CHAPTER III

I WANT TO LOVE YOU MORE

Yonsei University Hospital’s parking lot is just about full. It takes 10 minutes to find a vacant spot, and even that one is partially blocked by a damn limousine. I cut the engine, and dial the office number on my cell phone. I need to alert them, this is going to be huge news in the morning. Luna can’t take my call; she’s in a meeting. Amber, though, is available. She picks up at once. 

“Almost 4 AM. You are messing with me if this isn't about someone's death.”

Amber is my editor, age: 22. She never goes into blind date. Or concerts. And I think she has something for our head chief, Krystal.  

Ehm, anyway back to the phone call.

“Get a grip, I will blow our newspaper with this news.” I tell her, a little bit haughty. The line is silent.  She’s apparently not surprised, and I hate her for that.

“Listen, Amber. You need to tell the meeting crew to spare the headline news spot for my article today. I’m at Yonsei Hospital right now because of this infamous one collapsed. And this person happens to be Kwon Yuri, the Cold Kwon.”

“Is this April fool or something?” She mutters.

“Sounds like she just received a shocking news about her stock-share-or maybe Lake Wood’s bankruptcy through a phone call at night.”

“Just act fast and dig the details. Call me when you finished your job, I will inform the meeting crew.”

I thank her and cut the connection, not wanting to press my luck. I get out from the car and I hurry run to the emergency room, and my hoodie is useless against the cold. The morning sunshine is gone, blanketed by a thick bank of darkening clouds.

The hospitals’ automatic doors open as I approach, and I run through them, hoping to find the Kwon with her second person before too much happens. I see posters of Im Yoona holding the Vita500 on the white plaster walls, my, she is always so beautiful. She's my favorite actress without a scandal.

Moving forward, I see some direct patients to have their insurance cards ready. Others inform us that seriously injured patients will be given priority. Still, others warn that public cell phone use may interfere with the functioning of diagnostic equipment. I reach into my pocket and shut down my phone.

Four different televisions sets are on in the waiting area, each tuned to a different channel, making their own small contribution to the room. Kwon Yuri must have qualified as seriously injured; there’s no sign of her or her secretary among those who wait for medical attention.

“Kwon Yuri?” I ask the young nurse at the receptionist desk.

She checks the list of names, then looks up to me- to my reporter name tag that's hanging on my neck, and smiles.

“We took her straight to the VVIP ICU.” She says. “She needs to go to X ray, but the lip’s got to be sewn first. Her secretary went with her. You are free to join other reporters.” She points down the brightly lit corridor behind the desk. 

“Thanks,” I call back to her, already heading down the hallway.

X ray and sewn the lip? Her head must have hit the floor hard, even her lip. Does she breaks any bone? What’s with this- does her corp. collapsing or what? Come to think of it, it happened a day after the Seoul International meeting; does this have any relation with that?  25 years old Kwon Yuri collapses a day after the Seoul meeting because of a phone conversation at dawn. This will make money.

I can hear voices even before I reach the VVIP ICU room. Four reporters- great, so I’m the fifth. It seem like they are tying to take a peek at the VVIP room to take some photos. There are five securities in front of the door, looking like gangster, guarding the entrance and the windows.

I take a seat nearby, waiting for the person in charge for this accident to come up. I take my paper and pen from my bag, and start to make a rough draft for the upcoming headline news. How I wish to write a scandalous article… That can shake both entertainment and politic people.

Ah it’s okay, ‘Hospitalous Cold Kwon’ article worth billion dollars.

I, Sulli, will make sure of that.

***

VVIP ICU Room

“That little knife and needle seem very sharp.”

“They are sharp.”

“Will boss feel anything while that surgeon sew her lip?”

“I guess she will feel at least like a bite from an ant.”

“An ant??”

“Yeaah. That bit.”

“You mean like a normal ant or a queen ant’s bite?”

“Do queen ant bites…?”

