It was late at night, 1 a.m. to be exact, Bom just got back from a photo-shoot. She sat at her dressing table and stared at her own reflection. She recalled the comments she got during the photo-shoot.

“Wah, she’s really pretty”

“Uuuuwaaah. Bom is really gorgeous”

“She’s truly the goddess!”

A small chuckle escaped her lips.

No one could deny that her beauty was really one of her bonus point.

The comments slowly flood her mind, angering her bit by bit.

Not being able to take it anymore, Bom pushed everything off her dresser, her make-up, skin care and other things  with tears slowly starting to roll down her cheeks.

“Stop it! Just make it stop!”

She covered her ears as the never-ending comments continued flooding her mind.

‘I think I’m ugly

And nobody wants to love me

Just like her, I want to be pretty

I want to be pretty

Don’t lie to my face

Telling me I’m pretty’

‘What’s the point of being pretty if you can’t get the love of your life?’ she thought. He was there for her whenever she needed someone. He was someone who cheered her up whenever she felt down.  But he was someone that will never love her more than a friend.

Her thoughts got interrupted by her phone which suddenly started to ring. Bom stared at her phone as the ring tone continues to play.

24/7 geudaen yeongwonhan heaven
24/7 geudaen namanui heaven
24/7 geudaen yeongwonhan heaven
24/7 heaven

There wouldn’t be any other who would call her at this hour. Bom looked at the caller id, it was Choi Seunghyun.

No matter how late it was, he would always be the one to check on her. He learned her daily schedule so that he could check on her, to make sure she was safely at home.

He would be the first and last person that she talks to every day. But this time, Bom couldn’t bring herself to answer his call.

Ignoring the caller id, she grabbed the nearest lipstick that was next to her feet and wrote on the mirror, with tears still rolling down her wet cheeks.

She let the lipstick drop by her side as she stared at the words.

With heavy feet, she slowly stood up and grabbed the small lamp which was on her dresser.  

*SMASH*

Bom broke part of the mirror in front of her, still crying, she slowly backed away from the mirror. She dropped herself on her bed, tired of herself, tired of everything, shedding one last tear before darkness consumed her.

“I’m all alone …” she whispered.

Seunghyun stared at his phone. He wanted to confess to her tonight. He gathered his courage to finally make a move. But he couldn’t get her. And it was not like her to not pick up his calls. He tried a few more times, but still no answer.

She’s still not picking up her phone. Something must have gone wrong.

He grabbed a box lying on the kitchen table and quickly rushes off to Bommie’s place which was just downstairs.

Just as he was about to knock, he heard a crash from the inside.

Worried, he took out the spare keys he had secretly made and quickly went in to find her.

“Bom? Bommie! Where are you?!” he called out frantically looking around her house for her. He placed the box in the living room and headed to the direction of her bedroom.

Seunghyun opened her bedroom door, just to see her collapsed on the bed.

“Noona? Oh god. Bom!”

Fear started to overwhelm him as he rushed to her side.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Seunghyun asked as he pushes a few strands of hair away from her face & carried her in his arms

Waking up from the darkness, Bom blinked a few times before speaking up, “Seunghyun-ssi … w..what are you doing here?”

“You didn’t answer my calls and you expect me not to worry about you?” He chuckled while playing with her hair. Only now then Seunghyun started to take note of his surrounding that he ignored in the first place.

“What happened here? Did you get robbed? Are you hurt?”

“Ani … I’m fine. I was just … tired … tired of everything ...” She mumbled the last few words.

Not hearing the last few words, he asked again.

“Y-yah … are you … sure?” He worriedly looks at her.

She simply nodded her head.

“Just let me rest & I’ll be fine …”  she gave him a weak smile.

“A-araso …” Seunghyun slowly let her go. He stood up & headed to the kitchen, still figuring out what had happened.

He came back into the room carrying a box. As he entered, Seunghyun noticed her things all over the floor. He glanced at Bom who was lying on the bed ‘Aish..What has gotten into her’ he muttered to himself.  

Seeing that she had fallen asleep, he slowly placed he box on her bedside table.

He went over to her dressing table & knelt down, helping her to clean up the mess. Slowly picking up the shattered glass with his hands and throwing it into the dustbin.

Not long, he was done cleaning the shattered glass. He then gathered up the other things which laid on the floor. As he was slowly placing and arranging the things back on the table, Seunghyun looked up to the broken mirror and finally notice the remaining part of mirror was covered with red words.

As he read the words written on the mirror, he could feel his heart shattering at every word he read.

I’M NOT PRETTY

I’M NOT BEAUTIFUL

I want to hide away somewhere, I want to escape...

This world is full of lies …

“How could she feel this way about herself …” Seunghyun mumbled to himself.

He stared at the sleeping figure on the bed before approaching it.

Assuming she had fallen asleep, Seunghyun knelt down beside her.

Playing with a few strands of her hair, he began, “Yah, babo. How can you think you’re ugly? That’s insulting, you know. I can’t believe you don’t know how beautiful you are.”

He chuckled lightly before continuing, “2 years ago, I fell in love with an amazing girl. A girl who believes in herself and knows she’s capable of anything she puts her mind to. A girl who resembles a goddess. No wait, she's even better than one. She's just so unremarkably beautiful. It's not even real. Her eyes are so bright. Her skin is silky. Her long hair and her gorgeous laugh.”

Seunghyun gazed at the sleeping beauty in front of him as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It seems impossible how much I’ve fallen for this out-spoken and gorgeous girl who came out from no where into my life. I still can't forget how I first saw her beautiful eyes and her undeniable cute laugh.”

He let out a huge sigh before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. He stood up & prepared to leave. He took the box he left on the bedside table and went to the dressing table again. He took something out of the box and placed it on the dresser.

Seunghyun left the room again, and grabbed a cloth from the kitchen. He headed back to her room and went to the mirror, erasing everything.

He took out a sticky note from the drawer of her table and wrote something on the paper, stuck it at the bottom of the mirror and left. Closing the door quietly behind him.

-

-

-

-

Hearing him leave her house, Bom slowly took a peek before officially opening her already-puffy eyes.

‘D-did he just confess t-that he loves me?’

‘I must have been dreaming’she thought

She slowly sat up in her bed and shifted her attention to her dressing table and gasped to find a huge chocolate cake sitting on her table, with the candles lit. She got up and walked towards the cake, where she saw the words Happy Birthday written on it.

Oh snap! It's my birthday!How could I even forget my own birthday?!

She rubbed her eyes before noticing the cleaned broken mirror and the note stuck at the bottom.

“Don’t let nobody tell you, you’re not beautiful.

Not even yourself. Because to me you’re beautiful both inside and out.

Happy Birthday & I love you.”