A/N : Get ready for a beginning of angst.

It has been a week since Seulgi was down with a fever and now it was her first day of having the strength to get out from her room. But unlike any other day, she couldn’t bring herself to sit next to Mino.

Why?

Because Song Minho was mad.

Nope, mad would be an understatement.

He was furious to be exact.

Sitting opposite to Mino, Seulgi had hoped the awkward vibe between them would just poof into thin air. She’d trade anything in the world just so that Mino would look at her in the eyes again.

“Mino…” Seulgi started weakly. Despite how her fever had dissolved, her face was still pale and she seemed to have lost some weight.

Mino remained silence. His eyes never left the TV screen; he had deafened his ears, his lips tightly sealed and his heart solidified from any sign of empathy. Irrefutably, anger still had the better of him.

Why?

Because of that scene.

“I’m sorry.” Mino heard Seulgi said.  What happened later surprised him.

The proud wicked witch was kneeling.

Kang Seulgi was kneeling down near Song Minho’s feet.

Seulgi saw how confuse Mino was with her action. However, she didn’t care. Even if he were to ask her to bow down to him, Seulgi would do it in a heartbeat, without any hesitation whatsoever. She knew she was the one to be blamed. She was at fault for making Mino to be incandescent.

“What kind of game are you trying to play now, Seul?!” Mino immediately stood up.

What was Seulgi trying to do?! Kneeling down just to apologize?

Mino couldn’t bring himself to figure out her real motive. God, dammit, Kang Seulgi! Where on earth had the supercilious disdainful witch disappeared? Who was the girl in front of him? She was acting like a different person.

She was not the girl who dared to threaten Juhyun.

She was not the girl who dared to force him into marriage.

She was fragile. She was weak. She was spineless.

Kang Seulgi wasn’t that damnable wicked witch anymore.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Please forgive me. Don’t torture me like this Mino. I can’t stand you ignoring me anymore. Please….”

Again he heard her begged but this time he saw her in tears.

The wicked witch was begging and crying. Was the world going to end soon?!

It had been days since Mino declared a cold war between them. He avoided talking to Seulgi, let alone looking at her in the eyes. Seulgi knew very well that Mino preferred to stay mute whenever he was pissed. It was his habit since he was a little kid. Usually she would give him some time cool his head off but not this time. She didn’t have that luxury anymore.

Time wasn’t on her side.

“When I was worried sick about you, thinking about what the hell happened when you didn’t even reply to any of my messages, what did you do, Kang Seulgi?! You went out, having a date with only god knows whom! So, tell me, is it my fault if I treat you like this?” Mino questioned her sarcastically.

After he left his meeting half way, he drove his BMW as fast as he can as he was afraid that something bad happened to Seulgi. He didn’t care if he broke the laws or even if he had even the smallest possibility to be involved in an accident. He just wanted to get home and check on Seulgi. That was his only aim at that time.

But when he arrived home, he didn’t catch even a glimpse of Seulgi lying on her bed. She was nowhere to be found inside the house. All that was left was her iPhone, placed beside her bed.

Where did Seulgi disappear to?!

“What are you trying to hide from me, Seul?” Mino toned down his voice, trying not to explode. He had to be lying to himself if the clear liquid that rained down Seulgi’s pale cheeks didn’t break his heart. He could hear his heart shattering because of those tears but his sky-high ego wouldn’t let him to comfort her or even wipe the tears away.

He still remembered the day when he drove around the neighborhood just to find her. He still remembered how fast his heart was beating as if it’d popped out from his chest; how his hands were shaking and how scare he was when the thought of something bad had happened to Seulgi crossed his mind. He looked for her everywhere but there was no trace of her anywhere. And halfheartedly, he gave up and went back home, praying to god Seulgi would be home safely.

And unexpectedly, when he reached home, he was greeted with something beyond imaginable. Kang Seulgi, the wicked witch who was persistent in marrying him four months ago was having a moment with an anonymous guy inside his Audi R8. He recalled seeing the guy hugging Seulgi and he swore he saw him walking with her hand in hand inside their house.

When he asked Seulgi about that guy, Seulgi simply brushed him off saying that the guy was her personal doctor, Im Jaebum. She went to see him for treatment and he was kind enough to drop her at the house because she was too sick to go home by herself. Wow! This Doctor Im seemed to be giving her a very ‘first’ class treatment. Treating her sickness by hugging her, holding her hand and even driving her home?

Who’d be dumb enough to believe such blatant lies?

“I don’t know how else I should explain things to you. But you have to believe me, Mino. I never cheat on you. Jaebum is just my doctor. Nothing more, nothing less.” Seulgi was tearing up more and more than before.

