“That was Kyuhyun.”

It was a statement from Yonghwa, not a question. They were both on the backseat of his car, with his personal driver maneuvering through the streets.

Seohyun continued to stare ahead of her and didn’t answer.

“What does he want?” Yonghwa couldn’t help himself. He was being gnawed by jealousy.

She kept on staring straight ahead.

“Yah, why is he still calling you? You are already married!”

Seohyun slowly turned to him, her expression cold. “We’re friends. And I am married only in paper. You don’t have the right to act like a jealous husband.”

“Yah, I’m still your husband no matter the circumstances!” he shouted. Then he clamped his mouth shut and his jaw clenched. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “At least have some respect while we’re still together as husband and wife, Seohyun.”

“Ahjussi, please stop the car,” she suddenly ordered at the driver.

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror and then to Yonghwa, looking confused.

“I said stop the car or I’m getting out while this car is running!” she threatened.

The driver’s eyes widened and he immediately maneuvered the vehicle to a corner and stopped. Seohyun yanked at the door and pushed it open. Before she could get out Yonghwa was able to hold her wrist and stop her.

“Yah, where are you going?” he asked.

“It’s none of your business,” she hissed, trying to pull away from him.

“It is my business, I am your husband,” he said, his grip firm on her.

“Just let me go,” she tried to shake off his hand and he finally let go.

But as she got out of the car he followed her.

She hurriedly waved at a taxi cab and got inside before he could catch her. At the corner of her eye she could see him pounding at the window and though she couldn’t hear him, she could see that he was calling her name. She ignored him.

She told the taxi her destination. She was going to see Yoona. She knew her sister is still in her office right now.

As the taxi moved, she glanced behind her and saw Yonghwa’s devastated face as he stood on the sidewalk with his shoulders slumped. She couldn’t help the pain that squeezed her heart. She stared straight ahead and closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears from falling. But they did, anyway.

Why am I still hurting? she thought.

………………………………………

Krystal got out of the building and froze when she saw Minho on his way inside, holding a bouquet of red roses. He paused when he saw her, too. Keeping her face expressionless she gave him a curt nod and was about to continue on her way but he came straight to her and blocked her way.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

She sighed. “I’m in a hurry. Mrs. Lee has made me run some errands for her.”

“This won’t take long, I promise.”

She sighed again. “Fine. Fifteen minutes.”

“Thirty?” he smiled, showing that slight dimple on his chin that she loved so much.

She rolled her eyes, trying to act nonchalant. She tried slowing her over speeding heart beats.

He ushered her to the parking lot and assisted her in getting inside his car.

“You’re trembling. And your hands are cold,” he pointed out.

She immediately took her hand from his hold. “It’s just the weather.”

He nodded. The weather was sunny and it wasn’t cold at all.

“If you think it’s because I’m nervous around you, then think again. I’m not the same Krystal you used to know anymore,” she told him as he maneuvered out of the parking lot.

He chuckled. “I didn’t say anything.”

She didn’t answer.

Minho glanced at her profile. She was gazing ahead, her face set in a stony expression, though it was all red.
Would this be easy for him? Would she listen? What she didn’t know was that he was nervous, too… maybe much more than she is.

……………………………………………

Seohyun went straight to Yoona’s office, walking in to a startled Yoona and Yuri.

“Hyun? We thought you wouldn’t be back until next week?” Yuri asked.

They then saw Seohyun’s tear-streaked face and Yoona began to snap her knuckles. “Okay, what did that idiot do to you this time?”

“Yah, easy,” Yuri admonished, concerned about Yoona’s nine-month belly.

Seohyun slumped on a chair and broke into tears. Her sisters were immediately around her, hugging her, patting her here and there.

When she had calmed down, she took a deep breath and spoke. “Why is it still so painful?”

“Tell us what happened,” Yuri prodded.

“I swear I’m going to kill that bastard!” Yoona exclaimed.

“Yah! Sit and calm down!” Yuri ordered and their pregnant sister followed, pouting.

In between gulps and hiccups Seohyun recounted the events that led her and Yonghwa to cut their honeymoon short and come back to Korea.

When she was finished her sisters eyed each other knowingly.

“Oh, Seohyunnie, why are you so hard on him and yourself?” Yuri finally spoke after a moment of silence.

“That should teach him a lesson. She hurt you so much already!” Yoona said.

“Shhh!” Yuri turned to Yoona and gave her an I’m-the-eldest-let me-speak-first look.

“Hyun, I think he truly loves you. He wouldn’t go to so much trouble if he doesn’t. And I think you’re still in love with him, too. You’re only hurting him and yourself by having your anger and bitterness get the better of you,”
Yuri said solemnly.

“I know that he loves me, unnie. I can see that. But what I’m afraid of is that he would leave me again if he has to choose between me and something he would think of as a noble choice…just as he did ten years ago.”

Yuri nodded, understanding. “People grow up and change. You will never know how he would decide if he would face that dilemma again if you don’t give him a chance.”

“Oh, well,” Yoona sighed. “Yuri has the best words for you, Seohyun-ah, having gone through loving and being heartbroken and loving the same person again.”

Yuri smiled. “And I know I may be hurt again one day but I don’t regret accepting him back, Hyunnie. I just had given myself a chance to be happy again. You should, too.”

Yoona nodded, agreeing with her twin. She had been through that with her husband when they were younger, too. “Loving means taking risks, Hyunnie.”

Seohyun wiped her tears and took a deep breath.

“You’ve always been smart, Hyun. So which do you think is the wiser choice, staying on the safe side unhappy, or venturing on dangerous ground but deliriously happy?”

Yuri giggled at Yoona’s words. “Deliriously? Are you serious? Jonghyun makes you delirious?”

