The next day @ Faculty

KIM SOO HYUN was walking down the stairs and walked steadily through the west wing hallway. She just came back from lecturers' meeting and was on his way to his office. He had at least half an hour to rest in his cozy office before heading back to lecture. Some of the students bowed slightly showing him respect and greeted him and he replied back with the same. The weather was very hot today and he feels stuffy. He regret wearing black formal shirt today when the weather was unbearably hot. He walked in a faster pace while still remain steady to his office. On his way to his office, he saw something just right at the corner before reaching his office. 

It was Young Hee and a guy. From afar, it seemed that they were having a casual conversation. The guy looked like he was flirting and trying to ask Young Hee out on a date. He studied Young Hee's expression. Young Hee looked uneasy and uncomfortable. He walked slowly towards them to hear their conversation. Again, he was eavesdropping unconsciously.

LEE YOUNG HEE glared at the guy in front of him. She would always have this look when faced with that guy. The annoyed, irritated look. The guy in front of him is not an ordinary guy. He is the son of Korea's chaebol and hold the position as the largest shareholder in Korea's stocks and shares industry. But that's not all. The guy in front of her right now is notorious for his bastardness. She despises guys like that. But the guy in front of her is rather annoying and always love to bother her and follow her around like flies and she hated it.

"JANG KEUN SUK. Stop bothering me. Get out of my way." She tried to pull the guy away but the guy blocked her with his well-built body. 

"Ani, you're not going anywhere until you agree to go out on a date with me." he said coolly.

Young Hee rolled her eyes. "In your dreams. Bbee kyo!" she tried to push him hard but the guy with his full strength pushed her back to the rail along the corridor. 

"Look, I'm sorry for that night okay, I overstep my boundaries and I shouldn't have done that" he said while struggling to hold hard her arms to stop her from getting away and pushed her against the rail once again. He took her out for dinner and she was forced to go along with him, for some reasons. But that night while sending her back home, he tried to kiss her and that is why she was very mad at him for not respecting her as a woman. Keun Suk is now in front of her trying to apologize for that night's incident. 

"Jang Keun Suk, let me-" she yelled and stopped when she heard someone's voice. She turned around upon hearing the familiar voice and her eyes widened.

"Let her go." Kim Soo Hyun walked towards them and finally stopped in front of them. Jang Keun Suk still gripped her arms while looking straight at Soo Hyun's eyes.

"Are you guys fighting? Go have your lovers fight somewhere else. You're making a scene here and it's bothering the others." he said while loosening his tie and the top of his black collar shirt. 

Lovers fight? Young Hee knew Soo Hyun had a wrong idea about the two of them. She pulled her arms off Jang Keun Suk's grip.

"Aneyo, sonsaengnim, it's not what you thin-" 

"You, I've told you to get Jae Kyung for me, why haven't you go?" Soo Hyun snapped.

"Sorry?" Young Hee asked, confused. Just when did he tell me that? She tried to recall but she did not remember having any conversation with Soo Hyun until now. She began to conclude that probably Soo Hyun thought he informed her but actually he informed that to someone else. 

"Go and find Jae Kyung for me. Tell her to see me in my office NOW." he instructed and walked a few steps towards his room and banged the door.

There was a silent moment upon hearing the door bang. 

"That little crap. Who does he think he is?" Jang Keun Suk held his fist up in anger but did not move an inch towards Soo Hyun's room. Young Hee turned around and looked at him moving his fist up high. 'Tch, just what are you going to do with the fist anyway?' she thought to herself. 'Ah, bata!' she then remembered Soo Hyun asking her to find Jae Kyung.

"Did you hear that? I need to go find Jae Kyung. Now move." she said and pushed him away.

"Yah! Why do you have to listen to him? Who is he to simply send you on errands like that?" he said and followed Young Hee. "Don't follow me!" Young Hee yelled while walking away as her voice fades away from the corridor.

On the other side @ Jaeguk Holdings

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Come in!"

Secretary Yoon came in and bowed before handing over a hard cover document to Chairman Lee. Chairman Lee flipped through the papers in the document and signed at the bottom part on the last page of the document and hand it over again to Secretary Yoon.

"Tell the Head of Department to hold a meeting for the staffs. We need to discuss on the home shopping products for the upcoming winter season." he instructed.

"Yes, Chairman."

"By the way, have you checked the available universities in Massachussets?" 

"Yes, Chairman. Apparently since it's in the middle of the semester not many universities are willing to receive a transfer of an international student. Especially when Young Hee is now in her final year."

Chairman Lee sighed. "Okay. You can go now."

