Colliding Past

Chapter 27

A brown haired girl was staring at the toast, egg and milk on the table. Usually she would gladly eat her breakfast after a long night, but today strangely she didn't have any appetite. She had been sitting there for almost twenty minutes without touching the food at all.

Her mind was wandering somewhere else, replaying the scene last night.

***

The car was filled with silence throughout the way back home. Yul was driving Yoona to her apartment, but he didn't said a single thing ever since they left the restaurant. The girl couldn't take the silence any longer when they finally reached her apartment.

"Oppa," she called but there was no response.

"Yul oppa," she tried again, yet still failed.

"Oppa, please say something." She shook the man's shoulder. "Are you going to ignore me all the time? Did I do wrong? Please just say anything."

Yoona was getting frustrated by the lack of response from the man.

"She was my girlfriend."

Yoona was surprised when suddenly the man talked. In a very emotionless voice. "Huh?"

"She was my girlfriend," Yul repeated, still with the same tone.

"Sica unnie was your girlfriend?" Yoona asked in disbelief. So he and Sica unnie was in relationship in the past, but what is the big deal? People get to meet their ex once for awhile.

Yul nodded hesitantly. "My only girlfriend," he added grimly.

"Huh?" Yoona was getting confused. She blinked her eyes several times while looking at the older man in disbelief. "Isn't it recently?"

Yul answered with a nod.

"Wait..wait..oppa. I don't understand. Sica unnie has been married since early this year. How can she be your recent girlfriend, which I know around this month?"

The man heaved a sigh. "We've been together since three years ago. Then she got married to that guy this February. But we were back together around last month, for about a month, until we broke up last week," Yul said restlessly.

Yoona's eyes widened upon hearing Yul's explanation. "You mean..." her voice trailed off.

"You can say she and I had an affair," he let out an empty laugh.

What? How can Sica unnie? How can Yul oppa? They...

Yoona was lost in her words. She couldn't believe the two people she liked could do something like that.

She had known Sica since young, when she was trainee with Krystal. The older woman had always been a nice and sincere sister in her eyes. And although she only had known Yul for a short time, but he didn't look like a guy who would date another man's wife.

"Now you know that I'm not a good guy."

Yoona shook away the bad thought.

No. That's not right. There must be a reason. Yoona reasoned. She didn't want to judge by an incomplete information. She always believed everything happened for a reason. There must be a reason too behind her unnie and oppa's affair.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but honestly I don't think you're a bad guy despite what'd happened."

Yul chuckled. "You've always been a positive thinker."

"I'm serious, oppa."

Yul shrugged. "I don't care about being a bad guy, though. I love her too much to think about it.”

"But isn't it too much, oppa? She is married."

"Yeah, I know. That's why we finally we broke up," he said bitterly.

Yoona sighed. This was too much to sink in.

"Yoona," the man called as he turned his head to face her.

She looked at him. The man's face looked really distress.

"You can think anything about me. Just don't think bad about her. She was a victim of an arranged marriage. And I kinda forced her too into that mess. She is still the same kindhearted and sincere person that you know."

"Oppa...you really love her, don't you?"

Yul smiled sadly. "I've let her go. No matter how much I love her, I won't have her. I only wish she can be happy with her husband now."

***

The girl's eyes shifted to her vibrating phone. It was from her manager.

"Hello oppa," she greeted absentmindedly.

"Are you up already?"

"Yes."

"Good, I'll come soon. Get yourself ready."

"Yes, oppa."

"What's wrong, Yoona?" The man noticed the unusual behavior of his artist. Yoona was always a cheerful girl, even in the morning.

"Nothing, oppa."

"You don't sound like your usual self."

"Maybe I'm just tired. It's been tiring days lately," Yoona forced herself to sound believable.

"If you said so. Don't forget to drink your vitamin and eat your breakfast," the man reminded.

"Yes, oppa."

"Good, see you then."

"See you."

The girl put away the phone and took the untouched food and drink then put it on the kitchen table. She dragged her body to her wardrobe to change.

She couldn't deny that what happened between Yul and Sica bothered her mind too. Hearing the story from the man she could feel how much he loved the woman. She was not sure why, but it made her lost her mood.

Somehow, she envied Jessica.

***

"Fany!"

The red haired woman turned around upon hearing her name being called, not forgetting to show her signature eye-smile. She was really happy when she saw who called her. She immediately excused herself from her current group and approached her old friend.

"Omo, Jessie!" She exclaimed and hugged her old friend. "I really miss you," said the engaged woman after the hug.

Jessica chuckled. "Miss you too, Fany. And congrats for your engagement too," she smiled.

Tiffany showed another eye-smile. "Thank you. I'm so happy you can make it, Miss so-busy-designer," said her teasingly.

Jessica chuckled. "Ey ey ey, look who's talking. You're harder to contact than our Prime Minister,” back.

"Of course I am. You're his daughter-in-law after all," the red haired woman countered which caused a round of chuckle between them.

"Anyway, I'm happy you finally will tie a knot with him." Jessica said, smile was apparent on her face. She had been expecting for the news since years ago, but only saw it happened now.

"Yeah, I know. Finally, right?" Tiffany said, also feeling amused at her relationship stepping on the new stage.

Jessica nodded and chuckled. "Ah, I want to introduce someone to you," Jessica turned to Taeng. "He is Kim Taeng."

Tiffany now shifted her gaze to the man next to Jessica that she didn't pay attention before. The man was looking at her since she was talking with his wife. His gaze never left the woman ever since. And when their eyes finally meet, Tiffany felt like everything stopped in its place.

