I closed my eyes as I breathed in the smell of the fresh water, and listened to the sound of crashing waves.

“Should I step in?”

I asked, to no one in particular… yet I received a reply.

“Just let nature take its course, Ji Hoo.”

I opened my eyes in surprise and turn to look at the direction of the voice.

The owner of the gentle voice smiled at me, before we both turned to look at the broad sea right before us.

I let out a soft chuckle, thinking of how much I had already let nature take its’ course. Yet, somehow, it seems to only be taking a turn for the worst.

“Let nature sort itself out. It always does. No matter how terrible it might seem right now, this .. it won’t last. I believe, the two of them will work things out themselves.”, the voice continued as I slowly digested her words.

I silently agreed, as we both looked on at the sun moving slowly downwards, to the horizon.

[Yi Jung]

The flashes of camera light, all sorts of questions being asked –all the noise and light in the conference room was giving me such a throbbing headache.

I wanted to escape again, instinctively, like a child wanting his mother’s warmth.

No, I told myself. Stay.

For Ga Eul, stay.

As I headed towards the direction of my seat, all the sounds and questions that were flooding the room, suddenly felt like something distant, as if I was in a different dimension, where all I could see, all I could hear, all I could feel was.. her. Even though, she wasn’t in my physical world … she was the only one my mental mind materialized.

That smiling face.

It hurts, the happy memory.

It hurts; knowing that it has became a thing of the past.

No! I cannot allow her smiling face to be a thing of the past! No!

As if suddenly awaken from a long dream, or perhaps, a long nightmare, I see my real physical surroundings starting to come alive as I looked at all the reporters sitting in front of me.

The view was blurry, like a camera trying to adjust its’ focus. Then I realized it – my eyes were out of focus because of the tears that had already formed in my eyes, unknowingly.

I forced a bright smile as I blinked back the tears and acknowledged the presence of group of reporters I had gathered for the occasion.

I needed, to show them, that everything was fine.

Oh, the pretense we always have to put up..

The pretense of being happy, the pretense of the perfection as a rich man, the pretense of enjoying the presence of all the women surrounding me…

Life, all of my life feels like a lie.

Everything… except her.

And I cannot allow this truth to be ruined.

Sometimes, lies are needed to protect the truth and to preserve all the honest things about her, I am willing to be the lie.

I cleared my throat, mentally recalling the speech I had prepared, “Thank you everyone, for being gathered today at this place… I’m sure most of you should know the purpose for this gathering .. I feel that there is a need for me to clarify things about my most recent break-up, .. “, I forced another smile again, as dazzling as I could, before I continued, “Well, actually a break-up should not have been an important issue for me, since as you all know – to me, women are like clothes that need to be change on a regular basis..”

I cringed as I reflected on my own words – indeed, for the me of the past, women, well – most of them, I treated them, just like clothes. Perhaps, Ga Eul’s existence in my life was just to send karma my way. Perhaps, this was a punishment I truly deserved, for having treated women so shabbily.

With a smile still on my face, and my heart feeling the exact opposite, I continued,

“but I do not understand why the media is kicking up such a big fuss this time and ..”

I paused, her face, appeared again, in my mind.. my smile slowly turning downwards, before I caught myself and pushed it upwards again.

“and hence causing a very big misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that I cannot tolerate and neither can any of the F4. As this misunderstanding has hurt innocent people, who are close and important to us.”

Suddenly, I was flooded with all the ‘Chu Ga Eul’ questions.. I had prepared so hard for it yet all of this was so overwhelming, I found myself unable to answer momentarily.

“WAIT.” The shout escaped from my throat before I could even stop it. And the room became silent immediately, all the reporters, shocked at my outburst. 

I composed myself again, reminding myself of what was most important, “Sorry, before any questions, would you allow me to finish my speech first, thank you.”

And again, another of my fake smile. This won’t do. I had to hide this – completely hide the fact how sensitive I was to the word ‘Chu Ga Eul’.

“Yes, yes, I meant Chu Ga Eul” I answered smoothly, putting on the fake pretense I was so used to, in front of those who aren’t important.

“I mean, those rumors were too ridiculous.. me, turning over a new leaf? And playboy cheated? Oh come on, you guys should be the ones who know exactly how experienced I am with girls. Yes, I have dated Chu Ga Eul, like what I have announced before but in the end, but it was another of those that didn’t work out in the end .. but we both agreed on the breakup together and we are still very close friends, and I ask of you to respect her privacy and family because she is not just my close friend, but also a close friend of Goo Jun Pyo’s wife… “

And so in this way.. I continued the rest of the interview I had arranged, appearing cheerful on the outside and silently breaking inside, and all I had to give me strength was the image of her smiling face – and that was enough.

[Ga Eul]

“So Yi Jung clarifies rumours” “An important friend of F4” “So Yi Jung to hold next exhibition in 6 months time – Theme: Friendship ”

First thing in the morning, and awoken again by knocks from Jae Kyung, and all I could see was a magazine cover greeting me as I opened the door.

“Here, read.”, she ed the magazine right into my hand.

I tried feigning indifference for a moment and casually flipped through, but was caught straight away.

“Just flipped to his interview, you know you want to read it.” Jae Kyung rolled her eyes in exasperation as she flopped down on my sofa. I looked down sheepishly.

“GA EUL!!!”

Before I could even managed to flip the page, a familiar voice greeted us as Jan Di came into view.

“Is it true? Yi Jung is holding an exhibition for you?”

I gape in surprise as I turned to look at Jae Kyung for confirmation.

She used her face to gesture at the magazine as she nodded.

I looked down at the book in my hand.. so this is what the heading “So Yi Jung to hold next exhibition in 6 months time – Theme: Friendship” is about.

Jan Di spotted the magazine in my hand and grabbed it over.

She then looked up at me incredously.

“Whatever is going on with both of you? Isn’t it all over? How long has it been alre-“

Before Jandi could continue her array of questions, Jae Kyung cut in – “Well, the media always like looking for anything juicy; doesn’t matter if it’s old or new news! They make everything new.. and no, no, the two of them – far from over!”

Jan Di frowned, and looked as if she was going to ask about the last part of Jae Kyung’s words and this time, I hastily stopped her by offering to get drinks for them and dismissing Yi Jung’s exhibition as a trivial matter, as if it was something that happened every day.

When in actual fact, it was as far from the truth as possible.

My own heart was swarming with thousands of questions but at least, the drama seems to be over for now… 

End of Chapter 13

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A/N: I know this is getting repititve but really sorry for the late update. I shall not state all the reasons already since it doesn't really matter... I'd just like to let everyone know that I'd try my very best to finish this story. It's imperfect in so many ways but still, I'll push on and carry on and complete this as fast as I can. And update as often I can. I just hope everyone who reads this, enjoys reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. This story isn't much but I'm really really grateful that people are reading, commenting and subscribing to this story, thank you all so much! 

And I read all the comments.. even those on my personal wall, so touched with all who bothered to give comments! I am sorry I no longer have the time to answer them individually but just would like to let you all know, the comments are such a great motivation that keeps me going!!! Thank you all so much!!