Namjoo stared at the untouched food she’d spent hours cooking with belligerent eyes. She knew it. All along her heart had known he wouldn’t come. They’d been engaged for a year and a half and had started preparations for their upcoming wedding 6 months away, but suddenly she had started receiving pictures and texts from an unknown source. Namjoo wasn’t a person to jump to conclusions, she really wasn’t. At first she had ignored those texts and pictures until one day she discovered the same number in his phone.

“We’re really nothing, Namjoo. She’s just a classmate I know from my university,” Tae Joon had scorned her. “Why are you being like this!? You know I don’t like it when you pry into my personal life!”

“Do you think I want to pry into your personal life?” Namjoo repeated with abstained anger shaking in . Then she shoved her phone at him, “Then what the hell are these!? You tell me what these pictures are about!”

Tae Joon presumably glared at her before taking the phone she’d slammed against his chest. Namjoo took extra care to observe his facial expression of shock as if caught in the act. That was when she allowed her boiling anger to take over.

Snatching the phone back she started, “Who the hell is she!? I can’t believe you…get out! Get out!” Impulsive anger coursed through her as she punched him.

“No! Namjoo! Listen! Listen to me!” he fought for control of her hands before prisoning her wrists into his grasp. “I love you; you know I only love you.”

Namjoo just shook her head too angry, too upset that she had been cheated on, and betrayed by the man she trusted most.

“No…” she cried. “I don’t want to hear it…” When Tae Joon tried pulling her against him for a hug she shoved him away. “Just get out.”

Tears sunk down her face when she walked away only to have him pull her back.

“I’m sorry, Namjoo. I won’t do it again. I promise.” He dug his face into her shoulder tightly wrapping his arms around her. “I can’t live without you. Give me another chance. I thought we were getting married and we were going to have kids. Hmm?”

What Namjoo hated about herself was that her heart was too soft. When she loved Tae Joon even more than she loved herself, how could she let him go over such a trivial matter? Even when the tears streamed down her face, all she really cared about was that she still had him.

“Are you stupid, Namjoo!?” Hayoung scolded her the next morning. “Haven’t you heard of ‘Once a cheater, always a cheater!’”

“But…he said he loves me…”

Hayoung slammed the table with her hand, “When someone says they love you so easily, how can you believe him!? I don’t care if you’ve known him for a decade, but you shouldn’t have forgiven him! He’s playing you like a fool! Urgh…let me get at him and that !”

“Hayoung, Hayoung, don’t,” Namjoo glanced up at her friend with pleading eyes. “Don’t hurt him.”

“And what about you!?” Hayoung shifted in her seat so she could better face her friend, “How can you let him do this to you!? Why did you let him off the hook so easily, Namjoo!? Why do you have to be so nice!?”

“He said we were going to go out this weekend, I believe him,” Namjoo added. “Don’t be angry with him. I think…I’m just a little gullible.”

Hayoung turned away to roll her eyes and heave a sigh. There wasn’t even a sense of doubt in her and maybe that was what made Namjoo stupid. That was why she came to hate herself so much a month later. Tae Joon didn’t come for her that weekend and she ended up sitting alone in their apartment staring at their picture sitting on the mini-bookshelf.

Disappointment flooded her and she ended up crying alone. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it and she knew it wasn’t going to be the last either, but she still hung on because she believed his words, “I love you, I only love you.” When he came to her that evening with a bouquet of roses, the disappointment melted away.

“Are you hungry? I’ll make something for you,” Namjoo offered with a beaming smile while clutching onto the precious roses.

She excitedly darted toward the kitchen before he said, “I already ate.”

Her brows shot up with the unexpected answer. Tae Joon had always eaten her food. Even though this wasn’t the first time, Namjoo was flooded with dismay. As if catching onto her doubtful thoughts he grabbed the roses out of her hand and set them aside before pulling her over. He ran a hand through her hair before kissing her forehead. It was these intimate acts that always got to her and what had always played her like a fool.

The next morning Namjoo discovered taunting voicemails in her phone.

“You know where Tae Joon was yesterday? My house.”

“Do you really think he loves you? Don’t kid yourself. You’re nothing, but his play toy.”

“Tae Joon said he loves...” Namjoo hung up and quickly blinked her eyes to hold back the oncoming tears. No…she believed in Tae Joon. He wouldn’t betray her. He loved her, didn’t he?