“I don’t know, why did you ask such random question!”

“Yah, you are the one who ask me that question!”

The two girls hold each other’s neck to squeeze.

“Excuse me, but can you please be a quiet for awhile, so that the doctor can perform his operation smoothly…?” A nurse come, and gives them a warning smile. She then says, “Thank you for your attention and cooperation.”

“Yes, nurse.” They let go of each other’s neck and focus their attention to the knife, needle, and thread again. The surgeon is going to dive the needle into their boss’ lip. Shiver run down their spine, and it has nothing to do with the air conditioner- or even the cold weather.

“Oh my gosh Sooyoung ya, he’s going to put that sharp thing inside boss’ lips!”

Sooyoung stares in shocking expression by each second the needle become closer and closer to the assigned lip-part. Hyoyeon gripped her best buddy's wrist in maximum strenght.

“GOSH I WAS SO FREAKED OUT WHEN I SAW BOSS FELL ON THE FLOOR! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WHITE-ISH HER FACE TURNED TO BE? SHE WAS LIKE A GHOST! EVEN WHITER THAN GHOST! AND HER HEAD JUST –BANG! LIKE THAT TO THE FLOOR! AND HER LIP HIT THE FLOOR HARD! THANK GOODNESS SHE DIDN’T LOST ANY TEETH! AND NOW I HAVE TO SEE SUCH BLOODY SCENE?!" Kim Hyoyeon is anxious to the moon and back. 

“Hyoobe doo, calm down will you, that surgeon is trying to sew our boss’ y lip, we should not make any noise." Whispers Choi Sooyoung, calming her friend down. "Imagine if the sew get wrong and boss’s lips will turned out like a failed one- she will chop our head down from neck.”

They share a glance of trust and nod their head slowly, and seriously moronic.

“Please sew her lips the best, surgey,” Sooyoung casts a flirty spell to the surgeon.

“You ain’t any better, tiny brain! How could you flirt with the surgeon?!” Hyoyeon let a high-pitched voice out. Sooyoung moves swiftly to prevent another word escapes from the Kim, as she covers the girl’s mouth, while she continues babbling.

“A Jolie look- alike- lips will be fine for my boss, I think.” Sooyoung says to the young surgeon who is now pleading her to be silent for some minute. Kim Hyoyeon pulls Sooyoung's hand from and adds eagerly, raising one hand up high like a kindergarten that can answer the teacher’s question: “Correction, Mr. Surgeon, Im Yoona look-alike lips will be the best for my boss, she doesn’t really ship Jolie, you know. She ships Yoona.”

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon giggle by the fact.

“Psst, don’t be too loud, there are reporters outside.” Sooyoung warns.

“You’re right. But our boss is so weird. Why won’t she let the world know if she’s crazy over Y?”

“And why are you shortening hername into Y?” Sooyoung raises an eyebrow.

“Ah I got that infectious syndrome from boss. She likes to write Y with bold effect whenever she find pen and paper inside the house.”

“We will turn into weirdo if we hang out too much with her outside our work time.”

“She changes drastically.”

“Yes.”

“But I can’t leave her.”

“Me too.”

The surgeon turns to face them, approaching the two, slowly, with the tiny sharp knife on his hand, while his devilish eye pierces through them. “Can you two girls wait outside till I finished with my patient’s lips?”

The Choi and Kim didn’t answer, paralyzed by the glare.

Hyoyeon, the first one to move, whispers something to her partner, “Is he shoo-ing us out of here?”

Sooyoung glances at her, and whispers back, “Yes I think he is shoo-ing us softly. Let’s get out before he sew our lips.”

***

“I wonder who called boss. Don’t you have any idea about who it was?”

“No I don’t, I just happened to see the room’s light still on when I walked passed her office room after arranging those damn 7.777 bottles of Vita500 that you deliver to the mansion inside boss’ special collection room, and it nearly broke my back! I decided to turn off the light because I thought maybe she forgot to turn it off. And so I went inside, to find her on a phone call, stunned. She looked so pale and white, and soon after that, she spoke something so fast and then- BANG! It was like her feet suddenly disappear, her lip strike her favorite desk and boss' head hit the floor.”

