“JEON BORAM! LEE QRI! PARK SOYEON! HAM EUNJUNG! PARK JIYEON! …”, Eunjung could hear their fans started chanting their names as the music began. She put herself on acting mode to rhyme her emotions with the song. It was about a break-up, a hopeless love, a broken heart. Eunjung always give her best on every stage, always. But it’s very obvious that Boram is the one standing out. Ever since their comeback, their unnie has been showing off the best performance, like every word that she sang came from the deepest of her heart. And maybe it did.
Eunjung hasn’t forgotten what happened. Though none of them knows any of the details except Boram herself, Eunjung was sure that it’s not a joke. She remembers that night of their comeback, when they had to pick up Boram from the airport. She was crying as they went back home. Her tears were sincere, her feelings were true, Eunjung was sure about that.
As much as she felt sorry for Boram, she saw the improvement that the failure gave her. Eunjung knows that Boram is a good person, and she knows that someone like her doesn’t deserve to feel that kind of pain. She knows she doesn’t deserve to suffer like that. But somehow, the pain left her a mark, a scar that gave her nothing but beauty.
Boram might’ve failed her mission, but the result wasn’t so bad. Maybe for their career, yes, it was a good thing that Boram started to stand out. It was for her own good, but what she felt, Eunjung could barely imagine.
As soon as the performance was over, T-ara made a bow before heading backstage. It was tiring but worth it. The only thing that Eunjung ever wants to do is to know that she makes people happy and that she contributes a lot to their lives. Eunjung saw how their fans showed their love to them, and simply that was enough for her.
“Good job everyone! Good job!”, Eunjung kept saying as they sat on their waiting room. Everybody sure was happy about their great performance for today, everybody but one.
“Boram unnie… do you want something to eat? Or some water maybe?”, she asked worriedly as she snapped her unnie out from staring at nothingness.
“No… I’m okay Eunjung-ah”, a faint smile was all she gave her.
Eunjung knows she’s not alright. She’s been like that since Eric Kim left for the US. Eunjung as well as the rest of T-ara have tried their best to cheer her up, but nothing helped. Sometimes, Eunjung feels lonely having the thought that the situation with Boram felt like they lost her. It felt like even though she’s right there, she wasn’t with them. It’s like she was left behind, like she was still back there on the last three days before their comeback.

