Yong Hwa saw Shin Hye going out, so he pushed Ara harshly to catch up with Shin Hye.

"Ya! Oppa!" Ara shouted helplessly.

She looked at Yong Hwa going away, when her vision was distracted from a curious Min Hyuk.

"Wae, Oppa?"

But Min Hyuk only rolled his eyeballs and shook his head.

"Both of them could have a chance if it were not for you," CL said spitefully.

Ara bit her lips in anger, her eyes trying to hold back the tears. The ajumma and her niece  began to shower her ears with sarcasm.

****

"Shin Hye! Shin Hye!" Yong Hwa called after her.

Shin Hye stopped walking to silently wipe the tears from her eyes. Yong Hwa stopped behind her and waited for her to turn around. He knew she was crying, but he did not want to force her to turn around.

But something told him inside that he had to know.

He pulled her arm, and looked into her face. Shin Hye's eyes had been red, but a smile lit up her face.

"Geokjeongma," she told him assuringly to dispel his worries. "I have no problem with it."

"Shin Hye-ya," Yong Hwa replied. "Back there...it...it was nothing. Believe me."

"Why are you explaining?" Shin Hye asked him calmly. "You have nothing to explain."

"Shin Hye-ya..."

"I am not your girlfriend, so you need not explain," she assured him.

I am not your girlfriend.

The words kicked Yong Hwa on the face.

I am not your girlfriend.

"Ne... you...you are not my girlfriend," he said. "Mianhae."

Shin Hye's voice and eyes could not fool him. She was just damn hurt.

"Why... why did you walk away back there?" he asked.

Shin Hye mentally slapped herself. Yeah, why did she walked away? It gave everyone the impression that the botanist was his girlfriend, and that Ara stole him away from her.

And Shin Hye was not even Yong Hwa's girlfriend!

"I... I..." she started to explain. "You know the other day how Ara treated and spoke to me? I did not want to say anything bad should she provoke me with unkind words."

It was true, but it was also a lie. Yong Hwa knew about it, and he wanted so much to hug her. And about her lying, he did not want to splatter it all over her face. He grabbed her hand and looked at her.

"I'll your wounds for you once we get in," he told her when she saw confusion on her eyes.

"Gwaenchanha...."

"Ani... Nan hal geoya (I'll do it)," he said. "Trust me."

The two of them walked in, and as they got in, the customers all looked at them. The three friends looked at them curiously, while Ara, who stayed at the counter, looked at the two spitefully. Tears started to stream down her eyes.

"So you left me for her? Huh, Seonbae?" Ara screamed at Yong Hwa.

Yong Hwa puffed some air to whisk away his bangs before calmly telling her.

"Which do you call me? Seonbae or Oppa? And why are you shouting inside my restaurant?"

"Because!"

"Because what? You are a brat. See? Everyone's looking!" he reprimanded her.

Ara sniffled as she got out of the counter and in front of the two. Really, when it comes to brewing scandal, she was the best actress and the worst villain. She looked at Shin Hye head to foot when the botanist told her calmly.

"You thought I walked out because I was jealous?" Shin Hye told her. "I walked out even before you can say harsher things to me, and I never had even done you a favor!"

"Mwo?" Ara shot back.

"Ara!" Yong Hwa finally raised his voice, his temper boiling.

Shin Hye suddenly felt the kick of his voice, for it was the first time she had seen him this angry. Tears fell down Ara's eyes, finally,

"Oppa!" she burbled.

"Aigoooooo," an exasperated Jong Hyun came in the resto. He had witnessed the encounter from the window. "And you are being impolite, Ara."

"Seonbae!" Ara cried in front of Jong Hyun before running away.

The burning-eyed sojubang owner knitted his eyebrows in confusion, before turning to the crowd. He and the pisshibang owner assured the customers that there is nothing to worry about.

"You can come to my pisshibang and have free Internet access to games anytime this weekend," Min Hyuk blabbled foolishly.

The people got noisy again because of the freebee. And Jong Hyun also promised a reduced price of food and drinks for the next week's Happy Hour. And again, just for next week's. The two did crowd control to buy time for Yong Hwa and Shin Hye.

"Gwaenchanha?" he asked her in a whisper as he held her hand.

He noticed that her hands were shaky.

"Ne," she told him. "Geokjeongma (Don't worry)."