“A call around 3am?” Sooyoung repeats, still shocked.

“NOBODY DARES to call the cold Kwon at such hour. It must be something relating to Yoona idol, I guess. Did you check on the thread? The last issue was about her in WGM right? Maybe boss called Taeyeon to confirm?” Sooyoung adds her argumentation.

“WHAT, Y IN WGM? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I HAVEN’T VISITED THE ‘YA’ THREAD YET! WHO THEY GOING TO PAIR Y WITH?! WHAT THE HECK- NO, THEY CAN’T PUT Y IN THERE! MY SECRET ONE TRUE PAIRING!!!”

“Your secret pair? WHO?! I SHIP JETI!! JETI MY OTP FOREVER.”

“My secret OTP is too real!”

“Hey come on tell me, your secret OTP.” Sooyoung elbows the Hyoobe doo.

Hyoobe doo threatens her with a glare. The glare doesn’t affect Sooyoung. Sooyoung threatens the girl with ‘if you don’t answer I will kiss you endlessly until your cheek gets really wet and you will regret till the last day of your life that your kisses come from a girl the most’ look.

Hyoyeon gave an ugly expression. “I ship BonA. My OTP for the past three years.”

“And who is- what the heck is BonA?”

“More likely to be YunA or BonA though.”

“What? Is it BOA or something?” Sooyoung gets more confused.

“No, moron! YunA is Yuri YoonA and BonA is Boss YoonA.”

“Wow, oh my gosh… Shouldn’t it be YooBo instead?”

“What’s YooBo?”

“Yoona Boss. We never called her Yuri, moron. AND oh my God, how come I never think of them?!” Sooyoung clap her hands.

Smirking, Hyoyeon answers: “Because you have such tiny IQ, that is.”

“Yah!”

“Let’s not argue! Do you ship them too?”

“You know, we know how boss ship Yoona idol so much. That’s a total undeniable fact, but what about Yoona idol? I mean, they never talk or something, you know Hyo. I can’t say I ship them yet.”

“Eh? You are right.” Hyoyeon laughs, punching her friend's arm.

“But… If I ever see them make contact, I’ll be sure to scream. I can promise you this. And by then I will become a BonA shipper too. Anyway, i will come to the performance first tonight, you are the one in charge to keep boss accompany, you got that Hyo? I don't want to be late to watch JeTi again!!” Sooyoung adds, placing her hand on the Kim’s shoulder as they walk to the cafeteria, totally forgetting about their boss’ operation. Some reporters start to trail the two from behind.

“Have you ever tell boss about your secret OTP, Hyo?”

“No, ever. Should I?”

“Of course you should! She’ll put on a very annoyed look at first-like she’s angry-” Sooyoung can't stop smirking.“BUT SHE’LL BE SMILING IDIOTICALLY INSIDE!” they both speak the same words.

"Excuse me! Ladies!"

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon turn around.

Choi Sulli, a news-writer from SEOULTODAY newspaper is puffing and chugging to catch up with them. Sooyoung slows her long legged stride down until Sulli come abreast.

"Hi, would you guys mind for a little interview?"

"Five minutes," Sooyoung claims shortly after that, posing a cool secretary aura.

"How's the Cold Kwon?"

"She's fine," Sooyoung explains easily. She can see the other girl looking at her closely, trying to detect the smallest sign of a limp that she can report to her readers.

***

04:00AM, on the other hand.

This is the time of the day that Yoona loves the best, the hours before the morning has been burnish to a gleam. When she rolls out of bed at first light, there's still a chill in the air, and the moon is only just disappearing reluctantly from the pink sky. The day smell fresh, newborn, and she is ready for the day; although she didn't get more than half an hour rest. She grins as she moves around her big room, and goes to the toilet as soon as that. Taeyeon is going to pick her up soon. 