Jiyeon went straight to their room as she failed for the hundredth time to cheer Boram up. As much as what happened to their unnie scared her, Jiyeon was still excited to receive her own mission.
“Hyomin unnie!”, she shook her unnie, trying to wake her up.
“Ah-wae Jiyeon-ah… I’m sleeping~”, she complained.
“Aren’t you excited unnie?”, she asked as she tucked herself with Hyomin under her blankets. “About the missions, I mean. We’re the only ones who haven’t gotten one. Do you think I’ll be next?”
“What are you talking about? You’re gonna go last, you know! I’m the unnie here! I’ll go first before you…”, Hyomin replied.
“No way… Because I’m the maknae, I’ll be last? That’s so unfair!”, Jiyeon cried out.
“Uh-huh… That’s the way it is.”, Hyomin did a merong before turning her back on her, possibly trying to go on with her sleep.
“Unnie~!”, Jiyeon continued to irritate her.
“Jiyeon-ah I’m trying to sleep! Get off my bed…”, Hyomin said, now really irritated.
“What do you think he’d be like? My guy, I mean. I hope he’s handsome… I hope he’s tall and manly. I hope he’s not creepy like Hwangjoo-ssi, I hope he won’t throw a water balloon at me like Han Kyungsam…”, Jiyeon kept on talking. “I hope he doesn’t lock himself at home like Eunjo-ssi, and please… please please please… let it not be a foreigner…… Hyomin unnie! Why do you think all the guys for the missions are defective?”
“Aishh~ Jiyeon-ah jaebal… I’m really sleepy. And stop talking about the missions, aren’t you scared?”, Hyomin said.
Scared? Yes, Jiyeon is scared. But she can’t let fear take over. “Sometimes… But it’s okay, unnie… Of course what happened to Boram unnie is really sad, but it doesn’t mean it’ll happen to us too, right?”
“Yeah~ but still…”, Hyomin went on.
“Gwenchanha~ You’re the best at this. If one of us should be scared, that’s me…”, she told her.
“Well don’t be. Your attractive… you’ll definitely succeed… Now get off my bed, will you?”, Hyomin once again, turned her back on her.
“No!”, Jiyeon said, hugging Hyomin from behind.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you two?!”, Jiyeon heard Eunjung say as she came in the room. “Get off each other you look like you’re having a honeymoon! Hurry up and get outside!”
“Ah-wae~? I’m really, really sleepy… Why don’t any of you let me sleep?”, Hyomin whined.
“Soyeon unnie’s crying in front of her laptop so stop whining!”, Eunjung replied.
“What? Why?”, Jiyeon and Hyomin said in unison.
“What are you talking about? We all know why…… Now, hurry up!”, Eunjung commanded one last time before leaving the room.
She was right. There’s only one reason why Soyeon would cry in front of her laptop. “Oh no…”, Jiyeon thought. “Not again…”
“I told you~ I read a really touching online novel and I just couldn’t help it…”, Soyeon tried her best to hide the truth from her members. She knew it was better if they just don’t know.
“You’re lying…”, Jiyeon said. “She’s lying!”
“Tell us the truth unnie…”, Hyomin followed.
But she couldn’t. She can’t tell them. “I told you… It’s an online novel… I’ll let you read it if you want to…”
“Alright… That’s it… Let’s give her a wristband.”, Eunjung announced as Jiyeon put the wristband on Soyeon.
“What wrong with you? There’s no need for this…”, Soyeon said, taking it off. “I’m telling the truth.
“Just say it Soyeon-ah~ What did the article say?”, everybody got quiet as Boram spoke faintly from the corner. Soyeon almost forgot she was there.
With the look on Boram’s face and knowing that their unnie have gone through a lot, she just couldn’t bear to lie. “Okay…”, she simply replied, as she showed the article. Soyeon’s eyes started to sting at the sight of it.
“T-ara with the worst comeback ever.”
“What a dull song to listen to, very boring.”
“The members can’t even get the choreography right.”
“Jiyeon kept messing up.”
“Why did they even bother to make a comeback?”
“When will they ever disband?”

Every sentence stabbed Jiyeon’s heart. The whole article was all negative comments about them. Most of it was directed to Jiyeon. She tried to hold back her tears and stay strong.
Everybody kept quiet, not saying a single word.
Jiyeon noticed Eunjung turn away and secretly wiped her tears. She admired her for that, always being strong for T-ara. Hyomin kept sobbing as Qri sat next to her doing the same. Boram simply stared at the screen blankly though Jiyeon knew she too, was hurting in the inside.
Jiyeon couldn’t bear to look at the screen one more time. She knew her she can’t hold back her tears any longer. She had to go before she tears up.
“I’m sleepy… Good night everyone.”, she left and started towards their room, not daring to look back.
Yeongwon arrived at T-ara’s dorm to find the girls crying, as expected.
“Sajangnim sent me here. He said I should talk to you about all this.”, he explained, but everybody ignored him, as usual.
“Let me see the article.”, he went on anyway as Soyeon handed him the laptop.
As much as Yeongwon is a professional person, he felt sad about the article. No, not sad, he felt mad. He’s been with these girls for months and he knows that they don’t deserve these words. Of course they make mistakes, but who doesn’t? These people who wrote these are the ones who deserve to be trash talked.
Yeongwon kept his emotions in control. He wanted to punch the guy who wrote it right on the face, but he can’t do that. He can’t.
He laughed hard trying to convince T-ara that he wasn’t faking it, though he was. “C’mon… You’re all crying because of this?!”, he said before laughing again. “You believe in this? Huh? This isn’t true… We all know that!”
“You don’t understand…”, he heard Soyeon sobbed the words.
“Don’t understand? Of course I understand. You’re letting them in… and that is not very wise of you.”, he seemed to have gotten the girls’ attention. “People like these exists to make your lives interesting… don’t you know that? Imagine an idol life with your fans chanting your names and nothing more than that, isn’t it the most boring thing ever?”
“Without pain, you will never know what relief feels like.”, he went on. “Without sorrow, you will never know what happiness is. Without crying, you’ll never realize that you can smile, because you have nothing to compare anything to. Don’t you see? Pain… is the beauty of life.”
As soon as the last words came out of Yeongwon’s mouth, the door slammed shut from behind him as Boram left the room.
“Uh-oh~…”, was all he could say.
“Ouch! Ouch! Aww! Stop that!”, Yeongwon tried to defend himself while Eunjung kept punching and kicking him.
“Seriously? You call yourself a Psychologist?!”, she yelled at his face. “Look what you did!!!”
“Hey! Hey! First off, I’m a professional, okay? I am a professional psychologist!”, he yelled back.
“Stop it, you two… You’re making things worse.”, Soyeon said. “Shadow! You can just go… you’re not helping… seriously.”
“Fine! Whatever… Wait! Where’s Jiyeon? I have to talk to her too…”, he looked around but he couldn’t find the maknae.
“She’s in our room. I checked on her lately and even though she’s trying to hide it, I know she’s crying.”, Hyomin told him.

