“What?” Though he had managed to force out a smile, fear was evident in his crescent shaped eyes.

“We’ll see, Kiki.” She winked and turned to face the other idol brides. If he was going to play innocent, she would be glad to join in. After all, it takes two hands to clap.

“K--Kiki?” His Adam’s apple moved convulsively up and down and a tinge of pink coloured his cheeks.

He hated to admit it. He was supposed to get over her and move on. At least, that was what s had been repeating for the past few weeks. However, the sight of his (yes, he is kinda possessive) Hyosung being all dressed up in the Princeton Orange hanbok has put him in a state far worse than before. It was so much more than butterflies fluttering in his stomach or fireworks exploding within his entire body. He was in a complete trance and all he could notice now was her and only her.

A great length of her hair was now chopped off and shaped into a puffy bob that shared a close resemblance of the crisp autumn leaves. Her luscious eyebrows and feline eyes, which had been accentuated by a slick of eyeliner, made him lose his pace of breathing. However, what truly took his breath away was the smile that bloomed on her face every now and then. At this rate going, he knew it would just be a matter of time before he would be labelled as the Cheshire cat who wore a creepy wide grin in Alice in The Wonderland. His worries proved to be unfounded though once he realized how much weight she had lost over the two months. An ominous shadow loomed over his face as he struggled to take in the current state of his angel whose signature chubby cheeks were evidently missing. It seemed as if she had been robbed of her youthfulness and this broke his heart.

His eyebrows were furrowed and crinkled but as soon as he spotted Hyosung sending a discreet glare in his direction, his face changed way too quickly for her to properly identify it.

“Please, I know you are sick of me. But at the very least don’t make it too obvious. We are on a variety programme and our roles for today are to be a loving couple.” She hissed through her gritted teeth.

He simply nodded, not wanting to get into her bad books again. Yet, to her, his instant acknowledgement to her tactless statement had only all the more proved to her how much of a jerk he was. The two remained noticeably silent till the fortune teller called for them.

“Kikwang the general and Hyosung the bride, please come forward.”

Their feelings were completely in a mess. As much as Kikwang felt the obligation to let go of his feelings for her and give her the space that she needed, he could not help but to hope for a favourable result. As for Hyosung, she was supposed to hate on him for ignoring her for the past two months yet she was still here attempting to picture their future together at this juncture.

“Judging by the male’s birth characters, he is one who is very sweet and tolerant. And since Hyosung has the element of Tree while Kikwang has the element of Earth, you guys are a match made in Heaven.”

“Oh really?” Really, Kikwang almost found himself blurting that out loud. And if he were to do so, boy would he get into deep trouble. First, s would find out that his supposed plan to get over his goddess was not working out. Second, she would find out that he was still interested in her and who knows what she would come up with to avoid his advances. Third, both of their fan bases might get into a serious fan war. Thus, he chose to clench his mouth and purse his lips tightly.

“Hyosung will have many kids and so will Kikwang.”

It was now her turn to become flustered. That comment had honestly thrown her off guard and she could feel a smile tugging at the corners of . Image control, she whispered breathlessly to herself as she struggled to contain her excitement within. There was absolutely no need for a female idol to scream her head off and start squealing in front of everyone.

I’m not going to do this on national television broadcast, he murmured to himself. Yet, he found his head tilting subconsciously to the other side to look out for her reaction. Though she was acting all embarrassed, he could not help but to register the fact that her eyebrows were clearly knitted. He swore he could feel his heart sinking deeper and faster as each second passed.

The next segment of the show was going to start in a few minutes. Kikwang’s face contorted with a mixture of dismay and worry as he let out a deep heavy sigh. All the male idols were busy stretching to get themselves in shape since they would be carrying their respective brides for a good 42 kilometres while carrying out the various missions. That was a problem. There was no way he could possibly win. First, there was the strong, mighty Taecyeon along with the petite Hara. Second, he had not been working out. He had been too caught up with the promotions for “Beautiful Night” to visit the gym. Third, the amount of skinship he would be sharing with his goddess would definitely drive him crazy. So tell me, how was it in any way possible for him to stay focused and keep his cool and win the game to awe his bride?

From the start, Hyosung was busy apologizing to him and that dawned upon him how much of a weakling he must have appeared to be in front of his goddess. Thus, he decided to quicken his footsteps to their first location and that sent her latching tightly onto him. He was not complaining though. The close proximity had only intensified the alluring scent of her hair that would occasionally brush against the back of his neck. As the wind blew, another wave of lavender wafted over him. They were so close together that he would find his heart fumbling a beat here and then.

The first mission was simple. Hyosung was supposed to choose a cup and he would have to drink it. The only pressing issue was that amongst all the cups, some were filled with contents that would stimulate a queer sensation in your stomach. Hyosung paused for a moment before her eyes flickered over to his unsettled expression. A little drink won’t harm.

Viola.

