The Cutting Edge

039

I'm sorry, Hyunwon, she thought miserably to herself as she sat down beside Ares on the stage. On the other side of her, Kara was seated looking just as poised as she always was, with Hyunwon on the far side.

Tapping on the microphone, Gina said, "Good evening everyone, thank you for joining us for this press conference today. I understand that everyone is concerned after seeing the photos of Ares and Hyunwon," she omitted Hyejin's name on purpose, "so I hope that after our session today we can help you to clear some of your doubts. Kara has kindly agreed to join as well. Maybe we can start off with Hyunwon, who might wish to explain his actions from yesterday."

Everyone's attention shifted towards Hyunwon, who still remained as placid and calm as he typically was. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see how Ares still had his hand wrapped around Hyejin's.

"Thank you for coming," he began. "I would like to start off by saying that all of this is entirely my fault and that Miss Song," he gestured towards Hyejin, "is not to be blamed for any of this." That was already a line that was not in his script, and as he spoke Gina's knuckles were beginning to get whiter by the second. "As you may already know, Miss Song is my apprentice at the Cutting Edge and we have been working together for a number of months now. As a result of that working relationship, I one-sidedly developed more feelings for her than I should have, even though I knew that she was already in a relationship with Ares. Because of that, it resulted in the disturbance outside Ares's apartment yesterday and—" he stood up from his seat and delivered a ninety-degree bow to the audience, "—I would like to apologise for that."

The reporters immediately went into a frenzy, shouting out questions that were all blending into one another into a raucous mess.

"What about your engagement with Kara?" one reporter shouted out.

"Kara, what have you got to say about this? Kang Hyunwon has openly admitted to having feelings for his apprentice!"

"Ares, what is your reaction towards this? The photographs showed you punching Hyunwon in the face. Are you outraged by his declaration of love?"

"Hyunwon, will you be calling off your engagement to Kara?"

"Miss Song, is it really a one-sided relationship on Hyunwon's part? Can you say that you have no feelings for him whatsoever?"

Hyejin was trembling in her seat, the words being shouted out by the reporters simply flying over her head. What Hyunwon had just said was still echoing in her mind, leaving a huge gaping hole where her heart should have been. Seeing him bow to all these people as he apologised for his own actions made her feel like standing up and shouting that this wasn't his fault, that he wasn't a relationship wrecker who tried to barge in between her and Ares, but the cold hand that was wrapped around her own kept reminding her that she couldn't do that.

Turning to her right, she found Ares looking back at her with a weak smile on his face, as if seeking reassurance from her that she wouldn't leave his side.

"Quieten down, quieten down," Gina called out. "We'll take one question at a time. I think many of you are concerned about the status of the engagement between Kara and Hyunwon, given what we have just heard. Maybe Kara can take this question?"

A hushed silence fell across the room as all eyes turned to look at Kara. Sitting quietly in her seat with her head bowed down, she didn't speak for a couple of minutes, but the moment she looked up, an audible gasp could be heard coming from the floor. Under the bright lights, there were the unmistakeable traces of tears glistening in her doe-like eyes, making her seem all the more weak and vulnerable.

"I'm so sorry," Kara said, her voice trembling as she spoke. Her manager immediately handed her a couple of tissues, which she expertly used to dab the corners of her eyes. "I didn't mean to cry, but I just couldn't control myself." Already Hyejin could see many looks of sympathy in the eyes of the reporters as they watched on. "Thank you all for the concern that you have been showing me and I know that all of you and my fans alike will want to know what's going to happen to our engagement after all that has happened. Hyunwon is someone that I love very, very much but—" she turned to look at Hyunwon, who was still staring blankly straight ahead as if his heart was made of stone, "—if I'm not the one that he loves, then I don't think it's right for me to continue clinging on to him. I wish him all the best in the future and I hope that all of you will look upon him kindly, even though he has broken my heart."