"Deh" He bowed slightly and left the room. Chairman Lee rests his back on the ergonomic swivel chair in his office and heaved a long sigh. His right hand was placed on the table as he tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about something. He just did not know what else can he do to make Young Hee listened to him. Young Hee had forcibly agreed to study for Business Management after being persuaded by Jung Ah. He was aware of the fact that he had placed high expectation on Young Hee and that Young Hee refused to live up to that expectation. She wants to live her own life, her own freedom, doing what she loves and stuffs. When he approved of her decision to study English and literature, he remembered that bright smile and teary eyes thanking him for that. But yesterday her eyes were welling up with tears of disappointment because he just let her down. 

"For once, I thought you are doing a good thing as a father." he recalled what Young Hee had said yesterday evening.

He still felt the need to get Young Hee into all these stuffs. She's his only hope. His only daughter who could keep Jaeguk Group alive in the family. He started to coughed loudly and heavily. He took out a small bottle containing tablets from his lower desk. With trembling hands, he randomly took a few tablets from the bottle and swallow it in one go. He then grabbed a glass of water on the table and drank it all. After a few second he stopped coughing but he felt tired from coughing. 

Mianhae, Young Hee-ah. I don't think I have much time left. 

He put up a telephone handset to his ears and dialed a number and waited for the person on the other side to answer the call.

"Hello, President Jang? It's been a while." he greeted happily.

At the faculty..

KIM SOO HYUN was marking test papers when he heard a knock on his office door. "Come in." he said and looked up. It was Jae Kyung.

"Yes, Kim Jae Kyung? What brings you here?" he asked again. Jae Kyung had a confused look on her face.

"Sonsaengnim, was it not you who called me?" Jae Kyung asked in confusion. She was pretty sure that Young Hee said that she personally relayed the message from Soo Hyun.

"Did I?" Soo Hyun got confused as well. He tried to remember if he had asked to meet Jae Kyung and finally recalled it. Upon the recollection, he laughed. This must be Young Hee. She actually believed me and conveyed the message for real?? He motioned his head just thinking how gullible she is. And how cute she is to behave like that. He then looked at Jae Kyung and realized she was even more confused with him laughing all of a sudden. He cleared his throat while searching a good reason for calling her here in his office. 

"Ah. I forgot." he looked down his desk and took out a piece of paper which he had just printed from the drawer and gave it to her.

"This is the tutorial questions I've set for your class. Submit them to me by next week." he informed her.

"Deh, sonsaengnim." she took the paper from him and left the room.

Kim Soo Hyun thought about the earlier incident and laughed again, this time he ran out of his office and search for Jae Kyung who had just got out from his room. As soon as he saw her, he shouted for her name and rushed to her. 

"What is it, sir?" Jae Kyung asked with her eyes widened.

"If you happen to see Young Hee around, tell her to meet me in my office."

Jae Kyung slowly nodded while her eyes had the weird expression. "D-deh...." she took a few steps back before turning around and walked away towards the cafe, knowing that Young Hee would surely be there.

LEE YOUNG HEE was laughing with Sulli and Minho while finishing the remaining pieces of her fries when she was smacked on the head by Jae Kyung.

"Ow! Yah! What the hell?!" Young Hee yelled and rubbing her head. 

Jae Kyung just smirked at her and pulled a chair from the other to sit with the trio. "Yah, Kim Sonsaengnim wants you to meet him in his office." she informed. Young Hee was shocked that she coughs and small chewed pieces of fries went out of .

"Ew, gross!" the three of them snapped. Sulli handed her a glass of water and she drank it until it became almost empty. 

"Why did he want to see me? I thought he asked me to call you just now, no?" she asked again as she wiped with a tissue.

"That's the thing. It's weird. Why did she asked you to call for me..when he asked me to call for you again in the end? I am confused myself." she explained.

"What did he ask you to do just now?" Sulli asked.

"He just handed me the tutorial question. He could have just given it to you since he has met you before asking you to call me. And just why is he calling  for you again?" Jae Kyung keep on questioning the confusion she has in her head.

"Probably because you are the class representative," Minho sneaked into the conversation. The three of them looked at Minho. "That's why he thinks it is appropriate to hand it personally to you since you are the class representative." he explained.

"Yes, I thought so too." Sulli agreed.

Jae Kyung nodded slowly, trying to sort out the confusion. "But I still think it's weird. Why would he call you twice, Young Hee?" she turned to face Young Hee. Young Hee stood up and grabbed her backpack. 

"I don't know, and that's what I'm going to find out. I'll see you guys around!" she pushed hard the cafe door and stormed off.

"Aish that fella, she surely knows how to break the door." Sulli mumbled watching her through the glass window of the cafe.

"Yah, don't you smell something fishy?" Jae Kyung gathered the three of them closer and she sounded almost whispering.

"What is it?" Sulli asked.

"I think.... I think...." she paused, her minds organizing the last pieces of puzzle to get the whole picture of what is going around. She then snapped her finger, finally got into the conclusion.

