Shinhye thought about their talk earlier that evening with Minho. She had realized a number of things, one, he was stuck in a marriage he didn’t want, two, he still cared deeply for her and last and the scariest thing of all is that she also cared deeply for him. More so now, that everything had been cleared. Just how exactly was she going to give up on him knowing he loved her? Leave alone being his friend she thought.

All the feelings she thought she had completely taken care of were back and stronger, she wanted him even more now. How was she to hide those feelings now that they agreed to be friends? It was the right thing to do. She couldn’t do anything to break his marriage even if it was a loveless one. True, she wished he would break up with her and come to her but she was not going to do anything to cause that. She wouldn’t, shouldn’t, mustn’t.

That evening Minho didn’t go to the bar and went straight to his apartment. Chae won wasn’t there and that was great because he didn’t want anything that would take away his happiness and besides, he really wanted to do some thinking without any interruptions. Shinhye had offered him friendship which was much more than he had hope for but for some reason he had become greedy, he wanted more. He felt like a window of hope had been opened, like he would have a second chance. He just wasn’t sure how to catch this miraculous chance.

The solution for this was him getting a divorce, this was obvious but as much as it was, it was also very difficult to achieve. Chae won wouldn’t easily offer him the divorce and he also sensed that Shinhye wouldn’t want to be the cause for their separation which why she only offered friend even when she still had feelings for him. Life was unfair indeed. He had noticed it in her eyes, she still liked him and he loved her. He just had to think of the best way for them to be together.

Shinhye found herself unintentionally paying more attention to her look the next morning. It was time had been erased and everything in between hadn’t happened. On realizing what she was doing, she quickly advised herself to stop dreaming but nevertheless kept on the dress she had chosen.

Minho was excited to see his newest ‘friend’ that morning. He really didn’t like being her friend and getting stuck in that zone but for now, he would settle since he was the reason for this whole situation they were in. he hope she wouldn’t give up hope on them and his mission was to make sure she never forgot what was between them. He just didn’t know how yet but for the start, he planned to be around her all the time.

He saw her sitting at her desk and she looked great. She was inviting, he almost went in for hug her but stopped himself not wanting to scare her. He really wanted to feel her soft skin next to his, he was in trouble, really trouble. “Morning Shinhye-ah,” he greeted instead.

“Morning sir,” Shinhye replied with a timid smile. She felt weird looking at him now, every pore in her body wanted to feel him, she felt a heat run down all over her body. She felt embarrassed because she was sure she was blushing. Minho noticed the building color in her cheeks and he was glad he had that effect on her.

While in his office, Shinhye came in with the day’s schedule. Minho was going through some documents and pointed her to the sofa asking her give him a minute. She waited in the sofa having a clear view of him. “How can any human being be this beautiful?” she wondered as she continued staring at him as he worked.

Minho could feel her gaze on him which was very destructing and this was the reason why he delayed joining her because he kept repeating the lines he read. He had to force himself to concentrate and complete reading it.

He joined her on the sofa as she handed over his schedule for the day. They went through it together just like the old days, it felt nice.

She asked about the document he was reading, “it seemed important,” she said.

“Yeah, it is very important, us you already are aware, and we are trying to open a new branch in Japan.” He said. “If all goes well, we would like to open it before end of next month. I actually intend to visit the place next week to take a look at the progress on ground. “Which reminds me, you shall be coming with me at the end of next month for the grand opening party and inform your parents so they are aware, ok?” He asked.

“Just the two of us?” She asked with worry written over her face.

“Yes. Who did you think come with us?” he asked.

“No one,” she replied.

She had hoped it wasn’t just them because she feared being alone with him leave alone travelling together to a different country with him. But wasn’t about to give up travelling to Japan because of her fears, now way. She would it in and enjoy her trip without worrying about her uncontrollable hormones.

He noticed she was worrying about something but he didn’t ask. He did want to give her a chance to back out, she had to come with him. The only reason he had decided to go in the first place was because he wanted to spend time with her away from all their problems home, she had to come along.

After talking to Shinhye, Minho called Chae won, asking to have dinner that evening. Fortunately she wasn’t on duty that evening so gladly agreed to his request. If he wanted to be with Shinhye, he had to clear the mess he had created as soon as possible and tonight would be the beginning.

Chae won was surprised by his call and not only that, his request for dinner was another thing that shocked. She wondered what had happened to cause this change in him. They agreed to meet at home and leave together. She was getting dressed when she had him call out her name. “Are you ready?” He asked.

“Almost, just a moment please.” She said as she hurriedly finished dressing up and joined him. He drove in silence until they reached. He had made a reservation and she noticed he had selected a secluded spot. They enjoyed their dinner reminiscing about old times but Chae won sensed today’s dinner wasn’t about that. She knew him, he clearly had something on his mind.

“So when I you going to finally say it?” She asked. “I know you have something on your mind.”

That was his queue to start, he guessed. He called at her directly and he asked. “Are you Happy?”

She wasn’t prepared for his question, “am I happy?”

“Yes Chae won, are you really happy, you know being married and all?” He emphasized.

“It’s not something I have thought about, I guess I am happy, why?” She asked but she wasn’t convincing. In fact it seemed like she was trying to convince herself that she was happy.

“Well, I am not happy, not in this marriage.” He said. “I feel this marriage took my best friend away, lately we have been leaving like strangers and I miss my friend. I want my best friend back, don’t you miss us.” He asked looking at her with pleading eyes. I have been thinking for a while now and the only conclusion I always land at is that we she end this marriage. Please think about it. We have tried your way and ended up destroying our friendship, let’s not hurt each other anymore. I beg of you, please think about it.”

She wasn’t saying anything so he continued reasoning with her hoping to convince her that an annulment was the only choice they had. He also didn’t want to upset her in any way since he hoped they could be friends like before when they finally separated, he didn’t want to lose her friendship, she was a good girl, it was just that, he didn’t like romantically.

After saying everything, he looked at her waiting for her reply but she was silent. She was in her mind thinking about God knows what. She realized he had stopped talking and looked him straight in the eyes.

“I asked this before we got married and am going to ask you again and please give me an honest answer. Is there someone else in your heart?” She asked.

He wasn’t sure what to say, he feared tell the truth would hurt her feelings and destroy all hopes of attaining the much needed separation. On the other hand he wanted to be honest with her, he didn’t want her feeling betrayed when she later found out about him and Shinhye.

“Is they someone you love?”  She asked again.

He looked at her weighing his options and decided to go with the truth. “Yes, Chae won there is someone else in my heart. She just came in without me noticing and now I honestly can’t be without her. I love her so much it hurts, she everything to me. I honestly don’t want to hurt either of you. You know that you have always had a big spot in my heart and you still do it’s just that she also has a huge spot in my heart to. She just makes me happy and I wish for you to meet someone who would make you feel what I feel for her.” He said.

“So you want us to divorce because of her?” she asked as tears ran down her cheeks. She had noticed he was smiling when he talked about her and she felt a sharp pain in her heart.

“No, Chae won it’s not because of her, it’s because of me.” He said. “It’s all because of me, it’s not her fault. It’s me that failed to love you like you deserve and for that I am forever sorry. If you need someone to punish for how you feel, punish me.” He pleaded.

She continued crying and after a few minutes, she cleaned her eyes, picked her bag and walked out the restaurant leaving him without saying a word.