At one point in Jieun's life, she was with Sandara, who had invited her to shopping and lunch. She, of course, planned to invite Minah and Jiho, but thought that it would be better not to when she thought that Jiyong might come along. To her disappointment, Jiyong was nowhere to be found.

"It's just the girls shopping," Sandara said, trying to smile at Jieun. "Come. Do you like shopping for clothes? Maybe accessories and bags are your style?"

"I… I don't have money," Jieun said rather shamefully. A small blush appeared on her cheeks as she hugged her own body tighter. "There's nothing that I can buy at your level."

"Don't worry. I'm paying," the adult said.

Jieun looked around. "Is the other guy not here? Seunghyun, right?"

"Oh, he's busy with work. He's in the middle of planting a trap and trying to convince Changmin not to say anything. Lots of blackmailing are going on between those two," Sandara said. She smirked. "Changmin's going to lose."

"How can you be so sure?" Jieun asked, trotting behind her. Sandara only smiled and said nothing, causing Jieun to pale and shiver. Nevertheless, she still followed the older woman to the limousine.

The moment Jieun stepped inside, a wave of uneasiness overcame her. She suddenly felt inferior, especially when she saw the way Sandara had positioned herself in the vehicle. She made it seem as if she was the queen. And Jieun?

She felt like she was nothing.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I want to shop right now," Jieun said in a small voice. "I feel bad for using your money."

Sandara continued to have the smile plastered on her face. "Oh, but I'm sure you've used Jiyong's money plenty of time. It's okay, just think that I'm Jiyong, that I'll provide everything for you."

Jieun awkwardly smile, but she did not give any other sign of acknowledgement. She only kept quiet, watching Sandara sit with her back straight, looking forward. When Sandara noticed how quiet Jieun had gotten, she decided to ask her a small question.

"Do I scare you?" Sandara asked her softly.

The little girl wasn't sure how to answer that question. She wasn't exactly a terrifying person. She was nice and gentle, almost motherly even. But overtime she smiled at her…

I'm mortified of you, Jieun thought, shifting in her seat uncomfortable while she looked away. I'm scared that you'll take away Jiyong.

"Perhaps we should start with a small drink or something," Sandara said slowly, noticing that Jieun was not very willing to speak. "Are you okay with going to a tea house?"

"Why did you invite me?" Jieun asked, getting straight to the point.

Sandara stared at her. "I did not expect you to ask me such a question. Like I said, why don't we talk this over at the tea house—"

"No," Jieun said, grimacing a bit. "I don't want to talk about this in public."

"Oh, but I have a private room."

"This limousine is private enough," Jieun declared.

Sandara looked at Jieun with great curiosity. Then, she snapped her finger, causing the driver to park to the side where there was hardly anyone there. She opened the windows a little for air, then grabbed a bottle of apple cider from the bottom of the seat.

"Would you care for a drink?" Sandara asked, getting two glasses out from another seat.

"Just a little, please," Jieun said. Sandara poured her the drink, then handed the apple cider to her.

For the first few minutes, the two enjoyed their drink, drowning themselves in the sour flavor. After a while, Sandara gently stirred her drink, causing Jieun to copy the movement occasionally when she could.

"I need you," Sandara said, taking a deep breath, "to answer this as honestly as you can. Can you do that for me?" She saw Jieun nod innocently. "No, I need you to talk to me like woman. I need you to talk to me as a woman in love. Can you do that?" Jieun hesitated for a minute, but slowly nodded her head. Sandara smiled. "Good. Now, do you know why you're here?"

"I don't," Jieun stated earnestly.

"I figured," Sandara murmured. She let out a small sigh, but glanced at Jieun with a serious expression. "Let me ask you this first: Do you love Jiyong, and to what extent?"

A red blush appeared on Jieun's cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to answer the sudden question.

"I… I really love—"

"Do you even know what love is? I'm pretty sure you don't. Tell me, what's your definition of love?"

"D-Definition? Well, love is…"

"Jiyong deserves someone great by his side. If you know his true personality, he's a king. He needs a queen by his side, not some child."

"But I really love h—"

"I just can't understand why he's so conflicted with his thoughts. I mean, knowing him, he wouldn't even think twice—"

"Excuse me," Jieun said, stressing her words. This caught Sandara's attention. Jieun made a small fist and bit her bottom lip. "You're not letting me speak."

Sandara put her hand over her lips. "Oh. I apologize. Go on—"

"No," Jieun said, clenching her teeth. "There is no reason for me to go on."

"Why?"

"You asked me to talk to you and to have a mindset of a woman in love, but how can I possibly do that when you just see me as a child?" Jieun pointed out .This caused Sandara to seal her lips. "I would love to tell you how much I love Jiyong and how much I want him by my side, but then you won't even give me the chance to do so."

Sandara looked, but she did not give an troubled expression. Instead, she slowly nodded her head, as if she was beginning to understand what Jieun was trying to say.

