EDITED: 10/06/2013 AT 19:09:16

WARNING: FLASHBACK AND IMPLIED MATURE CONTENT

- - -

A 21 year old Yeonhee bit her bottom lip nervously, her shoes tapping the floor constantly before she resumed her pacing.

"Yeonhee, really, it's like you're the one whose going up on stage," Baekhyun said, a brow raised at his girlfriend who merely smiled guiltily back at him.

"I'm sorry, Baek," she said, sighing. She took one more look at the large television screen down the hall outside before closing the door and sitting back down beside him.

"I still don't get why they listed you to perform last for today. And why didn't they ever put a TV in here anyway? It's the waiting room for those coming up next on stage isn't it? There should be a TV in here!"

Baekhyun chuckled before taking her chin between his thumb and index finger, turning her gaze to look at him. He looked at her, a grin on his face before kissing her.

She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her onto his lap.

He held her in place with an arm around her waist, his other hand now cupping the side of her face.

Yeonhee moaned slightly as his tongue gained entrance into , battling a war against her own for dominance, although she always let him win in the end. She ran a hand through his unruly hair and sighed contentedly as he continued kissing her thoroughly, slowly becoming aware of his hand slowly creeping up the front of her shirt.

"Baekhyun," she warned as he started to trail his kisses down to her neck, making her giggle as he reached her most sensitive spot.

"Mmm..." he replied, not stopping his and kissing on her soft skin.

"We can't do this here," she said, taking hold of his wandering hand with her own and pulling it back around her waist.

Baekhyun snickered before pulling back and grinning at her.

"You know why they don't put televisions in here?" he asked, catching her by surprise. She shook her head. "It'll make the upcoming performers nervous, more nervous than they already are. And do you know why they put my name up last for the day?" he asked, earning him another shake of the head from his best friend of thirteen years and girlfriend of six years. "It's so I can do this," he said, giving Yeonhee a long and passionate kiss on the lips, "without getting caught."

Yeonhee smiled at him and pulled him closer towards her for another kiss.

Not another minute later though, and someone had cleared their throat from behind Yeonhee, causing her to jump and scramble to her feet, almost sending herself to the ground.

This obviously amused Baekhyun greatly because he had snorted rather loudly, trying to suppress his laughter, earning him a glare from Yeonhee.

"You're up in ten minutes Mr. Byun," the woman from the doorway said, looking at him and Yeonhee curiously.

Baekhyun nodded at her before turning to Yeonhee and hugging her. "Wish me luck?"

Yeonhee sighed and tiptoed to give him one final kiss. She pulled back not long after though since she was aware of the woman's presence still by the doorway. "Good luck my little wolf," she whispered into his ear, making him grin down at her.

"Thank you my cherry blossom," he said, leaving a parting kiss on her forehead. "I love you."

"And I, you."

"Mr. Byun?" the woman said, getting their attention once more.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he said, winking at Yeonhee once before following the woman out the door and down the hallway.

- - -

"You two really are something."

Baekhyun turned to the woman and grinned at her. "I've known her since we were kids, when I was still 10 years old. We've been together since my last year of high school, she was one year my junior. I lost my parents in an accident when I was 19 but we only grew even stronger together since then. We've even attended the same college," he explained without hesitation.

She heard the pride in his voice from talking about his girlfriend but she was caught off guard at how easily he was able to talk about his history. "She's aspiring to become an idol too? Why didn't she join the show with you?" she asked, not wanting to impose on his more personal affairs. He might be thinking that this was typical of her to do an informal interview of the contestants.

"No, I majored in acting and minored in music while she majored in music," he explained as they stopped right beside the stage where a girl who looked a few years older than him was still performing. "We agreed to join together but she's a really shy person in front of an audience. It's a waste though; she has the most amazing voice."

"I don't doubt that," she replied with a smile, making Baekhyun grin even broadly at her. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, my name is Choi Jinri, call me Sulli though."

Baekhyun shook her hand, bowing his head slightly. "Nice to meet you. Do you work here at MBC?"

"Sort of," she said looking thoughtful. "I'm actually a manager but my superior who owns this company insisted I work around the studio for awhile. He says I might find the next star here."

A loud applause then erupted from the front of the stage.

"That's your cue," she said, nodding at Baekhyun.

"Thanks for the chat. It really helped take my mind off things. And I wouldn't count on you finding the next star here any time soon," he said, walking up the steps and stopping by the heavy curtains beside the stage.

