The week that went by was possibly the best week that Hyejin had had in a long time. Hyunwon came by every day to give her a private boot camp in preparation for the final assessment (which made her want to strangle him at times) and Ares seemed to be well on the mend, judging from how his voice sounded more chirpy on the phone with each passing day. Also, the reporters were starting to get bored of their "scandal" and had all withdrawn from their stake-out positions after the third day, flocking instead to cover the new explosive story about up-and-coming actress Yoon Mijin suddenly declaring her pregnancy.

Such was the entertainment industry—fickle to a fault.

There were still fans of Kara leaving nasty gifts on her doorstep though. To date she had received several boxes of rotten fruits and vegetables, letters filled with vulgarities and even handmade voodoo dolls with her name on it. All of it went into the rubbish bin immediately.

"I've got another box of rotten eggs today," she announced, dumping the stinking box into a plastic bag and tying a it up with a tight knot.

"Lovely," Hyunwon replied absentmindedly, staring down at his phone.

Walking over to his side, Hyejin rested her chin on his shoulder and said, "Are you even listening to me? What's so interesting on your phone?"

There was a text from Ryu telling him to get his ass back to the salon right now because he had been taking a vacation for far too long and it was downright irresponsible to be dumping a hot mess and leaving everyone else to clean up his crap for him. Then there was one from Remy, saying that anarchy was going to break out at the Cutting Edge if he didn't come back soon because speculation was rife about him leaving the salon and all the senior stylists were beginning to show their horns as they tried to compete to become the salon's next creative director.

Snorting, he said, "New creative director? Them?" If any of the current crew at the salon thought that they were anywhere near his standard, then they were seriously deluded. Roxy could, at best, be promoted to lead stylist if she kept up her current rate of improvement, but she was still a far cry from setting the style and direction for the entire salon. None of them had the natural talent inside them, which meant that hard work would only get them so far before they would hit a glass ceiling.

That was why he was determined to invest all his effort into training Hyejin. After having worked together for the past couple of months, he had reluctantly come to agree with the original magazine report that heralded her as the next Kang Hyunwon, and perhaps she could become even better than he was. Girlfriend or not, he could see that she had it in her.

"Go practice your curls again," he demanded, pointing at the curlers lying on the table.

"What?" Hyejin wailed in dismay. "I just received a whole box of rotten eggs and you're just telling me to get back to work? How unfeeling can you be!"

"You always knew that I was an unfeeling jerk, but you still fell for me anyway," Hyunwon replied arrogantly.

"How is that you can say things like that without batting an eyelid," she grumbled, though she obediently headed over and picked up the curlers anyway. Hyunwon said that curling was still her weakest skill, so he had her curling all sorts of curls for at least two hours every day. Even when she burnt her index finger with the hot curler by accident because she had zoned out for a moment, he still insisted that she continue (even though he did help her to bandage it gently to make it feel a little better).

All the effort that Hyunwon was putting into her training was making her feel all the more nervous as the day of the final assessment approached. She wanted desperately to do well so that she would make him proud, but that just piled on the pressure onto her shoulders.

"The assessment is tomorrow. How confident are you?" he asked casually, sitting down on the sofa and watching her movements as she began the curling.

"What do you think?" she deadpanned. "Why don't you help me out by giving me a hint? What's the final task going to be?"

"Frankly, I don't know. In order to ensure that the assessment is fair, Ryu's handling this one entirely on his own. Remy probably knows what it's about, but I'm not going to ask him either way," Hyunwon replied. "I don't think we need to resort to cheating in order to do well on this, don't you think?"

Hyejin pulled a face. True, she wouldn't want to have to cheat in order to win, but she didn't exactly fancy coming in dead last either.

"Concentrate on practicing, get an early night and you'll be fine tomorrow," Hyunwon added, giving her a slight smile. He could tell just how nervous she was, but it was a hurdle that she would need to overcome if she wanted to become successful in this field.

Halfway through her umpteenth curling practice, Hyejin's phone started ringing. Hyunwon watched as she put the curlers down and ran to pick up the call.

"Hello? Ares?"

