“Are you out of your mind? How can I keep you’re child? He’s yours.”

   “Can you listen?” blurted out Yuri calmly. “I thought about it, and I think it’s for the best. Look at it this way. If you and Nichkhun have the baby, then it’ll have both its parents. I don’t want he/she to live in a broken family. Knowing that my child will have a stable life will bring peace to my heart,” she explained selflessly.

   “Then, why should I take the baby? You should be with Nichkhun then. I can’t just take your place and…”

   “Look unni, do you think that a child can grow up properly with a mother and a grandfather as a thief?” Victoria had tears overflowing down her face.

   “Yuri-ah, you aren’t a thief.”

   “I am! Who’s the one who stole the guy that you liked for so long? Me, isn’t it?” Victoria’s stare plummeted to the ground. “I did something unforgivable and I should be punished. This is definitely what I deserve.” Yuri her dry lip and continued. “Take this as a chance to be with Nichkhun without my intervention.”

   “How can I be with Nichkhun if he only likes you?” At these words, Yuri nearly froze.

   “That’s nonsense. He doesn’t. He likes you.”

   “Aniya. Every time I’m with him, he only talks about you. That’s the only thing we can actually talk about,” confirmed Victoria with much hesitation. Something then clicked to her.

   “He won’t feel the same way if he sees you first.”

   “What?” wondered the confused friend.

   “Not long ago, Nichkhun told me that the first girl he’ll ever get to see is the one that he’ll love forever. What if I were the one who paid for the surgery? Then, we can make sure that he sees you first.” Victoria nearly passed out.

   “No! That’s not up to me to decide. And are you nuts? The amount of money that you’ll loose will be incredible.”

   “There are a lot of things that you don’t understand yet, but trust me. This will work, Victoria. It will.”

   “Even if he sees me first or last, Nichkhun will always love you! And if he sees you Yuri, he’ll…” A shaky and unstable voice could be heard at the other end of the line. Yuri hated hearing her hurting friend cry her heart out.

   “Then, I guess, I’ll have to disappear.” Victoria’s jaw dropped. She didn’t want to imagine what her best friend was thinking at the moment. It was unbelievable that Yuri was willing to do so much for her.

   A week after that conversation that lead to ‘who-knows-what’, it was finally time for Nichkhun to get his surgery. It was a long process, but his family and friends didn’t hesitate on waiting the extra hours. Yoona despised Yuri’s presence in the hospital, but she let it slide since it was a pretty big event. Nichkhun’s protective sister kept whispering seemingly bad things in her parents ear that Yuri couldn’t seem to read.

   They kept giving glares of disgust at her direction. It looked like they had no idea that SHE was the one paying for their son’s enablement to see. Although, it was better this way, since her goal afterwards was to disappear for good. Hopefully, they would forget about her. Taecyeon tapped her shoulder in comfort, telling her to look away.

   Instead of preoccupying about what others were thinking about her, she tried to recall what happened right before Nichkhun entered that room.

*Flashback*

   “You ready?” asked Yuri with a sweet volume.

   “More than ever. Let’s just pray that it works,” he stated with a peaceful air.

   “You have to make it work. I’m paying for it!”

   “This would have been done a long time ago if you hadn’t messed it up.” Yuri made a face that wanted to completely forget about that. Nichkhun felt her unwanted guilt rise to the surface of the silence as he squeezed her arm.

   “I was kidding,” he consoled. Yuri gazed at Victoria beside her who gave her a nod. She got closer to Nichkhun and entangled him in between her arms. He responded with a gentle hug as well. Victoria could feel her heard pound when she saw his hand hold the side of Yuri’s body with such tenderness.

   “I want you to be okay. You have to get out of that room with functional eyes. And even if I’m not there…”

   “Whoa! Wait a second!” he interrupted. “You are still going to be here when it’s over. Right?” he assured himself. Yuri glanced over at Victoria for an answer. She didn’t know what to say either.

   “Of course. Why?” There was almost a sigh of relief in his voice.

   “That’s good. I was kinda hoping that you were the first person I saw when I opened my eyes.” Victoria looked like she was going to cry. Yuri pushed him away.

   “Yah! Stop kidding around and go already.” Nichkhun smiled and let himself get taken away from the medical staff. His parents gave him the last kisses before he disappeared behind the doorframe.

*End of flashback*

   That happened hours ago. Everyone still waited impatiently outside. It began to feel even more uneasy as time went by. They began to wonder if any complications surged during the surgery. Not long afterwards, finally, someone came out the door. All of Nichkhun’s guests stood up at the same time and gathered around the doctor.

   “This is for Nichkhun Horvejkul,” the crowd shrunk in closer. “The operation came out successfully. The patient is currently in his room with bandages on his eyes. We’ll be able to remove them in a few minutes. If not, we’ll surprise his eyes with too much light.” Without even hearing the rest of the suggestions, his friends and family barged their way into the room. Only Yuri and Victoria stayed behind.

   “Do you want to go inside,” asked Victoria with great excitement.

   “You go. I’ll be there in a minute.” Her friend nodded and made her way inside. Yuri almost thought that it was hard to believe. Finally the day for her student had come to get a glimpse of the world. She thought about it for a few minutes and it brought smiles to her lips. What saddened her was that…

   “Yuri-ah,” called Taecyeon past the doorframe. He had a funny beam on his face when he interrupted her daydreaming. “He’s looking for you.”

   “Huh?” Before he could answer, all of his guest came out of the room one by one. Each of them gave a weird glare at Nichkhun’s special friend. Even Victoria seemed quite disappointed. Yuri came running to her side in reassurance.

   “Victoria unni, you come with me,” she ordered. But Victoria pulled away.

   “He wants to see you alone.” Yuri didn’t like the idea, especially because it would hurt her best friend. However, she told herself that this was the last time that they would see each other. Yuri slowly glided into the patient’s room with much nervousness. As she peeked through, she could see a scruffy looking teenager in hospital clothes, with a big white bandage around his head.

   “Nichkhun oppa,” she called first after closing the door.

   “Yuri-ah.” As she walked inside, Nichkhun could hear her light footsteps come closer to him. As soon as he sensed her presence right on front of his bed, he pulled her hand and made her sit beside him. Yuri gasped in surprise.

   “What was that for?” she asked with a little smile.

   “I’m just really excited to see you. I just wish that I could just take these bandages off now.”

   “Yah! Don’t do that! The doctor said that it will destroy your eyes.” They laughed together for a second before dropping back into a sweet and refreshing silence.

   “I want to see you so bad.” Yuri began to hesitate. Was it really right for her to just leave? She tried to shove the thought that it was best for her child and for Victoria this way. She gave out a sigh as her mind came back to reality.

   Before she knew it, Nichkhun came in for a soft kiss on her lip. It tasted sweet and comfortable against hers. His nose rubbed on the front of her cheek as the kiss became a bit more intimate. Yuri could feel affection like no other. When they released it, Yuri’s heart nearly melted. He brought her confused little mind off track.

   “Why did you do that?” He smirked mischievously. His breath was warm on her skin.

   “In case you decide to hide from me, at least I’ll know how your lips feel like. Now, you won’t be able to hide from me anymore. I’ll know for certain who Kwon Yuri is when I take these off.” Yuri’s eyes grew wider. She wondered if he figured her out. Even if it was wrong, something deep inside her was glad that he did that.

   The door opened.

“Are you ready to take your blindfolds off Mr. Horvejkul?” asked the nurse.

 I hope that you liked this chapter. I got my writing mood back. Comments are much appreciated. Subscribe!