Of all honesty, he was hesitant to drink it yet the apologetic look on her face was incredibly heart melting. He shut his eyes, holding his breath as the burn travelled down his throat before settling in a pool of warmth at the pit of his stomach. Eww. That was an outright disgusting taste but her muffled giggles made everything worthwhile.

Just when his back was going to snap into two, the race had finally come to an end. He was honestly glad to be able to take a break along with her. He missed her. He hated the fact that he had to be such a coward and disappear from her sight two months ago. However, if he was going to let it go on any longer, it would drain his energy away and kill him alive eventually. He was not sure if he could take the surging pain that would hammer repeatedly against his chest and the intense pulsing at his head, which threatened to tear every single nerve apart, any longer.

Yet, her scent here was fighting against all the conflicting thoughts jumbled up in his mind, drawing him closer to her.

She stiffened as the footsteps came closer and closer.

“Are you disappointed that we didn’t win the race?”

“No.” She sighed and shook her head softly.

 “Did I do anything wrong then?” He scrutinized her again before allowing the question to leave his lips.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” She snapped.

“Huh?”

“Stop acting all ignorant. You’re getting on my nerves. First, you come and confess to me. Next, you disappear. What are you trying to do?” She screamed, exasperated.

“Wait a second. I did not disappear. In fact, I have been courting you for the past few months and as far as I know, you are the one giving me the cold shoulder.”

“What? Since when did I do so? Make yourself clear.” Her eyes grew wider as she leaned in closer towards him, daring him to retaliate.

“You didn’t even talk to me or anything…” He answered in a small voice.

“Hey! How am I supposed to reply when you always run away right after you shoved the gifts into my hands?”

“But you could at the very least give me a call or even try texting me.” He frowned and folded his arms.

“You do realize that I do not have a mobile phone right?” She rolled her eyes, irritated.

“That’s not what I heard. You have admitted recently on a programme that your company has allowed you guys to have mobile phones now.” He stared right into her eyes, demanding a decent explanation from her.

“That’s it. Recently. ” She grumbled and tugged at the ends of her hair in frustration.

“Fine but can’t you send me a text message once you have one?”

“I don’t have your number!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, ignoring the concerned glances others were sending over.

“Can’t you get it from others?” He mumbled, making an effort to lower his volume.

“And let the whole one know that I am in love with a conceited jerk like you?” She scoffed as tears gathered in her eyes.

“…… Did you just…..?” He questioned, trying to regain his composure.

“Yes, so what? Go court your dear Taeyeon and make her yours.”

“So you have watched the programme, haven’t you?” He was finally getting the picture.

“Yes and only to find out that the resident playboy has decided to make his move on his gorgeous sunbaenim instead.” Her breath was shaky as tears clouded her sight.

“Are you jealous?” He moved closer, wanting to hold her in his arms.

“Jealous? Pshh. As if I am.” She shook her head stubbornly and scooted further away.

“Well, if you are not, I am. My members just told me that you have chosen Mir over Lee Joon and me on the exact same programme. ”

“What do you expect me to do then, playboy? Mir was right in front of me and he was being a total sweetheart. Do you seriously want me to reject him on a broadcast and end up getting killed by his fans? And don’t you dare change the topic.”

“Aishh. Then what about me? Have you considered my feelings?” He grabbed her wrist and turned her around to face him.

“Your feelings? What a joke. Why should I do so when you are all over Taeyeon ssi?”

“Just believe in my words, won’t you? It was a game and I was simply listing her name.” His glance softened as he ran his fingers through her soft, chestnut brown hair.

“Yeah right, I would be a fool to trust your words. You mention her name twice in a row and you are telling me that you are not interested in her.” She insisted while keeping her eyes fixated on the ground.

“I am serious.” He replied in an unusually deep voice.

“So am I.”

“Forget it. I give up. We’ll talk again when you have cooled down.” He sighed.

“You give up? See? The truth is you don’t even like me enough to care about my feelings.”

“You’re not getting my point. I do. I honestly do like you. Or else why will I step away to give you your space?” He explained, sounding much calmer than before.

“Or rather you mean, disappearing and making me all worried and upset.”

“I’m sorry but I thought you are bothered by my presence.” His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer towards his chest.

“I am. You make me question myself everyday if you are just fooling around with me.”

“Hyosung……” He nuzzled his nose against her neck and rocked her gently.

“Don’t touch me. Get away from me. I hate you.”

A remarkable 2,096 words. Honestly, this is the longest I have ever written for a chapter. I swear it's so difficult to write this. There were so many details in the Crown Prince Selection and I have no idea which one I should include for this story.

Oh my gosh so please be nice and comment. I took the entire day to write this. And now I have come to a conclusion there will be a part III for this. I didn't expect this to go on for so long but I just couldn't help it. And to think that I was even planning to start on my Exo's Kai fanfic today :/ Aish.

Hopefully, this is impressive enough for my dear readers. I am not that good at writing so this really kills my braincells.

Please subscribe and comment. I will try to get the Part III up soon but I am going to be busy so we'll see how things are going.

Cheers!