"Why is that?" she called out before she could stop herself.

Baekhyun was startled but smiled back at her. "You already found him!" he said with a wink and laughed as he made his way on stage and waved to the crowd.

Sulli watched the young man on stage rather interestedly. His entrance actually caught the audience off guard, whether it was because of his undeniable good looks or because of his seemingly fun disposition that was immediately replaced with a blank mask as he started his performance with a total change of character.

She looked down at her clipboard and flipped it to the very last page.

"Byun Baekhyun, huh," she said, reading the information on the bio-sheet and smiling to herself.

- - -

It was now officially two weeks since Baekhyun's performance at the MBC studio, and Yeonhee was getting worried.

"Yeonhee, please?"

"I can't help it Baekhyun, it can't take them this long to decide, can it?" she asked, biting her lower lip again.

"Maybe I didn't get in," he said with a shrug, biting her earlobe playfully, trying to get her to relax. Every time she was worried about anything either serious or not, the only way he could get her to relax is through his teasing. "There are loads of shows and events I can still join. And maybe this time, you can come with me and actually perform too."

"But I know you've been looking forward to this one in particular. We've trained for this for months after all," she said, frowning.

Baekhyun pulled back and looked at her before rolling on the bed with him on top of her.

"Yeonhee," he said, serious now, pushing her hair away from her face to look at her more closely. "I'm happy right now. Here, with you, in this apartment. I don't care if I don't become filthy rich and famous as an idol, as long as you're beside me. I don't mind just being on commercials, featuring in small parts, or just starring in independent films. I'm happy doing those as long as you're around. Understand?"

Yeonhee didn't feel reassured hearing that although her heart was swelling with love for the man on top of her right now. Even if he was pinning her arms above her head with a very firm grip. "I understand."

"Good, now, how about I ease your worry?" he suggested with a mischievous grin before kissing the sensitive spot on her neck, causing her to half giggle and half moan.

"Baekhyun," she said with a sigh not a minute later.

"What now?" he asked, not stopping as he trailed even lower.

"Something's ringing," she said in a satisfied tone as he continued kissing her.

"That's just the new tone I set for my cell," he said unconcernedly.

Yeonhee on the other hand felt different. Her half-lidded eyes snapped open as she unceremoniously forcefully pushed Baekhyun off her.

"Yeonhee!" he said as she started to search through the mess of clothes on the floor.

"Where did you put your cell?" she asked, frantically searching through the pockets of his jacket. Most of their clothes were scattered on the floor except for their underwear and their shirts which were all that they were wearing at that moment.

Baekhyun moaned and dropped to the bed.

"Found it!" Yeonhee yelled triumphantly as she pulled the cell from his pant pocket. As she looked at the screen, she froze. "B-Baekhyun?"

He looked over at her and noticed her face was pale.

She handed the cell to him stiffly and sat on the floor, resting her arms on the bed beside his head as he saw the caller's ID. It was MBC.

"Answer it," she insisted with a nod.

Baekhyun rolled onto his stomach and cleared his throat before answering the call.

"Hello?" he said, his throat now dry. "Yes, this is he. Yes... no, of course not," he replied with a laugh. Yeonhee watched him as he answered and laughed in between during the conversation. "Yes, I'll make sure of it... yes, okay... thank you for taking the time to call. Goodbye."

Yeonhee sat quite still, watching Baekhyun toss his cell on top of the pile of clothes on the floor.

"S-So?" she finally asked, not able to take the tension anymore and Baekhyun's facial reaction did nothing to ease her curiosity. He had remained passive through the whole call.

"So?" he echoed, finally looking at her.

"Did you get in the final ten?" she urged getting irritated.

"What do you think?" he asked with a frown.

Yeonhee could feel her world crash for him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Baekhyun," she said, getting up and sitting on the bed beside him and hugged him comfortingly.

Not a moment later, Baekhyun pushed her onto the bed, with his signature smirk on his face.

"Honestly, Yeonhee, I never knew I was that good of an actor yet," he said, making the girl beneath her look up at him with a blank look on her face. "And it hurts to think that my own girlfriend would doubt even for a moment that I ever got in or not," he added with a grin.

"I..."

"You?"

"I thought you-" she cut off, realization only just surfacing into her mind. "You... you jerk!" she shrieked, grabbing a pillow and smacking it hard on the side of his face, sending him flying off of her.

