“What are you doing?” I asked a girl who was cowering in the corner of the room, crying. Her soft voice and small body made me think that she was younger than me.

“I’m scared..” She wiped her face, still sobbing. I helped her to stand up and she faced me, holding my hands. Her right cheek is red, and swollen.

“What’s wrong with your face?” I asked and she touched it slowly, flinching in pain.

“Come, let’s play.” I smiled and pulled her out of the bedroom, after she refused to answer my question.

“What’s your name?” I asked her as we walked through the huge hallway.

“Who are you?” She replied with a question. I smiled at her and we sat on an expansive looking couch.

“I’m Belle. I don’t know why I came here, my mother said you guys are our family.” I answered and she nodded in amazement, a thin smile appeared across her face.

“We’re family?? I- I’m Julia.” She mumbled, looking at her feet.

“Why are you crying?” I asked, out of curiosity. Reminiscing the time I met Julia. 15 years ago. What kind of question is that? I asked myself. Foolish 5 years old me.
 

“My father was mad at me.” She sobbed and I nodded trying to understand.

“Why are you sitting there?” A rough voice interrupted us. I looked to my left and a man walked towards us, his face was red with anger.

“I told you not to sit here.” He pulled Julia by her arm and she fell on the floor, crying. I stood up, scared.

“Salem! Get off from my girl.” My mother walked in and the man stepped back, and my mother pulled me.

"I didn’t even touch her." He looked at my mother, offended.

"As if you have the guts. Baby brother" She rolled her eyes and I saw Uncle Salem scowled at us.

“And stop hitting your children will you?” My mother said, before leaving both of them in the hallway.

I turned my head, seeing Julia was still on the floor, sobbing weakly.

“Mommy, who are they?”

“That is your uncle, still having a temper since he was a kid. And that is your cousin. Julia.” She explained as we walked out of their huge house,

Ever since that day, we become best friends. Her father stopped hitting her, with my mother’s warning, and she often took me everywhere, buy me everything every time I went to her house for the holiday.

She became close with my family, and she decided to study in my state, rather than close to her home. We’ve been friends for so long, that I can't believe this will be a peak of the relationship.

I stared at the ceiling, the room filled with the strong perfume smell. I was laying on the bad, filled with guilt.

Julia had left. Before I could say anything.

 She threw my phone on the bed and smashed the rose bouquet on the table.

“Why? Because I said I like him and you went to the extent of going to Korea, just to make him fall in love with you?” She asked, throwing the phone on the bed.

“What? No..” I stopped, trying to figure words to say

"You have always been that jealous with me, aren't you?" She looked at me with those hatred eyes.

"I can't believe this, I thought that we are best friends."

"Julia, listen! I don’t know how to tell you.. I didn’t even know him...." I stopped as I felt my cheek burning in pain. Julia looked at me, with heaving breath..

I held my sore cheek. For the first time she slapped me, in fury. I was too shocked, that I couldn’t even respond to it.

“You know what? You’re such a . I knew I shouldn’t have tell you that I like  TOP. You will always try to take everything from me, aren’t you?” She curse and  snatched her handbag.

Before she walked out, she saw the perfume that Min Ho had gave me on the vanity, and she walked to it, before holding it in her hand.

" What's this? The next item that you're going to brag to me? With your expansive boyfriend? I bet you had done everything for him to be with you, you cheap ." And smashed it on the floor.

I was dumbfounded, until the sound of her 4WD engine brought me back to reality and she’s gone. I picked up the broken perfume bottle, and my hand as shaking, out of fear and regret.

I looked to the vanity, Min Ho's gift broken into pieces, Hyun's rose petals everywhere. The reality started to kick in.

“I thought Julia was staying last night?” Mum asked me and I shook my head slowly.

“Yeah.. I heard she left in the middle of the night?” My brother asked me and I shrugged.

“She got some work to do.” I replied flatly and my mother nodded in suspicion.

Suddenly my phone vibrated and I rushed upstairs, went into the room and locked the door behind me.

‘Hello?”I answered the call, sitting on the bed.

“Tell me everything.” Hyun instructed and I swallowed my tears, as I told him the fight we had last night. Hyun listened intently, and I sobbed sometimes, trying hard not to cry.

After the fight with Julia, I texted Hyun to not call me, as I was having some problems with Julia. Never the less, he kept calling. And I turned the phone off, for some time alone.

“What to do, Hyun? What should I do? I never thought she would be this mad.” I moaned over the phone. He sighed, and asked,

"Are you okay?" He asked and I touched my cheek. It's not swollen or anything. So I hummed in reply.

‘Did you try to call her?” I shook my head, “No.”