“Hey! Jiyeon-ah… You asleep?”, Jiyeon heard Shadow enter the room. For some reason, his tone was different today. Somehow, it’s a little comforting.
“What are you doing here? This is a girl’s room! Get out!”, she yelled at him.
“Don’t be silly! I’m just checking on you… You okay?”, he asked her. He must’ve read the article too, so he knows that most of the bad comments were directed on Jiyeon.
“I’m okay…”, she lied. “Now get out!”
“Hey… tell you what. To cheer up our precious maknae, Oppa will give Jiyeonie her mission tomorrow…”, Jiyeon felt her heart skip a beat.
“What? Really?!”, she felt her tears have all dried.
“Yeah~ So stop crying, okay? See you at the company tomorrow… Good Night!”, that was the last thing he said before leaving the room.
“Finally…”, Jiyeon thought before drifting off to sleep.

“Hey Shadow!!!”, Hyomin yelled at Shadow in a whisper trying to get his attention.
“What!”, he yelled back in a whisper too.
“You stay away from her! You don’t stand a chance, you babo!”, she said, slapping his shoulder.
“Ouch! That hurt… What are you talking about?”, he replied, rubbing his shoulder.
“Jiyeonie… You like Jiyeon, don’t you? Leave her alone!”, she warned him.
“What? I don’t like her! I never said I like her… Hey! Get out of my way! I’m going home.”, he denied as Hyomin kept blocking the door.
“I’ll believe you if you can say that with a wristband on.”, she dared him. “Oppa will give our Jiyeonie her mission tomorrow…”, Hyomin imitated Shadow. “Seriously?! Oppa???! Shadow, that’s so cheesy!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Get out of my way…”, he said again, obviously trying to avoid the subject.
“C’mon… I already know everything.”, she went on.
“Shut up! You shut your mouth, okay?!”, she finally got him. “If you tell anyone, I’m seriously gonna kill you! Like for real!”
“Oh… I don’t know. I’ll think about it… I think it’d be more interesting if Jiyeon knew.”, she winked at him and laughed before rushing off to their room.

Honestly speaking, Yeongwon’s been trying not to give Jiyeon a mission. Yes, Hyomin was right, but so what?
He knew a mission would cheer Jiyeon up, though he knew that the mission he’s giving her is dangerous, he had full confidence on her. Somehow, he knows she’ll succeed.
“Here you go…”, he said as he handed her the mission card.
Jiyeon was obviously happy, relieved, and excited all at the same time. The guy for her mission was good-looking. But Yeongwon still thinks he looks better.
“Jiyeon-ah… Before you get all excited”, he started. “I want you to know something about your target. We didn't give you this mission for nothing. There is a reason… the same reason we had with Eunjung’s mission. As you see… Kwon Namhae is a writer.”