"Ha! Erm..." she giggled before continuing. "I don't really want to sound weird but I think Kim Sonsaengnim likes me. And I think he personally asked for Young Hee's help. Don't you think so?" she giggled before her head was smacked by Sulli and her forehead flicked by Minho.

"Ouch! YAH!!" she shouted.

"Just how the hell did you come to that conclusion?? Nonsense!" Sulli said and continued eating her burger.

"Aniii I think that's the only thing that makes sense! Plus, why do you think Young Hee had asked me to help her asking her questions to Sonsaengnim? Probably Young Hee purposely did that so that Sonsaengnim could have the chance to talk to me. Maybe she wants to give way to both of us so that you know,...maybe we can work things out together." she concluded again. But this time, she was totally ignored by Minho and Sulli.

LEE YOUNG HEE stood in front of the door. She tried to pull herself together and overcome her nervousness. She was contemplating whether to go inside or not. She had been thinking and picturing herself in the office. How she would react. How she would sit and how she would smile. She knew she had to control herself from being overly captivated by his charm again, especially today when he wears a black formal shirt. He is always good looking in whatever he wears but when he wears black, he certainly looks extremely SMART, HANDSOME AND HOT! There was this one time when he walked around in his black formal shirt and everyone could not stop looking at him. Everyone is mesmerized because he is smoking hot. And she could barely control herself earlier when he approached her and loosen his tie and his collar. Damn, he really is hot, she thought. 

Speaking of which, even after all those thoughts she finds herself still standing in front of his door. She looked at the name plaque that was hanging on his door. 

Mr. Kim Soo Hyun. 
Lecturer. 
Room 3-1-6 

She took out the name plaque and wiped away the dusk with a tissue. She then breathe out onto the plaque before wiping it again so that it will look more clear and polished. When she was about to hang the plaque once again, the door opened and Soo Hyun was about to step out of his room. Both of them were now standing really close to each other, with Young Hee's hand still holding the plaque. 

Oh.My.God.

That fair skin.
That long neck. That cute adam's apple.
That black formal shirt with the top slightly ed revealing part of his chest.
His Hugo Boss scent.

Young Hee gulped.

Get yourself together, get yourself together, Lee Young Hee! She slapped herself in mind but her eyes still locked into his. 

Soo Hyun was rather surprised to see her in front of his door, he then looked at the plaque on her hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a blank expression on his face.

"Deh? Ah, erm.... I just thought it was a bit dusky so I..." she stopped her sentence there. She looked at Soo Hyun and he was still looking at her with an expressionless look on his face. She finally got to her senses and get back to the main reason she was there.

"Did you call for me earlier? Jae Kyung told me that you want to see me." she said. 

Soo Hyun looked at her. He then remembered the gullible act that she did which caused him to call her again to talk about that. Upon remembering that he laughed.

"Ah, yes I did. Young Hee," he laughed again. "You're gullible, aren't you?" he asked while having the smile of the remaining laughter on his face.

"Sorry?" she asked again, confused.

"I said, you are so gullible. Do you actually believe me when I told you to find Jae Kyung for me?" he asked again.

"Eh? Did you not tell me to go and find-" before she could finish, she was cut off by Soo Hyun, knowing already what she wanted to explain.

"I told you that so that you could get away from that reddish brown haired guy. Don't you understand the whole situation? The message wasn't for real!" he laughed again. 

She looked at him with a puzzled frown. She tried to recall the earlier conversation.

"You, I've told you to find Jae Kyung for me have I not? Why haven't you go? Find her and tell her to meet me in my office NOW." 

And finally she had an O on and laughed together with Soo Hyun.

"Sonsaengnim! I thought that was for real!" she said and laughed again.

"Yah, it must have been hard for you during April's Fools." he joked as they walked along the hallway. She did not know where was he going actually but she just followed him along, and he too, did not even ask if they were actually heading towards the same direction. Young Hee did not have any class for the rest of the day but she actually had plans with Sulli and Minho. But seeing how happy Soo Hyun is and how they were walking together while laughing and talking about happy things really makes her feel glad. She wanted to cherish this moment and so she followed him along and then sat on an isolated garden in the faculty; there were no signs of people, only the sounds of the birds chirping. It was really peaceful and quiet there and she would always go here to read and sleep on the wooden bench. It was very relaxing, surrounded by beautiful green grass. 

"But then again, what was he doing to you anyway?" he asked.

"Nothing, he just like to bother people like that." she answered.

"He surely knows how to make up with you... That's not the way though. He should know better. It's annoying and harsh and...anyway, he shoudn't be doing that to a girlfriend." he explained, thinking that what they had seen earlier as a lover's fight.