“Nothing more, nothing less?! Yeah… right….” Mino imitated cynically.

Frankly, Mino didn’t know the real reason why he was so furious at Seulgi. Whether he was mad because she went out and didn’t tell him anything about it or whether seeing her with Im Jaebum had ignited the flame of anger inside his heart. He couldn’t decide which one. His mind was like a maze and he seriously can’t interpret what was actually this weird emotion that he had been feeling for her. Was he jealous?

“News flash, bro. You got Seul wrapped around your finger. So, step up, man up and treat her right.  If not, I’m sure someone else would be willing to do it in your place.”

Hanbin’s words echoed in his thought. His best friend did warn him about this matter once but Mino chose to ignore it and swept his warning under the carpet.  Maybe he should consider it after all. Seulgi deserved someone who can treat her right. But, can he really let her go?

“Mino, don’t do this to me. Please…” Seulgi stood up, inching closer to Mino who was crossing his arms together. She grabbed his arm and looked at him with her begging eyes.

“Tomorrow I’ll send you to my mom’s house. I’m leaving for a meeting in Busan this weekend.”

Mino yanked his arm away from Seulgi. He had enough of her. He didn’t want to listen anything from her anymore.  He climbed the stairs, heading to guest room. And for the first time, he slept without the sweet fragrance of Seulgi’s hair to accompany him.

*

Seulgi couldn’t sleep. She curled to her right side and forced her eyes to close. Still didn’t work. She then curled to her left side and the result was still the same. She huffed before she walked out from the master bedroom. She made up her mind. She didn’t care if Mino would flip his lid off and scolded her. She’d take the risk gladly.

“Mino…” She opened the door of the guest room. She reckoned Mino hadn’t slept yet.

“Damn it! I should just lock the door!” Mino mentally scolded himself.

Mino found himself engulfed with annoyance when he felt her weight lying down next to him. He knew that Seulgi came once again to fuss over him. And to drag her out for the umpteenth time, Mino had lost the enthusiasm to do so. He knew Seulgi would keep coming back. No matter what! He shook his head, amazed with her thick skin. Regardless what he told her or how many times he chased her out from the room, Kang Seulgi would just do whatever her heart desire.

“Mino… please… just this one time… I promise you. I won’t do anything. I just wanna sleep beside you. I won’t even touch you.” Seulgi put her hand on her chest, her eyes shut together. She tried to force back the liquid from breaking out from her dam of tears.

, Seul! Don’t cry! Not again!

Mino let out a long sigh when he heard that the so-called ‘i-won’t-do-anything-witch’ was trying hard to conceal her crying sound from him.

Since when the wicked witch learnt to cry a river like this?!

“Seul, you said you wouldn’t do anything.” Finally, Mino voiced out when he felt his shirt was soaking wet with her tears.

“Tomorrow… Tomorrow I’ll explain everything to you. To appa, dad and mom.” Seulgi’s voice cracked from crying too much.

“Why not now?” Mino rolled his body to her side; their eyes met one another. In the dark, he tried to read her expression.

“Because I don’t have the strength to reveal the same thing twice.” And Seulgi cried and cried, even harder than before.

“Seul…” Mino admitted defeat. He didn’t want to force her anymore. He pulled the crying girl into his embrace and rocked her body gently.

“I’m sorry… I promise you, Mino… I won’t do it ever again.” She continued her crying spree inside his embrace.

“Shh…Enough… I don’t want to hear anything.” His lips landed on her forehead. He her back gently.

He won’t pressure her anymore. He won’t give a damn about this Jaebum anymore. Nothing else matter anymore. Whatever secret Seulgi was hiding, he’ll wait until she blurts it out herself. Just once, he wanted to cherish this moment, the moment when he decided that he’d given a try at loving Kang Seulgi, the wicked witch.

Maybe….just maybe, the wicked witch would be loved by the prince after all.

*

“Mino-ah, do you know what Seul wants to discuss with us?” Mrs. Song Nayeon, Mino’s mother asked him.

“I don’t know, mom. I have no idea.” He squared his shoulders. He wasn’t lying. He really didn’t know anything.

“Haish… my daughter never changes.” Mr. Kang Dohyuk, Seulgi’s father shook his head.

Yesterday, when his daughter called him to meet up at her in-laws’ house, he didn’t feel that something was wrong. But seeing how his beloved only daughter was dazing inside her own world since she arrived with Mino, he couldn’t dismiss the uneasy feeling that has been stacking up. Was there any problem between her and Mino?