No matter how well she tried to hide it, Yong Hwa could feel her hurt. He knew he had something for her, but he was also trying to protect a secret love, which was why he did not hug her in front of the crowd.

"Omo, mwoya?" CL asked herself as she witnessed the encounter between the two. "Don't tell me...."

Jung Shin looked at his twin gaped before helping the other guys with the crowd control.

****

Ara, meanwhile, started the ignition of her car when she heard the cheers of the crowd. She thought it might be because Yong Hwa was professing something, and that the crowd liked the botanist for him.

"You? Not jealous?" she told Shin Hye in her thought. "Geojitmal (Lies)!"

*****

The other guys assisted Yong Hwa and his staff in serving the customers, and Min Hyuk also had three servings of bulgogi japchae that he craved.

CL was in the mini conference room, eating with Shin Hye. The botanist finished eating ahead and began to sob.

"Eonna, waeyo?" CL asked.

"I'm so hurt," Shin Hye told her. "I'm so ashamed of my own feelings."

CL guessed it right. Shin Hye had...

"I like him," Shin Hye confessed. "But I cannot tell him. Is it wrong to tell him? I am so ashamed...."

"Eonni, you can tell Oppa that you like him a lot," CL advised. "It no longer works for just the man to be telling a girl his feelings, when a certain girl is dying to confess hers."

Shin Hye shook her head.

"Ani, ani... I will not tell him," she said. "What if he does not like me?"

"Mwo?" CL asked her. "Aish... So what?"

But CL knew that Yong Hwa liked Shin Hye a lot even if he was also lingering for an old love he had never seen.

"Go ahead, Eonni. Go and die without confessing your feelings," CL half-threatened her.

"Eotteohke, Chae Rin-ah?" Shin Hye asked helplessly.

"Chae Rin-ah?" Jong Hyun called out, opening the door without knocking.

He saw Shin Hye crying her eyes out, and Jong Hyun instantly realized what might have happened. Yong Hwa, Jung Shin, and Min Hyuk did not explain further, and it just needed his wily mind to come up with matching these kind of puzzles.

If Yong Hwa had given flowers to Shin Hye, it was evident that he liked her.

Shin Hye cried her eyes out after the incident, so it might mean she had some feelings for Yong Hwa.

And Ara, they said, kissed Yong Hwa in front of Shin Hye.

"Ah. They are in love with each other, and Shin Hye is jealous," he formulated in his mind. "But what about his old love? Aish...."

"Ne, Oppa?" CL asked Jong Hyun.

"Jung Shin is looking for you," he told the swag princess.

"Ah...," then looking back at Shin Hye, she asked her, "Can you manage?"

Shin Hye only nodded, and CL excused herself before closing the door. Jong Hyun sat in front of Shin Hye, who purposefully wiped her tears to avoid detection.

"You like him," he uncovered her secret in front of her.

Shin Hye looked at him and shook her head. "Anio."

"Geojitmal," he told her calmly. "I can tell. Min Hyuk said that Yong Hwa received a kiss from Ara. So is that why you are crying here? Crying of jealousy?"

"Jong Hyun-ssi," she whispered helplessly. And she broke into tears again. "I am so ashamed of myself...."

"Ashamed that you cannot tell him how you feel?" he asked her without telling her about Yong Hwa's other secret.

"Jong Hyun-ssi, please don't tell him," she begged.

"I won't," he said. "Besides, it's not wrong for a girl to confess. My girlfriend confessed to me that she likes me. It's healthy, you know?"

Shin Hye looked at Jong Hyun smile.

"Do you always believe that old reasoning that girls are not allowed to confess? And please speak familiarly to me," he told her.

"N...ne," she whispered.

Jong Hyun got a hanky from his pocket and handed it to Shin Hye.

"If you are not willing to show your heart just yet, hide your tears properly," he advised her. "And get your act together."

Shin Hye took the hanky and wiped her eyes. She was thankful that Yong Hwa's friends were thoughtful.

"Gomawo," she told him.

Jong Hyun nodded and stood up. He told her to return the hanky once she is done using it.

"I mean, once you are done laundering it," he told her.

She watched him exit the room, and she was all alone inside with just her feelings and her shame to accompany her.

 

~~~~~

(up next, sweet YongShin moments!)

 

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