A scowl immediately appeared on Hyunwon's face.

"Oh just practicing my curling for tomorrow's assessment. You're going to Busan for a shoot? Sounds great!... No I'm not sure I'll make it through, but I'll try my best I guess. Thanks for the support!... No there's nothing I want from Busan, don't worry about me just concentrate on your—"

"Ares, she's busy. The final assessment is tomorrow and she needs to concentrate. Goodbye," Hyunwon snatched the phone out of her hand and said curtly. When he was done, he hung up and tossed the phone onto the sofa, folding his arms squarely across his chest.

"What was that for?" Hyejin protested.

"I should be asking him that! He should know better than to be ringing you at a time like this." Ever since Ares and Hyejin reverted to being "just friends", Ares seemed to be calling her even more frequently than before and it pissed Hyunwon off because he couldn't even stop him without coming across as being petty and possessive.

Hyejin stared at the sulking boy for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Hyunwon asked, the frown on his forehead deepening even further.

Sitting down beside him, Hyejin wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "Are you being jealous of Ares now?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes! Now get back the curlers right now or else I'm really going to get mad."

Still laughing, Hyejin gave him a peck on the cheek and hopped off the sofa, deciding to do as she was told before her jealous boyfriend decided to throw another one of his diva fits. Looking at his sullen expression out of the corners of her eyes, she couldn't help but feeling a little warm and fuzzy inside.

#

On the day of the final assessment, the trainees of the Cutting Edge were all as nervous as they had been on the first day they had entered. In the blink of an eye three months had flown by and it was time to prove to everyone whether or not they had what it took to stay on in the business and continue on their journey to becoming one of Korea's top hairstylists. Sitting in the training room, eight young individuals were glancing anxiously around, trying to ease their nerves a little.

Wringing his hands, Joohyuk asked, "What do you think is going to be our final task? I've been thinking about it for the entire week but I still haven't got the slightest clue what it could be."

"Doesn't matter," Hannah replied coolly. "No matter what the task is, I'm going to ace the dang thing." It was what she came here to do. She hadn't come here just for a three month internship—she was here to make inroads into the industry and that was exactly what she planned to do. Looking around the room, hardly anyone here was up to scratch.

"Do you think Hyejin's going to come today?" Yeseul asked, glancing up towards the doorway.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Why does she need to be here? She just came here to seduce men anyway. I can't believe Hyunwon actually got suckered by her. Like seriously, what do they all see in a skinny wench like her? Kara Jung was the far better choice."

Yeseul opened her mouth to disagree, but decided to keep quiet in the end. There was no point arguing with Hannah about this because she would never be able to beat Hannah in an argument. Still looking in the direction of the door, she hoped that Hyejin would appear. After all that Kara had said to her previously, she couldn't deny that she had felt a tinge of resentment towards Hyejin—because of the fact that Hyejin seemed so much more talented than she was, and because Hyejin had the support and love of people like Ares and Hyunwon. But after seeing how the paparazzi and the fans had swarmed round flinging nasty accusations at Hyejin after the scandal broke out, the resentment flew out of the window and was replaced instead by guilt at having doubted her best friend.

The next person to walk in through the door was not Hyejin, but Remington, dressed as stylishly as ever in a navy blue suit with a black-and-white checkered pocket square neatly folded in his pocket. Surveying the nervous faces in the room, he said, "All of you have put in a lot of effort in the past three months and we've seen you improve by leaps and bounds during this period of time, so not to worry, I'm sure the final assessment will be a breeze for most of you."

That did nothing to ease the pins and needles. The trainees held their breath while they waited for him to announce the final assessment task.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Remington continued, "but I'm afraid I won't be the one announcing the task today. Ryu's going to do that himself. He'll be coming along in a couple of minutes." He counted the number of heads present. "Where's Song Hyejin?"

"She's probably not coming," Hannah replied snootily.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" someone shouted, bursting into the training room looking like something the cat dragged in. Hyejin had snoozed her alarm clock one time too many this morning, having stayed up way past midnight practicing till the very last moment. It wasn't until Hyunwon rang her for the eighteenth time that she finally woke up and realised that if she didn't get her ass off the bed right now she was going to miss the assessment altogether. Hyunwon had not been pleased.