At first, Jiyeon couldn’t find her strength to do the mission. She was scared, and she couldn’t deny that even to herself. But she remembered Eunjung’s story with Kyungsam. Everything went fine. And if Eunjung can do it, so can she.
Namhae was locking the door of his apartment when a girl’s husky voice spoke from behind.
“Going somewhere Kwon.Nam.Hae-ssi?”, she said in an arrogant way, well at least she tried to say it that way. It was obvious to Namhae that whoever the girl was, the line was something that she seemed to have just memorized.
“Pardon?”, he replied as he turned to the girl.
Namhae thought he was going to have a heart attack. He couldn’t hear any heartbeat from his own heart. He couldn’t feel any of his body parts, like his whole body went numb. He felt like he was going blind for at that moment he saw nothing but the girl that stood in front of him, like everything else went black. He stood speechless, breathless, as Park Jiyeon stared back at him.
“Surprised to see me?”, she tried to say arrogantly again, but she was definitely failing. Namhae clearly sensed the fear in her eyes.
“Well, to be honest, yeah~ But, you do know that you don’t sound like you mean what you’re saying, right? I mean, you’re trying to sound arrogant, but your eyes tells me that you feel like running away right now…”, he told her without thinking twice.
“Wh-What? But… Eunjung unnie said it would work…”, she whined, maybe annoyed that Namhae caught her.
“Wait~ Eunjung told you to come here and talk to me?”, he asked, again, without thinking twice.
“No~ I wanted to come here and talk to you… I just asked her what I should say…”, she explained.

“Oh okay… So… Uhmmm… What did you want to talk about?”, he spoke the words like he was having a normal conversation with a friend. He just met Jiyeon but he sounded too casual, like he’s not nervous at all, not like how Eunjung described Kyungsam’s reaction when they met. Either this would make things a lot easier, or a lot harder for Jiyeon.
She cleared her throat before answering. “I demand an apology!”
Kwon Namhae raised an eyebrow. Jiyeon realized that she tried to sound arrogant again.
“Okay, fine!”, she said, giving up the whole arrogant mask. “I came because I want to hear an apology.”, she tried again, this time meaning it.
“Apology…?”, Kwon Namhae asked like he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Oh you mean… You read my article?”
“Yes!”, she briefly replied.
“Really? How was it?!”, he asked sounding like he’s asking a friend what she thinks about his masterpiece painting.
“What? Well, obviously, it hurt! Why are you so happy about it?!”, she yelled at him.
“Oh, I meant the grammar and writing style and all but… well, sorry.”, he tried to explain himself.
“’well, sorry.’, that’s it?”, Jiyeon asked, hoping to hear more. “Do you know that I slept with my eyes all swollen last night ‘cause I couldn’t get your words out of my head?!”
“I-I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… I… I’m really, really sorry…”, he apologized, sincerely sounding guilty. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, I mean anything at all…”
“Date me.”, Jiyeon said without any ado.
“What?!! No!!!”, he quickly replied.
“What? But you said ‘anything’…”, she whined again.
“Anything but that, I meant! You’re an idol, you babo!”, he yelled at her like a middle school kid.
“Yeah, I’m an idol, so what? And don’t call me babo, you babo!”, she yelled back.
“Well, it’s not gonna happen. Look, I’m in a hurry right now. I have to go buy something so you should just go back home or something.”, he said as he turned his back.
“Wait! You’re gonna go shopping?”, she caught him, immediately wrapping herself to his arm. “Can I come?”
“What?! No! I have to buy something for my mom… It’s her birthday tomorrow.”, he told her.
“Really? I’m coming with you. I wanna buy something for her too. Can you wait for me? I have to change my clothes so nobody would notice me hanging out with an ugly guy…”, she teased him.
“What?! How dare you…? I’m not ugly! You’re ugly!”, he teased back. “And I’m not gonna wait for you!”
“Well, you can just come with me then.”, she grabbed him as she started down the alley.
“What?! No! I don’t want to.”, he struggled. But Jiyeon just ignored him and dragged him along.
“We’re just gonna walk all the way to your dorm?”, he whined.
“Well, do you have a car?”, Jiyeon asked.
“No.”, he simply said.
“Well then you can just go walk by yourself if you want because I have a car. It’s parked two blocks away.”, she said, giving him a grin.
“You don’t have a car… Your company has a car!”, he said as she kept dragging him.
“That’s the same thing!”, she said back.
“No, it’s not…”, he said in contrast.
“Yes, it is! And shut up!”, she said getting tired of his stubbornness.
“No, you shut up!”, he said as Jiyeon gave up and just let him win with the last words.
“Don’t talk to him.”, the very first thing Jiyeon told T-ara, the moment she came to their dorm with a handsome guy with her.
“Jiyeon-ah~ who’s that? He’s so hot!”, Hyomin meant it. The guy had amazing looks.
“Don’t look at him.”, Jiyeon warned them again.
“What? Why? He’s so handsome.”, Hyomin couldn’t agree more with Eunjung, the guy sure was good-looking.
“Omo, Jiyeon-ah~ Is he the guy for your mission?”, Hyomin asked, realizing the situation.
“Kinda…”, she simply replied as she got her stuff ready.
“Omo~ Dream come true… he looks so manly.”, Hyomin said never taking her eyes off the guy.
“He’s not manly!”, Jiyeon said before going into their room, possibly to change her clothes.
“Well, what is he, then?”, Hyomin followed her.
“He’s so childish! Unnie… turn around!”, Jiyeon yelled at her.
Hyomin turned around while Jiyeon changed her clothes. But she kept on talking. “Well, he’s cute then…”
“No! He is so not cute! More like an irritating, annoying, stubborn brat!”, she replied.
“Well, a really hot irritating, annoying, stubborn brat, he is! You forgot the hot part!”

