[CONTENTID1]EIGHTEEN[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]"...and now he is making me go to New York with him," Yoona grumbled as she kept stuffing her clothes into the suitcase without selecting it. Her bedroom was in a big mess with clothes scattered all over floor.

"So what will you do?" Krystal was sitting at the edge of Yoona's bed, watching her cousin struggled to close the already overflowing suitcase.

"I guess I have no choice but follow his order." Yoona sighed in frustration. She ran her hand through her hair as she looked at the suitcase in distress. She reopened the case in annoyance, throwing out some stuff before finally pulling up the zipper of the case.

Krystal examined the frustration on her cousin's face with interest. She didn't know whether to be grateful that the late night incident between Donghae and her cousin put her relationship with Yoona back on track, or she should feel sorry, because obviously that night was the turning point of  Yoona and Donghae's relationship.

"Maybe going to New York won't be bad idea," Krystal tried to light up the mood. "You need some fresh air and leaving this city for a few days can help you think more clearly about this situation."

Yoona put down the suitcase on the floor before tossing her tired body onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling as she tried to find a little bit of excitement through Krystal's comfort word, but she felt absolutely nothing. "I don't know.  With Donghae's presence constantly around me, I just can't think of anything good."

"If a few days with him could make you so unhappy, how could you picture yourself spending the rest of your life with him?" Krystal asked, but Yoona closed her eyes instead of answering the question.

Yoona's silence spoke louder than any word she could articulate and Krystal wondered how she could be blinded by her own belief and never saw the unhappiness that radiated clearly through her cousin all this time.

Unconsciously, her mind wandered back to Yuri. Ever since the day at cafeteria, her mind couldn't shake off the conversation with the other girl.

"Did he ever make you feel happy?" Krystal's voiced out her curiosity and Yoona turned her head to the side, surprised by the sudden question. When Yoona didn't answer, Krystal pushed again. "Did he?"

"I think... I enjoyed my time with him back then. I just felt less pathetic and safe; safe from heartache whenever I am around him."

"It was different from being happy," Krystal concluded as her mind pushed the next question through her lips. "Did you ever love him?"

Yoona scoffed under her breath. "Isn't it too late for you to ask me now?"

"I guess you're right," Krystal muttered softly as she got up from the bed. She needed to get out of here, because the longer she was in the same room with Yoona, the harder the guilt hit her. "I have to go, I still have classes after this."

Yoona nodded her head to let Krystal knew she heard but didn't make a move from the bed.

"I will see you again when you're back from New York," Krystal said as she started to walk out the room, trying to get rid of the guilt that gnawed her chest.

A gust of cold winter air scattered a strand of hair across her face as Krystal stepped out of the house. She glanced up at the clear sky, thinking about the classes she had for today and found no desire to attend it.

I need a break, not a boring classes with an endless boring lecture! Krystal decided as she let her legs move, leading her by instinct.

A slim figure stood in the cemetery as the howling wind pushed the leaves across the snow-covered ground. She brushed a layer of snow away from the headstone before putting down the bouquet of flower.

"It feels nice to visit you again, especially now when I feel so down," Yuri started as she laid her fingertip on the cold, smooth surface of the headstone, trying to find peace and the presence of the woman she had been missing over the years.

After few minutes, Yuri slipped her hands back into her coat pocket as she looked at the grey clouds hovering threateningly above her. She sighed at the dull weather before focusing her attention back to the headstone. "Mom, she is going to marry soon. She will marry a guy she never loved and I do not know what to do to prevent this from happening."

Yuri felt the lump in grow bigger, making it hard to breathe. "I really wish I could find some encouragement from you because right now, I really need someone to tell me that fighting for someone we love is not some selfish act. Stopping someone's marriage doesn't make me a bad person, right?"

She stared at the cold stone before her expectantly, as if she wished the stone would somehow come alive and give an answer she was dying to hear and at the moment, a cold gust of wind hit her face. A smooth and gentle wind caressed her cheeks gently as it tried to blow some encouragement to her, and a smile formed on Yuri's lips as her eyes became teary.

After one hour of walking aimlessly, Krystal found herself sitting on the bench along the sidewalk, sipping a cup of hot coffee she'd purchased along the way. She wacthed as cars and people passed by, her thoughts consuming her once again.