Remington's lips curled upwards in a smile, as if he had already anticipated her arrival. "You're just on time actually," he said, gesturing at an empty seat.

The rest of the trainees (with the exception of Yeseul) looked decidedly unhappy to see her appear. After everything that had happened, none of them had a particularly good impression of Hyejin and they definitely didn't want another competitor.

"Why are you even here?" Hannah asked, cocking her eyebrows. "I thought you decided to call it quits."

There was a murmur of agreement from the others. Since Hyejin had been away for the past week, they had thought that she would just have withdrawn from the programme altogether.

"I completed the training programme just like all of you. Why can't I be here?" Hyejin retorted. "If you haven't got any confidence in your own abilities then maybe you're the one who shouldn't be here." Even though she came across sounding confident, the reality was that she was shaking in her shoes. Being late had already frazzled her slightly, and to add to that she really wasn't all that sure that she was anywhere near as good as any of the others, despite the personal training by Hyunwon.

Ryu walked into the room at this moment, interrupting the tension that had been building ever since Hyejin's arrival. Beaming broadly as he looked at them, he said, "Well isn't it lovely to see all of you gathered here. I'm certainly going to miss some of you after today!" Everyone gulped. "I'm sure you are all excited to find out what the final assessment task is, so I'm not going to prolong your misery. For your final assessment, all of you will need to do what the Cutting Edge does best—design and execute a hairstyle for one of Korea's top stars. Be bold! Be creative! Show us what skills you've got up your sleeve!"

"Who is this star?" one of the trainees called out, unable to wait any longer.

"Kara Jung!" Ryu announced with a flourish. "Kara herself will be on the judging panel to decide on your final scores, so make sure you give it your all."

The trainees exchanged glances with each other, not quite sure what to make of this. Given any other circumstance they might have just taken things as they were, but given the recent debacle involving Kara, Hyunwon, Hyejin and Ares, the mention of Kara's name started ringing alarm bells in everyone's head. In particular, Hyejin's face went completely ashen.

"Hyejin, are you alright?" Yeseul leaned over and whispered.

How could she be? Was there even any point in taking part in the assessment now? If she was supposed to style for Kara and Kara herself was going to be a judge, then she would have already failed before she even begun.

Remington was now explaining the rules of the assessment, which included a time limit of just four hours to complete their design and translate it into reality on their assigned model. At the end of four hours, the judging panel would then come round to judge their work and give the final scores. None of this was going into Hyejin's head right now because her mind had just collapsed into a pile of goo.

Why?

She kept thinking that to herself over and over, even as everyone started getting out of their seats and heading to their assigned tables to get to work.

She was still in a daze when Remington walked over and tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Hyunwon can't be here today because people might start gossiping about the assessment being unfair, but he asked me to give you this," he said softly, sticking a single Post-it onto Hyejin's palm.

Looking down, Hyejin saw Hyunwon's neat handwriting on the pink square, saying, "No matter who the client is, a professional stylist will be able to find the perfect hairstyle for her. I believe you can do it."

I can do this, she told herself. Even if things didn't work out, at least she would have tried her best. After ending up at the Cutting Edge against her will, fighting for the opportunity to join the training programme and then going through the three months of ups and downs, the very least she could do was to end the journey well.

Taking a deep breath, she got out of her seat and headed to her table. Sticking the Post-it visibly at the top right corner of the desk, she took out a sheet of blank paper and a pencil and began sketching.

#

Kara was sitting in the VIP room in a neon pink Chanel dress, sipping on her freshly brewed latte while she waited. It had been a tiring week, playing the part of the pitiful, jilted ex-girlfriend, and there were times when she wondered whether giving up on Hyunwon had been the right choice to make after all—but it was too late for regrets. This was the path she had chosen and if she had the chance to choose again she knew she would have done the same, just like how she chose to board that plane to Hollywood. Now, all that was left was to end this show smoothly and this turbulent chapter of her life could come to an end.

