Gaeul grudgingly walked her way to the bathroom. Her head was pounding and the bright light in her room was hurting her eyes. She reached for the bathroom door and pulled it open only to wince at its shrieking sound. If she knew that vodka would cause bad hangover, she would have drank tequila instead.

As she went on her way in, her foot made contact with the granite bathroom floor, the cold sensation stung her and she needed to stride fast towards the floor mat. It had been four in the morning and the room was cold from the air-conditioning. She noted to turn it off once she's done with her thing.

Memories from the incident yesterday harshly flashed back in her head. That day was actually one of the worst days of her life. She had drunk hard after she left the home of her in-laws. Later after that, she realized she had sprawled at the roadside crying herself out, carelessly.

If it wasn't because of Jiho, she might have slept on that spot. Embarrassment had drowned her; she could only cringe at the image of herself seeing a dear friend in that kind of state. It had been two years since she last saw Jiho and all of a sudden they saw each other again and she was nothing but hardly drunk. She had thanked Jiho's patience and sympathy; she needed to thank him again and might as well give another apology after.

Languidly, she made way to the sink and washed her face with warm water. She needed it, something to warm her because the coldness inside her was piercing her heart mercilessly. Then again, there was a single thing that confused her, the thing that caused her to bolt up from sleep, horrified. It was Junho, she had dreamed about him and the dream seemed like it was actually happening. The clarity of that dream replayed inside her head.

After a long time of wishing Junho to appear in her dreams it was just now yet, the message he delivered her knocked her off her knees.

In her dream, she had knelt down on the ground pleading him to take back what he said. Her husband stood right in front of her, he was so near and she stretched her arm to reach him but he drifted far. He made a safe distance from her as if telling her he was out of her grasp. His action pained her, she cried and pleaded him to come, but he did not. Junho strayed far from her, and if the distance wasn't too much for her to endure, he then spoke and there, her heart was shattered into fine sand.

"This is not the time for us. Not in this lifetime. You have to let me go, Gaeul-ah."

Gaeul pleaded once more. She was desperate; she had taken a firm stand and had cried even harder. However, all her tears were useless for Junho remained unshaken by her pleas. Gaeul was confused, she was shocked too as her beloved husband raised his hand and smiled at her.

"You and I, we will never be in this lifetime. I am meant to live and leave while you are meant to live and love."

She saw him, pointing somewhere and she was drawn to look at it.

"Chagi-yah, don't forget me. Saranghae!"

Gaeul's tears poured endlessly, her heart was pounding and she had to clutch her chest. She was trying to keep her heart inside her, it was beating painfully and she was afraid it might just explode. Her eyes were still fixated on the spot where Junho had pointed; nothing was seen over that spot. And when she snapped her head back on where Junho was, he was gone.

She cried once more and called out his name but nothing, nobody was with her. Alone. She was all alone and scared, in pain and confused. She clutched her chest again, crushing her fingers through her skin, it was painfully numbing. Gaeul was disappointed. And then when she blinked, she was nowhere she was a while ago.

Gaeul was unwillingly brought to a place where people were busy walking here and there. She was so surprised to see herself standing in the middle of the busy crowd. The Gaeul she was seeing was looking back at her. With the expression of disappointment and hurt all painted at that Gaeul across her, she watched herself in awe. And then all of a sudden, she was mortified and extremely in frightened, she saw herself parting her lips to utter the words that had sucked her air out of her lungs.

"Why was So Yi Jeong not there?"

Gaeul bolted; she was panting and was doused with sweat. It was all a dream. She had dreamed about it again and just like her state in that dream, her tears were streaming down continuously and she too was crushing her chest harshly. The beating thing inside her was insanely pumping out from her chest. Gaeul was wide awake but in shellshock.

"Gaeul-ah? Gwenchana?"

Junpyo rushed and hugged Gaeul tightly. He was extremely scared when he saw his sister lying unconscious inside her bathroom. Almost immediately, he went to her side and carried her to her bed while frantically calling for help. The whole house was in a frenzy, everybody had thrown their self towards the yelling Junpyo whom they caught shaking his sister violently into consciousness. Thank God Jandi was fast to push Junpyo away and to check how Gaeul was doing.

