Chapter 13: Reality Bites Me

Two weeks later…

She signed the last dotted line before handing over the documents to her teacher. Her professor double-checked everything before smiling and placing all of the documentation in a folder. She placed the folder into her purse and the two stood.

She stuck her hand out and Rima shook it. "I look forward to seeing your work."

"Me too." They bowed and her professor left the office first.

Sulli walked to the window, her tote on her shoulder. Did she make the wrong decision? After everything that's happened in Korea, after everything she unfortunately experienced and dealt with, she needed a break. New York was far, New York was an ocean away, but New York was going to become her escape from the hell in Korea. It wasn't like she wanted it to be that way, and it wasn't Korea's fault.

It was the goddamn people.

It was her goddamn friends and family.

They didn't have to make it so difficult. And although she had some awesome friends—Luna and Onew and…Minho, maybe Taemin but that was pretty unlikely—they could make her life so tedious. And then there was y Krystal, who threatened to get a restraining order against her. Her eyes rolled at that thought but sighed afterwards. Her fingers pressed to the cool glass, her eyes focusing on the outside world of the place she would soon be leaving.

She hated that they made the decision so easy for her….

Then again, she was kind of glad they did. At least now she had an entire two weeks to herself to break the news. As she left the classroom, she felt a bit better. Who knew? Maybe leaving would give everyone a year to finally grow the hell up.

What words could describe what he was feeling at the moment?

Nothing prepared him for the discovery: Krystal worked at the place where he was currently waiting for an interview. The look on his face when he saw her brown hair was enough to get one million hits on YouTube in a day. When her eyes caught sight of him, there was no surprise when she stopped and dropped a ton of papers onto the floor. Her co-workers watched the normally reserved brunette drop to the ground and hastily pick up the papers. Although, slightly, amused by her reaction, Minho felt no pity.

He sat on the couch across from her desk, where she typed and type and typed. His eyes scanned the walls lined with close-ups of flowers, a few nighttime’s photos of the city. When he looked down, he saw Krystal staring at him, her pink lips parted. He narrowed his eyes just as she shied away to resume typing. Her cheeks heated up, a small glare forming in her eyes as she typed. Why did he have to have an interview here? Why couldn't that y bastard—

y? she mouthed. No, no, no! Minho wasn't y! He was the jerk who almost ruined her and Taemin's marriage. Krystal glanced at him from behind the computer screen, her dark locks falling in front of her face as she moved, only to find him tuning his guitar. The way he plucked the strings reminded Krystal of the way he pinched her—

"Stop it!" she exclaimed. Minho looked up at her then and found her holding her face in her hands. Her face was bathed in a light hue of red but dark enough for her honey eyes to stand out even more. She blinked, her eyes darting to the open entrance to her boss's office—no heard her, thank goodness. She turned back to Minho, who was giving her a strange look.

Krystal looked away, her glare strengthening. "Stop looking at me."

Minho returned to tuning his guitar, his classic bored expression on his face. "Then don't suddenly shout like that. You're distracting me." She's distracting him? Her fists clenched before slowly releasing. Krystal finished up the document, saved it to the computer and her flash drive, before standing with a stack of papers in her arms. She glared at him as she walked over to the file cabinet.

He finished tuning his guitar, a look of satisfaction crossing his features. He glanced at Krystal for a few seconds before digging into his pocket for his cell phone. A new text. He responded to Onew's text and put the phone back in his pocket. When he looked up, she was looking at him with her lips parted, cheeks flushed. "What?"

She went back to her desk, her heels creating the only noise in the waiting area. She moved her computer screen so it was no longer blocking her vision of Minho. "I don't like you," she suddenly said. Although she meant it, part of her still had to be convinced. That part…the part that slept with him and liked it, was the enemy.

And she sought to destroy all of her enemies.

Minho shrugged. "The feeling's mutual." Krystal hated his apathy about the situation. He loved her, right? He fought over her. So why? He smirked at the woman. Maybe a little fun couldn't hurt while he waited for his interview. "It's funny you say that. After all, you kissed me."

Damn idiot was teasing her! But despite the anger she felt, a blush still formed on her cheeks. Minho would've found it adorable if he was still infatuated with the woman but now he found it to be…childish. "Shut up."

