“Sunye ah, are you experiencing an identity crisis or something?”

The subject glanced at her best friend, with whom she had shared a decade-long friendship, Jo Kwon upon his question. He was holding a pair of seductive killer stilettos and printed on his face was a look of incredulity.

“I can’t believe you wasted your monthly allowance on this,” he told her. He then pointed his finger at the sophisticated dresses lying on Sunye’s bed, almost accusingly as though the fabrics were some sort of an evil spirit. “And these... Seriously?”

Before she could even refute Kwon’s statement, Minyoung entered the bedroom and spoke out in her defense, “Kwonnie, this is what you call ‘the things girls do for boys’.”

“Min, I get that Sunye wants to impress Hoyoung hyung, but come on, let’s be real. Sunye cannot even walk in a 2-inch heel, let alone that? She’s only going to embarrass herself.”

Sunye rolled her eyes at him, visibly annoyed. “Wow, thanks for the moral support, Kwon.”

He heaved a distressed sigh, hoping to place some sense into her. “Sunye, hyung likes you for what you are. Why are you changing yourself? It doesn’t make sense.”

Minyoung, who always seemed to have a better understanding about her among Sunye’s two best friends, retaliated on her behalf. “Kwon, don’t you think you’re being a hypocrite right now? Coming from a guy who would stare at sexy girls in miniskirts every time given the chance…”

“What do you expect? I’m a guy,” he reasoned, giving her a shrug on the shoulders.

Sunye almost immediately attacked him as soon as he voiced out his opinion. “That is the point! Hoyoung oppa is a guy, too – a college guy, at that. He’s surrounded by mature, sophisticated women all the time. I ought to stop being ‘high school’ to keep up with him.”

Figuring that he was just wasting his time arguing with the persistent girls, he gave up. “You girls are a lost cause.”

Noticing a horror-struck look on her best friend, Sunye whispered, knowingly, “I know, right?”

“This is so cool,” Minyoung spoke out quietly, with her jaw almost dropped. “There are so many hotties… Oh look! That hot thing right there was our senior when we were freshies.”

Sunye smiled, with a roll of the eyes. That was not what she had anticipated as Minyoung’s reaction, but that was close to it. Truth be told, she didn’t know why she was surprised, considering this was Lee Minyoung, after all; the boy-crazy girl, who was a little cuckoo in the head. In Minyoung’s defense, she was the fun one, and Sunye was the polar opposite: Little Miss No Fun. Jo Kwon, on the other hand, was a whole other level of fun – too elevated for anyone’s sake – and she would not want to touch on Jo Kwon’s craziness because it was simply overload.

“This is… This is life!” she declared, closing her eyes momentarily, as though engulfing herself in this wonderful... life.

The duo had just entered 18th Rendezvous, a pub, which was home to the ‘hotspot’ for teenagers. When Sunye first went there to watch Hoyoung’s performance with his band, in her high school uniform, much to her enormous regret, she had never felt so little in her entire life. The entire time she felt like she was swallowed and stomped by the cool crowd of sexy, sophisticated, mature young ladies and handsome masterpieces (who wouldn’t even spare a glance at the non-belonging ‘kid’). Although Son Hoyoung offered no complaints and genuinely did not mind, she still felt like she tarnished his reputation – after all, he was very popular amongst the females. In addition, she detested those smirks and whispers she had received – those ladies must have found Sunye a joke, and that the charming, talented and insanely gorgeous Son Hoyoung deserved so much better. To sum everything up, Sunye was in all sorts of insecurities.

This time, they would eat their nasty words. Dressed in a gorgeous little black dress that highlighted her beautiful shoulders and killer legs, she was only going to impress. With the make-up applied and her stilettos, she was 17 no more.

“Wow, Sunye, I think you over-awed everyone,” Minyoung whispered as they made their way to the backstage, eyes everywhere concentrated on them.

“Isn’t that what I wanted to achieve anyway? Now I look more suited with their Hoyoung oppa, don’t I?”

Minyoung laughed and responded in jest, “But this is overkill!”

“Wow, Sunye, you look so different,” Son Junyoung, The Soul Architects’ bassist, and Hoyoung’s close cousin, commented when he almost bumped into Sunye and Minyoung, when the duo was en route to the mini backstage to meet Hoyoung and the rest of The Soul Architects. “… Hot.” He received a playful smack on the arm, as a result.

