Ryeowook's POV

The next morning

     My eyes burned from the blinding sunlight that was spilling through the window, making my head pound. What happened last night? I smell my own breath.

     Great. It smells like beer. Did I drink last night? Melinda's gonna be pissed. I almost vaguely seeing someone who looked like her last night. But, did I kiss someone? All I know is I didn't kiss her. 

    "Frickin' idiot, you are, Ryeowook," I moaned to myself.

I feel the urge to vomit wash over me, and I start awkwardly running on legs made of noodles to get to the bathroom. I basically spill the contents of my stomach (whatever is left, bile or what not), and wonder why I ever did this. Of course, I've wondered that the numerous other times this has happened.

     Sleepily, I crump on the bathroom floor and am startled when I see a tall figure in the doorway.

"Hello?" I ask, my eyes struggling to stay open.

     "Morning," the figure says.

"I'm sorry, who is this?"

     "Take a guess."

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Hankyung's POV

     Ryeowook finishes looking me over. He looks nearly horrified once he realizes who I am.

"Han-Hangeng?" he asks.

     I nod, stone-faced. "I'm guessing you know what happened last night?" 

"It's fuzzy, but I think so." His face twists into a confused shape. "Was Miso there?"

     "Yep."

He groans. Fear sweeps across his face before he asks his next question.

     "Did I kiss a woman?"

"Yes, and it wasn't her. You kissed Chung Eun Kyung."

     He turns to vomit once more and turns back around, looking completely wiped out. I'd almost feel sympathetic, except for the fact that he's this way because he was a complete numb skull.

     "So, let me get this stright. Now I have two angry woman on my tail?" he asks.

"Mm hmm."

     "This is just great."

"And what a girlfriend you have, 'Wookster', that she'd come and help your sorry after all this crap happened, to take care of you when your hangover started. If I were her, I would've let you aspirate on your own vomit," I say matter-of-factly.

     "Hyung, I messed up, I know-"

"No, you don't know. That's exactly it. Do you know what your girlfriend told me last night, in tears, as she cried on my shoulder for about an hour before we even left the restaurant?"

    He stares at me. "An hour?"

I nod. "And she has a good reason, too. She told me that she felt pathetic about crying over one guy, but her reservations about dating you didn't just stem from her cousin's death."

     He motions for me to continue.

"She only ever dated once before, in high school. Her douchebag of a boyfriend seemed nice, but stood her on their two year anniversarry date, only for her to find him cheating on her with her best friend.  She thought that they had something good, so she forgave him, and the same thing happened a few months later. She said 'screw it' after that, and not only lost the boyfriend she thought she might have something with, but lost her best friend."

     Ryeowook's face is blank as a statue. 

"How do you think she feels now?" I ask.

     "I could probably take a guess that she's not happy. And Eun Kyung's probably beside herself. You know Eun Kyung. She's probably blaming herself for everything."

     "For a drunk guy, you're pretty smart," I joke.

"Any babo (idiot) would know that much."

     "I'm just going to let you work this out now. It's all in your hands," I tell him, turning to go. Before I leave, I give him something.

"She left this taped to your chest. It's a note. Be thankful she's not giving you a full-blown silent treatment," I say.

     "Thanks. And if you see her, tell her I'm sorry," he says.

"I think she'd prefer to hear it from you, but I'm also pretty sure you're the last person she'd want to talk to right now."

     "Then maybe she should hear it from you first."

I shrug. "I don't know." I begin to walk away, and turn around once more. I squat down and meet his gaze, his beer and vomit-scented breath hitting my senses.

     "And if you ever, do anything like this to her again, you will get more than a talking to from me," I say blatantly. "And I'm pretty sure you value that pretty little face of yours." 

     Before he can respond, I walk out, feeling somewhat satisfied with what I've told him. 

I don't think this can help Maggie over her pain, but something told me that I needed to do this for her. I feel a strange need to protect her, altough I don't usually get this indignant for everyone that has been hurt. It's odd, but I'll figure it out later.

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     Maggie's POV

     My clock flashes the time 7:00 a.m. I didn't really sleep last night, but I decide to yank myself out of bed for the sake of some sense of normalcy. I'm going to go to work if it kills me.

     I force myself to walk to the kitchen to take in some form of nourishment, altough my appetite hardly exists right now. I decide to make some coffee as to not overtax my mind.

     I curse as I spill it all over the counter instead of pouring it into my cup. I never swear, but I frankly feel like punching someone right now. Someone specific.

"Someone didn't read their Bible last night," I say, concerning my un-holy attitude. Still, everyone feels this way sometimes. 

     I sit down, head in my hands, prepared to fall asleep from the few tasks I've completed today. The doorbell rings while I drag my hands over my face. I trudge to the door, wondering who dares to speak to me this early.

     The woman at the door sees my depleted condition. She shakes her head.

"Miso-ah. Oh goodness. Where do I start?"

     "Unnie, don't feel bad," I tell Eun Kyung. "Come in."

The door clicks shut. Tears begin to well up in her narrow, dark brown eyes.

     "Dongsaeng, I am so sorry," she cries.

I shake my head, tears coming into my eyes. "You didn't do anything. It's not like you asked him to kiss you."

     "I know, but I could have backed away.'

"I saw you trying to get away, unnie. I wanted to help you, but I couldn't watch," I admitted, my cheeks moistened by my tears.