"I swear I am not stalking you."

Krystal heard a voice, but didn't look up right away, thinking that it hadn't been directed to her but then a guy with black jeans and a grey winter coat appeared next to her. She looked up to find Minho smiled at her.

"I saw you walking out from coffee shop so I dropped by to say hi." Minho explained as he sat down next to her, knowing the invitation would never come.

He cut his hair, Krystal noticed. "Well, hi then."

Minho let out a laugh in response and Krystal's heart danced at the sound.  "Isn't it a little bit cold to be out here?"

"It's not that bad. I just visited my cousin and then I thought I need this coffee to help me think over something," Krystal shrugged as she lifted a cup in her hand.

"I never pictured you as person who could have deep thoughts."

Krystal sighed as her eyes staring blankly at the street. "My cousin is getting married soon."

"That's good news."

"No, it's not. And I just realized it now," Krystal shook her head, suddenly felt the urge to share her thought with someone. "She fell in love with someone else."

"Oh, my bad," Minho said as they fell into silence.

They watched as a teenaged couple passing by; hand in hand as they kept talking about something happily. Krystal could only stare at them with envy. "You know, I can't understand how someone could spend years with someone that was almost perfect but still not fall in love with him. I don't understand why she still chose someone else that will hardly provide her a normal life."

"That's call love."

"I don't understand love then."

"Love is not something to be understood," Minho said theoretically, his voice coming out soft and gentle and Krystal detected sincerity in it. She tilted her head to find that Minho was staring back at her. "It's something to be felt. And you will never understand it before you experience it for yourself."

There was something in Minho's piercing brown eyes that sent shivers down Krystal's spine. She didn't know what to respond to that, so she looked away and focused back on sipping her drink. The wind picked up slightly and few minutes later, Minho stood up. "Well, it's nice running into you but I have a place to go. I wish you got an answer to whatever was bothering you right now.  See you around?"

Krystal nodded. "Sure."

She watched as Minho walked away from the bench before tossing the empty coffee cup into the nearby trash can. She stood up and glanced at her watch. She had one class left to attend.

Yuri tapped her feet against the marble floor of the unfamiliar office anxiously, while her eyes scanned the luxurious room in awe. It would take her a lifetime to afford the furniture in this office room, but it wasn't the problem. The problem right now was how could she end up here? How come she found courage to sit down inside Im Company's office room?

Her conscious mind told her this was right thing to do; she needed to make some real actions to fight for Yoona while the insecurity in her said she shouldn't be here, and she should leave before it's too late. But before she could make up her decision, the office door was opening again, and a young woman in a neat uniform smiled at her.

"President Im is here to meet you," she said politely, and a moment later a familiar man in a business suit stepped into a view. He was seemingly around forty now and Yuri noticed a few streaks of gray in his brown hair. His face looked exhausted from the stress and hectic schedule he had to run every day. But other than that, he was still the same man she had seen back then.

The sound of the door being closed snapped Yuri back into reality as she stood up and bowed at the man. "Good afternoon Mr. Im."

"Good afternoon," Mr. Im nodded his head as he sat down on the couch across from Yuri and gestured the already nervous woman to sit down. For a split second, Yuri wondered if he remembered her but the question was answered not long after that. "May I know who are you?"

"My name is Kwon Yuri, I'm Yoona's friend," Yuri answered politely.

"Well Miss. Kwon, what can I do for you?"

"I first want to apologize for bothering your busy schedule, but I have something very important to say to you, it's about your daughter." Yuri tried to swallow down her nervousness when Mr. Im regarded her over the rim of his glasses, curiosity written on his face as Yuri's eyes wandered in space for the proper words. "I think that Yoona is not supposed to marry Donghae, because she doesn't love him."

Yuri swore she could see wrinkles appear on his forehead immediately, made her heart pounding so hard inside of her chest.

"What make you say so?"

"Your daughter loves me. We'd loved each other since high school, but she chose Donghae over me because he is your choice."

A long, deep silence that followed after that was like a ticking bomb for Yuri, and she held her breath as she anticipated the reaction. Mr. Im leaned back against the couch, his face remaining neutral. "Yoona and Donghae have been together for years now, a