"Sonsaengnim. I think you've got the wrong idea here." she tried to explain more but there was a cellphone ringing. It came from Soo Hyun's pocket. Soo Hyun took his cellphone out and saw the name. It took him quite a while to decide whether to answer it or not. His expression has changed totally. From a happy face to a sad..and hurtful look. He just stared at the phone and his hands were trembling. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Finally the ringing has stopped. From where she stands, Young Hee could see the name that appeared on the phone. 

Kwon Yuri.

She remembered reading an online article about her. She was an international model from Korea and had promoted lots of brands from Korea at an international level. She had been in Broadway for the past two years and had recently returned to Korea. When she was interviewed on what was the main reason of her returning, she said that she had recently got a contract from a local modelling company and that she misses 'someone'. When asked again whether that someone is her lover, she just smiled and said "Someone whom I have left for so long and whose love I have been longing for."

And starting from there, everything makes sense now. 
She now understands the reason behind everything that has happened. Kim Soo Hyun might be just the person Kwon Yuri was referring to. The one that she has left for so long and has longed for at the same time. The one who has left him alone. 

"What is the point of loving... when there's gonna be a betrayal in the end? And you're gonna lose the person you love in the end?"

She recalled the conversation they had few days ago, when they talked about the novel review and when she brought up 'Price of a Kiss'.

She looked again at Soo Hyun's expression and she began to feel hurt too. Seeing him hurt makes her feel hurt too. She felt that she was a useless person who could not do anything for the one she loves. While it is hurting to see him like this, there's nothing that she could do, and that is what makes her feel miserable. She wanted to help, she really want to help ease his pain a little, if not all... 

"Don't show that face to me." Soo Hyun said. He was now trying to hold back his tears. Again, upon seeing the name on the screen, it gives him a very painful heartache. He was contemplating whether to answer it or not. He was confused himself; answering the call would have changed everything. It may end everything or it may revert everything back to where it originally was. It depends on him now, and her. He was afraid to lose her forever, and at the same time he was angry at her too for leaving, yet there was nothing that he could do because he misses her so much. Despite all the pain she had given him, he still could not let her go. He still kept her in his heart. He tried to get himself together and realized that Young Hee had been looking at him with a sad, sympathetic expression on her face. He realized that he had looked rather pathetic in front of that girl. He ego self felt that this has hurt his pride... for a girl to see him in that state. He walked a few steps when he heard her spoke to him.

"Why aren't you answering her call? When that is what you've actually been waiting for all these years?" she asked. Soo Hyun remained still for a moment but he didn't turn back. 

"If you're so afraid of losing, why aren't you holding on to her? If you're so afraid of betrayal, why aren't you protecting your love?" 

"Shut up, don't act like you know everything," he said in trembled voice, trying to hold back his anger and at the same time trying to holdback his heartache.

"You asked me the other day, what is the point of loving when there's gonna be a betrayal in the end, and that you're gonna lose the person you love in the end? If you still love her, why aren't you holding onto her? Why are you letting her go? I'm sure you know why is she calling you. I'm sure you already know the reason for her return." she paused. "So why are you still here and not chasing after her??"

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?!" he started to raise his voice, and turned around and face her.

"Sonsaengnim, you're just afraid to love. You're just afraid that if you love again, you're gonna get hurt again. She was the reason for your happiness 3 years ago and her disappearance became the reason for you getting hurt ever since then, can't you see that?! Are you just gonna let your pride taking over you?!" she shouted back, this time tears started to well up her eyes.

She knew she had overstepped her boundaries by doing this. But she just knew she had to. She realized how much that guy has been hurt by the girl he truly loves. But now that the person whom he can't seem to get over with for the past two years has appeared again, why can't he give her another chance? She knew she's gonna be hurt because of this, but what more does she need if that is the only way for him to be happy? She knew no one else can make him happy except for that person. That person has been in his heart for so long and that she took away her happiness when she left and yet no one can seem to replace her in his heart. 

"She was the reason for your smile, she was the reason your life is full of joy, don't you miss that? Without even giving her a chance to explain herself, without even listen to what she's gonna say, are you just gonna let her go? Are you just going to sit back and do nothing as she walked away because of your selfish ego coward self? Without giving her a second chance, are you going to let her go and go through that pain once again and live your life full of remorse? Are you not going to regret it?!" she cried.

"Shut the hell up! Do you think it's that easy? You can simply say everything you want but do you think it's that easy?! You don't even know a thing about me so stop acting like you know everything. Who gives you the right to get into my business?!" he yelled. There were tears at the corner of his eyes, rolling down his cheek.

"Because sir,-" she paused, while trying to control herself from sobbing heavily but she couldn't seem to finish her sentence. 

"From now on, don't ever show up to me again. Get the hell out of my life, you immature kid. I don't want to see you ever again. And you know what? Thanks to you, you've just made me hate you so much." he walked away, leaving her alone.

She watched him walking away and cried heavily.

Because sir, I love you and I just want you to smile again. Even if it isn't with me.