After the last question was asked, Yul stepped away from the podium, anxious to get away from the press that had been hounding him for days then quickly exited the small room. He’d never thought he’d been claustrophobic before, but he had to admit, he was definitely showing signs now. He didn’t stop to talk to Jessie, Tiffany, Taeng, or Sunny. He just walked past them and didn’t slow down until he finally reached the garden outside.

His phone had started to vibrate in the middle of his interview and as much as he hated himself for it, he’d felt a surge of hope when he’d felt it. Let it be Yoona. He quickly sent the prayer up before opening his phone and checking the caller ID. He took a deep breath when he saw that it was her and immediately checked his voicemail. Yul almost fell to his knees when he heard the last of her message. She wanted to come home. To him. He sighed, refusing to let himself get his hopes up again. He rubbed his temples. All he could do now was wait and see if Yoona would be true to her word this time.

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It was five minutes before she went on, and Yoona checked her cell phone for what felt like the millionth time that day. Still there is no call from Yul. She sighed, her courage dropping by the second. She blinked back her tears and took a deep breath. She could do this. She would do this, because like she’d told Tiffany, she wasn’t about to back down now. It didn’t matter what the papers said. At least that was what she tried to tell herself, but the headline in this morning’s, paper kept flashing through her head. Great Kwon! is it over before it’s even begun? The article went on to talk about the Bobcats bash welcoming Yul to the team, but the real story was that he’d not been wearing his wedding ring…and the fact that he’d been so tight lipped about his wife, who hadn’t been by side last night.

She was pacing back and forth when one of the producers walked up to her. “It’s time,” he said.

Yoona took a deep breath and nodded, heading for the stage. She’d gone over some things with the show’s host, David Moses, and he’d made sure to accommodate each of her requests. She stood before the microphone, and waited.

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“Tiffany, hurry up or you’re going to miss it!” Jessie yelled to his wife.

“I’m just getting the popcorn into a bowl!” she yelled back. a minute later, she came sprinting into the room and sat down between Jessie and Yul on the couch. “Did I miss it?” she asked breathlessly.

Her husband grinned at her. “It’s on a commercial break. It’ll be back on in about two minutes. I just really wanted some popcorn,” he told her, taking a handful out of the huge bowl she was holding in her lap.

She rolled her eyes at her husband and turned to her brother-in-law. “Popcorn?” she asked.

Yul didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at her. He just shook his head no. His eyes were glued to the television set. Tiffany reached over and gave his knee a reassuring squeeze, then turned back to her husband. “Did you call Sunny and Taeng to remind them?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jessie said. “Taeng said he’s gonna watch it, but he’s not sure that Sunny will be able to stay up that late. She’s been tired lately.”

“Well, carrying around two babied in your belly will do that to you,” Tiffany said.

Suddenly, the music for the late show sounded from the television and the host came on. “Ladies and gentlemen, here for the last live performance…Kwon Yoona,” He swept an arm and she suddenly appeared on the camera. Yul swallowed past the lump in his throat.

“They forgot the Im,” Jessie said softly.

“No, they didn’t,” Yul said with certainty, moving to the edge of the couch in anticipation, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands folded together in front of him.

Her honey colour curls were cascading down over her shoulders, covering much of the t-shirt that she wore, but he recognized the logo. It was a Charlotte Bobcats t-shirt and as she picked up the microphone, Yul noticed something else she was wearing. It was her wedding ring.

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“Thank you,” Yoona said as the crowd went wild once she’d finished up her song. She walked off the musical staging area and walked over to where the host was sitting, the camera on her the entire time, revealing the number 23 on the back of her shirt. It had been custom made, as Yul’s own Bobcats t-shirt hadn’t yet hit the market.

“That was the first single off the new album,” he remarked as she sat down and clipped her microphone onto her t-shirt.

She nodded her head. “That was the new single,” she said. “It’ called Never Gonna Be, and it was released about a week and a half ago.”

“Tell us a little bit about the new album,” he said, holding the case for the camera to see.

“Well, it comes out tomorrow, and it’s called Always & Forever, Kwon Yoona,” she said. She leaned forward and pointed to the album cover. “And this is actually one of my wedding pictures,” she said conversationally. It was a picture of Yoona and Yul’s hand joined together. It was black and white, except for their wedding rings, which were gold, the colour digitally enhanced to make them stand out more. She sat back in her chair. “I wrote all of the songs on the album except for the last track. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at the remake I’ve chosen to be part of this record. It’s definitely a different style than the rest of the tracks, but I’ve been trying to step outside of myself lately, and this song was just one more step in that direction. It was originally recorded as a country song, but I tried to incorporate a little folk and blues style into it.”