     "I understand." She hugs me, and I return the hug even tighter. I invite her into the small living room to sit down.

She my hair. "Are you okay, Miso?"

     I shrug. "I'm not really sure. All I know is that I'm upset, and I don't want to talk to him right now. I've forgiven him and all, but I'm not crawling back to him."

"I didn't expect you to. You're a smart girl, Maggie."

     "I wasn't a few years ago," I say.

She looks confused.  I end up relaying the whole story of my highschool boyfriend cheating on me twice with my best friend story.

     "That's horrible. But to be blunt, I know Mi Hi would never let Ryeowook cheat on you with her."

I laugh. "Yeah, because she knows if she did, she'd be dead."

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Ryeowook's POV

     I sit, crumpled on the bathroom floor. Sungmin takes sympathy on me and drags me back to my bed, tucking me in. I think he feels more guilt than anything else for getting me to drink.  I want to beat the little punk right now, but he's the only guy in this dorm who's been nice enough to take care of me while I'm hung-over. Pkls, the way things are going right now, I'm in no condition to even swing at him.

     He leaves the room, but I suddenly remember something.

"Melinda's note," I think to myself.

     Before I can even call to him, he brings in a slip of paper and hnads it to me.

"I think this is yours, hyung," he declares, placing the paper in my hand.

     "Thank you, Sungmin."

"And I'm sorry, hyung, for what I did. I don't expect you to forgive me," he says, looking sad.

     I shake my head. "Think nothing of it. I let myself get carried away." 

He nods. "Thank you, hyung. And if you need anything, let me know."

     When I know he is gone, I hold the note up. The words are blurry, but I find my glasses and begin to make the words out.

"Ryeowook,

    when you asked me to be your girlfriend, I was a bit hesitant at first to accept your offer, but something in my heart lead me to forget my inhibitions and say yes. I hardly ignore my hesitations for anyone, so you were a very special person to me. 

    I was afraid of having more heartache if we were to break up, especially since Stecen had just died. But that isn't the only reason why I hesitated to become your girlfriend.

    Meet Zach Tyler, sixteen years old, and the sweetest kid you have ever met. Or, at least you'd think he was. 

Zach had a lot running for him. He was smart, athletic, attractive, and outgoing. But to everyone's surpirse, he had eyes for the nerdy, introverted girl with red hair and big, hazel eyes. 

    That girl was sixteen-year-old Melinda Callwsworth, quiet, but bright-eyed and dedicated to her studies.

Everyone thought that she and Zach were the perfect couple, and after two years of dating, people thought they were getting serious. A two-year-anniversarry date caused Melinda to doubt the seriousness in the relationship that she too had thought was there.

    When Zach was running late, two hours past the time they were supposed to meet. After Melinda called him twice with no answer, she became worried and  began to walk to his house, to find Zach caressing and making out with her best friend.

    That night, Zach called her, pleading for forgiveness, and promising that it would never happen again. And Melinda forgave him. 

Stupid, stupid, naive little Melinda. You set yourself up for more trouble than he was worth, sweetheart.

     Four months after that, she was greeted by the same sight one day, a week before garduation. This time, Zach received her forgiveness, but did not receive another chance. Not wanting to make zach look bad, she just told people that things didn't work out, and few people found out who the now eighteen-year-old Zach Tyler actually was.

    Ryeowook, I think I was more afraid that I'd see another Zach Tyler when I decided to date, you, and maybe I was right. I wanted so badly to feel true love and feel the affection that a good guy would give me. I began to feel that with you. But then, the alcohol took him away, and put a carbon-copy of Zach Tyler in his place. That is why I never liked it when you got drunk. I never wanted to take drinking from you, but I wanted to protect the sweet, loving namjachingu (boyfriend) that I had now found from being stolen away and posessed by the same, ugly spirit that was in Zach Tyler. 

    It sounds pathetic to be afraid of love over what one guy in highschool did, but I thought Zach really loved me. And I thought you did, too. Heck, I know you did, but zach Tyler re-incarnated in you didn't. At all.

    Until Zach Tyler's ghost leaves you, I think we should spend some time apart. I forgive you and want to be your friend, but I think we should only stick to friends, as the titles of namjachingu (boyfriend) and yeojachingu (girlfriend) should be shared by us only when we're sure that we can wokr this out. Or, maybe you just need a girl that can deal with Zach Tyler's re-incarnated ghost. She might exist, but all I know is that I'm not her.

    I...I don't know, but we have to work this out before I can even consider being your girlfriend again. I love you, but I honestly hate what you're doing. if you want to deal with your problem, I will help you. But if you choose to keep it, that's alright, since I can't control your life.

    Relationships require compromise sometimes, and until that happens, this relationship just can't exist.

I'm sorry. I really do still love you, but I can't go on like this.

    Sincerely,

Melinda"

     Hot, angry tears begin to burn my eyes. I feel no anger toward Melinda, but only toward myself. My relflection in the mirror depicts the silouhette of not a man, but a vial, cruel monster that let a douche bag ghost possess him. I wad up the letter and chuck it at the mirror, burying my head in my pillow, hoping it will engulf me so I can just dissappear and cease to exist. 

     I still love her, but I feel that I love my drinking issue too much to give her the love she deserves. I want to confron this problem, but even with her love, I couldn't do it. I knew she hated my problem, but I didn't stop.

     Now my only questions are:

will I ever be able to slay the monster of my problem

and

can I ever get Melinda back?