“Namjoo, what are you doing?” Tae Joon walked toward the bedroom door and poked his head in. “Come on, lets go.” Worry spread over his face when he saw her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh…it’s nothing.” Namjoo lied before he walked over to take her hand.

“Lets go,” he said before leading her out.

And it finally happened one day. With a day off from work Namjoo had headed to one of the fitness centers she often visited and had busied herself on one of the running machines. After a long week she had finally managed to clear her mind of all worries. Tae Joon had promised to come join her after a meeting with his friends then they would go out for dinner afterward. Namjoo had planned a whole evening of predictable joy in her mind. All that was before she turned at a cough. A woman on her left smiled at her. Her seemingly bright pink lips looked familiar before Namjoo scanned her face to quickly recognize her as the university classmate in the photos sent to her. For an obvious second, Namjoo’s lips trembled in abstained anger before she turned away.

No, she wasn’t going to let herself get trampled on like this. With all effort to keep herself calm she thought of the ring on her finger and purposely raised it over her face to show it off. Namjoo heard an obvious snort before she was doused in water. With a fierce turn of her head she spotted an empty water bottle in the woman’s hand before a satisfied smile squirmed onto her lips. That was it, this was the end. Namjoo wasn’t going to take this anymore.

Stopping her machine she pulled the girl off hers dragging her to the empty walkway before pushing her to the ground and sitting on her.

“Who are you!? Who do you think you are!? It’s you, isn’t it!? The one who’s been bothering Tae Joon!” Namjoo grabbed the collars of her tank top and shook her.

“Don’t disillusion yourself, you fool! He only wants you for ! Tae Joon doesn’t love you!” the girl pushed Namjoo over before grabbing her hair and shaking her.

Shrieks and screams pounded out of Namjoo’s mouth before she managed to grab the girl’s wrists and twist them back. As a crowd surrounded them Namjoo finally shoved the girl off, but it had all happened too quick. Before she managed to pull the girl up to her feet someone else had and Namjoo felt her hand fling out to slap Tae Joon. The glare she received from Tae Joon and the girl in his arms literally killed her senses. He didn’t even try to comfort her when tears streamed down her face. He didn’t even try to ask her why they had fought. It only knocked into her head then that he really had betrayed her. Whether he was sleeping with another woman or not, Namjoo didn’t care anymore.

That evening when she finally got back to the apartment she packed her clothes and sat in the living room in darkness. Every little memory she had with Tae Joon, every single thing they had done together warped through her mind with so much pain that her hands literally shook. In the end, she was of no importance. Her existence had meant nothing and she had done so, so much for him. No word, no sound came from her as she sat there crying in total silence.

When the door opened and she listened for Tae Joon calling her name she stood up. The light in the hallway gave way to his figure and the bouquet of flowers in his hand, but Namjoo’s heart had already been destroyed. The evidence had been too much and she could no longer stand this relationship. Her lips trembled and she reached for their picture on the bookshelf.

Tae Joon stared at her with his big eyes as she gripped onto the picture frame so tightly that her hands went white. “Namjoo, I’m sorry. What happened earlier, I can explain.”

Namjoo shook her head, her lips scrunching up in pain as tears ran down her face. Then she shrieked from the top of her lungs and all her might, “Get out! Get out!” The frame of the picture fell apart as she tossed the picture aside and screamed even more when she ran over to throw every book, every photo album off the shelf. Then she ran over to the TV and shoved it to the ground as well as all the DVDs and CDs. All the while doing so, she screamed and screamed even more. “I hate you, I hate you!”

“Namjoo! Calm down!” Tae Joon screamed, but he was nowhere inside her head.

She shoved him and walked into the kitchen shoving the table aside, pushing every chair over, opening every drawer and throwing everything out.

“Leave! I said leave!” Namjoo screamed. Her hair was now a mess, but she was shaking even more. When she finally turned to stare at Tae Joon she finally saw all the emptiness on his face that told her he thought she was crazy. Her face became distorted before she held her hand up as if to show him the ring she had so long treasured. Namjoo’s eyes landed on his before she pulled the ring off and tossed it against the ground with a sob. Then she reached her trembling hands up to her face before bending over to belt out an ear deafening scream.

Without a word, Tae Joon dropped the meaningless roses he had come with and walked out. When the door finally closed after him, Namjoo dropped to the ground. Pulling her hand into a fist she cried like never before and leaned against the cold tiled floor of the kitchen to give her heart out.