Upon hearing his girlfriend’s name being mentioned, Hoyoung’s head perked up right away. He had received a text message from Sunye prior that she could not make it, so he was definitely a little taken aback by her appearance.

“Where’s oppa?” she asked Junyoung enthusiastically.

Before he could even answer her, Hoyoung appeared, in his ever-mighty presence.

“Surprise!”

Little did she know, she was the one at the receiving end.

Sunye leaned over to hug him, but to her dismay, she only felt his cold shoulders unmoved. Hoyoung did not return her hug, or move at all. Perplexed, she withdrew from her embrace and looked at him questioningly.

She hardly stirred her tongue when he spoke – in a menacing voice that sent shivers down her spines.

“What are you wearing?”

Surprised at his unexpected question, she grew speechless. The overwhelming seriousness and strict tone only made matters worse.

“Why are you angry at me?” she asked innocently, evidently hurt by his words. “I just wanted to look pretty, for you.”

Hoyoung scoffed in disbelief. “By dressing like that in this place? Yeah, sure.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so mad at me,” Sunye argued.

He grabbed her to the full-length mirror sitting just a few steps away from them, and almost shoved her into her reflection. “Look at that! You’re practically screaming at all those guys to come get you. You are dressed like a slut.”

Minyoung, who was at the peak of her aggravation, spoke up. “What the hell, Son Hoyoung! I can’t believe you right now. You, Mr Perfect, are always hanging out with pretty mature girls. Imagine how Sunye would feel. She just wanted to look right with you.”

“Oh goodness, this is ridiculous,” Hoyoung muttered.

Junyoung and the rest of the band walked away from the scene, ushering Minyoung as well along the way, to leave the couple to have some time together to solve their issue. Things weren’t looking good with just a quarter of an hour until their performance and they needed to get it done and over with quick.

“Are you serious?” he asked, this time not so much angered as he was disappointed.

“I can’t believe you just called me a slut.”

Only now realising his mistake amidst his raw emotions earlier on, Hoyoung was quick to interject. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Whatever, I’m going home,” she told him, turning on her heels. Her pride was already too hurt. She couldn’t bear spend any more time there. Sunye knew that if she stayed, their arguments would only escalate to lamentable heights.

“Yah! Where are you going?”

Whilst he had an exceptional gift in writing and composing beautiful sentimental songs, in brutal honesty, Son Hoyoung was helpless when it came to translating that in real life. Therefore, he was absolutely powerless when it came to consoling his long-time girlfriend, and he could not even do a single thing now that she was slipping away.

“Home!” she yelled at him before exiting the small backstage.

She could care less if the audience heard her voice. She wiped her tears away as she walked away, knowing Son Hoyoung was never going to run after her or even say sorry, true to his personality.

Son Hoyoung, I hate you so much.

“Sunye, are you OK?” Minyoung asked, very much concerned about her best friend.

She shook her head. “Far from it… Let’s just leave.”

Minyoung nodded and agreed to her request.

When the visibly upset Son Hoyoung stepped onto the stage, Min Sunye was already on the verge of exiting 18th Avenue. His eyes easily spotted his beautiful girlfriend, despite her petite frame which could easily be drowned in such a huge crowd, making her way to the corner end of the huge place, where one of the exit doors were placed.

Sunye turned her head one last time to look at Hoyoung on stage, and when he saw that extreme disappointment printed on her face, he felt his heart slump and shatter into a million paces. He couldn’t bear to look at her with those sad eyes, and especially when she was obviously holding back the tears when they made eye contact.

That was it.

“Don’t leave!” he said onto the microphone, stealing everyone’s attention.

Sunye stopped in her tracks.

“Sunye, don’t leave, please… I’m sorry.”

Everyone’s eyes darted to the lucky girl Son Hoyoung’s eyes were fixed on, as she turned around to face him. Within a millisecond, there was a noticeable smile carved on her face.

“Everyone, that beautiful person over there is my girlfriend,” he announced to everyone proudly. “And I love her so much.”

There was a pool of ‘aww’s and ‘aah's from the jealous and adoring crowd. Sunye could only stay frozen, as she smiled at him, understandably tensed at all the attention she was receiving. When she looked at his beautiful pair of brown eyes, she became lost in the moment and the crowd didn’t seem to affect her anymore. It was just Son Hoyoung and her.

“I’m dedicating this next song for her. ‘Just the way you are’. Sunye, I love you just the way you are. Don’t change a thing.”