"An angel with a broken heart is a demon in the end."

I made up my mind finally.

I cannot believe it took me this long to realize it, truly I can't.

But I should have known. I should have figured it out by now.

Silly old Faye. You never learn not to let feelings get in the way, do you?

Once every millennium you make the same mistake over and over again.

This is the last time. The absolute last fucking time that I let a man fool me this way.

No one plays Faye Starlighter for a fool. No one.

This one was good, I should give him that. Exceptionally good. He was really the most versatile one by far. I couldn't even notice the deception that was right in front of me. An Oscar-worthy performance, truly. It deserves nothing less than a standing ovation.

But the show is over now. Time to face the consequences.

Kim Taehyung is a calculated, conniving, and - I can't believe I of all people am saying this – diabolical human being. He's dishonest, manipulative and meticulous. He threads ever so carefully this deceptive illusion that he's a sweet, kind-hearted guy who likes to help people. But in reality, he's nothing like that.

He's a liar. Nothing but a heartless liar.

And I hate liars more than anything. They make my skin crawl.

That's why I punish them.

I can't believe I trusted his act. I can't believe I almost fell for it. Jimin told me he had no idea about who Taehyung was and I'm inclined to believe him since angels rarely lie. It's against their nature.

Taehyung was the one at fault here. He had probably been conspiring with my father or even Yoongi to pull some giant cosmic prank on me. A joke, that's what they took me for. But I won't get caught in anyone's twisted games.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I rip your heart out.

"Move." I snarled, shoving some rando to the side as I marched across the parking lot of Seoul General Hospital. I didn't care if I had to crash a fucking surgery, I would. Taehyung would have to face me today one way or another, and I just wouldn't sit around and wait for him to get out of surgery like a good little girl.

He's seconds away from feeling my wrath. How's that for raw human emotion, huh?

Just as I was about to take the staircase leading to the hospital's sliding doors, I heard a sound that stopped me in my tracks. It was one of pure pain, the kind of desolate sobbing one couldn't ignore.

I sighed, averting my gaze to the direction which the crying sounds were coming from. My eyebrows pulled together as I saw a young woman sitting on the stairs and sniffling dejectedly. My surprise got even bigger when I realized I knew her.

It was the woman from Taehyung's office a couple of days ago, the mother of that little girl he had done surgery on.

The sounds that were coming from her were ones you couldn't stay indifferent to. Or I don't know, maybe my human compassion just took the better of me. Before I could give it a second thought, my feet dragged me towards the spot where she was sitting.

"Soohyun?" I asked hesitantly, bending over to look at her face.

She let out another whimper, shoulders rocking and chest heaving with her uneven breathing.

"Faye?" she whispered in a raspy voice. She got ashamed, wiping the tears from her wet face. "Didn't see you there."

"Are you okay?" I asked, squatting in front of her so that we were on the same eye level.

"I... I'll be alright."

My teeth caught my lower lip. "Is it Hyeri?"

Naturally when I saw her crying in front of a hospital I assumed it would be because of matters regarding her offspring. I was surprised how concerned I was for the little human as my stomach turned upside down at the thought of something happening to her.

"No..." Soohyun hiccupped. "She's in perfect health, thank God. I... It's something else."

I sighed heavily and took a seat on the marble staircase next to her.

"What is it?" I asked, pressing a hand on her back and rubbing slightly. Am I doing this right? This is what humans do when they want to console someone, right? "Is it something regarding your health?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort," Soohyun shook her head, her long ebony hair swaying with the motion. "It's... it's stupid."

"You can tell me." I assured her.

Soohyun tried to stifle a sob that somehow forced its way up her throat. She blinked, lashes heavy with tears, and took a shaky breath in.

"I- It's about Dr. Kim."

"What about him?" I got agitated all of a sudden. "Did he do something to you?"

"No!" she exclaimed in a low voice. "He hasn't done anything wrong. It's just... I sorta had a crush on him, if you could even call it that. And when I saw you together the other day... I guess my heart didn't take it all too well."