"The reporters that we've notified will be given the required soundbite from Kara and the report should be carried in the news by this evening," her manager was saying to Ryu.

This entire thing had been Ryu's idea—it was win-win for both parties, so why not? Agreeing to be the judge for the Cutting Edge's internal training programme despite how she had seemingly been treated by Hyunwon would only serve to showcase Kara's magnanimity and boost her reputation even more. As for the salon, successfully inviting Kara in would show the public that everything that happened was already water under the bridge. If the "victim" herself was willing to forgive and forget, then what right did anyone else have to keep bearing a grudge?

"Excellent," Ryu replied cheerily. "I knew you would come through, Kara. Beautiful, intelligent woman like you."

"Enough with the praises, Ryu, we all know you don't mean it," Kara replied. "Where's Hyunwon?"

Ryu let out a deep sigh, saying, "I have no idea. He left his resignation letter on my table this morning and vanished. Remington has been trying to get hold of him but he hasn't been picking up."

"He resigned?" Kara spun around and stood up, staring at Ryu in disbelief.

"Of course I'm not intending to accept his resignation. He'll come back. He always does—artistic types like Hyunwon just need some alone time from time to time."

Kara fell silent, sinking back down onto her chair. She had expected to find Hyunwon raging mad when he found out that she was going to be a judge at the final assessment. This was supposed to have been her last hurrah to get back at him for having chosen Hyejin over her. But what meaning did it have now that he had just sent in his resignation and left? She would have felt less guilty if he had just shouted at her and scolded her for what she had done, instead of just accepting everything and walking away.

"It's time. The assessment ends in five minutes," Remington popped his head into the room and announced.

Kara held back the tear that was threatening to trickle from her left eye, putting on her best smile and following the others out of the room.

When the judging panel consisting of Ryu, Kara and another famous freelance stylist that Ryu had invited entered the training room, the level of anxiety among the trainees went up a notch. The first thing most of them did was glance towards Hyejin, and a smug smile was noticeable on Hannah's face.

Trying her best to avoid eye contact with Kara, Hyejin focused on putting the final touches on her model. When she was done, she took a step back to admire her work—it was a fairly good job, if she might say so herself. Hyunwon would probably still have picked out a dozen mistakes though.

"Alright your time is up!" Remington announced. "Please come to the front with your models. The judges will begin judging now."

Last in line, Hyejin waited quietly as she listened to the brief feedback given to each of the trainees by the judges. Hannah seemed to have done fairly well, with all three judges praising her work as being fresh and bold, but then again there were positive comments being bandied around for two or three of the other trainees too.

When the three pairs of feet made their way in front of her, Hyejin met Kara's gaze for the first time since the latter entered the room.

"Wow! Will you look at that!" Ryu's loud exclamation broke the tension. "Now that is what I would call a runway-worthy hairstyle. Seems like it would suit Kara pretty well too, don't you think?"

"Why don't you explain your design to us?" the third judge asked.

"Umm, my design drew inspiration from New York City, because I felt that Kara represents the modern, city girl. Driven, chic and someone who will put in her 100% to get what she wants."

Kara pursed her lips together tightly, trying to figure out if that was meant to be a compliment or a thinly veiled insult.

The design that Hyejin had created was less elaborate than most of the others on display, but in its simplicity it emanated the very vibe of a bustling cosmopolitan city that she had hoped to portray. Clean lines, crimped curls that rose and fall at all the right places, and a vibrant shade of auburn that would make any girl stand out in the crowd. That was the type of girl that she understood Kara to be—one who was willing to give up everything in order to achieve the goals that she had set for herself.

"What do you think, Kara?" Ryu turned towards the actress and asked.

Everyone in the room was looking in Kara's direction, waiting for her to give her comments. Etched in everyone's memories was the shocking scene where Hyejin had called Kara a lying bitch in front of all the cameras, and a few of the trainees had begun whispering to one another, speculating about how this was going to turn out. Most of them were hoping for a second catfight to break out.