"Why, Krystal? All I'm doing is speaking the truth."

" you," she spat. Minho shrugged again.

"Same to you."

She rolled her eyes and focused on the negatives about the man: his mean and blunt and downright personality. "You hurt my husband." The fight, he thought.

"Ah, that." Minho's fingers grazed over the small bruises under his eye. Krystal snickered. "I'm pretty sure he threw the first punch."

"He told me what happened." She glared dead on at him then. "I can't believe you called me a ." She stood up and walked to the front of her desk.

"Well, believe it." Minho rested his head on his fist, his elbow propping his head up. "No married woman would purposely sleep with someone else. And since you felt no guilt—"

"You don't know anything about how I felt!"

He glared at her then, his stare making her tremble. How could he look scary and y at the same time? It baffled her, left her breathless, and her cheeks heated once again. "You obviously didn't care about how I felt. You played me. I don't like being played for a fool. So now, I hate you." He didn't yell, he didn't shout or curse. Even so, his words sank into her head faster than Krystal would've liked. He hated her…but didn't he love her? All the intense emotions the brunette was suddenly feeling forced tears to her eyes. She wiped her eyes quickly, hoping he wouldn't see.

But of course he saw. She was standing right in front of him for crying out loud. He rolled his eyes, suddenly uncomfortable about the situation at hand. Just twenty minutes more until his interview. Then an hour with the guy and he was out of there.

Krystal hated how conflicted she suddenly felt. Minho was right before her and the part of her that still cared for him was urging her to talk to him, to get him to forgive her. Resisting hurt, thinking negatively about him hurt. Did her face give it away? She wanted him again, to do it just one more time, so she could tell herself that Taemin was much better than rough Minho.

She clenched her hands together. "You'll never be as good as Taemin!" she exclaimed. She was thankful someone came by and shut the door. Why they did that she wouldn't know nor did she care. At least her exclamation wouldn't be heard.

Minho shrugged again. "You think Taemin’s all that great?" He was tempted to tell her about Taemin's little plan. But the better part of he decided to let Krystal remain ignorant.

At this point, added drama wasn't needed.

"He's better than an like you."

"Says the woman who slept with said ." Krystal was about to go over there and smack the damned grin off of his face but her boss's doors suddenly opened. He stood, guitar case on his shoulder, and entered the office. He didn't look back at the fuming woman nor did he want to.

She could wallow in her own misery for all he cared. She deserved to.

There was something oddly alluring about the petite girl that Minho couldn't exactly pinpoint. As they sat there in the lounge sipping white wine and talking about anything that came up, he couldn't figure out just what kept his eyes on the girl. It wasn't her clothes—she wore a simple off shoulder shirt, jeans, and flats—and it wasn't her physique. No, it wasn't about those things….

But it was definitely something else.

Onew stopped laughing first, his cheeks a bit red. Maybe he had too many drinks or maybe it was from his everlasting laughing. Who knew? Sulli told some pretty funny jokes. Although the situations were serious, it still made the group laugh nonetheless. "Okay, okay, no more. I'm dying here."

Sulli chuckled to herself and sipped her wine. "Are you now?" Although she was no where close to the legal age of drinking—she was just a year shy of it—she drank responsibly.

Luna fanned herself before sipping her wine and smiling at her. "So what's the news you had for us? Did you get another scholarship or offer?" If it was going to be about just what he thought it was, he prayed she was going to say the opposite.

In the end, he was wrong.

"I…I took the offer. I'm going to New York."

Silence showed their poker faces.

Okay, so maybe Luna said she would support Sulli going to New York. Of course she wanted the girl to be successful and to be the best at everything she did. But it didn't mean she wanted her to go. The blonde wanted Sulli here so she wouldn't be alone and bored (no way in hell was Luna hanging out with Krystal). New York…this was what she wanted? Onew watched Luna force a smile onto his her lips.

Sulli's gaze went to Minho. He sat motionless, his eyes right on her. When he saw how sympathetic she looked, it made him a bit angry. She just decided to go and didn't get any advice from anyone? He knew he shouldn't have thought that way but it was how he felt. He finished his wine in one drink and abruptly stood. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To pee." He walked away then and in the direction of where he said he was going. Onew jumped up and followed the man. Luna and Sulli hung back, the two sharing a silent look of worry.

