All That Matters
00.

It’s easy to tell when Kris is upset.

Instead of his usual awkward personality and silly smiles, he becomes introverted and sulks. There’s also a frown on his face and sometimes he may even be a little snappy, but the point is when Kris is upset, then he’s really upset.

“But you promised.”

Julia swallows, her lips pursing as her gaze falls towards the floor in dismay. “I know.” She replies solemnly.

It’s a week before EXO’s comeback stage and today she just happened to receive a notice about an important meeting scheduled on the 15th of April—Tuesday. The only problem was that this meeting coincided with the time of their performance and she, unfortunately would not be able to go.

“I know I promised, Fan but this meeting is really important to our company. They’re our top clients.”

“You promised me first.” Kris growls, letting out a huff of annoyance, “You said you were going to be there.”

Julia breathes out in frustration. She knows she promised him first and she knows how much this event meant to him but what was she supposed to do? It was impossible for her to reschedule, especially with all the pressure she was garnering from the company officials. Because her grandfather was still recuperating from his heart attack, she was Goh Global’s President and acting CEO. She had a lot of responsibilities she needed to fulfill and a lot of sacrifices she needed to make. This just happened to be one of those sacrifices and Kris had to understand that.

“I get it Fan,” she answers with another exasperated sigh, “but there’s nothing I can do, I have to take this.”

“Aren’t I important to you?” he snaps, “You know how much this means to me!”

Julia gazes at Kris, reluctant to believe how childish he was acting over such a trivial matter. Again she purses her lips into a thin line, the anger and dissatisfaction beginning to sink in.

“Of course you’re important to me!” She snaps back with hands on her hips, “And I know how much this means to you but I have responsibilities too. Besides, it’s not like you’re any different!”

Truthfully, Julia wasn’t planning on putting the blame card on Kris. She wasn’t even going to mention all of the promises that he broke in the past; however, he just didn’t get it—he didn’t understand the situation she was in at all and it was exasperating.

“Oh? So now I’m the bad guy?” Kris is fuming. He’s pissed because of the cheap jab Julia made by pointing out the restrictions in their own relationships due to his career.

But seriously, did she have to go there?

“You know that’s not what I mean.” She finally says.

“Then, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is that sometimes promises are meant to be broken. I mean you break them too, so I don't see what the big deal is.”

Big deal? Big deal?

Kris is utterly speechless. He couldn't believe her—no, he just can't take this bull right now. He gazes at Julia with an unreadable expression.

“I’m leaving.”

Turning his body so that he’s facing the door, Kris slips on his shoes, not even bothering to tie them as Julia quickly grabs onto his wrist to keep him from leaving.

“Kevin, wait. Let’s—“

“Don’t!” Kris growls as an angry rumble vibrates through his chest, causing Julia to flinch in response.

“Don’t.” he repeats never looking at her. “Look I get it. You can’t come.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

He let’s out a sigh. “I just—I need some time to cool down, okay? You know, to figure things out?” he in another breath, wrenching his wrist from her grip. He needed to leave before he said anything stupid that he would later regret, “I’ll call you.”

“O—okay…”

But in the end, after Kris leaves, Julia never recieves his call.

 

//

 

Its four days after their big fight and both Kris and Julia haven’t spoken to each other at all.

At first Julia figures that he needed some time to cool off because Kris was a pretty sensitive guy and he probably needed some time to think about how dumb his allegations sounded. However, around the second day her anger towards Kris soon melted into worry and then later regret when he refused to answer any of her calls or text messages. 

The more Kris refused to talk to her, the more she began to speculate the possibility that maybe he never wanted to see her again. It was the first time in a while since she’s slept alone. Usually when he would be traveling around Asia to do performances and promote EXO’s music, he would always return to their apartment despite how exhausted and worn out he was. It was his home; his home was with her and this feeling was terrible. 

Perhaps, she shouldn’t have said those things to him in the first place. Kris wasn’t the bad guy here. Maybe she should’ve found different alternative— a solution that would be convenient to both of them; and with that in mind, she became increasingly nervous and inattentive with her work that even her own sister was beginning to worry about her well-being.

“Hey,” Alex assures her one-day while they're both having lunch at a cafe, “don’t worry. You know Kuya’s not like that. He loves you. This whole thing will blow over soon.”

Julia breathes out a heavy sigh. She knows Kris loves her, that fact was a given, but as much as she wanted to believe her sister, the tight ball of worry inside her stomach only grows.

She may have really hurt him.

“Yeah…”

Alex gives her a small smile, placing a hand on her sister’s arm to reassure her, “Chin up sis, everything will be alright.”

 

//

 

“I’m sorry but the person you are trying to reach can’t come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the tone.”

It’s the day of the showcase and Julia is gazi