Yu Jin quickened her pace towards the washroom but found a sign outside – CLEANING IN PROCESS. She whined as the next nearest washroom was ten minutes away and she did not have time to go over.

After pondering for a while, Yu Jin headed towards the nearest dance room at a corner. The door creaked open and she peeped inside, “Anyone here?”

The room was dark and quiet. Judging by the door sound, she assumed the room was not used often. She was relieved and closed the door hastily and put her things at one side. “I shall use this room to change out,” She told herself and started ing her jacket.

Upon taking off her jacket, she was wearing a sleeveless top inside. The top exposed her scarred skin which was ruined by the fire accident years ago. Even though dance practices could get sweaty and warm, she never once took off her jacket because she was afraid her scars and hideous skin would scare away her students.

Her students would often wonder why she would not wear a simple short-sleeved shirt and comfortable dance pants to dance practices. Yu Jin often excused herself by saying she was more comfortable in jackets.

At that moment, she heard some footsteps outside.

She panicked as she realised she did not lock the door and tried to cover herself up as quick as possible but the person had already entered and the lights.

“Yah, I told you not to turn off your phone and pl-“ The person stepped inside and Yu Jin shrieked.

“Omo! Yu Jin…” Ki Kwang’s voice trailed away as he realised who was in the room, “Yu Jin…”

From pure shock, Ki Kwang’s eyes turned to Yu Jin’s exposed arms. He stood at the doorway, not knowing how to react to her being in the room she was not supposed to be in and the unexpected realisation of the state of her skin.

He looked down immediately and said, “I’m sorry. You should get change first.”

Yu Jin froze in her position as Ki Kwang closed the door again. She touched her skin lightly and bit her lips. “Did he get frightened by my skin? He saw… everything.” Yu Jin whispered and squeezed her arm in embarrassment.

After changing, she opened the door to find Ki Kwang standing beside the door, waiting for her. They stood before each other and stayed quiet. No one was quite sure what to say.

Yu Jin acted normal and started, “I’m sorry for frightening you. I just needed a quick place to change out but the washroom wasn’t available. I did not know someone uses this room.”

“Well, you should be glad it’s me because this is where my friend sleeps,” He chuckled nervously and realised he was not speaking any sense, “No! No! I mean… it will be drastic if it was my friend who finds you here instead.”

“Ki Kwang,” Yu Jin spoke again.

Ki Kwang stopped talking and waited.

“I know you have many questions to ask about what you saw.” Her voice trembled.

“Can you forget everything that you saw just now?” Yu Jin looked down and continued.

Ki Kwang’s mind kept flashing images of her exposed arms and he had so many questions for her. Why was her skin like that? Could they be cured? Was Yu Jin hurt before? How was she hurt? Ki Kwang thought silently.

Ki Kwang grabbed her shoulders gently and leaned closer to Yu Jin, “Yu Jin, I just want you to know if you need a listening ear, I’ll be here for you.” Then he released his hands, “But if you don’t feel comfortable about telling me, it’s fine with me.”

“Honestly, Ki Kwang. All these happened so long ago. I don’t have the slightest memory of how I got these scars,” Yu Jin said truthfully. She only remembered how it was like to be in the fires, being lost and hopeless. However, she did not remember how she got saved from it.

Ki Kwang could tell the sufferings she had by the look of the wounds she was scarred but Yu Jin was not the type of girl who was vulnerable. He smiled and pretended everything was normal between them, “Should we have lunch together?”

-

“Look, Yo Seob. Stop being so secretive and tell me how the date went!” Ki Kwang pestered once again as both of them walked down the hallway.

Yo Seob folded his arms and sighed, “Look, Ki Kwang. We just went out to watch movies and that’s it.”

“You’re so boring. You’re not doing youself any justice.” Ki Kwang whined and shook his head.

“Yah, Lee Ki…” Yo Seob’s voice faded. He stiffened and bowed to the person who was walking towards them.

“Good morning, CEO.” Yo Seob greeted politely and gave a weak smile, not forgetting to glance warily at Ki Kwang’s reaction. As expected, Ki Kwang’s playful expression disappeared and his mood turned gloomy.

“Good morning, Yo Seob. Are you doing well?” The CEO replied.

Yo Seob nodded, “Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.”

There was an undeniable silence in the hallway. Ki Kwang’s face was expressionless and hard to read. He deliberately avoided the CEO’s eyes and looked elsewhere instead. Yo Seob nudged Ki Kwang and motioned him to say something.

Ki Kwang did not budge and was about to walk past the CEO.

“Ki Kwang, are you training well?” The CEO spoke first and Ki Kwang stopped in his tracks.

With a cold stare at the CEO, Ki Kwang responded, “I’m doing extremely well, thank you very much.” There was an obvious hint of sarcasm in his words.

Yo Seob tried to lighten the mood by adding some laughs here and there, “I have seen him practise. He’s really good. He’s definitely training hard in singing and dan-“

“But I will definitely do better if I was at a better agency than this,” Ki Kwang interrupted and scanned the surroundings, “Better than this agency which is currently run by someone who doesn’t deserve to be in charge.”

“Lee Ki Kwang!” Yo Seob hissed and frowned.

The CEO looked down apologetically and smirked in the end, “Looks like someone is still not convinced by my management skills.” He chuckled, “Ki Kwang, you know I will never let go of a talent like you. Even if I let you leave, you know no agency will accept you… because of me.”

“I can do it,” Ki Kwang was firm and calm, “If I’m good, other agencies will want me.”

“If you think so, have you heard yourself singing lately?” The CEO shrugged and patted Ki Kwang’s shoulder lightly. Everyone in the company knew Ki Kwang’s singing was not the best thing to talk about.

His tone changed to a lighter one as he spoke, “I don’t know how to make you change your mind but trust me, I have bigger things for you to do. Everything I have planned out is for your own good.”

The CEO left before Ki Kwang could react to it. For your own good, he thought and said it out without alerting the CEO, “You wouldn’t trap me in here if you were doing a favour for me.”

Yo Seob placed one arm around his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“More than okay. I’m perfectly fine.” Ki Kwang’s face did not change and Yo Seob knew his mood had been dampened.

Feeling sorry for the relationship Ki Kwang and CEO had, Yo Seob tried to convince Ki Kwang’s stubbornness, “Ki Kwang, maybe you can try to forgive him. It has been years and maybe he’s trying his best to make up for what had happened.”

“Yo Seob, nothing can ever make up for what he did. Nothing.” Ki Kwang emphasised.

Ki Kwang stomped off angrily but Yo Seob continued to follow from behind, “Ki Kwang, you know you cannot change the fact that you and he are related. He’s your…”

“Yang Yo Seob,” Ki Kwang cut in and shut his eyes, “Don’t say it. I don’t want to be reminded that we are related.” Ki Kwang opened his eyes and felt sorry for being harsh to Yo Seob who was just caring for him, “I’m going for practice.”

-

Author's Note:

Hello readers, just to inform you all I'll be away in overseas until 17 June (noooooooo!) so no updates till then. :( So sorry for that and please do check out other great fanfics out there while you wait for me to be back. :)