10 Deception

"Wooyoung!" Seonghwa called his friend's name and waved his hand, beckoning the other boy over.

"Hey, Seo!" Wooyoung cheerfully greeted him. "What's up?"

"Come with me a sec, I need to ask you something." Seonghwa turned on his heel and didn't even wait for Wooyoung to answer him.

"Uh, sure..."

Wooyoung followed him to the common room, and he noticed how Seonghwa looked about him like he was checking if the room was empty.

What was so important that they had to meet alone?

Seonghwa slumped into one of the chairs and held his head in his hands, small groans could be heard being emitted from his parted lips.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Wooyoung furrowed his brows and sat by his friend's side, his hand coming to rest on Seonghwa's back.

Slowly, Seonghwa raised his head and sweat was visible on his forehead; honestly, he didn't look good.

"Ok..." He seemed to be thinking over what he was going to ask and the rights words he could use. "What's my relationship with Ali? What is the deal with her and her sister? And why does my heart hurt every time I think about her?" he squeezed his chest so as to show Wooyoung a visualisation of what he meant by his heart hurting.

"Whoa, slow down!" Wooyoung stuck up his hands and then said, "first, let me ask you some questions of my own. What's the deal with you and Jae? I have never seen you with her before, so why are you two suddenly close? Do you really love her?"

Seonghwa seemed to have frozen in place, and when he did finally thaw out, he looked a lot more flustered than he previously did.

"To be honest, I don't think I love her... Actually I know I don't. It all started the day after Ali visited me..."

☽

"Seonghwa, darling, what on Earth happened?" an over-exaggerated voice sounded out in the quiet hospital room.

Seonghwa turned his head away from the window and a beautiful, unfamiliar girl appeared in his sights.

The girl took the hands of the nurse on duty and thanked her for looking after him.

"I know this is a big ask, but could you give me a moment alone with my darling?" She pulled a handkerchief out of her bag and theatrically dabbed at her eyes. "You see, I just found out he was in the hospital and I dropped everything to come over. I promise it won't take long."

A pleading look was now plastered on her face, and the now bewildered nurse looked concernedly at Seonghwa, before nodding.

"Ok, just for a short while. I have to check on some other patients, anyway." And before she left the room, she said to the patient on the bed, "you're lucky to have such a caring girlfriend."

"Fiancee, actually," the unknown girl corrected her and proudly showed off the large diamond on her finger.

"Oh, well, congratulations." The nurse smiled warmly at them both before leaving the room.

"Fiancée?" Seonghwa croaked out, and he had to take a sip of water to ease the scratchiness in his throat.

"Yes, don't you remember?" When he shook his head, she took his hand and cried out, "oh my gosh, my darling remembers nothing! Don't worry. I'll be here for you and help you every step of the way until your memories come back. Trust me, I won't leave your side until you're better, alright?"

In his confused state, Seonghwa could only nod his head once again, and it was as if he was given her a silent confirmation to do as she pleased.

☽

"Are you an idiot?!" Wooyoung shouted and grabbed Seonghwa by the collar. "A girl comes into your hospital room and claims she's your fiancée, and you believe her just like that?! How dumb do you have to be to not at least question it?"

"I was ill and confused. I wasn't thinking straight and just went along with it." Seonghwa whimpered and struggled to rid himself of Wooyoung's strong hold.

"The girl played you." Wooyoung released Seonghwa's shirt, causing him to stumble backwards. "She played you big time, and about Ali... You may have lost her forever."