Early warning: there are some words you might consider rude in this chapter. I am deeply sorry. But it's not that rude though, IMO

After properly congratulating Kibum and giving him the present I already prepared, I spent the next thirty minutes there being introduced to so many people by Minho, Ye Eun and Krystal.

I did not even have any idea how I managed to memorize all their names and faces. Hhh, I sighed.

They all were divided into some circles of friends.

First, 93-line. I already met some of them in Taemin’s birthday party. Taemin, Luna, Ye Eun, Sungjong, Chunji and Gongchan were the people I knew. Apparently there were three more of them right now. T-Ara’s Jiyeon and Hwayoung, and Ji Eun (or more preferably called IU). Taemin said that I also belonged in this one group, I should take pictures with them later.

Second, 94-line. It consisted of Krystal, Sulli, Miss A’s Suzy, KARA’s Jiyoung and 4Minute’s Sohyun. There was this guy named Dongho who sat in the middle of these girls. He was also a 94-liner and being the only guy among beautiful girls, he surely became bigheaded. LMAO, kids these days...

Third, Chocoball. F.T. Island’s Jonghoon and Hongki, Beast’s Junhyung and Miss A’s Jia. Hongki was hyper when he met me. “Heechul hyung told me about you before! Annyeong!” Weird kid. Just like Heechul. He continued, “Heechul hyung also belonged to this clique. But he was still in the army, you know. If he was not, he would not come either... Considering the fact that Kibum just turned twenty one, and he’s like, twenty nine years old?! Hahahaha!” Okay, okay, chill down yo Hongki.

Fourth, Kyu-line. Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Changmin, Minho and CNBLUE’s Jonghyun were the members of Kyu line. But Changmin, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun were not here. As I was about to thank God that Kyuhyun was not here, Minho said, “Ryeowook and Kyuhyun are coming though. They are on their way.” Fudge. Not that evil kid.

Fifth, 91-line. So many people belonged in this one group. Kibum, Mir, Woohyun, Sungyeol, the other Infinite guy Hoya, Dongwoon (when Ye Eun showed me this Dongwoon guy, my terrible memories told me that I had met him before in Taemin’s birthday bash. Hahaha. So apparently Ye Eun had a crush on this Arabian looking Korean kid!), F.T. Island’s Jaejin (the crazy person who shouted before was this guy), 2AM’s Jinwoon, KARA’s Nicole and Hara, Miss A’s Min, and SNSD’s Seohyun. Jonghyun practically stated that he was also a member of this group... when the whole world knew he was not a 1991 born kid. I thought he just wanted to be with Kibum all the time. Everyone understood though.

Besides those, there were also other smaller groups here and there. For example, this one... They did not have particular clique name but consisted of Jinki, Beast’s Doojoon, Infinite’s Sunggyu and U-Kiss’ Soohyun. Minho whispered to me, “They all have two things in common; the year they was born in, and their position in their own groups.”

Amber, Victoria and Nichkhun sat with this Chinese girl named Fei, who was also from Miss A. Hmm, all had Chinese descent running in their blood! Later I saw Henry joined them.

I also met girls from Sistar... Yes, that group who appeared in variety show Hello Baby with my Jung Soo. No, I was not feeling jealous. No, hell no. NO. ARRGH. kdjasfjsakdjfkdjafidutidwufejfj!!!!!!1

And then there was also, wait. I could not seem to recall their names... There were some members of various girl groups. But I did not really pay attention when Ye Eun introduced them to me. Krystal said they were new, though.

I decided to relax with Minho and his friend Jonghyun, that guy from CNBLUE. He seemed a nice person and both were much calmer compared to other people here. That was like the main reason why I chose them to sit with. The three of us ordered cocktails and sat on comfortable sofas in the lounge. The atmosphere was kind of decent, until Ryeowook and Kyuhyun came. HAHAHA. Ryeowook was not a problem here. But I did not like Kyuhyun, remember? He did not like me either. I never knew what was wrong with him, and did not have the curiosity to ask him.

The two joined us. Ryeowook was being all cute. “Hello, ______-ah! Nice to see you again!” Kyuhyun just looked at me for a second then drifted his stare away. Not like I cared.

Ugh, I was not in the mood to party and have fun after all... I would love to be alone, but considering that it was my friend’s birthday, and my other friends had put so much effort in this party, I did not have the heart to go home.

So even though being here kind of suffocated me and being surrounded by so many beautiful creatures made me feel somehow irritated, what I decided to do was, stay. And ignore all the agitation, restlessness, nervousness and fear I felt.

I did not know why I was like this... Ok, ok maybe I knew. I would be lying if I said that none of the threats and curses I received affected me. Because I clearly knew it did. I am afraid.