“Taeng, can I sleep inside car? How much time we have?” Im Yoona gets inside the car, and starts to place her bag at the back seat.

“Go on, will be 30 minutes before we arrive at the Marie Claire studio. Besides, we didn’t get to sleep last night.”

“I’m wondering if Yul is okay. Did you call her again after you send me home?” Yoona eyed the manager.

“No, I was too tired to do that. I think she will be fine.” Taeyeon answers as she starts the engine, ready to go.

“To be honest I kind of feel that something is not right. I don’t know.”

“Will you care for all of your fans like you do to her?”

“Come on, I owe Yul too much, Taeng. I really want to thank her.”

Let’s see… “By the way Yul is a 50 years old ahjumma, you know.”

“What? Really? 50 years old- ahjumma? She has not married yet?”

“Yes, she hasn’t married yet. No guy wants to marry her.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s too ugly, you know, like a hunchback monster. Even I get annoyed to meet her.”

Now let’s see your reaction… So, Yoona, still want to see and thank this ugly person I described to you?

“Ouch! Why did you pinch me that HARD?!” Taeyeon yelps in shock.

“How can you be so cruel to ahjumma Yul! Even more, Ahjumma’s your friend. You can’t say those words behind her back, Tae. Friends are forever. You really should appreciate her more.”

I can’t believe she pinches me just because I bad-mouthed the imaginary ahjumma Yul.

“But she is so annoying at times, she’s so selfish, too prideful, arrogant, you don’t know about her.”

“She has a kind heart inside, Taeng. A so selfish, annoying, prideful, arrogant 50 years ahjumma would not waste her time to give me those drinks for more than three years. Not to add I never give her anything in return. She’s a kind one inside. Don’t be tricked by her outside personalities. I wonder how can I repay her kindness”

“Easy thing!” Kim Taeyeon puts on victarious smile.

“You have… Idea?”

“Of course, your manager here always provides you with the best idea.” The manager nods happily.

“Tell me then?” The idol nudge the manager's arm.

“Give her a smile and a wave.”

“What? A smile and wave? I thought you will come up with something more classy, like jewelry, or a king sized bed for her, that will do good for her back… Or something like free tickets to Paris or stuffs?”

“Nah, you don’t need to repay her with those stuffs, Yoona ya” 

That Kwon bathes with jewelry everyday. And she will never need a ticket. She owns personal airplane.

“What? are you being frugal now Taeng?”

“Believe me, she will be the happiest when you smile to her. A wave is just a bonus.”

“And how can I do that when I have never met her?”

“You know, let me ask you a question. What will you do when you see Yoochun oppa sings at the stage?”

“I’ll scream and applause non-stop!”

“Then this is the easiest way to spot that Yul…” Kim Taeyeon gave a meaningful glance at the girl.

Im Yoona waited for the answer.

“Search for a person who doesn’t move an inch when she sees you perform. That’s her.” That moron always stares at you, focused only to you. She never makes irrelevant moves- just staring at you.

“Because she’s too old to… Move amongst the crowd?” Yoona glances at her manager in worried expression.

Kim Taeyeon laughs aloud.

It’s not like that... She’s just too mesmerized and dazzled by you, that is.

***

06:30AM.

S E O U L T O D A Y

COLD KWON COLLAPSING- IS BUSINESS THE REASON?

Friday, April 8th, The infamous young CEO of the Lake Wood Corporation hit the ground after a phone call. Exactly at 03:45am at the dawn, the head maid and secretary took the owner of the biggest group into hospital with tears and panicked expression. When asked, both the trusted person couldn’t explained clearly on how things happened so fast that had their boss fell so suddenly into the floor. From the first eye witness, Kim Hyoyeon, age 24, “My boss just made a phone call and then she turned pale all the sudden, before she fell into the floor soon after she ended the phone.” They brought the person known as the Cold Kwon into Yonsei University Hospital, and had the best doctor to take care upon her. Punctually at 04:10 in the morning, Dr. A, who took care of her, and also the youngest surgeon at Yonsei explained to us that the 25 years old Kwon Yuri is resting safely. “We finished all the treatment needed, and there is nothing wrong, or bad happening to the patient. She’ll recover soon with a proper rest.”