Baekhyun laughed and immediately ran out of the room.

"Come back here you despicable bastard!" she shouted after him, trying to untangle herself from the sheets which she only just noticed, Baekhyun managed to wrap around her earlier.

"I'm insulted, Yeonhee!" he shouted back in mock hurt from somewhere outside the bedroom. "I can assure you that I am a legitimately born child!" he added with a laugh.

- - -

"Welcome to Busan everyone! And congratulations to you all for making it into the top ten! Each of you represents the different cities or towns you all reside in, so you must be very proud!"

Everyone seated in the many lined chairs clapped as the host settled himself in front of a podium off to the side of the stage.

"Now, as part of the ten finalist of the acting category in this event, this part of the show, as you all may already now, is private for you and your loved ones," he said, eyeing one side of the audience where the ten candidates sat and then towards the much larger group on the other side where their families sat, or in others' like Baekhyun's case, their girlfriends or boyfriends. "Now about this part of the contest, it shall still be aired to the public of course but you won't have any time to prepare for your performance."

This caused the audience to break out in hushed murmurs at this turn of events.

"Yes, that's right. Sometimes we all have to be ready for anything even without prior notice; to be able to improvise, as the industry would like to call it. Now for more specific instructions, I'll be picking out names randomly from this hat," he said, taking off his long, black top hat, only to reveal that he was wearing a black bowler hat underneath it, causing the audience to laugh. "After I call out your name, you will come up here on stage and pick out random sheets of paper from this hat," he said, removing his bowler hat. "The papers in this second hat shall contain themes in which you are given a minimum of five minutes to think of a short skit to perform here on stage for a maximum of only ten minutes."

The murmuring within the audience heightened as this was announced.

"Now, shall we begin?"

- - -

Eight candidates had already gone on stage. Some of them were very good, though Yeonhee didn't want to admit it, and some of them cracked under pressure at a loss of what to do and actually ended up choking on stage.

"Byun Baekhyun of Haeundae!" the host called out after reading the name on the paper.

Yeonhee watched as Baekhyun took a deep breath and stood from his seat. He turned towards her and winked before making his way up the stage and picking a theme from the second hat.

- - -

"There he is," Lee Sooman said, slamming a fist on the table in the meeting room.

Everyone else seated on the rectangular table turned to him before looking at the large flat screen TV on the opposite wall.

"His name is Byun Baekhyun, the finalist from the applicants of Haeundae," supplied a young woman who was standing at the side with a few other people of average rank in the company. "23 years old and a college graduate with a degree in Fine Arts, majoring in acting, minoring in music. He lives in an apartment with his long-term girlfriend back in Haeundae. It's a small town just off Busan."

"Do you know him Ms. Choi?" Sooman asked, looking at Sulli curiously.

"Not really but I've spoken to him before. I was at Haeundae for his performance the day before the top ten finalists were chosen from each district," she said.

"How's his personality?" he asked, looking back at the TV with a scrutinizing gaze as he walked around the stage, looking thoughtful for the five minute time allotted for him to prepare for his Improv.

"Very first-rate," Sulli said with an approving tone. "He's down to Earth, cheeky and even a bit overconfident," she said with a smile, remembering their first and only conversation.

Everyone fell in silence as they watched Baekhyun start his performance, all of which, as it went on and ended at only eight minutes, drew approving looks from everyone in the room.

"Excellent!" Sooman said, applauding from his seat. "I say! This boy is a natural!"

- - -

"Here's to your outstanding performance!" Yeonhee said, beaming at him and raising her glass of apple juice.

"Why thank you madame," Baekhyun said, bowing at her in exaggeration before raising his own glass of Coke as well.

Yeonhee giggled as they struck their glasses together before taking a sip.

"Seriously Baekhyun, you were so good! You were better than the rest of them," Yeonhee said as she took her seat on the dining table of their apartment.

"It's known to happen," Baekhyun said, grinning madly before sitting opposite her.

Yeonhee rolled her eyes at him. "So, when do you expect they would make their calls for the winners?"

"They said they'd call just..." he stopped, and took out his vibrating cell. "About now," he finished faintly with his eyes wide.

He showed the screen at Yeonhee who gasped and grinned in excitement.

"I'll kill myself if they're not calling you to tell you that you won," she said in a sure tone before he placed the cell on the table beside the salad Yeonhee had made and placed the call on speaker.