I was hella scared and besides the fact I did not like humans’ presences for no reasons right now, I thought it was partially because... let me break it down. People here might be familiar with their photos being taken and publicity, but I was not. I could just hope that none of them fans spotted me here. Ha, what? Exaggerating? No... They once saw me with Minho in Handel and Gretel. They might see me again. For someone who got threatened because they were seen being together with particular people, going out was more than going out now.

And frowning Kyuhyun in front of me did not make anything better.

Okay, chill, ______. He is Jung Soo’s group mate. You should be good to him. Errrgh I could not. “I need to go to the lavatory,” I said, trying to wear a smile.

Minho and Ryeowook nodded, Jonghyun smiled. I ran to the toilet quickly.

In the restroom, I rubbed and slightly massaged my shoulders. Ouch, my back ached a lot these days. I was about to take out my lipstick from the clutch bag, but disappointedly I remembered that I did not bring it here and left it on the sofa. Hhh.

I emotionlessly went inside one of the toilet cubicles. There I just sat on the flush toilet.

“Who’s the foreign girl near Minho oppa?” A girl’s voice whispered outside... But loud enough for me to hear. Huh? Is she talking about me?

“He introduced her to us before. Her name is ______. He said that she was her friend,” another voice said.

“But clearly she did not look like it. More like a girlfriend...” How many people are out there?  So many different voices, and they did mentioned my name. They were talking about me. Heck.

“I think I saw her somewhere before... Oh! She was with Woohyun oppa! In the Idol Sports Championship, she was with Woohyun oppa! They looked so close!” What? I did not even know the guy that good.

And like things could get any worse, someone spoke up, “Really?! Cuz I saw her once with Heechul oppa and Donghae oppa in KBS, I think. They were really close too. First she walked with Donghae oppa, they even held hands! And then few moments later, Donghae oppa was nowhere to be seen and ta-da! She practically threw her body to Heechul oppa.”

“And just now she acted so y towards Kyuhyun oppa. Ew, she surely has bad attitude. Um, could it be that she was Kyuhyun oppa’s ex?” Where did she get that theory?

“She is so y. She got out with Woohyun oppa, Heechul oppa and Donghae oppa. She dates Minho oppa, but also is an ex-girlfriend of Kyuhyun oppa, who is close friends with Minho oppa. Wow, no girls are ier than her.”

I wish I had the courage to get out of the cubicle and confront them. Sadly I did not. I did not possess the guts. Unlike Ye Eun and Krystal, I was a coward. Especially in a condition like this.

What I did was, mentally shouting “SHUT UP ES.” Mentally.

I gulped down my saliva, waiting to hear what they would say next.

“I wish the world would eat her and make her disappear. She is not even that pretty! She is super skinny, she must be anorexic! Ew, why doesn’t she just die?! And leave Minho alone!!!”

I would be stupid to take them seriously, but I could not help it. Those inconsiderate comments they said, were harsh and cruel. It started again. My hands began sweating and it became cold. I tried so hard to keep myself composed. I could not control my speeding heart beat. Oh self, why now?

I heard some more nasty things before they finally left the restroom. Still afraid, I got out too. I needed my clutch, I needed the pills inside that bag.

To Minho I desperately said, “Just a sec. Emergency.” Then I quickly took the clutch bag... and ran again. This time I did not go towards the toilet. Somewhere safer, and quieter. A place where nobody was in. I got out of the private room, running to the emergency stairs.

I went about four levels up before I got tired and just rested there.

The floor was cold, and so was the wall my back leaned against.

Lifelessly I took some pills out of my bag. I swallowed it carelessly without any water. Tears started to form, and I did not bother to hold it back. Some things flashed before my eyes. All the packages, the ruthless threats, the intimidation, the things those anonymous girls said just now...

I knew one exact thing that would make me feel better. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I looked for my phone inside my bag. When I found it, speed dial number one was what I pressed.

“Jung Soo, why are you not picking it up?” I said, frustrated. “Jung Soo oppa, why are you not picking it up?!?!”

When I got directed to voice mail, I wished I could shout at the phone, “Oppa, why are you not answering my call?! Get your over here and please save me. I gotta tell you something important. I cannot keep it all for myself alone. I need you...”

But no, I did not have the heart to make him worried of me. So instead, I shouted that out loud after I got tired of trying and abruptly pressed disconnect button.

“I want to go home...,” I motionlessly whispered to myself.

“Co...come on... I’m taking...you home...,” a voice suddenly said, shocking me. The tone indicated that whoever that male’s voice belonged to, he clearly was upset now. The voice sounded hurt... and shocked... and shaken.

I got back to my senses and looked up.

“What happened to you...,” he continued, still with the same tone. His eyebrows furrowed. I did not have energy left to answer him. “What happened to you,” he repeated.

I tried to get up, but failed.

