Soo Hyun ran after you and Ayumi looked at her partner. 

'Do you know her, Kwonchan?'

Yukwon nodded earning himself a wary and suspicious look.

'I don't know your problems together but... She's our new assistant, Yukwon. I can't be working with you two if you're going to be hated on by her'

'I know...'

'And she's perfect for the job, Yukwon-'

'I know!'

'Then what are you still doing here?! Go after our assistant and sort what mess this is out!'

'Don't blame me! It's complicated, Ayumi!'

'I don't care. I'm not getting rid of her as my assistant and I'm not getting rid of you as my partner so you had best go and figure this thing out, okay?'

Yukwon stood there, looking at his shoes.

'Are you not going?!' Ayumi screamed

Everyone stopped and stared at her. It was silent apart from the sound of a click-clack sound.

'Oh, oppa? You're here already!.. Oh, where did Dahye go?'

Ayumi stared at Jieun in disbelief, her jaw dropped and her big round doe eyes blinking rapidly. Jieun nervously her lips.

'Yukwonnie... Why is the weird girl staring at me?'

Yukwon grabbed his girlfriend's hand and picked up her jacket and bag.

'Ayumi, I'll be back tomorrow at 10. Make sure Dahye is prepared for my arrival, okay?'

'Are you seriously not going to talk to her now?' Ayumi replied flatly

'How can I? Ayumi...'

Yukwon's eyes rounded with sincerity. He was trying to tell her something without Jieun realising.

'Ayumi, I haven't seen her in 3 years. I don't know anything about her or how to contact her'

'Wait... 3 years?...'

Yukwon nodded whilst giving her the look that clearly read 'don't say anything in front of Jieun'. Ayumi sighed.

'Fine, I'll prepare her'

'Thanks doll... Oh, could I be cheeky and request something else?'

'No'

'Well too bad. Can you make sure Dahye doesn't have anything to stab me with tomorrow? You know... Keep her away from the sissors maybe?'

'Oppa, why would Dahye stab you? Will someone tell me what's going on?'

Ayumi rolled her eyes, beginning to get agitated by her partner's girlfriend. Yukwon could read the look on her face and glared at her with a look that meant 'stop it. I know you want to kill her but stop it'. 

'Just go and enjoy your date together.' Ayumi said exasperatedly. 'I'll just finish the prep without you, okay? But I'm warning you, Kim Yukwon. If you dare try and criticise my outfits tomorrow when you arrive for work, Dahye won't be the only one you need to be wary about.'

Yukwon nodded. 'I got it. I'll get you an ice macchiato in the morning too, just to make up for this'

'Better make it two' Ayumi muttered

'Okay, two.'

Yukwon left with his speechless girlfriend. They were silent as they took the elevator down 5 floors to the lobby. Yukwon ignored all the attempts his girlfriend made to link arms and hold hands. As he walked towards the parking lot, he spotted you sitting on a bench with Soo Hyun's arm around you. Your head was lowered as you sighed in frustration, rubbing your temples. You were pissed off beyond belief.

Is she crying?...

His feet began walking in your direction instinctively and he crashed into Jieun.

'Oppa, watch out! What's wrong with you today? Why are you acting so weirdly?'

Yukwon shook himself off. 'Sorry, what was that jagiya?'

Jieun raised an eyebrow. 'Are you okay?'

It took Yukwon exactly 0.2 seconds to think of an answer.

'Mianhae, Jieun-ah. I feel a bit ill today. Can I just drop you back home? I don't feel well enough to do anything...'

'Oh but... Oppa, I was really looking forward to today. Unless, how about we go back to your place and I'll look after you tonight?'

Yukwon shook his head. 'Sorry, Jieun-ah. I'm not having you round tonight.'

---

'Dahye-ssi, are you alright?'

'Soo Hyun, you can drop the honorifics. I'm younger than you by a few years and besides, aren't we friends already?'

'Oh... I just thought that it might seem a bit forward or you might get the wrong impression-'

'You like Ayumi, silly. How could I get the wrong impression when it's that obvious?' you replied with a smile.

Soo Hyun blushed. 'Ahem... Well, do you want me to take you home? Since we're friends now? Or do you have a car?'

'Thanks but I'm fine. I took public transport this morning but I'll go home myself'

You weren't going to accept any pity favours from this new friend of yours. 

'Are you sure?'

You nodded. 'I'm alright, honestly Soo Hyun. I'm going to meet up with a friend so you can go and stop Ayumi from fretting and freaking out.'

'Funny how you already know what she's like. What are you? Some sort of secret agent with analyst skills?'

'Only on Mondays... No seriously, go back. I'm fine. Go and answer those tweets.'

'Dahye, I'm not going to go until your friend comes. Just let me keep you company until they arrive'

You sighed and figured it wasn't worth arguing with him. He was clearly as stubborn as Ayumi. A match made in heaven. You called Nari who failed to pick up. Fine, I guess I'll have to tell you later. You tried the next on your list: Soojin. She was the only one who could also drive and she was more than surprised to receive a call from you.

'Dahye? What's up?'

'Soojin... Are you busy?'

'We just had lunch, just us interns... But no, I'm off for the rest of the day. I might go shopping though down by Ewha University. Why? What's wrong?'