"Hello, this is Baekhyun," he said out loud before motioning for Yeonhee to sit on his lap, which she did immediately.

"Mr. Byun, this is Lee Sooman of MBC," the man with the much deeper voice greeted in a jolly voice.

"Good evening Mr. Sooman," Baekhyun said, holding on the Yeonhee's hand tightly. "Why, may I ask, are you calling?"

"Well, I expect the answer was obvious the moment I mentioned MBC!" the man replied, laughing heartily.

"Are you saying-" Baekhyun said, stopping as he and Yeonhee stood from their seats. "I..."

"Yes, my dear boy! Amongst the final ten finalists, you have shown the most promise. Congratulations!"

Baekhyun's mouth fell open as Yeonhee shrieked and jumped into his arms.

- - -

"Glad to meet you Mr. Byun," Sulli said as she shook hands with Baekhyun. "Again," she added with a grin.

"I have to say, I'm very glad to meet you again too," Baekhyun said sincerely. It really was a relief to be back in MBC. The thought of never stepping into this building actually crossed his mind when he thought he wasn't going to win.

"Now Baekhyun, may I call you Baekhyun?" Sooman asked, smiling at him from his desk.

"Of course," he said with a nod.

"Well, Ms. Choi's one of our newest and most promising managers," he said, waving a hand at Sulli. "Not so different from you in fact. So I decided on pairing you up. Sulli shall be your agent starting from today. You do have the right to choose your own manager though, but if you have no objections, I highly recommend you two to work together."

Baekhyun shook his head. "No objections here. It's not like I have a whole line-up of highly recommended managers waiting for my approval or anything," he joked, making him laugh and Sulli giggle.

"Brilliant! I can see a very prosperous future for the both of you," he said, quite sure of himself as he got up from his seat. "I have to end this little meeting here. I have to meet my wife for lunch while she's in town. Nice meeting you again Baekhyun, I shall be seeing you around quite often enough," he said with a wink before showing him and Sulli the way out of his office.

"He's great isn't he?" Sulli asked as she led the way towards the elevators.

"He's something alright," Baekhyun agreed. "What did he mean he'll be seeing me quite often enough?"

"Well, most of the actors who start off from this company usually get Hwejangnim's support in their films. He usually offers to produce or co-produce the films and sometimes he also gives personal recommendations."

"That's mighty nice of him. He doesn't need to do that," he pointed out. "I mean, I don't know of any companies who does that. Are there other companies with people like him?"

"No, but you can see the benefit it has for him and the company. MBC has a long line of top-rated and international films it has cooperated with thanks to Hwejangnim. That's why most of South Korea's aspiring actors and even idols hope to start off here," she explained, making Baekhyun nod. That part, he knew of. That was the main reason why he and Yeonhee were so excited to hear that MBC was holding another one of its annual events.

- - -

"Have a bit of an appetite now, don't we?" Sulli pointed out with raised brows, amazed at how much he's ordering.

Baekhyun thanked the waiter and turned to her. "I don't need that much," he said with a laugh. "That was for me and Yeonhee."

"Yeonhee?" Sulli asked curiously.

"Oh sorry, I never told you her name. Yeonhee's my girlfriend. You saw her before, that day we first met. She's coming for lunch, I hope you don't mind. She's running a bit late though," he said, glancing at his watch. He and Sulli had taken a train from Busan and were already back in Haeundae. It was lucky enough for Sulli that the town wasn't too far from Haeundae. She still had to constantly report to MBC since Baekhyun's career hasn't formally taken off yet.

"Of course not," she said with a smile. "You guys really stick to each other, do you?"

He nodded, smiling fondly. "We do. We depend on each other and we do almost everything together. Well, except for cooking and the mechanical stuff I guess. Cooking's her department entirely and I can't let her go even a foot near anything that's broken back in our apartment."

"That's sweet," Sulli said sincerely.

"She is," Baekhyun agreed, entirely missing her point as he was looking beyond her shoulder and beaming. "Yeonhee!" he called out, waving his hand in the air.

- - -

"Do you have a reservation ma'am?"

"I'm here with-"

"Yeonhee!"

The waiter standing by the podium and Yeonhee both turned at this.

"My boyfriend," Yeonhee finished smiling as she waved back. She turned back to the waiter and bowed. "Thank you," she said before making her way towards Baekhyun who was sitting with a woman whose back was on her.