It took Jandi a few minutes to complete assessing Gaeul's vitals if not with how crazy Junpyo had acted all mindless because of his anxiety. She had even slapped him twice to calm him down and Jandi was thankful that he did. The good thing for all to know was that Gaeul was fine, no scratch, and no wound, no anything, just unconscious.

"God! I thought I lost you!"

The breathless voice of Junpyo pulled Gaeul from where she had drifted. She instantly untangled herself from her brother to face him fully. Gaeul was flabbergasted yet she managed to mask her raging emotions.

"Oppa? I'm... I'm fine. What happened?"

...

"Oh my God!"

Yi Jeong's ears perked high hearing Jaekyung's exclamation. He had lowered his head and adjusted his rimless glasses, throwing Jeakyung his annoyed countenance. He was then startled to see Jaekyung's eyes almost bulging out from its sockets, her jaw was down, too wide to consider normal.

"Yah! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?"

Jaekyung flipped the paper she was holding and flashed the huge printed photo that caught her by surprise. The picture had a huge print title: Beauty, Damsel in Distress. It portrayed Jiho offering his hand to a gorgeous lady who was sitting in the gutter along the busy street of Seoul.

"How in the world? No. What in the world is Jiho doing in this picture with..."

"Gaeul?" Yi Jeong finished the sentence for Jaekyung only to find her even surprise.

"You know about this?" Her question came out more like an exclaimed demand than an inquiry.

"Isn't it obvious? Her face is in the print, right?" Yi Jeong sounded distant as if he had spoken the words for someone else's. "I mean, it's Jiho and we both know he is well known by the people of Korea. He's the son of the former UN ambassador. And for Gaeul, she's a Gu for God sake! What's so surprising in seeing them on papers?"

"Yes. Jiho is known by almost everybody. That's given. But Gaeul? In this type of situation? Only few people know that she's a Gu. Her family never dared to introduce her to public. She was held protected from the prying media."

Jaekyung swallowed and breathe lightly.

"That means, the photo could stir controversy and it would backlash only for Gaeul. The media will dig her identity and it would be a whole new chaotic world for her if the media finds out that she's a Gu."

"Well then we don't have anything to do about it." Yi Jeong shrugged his shoulders and went back reading the file in front of him.

"Is it just me? Or you sound like a jealous... Um... Hey! What do you and Gaeul have anyway?" Jaekyung wiggled her brows to Yi Jeong, who instantly prodded his jaws, seemingly trying to keep his cool.

"Ha Jeakyung!"

"All right. Fine. I am heading out, dear."

Jaekyung rushed out of Yi Jeong's office with an impish smile on her lips. She knew she shouldn't get any more teasing at Yi Jeong because just as she heard him call her name that way, it was obvious he's pissed about something he didn't even know.

Yi Jeong on the other hand remained seated, pondering on how his cousin was able to know things about Gaeul. Was Jaekyung spying their business partner's private life? The mere thought of Jaekyung digging information about Gaeul bothered him. But why? It's none of his business and to tell the truth, he didn't even want to get involved. In spite of that, the defined info he heard from Jaekyung was much necessary to rouse his curiosity. And it irked him knowing that he was powerless of his own damn mind.

Damn it!

...

Bang!

Gaeul shrieked on her seat, washed with any color on her face as fear went its way to her. The loud sound her father made when he slammed his hand hard on the surface table brought chills on her lower spine. She almost leaped and grabbed Junpyo's arm for safety, too bad for her, Junpyo was seated a few feet away.

She looked back at her father who was facing away and was busy giving demands on the phone. Her father was making a deal with a huge publishing company to stop the spread of the photo which unfortunately reached the online world. It had been two hours since the news broke in the house and Gaeul was flooded with so many emotions, she almost blacked out and collapsed.