Much to their disappointment, Kara didn't respond. Instead, she just scribbled a couple of things down on her clipboard and walked right out of the room.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ryu gave Hyejin a consolatory pat on the shoulder and said, "Well that brings us to the end of our judging. We'll step out for a moment to tally the scores and the results will be announced shortly. Thank you all for the hard work!"

After the judges had left, Hannah remarked, "I suppose we all have an idea of what the outcome's going to be like. That's why it's so important to know your place in the world instead of shooting your mouth off inappropriately."

"Beats sucking up to anyone and everyone," Hyejin muttered, referring to how Hannah had been flattering Kara throughout her presentation. Glancing over at Hannah's model, Hyejin was not surprised that she had chosen to go with the dramatic, avant-garde style again. Hannah had always had a penchant for being over the top—the concept of "less is more" was never one that she subscribed to.

"Don't listen to her, Hyejin," Yeseul said as she walked over, sitting down beside her friend. "At least yours looks better than mine."

"Yours looks great too," Hyejin replied, giving Yeseul an encouraging smile.

Yeseul shook her head. "After these three months I think I understand where my abilities stand. I've already spoken to Uncle Ryu—no matter what the outcome is today, I won't be staying on at the salon."

"But why?"

"I'm going to Paris to further my studies. There's still a lot I need to learn if I ever hope to become a professional stylist, so I'm just going to take my time and learn whatever I can. Can't always be riding on my uncle's coat tails, can I?"

Hyejin smiled, though she still felt a little sad at the news. If Yeseul was heading to Paris then it would be a long while till the friends would get to meet again, but at the same time she was happy that Yeseul would have such an opportunity. What was Paris even like? It was a place that she would never ever have dreamed of going.

The chatter in the room immediately died down the moment the door swung open again and Ryu walked back in together with Remington. The other two judges were nowhere to be seen. Standing in front of the trainees, Ryu held out the sheet of paper he was holding in his hand and waved it about in the air. "Here it is. The final results," he declared. Necks began straining to take a peek at what was written on the paper, but the words were far too small and out of reach.

Hyejin felt her heart racing in her chest as she clutched on to Yeseul's hand, anticipating the announcement that was to follow.

"As you all know, the salon has the practice of retaining only one trainee as a full-time employee based on the performance during the training programme, and the final assessment will take a significant proportion of the final score, so I'm sorry to say that after today, we will have to say goodbye to most of you," Ryu began. "Now your final scores, from last place to first place, are as follows. Sowon, Joohyuk, Yeseul—" he proceeded to rattle off the series of names, "and in third place we have Hannah, second place, Hyejin, and the trainee who placed overall first in our training programme this year is Julya. Congratulations all on your achievements!"

Julya immediately leapt out of her seat and started jumping around the room, unable to believe her ears, while there was nothing but disappointment etched on the faces of the other trainees. Hannah, in particular, had begun protesting the final result, walking over to Remington to demand an explanation as to how she could have only come in third.

Hearing that she had come in second was already more than Hyejin could have asked for. Sitting frozen in her chair, she let Ryu's words slowly sink into her head.

Second place...

After coming in to the Cutting Edge with nothing but the knowledge of how to give crew cuts to army boys, to have come this far was already an achievement in itself. That she had outshone so many other trainees who had all had formal training before this was even more of an unexpected surprise.

"Hold your horses, I'm not done." Ryu raised his hands up in the air to get everyone to quieten down. "As the highest scorer for the final assessment was not the overall top scorer for the entire training programme, I have made the decision to accept not just one, but two trainees into the salon this year. Julya, Hyejin, congratulations on becoming permanent stylists here at the Cutting Edge," he beamed.

Hyejin's jaw almost fell to the ground in shock.

"Hyejin, did you hear that? You got hired!" Yeseul was shaking her by the shoulders in excitement.

She heard it, but she couldn't believe it. There had to be some mistake—because judging from what Ryu had said, it seemed as if she had been given the highest score for the final assessment. But how could that be? Especially when Kara was one of the judges?

When she had gathered her senses, she went up to Ryu and asked, "Where is Kara?"