"You're right," Sandara said. "I will just see you as a child, and you will probably be a child in my eyes. What I'm trying to see is what Jiyong sees in you." Her eyes became gentle. "Jiyong would've came back with us, but then something troubled him. It's like he didn't want to leave because there was someone here who he wanted to be with…"

Jieun's whole face turned red. "T-That's impossible. Jiyong doesn't love me that way—"

"You're wrong. Jiyong loves you. That idiot just doesn't know how to say it," Sandara murmured. "Well, he never really liked anyone. He just liked money. That's how I became his fiancée."

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but why are you guys engaged?" Jieun asked. "Why did he leave?"

Sandara made a small twisted expression for a brief moment, but Jieun failed to notice. Jieun continued to anticipate on the answer, and when Sandara realized that Jieun was serious, she took a deep breath before continuing.

"I was cheating behind his back," Sandara told her, "with Seunghyun. When I learned that I was a few weeks pregnant, Jiyong sent a spy who told him about this. Jiyong was always questioning my faith, but I was never the one who wanted to marry him. Strange, isn't it?"

"What are you trying to say? What do you mean that it wasn't your choice to marry me?"

"Did Jiyong not tell you anything?" Sandara let out a small sigh. "My parents own a very wealthy business. If I got married, then the man would already gain fifty-percent of the business. That's a lot of money, so some men were plotting to have me dead after they married me. Of course, I couldn't trust to marry anyone, but my parents kept pushing me to marry early. They even gave me this huge portfolio of guys just so that I could pick one."

"Then doesn't that mean that Jiyong was port of the portfolio and you picked him?" Jieun questioned her.

"No, that's not what happened at all. Rather, when Jiyong found about this, he proposed to marry me. For him, it would bring more money to his company. After all, he's the successor of a billionaire company," Sandara revealed, causing Jieun to widen her eyes. "Of course, since he was my closest friend, I could trust him and I agreed."

"What about Seunghyun…?"

"Seunghyun? He was never part of the wealthy family, or for any wealthy family. He was actually supposed to be Jiyong's bodyguard, but he went to law school to become a detective," Sandara said.

"What about the baby—"

"Miscarriage, and that was entirely my fault."

Jieun noticed how short she was on the topic. Knowing that this was a taboo conversation, she decided to move on.

"So Jiyong proposed to you, you agreed, and you two are engaged…" Jieun felt like she was turning green. "Then he left when he found out that you were pregnant with his best friend, but the engagement was never canceled off…"

"And when you two got to know each other, you two fell in love," Sandara finished. She gave Jieun a sympathetic smile. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"I… I'm lost for words," Jieun said honestly.

"It's okay. I just need you guys to clean up your relationship, and then Jiyong will come back to us—to where he belongs."

The last few words stung Jieun's heart. She felt queasy, unsure of what to do. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"But I don't want Jiyong to leave," Jieun blurted. She looked up at Sandara with pain in her eyes. "Please don't take him away. He's all that I have!"

Sandara, who understood the deep pain marked in her eyes, only smiled.

"I'm sorry," Sandara said in her silverly voice, "but I must take him back. He did not belong with you before, and he does not belong with you now. We have fixed up all our misunderstandings. It is time for you two to let go, too."

* * *

Jiyong was surprised to see Jieun standing in front of his front door in the middle of the night. He was about to step out to smoke, but Jieun had caused him to tuck away the cigarette and lighter in his pocket.

"Oh, hey Jieun!" he greeted in an awfully friendly voice. Jieun's face twitched. "What's up?" He noticed her shoulders trembling a bit. She sniffed, and he immediately thought that she was crying. He bent down a bit, trying to look up at her face. "Are you crying—"

"You lied to me!" she shouted. Jiyong stared at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised.

"You lied to me!" Jieun repeated, glaring at him. It took Jiyong a few minutes to realize what she was saying.

She knew. She knew the truth. She knew his history.

"Jieun, that—"

"You lied to me! How could you?" Jieun cried out.

"Jieun, I—"

"I can't believe you lied to me! I should've known that this was just a way for you to kill time. You lied to me, and I believed in it. You lied!" Jieun screamed.

"I never lied to you!" Jiyong yelled back. "I just never told you anything—"

"So you let me fall in love with you while knowing that you were engaged to someone else?" Her eyes watered as streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. "What am I supposed to do now? I can't believe this. Just when I think you'll be there for me, you're not!"

"Jieun, I—"

"You're going to leave us behind, aren't you? You're going to abandon us and—"

"Jieun, you—"

"And we're never ever going to see each other again because there's just no way that we can see each other if you go and marry off her—"

"Jieun!" With one frustrated cry, he quickly grabbed her wrist and pinned her against the wall. Her eyes widened, but her lips were quickly sealed with a long kiss. 