“So what are we gonna buy for umma?”, Jiyeon asked him as they walk on the street with her wrapping herself around his arm again.
“Wait. First of all, she’s not your umma. Second, there’s no we here, okay? And third, will you please get off of me?!”, he said as he tried to get her off of him.
“No!”, she quickly replied tightening her grip on him.
He liked her, of course. Park Jiyeon, he meant, the beautiful Park Jiyeon, the idol actress Park Jiyeon, T-ara Jiyeon, not this… irritating, stubborn kid wrapped around him. He can’t even imagine that they’re the same person.
It would’ve just taken Namhae minutes to buy his mom a birthday gift, but thanks to miss stubborn here, they were at the market for hours.
Thank goodness they were back at his house before the clock struk ten. But a few step away from his place, Namhae noticed that the lights were on. Someone was in his house. And that someone can only be one person.
“Jiyeon-ah~”, he said, stopping her just in time. “You have to go… Someone’s in my house, and we’re both dead when he sees us together. So please…”
“Why? Who is he?”, she asked him.
“It’s my boss… Now, go!”, he told her again.
“Okay… but you have to pick me up tomorrow. I want to come with you on your mom’s birthday.”, she said to him.
“What? But she lives in the countryside. And I’ll be staying there over night… you can’t come.”, he explained.
“Well then, I’ll stay there over night too, I can ask my boss to move my schedules.”, she said, again, with her stubbornness.
“No! I said no! You can’t come, okay?”, he kept on shooing her.
“I won’t leave ‘till you promise me to take me with you!”, he said still not giving up.
“Okay, fine! Fine! I promise! Now go…”, he gave up and hugged her before she left, making sure everything was real.

“Come here, son!”, his boss gave him a big hug the moment he got to his house. “The article… was a hit!”
“Oh~ really…?”, was all he could reply.
“CCM is going crazy about it right now, that’s for sure.”, his boss went on. “You should keep up the good work!”
“Uhmmm… Yeah…”, he said quietly.
“What’s wrong with you? Cheer up! Isn’t it your mom’s birthday tomorrow? You deserve a trip down the countryside, my boy… Enjoy yourself! You’re a great writer, now!”, he tried to absorb everything his boss was saying, at the same time trying to get Jiyeon’s face out of his head. It’s killing him with guilt.
“Well, I’d be going now. Here’s your bonus… for a job well done.”, he gave him an envelope with some cash inside before leaving.
Namhae stared at his ceiling as he lied on his bed. All he ever wanted was to become a writer. But everywhere he went, any place he applied to, all he got was rejection. And he got tired of it. His boss came to him one day and offered him this job. It was an opportunity and he just couldn’t say no to.
He’s a bad person. He knows that. But today, hanging out with Park Jiyeon, he hated himself for forgetting it.