*****

Sehun had always wondered what the relationship between his girlfriend, Hyun Ae, and her childhood friend, Eun Soo, was. Even when dating Hyun Ae, she always tended to pay particular attention to Eun Soo. She always went to his aid when he was in trouble or had some family conflict. It was Eun Soo this, Eun Soo that.

“We’re just friends, Sehun,” Hyun Ae had assured him over and over again when he asked about them.

“But don’t you think there’s something more going on?” Yoora, his friend, questioned him the following day. “They grew up together, there’s more of a chance that he knows and understands her more than you do. What if she’s thinking about how incomparable you are to him?”

Sehun turned to look at Yoora worried. What if she was right? What if Hyun Ae believed he wasn’t as good to her as Eun Soo?

“Hyun Ae, you know I love you a lot, don’t you?” Sehun asked.

“Of course, I love you too, fatty,” she rubbed his chin with a thumb before giving him a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Sehun nodded satisfied and watched her run off into her home. He’d met Hyun Ae as his tutor in college and after getting to know her better they hit it off as a couple. She was as pretty as her name and Sehun thought he’d like it if they could start seeing each other seriously. He really wanted to be with her forever.

“Hyun Ae?!” Yoora repeated with hidden dissatisfaction on her face.

Sehun nodded confidently, “Isn’t she just great? I think I’m really in love with her, Yoora. I really think I want to marry her.” He turned to Yoora. “How do you think I should propose to her? Should I do an event? Take her to a restaurant and hide the ring in her food? But Hyun Ae’s kind of slow at those things…what if she eats the ring?”

But what Sehun had never realized was Yoora’s hidden intentions. He never knew she had feelings for him too. Or maybe he sort of knew, but he never paid attention to them. Yoora just hadn’t been that kind of person in his eyes. She had always been a friend, a really good friend.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll go get us something.”

“Just…anything,” Yoora half mumbled.

“Alright, then wait here. I’ll be right back.” Sehun told before leaving his seat.

Yoora watched him go with bitter feelings fluctuating through her. She didn’t want Sehun to go to someone else. Why hadn’t he noticed that the one closest to him was the one who cared the most? It wasn’t Hyun Ae Sehun he was supposed to marry. He was supposed to be with her.

Yoora turned at the ringing of a phone and turned to see Sehun’s phone sitting on the table. She stared at it for a couple of seconds before turning to see Sehun standing in line waiting to order. Upon impulse she reached over for his phone to see that it was Hyun Ae calling. At the back of her head was a voice telling her no, but her hands had already pressed the answer button.

“Ah…Hyun Ae,” Yoora crooned, “what’s up?”

There was a bit of silence before Hyun Ae answered, “Can I talk to Sehun?”

“Oh…” Yoora turned back to check if Sehun was still in line before saying, “he’s kind of busy washing right now…should I leave him a message for you?”

An awkward silence could be felt, “Then…can you tell him to call me back?”

“Sure thing,” Yoora smiled before hanging up. She quickly went under the history button and deleted Hyun Ae’s call before setting the phone back.

A few minutes later Sehun walked back with no clue about Hyun Ae’s call, “That took longer than expected. Here.” Sehun handed her her food and she watched as he picked up his phone to look for any call from Hyun Ae.

“Checking to see if Hyun Ae called?” Yoora questioned. Sehun nodded before she answered, “No one called.”

“Oh really?” he questioned before nodding and set his phone back down. “Alright, then lets just eat.”

*****

Yoora paced back and forth in her room unsettled. She would rather die than regret for the rest of her life that she hadn’t stopped Sehun from marrying Hyun Ae. So she finally did it one day.

“Ah…Hyun Ae,” Yoora spoke into her phone, “I have something I you to help me with. Can you come out to meet me?”

Hyun Ae hesitated before answering, “Sure, I can come out. Where do you want me to meet you?”

And after Hyun Ae, Yoora called Eun Soo with the best of her acting ability. “Eun Soo, I think something bad is going to happen to Hyun Ae! I can’t get a hold of Sehun! I’m really worried!”

Then after Eun Soo, she called Sehun.

*****

“Are you sure, Yoora?” Sehun doubted as they rode the elevator up. “How would you know they’re here together?”

“I have a friend who works in this hotel. She told me she saw Eun Soo and Hyun Ae come together,” Yoora reasoned. “What do you think men and women come privately to hotels for?”

