"Do you want to come with me to the studio, a new teacher is coming to teach, we could go get dinner afterward. How does that sound?" Hyunjin asked.

It had been a week since she last saw Seungmin, during their graduation, he avoids her like the plague and pretends she doesn't exist in his world. It's better this way, she wanted to think. Cut it off before it became a bigger problem, in his, she was his problem that needed to be cut off.

"I'm really busy today, let's have dinner on a different day," she smiled at him. Deep down she despised her smile, she couldn't stand to look at him and pretend everything was fine. He didn't know about Seungmin yet, keeping him in the dark was something she needed to do for him. She loved him, and she would do anything to protect him.

"It's been hard to see you these days. I miss you," Hyunjin twirled her hair in between his fingers.

"I know and I'm sorry, I've been working closely with the company recently. So far I've only been shadowing department heads, preparing to become the heir one day," she said.

"Haeun is already doing that so I don't understand why you have to do it too," Hyunjin pouted.

"It's something I wanted to do, Hyun. It's going to be a difficult road for me but I want to be a competent employee for the company, I don't need Haeun's position for that," she smiled, but in actuality, it was more of an excuse to not see him.

"Then what should I do to get my girlfriend back? I think I might go crazy from not seeing her so frequently," he pulled on her waist.

"You see me almost every night," she leaned to whisper to his ear. "Not tonight, unfortunately, as much as I do enjoy your visits, I am very busy," she pushed him back.

"Okay, I have to get going anyway. I'll see you later, love you," he kissed her.

"I love you too," she caressed his face lovingly, "so much," she finished. Hyunjin grinned widely and kissed her one more time before leaving. She waited until he was gone from her sight before touching her tingling lips and wiping them.

She absolutely couldn't stand herself. Kissing him only made it worse for her, the nights she would spend with him ended with guilt. She concluded that it was somehow her fault, that she must've seduced Seungmin because she's a whore. She should have stayed quiet and in her place like they've been telling her for years. Pretty and silent are how they called it. She should have listened, maybe if she did then her friends wouldn't be in the mess she created.

The elevator doors had yet to be fully opened when Hyunjin saw a familiar face that he didn't want to see. "I have information that you would want to know about your precious girlfriend," Kang Sua smiled when she saw Hyunjin.

"What are you talking about Sua?" He asked, backing into the elevator from shock. He wasn't ready to face her yet so all he could do was barely stand on his two feet and watch her enter the elevator.

"You know how I don't like it when people try to look down on me, especially not from rich kids like you. Park Seoyun is the exact definition of a person I hate: a spoiled, arrogant, brat that uses her family's money for everything. I can't stand someone like her getting away with how she treated me, so I did a little research on her and found things than not even her family's money could hide," she played with her phone with a smirk on her face.

"I don't need to hear you talk shit about my girlfriend. I love her and there's nothing that you could say that would change that! Whoever she was in the past isn't who she is now," he gained all his courage to defend Seoyun.

"I know you Hyunjin, probably more than anyone else. You've always been too curious for your good, you're probably dying to know what I know," she said.

"Just leave us alone, you don't matter to us anymore," the exhaustion evident in his voice.

"No, I think I won't. That girl is living too good of a life than she deserves," she sent a file to Hyunjin's phone, "watch the videos and you'll see what I mean."

"I won't."

"You will, eventually. Come to me if you have any questions, I know you'll have some, and I'd gladly answer," the elevator doors opened again and she left him there alone. Hyunjin looked at the file on his phone for a while before leaving, it wasn't enough time for him to decide to watch the video but it was enough to create doubt.

~

"Where are you headed?" Felix asked as he stood at the foot of her bedroom.

"Out," she answered while rummaging around her room to look for her purse and kicking away the dirty laundry on the floor.

"Out where? Dressed like that?" He referred to the tight black dress she wore.

"I'm going to Itaewon with Changbin, I would ask you to come with us but it's weird to go clubbing with you," she responded.

"You've been going out a lot these days," Felix said suspiciously.

"Lix, there are moments where you just have to mind your own business, this is one of those moments. I'm 20 and can go to a club with my friend to have fun," she held her purse close and walked towards him at the door. "I suggest you do the same Felix," she pats his shoulder then walks out of their home. Felix stood by the door frame contemplating whether to reach out to their friends to ask about his cousin's sudden change in behavior, or more like her sudden revert in behavior. He wasn't there to witness it himself but he knew from the stories he's heard that this was how she acted before moving to South Korea to live with him. It hasn't hit an extreme but he knew it would eventually lead to the past she wanted to avoid.

To Changbin
hope you guys have a safe night! let me know if you guys need to get picked up :)

He decided to text Changbin to help his conscience, this was the most he could do for her right now.

Changbin
what?
what are you talking about?

Yongbok (yun's cousin)
aren't you going to Itaewon?

Changbin
i have work tonight
why, did you wanna go to Itaewon?

Yongbok (yun's cousin)
no, it's nothing
let's grab a beer sometime

Changbin
sounds like a plan
i have to go
bye

Seoyun lied to him. That's all he thought about. He wanted to trust her more and want to believe that she lied to him for a good reason. He tried to find any reason for it to make sense to him because he still wanted to believe in her. But what about Hyunjin? There's no way that she had told any of their friends the truth if she was even willing to lie to him about it. He wouldn't be a good friend if he kept this from him. Hyunjin must be worried not knowing anything about where she was and what she was doing. Would it be okay to tell him? What about Seoyun then? Would it be alright to push her like that, she's his cousin so she should be his priority, right? She is family.

She lied.

To Hyunjin
i have something to tell you.