It was a clear night, and the cafe was pretty much empty, since everyone had decided to enjoy the warm weather outside by making a bonfire at the beach.

I arrived early, at least I think I was early, since Nickhun wasn't there yet. But it gave me time to gather my thoughts and to think about what to say to him. Nickhun having a girlfriend, what was that all about? Not that I would care or anything, but they don't look very good together. And by the way Nickhun looked at her when I saw them, he clearly didn't seem happy.

But before I could continue on with my thoughts, I felt hands covering my eyes. "Guess who?" The person snickered.

I smiled a little, but I couldn't let him see it. "Nickhun, just sit down."

He took the seat in front of me. "I guess I should start explaining everything, shouldn't I?" I nodded, and prepared to listen.

"Firstly, I wanted to apologize. For not talking to you or even just looking at you ever since we divorced. There's nothing I can say that could justify what I did to you. But I did it because... because I became too.. involved. With us." He took a deep breath. Involved? Us? He ocntinued.

"When we were married, I told you there were times when I wished our marriage was real. Then suddenly, I wanted for it to happen so much that I even thought about leaving 2PM... I know, it was so stupid of me, and I never knew how you felt about it." He silently laughed to himself.

"Then when we seperated, I knew that if I just kept thinking about you. I wouldn't be able to do anything properly. So then I decided to end all emans of contact with you, and tried to forget about you. There were times when I did, but it never really worked. I still thought about you everyday, and I still do now. It was so selfish of me, and I know it must have hurt for you and I'm sorry." He looked down, unable to look me in the eyes. "I hope you can forgive me."

I took his hand. "Of course I forgive you. I understand that you had to do it, but I wish you hadn't ended everything just like that. We went through so much together... so many memories." It was so hard for me to see Nickhun like this, and I needed him to know that I forgave him, and there were no hard feelings.

I smiled as he finally looked back up at me. "Thank you, Victoria. I'll.. never do anything like that ever again. I promise. But I'm not finished explaining myself."

He held my hand tighter, and I realized that I never let go of his hand after I took it. It felt so warm, rough, yet smooth at the same time. It was comforting.

"A few weeks ago, JYP had decided to give me a vacation to visit my family here at Thailand, since all the members were going on a break as well. Then I learned that you were going to Maldives. By yourself. I got really worried. Why would your company let you go on a vacation by yourself? Why Maldives? I thought about that for a long time, and it also made me realize that ending all contact with you was just a stupid idea. I needed to explain myself to you, cause I knew things were awkward between us, especially when we'd see each other at music shows and not even look at each other." So he knew I went to Maldives, meaning he probably knewI had visited the house as well.

He continued talking. "Before I went to Maldives, I went to our house first, just to see if it still looked the same, to... look back on our memories together. But then I noticed you were there. I realized that you had never really went back to properly said goodbye to the house. I was so tempted to talk to you right there and then, but I knew you needed to be alone, so I left, knowing I'd probably see you again. Since we would both be alone on our vacation, I thought it was a good opportunity to sort things out between us, and I'd be able to explain myself."

"Then when I arrived at Maldives, that concierge recognized me, and said you were staying at the hotel as well. He probably thought that we went there together. And then I remember seeing you when I went to the beach, on that swing where we took our photo. Then I noticed my bracelet was missing. When I turned around, I saw you, but I don't think you saw me, cause that guy took you away. Who was he, anyways?" His expression hardened when he said "that guy". Was he jealous? I enjoyed that thought for a little while.

"He's no one, I told you as much as I could when I saw that night. He was just a friend I had met at Maldives, and he wanted me to be his partner for couples night. I have no feelings for him whatsoever," I took a sip from the green herbal tea I ordered.

"What about him?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Did he have any feelings for you? I could tell by the way he acted around you." His stiff expression was starting to scare me. I rarely saw Nickhun like this, even when we were married.

"He did, but I turned him down. I never saw him as anything but a friend. I told you, he's just a friend. Happy?" Nikchun's face softened, like that moment we met at Maldives.

"I know you told me, but I needed to hear it again. After I saw you with him that night, that's when I couldn't take it anymore. I was about to explain everything to you, but you refused to talk to me. I rushed into it too quickly, and I didn't consider your feelings. But I had to tell you. Then when I saw you leave the hotel and Maldives, I was just ready to give up, and just end things with the fact that you probably hated me. Then I learned that you went to Thailand. and I knew that I has just been given a second chance. If you're wondering how I knew, it was the only departing flight that was available when you left the hotel, so it wasn't hard to figure out." So that's how he knew, I told myself a mental note to plan things out first rather than just doing everything last minute.

"And here we are. It probably took you a while to be able to talk to me again, and I can't thank you enough for listening to me. I know you probably have a lot to say--"

"Who is she? Who's Suri?" I couldn't hold back my curiousity any longer. Nickhun started to look nervous.

"Suri's an actress that I acted with in a drama--"

"No, I mean who is she to you, Nickhun? I mean, girlfriend?" I couldn't hold back the bitterness that came with saying those words.

"Look I know it sounds weird, but just let me--"

"So she is your girlfriend, then? Well, congratulations, I hope you're both happy." I took my hand away from his, and looked away from him, and looked at the occean view from the cafe instead. Only after saying those words, I realized: Why was I acting like this? Nickhun isn't even my boyfriend! I have no reason to be mad or act sulky about any of this!

Nickhun took my hand again. "Please. Let me explain. JYP paired us together in order to promote some new drama we've been paired up for. There's no feelings at all, honest. She doesn't feel the same way either, we're just friends." I could tell he meant what he said.

I have to understand. As idols, we all have to do things like this, whether we liked it or not. Like when I first started WGM with him, it was probably the same feelings. But he didn't have to explain myself to me, nor should I have to give him any reason to. Why was I so mad about it?

Now that everything's been said, I asked him the one thing that could change everything, whether it be good or bad.

"Where do we go from here?"

He was about to say something, but he hesitated. "What do you think?"

I let go of his hold on my hand, and took it out for a handshake. "Friends?"

His expression looked, sad, dissappointed even, but that quickly changed to a friendly smile, though it looked a little forced. He took my hand and we shaked hands. "Friends."

I couldn't say anything more. I don't think he had any more to say either. We looked towards the ocean view, and it seems that the bonfire was still going strong outside, and people started to light up fireworks.

As the fireworks  lit up the clear night sky, I felt this heavy feeling in my heart. I glanced at Nickhun, who smiled while looking at the fireworks.

Friends. Why did I say that? Why didn't I just say what I atually wanted to say?

Why didn't I say that I wanted to be more than friends?

~~~~~~~~

A/N: Credits for the cure Khuntoria image goes to the owner~ Everything between Nickhun and Victoria's past problems have been sorted out now, but the present ones still prove to be an obstacle. It seems pretty clear that both parties like each other, but both are too oblivious to it (or maybe not? ;D) Anyways, there's Chapter 8! I'll hopefully have a Chapter 9 tomorrow! Did anyone hear "Sad Love", composed by Junho and lyrics by So Eun for the Feast of Gods OST! So good! And their last episode this week :( I'm gonna miss the eyesmile, fist-bump couple :'( See you all in Chapter 9! Don't forget to comment and subscribe!