His eyes were closed, trying to shush her from speaking anymore. He slowly opened his eyes, watching to see if Jieun had her eyes open. His eyes shot wide open and he pulled back, stunned.

Her eyes were open, but she was still crying.

"If we're going to solve this with just a kiss, I don't want a relationship like that," Jieun whispered in between her hiccups. She wiped her tears with the palm of her hand, but she clenched her teeth as tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I… I didn't mean to hurt you. I really thought that…" He couldn't finish. "Can you just promise to not leave me for now?"

Jieun slumped down against the wall. She covered her face with her hands, unable to answer him. 

Jiyong only watched with a pained expression. As he listened to her sorrows and cries, he bent down before her. He attempted to wrap his arms around her frail shoulders, but when he saw how shaky she was, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he squatted down in front of her, putting his hands together like a prayer, and waited for Jieun to calm down.

After a couple long minutes, she finally dropped one arm to the side and had her other arm covering her swollen red eyes. She brought her knees closer to her, using her free hand to hug her knees to her chest.

He reached over for one hand and rubbed her fingers softly. He looked at her fourth finger and rubbed it a bit. Then, he placed a gentle kiss on the ring finger and stared at with a pitiful expression.

"I hope," he whispered, "that you will not leave my side for now."

He brought himself close and brushed away her bangs. Then, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead before parting his lips from her. He felt her tremble as he held onto her hand. Knowing that she had calmed down, he gently lifted her chin and brought her into a deep, passionate kiss. They both closed their eyes, but tears swelled up in their eyes.

Their lips parted, but he dove in for another kiss. Then another, and another…

He finally grabbed her by the shoulder and kissed her again. His arms made their way around her shoulder, turning from a firm grasp to a warm hug. She gave him one final kiss before burying her head in his chest. She returned the hug, but her fingers clawed his back, begging him to not leave.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this," he whispered.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she hugged him tighter before breaking into more tears. She knew it was over. She knew that he wasn't planning to stay.

Her eyes landed on a glimmering object near the kitchen. The familiar gleam caught her vision, locking her brown orbs with the sharp object.

Maybe, she thought, if I took drastic measures…

And she tried. When Jiyong left to step outside for a brief moment, Jieun lunged for the knife as fast as she could. She readied herself, positioning the knife just above her wrist.

A few cuts and stabs should do, she thought. Her eyes grew at the sight of the pointy object that was tempted to kiss her skin. Her left arm stood still, but her right arm shook with the knife, trembling at the thought of going through all that pain and suffering again.

But he'd stay, she reasoned with herself. He won't leave.

Her whole body shook with terror. She was no longer listening to her heart. Rather, she allowed fear to take over her—her mind, her soul—hearing the whispers of misery begging her to harm her dear pale skin.

"Jieun, I—Oh my gosh." 

Jieun looked up, her visions blurring once again. She could feel her warm tears drop from her eyes as she saw Jiyong standing still with a cigarette between his lips. 

The source of his calmness, of his clarity—the cigarette—could no longer soothe him. He stared Jieun with utter terror, fearing that she would kill herself again.

"S-Stay back," Jieun managed to choke out.

"Jieun," Jiyong said slowly, his heart pounding against his chest. "Please. Don't do this."

"T-Then don't leave," she muttered. She let out a few hiccups before continuing. "Don't you dare leave me! You can't leave us like this!"

Jiyong had this twisted expression of guilt displayed on his face. He had caused her to become like this. This was all his fault. He had given her false hope. He had given her the false sign. He had mislead her and misguided her.

"Don't break," he ordered in a firm voice. "Stop. Clear your thoughts. Don't do this."

Jieun let out a shrill shriek. She raised the knife, no longer aiming for her arm. She quickly neared the knife to her stomach, and watched Jiyong have a mental break down with her.

"I'm begging you, Jiyong! I'm begging you with my life! Don't go back to them! Please!" Jieun cried desperately.

"Jieun, don't!" Jiyong repeated, unable to think of anything else.

Out of the blue, smoke began to arise from the floor. Jiyong was confused, but once he spotted the source of the smoke, he widened his eyes and covered his mouth and nose. He held his breath, but didn't warn Jieun. 

The smoke had slowly made her eyes droopy. Eventually, she dropped the knife, which safely landed besides her foot. Her knees buckled, and her eyes rolled back. She collapsed to the ground, completely knocked out.

Jiyong rushed to her side, trying to wake her conscious to see if she was okay. However, he had accidentally called her name, inhaling some of the smoke. His eyes drifted for a moment before his vision turned blurry. He found himself collapsing backwards, furthering himself from where Jieun was lying down.

In his clouded vision, he saw a familiar figure with a gas mask coming into the room, along with a couple of other strangers wearing gas masks.

"This is why," the figure said in his recognizable deep voice, "you plant a smoke bomb in your idiotic friend's room in case something insane like this happens."

"Damn you…Seunghyun," were Jiyong's final words before he saw black.