"You did?" my eyebrows shot sky high. I definitely did not expect this.

"I... oh my God, I feel ridiculous. I am such an idiot," she groaned. "I should have known he'd never go for someone like me. He belongs with someone like you." her watery orbs flickered towards me, trembling.

I was perplexed. "Like me?"

"Yeah!" she gestured with her hand weakly. "I mean, just look at the both of you. You're like... he's, well, you know. And you're so... well, you know. You're painfully beautiful and so, so incredibly sexy. Like, you're probably the sexiest woman I've ever seen in my entire life. You're so confident and so... you. Of course he'd fall for someone like that."

"Um," I swallowed, not really sure how to respond. "Soohyun... sex appeal isn't everything."

"Sometimes I feel like it is, at least for men," she sniffled, her nose still red from excessive crying. "Anyway, this is just too weird to say to you. I'm sorry. It was so inappropriate of me to declare feelings for your boyfriend. It wasn't like I was going to act on them though. I mean, I stand no chance against you."

"Taehyung and I aren't in a committed relationship." I stated.

"You aren't?" she asked incredulously. "Oh, wow. I really thought you were in one. Not only I am ugly, but I am also dumb. You should be so mad with me."

"I'm not mad about you expressing interest in Taehyung," I admitted. "What I'm mad about is you putting yourself down with your words. Don't ever say this about yourself again, Soohyun."

"Even if it's the truth?" she asked, the tears still streaming down her luminous eyes.

I took a good look at her. Soohyun was by no chance ugly or unattractive. Even with her eyes red and puffy and her skin blotched, she looked good. She had a small pointy nose and prominent cheekbones. Her frame was willowy, although she could use some more form-fitting clothes to enhance her slim body. Maybe she was a little bit disheveled right now, but she wasn't ugly.

"That's not true at all." I assured her.

For a moment, she just stared at me. Then, just when I thought she had recovered by her crying fit, she broke down again.

The floodgates opened.

"Then why would my ex-husband cheat on me?" she sobbed, her face screwing with pain and despair.

I pressed my lips into a line, not knowing what to say. Fuck, I was really bad at this.

"I am sorry to hear that. He sounds like a complete asshole if he let a woman like you walk away from him." I tried to sound soothing.

"He told me I had let myself go," she whimpered, shoulders rattled by the pain that poured from every pore of her body. "Yes I admit I may not have been paying attention to my appearance recently... Especially when Hyeri was born and all the problems with her health started, I was exhausted all the time... What, does he want me to go get a manicure while my kid is sick? I wasn't thinking about that at all... When your child is laying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of her, your hairstyle is the last thing on your mind!"

"What a fucking asshole!" I exclaimed, huffing a furious breath.

"I barely had time to have a shower," she went on, pouring it all out. "My baby was the only thing on my mind, so excuuuseee me if I wasn't in the mood for sex while she was on the surgery table, fighting for her life!"

"Son of a bitch!" I cussed. "She's his kid, too!"

"Right? Right?" she exclaimed furiously, gesturing with her hands animatedly. "The sex-starved fuck couldn't keep his carnal urges at bay. He wouldn't think of our baby daughter and how he'd let her grow up in a broken home. He went on and had his disgusting affair and didn't stop even when I found out about it. And you know what?"

"What?" by this time I was fucking furious, immersed in the story.

"He got the bitch knocked up!" Soohyun yelled out.

"No way!" I gasped, reeling back from the shock.

"He did!" she stressed, her hands forming into fists involuntarily. "I... the pain was so intense it almost devastated me, Faye. I had to focus solely on Hyeri and her recovery to avoid slipping into depression. She's my little sunshine."

"At least you have her."

"I do," Soohyun smiled through the tears. "Maybe she's the love of my life," she laughed. "Anyway, I'm such an idiot. I guess I was so starved for love that when I met Dr. Kim, I projected all of my hopeless romantic ideas on him. I had never seen a man as perfect as him. He's so kind and compassionate, I guess that's what made me develop my pathetic crush for him. I desperately wanted someone like him in my life, because I've never had that. I had never met such a fascinating individual like him. He's truly one of a kind."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I do!" she confessed. "Dr. Kim is the purest, brightest, most tender-hearted human being I have ever seen."