The incident happened a day after the Seoul great International meeting. Does her collapsing have something to do with the result of the meeting, or is it a personal matter that has to be kept secretly? No further information can be gathered from this accident, for the persons in charge have been zipping the details. With the Cold Kwon’s recently sewn lip, we are sure that she won’t be allowed to talk for a while.
(Sulli.)

“Oh damn. Now I feel a bit guilty.” Taeyeon mutters to herself after she reads today’s newspaper headline while she waits for Yoona to finish the first schedule for another CF. She’s seating comfortably at the single chair, with her coffee and iPad on, before a crew gave her the newspaper. She choked the coffee when she first read the headline’s title.

She grabs her cell phone in a second and dialed a well-known number on her list. She places the coffee to the table nearby, while her eyes wander around the ceiling. Should I tell Yoona about this…? Still waiting for someone to answer the call, she moves her hands to type something on her gadget, google time.

‘Kwon Yuri collapse’

321.700 results? This early morning? Aish.

Lake Wood President COLLAPSE | Lake Wood’s bankruptcy? | COLD KWON COLLAPSE OF A SUDDEN HEART ATTACK | KWON FELL TO THE GROUND | LAKE WOOD INTO COMA? |

Sometimes media is too full of crap that I can’t believe or rely on their words.

“Come on, someone answer the call.” Taeyeon taps her finger impatiently.

“Hello?” Finally she hears avoice from the other line. Taeyeon sighs in relieve, even though its not Yuri’s voice. It's the secretary, Sooyoung.

“Sooyoung ya, you placed some securities outside the room, right? Okay, make sure Yoona and I can visit that moron in around one hour from now, you got that? I don’t want to fight over some big guy when there are so many reporters in the hospital. What? You think your boss will go freak out when she sees Yoona? Then ask the nurse or the doctor to put on some sleeping pill on her. I’m evil? No, I am not. It’s for the good. Okay see you in around an hour. Yeah you’re welcome, she’ll be very pleased and touched that her idol came to visit her. And there is a chance for you and me to be killed by her too, afterwards, nah never mind. Okay this is really good-bye. Bye. What? You get Tiffany’s autograph?! Curse you. I’ll steal it- just you wait! Hey I really need to go now, should arrange things for Yoona, bye.”

“Manager Kim, we need to talk about the next schedule,”

Taeyeon puts her phone back to her pocket. “Of course, lets go over the stage and see.”

Together they walk out a back entrance as they speak along the corridor, with all the crews busy with their own assigned duties, and Taeyeon opens a little door in the big blank wall of the studio building.

“Ah, there she is. Thank you for the schedule, director.”

“My pleasure, manager Kim. I’ll see you around.”

Taeyeon runs to the idol. “Yoona!”

Yoona turns to see her manager, after taking some shoots. She gives Taeyeon a questioning look. It is rare for her manager to come and speak to her at work time.

“Did you bring your commoner cloths?”

“What?" Yoona is lost of the sudden question. "I think I bring them, why?”

“Would you mind if we spend your one hour break time outside?”

“You mean eat outside? Oh yes of course!!”

“Umm it is not really eating, you know.”

“Then forgeeeet about it. I don’t want to be late for the next schedule, Tae. But food is just a perfect reason to be late” Yoona let her cunning smile appears.

“Duh, this is about Ahjumma Yul, you know.”

***

To lessen suspicion from the paparazi and public, Taeyeon and Yoona ride in a cab to Yonsei Hospital after they