"What kept you?" Baekhyun asked, as he pulled the extra chair set with the table closer towards him.

"Sorry," she said, kissing him on the cheek lightly before taking a seat. "You can't believe the amount of traffic there is outside," she informed him before turning to the woman across the table.

"Yeonhee, this is Choi Jinri, my agent. Sulli, this is Im Yeonhee, my gorgeous girlfriend," Baekhyun said, making the introductions.

Yeonhee blushed at Baekhyun's words and swatted his arm playfully before shaking hands with Sulli.

"N-Nice to meet you," she said, stuttering in embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you too Ms. Im," Sulli said in a very professional manner.

"You don't have to be so formal with her, Sulli," Baekhyun said with a raised brow.

Sulli smiled at him before turning back to Yeonhee. "Of course, may I call you Yeonhee then?"

Yeonhee smiled back at her and nodded. "Sure."

"Very well. Now, since you're here Yeonhee, then we can start discussing Baekhyun's future," she said, pulling out a folder from her bag and opening it before sliding it over towards the pair.

"Here's the proposed plan Baekhyun, that is, if you accept," she said, taking out a pen and pointing to the parts of the print before explaining. "We already sent your tapes from day one of the event until you were properly announced as the winner. And already a lot of international companies want you."

"Seriously?" Baekhyun asked in surprise.

"Seriously," she repeated with a smile. "The industry needs fresh talent, a new face, and seeing you looking good on screen so naturally made you all the more desirable for them. Not to mention, you speak perfect English as you have proven during your Improv."

He shrugged at this. "They'll have to thank Yeonhee for that. All those days and nights, listening and singing to American songs since we were teenagers. I suppose it benefited me too," he said, smiling at Yeonhee and squeezing her waist slightly.

She giggled back at him and tapped his nose. "You owe me then."

"I suppose I do," he agreed with a grin.

"Well," Sulli said, interrupting their little exchange. "Because of that, you have quite a few offers lined up already. "Three here and two abroad. The ones shot here in Korea are two national films, both action and the third offer is a lead role in a new romantic comedy series. As for the two offers abroad, one is for an action film to be shot in Los Angeles, California, and the other is also still an action film to be shot in New York City and in Connecticut."

"L.A.? New York and Connecticut?" he repeated unsurely.

"Yes," Sulli said excitedly. "Hwejangnim personally recommends the offer for the L.A. shoots over the one in New York and Connecticut. It'll be a great experience and it'll give you a chance to meet more people in the industry seeing as California's practically crawling with movie stars day and night."

Baekhyun frowned slightly. "Well, I suppose that's true," he agreed hesitantly. "But what about the offers here?"

"What about them?" Sulli asked, surprised he was even considering the offers in Korea.

"Are they any good too?"

"Well, I suppose they are. But, aren't you interested in going to the States?" she asked with open curiosity and amazement at his lack of excitement for being wanted to work abroad.

"Don't get me wrong, of course I want to but..." Baekhyun trailed off and looked down at his hand which was drawing circles behind one of Yeonhee's.

"Baekhyun, don't hesitate," Yeonhee finally said, looking at him and smiling in earnest.

"But-"

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "I mean it; I don't want you to stop living your dream just for me. This kind of chance doesn't come every day, and you know it."

"She's right Baekhyun," Sulli agreed with a solemn look on her face. Now she understood his hesitance. He didn't want to leave his girlfriend behind.

"See?" Yeonhee added before nudging him slightly, with a grin on her face. "Besides, it's not like you're leaving Korea forever, you could always come back or visit me in between filming. And if that's not possible, we could always call each other, or even e-mail each other until filming is officially done."

"Well, I suppose," he replied although he wasn't convinced in the least.

- - -

Yeonhee sighed and watched Baekhyun as he checked the messages from their answering machine in the sitting room. She took off her scarf and her coat, hanging it up on the rack before walking over towards him and hugging him from behind.

"Baekhyun," she said, resting her head on his broad chest. "We need to talk."

"There's nothing more to discuss Yeonhee," he said, turning to face her. "I already made my decision and I already gave Sulli my final answer. You heard it loud and clear earlier. I'm not going to the States. I'm not stepping a foot outside South Korea unless you're with me when I do."

"But it's only for a couple of months though," she pointed out although her tone wasn't convinced in the least either.