“Appa…” Seulgi’s weak voice echoed from behind, making the four of them stopped their conversation. Mr. Kang took Seulgi’s hand and ushered his daughter to sit next to him. Losing his wife, Jung Hara when Seulgi was still a young child made him love his daughter more than anything in this world.

“What’s wrong, Seul?” Mr. Kang asked.

Seulgi who was sitting beside her father stayed mum. She held her father’s hand and squeezed it tightly, trying to gather her strength. Her eyes wandered, firstly at Mr. Song Myungsoo, her father in law and then at her mother in law. When her eyes landed at Mino’s figure, she bit her lips. Mino’s eyes were sending her a message that he wanted explanation like she had promised him last night.

Slowly she diverted her attention back to her father.

“Appa, you always said that a child is the greatest gift for parents, right?”

“Yes… but why all the sudden you’re talking about a child? Are you pregnant?” Mr. Kang asked enthusiastically. But the enthusiasm was killed the moment Seulgi shook her head.

“If so, why did I see you throw up in the kitchen?” This time her mother in law inquired.

“Mom… I’m not pregnant. It’s the truth.” In fact she didn’t think that she would be able to get pregnant. EVER!

“Oh… then?” Mr. Song sounded disappointed. Indeed, he opposed the union between Seulgi and his son in the early stage because of the threats Seulgi had dropped at the sweet Juhyun. However, he came to realize that the young girl must have her own reason.

Seulgi noticed that everybody was anxiously waiting for her explanation. Only Mino was still wearing his calm expression.  Seulgi prayed for strength to tell the truth.

In spite of the serene guise, inside Mino’s heart was a different kind of story. He was sharing the same anxiety as his parents and father in law.

“Appa… What if…” Seulgi paused as she then huffed.

“What if what, Seul?” Her father calmly asked.

“What if… that greatest gift were to be taken away from you?” She asked the question to her father but her eyes, her brown eyes, they were looking at Mino.

“What are you trying to say, Seul?” Mrs. Song suspected something was amiss. But what was it?

“Mom, dad, appa…. Mino… I’m sick…” Seulgi tried not to break down in tears. “The doctor said that I have brain cancer.”

“Seul…..” And that was the only thing that Seulgi could hear because after that the room was filled with the sound of Mrs. Song’s cry.

“Mino… this is what I’ve been hiding from you. This is why I’ve been so keen to marry you. This is why I have had the heart to separate you from your true love.”

Seulgi saw how Mino’s lips were moving, it was as if he wanted to say something but he couldn’t actually find the right word. Their eyes met, they were lost inside their own world until his figure became blurry for her due to the tears that had been accumulating inside her eyes.

“Mino….”

*

Mino hugged Seulgi from behind as he placed his head on her shoulder. They were standing outside the balcony, watching the midnight sky.

“Aigoo, Mino… Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Seulgi fondled his arms that were wrapped around her waist.

“I’m sorry…” Mino inhaled deeply. After Seulgi’s shocking revelation, I’m sorry instantaneously had become Mino’s favorite words of the day. He kept telling her the same thing until Seulgi herself had lost count.

“It’s not your fault, Mino. It’s mine…” She twirled around and hugged Mino. “I know that I’m sick but still I want to marry you. I made you and Juhyun suffered. I’m a selfish bastard, a wicked witch. I destroyed a perfectly happy ending for you..and her. And for that, I’m sorry. I really, really am sorry…”

“Why?” Mino broke their hug and cupped her pale cheeks.  “Why did you do all this? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I love you to the moon and back.” She took Mino’s hands and brought both of his hands to her lips, kissing them tenderly.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the hospital okay?” Mino her hair before he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

“Okay.” She nodded, her cheeks damped because of her tears

“We’ll try every treatment possible. We’ll fight. I don’t want to lose you, Seulbear…” For the first time since they were married, Mino finally called her nickname. He wiped the tears that were scarring her cheeks. The sound of her cry filled the silent night. Slowly, he pulled her fragile body inside his embrace.

“I love you, Kang Seulgi. I love you to the moon and back…” Mino broke down into tears.

His feeling for her was real. It wasn’t pity. Everything that he used to feel for Bae Juhyun, he felt those kind of feelings for Kang Seulgi now.

The prince had finally fallen in love with the wicked witch.

Song Minho finally loves Kang Seulgi to the moon and back.

ps: i'm sure some of you are gonna hate me for this.

pss: thanks Tennessee for the poster. really appreciated it.

and sorry if you see any grammatical mistake or any wrong name anywhere. english is not my main language.