Yoohee-ssi and I ended up at a nearby empty coffee shop. The calming and silent environment set me up to getting more and more nervous about what she had to say.

I also didn’t know whether it was because of the air conditioner or if was because of my own body that’s still traumatized but I shivered from cold.

I quickly grabbed my cup of tea with my hands to warm them up.

My alertness then shot up the roof when Yoohee-ssi joined me with her own cup of coffee.

She really didn’t look so well herself. The worry and guilt written all over her face told me that she had a lot of confess.

Our eyes briefly met before she broke the silence, “Ara-ssi, mianhe!” she lowered her head.

Her gesture shocked me, “Yoohee-ssi, please don’t do this.” I reached over to sit her up.

The Yoohee-ssi in front of me right now has turned completely opposite. On her first day at SM, the things I could’ve associated with her were positive, confident and fearless. But now, because of D.O she had appeared to defenseless, desperate and weak; maybe even weaker than I am.

She looked at me with watery eyes, “Ara-ssi… I never intended for you to find out about D.O-oppa and I. The photo… I just couldn’t put it away.”

Her words instantly made my heart heavy. This girl, she still loves him.

“There are so many memories between D.O-oppa and I that I can’t just let go.”

Yes, she definitely still loves him.

“But it’s only one sided now. D.O-oppa has you and I have no right to barge into your guys’ relationship. You’re so kind-hearted and nice; hurting you is the last thing I’ll want to do.”

How am I supposed to be totally ignorant about the fact that another girl, especially a girl like Yoohee-ssi, still deeply in love with D.O? I can’t, there’s no way for me to devote my whole heart to him knowing about this.

“I’m satisfied with being able to see him again and watch him from afar” she said with a smile and teardrop from the corner of her eye.

My heart softened. How much love can there be when you allow yourself to just watch the one you love another person?

“Yoohee-ssi…” I paused, “what’s the story between you and D.O?” I dared to ask.

4 years ago (Yoohee’s POV)

“I was never a popular item at school. From the moment I entered Seoul High, I was bullied to the point where I wanted to give up school altogether Our oppa, on the other hand, was always the hot topic amongst not only girls but guys as well. He’s good looking, smart, athletic and a happy virus. No one would’ve ever associated him and me as siblings, nor did oppa know about my situation.

Towards the end of my first year of high school, Oppa started to get suspicious as to why I had always tried to avoid interacting with him at all cost at school. It’d get to the point where I’d always leave an hour earlier in the mornings to take the bus instead of catching a ride with him. If I saw him at the end of the hall, I’d purposely hide and take another route. Even during our little chats I’d triple check whether there were people around.

Of course, the news about me getting bullied eventually leaked and got to oppa’s ears. He blamed himself for not being about to protect me especially when we’re at the same school. So that’s when he made a huge announcement to the entire school about our relationship.

Instantly, everyone backed away from me; no more name calling, no more bullying. Some girls even tried to become my friends, although I knew they only did so to get closer to oppa. Regardless, my life changed and grade 11 came along.

That year I was still the girl who somehow always manages to blend with the background. However, everything was definitely a lot better than the last.

On a particular day after school as I walking towards the exit to meet with oppa, I noticed that he was with a quite an unfamiliar face. I pushed my glasses closer to my nose and approached them cautiously.

‘Yoohee-ah, this is D.O’.

We shyly bowed at each other and smiled.

Apparently D.O-oppa was a new transfer student that was coincidently assigned to oppa’s class. I guess they just clicked right after meeting each other which also brought us closer.

Although D.O-oppa was always over at our house, it was quite hard and awkward to communicate with him. Not only was he quiet but also had a chilling mysterious aurora.

We didn’t really interacted until we found each other in the same cooking elective class. It was quite funny as he was the only boy in the class. Of course, that also meant he couldn’t get the girls off him. Because I was the only ‘normal’ one, the teacher liked to put us together as a group to avoid drama in the class.

That wa