"Couple of months? You heard what she said, filming for that movie in L.A. will most like take all year, fourteen months at most. How could I possibly agree to something like that? That'll mean I'll be missing your birthday for the first time since we were kids, and that'll also mean you'll miss my birthday for the first time. And don't forget Valentine's Day, and Christmas eve, and New Year's Eve, and-"

Yeonhee silenced him immediately with her lips on his, kissing him fiercely.

By the time she pulled away, her eyes were glassy, tears threatening to fall. "I love you, Byun Baekhyun," she whispered almost achingly.

"Why are you crying, cherry blossom?" he asked, wiping away a stray tear.

"I... I don't know," she said with a mirthless laugh. "I, I don't know what I'll do without you," she added more seriously.

"I wouldn't know what to do without you either," he whispered back before pulling her closer towards him. "And I love you too my cherry blossom. I love you more and more each and every day."

Yeonhee smiled, closing her eyes before pulling his head down for another heated kiss.

"Baekhyun," she said in a tiny though very sure voice, after they pulled apart.

Baekhyun lifted his chin from the top of her head and looked at her. "What is it?"

She didn't say a word, instead pulled him towards their shared bedroom.

"Yeonhee?" he asked, watching her carefully as she led him towards the bed.

Yeonhee lay on the bed and pulled him on top of her. She smiled up at him, all the love she felt for him reflected in her eyes.

It was only a few more minutes of kissing and embracing before Baekhyun finally understood her request.

"Are you sure about this?"

They had been dating for years now, and indeed they had lived together for almost three years already, but they had always resisted in doing what they shouldn't. Yeonhee saw to it that they did. Of course they had done other things to avoid it, but that's just it. They might have done other things, but never the actual thing itself.

She held his face in between her palms and pulled him closer, touching his forehead with her own. "Make love to me tonight, my little wolf," she whispered with a sweet smile.

As the words left her lips, Yeonhee immediately noticed the look on Baekhyun's expression change. His eyes had darkened considerably and his jaw tightened just before he took her lips in his in a searing kiss and pushed her further down the bed with his body.

- - -

"Baekhyun, are you sure?" Sulli asked yet again.

Baekhyun ran his hand through his hair before looking at Sulli straight in the eye. "My mind hasn't changed. I'm sure. I told you so last week."

Sulli sighed and sat back into her seat. "I was hoping you were only joking."

He raised a brow at her. "What's so bad about taking the job here in Korea anyway?" he asked, trying to cheer his manager up. "It can't be that bad."

"It's not that bad, no. But the job offered in America is much better," she pointed out, although not getting the desired effect she wanted from him. Doesn't he regret not taking the job at all? "The job offer still stands until next Friday."

"They won't need to wait for my answer 'til then. You can give them my answer now," he said, nodding at her cell that was resting beside her half-filled coffee cup.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"As long as it doesn't involve me saying yes to going to America," he said jokingly before taking a bite off the sandwich he ordered.

"Why don't you want the job in America?"

"It's not that I don't want it," he answered. "It's just that I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" she asked with a frown.

"Wasn't it obvious last week?" he asked with raised brows. "I can't leave Yeonhee behind."

"Why not? It's just as she suggested that day. You could always send each other mail, or texts. Or you could call her or visit her during breaks from shooting."

"I know, but I don't think I can live with just that," he said with a shrug. "Yeonhee's my everything, Sulli. I'd do anything for her, and she'll do anything for me. We're like that; we've been like that for years," he said matter-of-factly.

"You love her that much, do you?" Sulli asked, almost amused, making Baekhyun chuckle.

"Seems surreal from a simple 23 year old guy from a small town, I know. But that's the truth. I love her that much. I'll do anything to make sure she's happy, as I know she would for me."

"Where is she anyway? It's almost unusual to find you without her beside you or anywhere nearby."

"She's visiting her father who lives in the other side of Haeundae. She doesn't get to see him often, so she's staying there for a couple of days."

- - -

Hyukhee looked up from his paper and watched Yeonhee curiously.

"Yeonhee?" he asked, looking somewhat amused.

Yeonhee immediately snapped out of her reverie and ceased her humming and turned to her father.

"Hmm?"

"By any chance are you daydreaming about Baekhyun?" he asked bluntly, making his daughter, and only child, blush.

"W-Why do you ask?"

"You seem to have that wistful smile on your face ever since you got here, that's all."

"How would you know if I was smiling from thoughts about Baekhyun?" she asked with a raised brow.

Hyukhee shrugged. "Just figured it must be about him," he said although with a knowing smile.