"She was in the VIP room the last I saw her, but she would probably already have left the salon by—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Hyejin had already dashed out of the room.

There was no one in the VIP room, so she ran to the lift and hit the button for the ground floor, hoping that she wouldn't be too late to catch the actress before she left. Running out of the lobby and through the building's revolving doors, she caught sight of Kara's neon pink dress stepping into the minivan that had been waiting for her up front. She quickly ran up to the vehicle, calling out Kara's name.

"What do you want?" Kara said coldly when she saw Hyejin running towards her. "Get in. People will start noticing if we talk out here." Once they were both in the back seat of the van, Kara took off her shades and stared pointedly at Hyejin. "Go on. I'm a busy person and I don't have much time."

"I just wanted to say thank you, for giving me the highest score for today's assessment," Hyejin said. She had to admit that the moment she heard what the task was, she had immediately assumed the worst because she was certain that Kara would use this as an opportunity to give her another kick in the guts, which was what made the final outcome even more shocking for her.

"Your design was the best and it was well executed, so there's nothing to thank me for really. Ryu and Sol both gave you top marks as well. I admit I was tempted to give you the lowest mark because that would probably be doing you a favour—you're really not suited for this industry."

"Well then thank you again, for giving me the chance to decide for myself whether or not I'm suited for this."

"I didn't do it for you, or him. I did it for myself. My being here was purely meant to be a PR stunt to bring some closure to our little 'scandal'. You'll probably see some reports on the Cutting Edge's final assessment in some of the entertainment websites tonight. If people see that you did badly in the assessment, they'll immediately assume that I gave you a bad mark because I wanted to get my revenge and I can't have that, can I?"

Hyejin was mildly taken aback by Kara's candid reply, though she couldn't say that she was surprised at the girl's reasoning. Now that she understood the full context, she realised where Kara was coming from. By coming to the Cutting Edge today and awarding Hyejin the top position in the assessment, she had sufficiently demonstrated her kindness and magnanimity—everyone would love her even more than they had before and no one would even remember who Song Hyejin was after tomorrow.

"Now if you don't mind," Kara gestured towards the door, "I have another schedule to get to."

Hyejin clambered out of the car and Kara's manager immediately moved to shut the door. Just before the van door slammed shut, Kara called out, "By the way, tell Hyunwon that I think it's a stupid idea for him to resign. He shouldn't waste all that talent. Bye Hyejin, I don't think we'll be seeing each other again." With that, the door shut and the van sped off down the road, disappearing round the next bend.

"He resigned?"

#

After sending in his resignation letter, Hyunwon had left the salon without staying to wait for the outcome of the final assessment. He had done what he could for Hyejin and the rest of it was all up to her--there was no need for him to hang around to give her any added pressure. Also, he didn't exactly want to meet Seorin in case new drama started to ensue the minute all them were put together in a confined space.

Without the burden of his job weighing down on his shoulders, the first thing he did was to drive all the way out of the city to the small town of Gwacheon where his grandparents lived. The vineyard was located on the fringes of town, where there were vast expanses of land that the townspeople used to grow all sorts of crops. He had spent a significant amount of time here when he was a kid, less so after he grew up and moved into Seoul, but now that he was back it felt as if he had never left.

"What do you mean you're going to be moving in with us for a while?" his grandmother asked in surprise as she scooped out a bowl of piping hot rice for him. "What about your job in the city?"

"I quit. I'm moving here to help you with the vineyard. Aren't you happy?" he replied with a smile.

"Why of course we'd be happy to have you, but a young man like you shouldn't lock yourself up in a small town like this. Young people are always looking to move into the cities—you must be the first one who wants to move out of it!"

"I've always liked learning to make wine from you and Grandpa," Hyunwon said, "so I thought I might take some time out to learn things properly.

"You can stay for as long as you like, although you'll probably get bored of it after a while. Besides, there are hardly any single young ladies here in Gwacheon. You're not getting much younger dear and we can't wait forever for a great-grandchild," his grandmother teased. "Since things didn't work out with Seorin, maybe you should start looking for another girl. Do you need me to keep an eye out for you? The pastor's daughter is not a bad choice, although she's quite a bit younger than you. Sweet girl, very pious."

