IU opened up the document and browsed through the contents. On the last page of the document was a photo of the married couple at the wedding alter, sharing their memorable first kiss to kick off the beginning of their new lives together. She stared at the groom’s face, and realized he resembled someone who she knew, or at least once met. Since what she could see was merely the side view of him, she decided to set the matter aside for the time being; hopefully Jiyeon will tell her about this whole marriage shindig before she has to ask about it herself.

“Hey, IU, you’re back early!” Jiyeon ran towards her petite friend and gave her a warm welcoming hug.

IU pulled away and gave her older friend a smile. At the back of her mind, she was still thinking about the marriage certificate she came across just hours ago in the evening. Why didn’t Jiyeon tell her anything about it? Did Jiyeon not trust her enough to let her know about her lifelong partner?

“So… anything new?” IU questioned, hoping Jiyeon would get the hint.

“Oh, nothing much. Recently there’s some guy I’ve seen around at the carpark. He seems really suspicious, but oh wells. He’s probably some undercover agent or something.”

“Interesting.”

The two chattered about the “adventures” they had during the short time that they were separated over a good, scrumptious dinner prepared by IU. And just like that, the night passed by in a jiffy, without a single word about Jiyeon’s marriage being mentioned. IU started feeling more and more insecure, but she had no one to confide in. Jiyeon was her only kin.

Min Hyuk noticed since the minute IU had set foot into the office that something was bothering her. He knew they weren’t on terms of sharing secrets and stuff, but he really did care about her.

“Alright guys, time for lunch!” Suzy announced. Today was Suzy’s turn to head down to the cafeteria to get food for Min Hyuk and IU. She got their orders and left, leaving the two alone.

“This is my chance,” Min Hyuk thought. He focused on IU who was staring at the wall, her eyes lost in her imagination. There is definitely something bothering her.

“Hey,” Min Hyuk walked over to IU and knelt on one leg next to her. He raised his right hand and placed it on her left shoulder, as a sign of concern, before continuing his sentence, “What’s wrong? Care to share?” he gave her a small smile, as though trying to use it as a way to assure her that she could trust him.

IU didn’t have time to think whether it was safe to confide in Min Hyuk. She really needed someone to give her advice and listen to her. And since lemons are already knocking on the door, it’s time to make her long awaited lemonade!

She got up and helped Min Hyuk up, before leading him towards the meeting table in the middle of the room. They sat adjacent to each other, before she opened and explained everything to Min Hyuk. From how she realized Jiyeon was married to how she felt so damn insecure about the fact that she didn’t trust her enough to tell her about her marriage.

“Well, IU, maybe Jiyeon has her reasons as to why she didn’t tell you firsthand about her marriage. Maybe she wasn’t a willing party in this whole matter? Maybe her parents are wealthy people who arranged this marriage. You never know, right? I mean, she doesn’t even live with her husband, how does it make any sense if you were to say that she married this Byung Hun guy over love?”

Min Hyuk made sense. A lot of sense. Maybe she was just being impatient. Maybe Jiyeon will tell her everything when she was prepared to. She only cared about her feelings, she never thought about what Jiyeon was thinking.

“Hey, if you ever need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, I’m here for you.”

IU smiled and wrapped her arms around Min Hyuk’s neck, giving him a hug.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”

Min Hyuk’s heart thumped against his chest, threatening to break out of his body. He was super stunned at the sudden contact but super happy with it. He slowly and cautiously led his hands towards IU’s small waist. He placed his hands on her back, returning the hug.

“Ahem ahem?”

The two pulled away hastily and stood up almost immediately, scratching the back of their heads and fidgeting with their fingers, embarrassed.

“Oh, look at you two love birds. I’m so sorry to interrupt.” Suzy teased. She placed their lunches on the table and they started digging in gratefully. They were starved.

Jiyeon laid on the sofa, in her hands was her marriage certificate. It was kept safely in her drawer all these years. She finally took it out and purposely left it on the coffee table for IU to see, so she’d ask and Jiyeon wouldn’t have to tell her. It was difficult enough as it is to hide this secret, and now to tell it to someone? She really needed the guts. But she just didn’t have any.

“I really hope she’ll see it…”

The familiar tune of her ringtone played. She picked up her phone and saw the caller ID, Byung Hun. She picked up the call and perked up.

“Seobang,” she smiled subconsciously.

“Bad news. I recently met IU.”

“WHAT?! Did she recognize you?”

“No, I was lucky. But I could tell she did somehow know she has seen me somewhere. You’ve got to make sure she doesn’t remember me, honey. If she does, we’re both doomed.”

“Yes, I understand. Bye, seobang.”

hey guys! umm many thanks to jully09 and jungfaehyun for upvoting! :) i'll try to update more often :)

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