"So... he's never made a move on you?" I continued interrogating, now eager to gather as much intel on Taehyung as possible in order to form an opinion. "Said something inappropriate to you?"

"What? No!" Soohyun almost looked appalled by the idea. "Dr. Kim would never do something like this. He's so respectful towards his patients."

I fell silent, contemplating her words. No matter what I was still very suspicious of Taehyung. Soohyun's crush had to be based on something.

"I know what you're thinking," she took out a tissue and wiped her tears with it. "You're wondering how I even started liking him if he hasn't done anything to lead me on. Truth be told, now that I'm saying it out loud in front of you, I guess it was all me. I made up these delusions in my head about him. As I said, I was in a really vulnerable state and Dr. Kim was the first man I got closer with after my divorce. I guess I just really wanted to be with someone different than my husband. Someone who wouldn't hurt me as he did. Does this make sense?"

"Oddly enough, it does." I mumbled.

We basked in the serene silence that engulfed us as the both of us sank into deep thinking.

"This doesn't matter now," Soohyun smiled softly. "Dr. Kim likes you very much, I could see how his eyes lit up when he looks at you. You're very lucky to be the center of his attention. He's a great guy."

"I guess." I murmured. Somehow my emotions had cooled down and my anger towards Taehyung had dissipated.

"I'm an idiot," Soohyun placed a palm over her forehead. "And apparently have the worst luck with men. You know what's worse? Sometimes I wish I hadn't found out about my husband's having an affair. I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe... it would be better if I was oblivious to it. Maybe I'd still be happy and not as miserable as I am now."

"Don't ever say that," I scowled. "I hate cheaters, I truly do. I loathe them with my whole being. But, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I'm realizing that in this case maybe it was needed for him to cheat on you so that you could see the bigger picture. And it was that this man wasn't the one for you. Just the fact that he didn't take your feelings of worrying and stressing over your daughter into account and kept on pressuring you to do something you didn't feel like doing, it speaks volumes. He never respected you. From what you've told me, you probably had other issues. The affair was just the last drop."

"I guess." Soohyun mumbled thoughtfully as my words sank in.

"And maybe instead of taking it as misery, accept it as a blessing in disguise. God, or whatever it is up there in the sky, probably saved you from something that would completely ruin you. Something toxic and unhealthy. You were meant to part ways."

Soohyun sighed deeply. "I hadn't looked at it this way. I guess I just want to have someone to love me and truly cherish me."

"You will," I assured her.

"But who would want me?" she asked. "Look at me, I'm a mess. Also I have a little kid. Men don't want that kind of baggage."

"The right one will," I said. "The right one will accept you as you are and will love little Hyeri as his own. I promise you, things will fall into place for you, because you deserve to be happy Soohyun."

"You really think so?"

"I do!" I uttered. "Now, listen to me. You wipe those tears away and go home, take a shower. Put on a nice dress on and some perfume and appreciate yourself, just celebrate the fact that you're a beautiful woman. Maybe go out and have a drink with a friend. Just get out and explore, have fun, and love will find you. But before that, you need to love yourself."

"Okay." Soohyun nodded rapidly, immersed in my advice.

"And hear this," I leaned in closer. "Never, never let a man steal your happiness away from you."

She gave a weak smile. "And you're really not mad about my crush on Dr. Kim?"

"Why would I be mad?" I questioned. "Those were your feelings and you're entitled to having them. Also I'd never put down and attack another woman on purpose, let alone over a man. That's just being insecure. We, women, should have each other's backs."

"Thank you for this, Faye!" Soohyun threw her arms around my neck, throwing me off-guard. "Dr. Kim really is a lucky guy."

Hesitantly, I let my arms wrap around her too as I accepted her hug. This time, I didn't protest, saying that Taehyung and I weren't together.

My emotions stirred within me. I was changing.

But I wasn't aware of it yet.