The tabloid headline was 'Beauty, Damsel in Distress', she gaped seeing herself and her friend Jiho, widely spread on a whole page of the paper. Later after that, the news had gone viral on the net for the reason that Jiho was quiet a well-known individual. It became the talk of the town in just a few hours and the netizens were crazy about who she was. Gaeul was stunned and afraid, she never, not in her life she had experienced being on the headline of a local newspaper. Not to mention that the news had graced on the online world.

Earlier that morning, before her father, whom she knew was in Singapore for a business deal stormed into her room, Jiho had called and assured Gaeul that things would be taken care of and that she shouldn't be worried about it. However, she made few more apologies and that her worries weren't in any way diminish. Gaeul thought she was doomed and maybe if things wouldn't favor her, her father would send her away to abroad. Her parents weren't really open to the public and they were totally against revealing their children to the entire nation where the media could step in their individual life.

She hadn't gone to social gatherings either ever since she could remember, even when Junpyo was handed the position of being the CEO, there wasn't any announcement made to the public. Even her marriage and so thus the death of Junho, all those things were held privately without the public's knowledge. His parents, especially her father would insist that although the company was running because of the public interest, their private life was far more important than that so they were shielded away from the media, until this.

"Gaeul!"

Her eyes widened seeing her father's unreadable expression too close for her comfort. He had bent on his height and was resting his hands on the armrest of Gaeul's seat. She gulped hard. This was it, her father was angry and she knew she didn't have any way to escape from it.

"You know that this issue may or may not be stopped. Are you ready for the consequence?"

"Abojie..." Gaeul was incapable of speaking the words she had in mind, a stiff nod was the only answer she could give to her father.

Gu Boman stared at his daughter. He knew she was too shaken by the sudden turn of events and also by how he had dealt with it. He was also aware that it wasn't her fault nor his friend's son, Jiho. Both kids were victims of chances and whether or not the media find out Gaeul's identity, he would keep his security high and would protect his daughter no matter what. Boman had seen how shaken was his daughter before, after all the incidents that had gone through her life and he vowed to keep her living her life in total privacy.

"Yoon Hyunshik had made arrangements and he too will do his best to stop the spread of this issue. You should talk to Jiho about this."

Gaeul looked back at her father with total confusion. He's not mad at me?

"It will take them some time to figure out your identity, so don't be scared." Her father turned and Junpyo's attention. "You know what to do, right son?"

"Consider it done, Abojie."

"Alright then, I'll be leaving to New York this afternoon because I can't afford to be the end receiver of your mother's wrath."

"Abojie... Abojie I'm sorry!" Her head was bowed down, tears streaming on both her cheeks. Gaeul was shaking.

"Shh." He gathered his daughter and kissed her forehead. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault and maybe, this thing was meant to happen. Your Oppa knows what to do, trust me this will end soon, Honey."

...

Truth to be told, Gaeul had to go on with her daily routine as if nothing had gone wrong, despite the little nervousness she was carrying inside almost every day. She had gone through all her work and even visited the circuit site for a week after the news broke. Nothing seemed wrong about her current pace and thus Gaeul was feeling more comfortable. She started strolling along the vast street of Seoul again; she also got some business acquaintances outside, met Jandi for coffee and fetched Minha at school. It had been a normal day, or so she thought.

It was a bright yet windy afternoon; she was walking on the pedestrian path, enjoying the scene of busy people walking here and there. She grabbed her coat tighter and adjusted her scarf; the wind was stubbornly seeping through her skin. At the edge of the road where the street lights indicated a red man sign, she stood poised waiting for the green man. The serene environment then was bugged by chatters of high school students who grouped themselves just beside her, they were talking about random stuff until she caught them gushing about the issue she was in for the last weekend.

Although the said issue had dissipated on the television as well as on prints, it was still on the run in the internet sites. All of a sudden Gaeul became uncomfortable and had slightly turned her face away from the teenagers. She had thanked God when the lights flashed the green walking man and Gaeul gratefully glided her way across the streets. At her hurried steps, she unintentionally bumped into a young girl who was darting her eyes straight into her phone.

