Oh no. ‘We need to talk?’ That never meant anything good. Why did he have to say it like that? Ugh, I need to keep cool. Trying to avoid eye contact, I started looking around. I looked over at the refreshments table and saw Zelo chomping on some food. He looked up at me and waved. He gave me a thumbs up and saw his thumb was dirty so he it clean. I laughed and waved back, feeling more confident now. I turned back to Joonie and smiled.

He said, “How are you?”

How am I? Really? After saying ‘we need to talk’ that’s what he says? Frustrated and worried I avoided that question and answered with another question. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Well…I just got asked to be on a show…

…We Got Married…

…Have you heard of it?”

…I just stared at him.

“Well…I agreed to do it. I don’t know if you know anything about the show but…”

He was getting more nervous, scratching his head again, looking down, playing with his cufflinks.

“Oh Yeon-seo …she’s an actress too, have you worked with her?...She’s my…uhm…

…well you know we have a lot of things in common. We already had the first meet up…”

I couldn’t listen anymore. I tuned him out. I didn’t want to hear about the things he had in common with Yeonseo. I just wanted to know what this meant for me. What was going to happen to us? When I found myself listening to him again he was talking about us dating.

“We can’t do this anymore. I mean, we weren’t really dating—no one knew but us and the rest of the members, really. I just…well…if we continued to date…you know…if the press finds out…it would be a huge scandal. I need to be faithful to my wife…even if it is just pretend.”

That was it. The words I didn’t want to hear. He was breaking up with me and there was nothing I could do or say to change his mind. I had to say something…I hope I don’t choke. “Ne, araso.” Thank goodness. That sounded more natural than I hoped. He looked a little confused at first but then I gave him a little smile.

“Mianhae, ________-ah.”

I turned around to walk away. I had only taken a few steps when I heard Joonie’s cheerful laugh in the distance as he called after his friend. I must have looked worried at this point because next thing I knew, Zelo was in front of me.

“Noona?” He was waving his hand in front of my face. “Noona?! Are you alright?”

Zelo was so tall. He crouched down to look me in the eyes but I looked down. I couldn’t face him. Not now. I couldn’t just leave though without saying anything because that would only make it worse…I had to gather up all my energy to put on a happy face for Zelo…I only had to face him for a few seconds.

“Ne! I have to go to the washroom. I forgot to go to the bathroom before we left. Mianhae, Zelo.”

I turned around and started to walk towards the door. When I got outside, I started to cry as I went down the stairs. I heard Zelo chasing after me. He must of followed me to make sure I was going to the bathroom like I said.

He was calling after me but I couldn’t face him. Not now…not when my heart has just been ripped out. I just wanted to leave and be alone but leaving the ball felt like forever…Was I in Hogwarts? How many stairs were there to get out of here? I was crying harder now, frustrated that I wasn’t already home. My vision began to blur when I had finally reached the sidewalk. I fell and tripped, not seeing that the sidewalk had ended and I was now on the street. Even though I was hurt, I was relieved I could finally get in a car and leave. I heard Zelo yelling at me even more now and getting closer. I noticed that I had scraped my hands and knees. I brushed them off and got up.

“NOONA! LOOK OUT!!!!!!!”

I looked back at him and then it was bright.