without Yul,” she said firmly.

“Yoona…”

“I’m fighting for him, Tiffany. I’m fighting for us. I’m done running and I absolutely refuse to let Yul run. I won’t let him stoop to my level,” she said.

Tiffany studied Yoona’s face for a good sixty seconds looking for even a hint of doubt. She couldn’t find any. Her face broke into a huge grin. “There’s my girl!” she said proudly, giving her hands a single clap. “What on Earth are you going to do?”

Yoona sighed. “I’m going to do the last thing Yul would expect me to do.”

“Which is?”

“I’m going to myself into the spotlight,” she said, lifting her chin defiantly.

“Yoona, you don’t have to do this.”

“It’s all or nothing this time, Tiffany. And I want it all.”

“You’re gonna go back to him,” Tiffany stated.

Yoona smiled despondently. “If he’ll have me,” she said quietly.

“Have you forgiven yourself yet?”

“No,” Yoona said shaking her head.

“Then how do you know that this is going to work?” Tiffany pressed.

“I don’t know that he’ll take me back,” she said with a deep sigh. “But I do know that I’m going to go to my husband and beg. I’m going to do what I should have done all those years ago and beg Yul to help me get through this and I’m going to beg him to let me help him, because Tiffany, I don’t think we can live without each other.”

“Oh, Yoona,” Tiffany said, giving her a squeeze. “What about the press?”

“They already have most of the story. Courtesy of Yul,” Yoona said matter-of-factly. She wasn’t angry anymore, just hurt that he didn’t give her any warning or time to prepare herself for the onslaught that had followed.

Tiffany sighed. “Yoona, Yul didn’t tip off the press,” she told her friend.

“What?” Yoona asked.

“I…” Tiffany sighed. “Jessie swore me to secrecy, and he might kill me for this, but…I think it’s more important that you know the truth.”

“Tiffany, what are you talking about?”

“Yoona…”

Seven Days Before All Hell Broke Loose With The Press…

Yul stopped the tape he was reviewing to answer his persistent phone. It had been ringing on and off for an hour, but Yul didn’t really want to talk to anyone. It was clear now that whoever was calling wouldn’t stop until he answered. “Hello?” he barked into the phone.

“Yul?” the voice on the other end said.

“Minho, how are you?” Yul asked his agent.

“Better than you, I’m afraid,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

Minho sighed. “Yul, I’ve been getting calls all day from someone who works at Tell-All,” he said.

Yul instantly recognized the name of the magazine. In fact, he’d graced their cover multiple times. He scowled as he remembered the headlines.

“Did you tell them I wasn’t interested in giving any interviews?” he asked.

“I did, but the woman on the other end of the phone kind of freaked out and said it was imperative she speak to you,” he said.

“Did she say what it was about?” he asked, curious now.

“She said that if I told you her name, you’d talk to her.”

Yul waited.

“Does Park Gyuri ring a bell?” Minho asked.

F***k. “Yes, it does,” Yul said, placing his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose. He sighed. He didn’t know that she worked for a tabloid. He was screwed. “Did she say anything else?” he asked.

“She left her phone number for you.”

Yul grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, writing the number down as his agent rattled it off. “Thanks, Minho,” he said hanging up quickly. Immediately, he dialled the phone number.

“Tell-All, Park Gyuri speaking.”

“It’s Kwon Yul,” he said.

“Well, well, well. If this isn’t a blast from the past,” she said cleverly.

“What do you want, Gyuri?” Yul asked. “You gonna black mail me for a story?”

“No,” Gyuri said indignantly, which Yul thought was quite ironic since the girl had no scruples. She had, after all, hit on him while he’d been married. You still are married, the voice in his head told him. Yul warned it to shut up.

“Then, I’ll say it again. What do you want, Gyuri?” he asked with more force.

Gyuri sighed. “I just wanted to let you know that…news of your marriage is sweeping through this magazine, Yul,” she told him.

Yul was silent for a minute. “Why are you telling me this?” he finally asked.

“I don’t know. Penance?” she said.

“For what?”

“All sorts of things,” she said. “Listen, my boss is willing to wait to break this story if he can get an exclusive with you,” she told him.

“When?”

“He’ll give you two days to decide,” Gyuri said. “Then it’s hitting the newsstands six days after that. Yul…I’m sure it’s not long before they find out about your son, but I promise…it won’t be from me.”

Yul signed. “Why are you warning me?” he asked.

Gyuri took a deep breath. “Sunny and Taeng are two of my best friends, Yul and Yoona is one of theirs. This isn’t just gonna upset you and Yoona when the story goes to press. It’s gonna hurt a whole lot of people.”

Again, Yul sighed.

“Do you want my advice?” she asked.

“Not really,” Yul said harshly.

“Of course you don’t,” she said. “Then, it’s going to have to be unsolicited. Look…if I were you, I would hold a press conference and announce it myself. Take some of that satisfaction away from the media. And maybe it’ll be a little less chaotic for you.”

There was a pause.

“Yul…if anyone finds out I told you about this…I could lose my job. Please don’t tell anyone,” she said.

“My family?” he asked.

“Please ask them not to tell anyone,” she said softly. “Good luck, Yul,” she said, hanging up.

Back to The Present…

Yoona’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?” she asked. “Gyuri tipped Yul off?”

“Yeah, I know,” Tiffany said. “Shocker.”

Yoona put her face in her hands. “Oh, my God,” she said. She stood up and started to pace.

“What?” Tiffany asked, panicked now.

Yoona chocked on a sob. “I went to Yul and accused him of all these horrible things,” she said brokenly. “And he didn’t even defend himself,” she said. She shook her head. “He didn’t even tell me about Gyuri. Why wouldn’t he tell me?” she asked.

“Pride,” Tiffany said quickly. “It’s pride.”

“How do you know?” Yoona asked.

Tiffany laughed, “Because it’s Yul, Yoona.”

“All this time, when we were in Wilmington, he never let his pride get in the way of telling me how he felt,” she said, wrapping her arms around her midsection and bending at the waist as if she were in physical pain. “I’ve hurt him so badly,” she whispered. “I was so terrible to him.”

Tiffany didn’t say anything, just swallowed past the lump in . She’d been waiting for Yoona to come to this realization for weeks, but now that her friend had, it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as Tiffany thought it was going to be. She’s hurt for her.

“Yoong,” Tiffany said softly.

Yoona looked up.

“Don’t do this,” she said. “Don’t you think you’ve spent too many years blaming yourself already?

Yoona straightened at her friend’s words, not breaking eye contact. She desperately wanted to hear more of what Tiffany had to say.

“Do what you said you were going to do,” Tiffany said passionately. “Help your husband through this and ask him to help you,” she said. “And don’t take no for an answer, because remember? If Yul had taken your first no for an answer, you wouldn’t have had that time together in Wilmington. But he wanted to take care of you. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. So take a cue from your husband, Yoona, and get stubborn,” she said forcefully.

Yoona smiled softly, her eyes filling with tears then nodded her head slowly. She wasn’t about to back down.