Yong Hwa knew it. Even if Shin Hye was in his house, it was not wise to bring her to his room to make her happy or to take advantage of the situation. He knew he had been in her room a lot too, but they were just lying side by side without malice. And he knew that it was not right to make advances when she was still tied to Min Ho.

The two of them went to the kitchen so he could prepare a warm drink for her. As Shin Hye continued to cry, he made a soothing glass of warm milk. After the milk was ready, she placed it in front of her.

"Yeogi."

"Go...gomawo..."

"Malhaebwa," he told her.

Shin Hye sniffled and tried to tell her story calmly, starting during dinner time. Though Yong was in pain, he listened attentively. Shin Hye would occasionally drink from the glass before resuming her story. And her story came to the point about Min Ho using swear words (even though it was English), and dancing and kissing girls at the dance floor.

"Mwo?" Yong Hwa ed. "How dare he!"

He fumed, and Shin Hye looked at him. 

"Help me," she begged.

"Break up with him," he ordered.

Shin Hye got pale. Min Ho was her first boyfriend ever, so she shook her head.

"He will change, I know," she said to him. "I will forgive him... I know he will change."

Yong Hwa's tears began to fall. His friend was hurting, but she was willing to forgive such a bastard boyfriend? Here he was, trying to make her see reason. He was hurting for her, but he was also hurting because he wanted her to see his point of view. Why can't she get it?

"Shin Hye-ya, hajima," he said.

Now, Shin Hye realized he was crying too, so she asked why he was crying.

"Shin Hye-ya, why are you doing this? Can you not respect yourself? Why are you all over a guy when he even disregarded you like that the first time?"

Shin Hye held his hand and looked at him tenderly.

"Yong Hwa-ya, I know I am hurt, and this must be because I am in love with him so much..." she replied. "I know he will change. He will change because of me. He will change because he loves me."

Yong Hwa wanted to grab the glass and throw it to the wall, but he restrained himself because... it was his glass.

"Shin Hye-ya... that is not love! You are being a martyr, for crying out loud! Do you think he will really change?"

"Yes... Even Min Hyuk changed, right?"

"But Jong Hyun did not even change!" was Yong Hwa's rationalization. "Min Hyuk changed because he realized something the first time he met Woori, and it was when they were NOT yet interacting, arasseo? How can you be so sure that Lee Min Ho will change? It takes guts and willpower for an adult to change his habits."

Shin Hye sniffled and squeezed his hand more.

"I know he will. That is like that in the dramas, geureohchi? The bad guy will change because of a girl with a pure heart," she said.

"But that is just in the dramas! Dramas are just outlet for unvoiced desires. They are not real," Yong Hwa explained.

But Shin Hye tiredly smiled. "But maybe, he will change for me."

"No, he won't," he said. "Trust me because I am a guy. And you should know that too because that had been Jong Hyun's promises to his past girlfriends."

Yong Hwa continued to shed his tears. He did not want Shin Hye to end up like Jong Hyun's exes. And heck, he did not even want Jong Hyun to sire a child out of wedlock. If the vampire guy could realize like Min Hyuk, he would change. He would change for himself, he would change because he realized something, not that he will change for a girl. That is an old school thought that had gone awry for years.

"Why don't you get it?" he asked her. "Do you think Hwang Tae Kyung, Kim Tan, and Goo Jun Pyo, if ever they exist in real life, will change because of a naive girl? That is why it is called a drama series, a TV series, because it is there to entertain. It doesn't necessarily mean that it mirrors reality."

Shin Hye's tears fell.

"So... does that mean that he might not change for me?" she asked.

"Now you finally get it!" he told her, tears still falling. "Get over him and break up with him. You do not deserve someone who will only tear your heart."

Shin Hye sobbed all the more. Will it mean the end of her and Min Ho?

"Get some closure. I don't want to see you getting hurt, getting back with him, then getting hurt..."

But that was also exactly what he was doing to himself. He should also try to get over her and move on. But as it is, he was willing to wait because he wanted to show her more than he had given her. He treated her like a princess because he was brought up by a queen. And he wanted to keep on treating her right because she deserved it.

Because that is true love.

"Forgive him if you want, but do not give him a second chance," he told her.

Shin Hye contemplated what she would do. Just then, she remembered that Min Ho said that she can dress up ily like Ga In. Does he want her to dress up only to satisfy his ego? That he has a y girlfriend? She remembered Taecyeon's convo with Min Hyuk one time, and the other content writer was admonishing the programmer. Min Hyuk should get a girl to complement him, not someone to feed his ego. Love is a two-way thing. Love is not using someone nor being used.

And she finally got Yong Hwa's point.

"Yong Hwa-ya... gomawo..."

She stood up from her chair and went to him to give him a hug. As he was about to stand up too, their faces accidentally met too close--

--that they ended up...

Kissing each other.

Yong Hwa pulled out himself first, and saw a blush on Shin Hye's face. Shin Hye, too, saw that Yong's face turned to all shades of red. But awkwardness settled in, as Yong Hwa realized it was wrong to kiss someone who was taken.

But it as just an accident, arasseo?

"M...mianhae," Yong Hwa said.

"Uh... gwaenchanha..." Shin Hye replied in a soft murmur.

To make it even more awkward, he invited her to his room so she could sleep there. Shin Hye did not have her clothes there because she doesn't leave her things behind--something opposite to Yong Hwa. 

"I'll sleep on the floor," he mused, showing off his grin.

Shin Hye sat on the bed and watched him get out of the room. The room had never changed. As she looked at the cabinet beside Yong Hwa's shoe rack, she saw the the Rilakkuma stuffed toy. It was the toy that she had threw out when she got angry at him. She stood up and went to the cabinet to retrieve the toy. When she grabbed the toy, a book fell off. The book was placed under the toy. Hugging Rilakkuma, she stooped down to retrieved the book and found out that it was the one Yong Hwa gave her from Singapore.

Singapore.

She could calm down and think things over in Singapore.

She went back to bed, cuddled with Rilakkuma, and settled to reading the book. She wanted a good book to accompany her tonight in her loneliness.

****

The kiss bothered Yong but excited him as well. He washed the glass that Shin Hye had used, but he was smiling. After putting the glass in place, he touched his lips.

"Might as well go back to the room."

He headed to the room and saw his BFF reading the book. The said girl did not notice his arrival, so he smiled and left her in peace. That should be a good thing to see, instead of seeing her crying. The thought of her reading the book he gave her and snuggling the toy meant that he still meant a lot to her. So satisfied was he that he settled to the living room to sleep.

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Hey, it's "Heartstrings" 3rd anniversary. Let's all trend the keyword #weloveh3artstrings as in so right now! Ppalli!

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