"I'm so sorry!" The young girl bowed her head in acquiescence.

"It's okay. Are you hurt?"

"Aniya Agashi. Again I'm so sorry!" Said the girl whom by now took the chance of looking back at her.

Gaeul was surprised when the girl's eyes widen when she looked straight to her. She almost thought that she might look terrible or that her hair was all tossed away because of the wind. And then the girl smiled, she ungracefully flashed her phone in front of Gaeul and gushed aloud.

"It's you! The girl on the online trend. The one with Yoon Jiho!"

Despite the little air she had breathed when she had some steps away from the students, the slight bump she got from her co-pedestrian brought her into a dreadful ill-fated trap. Gaeul remained speechless; she stood frozen in her spot while the young girl was happily announcing to the crowd that she just saw the mystery girl from the internet. The whole place was put into a slow motion and it took her some times to notice she was being hovered around by the mixture of crowd who had their phone up for photos. She was nothing but scared and stunned at the same time.

"Omo! Omo! She's really pretty."

"She looks like a model."

"Is she an actress?"

"Noona neomo yeppeo!"

The words traveled on her ears like the buzz of bees on a vast garden, and just as she blinked her eyes a young boy pulled her finger which instantly caught her out of daze.

"Noona, I think you really have to run fast. Now!"

Yes! Gaeul you have to run fast. Now!

Gaeul swiftly whipped her head from side to side and when she saw a spot where she could run and escape, she lifted her bag and covered her face as she forced her feet and ran. Never in her life that she had run away from people like she was a criminal chased by some very eager policemen. She felt numb and her raging heart beat was awfully deafening, Gaeul ran some more until a stinging pain from her left leg knocked her outbalance. She grabbed herself up; she then regretted when she whipped her head and glanced back at her trails. There she saw those people, seemingly tireless of running towards her way. It scared the hell out of her, she was trembling and the crowd was still after her like madmen.

With her almost faltered breathing, she focused on her feet again and made another set of hurried steps. She was breathing like a tired racing horse but she had to continue or else she's totally doomed. Her eyes saw a narrow pathway just five meters away and a slight protruding wall that could temporarily block the view of those chasing her. Gaeul willed herself and headed straight to that narrow way, she was about to make a turn when a flashing car humped her way and to the gutter just behind her. And then in a heartbeat, she was whisked away to somewhere she was unaware. All that she could register at that second were loud squealing and a thud from a shutting… car door?

"Umah!"

Gaeul cried aloud, confused and anxious. She was too scared that she hadn't noticed she had shut her eyes all through that scenario. Anybody could tell that her reaction was off too late for the matter. Yet, she was entitled to act in any way she felt. For some few seconds, she felt that she was holding rather tightly to something or rather someone. The loud beating of the heart and the seemingly labored breathing told her it was a human being. The person was also holding her securely. And just Gaeul wished it was someone she knew or else it could bring another trouble to her. How she wished it wasn't an old maniac or worst a media man.

Otteokhae!

In a very reluctant move, Gaeul lifted her head and slowly opening her eyes. At the far corner of her vision, she saw and confirmed that indeed she was inside of a moving vehicle, a taxi she concluded after seeing a printed plate number on the back if the leather seat. And then slowly and carefully, Gaeul peered and tilted her head to see the face of the person who took her out of trouble.

Necktie, black slick and tailored suit, and a familiar musky Pinewood scent welcomed her senses. It's a he! Gaeul pondered of who could be the man she was painfully clutching onto. She lifted her head even more and there her eyes widened so as the man who was looking back at her with a very worried expression.

"Gwenchana? Gaeul-ssi? Yah Gwenchana!?"

A/n: Thank you very much for those who gave their reviews. At zizinikoreanlover , ntcmiller, kaylei and for the Guests. Wow i did not expect to have reviews from my silent readers hehehehe. Please feel free to give reviews, i would love to know what you guys are thinking! God Bless!