Sehun stared at Yoora with much uncertainty. He wasn’t one to pry into his girlfriend’s personal matters if she didn’t want to share them with him, and he figured a month later being too lenient had been one of his weakest points.  

When the elevator doors opened he hesitated to follow Yoora out. What if Hyun Ae really was in a hotel with Eun Soo? If Yoora was telling him the truth, what was he to do?

“Yoora, I don’t think I want to come with you,” Sehun told before reaching his hand to press the button to head down to the lobby.

“Haven’t you always wanted to know what their relationship is?” Yoora instigated the worst of his curiosity. “You’ve always wondered about it continuously, haven’t you? Now’s the best time to find the answer, don’t you think? Or are you not a man enough?”

Sehun stared back at Yoora for a long minute before he found himself walking after her. When they stopped in front of room 1612 he felt his insides go cold for the longest time. He was scared, he was really scared. What if he was really betrayed by the person he loved most?

“What are you doing?” Yoora asked. “Ring the bell.”

And Sehun did as told. When the door opened the shock he felt when he saw Eun Soo appear behind Hyun Ae reverberated through him so insanely all he could do was walk away. Sehun had never been hurt before, not like this. Disappointment and depression clashed through him for weeks on end. When Hyun Ae and Eun Soo called, he ignored both their calls. When Hyun Ae tried to come over, he pretended he wasn’t home.

Then one day at work the two managed to come find him. Yoora called them, they confessed and that was how they ended up at the hotel together. They even went as far as to show them their call history. Even as angry as Sehun was at them, he couldn’t deny the evidence shoved into his face.

“Sehun, please come back to me.” Hyun Ae begged, but how could he be worthy of her love when he doubted her? Because what kind of man was he if he couldn’t even do such a thing as trust this most loved one?

Sehun spent a lot of time alone afterward. He realized what he feared most than confronting Eun Soo and Hyun Ae’s relationship was confronting his own friend he trusted. Just what was this? What kind of game were they playing on him? He became really distressed before he finally called Yoora out.

“Yes! It was me!” she shouted angrily when questioned. “Why!? I can’t do it!?”

And Sehun realized he was even more hurt over Yoora’s betrayal than discovering Hyun Ae in a hotel room with Eun Soo.

 “Why?” his voice shook.

Yoora stared at him for a long time before tears gushed up into her eyes, “Because I love you! I love you more than Hyun Ae! It’s unfair! I’ve been next to you for so long, but as soon as you started seeing her, you left me behind! It’s not fair! You hurt me first, Sehun.”

Crushed at the confession, all Sehun managed to cowardly do was turn away.

“Sehun! Where are you going? Don’t think you can walk away from me!” Yoora shouted after him.

He paused in his footsteps lost and confused with himself. In the end, it had seemed like he’d lost everything.

“I don’t want to see you,” Sehun managed to say before continuing on only to hear Yoora charge after him before pulling onto his arm.

“Don’t go, please don’t go, Sehun!” she cried. “Please! I’m sorry! Sehun!”

He closed his eyes and clenched his hand into a fist before he resumed on walking away. Yoora, Hyun Ae, and Eun Soo were no longer a part of his life after deeming himself incompetent and undeserving. Sehun labeled himself a coward who couldn’t do anything. He even moved away without a word so as to have them off his trail, but all he was really doing was running away from what hurt him most.

Half a year later, his life continued the same or that was what he assumed.

It was raining that spring when he walked out of work. He wasn’t much a fan of cold rain or gloomy weathers and what he really looked forward to was a nice warm bath and dinner in front of the TV. As he passed by the lot to start toward the underground transit he paused when he noticed a woman sitting alone on a bench freely allowing herself to become drenched. For a few seconds he stared. This woman wasn’t shaking from the cold; she was just sitting there as if zoned out of the world. He watched the rain fall down onto her hair and her long bangs which almost covered her eyes. Who was she? What was she doing just sitting there?       

Sehun slowly walked over to her. With every step he took he listened to the rain pounding against the concrete heavily as if in a hurry to end their journey. The music of the rain dancing around him seemed to take over the noisy traffic just beside him. And he finally came to a stop before moving his hand out to shield this woman from the rain with his umbrella. It took a moment for her to look up at his navy blue umbrella before her set of eyes landed on his face, and he thought he knew those eyes. 

***And then there we have it, a little of their past and betrayals, and they finally meet at the end! ^^