“And you got to work with the great Kangta on this album,” he stated.

“Yeah, I was lucky enough to work with him. He’s an amazing force in the industry with a real creative flair. And he really let me go crazy in the studio,” she said, respect for the man evident in her voice. “A lot of times when you work with someone who’s been in the business that ling, they sort of you on creative leash. But it wasn’t like that working with Kangta,” she said.

David Moses smiled at her. “I think the question on everyone’s mind is… why did you drop the Im from your name?”

Yoona nodded and smiled into the camera. “Yeah, I think a lot of people are probably curious about that, too.” She took a deep breath and looked directly into the camera. “I wanted to reinforce my commitment to my husband, and I thought this was a good demonstration.”

“What does he think of that?”

Yoona laughed. “This was a surprise I had for him. He’s finding this out for the first time tonight, too, so…hopefully I’ll find out soon,” she said with a nervous laugh and a shrug.

He smiled in response. “Tell us about your decision to leave the music industry,” he said. “All of New York was shocked upon hearing your decision to walk away.”

Yoona nodded and sighed in contemplation. “Yeah, it was a tough decision to make, but one that I really needed to make for myself. I was able to achieve so much with my first album, and it was wonderful, but there’s just so much more that I’d like to do and being a recording artist really limits that with the amount of touring and public appearances,” she said.

“I remember you saying in our first interview together that music was your first love,” he reminded her.

Yoona laughed. “I’m sure at the time I thought it was, but as it turns out, my husband was my first love,” she told him in a teasing tone, batting her eyelashes. “And if I can work behind the scenes, then that opens up more time for me to spend with him.”

“So you want to do some producing,” he said.

“Yeah, that would be great. And my former publicist and I are considering starting up our own record company closer to home,” she said. Well, she hadn’t talked about it with Tiffany yet, but she had mentioned to Yoona that she’d like to be home more so she could spend more time with her husband. This would be great opportunity for both of them.

“We need to go to commercial, Yoona, but rumour has it you’re going to sing that remake for us when we come back.”

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Jessie leaned out so he could see past Tiffany to look at Yul. “So, what did you think of that?” he asked his brother. Tiffany elbowed him in the ribs. “Oww!” he said. “What was that for?”

“That was negative reinforcement,” she informed him primly, giving him a stern look. “I’m wondering how many times I have to do it before you shut up.”

Jessie sat down with a scowl on his face. His brother never did answer his question.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, once again… Kwon Yoona.”

The camera was on the darkened stage, and as the lights came up slowly, they revealed Yoona on a stool with her guitar, no band behind her. She leaned into the microphone stand that was sitting in front of her. “This song is for my husband,” she said tenderly. “I’m not even sure he was able to watch tonight,” or willing, she thought to herself, taking a deep breath. “Yul…my first live performance was for you, and…I wanted my last one to be, too.” She softly started strumming on her guitar then her soft voice filled the air.

Suppose I called you up tonight

And told you that I love you

And suppose I said I want to come back home

And suppose I cried and said I think I finally learned my lesson

And I’m tired of spending all my time alone

If I told you that I realize you’re all I ever wanted

And it’s killing me to be so far away

Would you tell me that you love me too

And would we cry together

Or would you simply laugh at me and say…

I told you so, oh I told you so

I told you someday you’d come crawling back

And asking me to take you in

I told you so, but you had to go

And now I’m finally done and you will never break my heart in two again

If I got down on my knees

And I told you I was yours forever

Would you get down on yours too and take my hand

Would we get that old-time feeling

Would we laugh and talk for hours

The way we did when our love first began

Would you tell me that you’ve missed me too

And that you’ve been so lonely

And you’ve waited for the day that I returned

And we’d live and love forever

And that I’m your one and only

Or would you say the tables finally turned

And would you say…

I told you so, oh I told you so

I told you someday you’d come crawling back

And asking me to take you in

I told you so, but you had to go

And now I’m finally done and you will never break my heart in two again

As she finished the last line of the song, the crowd immediately broke into applause came to their feet. Yoona stood up and bowed, blushing furiously. She’d just sang to her husband in front of the entire country. “Thank you so much,” she said softly into the microphone, barely able to hold back her tears. She’d loved singing for crowds like this and while she knew she walk away, she also knew that a part of her would miss this.

“Always & Forever, Kwon Yoona! Don’t forget to pick up your copy…on sale tomorrow!” David Moses said loudly, trying to be heard above the crowd.