She grinned back at him before resuming her duty with the dishes. Her father was right, she was thinking about Baekhyun and how excited she already was to return to him. No offense to her father, she missed him to death as well but she can't help but long to see Baekhyun again. Especially after the sweet send off he had given her at the train station before she left.

Yeonhee placed a hand over her pant pocket, feeling the folded piece of paper still inside. Baekhyun had given her a bouquet of red roses and had also written her a poem which he recited to her as they waited for her train to arrive, whispering the words into her ear and giving her goosebumps all over as he did.

It took a little convincing for him to give her the paper he had written the poem on since it was just a piece of paper torn off a notebook and was full of scratches from his pen of words that were unacceptable to him. Reading it made her heart swell even more. He had put his heart into the poem.

"I miss you already, Baek," she whispered so only she could hear and looked out the window, a smile back on her features before she started humming again.

- - -

"Are you sure?" Lee Sooman asked again, frowning slightly.

Sulli nodded almost regretfully. "I asked him again earlier, he says he won't take any job outside Korea."

"Did he say why?"

"He won't leave his girlfriend behind," she said rather unkindly. "It's a total waste of talent on his part!" she said with a defeated sigh.

"Well, it's his decision. Perhaps you can try convincing him again? I'll give the call to L.A. next Friday anyway. He might change his mind within the week, you'll never know," he said, still hopeful.

"I doubt it, at least, not unless his girlfriend personally forces him into a plane heading for the States, or unless she threatens to break up with him or something," she pointed out, frowning. "Maybe if I pray hard enough for something like that to happen within the week, it just might. For now though, his career is hopeless, and so will mine be if he doesn't reconsider." she said mirthlessly.

Sooman raised a brow at her. "Whatever's meant to happen will happen Ms. Choi, regardless of how it will happen. Fate is funny that way. Goals are constant but the paths in achieving it are not. We always have the power to take a different road as we wish. So it's best not to have that sort of mindset. Nothing good will ever come to those who think that way."

- - -

"We always have the power to take a different road as we wish," Sulli repeated as she looked at the yellow painted two story house. "Thank you for the advice Lee Sooman," she said to herself as she slipped the paper with the directions into her bag before ringing the doorbell.

It had taken her two days to get accurate and reliable directions to the Im residence. Even if Haeundae was a small town, the task still wasn't easy.

"Yes!" a male voice called out from inside, and not a minute later, the door swung open. "Yes?"

Sulli smiled up at the tall man who had a kind look on his face.

"Good morning, my name is Choi Jinri. I was wondering if I may speak to your daughter? Im Yeonhee?"

This caught Hyukhee by surprise. Hardly anyone ever calls for Yeonhee here anymore. Almost everyone who knew their family knew that she had been living with Baekhyun in the other side of Haeundae for the last few years.

"Yes, of course," he said before turning to look down the hallway. "Yeonhee!"

"Yes?" the familiar female voice called out from somewhere inside.

"You have a visitor!"

"What? Wait, I'll be right there!"

Hyukhee smiled down at Sulli with an apologetic smile.

"She's heading back to her apartment in the other side of town this afternoon. So, she's still packing," he told her with a light chuckle.

Sulli didn't laugh but smiled with a shake of her head. What Baekhyun saw in this girl, she didn't know. She just seemed to prove herself even more irresponsible every time she saw her.

"You're lucky you caught her here in time," Hyukhee added.

"Yeah, lucky me."

It was a few moments later until Yeonhee finally appeared.

"Oh! Sulli! What are you doing here?" the younger girl said in apparent surprise. "I'll take it from here dad," she added to Hyukhee who nodded and with one last smile at Sulli, walked back inside the house. "Would you like to come in?" Yeonhee asked, making Sulli shake her head.

"No thanks, I just dropped by to ask you a few things," Sulli said with a smile. "Do you mind taking a walk with me? I think I passed by a park coming here."

- - -

"So, what exactly did you come all the way here for?" Yeonhee finally asked as she dropped down to sit on one of the benches near the playground. "Is Baekhyun doing alright?"

Sulli sighed and sat down beside her. "He's not."

Yeonhee looked at her, brows furrowed immediately. "He's not?"

"Baekhyun's taking one of the job offers here in Korea," she said almost unnecessarily. She knew that Yeonhee knew all this already. But it was necessary for her to point it out to the girl beside her.