He reflexively held my hands and stopped me from falling. “Be ing careful!” The man in front of me shouted. Clearly he was frustrated. His weary, bloody eyes told me that very openly.

Hurriedly he tidied up my bag, and held my hands so strongly, pushing me up to stand on my feet.

We tried to walk, but I fell short. I stared down at the floor, unable to see his painful facial expression. I already owed so much to him...

“Can you walk?” he asked.

I nodded. No, I must not appear weak in front of him. So then we walked again... only to see me magnificently fall again.

He bent down on his knees. “Get on my back,” he said with a broken tone.

I got on his back, hanging on to his shoulders and not forgetting to mentally curse at myself for making him troubled.

The two of us went downstairs using the elevator. A lot of people saw us with weird looks. At this point he cared no more about them. But I still did. So I buried my face in the back of his neck. He chose the back door and used another elevator to take us to the basement where he parked his car.

After carefully placing me on the front seat of his car, he quickly got in as well.

“I heard you... What’s the matter? Tell me. If you cannot tell Jung Soo hyung, you can tell me... I’m here, for you...” That was the last thing he said before he could not continue anymore, and just rest his tired head on the steering wheel instead.

Seeing him like that, I could not help but quietly sob. What have I done? What have I done?

“Ye Eun told me that you don’t go out with her as much as you used to...,” After a few minutes he decided to speak up again. “She said you failed recent exam. What was it? English literature? And look at you, what’s with all those dark circles under your drowsy eyes?” He took my arm. “If we don’t count yesterday and today, the last time I saw you was like, three weeks ago?! How many kilograms have you lost for that short period of time? See yourself on the mirror, you’re unbelievably thin...”

I did not notice those small changes in me until he made it very clear for me to see. “Minho oppa,” I called out his name in frustration. “I’m sorry...”

“Did...” Minho seemed to have something going on in his mind. “Did Jung Soo hyung do something towards you?! Did something happen between you two?”

I buried my face in my palms. “It’s not like that,” I muttered.

The ringtone of my phone abruptly interrupted us. I checked the caller ID. “It’s Ye Eun.”

“Let me answer that for you, hhh.” He took my phone. “Ye Eun-ah...” His tone suddenly changed. It was calm now. “Yeah we’re together. No, we’re fine. We just need fresh air, that’s all. Ok ay, see ya.”

“I think...”

“No, we’re not,” Minho cut my sentence. “You, tell me what’s wrong with you. Now. If it’s not Jung Soo, then what is it? Your family? Ye Eun? Krystal? Me?”

I convincingly shook my head. “I’m just tired, okay?” Minho’s curiosity started to get me on my nerves. “Thank you for saving me. Now I need to go home. Can you take Ye Eun home later? Please.”

With a heavy heart I opened the car door. But Minho’s sudden grip on my left wrist stopped me from doing that. Before I could protest and scold the guy, he pulled me into his embrace. Minho caressed my soft hair carefully. “Tell me what’s wrong, please...”

“It has nothing to do with you,” I whispered, broken-hearted. Making anyone else troubled was never my intention, and I did not have it planned.

“It has nothing to do with me?” Minho asked, hurt. “IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME?!” His tone went high and he brusquely broke the hug. “I’M YOUR FRIEND, REMEMBER? AND SEEING YOU LIKE THIS... WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, SERIOUSLY? YOU ARE NOT WHO YOU USUALLY ARE, SO CUT THE CRAP ALREADY!” He powerfully hit the steering wheel.

I gasped. In panic state, I anxiously gasped for air. What is this...? Did Minho shout at me? Was it truly Minho? “M...Min...Minho oppa...,” I stammered.

His only response was, throwing his right palm wide open to the air, signaling me to shut up.

I did not continue saying anything just like what he wanted me to. Partially because I understood how confused he must be now. It was a natural reaction he had. Who wanted to hear stupid, made up reasons explained by almost depressed girl who was currently not sure of her future existence in this world? Definitely not Minho and his sober mind. But besides that, I also had no more energy to say anything at the moment. The last time I ate was yesterday night with Jung Soo and Donghae. And that only applied if you considered gulping down two spoons of food and messing the rest on the plate eating. The headache and backache I had been trying to ignore were getting worse every second. Next thing I knew, my sight became blurry. The blood in my head seemed like being drained and I felt so, so light. The weird sensation finally left me, right when my eyes closed... and I lost my consciousness.

Minho’s tired, shocked face was the last thing I saw.

Guys, I am just a bit curious...

When the author of the story you are subscribing edits the chapters, do you receive notification?

I am planning to edit all the chapters, adding it with links, photos and all. But I am afraid that it will give you so many notifs and bother you in the end. So yeah, if you can answer me, it'll be a great help though :)

I have edited some of the chapters, have you ever received notif about that?