You liked that about Soojin. She could tell when you felt bad even though there was an extremely fine line distinguishing bad from good when it came to your moods. She was one of the few that knew both and could see the tiny differences in your tone of voice and mood.

'Hey Dahye. What's wrong?' she repeated. She was fearing the worst- a relapse. 'You haven't hurt yourself, have you? Or where are you? Are you by the bridge? Are you bleeding? I promise I won't be angry with you. Just tell me where you are'

'I haven't done anything stupid, Soojin. I just feel a bit right now. Could you pick me up? I'll explain everything to you later.'

Soo Hyun gazed at you curiously. What does she mean by stupid? He was becoming more inquisitive as your phone call went on.

'Okay Dahye, tell me where you are. Are you by the bri-'

'I'm not by the bridge!' you said loudly. 'Stop going on about it, Soojin!'

Soo Hyun's eyebrows shot up. The bridge? Isn't that where...? Impossible. Maldo andwae.

'Sorry Dahye. I just freaked out a bit'

'... I know. I'm sorry, Soojin. I must be a pretty ty friend, right?'

'Never. Now shut up about that and just tell me where you are. My GPS keeps bleeping and it's pissing me off'

'I'm at the Walker Building downtown. You know it? Yeah... Okay, I'm just outside with a friend'

'Right, I'm on my way.'

There was silence.

'Dahye... What happened? You're at work, aren't you? Did you get fired?'

'No... I just...'

'Tell me. I've known you forever and it's scaring me a little so please just tell me.'

'I saw him... Yukwon'

'You what?!'

You held your phone at arms length away. Soojin's voice was muffled but you and Soo Hyun could just make out a few insults and curses and something like 'just wait until I find you, Kim Yukwon, you dickhead' and 'I'll tear you apart and you'll never be able to inseminate another woman again!'. 

'I'll see you in a bit then?'

You put your phone away and Soo Hyun looked at you. You knew what was coming: questioning.

'Dahye, forgive me if this is a touchy subject but I'm going to ask anyway because well... I'm so curious. I'm good friends with Yukwon and Ayumi actually and I just wondered why you said those things to him earlier? Do you two have some sort of past?'

You sighed. 'You might as well hear my side since I'm sure you'll question him later too.'

'Go on'

'He hurt me a long time ago. In fact no, he tore me apart.'

Your voice changed by the smallest fraction but even Soo Hyun, who had only known you for a few hours now, could tell that it was somewhat colder. A shiver ran down his spine.

'My friends all believe he left me with a lot of problems'

'Problems? Like... emotional ones?'

'Erm, well yeah. I suppose you could say that'

Soo Hyun nodded, carefully thinking about what he'd have to rehearse back to Ayumi. He knew she'd pounce on him as soon as he was through the front door. You took a deep breath and exhaled. 

'I don't know why I'm telling you this'

'You don't have to. I don't want to force you, Dahye-ssi'

'No honorifics.'

'Oh right. Sorry'

'Don't worry about it... Hey, you know, you're pretty nice?'

'Thanks, I guess?'

'People talk about me behind my back a lot of the time.  I know you'll tell Ayumi but you don't seem like the kind of person to do it in a malicious way'

'Why would people do that? You're a lovely girl. What on earth could they even say?'

'Dahye's an old china doll'

'What?'

'Broken, unrepairable, cold, fragile and frozen... Like those old creepy china dolls'

'I don't quite understand you'

You smiled warmly even though tears were forming and threatening to spill out. 'You think they're fine from afar until you look closely. You see their cracked porcelain face, their painted features fading and you know that they're ruined. They're also broken but because they're antique, you can't repair them. You can't play with them either, fearing that the slightest hug of the doll will break it into even more pieces. Those dolls are untouchable, unable to love and unable to be loved'

Soo Hyun stared at you. He had never heard someone speak so lowly of themselves and your description of yourself was chilling enough. You expected him to think you were crazy but instead, he held your hand.

Is she the one he talked about?

'By chance... Did Yukwon break up with you or something?'

His curiousity was killing him now.

'He broke her into a million pieces, Sir' said Soojin, walking up behind you, spinning her car keys around her finger with a serious look on her face.

You turned around and broke into a smile that surprised Soo Hyun. 'Soojin!'

Soojin bowed her head to Soo Hyun and took your hand. 

'Come on, Dahye. Let's get a coffee or something and you can tell me about today.'

You waved goodbye to Soo Hyun and gave him a half awkward hug. You didn't want to even think about his impression on you. You wanted to kick yourself for flooding out your problems to someone you had met for less than a day. In a world where people judge incredibly, you weren't sure whether or not he would take it well. Thankfully though, Soo Hyun didn't think any lower of you. 

In fact, he was more dumbfounded and more confused than ever. He watched you walk away and drive off in Soojin's car and he saw Soojin's worried face as she drove away. 

It can't be her though. Yukwon's always said he was sure she'd be fine and he always said she was a strong person. He even said she would probably forget about him.

Ayumi came running out and Soo Hyun braced himself for her investigation.

Maybe... Maybe it isn't her. Or if it is her... That would mean that Yukwon doesn't know just how much she suffered because of him. He's completely oblivious to it.

Ayumi jumped him and held onto his back.

'Soo Hyun, tell me everything you found out!'

Soo Hyun groaned. 'Aish...'

Anyone notice my sneaky: 'I'm so curious'? Always wanted to put that into a story... Now I have! Wahey!