"Yes," Yeonhee replied guiltily. "Well, he said he wanted to take a job closer to home."

Sulli turned to her and frowned. "He wants to take a job closer to you," she said almost accusingly. There was no point in delaying what she had come all this way for.

Yeonhee looked down, a blush creeping up to her cheeks.

"I... I know. We did talk about it. I told him to take the job in America, but he just wouldn't listen," she said although smiling slightly at the thought of what Baekhyun told her the night of the first and only time they ever made love. "He doesn't care as long as we're together."

"Do you care?" Sulli asked, taking Yeonhee off guard. "Do you care what happens to him?"

"Of course I do," Yeonhee said with a frown.

"Apparently not enough since you're actually allowing him to stop living his dreams for your sake," she retorted casually and rudely.

Yeonhee stood up from her seat as Sulli said this. "I am not! I told him he could-"

"You told him? Yeonhee, if you love him, you would do more than just tell him to go and take the job in America," Sulli said with a look of disgust at Yeonhee. "If you truly love him, you would do everything in your power to ensure his happiness even if it would hurt! You know it more than I that it has always been his dream to be an actor. He's gone this far hasn't he? Went through college for a degree, gone through auditions, entered contests, accepted small parts, all for the sake that those small stepping stones might lead him to his ultimate goal. And here it is, his entire future presented to him, and yet he doesn't take it because of you."

Yeonhee fell silent at this. She never even considered things that way, never even thought of things that way before. Was she really holding Baekhyun back?

'You are,' she told herself, crestfallen. If she weren't around, Baekhyun would go to America and take that job. Not everyone's blessed to have this sort of thing happen to them. But Baekhyun is, and she was actually willing to stop him.

"I can't stop Baekhyun from making his decisions," Yeonhee told her, her happy and excited mood at the thought of going back home to Baekhyun, completely deteriorated now.

Sulli stood up, her heels taking her a few good inches above Yeonhee. "You know you can. And you know what you can do to make sure he makes the right decision. You're just not willing to out of your self-centeredness," she spat coldly.

"But I-"

Yeonhee immediately shut as the person in front of her sent her a deadly glare.

"You're bringing him down. This opportunity doesn't come to everyone, Yeonhee!"

"I know but-"

"If you really love him, you'll let him be!" Sulli cut in harshly.

"I do! But-"

Sulli shut her up by throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. She was done listening to all of Yeonhee's pointless reasoning. She settled the straps of her bag on her shoulder before making her way back down the path of the park.

Before she got even two meters away from Yeonhee however, she stopped and turned back to look at her.

"How can you be so selfish?" she added, looking sickened.

"I'm not!" Yeonhee reasoned hysterically. "I-"

"You're selfish! You really are selfish," Sulli interjected again, before hurrying back down the path, ignoring not Yeonhee's reasoning, but ignoring her sobs.

- - -

Baekhyun glanced at his watch before looking back at the train that just arrived. 'Yeonhee should have arrived two hours ago,' he thought, getting even more concerned now.

After a moment's deliberation, Baekhyun left the station and headed back to the apartment. 'Maybe she went straight back home,' he thought, or rather, hoped.

"Yeonhee?" Baekhyun called out into the empty apartment. He frowned, wondering what happened to her. Brows furrowed, he immediately ran to the phone.

"Hello, Im residence, Hyukhee speaking."

"Hello? Abeoji?"

"Yes? Is that you Baekhyun?"

"Yes, is Yeonhee still there with you?" Baekhyun asked quickly, hoping beyond hope that she was. He didn't care if she was late, or if she kept him waiting, as long as he knew she was safe.

After a moment's silence, he finally spoke.

"Oh no..."

"What? Abeoji? What's wrong? Is Yeonhee there?" Baekhyun asked again, not liking the reply he got from the man on the other line.

"Baekhyun, Yeonhee's not here."

"Where is she?" he demanded, not caring how rude he sounded now.

Baekhyun listened to him, to his explanations. Not to Yeonhee's explanations for leaving him, but her father's. Yeonhee had told Hyukhee that she was leaving Haeundae, that she was leaving Baekhyun. Hyukhee thought it was just a joke and so didn't take her seriously because he knew how Baekhyun and Yeonhee felt for each other. She had left the house over an hour ago with nothing but the suitcase she had brought with her for her five day stay with him.

"She left?" Baekhyun echoed brokenly, dropping the phone to the floor.

- - -