Hyunwon almost choked on his rice, immediately picking up his glass of water to clear his throat. Scoffing down all the rice in his bowl, he muttered, "I already have a girlfriend."

"Did you say something dear?" his grandmother asked, turning round from the dishes she had been washing in the sink.

"No, nevermind." Hyunwon quickly got out of his seat, eager to beat a hasty retreat from this awkward conversation. "I'm going out to the fields to see if Grandpa needs any help. I'll bring him his lunch too." Grabbing the lunchbox from the table, he dashed out of the house as quickly as he could.

Sitting on the slight slope overlooking his grandparents' vineyard, Hyunwon absentmindedly plucked at the grass beside him and began flinging them nowhere in particular. He had spent the afternoon helping his grandfather tend to the grapes and now that it was almost dusk, he had decided to come here to catch the gorgeous view of the sunset that he had missed, making a mental note to bring Hyejin here at some point.

I wonder how the final assessment went, he thought to himself. His phone battery had gone dead while he was out in the fields so he didn't have any means of contacting anyone in Seoul.

"What kind of a mentor just bails on his trainee on the day of the most important assessment?" a voice called out to him from behind. "All the other trainees had their mentors there to say encouraging things and all I got was a pink Post-it?"

Hyunwon turned around, surprised to see Hyejin standing behind him with her hands on her hips, looking none too pleased at finding him here. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "How did you find me here? Sorry, my phone died, else I would have called to ask how the assessment went. Did it go well?"

"Remy gave me the address," Hyejin replied, narrowing her eyes at him. "Do you even care how the assessment went? If you did then you wouldn't have left me there on my own to face Kara!"

"I'm sorry," Hyunwon said, gesturing for her to sit down beside him. When she did, he put his arm round her waist and pulled her closer, leaning his chin against her shoulder. "I thought it was best if I didn't show up, in case I made things awkward for you. If I had gone, people might have started speculating that I was pulling strings behind the scenes and I didn't want that to cast a shadow on your actual abilities." Looking at the sullen expression on her face, he asked, "What? The assessment didn't go well?"

"I... came in second place!" Hyejin announced, losing the sulk and exchanging it for a broad grin instead. "And Ryu's making an exception and taking in two trainees this year because I got the top score for the final assessment even though I didn't come in first place overall. Can you believe it? Me? A permanent stylist with the Cutting Edge?"

"Mmm..."

Hearing his unenthusiastic reply, Hyejin couldn't help but feel a little miffed. "What am I saying? Even if I'm no longer a trainee I'm still just a junior stylist. That probably means nothing to the great creative director of the salon," she said.

"That's not true. Even the great creative director started off as a junior stylist," Hyunwon replied, the corners of his lips tugging upwards in a smile.

"I heard you sent in your resignation letter today," she said quietly.

"I did."

"So soon?"

"Not soon enough. I should have done it ages ago. I entered the business for the wrong reason and now that that reason is no longer valid, there's no point in staying on. It's time for me to do something for myself, instead of always doing things for someone else."

"But how am I going to survive at the salon when you're not there? There's still so much that I need to learn from you," Hyejin protested.

Hyunwon tilted her face towards his and gave her a wink. "Well I suppose I'll have to give you private lessons then?" he said. "Although by now I'm sure you know what my style of training is like. You'd best be prepared to forgo a meal or two and a couple of hours of sleep if you want to learn from the best."

Thinking back on how strict Hyunwon always was when it came to work, Hyejin was beginning to think that it could be a bad idea to continue training under him. Laughing hesitantly, she said, "You know I can't survive without food and I need at least eight hours of—" She was cut off abruptly by a kiss that was planted right across her lips, silencing her completely.

"One more thing," Hyunwon said, lifting his lips away from hers. "I don't negotiate."

#

The End

And that's all folks, we've finally reached the end of this story! Thanks for sticking around till the end and I hope you've enjoyed this journey - do let me know what you think of the story and stay tuned for more stories coming up :) xx