No, it's impossible.

The man in front of her was giving her a mixed of feeling. Sad, happy, surprised, but most of all nostalgic feeling. They were staring at each other, just like that, sunk in their own feelings.

"Taeng, Fany?" Jessica could only look in confusion at the two people alternately. She was really puzzled by the sudden silence between two people. She didn't have any clue at all about what was going on. Yet her questioned remained unanswered.

On the other hand, the man was having an internal debate.

Is it her? She looks so similar to her. But... she is Tiffany Hwang, isn't she? And... His eyes were trying to recognize the woman more. She looks more confident... and more beautiful too. Is she really the girl that I know?

"Taeng?" Jessica reached out his arm and questioned again.

The touch was effective to bring back the man's sense again. What are you thinking, Kim Taeng? It doesn't matter anymore. You already have Sica by your side now. Don't do something stupid that you will only regret later. Taeng scolded himself and finally broke the stare from the other woman.

"Ah, sorry, Sica. What are you saying, again?" He turned to look at Jessica, which didn't look pleased right there. Her gaze was so cold.

Jessica sighed. "I'm going to introduce you to Fany, my old friend, here. But you didn't pay attention to me at all." There was a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Ah, sorry. My mind was somewhere else," he said apologetically before shifted back his attention to the engaged woman. "Hi, I'm Kim Taeng. Congratulations on your engagement."

Tiffany who already recovered from her own mind immediately showed her eye-smile to the man. "Thank you," she paused for awhile before talking again. "Do I know you?"

Both Taeng and Jessica were startled by Tiffany's sudden question. Jessica was the first one to reply. "Do you know each other?" She clearly had no idea if there was any relationship between her husband and her old friend.

Tiffany didn't answer her friend but waiting for the man to answer. She wanted to know the answer from the man himself.

"Do I know you?" His brows arched, questioning the woman back. He didn't know the answer either.

The words brought a chuckle from Tiffany. "It looks like that we don't know each other then."

The man laughed. "Yeah, I think so."

"Wait, wait," Jessica meddled in. "So you don't know each other?"

"Nope." Taeng and Tiffany said in unison as they shook their head. They both chuckled after realising it.

Jessica rolled her eyes witnessing the interaction between two people in front of her. "I thought you’re kinda know each other. A couple minutes ago you look like someone who just met their ex or something like that," she said in her crisp tone. She didn't look amused at all.

Tiffany's lips raised a bit on one side before she chuckled and patted Jessica's arm lightly. "What are you talking about? You know oppa is my only boyfriend, Jessie."

"Yeah I know. I'm just saying," she said nonchalantly.

The red haired woman smiled. She missed seeing Jessica, moreover this version of her. The jealous one. She had witnessed this side of Jessica since they were in high school. Her friend had two boyfriends during that time and she was quite possesive too. Fortunately it was a necessary amount of possesiveness, not the over one which only annoying and nauseating. And it was quite amusing to Tiffany how the woman wouldn't hide her jealousy although she had a high pride of herself. "You're still the same, Jessie."

"Huh?" Jessica furrowed her eyebrows.

"Nothing, forget it," she smiled enigmatically. "So," she shifted back her attention to the unknown man. "He is your," she paused, realizing something. "Husband?"

Jessica nodded before she hooked her arms around his. "Yes, he is."

There was a slight frown on Tiffany's face but it went unnoticed by Jessica because the woman's eyes quickly formed a crescent moon shaped. "You're so lucky. He seems like a good man," she whispered before putting her hand on Jessica’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

The woman showed a subtle smile. "Thank you. You're lucky too, Fany. Oppa is a good man."

"I know," Tiffany replied happily and then when she saw the sight of the mentioned man she said, "Ah, there he is." She pointed at the right side. "Oppa!" She called. She waved at him and told him to come over. The man gladly approached his fiancè.

"Hi, oppa! It's been a long time. Congratulation on your engagement." Jessica immediately greeted the man as soon as he approached them.

The man was not a stranger for Jessica. She had known him back in the university when he first started fighting for Tiffany's love. Daniel Lee was a student and basketball player at the same university where Jessica studied. The man was a popular back then, not only because he was the captain of the team, but due to his body and look too. The man had deep brown eyes with flecks of green scattered about, a square jaw, and a messy black hair. He was tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than Taeng, and quite built.

Tiffany was one lucky girl that the man was crazy about since she was still a freshman, yet Tiffany wasn't an easy one to get. He first saw Tiffany when the girl visited Jessica on her campus and since then the man had tried everything to win the eye-smiling girl's heart. They finally got together on Tiffany's final years and throughout the years, Jessica had met the man a couple of times and knew some about him.

The engagement party soon felt like a reunion of the old friends which had been separated by continents and busy lives. The new engaged couple were very happy to provide Taeng and Jessica with stories about them before they finally moved to Seoul and held the engagement party in their hometown. Although it was nice to see their old friends again, but Tiffany and Daniel had to excuse themselves to greet the other guests.

Taeng and Jessica just bid goodbye to the couple and now were heading to their car.

"They look so good together," Jessica said in an amused tone. She was genuinely happy for her friend.

"Yeah. I'm glad they finally tie a knot. He is really tough though, fighting for her love for almost four years," Taeng said in a matching amused tone. Although it was his first time meeting the couple, but he could feel how much effort they put in to make their relationship work. Especially from the man. It felt like they had shared the same boat before, fighting for their love which wasn't easy. So he was sincerely happy that his effort finally paid off.

"He is. Until now, I can't eve