“Are you sure you can ride a public bus?”, Wangohan Namhae asked her for like the hundredth time now. She decided to call him Wan-Nam because he’s so stubborn. But he said he came up with the same idea, and began calling her Wan-Ji.
“Yes! How many times do I have to tell you? ‘The best way to hide is not to hide at all.’ Don’t you know that?”, she said remembering what Eunjung advice her.
“Omo! Is that T-ara? Omo~ Park Jiyeon looks pretty!”, Jiyeon automatically duck behind a nearby trash can when she heard the people started hissing.
“Uhhh~ What are you doing?”, Wan-Nam asked her, raising an eyebrow.
Jiyeon stood up and realized that a store nearby has a TV. She looked closely and saw that they were on, T-ara, performing on stage. She felt embarrassed as she went back to wait for a bus by Wan-Nam’s side.
They found their seat on the public bus that finally came after hundreds of years… Jiyeon felt like they’ve been waiting since the Joseon dynasty.
Jiyeon was happy that she won on her five-minute debate with Wan-Nam over who gets the seat by the window. But despite his loss, Jiyeon can see the excitement in his eyes. He said he hasn’t seen his mom for a whole year. Jiyeon can sure relate to that, because of their schedules, she had to live with her unnies in their dorm and she misses her family so much. Namhae sure was lucky that he’ll see his mom today.
Jiyeon’s been to the countryside before, but she forgot how relaxing it is to be there. The air was fresh, there were no buildings blocking the view… it was beautiful.
“Uuuwwwaaa~ Can you feel that, Wan-Nam-ah~? The atmosphere feels so nice here!”, she said as she spread her arms.
“Of course… There’s no other place like home~…”, he said before running off.
“Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!!”, Jiyeon yelled as she went after him.
“Home!!!”

“I missed you so much Umma~”, he hugged his mom the moment he got to their house. “Saengil Chukhahaeyo~!”
“WAN-NAM-AH~!!!! WHERE ARE YOU???!!!”, he heard Wangohan Jiyeon yell from outside.
“Who’s that, Adeul? Are you with someone?”, his mom asked him.
“Ne~ umma…”, he replied, not being proud of it.
“Ya! Wan-Ji-ya! Stop screaming out there and come inside!”, he yelled at her before turning back to his mom.
“Mom~ This is Park Jiyeon…”, he introduced her as Wan-Ji came.
“Omo~ I think I’ve seen this kid in the television before…”, his mom said examining Wan-Ji.
“Ne Eomoni~ I’m Park Jiyeon, T-ara Jiyeon.”, she introduced herself again.
“Aigoo~ Our Adeul brought home a very pretty celebrity…”, his mom said happily. “How did you meet my adeul, aga-ssi?”
Wan-Ji giggled at the complement before answering. “Oh~ I read one of his articles… Your son is a great writer, Eomoni~”
“Aigoo~ Our Adeul have reached his dreams? I knew you could do it, Namhae-ya~ Aigoo~ Umma is so proud of you…”, his mom hugged him as she said the words. “I knew my son would grow up as a good man~”, his mom’s words felt like needles piercing his heart.
As if reading his mind, Wan-Ji held his hand. “Of course Eomoni~ Namhae is a good person…”
“Aigoo~ You two look good together…”, his mom said with teary eyes. “Adeul! Why don’t you give Jiyeon a tour around town? And take her to the river, the atmosphere is nice there.”

Namhae can still feel Jiyeon’s hand holding his as they walked around town. “Gwenchanha?”, she asked him
“Yeah~ Of course…” he assured her with a smile.
Jiyeon never let go of his hand as Namhae ended the tour. He was thankful to her for giving him the comfort he needed.
“Ya~ Wan-Ji-ya~”, he started. “Do you wanna see the river umma was talking about?”
“Yeah~”, she simply replied.