“Yah, stop it,” Yoona smacked Yuri’s shoulder.

They both turned to their youngest sister. At least now she was smiling at the two of them as she watched them bicker. Then her face turned serious.

“I need to think.”

………………………………………………….

Minho took a deep breath as he faced Krystal on the table. They were inside a coffee shop.

He didn’t speak but watched her as her fingers played with the cup before her.

Finally it was she who broke the silence between them.

“What do you want to talk about?”

He fiddled nervously with the bracelet he always wore. “This is actually for you,” he picked up the bouquet he had brought with him and handed it to her.

She accepted it. “The previous ones were from you, too.”

“Yes.”

“What’s with all these flowers? What are they for?”

“Do I really have to answer that?” he asked her back, evading the question altogether.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I may be a lot of things that are annoying to you but I never try to assume anything…especially your actions nowadays.”

He took a deep breath. “Would you believe me if I tell you that I miss you?”

“Maybe you’re just missing me because all the girls you were chasing after has rejected you,” she replied without thinking.

His brows furrowed. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Is this about Seohyun?” he asked.

“Her and Yuri unnie,” she answered. “You just remembered me because Yuri unnie has already gotten back together with her fiancé.”

Minho’s eyes widened. “Really? I didn’t know that. So that’s why she hasn’t been calling me for a long time now,” he muttered to himself, not really looking bothered.

It was Krystal’s turn to look puzzled. “You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “No. We’ve been busy these days and I wasn’t able to ask her how she is. Well, then I’m happy for her,” he smiled.

“You’re not…you’re not hurt or anything?” she asked, growing more bewildered.

He chuckled. “And you just said that you’re not the type to assume anything. I like noona a lot. Just like Seohyun, she’s a great girl. They both are.”

Something pinched her heart. It’s something he wouldn’t think of her.

“But nowadays I just can’t stop thinking about someone,” he said, looking intensely at her but she couldn’t see it because her head was bowed.

She took a deep breath. She regretted ever agreeing to talk to him because now she’s hurting all over again.
But she felt compelled to ask.

“S-so, there’s someone and it’s not Yuri unnie,” she swallowed. Is she a masochist or what? “Who is she?
That actress who has been linked to your name just this month?”

Minho laughed. “Ah, I see you still hear news about me. I feel relieved. I thought you don’t care anymore.”

She looked at him. “Yah, I don’t! But you’re famous, of course I could hear news about you anywhere,” she defended, blushing.

He smiled. “I don’t know what I like more, shy Krystal or confident Krystal.”

“Hah, you don’t like either of it!” she scoffed.

He nodded. “You’re right. I don’t.”

Her heart hurt again.

“Because I just realized I love either of it,” he took her hand in his. “I was so stupid not to see right away how an amazing girl you are. Maybe it was because I just got bothered that you seem to be more confident of how you feel and what you want than I did. Your guts annoyed me. But having you ignore me had hurt me and I just realized it was because I feel something for you, too and I was just too proud to acknowledge it.”

She was rendered speechless by his confession.

“Will you forgive me for hurting you? Will you give me another chance?”

………………………………………

Seohyun walked by the Han River alone. It was already evening and that time alone has helped her compose her thoughts. And her sisters’ advice has helped a lot in erasing the anger and bitterness that has been in her heart for a long time. She had realized a lot of things. And the most important one was that she had realized that it was finally time to let go of her resentment. The past is done and Yonghwa was trying hard to make up for it. And she still loves him, no matter how hard she had fought it.

“Seohyun!”

A familiar voice startled her. She turned around and saw Kyuhyun, and her heart ached for him. She loves him and cares for him so much but not in that way. She doesn’t want to hurt him.

Before she could even think she ran into his arms and he welcomed her there. She wept on her chest, unable to help herself.

“Hyun…”

“I miss you, oppa.”

“I miss you, too, Seohyun-ah,” he said, caressing her hair.

She pulled away from him and looked at him. He wiped her tears with his thumbs.

“Tell me what happened? What did he do to you? Did he hurt you again?” he asked, his voice dripping with
worry and concern.

She shook her head. “No. I’m the one hurting myself, oppa.”

His brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Hey, how did you know I’m here?” she asked, trying to change the topic. She didn’t tell him right away that
she had made up her mind about Yonghwa.

“I looked for you. I know this is one of the places that you go to when you want to be alone,” he explained.
“Now, tell me, what is the matter? Why are you crying?”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to be selfish anymore, oppa.”

“What are you saying? You’re not selfish.”

“I am. I keep you hanging. Now I want to make things clear. You told me before that you will wait for me even if I get married to Yonghwa because you know that our marriage was only for convenience and I didn’t give you a clear answer,” she began.

“What are you getting at?”

She bit her lip. “I never admitted this to you or to myself before. But….I still love him,” she said, her voice lowering in the end.

He didn’t say anything.

She looked up at him, hurting herself for hurting him. “I have decided. I want to give Yonghwa another chance.
I want to give us a chance. It might work between us this time.”

He just stared at her.

Her tears fell. “Oppa, I don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t want to mislead you either. I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…I’m…”

“Shhh…” Kyuhyun put a finger to her lips. “I think I’ve always known…I just refused to see it. But coming from you, then I couldn’t deny that it’s the truth anymore,” he smiled. “Don’t be sorry, Hyun. You know that I’ll be okay.”

He wiped her tears again.

“I don’t want to see you crying. Please smile for me,” he told her.

She tried her best to smile. Then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“You’re a good man, oppa. You deserve the best. She will come one day,” she whispered.

He nodded. “I know. Be happy, Hyun,” he pulled her unto him and hugged her one last time.

She hugged him back, crying again.

To those who were watching from afar, they looked like a couple who had just made up.

And it was that scene that Yonghwa had witnessed.