“Chohee, tell me—“

“HOW COULD YOU?!” He stopped. Her abrupt statement knocked him off guard. This was the first time he’d seen her anger starting to bubble over. Her face was removed of its gentle nature to a ferocity he was unfamiliar with. It almost terrified him.

Jungmin didn’t speak because he sensed she wasn’t finished. “How could you… After all the time it took for us to record that… You’re going to get rid of it? Pretend we never sung it?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “It isn’t like that. The original will still probably be kept on record for a while until—“

“—until what oppa?” Never had ‘oppa’ sounded so rough against the ears. “Until you win an award and can release it on ‘Your Greatest Hits’ album?!” Shaking her head she breathed through her nose.

“Forget it; I’ll get out of your way.”

He started to speak before she could walk out. “Chohee please hear me—“

“—Then why bother?!” Her face was hard to read. She looked as if she was touched but then reverted back to a bitter expression. Chohee struggled to keep her voice composed as she said. “Why do you think I agreed to do it in the end?”

Jungmin had no idea what she was saying. Chohee turned her head, her eyes blinking as she held back what looked to be bitter tears. Even when that ‘friend’ had hit her she didn’t cry. Yet here she wasn’t holding back. Finally she faced him again, her eyes glistening from being wet.

“You could have sung a duet with anyone. It wouldn’t have mattered to the producer.”

Lifting her chin up she glanced at the ceiling to stop the on flow. He almost went closer to her again but that fire was back in her gaze. She sounded frustrated as she continued.

“But you picked me; cowardly me who cannot repay you for your kindness, friendship or care in this lifetime.” Chohee breathed out.

“I only have one thing that I could give to pay you back … But I can’t because if I do then I may not be able to give it out again ever!”
 

Something in her last sentence caused Jungmin’s insides to pause. What did she want to give to him? What was so sacred to her that she couldn’t share it with just anyone?

“Stay away from me.” Her voice was in a harsh whisper. “I should have known that it was too good to be true… Good bye Park Jungmin; I won’t see you again.”

With that she put her shoes on and let herself out and slamming the door behind her. Jungmin didn’t move. He stood at the spot, not budging. In his mind he was still imaging her storming out, full of anger but eyes yet to shed tears of rage. Now that she was gone he could see past the moment. Past the anger, past her screams of frustration at him and yells to express how she had been betrayed.

If only he had told her what she needed to hear. He’d done it for her good. He’d done it for her. Would she ever hear him out though? And would she even forgive him?
 

Jungmin felt sluggish as he rose the next morning. He’d been thinking about him and Chohee and how his consideration had been mistaken into something else. Things were broken beyond repair in his mind.

Only because he hadn’t told her how he felt. Only because he was afraid of ruining what they had which was slow but it was progress still. All of it wiped away with one incident, one choice.

As he opened the fridge to get what he needed for breakfast he thought a little more on what she had said.

Why do you think I agreed to do it in the end?

Yes why did she do it? Was it really for another reason other than getting discovered?

I only have one thing that I could give to pay you back … But I can’t because if I do then I may not be able to give it out again ever!

What was that thing? What was so important to her that she just kept it to herself? Thinking on it a little more as he ate Jungmin began to list the possible items that it may have been. The list grew longer as he got more outside the box.

That one thing… One thing she couldn’t give out…

Ah.

He knew. Jungmin lifted his head to the ceiling, stunned in his mind what he had learned. He felt so stupid. Of course she wouldn’t just tell him outright what she felt. That was not her.

But that. That was her. That was her revealing something she didn’t really plan to. But the surge of emotions that had risen up in her allowed it to come to surface. It flowed out of her inner depths straight to him.

He had screwed up big time. Getting his phone he called Hyungjun. With a yawn his friend spoke. “Ah Jungmin, what’s the matter?”

“I messed up.”

Fortunately Hyungjun was no idiot and knew what it would be about. “Did you and Chohee have a falling out?”

“Yes,” Jungmin began pushing his breakfast bowl away from him. “Have you heard from her?”

“Yeah I texted her before; she got home but I sense something’s amiss. She was more talkative in her reply. Would you mind telling me what happened?”

So Jungmin did. Starting from when she entered til the moment she left not one detail was left out. Hyungjun showed active listening by going ‘yes’ and ‘ah ha’ at appropriate times.

“So she left, she’s going to not speak to me anymore or doesn’t want to.”

“Wait can we go back a moment? What did she say to you about not being able to give something away?”

“She said that there’s only one thing she can give me to repay me but she can’t give it out again.”

Hyungjun was quiet for a moment; Jungmin assumed he was thinking too. And then there came his response. “Oh my—“

“—why, why are you like this?”

“Jungmin, I wasn’t sure when or if I should tell you but…” He breathed in and out. “Jungmin Chohee. She likes you. She doesn’t like you as a friend but she likes you more.”
 

At his friends’ confession Jungmin’s insides screamed with surprise. “Yah when were you going to tell me—“

“—I don’t know,” Hyungjun stated sounding exasperated. “I wanted to! I honestly did but Maddy and I were talking about it. Chohee is close with her and so I trusted what Maddy said. We both decided to let Chohee say something when she was comfortable and that came before I could share it.”

Leaning back in his chair it felt like a double blow. Jungmin couldn’t believe it. After a moment he put the phone back against his ear. “Do you know where she is?”

“At home, do you have her address?”

“No which is why I asked.”

Hyungjun murmured something before saying. “Ah I can text it to you. You may want to be quick.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She mentioned something about a flight. I’m not sure when, I’ll check the message again.”

Jungmin began to feel anxious. “Ok text it to me quick I’ll get ready to go.” Getting up he ended the call and headed to the shower, grabbing some clothes along the way.

Despite possibly getting a schedule for that day Jungmin disregarded it. His company had screwed about with him enough and he wasn’t going to lose something so good. He wasn’t driving that fast on the road but for some reason he was beginning to become concerned.

Lifting his gaze to the rear view mirror he was taken back as he saw a taxi following just a few cars back. That’s not what startled him. Behind the driver he saw several heads of long hair staring back.

“Aish not them—“

The cars ahead were starting to stop. Looking ahead Jungmin let out a cuss word, slamming his foot on the brake hard. There was screeching of the tyres as his car slowed at a fast rate.

Wincing Jungmin almost thought he was going to hit the back of the car ahead. However he had stopped with just enough time.

Turning on the radio he found that there was a traffic jam and so he would be waiting. Those girls were nothing but pests. The taxi they were in pulled up next to him having overtaken several other vehicles. He didn’t particular feel like smiling at the kind of people who irritated him at times.

Winding the window he called out to them. “Yah go and make someone else’s life a misery! Leave me alone!”

They clicked cameras, staring at him. Further back Jungmin noticed that there was a second taxi following. Jungmin glanced ahead. With a sign he decided to forget about it. Maybe if he was lucky Chohee wouldn’t be going anywhere just yet. When the traffic was moving again he turned down the nearest street and sped back home.

When he was in his house he signed into Twitter and wrote a very short but expressive post.

People just… Aish they come here and there without a damn. How is one to survive, so mad right now!

He got a lot of sympathy from fans who asked if he was having a bad day while other’s suggested he get rid of those people who were causing trouble.

What he didn’t expect was one of the heads from his company to suddenly call. He thought that number sounded familiar.

Oh boy what’s going to happen next?