“Now, you try to call her, and then, if she didn’t want to answer that, we will just have to wait. Okay?”

“Okay...” I nodded absently.

"Do you want me to call her?" He volunteered and I cringed at the thought.

"No. Please no."

“Stop crying, Belle..” Hyun whispered and I sighed.

“She’s my best friend…”I replied and he too, sighed.

“It’ll be okay.” He muttered, in doubt.

For the next 2 days, Julia didn’t even answer my calls and reply to my texts. I gave up, in trying to explain myself and let her be. Every night too, at midnight, Hyun will call me without fail to check on me, and talked, as if I was still there in Seoul.

After a while, the problem with Julia didn’t burden me THAT much anymore. She kept her distance from me, by turning down my mother’s offer for dinner together until the Mid-Semester break had ended.

I went back to my University, with the happy face that I always put on, and the fake eagerness I always display in the class.

I can't say I didn’t even care about Julia, but what can I do? She didn’t even answer her call, and. The life must go on. Maybe someday she'll listen to me. I hope.. I stared into the distance, before the bus came.

While waiting for a class to start, I logged into my Facebook through my phone. I scrolled down the recent post, smiling while reading everyday updates of my friends, before my eyes stopped on an image of a banner.

I clicked on the image and read the comment below it.

The only words that caught my eyes are only these:

Bigbang World Tour.

I gasped and tried to control myself. They're coming. Hyun’s coming! Just like what he had said!

“Hey, what’s the blushing, man?” One of my classmates poked me and I held my cheeks.

‘’ I seriously need to go!” I whispered to myself and turned the phone off, as the lecturer came in. It’s okay. I got 2 weeks before they come to my country. I can persuade my family to let me go. The venue is not that far, anyway.

I’ll go home this weekend and I’ll talk to my mom. Simple. That’s easy.

The rest of the week went by fast, as I was eager to go home and ask the permission from my mom. But I know thing’s will go wrong. Life’s never easy.

As soon as the car stopped, and I get out of it with my brother, I saw the 4WD parked in front of the house.

Which only meant one thing. She had outraced me.

We sit face to face during the dinner, and I couldn’t help but to avoid my eye contact with her. Her smile was filled with hatred, and she looked like she was going to hang me to death.

“Oh, Belle, I thought you had something to tell me?” My mom asked suddenly. I glanced at Julia who was suddenly getting focused with the conversation.

“Owh.. It’s okay. I can tell you later.” I replied, and Julia put her cutlery down.

“Oh, why? I thought we are family… “ Julia suddenly interfere, with her voice made up to be all sweet and friendly.

I coughed and looked away, thinking. How should I put this?

“Is this about the concert?” Julia asked and I looked at her, in surprise.

“Concert? What concert?” My mother asked, her smile faded.

“Oh? You didn’t know? She wanted to go to the Korean concert?

Please don’t, please.. I looked at her, pleading. She ignored my stare and smiled.

“What concert, Belle?” My dad turned to face me, with a serious expression.

“Why are you keeping this from your family Belle? They should know..” Julia continued, and I held my breath.

“After all, you went to Korea to meet him, of course he will come here to meet you.”

By then, my world stopped spinning.

Julia excused herself, after a private serious discussion with my mother. I’m here, in the living room, surrounded by my family, who wanted an explanation.

“How come you can go to Korea?” My brother started questioning

“Why didn’t you tell me you have a boyfriend?”My sister interrupted, folded her hands on her chest.

"You stayed with that man? How could you?" My father's voice boomed around the room. I never see him that

angry before.

"But- we.. I didn’t do anything." I tried to reason.

“Are there no dignity left inside of you?” My father stood up, holding his chest and walked out.

For a while, the room was quiet, as my father's breakout surprised everyone.

“ Julia had told me everything. How you force her of letting you go, and asked her to lie to us.” My mum took my father’s place and held her head.

"I expected more than this. Belle. I know I have no rights to forbid you from being in a relationship with any man, but the thing is, you just crossed the 'free' line." My mom started to deliver her verdict.

"You will not set your foot in the concert, no matter who is coming. I don’t care who your boyfriend is, whether he is the makeup artist or the crew, I don’t care." She stared at me, and I felt my heart fell.

“But mom!” I protested. No. This can't be happening.

“Since when did you like this Korean thing? Never heard you talking about them.” My brother protested. I looked at my feet, thinking of a reason. My eyes started to well up.

“Listen. You just can’t go. Your father will be so upset if you do. You know him. Besides, where will you get the  money to buy the ticket if I didn’t give you? Your boyfriend? Yeah, right.” My mother answered and I bit my lips, restra