Onew entered the bathroom and found him washing his hands. "You really did have to pee?" Minho narrowed his eyes at the man before rolling his eyes and drying his hands off.

"What? You thought I came in here after what she said?" Onew nodded. "Well, I didn't."

"Are you okay, though?" Onew stepped inside and moved to wash his own hands, even if he didn't use the bathroom. "I mean…you didn't seem like you were."

Minho sighed as he leaned against the counter. In all honesty, he didn't want to see her go. But she already decided and there was no stopping the girl once she set her mind on something; take the day she put a hole through Taemin's television. And changing her mind, if he could anyways, seemed undoubtedly selfish. All because he would miss her. Minho sighed softly before raising an eyebrow, his brown eyes focused on Onew. "I'll be fine." He smirked. "Heck, I could always visit her."

"Yeah, we could do that!"

The two exited the bathroom. He placed his hands in his pockets. "And I can take this time to…" Thinking aloud was not a good idea, especially around Onew. "Well, we can hang out a bit until she goes."

Onew slapped a hand down onto Minho's back. "Yeah, man!" The two men approached Luna and Sulli who were conversing about shopping over their almost empty wine glasses.

"Let's go to the club and celebrate party style."

Why wasn't she answering? Although it was late at night—close to one in the morning to be exact—Sulli always answered her phone. The light brown haired man called her three separate times and she still hadn't answered. Maybe she wasn't in the room. Maybe she was busy….

But he had to talk to her. He had to warn her about Minho, he had to protect beautiful Sulli from that jerk Minho. He would only ruin her, he didn't understand her. Even though he hated to admit that Minho was right in saying he didn't know a lot about Sulli anymore, he wanted to believe that he did. Because they were friends once, because they once had a rivalry.

Because he knew her since elementary.

Because she's been in his life for such a long time. Sure there was an interval but she was always in his life. Minho wouldn't take that away from him, either.

What if she wants Minho? Then his actions would be useless and he could move on to being with his currently sleeping wife. He sighed. He loved both Sulli and Krystal and it was a shame he did. Although he wouldn't cheat on her, was he being unfaithful somehow? And if Sulli did want Minho, then he would have to watch her be with him.

Taemin shook his head, his amber eyes focused on the screen of his phone. No, he had to get in contact with Sulli.

Minho picked up the girl's buzzing phone. This was the fourth time it rang that night. He looked at the girl currently sleeping on his couch, her gentle features even more innocent when she slept. His fingers brushed a curl away from her face, touched the soft skin. Before he knew it, he was leaning down, buzzing phone still in his hand, and pressing his lips to her cheek. She shifted on the couch until she was pulled up into a ball.

He chuckled and was about to wake her up until his eyes caught sight of the called I.D: Taemin. He glared at the screen before walking out of the living room and over to the stairs. He sat down on the fourth step, flipped open the phone, and pressed the talk button. "What?" Minho snapped. He was less than pleased that his constant calling could've woken up the sleeping girl.

"Put Sulli on the phone," Taemin snapped back. "I need to talk to her."

Minho sighed and leaned back on the stairs. "She's sleeping right now. And like hell I'm waking her up so she can speak to you."

"Well then hang up. I don't want to speak to you."

"The feelings' mutual." Minho removed the phone from his hand. His thumb hovered over the red end button but he didn't press it. He instead narrowed his eyes at the screen before his lips and pressing the phone to his ear once again. "Still there?"

"Hang up already. I don't want to talk to a douche like you."

Minho chuckled. The man could be easily ticked off if you knew which buttons to press. "Aww, am I not good enough?"

" no."

"Well, I won't keep you waiting. I'm sure your wife’s waiting for you," Minho said in a teasing tone. "But I do want to ask you something." His teasing tone was suddenly gone, his smirk no longer on his lips. "Feeling guilty, Taemin?" And then he hung up without hesitation.

Taemin's eyes widened as he removed the phone from his ear and stared at the screen. Feelings…of guilt?

A/N: So here is the next Chapter. I'll probably finish this story before I'm going to continue Along the Road.

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