Wan-Nam told her a lot about himself while on the way, and she did the same.
“So… Your dad was against your dreams?”, she asked while they were sitting beside the river, enjoying the atmosphere.
“Yeah~ But I never stopped going after it… And look what it did to me. All my parents ever wanted, is for me to become a good man, and I failed them… My job is to hurt innocent people and make them look bad in others’ eyes…”, Jiyeon can see his eyes get teary as he spoke, trying his best not to let his tears fall. “I even made you cry…”
“Ani~”, she tried to cheer him up, slipping her hands through his and resting her head on his shoulder. “You didn’t mean any of it, right? Which is why you’re gonna stop…”, she looked up at him and stared straight into his eyes. “No more negative articles…?”
“Yeah~”, he smiled at her. “And no more making Wan-Ji cry…”
“Promise?”, she offered him her pinky.
“Promise…”, he replied, doing a swear.
She smiled back at him, happy of his response. “Here~ wear this…”, she said handing him the wristband.
“Huh? Why??? What’s it for?”, he asked.
“If you wear that… it means Wan-Ji is your girl.”, she told him.
“Really??!!!”, he asked as he struggled to wear it immediately.
She laughed at him before saying, “No~”, and splashed a hand full of water to on his face.
Jiyeon played in the water with Wan-Nam ‘till it was time for lunch. They went back to his house to celebrate his mom’s birthday with their neighborhood friends, and the day was over before Jiyeon knew it.
“Here you go Jiyeon-ah~”, Wan-Nam’s mom said, offering her a place to sleep in. “You can sleep here with me and I’ll make Namhae sleep in the next room.
“Kamsahamnida~”, she thanked her.
“Eomoni~ I bought you something too…”, she said, giving her gift. “It’s used for massage~ So eomoni can use it when your body hurts from work.
“Omo~ My daughter-in-law is very thoughtful…”, she smiled at her. Daughter-in-law… The words caused Jiyeon much pain. “Take good care of my adeul, okay?”
“Ne Eomoni~”, she replied though she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her words.

Two days passed after her trip down the countryside with Wan-Nam. They haven’t seen each other due to her schedules but Jiyeon tried her best to keep in touch.
“Jiyeon-ah~”, Jiyeon was surprised to see Eunjung bursting into their room. “You gotta see this.”
Jiyeon couldn’t believe her eyes. Every word from the article stabbed her heart. It was from the same site, same writer. “This doesn’t make any sense… Namhae would NEVER……”, she stopped as she began to doubt her own words, her own judgment.

Answering the loud knocking on his door, Namhae was stunned to see Jiyeon in front of him. She entered his house before he could stop her.
“What are you doing here?”, he asked, turning to her.
But instead of answering, Jiyeon slapped him hard on the face. Namhae couldn’t agree more that he deserved it. “Wae?”, he heard her ask.
He kept his head bowed, not having the strength to look at her in the eyes.
“Answer me!!!”, she scream at his face, obviously crying now. “You promised…”
Namhae couldn’t take it and turned his back on her pretending to be busy. He cleared his throat to hide his emotions. “Haven’t you learned yet, Park Jiyeon? Even your fans know the basics and how come you don’t? Rule number one… Never believe on a netizen’s word.”
Namhae’s heart stopped as Jiyeon hugged him from behind. “Wan-Nam and Wan-Ji playing in the water…… What happened?”, she whispered to him. “What happened Wan-Nam-ah~”, she kept on crying.
Every word from her broke Namhae’s heart. “You have to go, now.”, he barely got the words out.
“No!”, she simply replied.
Namhae couldn’t take it anymore. He placed his hands on top of hers and felt her arms around him. He felt his tears form as he felt her warmth against him.
He turned and hugged her back as she did the same to him. He let his tears fall in front of her for the first time. “Oh~ Jiyeon-ah… I’m so sorry… I’m so… so sorry.”, he cried. “It’s my job…”
“But you promised…”, she cried back to him.
“I know… I’m sorry Jiyeon-ah… You have to trust me, okay?”, he said. “Just trust me…”
“Hey… tell you what…”, he went on. “Every time you read my articles, whatever negative things I say, I meant the exact opposite of it, okay?”
“Okay…”, she simply said and rested her head against his chest. “Joahhae~ Wan-Nam-ah…”, she whispered.
“Nado Joahhae Wan-Ji-ya~”, he whispered back.
“Ani.”, he said changing his mind. “Saranghae, Park Jiyeon.”

Eunjung knows it’s weird but she knew it was a sign that something in their maknae changed. And it was a good thing.
Now, Eunjung thinks Jiyeon is the one and only idol that sits in front of a computer excited to read the latest negative article about her.

Notes