“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, promise” said Key sincerely as he reached out for Lyka’s hand.

“This is the sixth time, Key. I’ve been waiting in the restaurant for three hours for nothing.”

“Sorry, I was helping Nicole. We were so busy that I forgot about our dinner” explained Key.

Over the past two weeks, Lyka was feeling a little down since Key has been always forgetting their dates. She tried to understand him but she just couldn’t take it anymore.

They were standing in front of Nicole’s garden since it was just a while ago when Key finally picked up his phone after hundreds of missed calls and told her where he is. Nicole was left inside making them some snack.

“Nicole? It’s because of her again?”

“No babe. It’s not what you are thinking. You know that Nicole’s my best friend and…”

“I know that. But are you sure that you she’s just a best friend to you?”

“What do you mean?” asked Key.

 “Why don’t you just admit it to yourself? You always anticipated weekends since the two of you will go shopping. You like wearing that necklace because Nicole gave it to you. You’re wearing that perfume because Nicole thinks that it suits you.”

“What is your point?!”

“My point is your life revolves around her. Key, you are in love with your best friend…” said Lyka sadly, fighting back the impending tears.

“What?!” asked Key in surprise, then it hit him. Is it true? That he is in love with his best friend- Nicole?

“I don’t know if you don’t realize this yet or you knew but you’re trying to ignore it.”

Key doesn’t know what to say or how to react. “Lyka…”

“Key… although it will surely hurt, I’m breaking up with you. I’m setting you free.” said Lyka in between tears as she slowly walked away.

Key stood in silence for a moment until he started chasing the crying Lyka.

Behind the bush stood Nicole who couldn’t believe what she just heard. She didn’t intend to eavesdrop but due to curiosity, she decided to listen and what she heard was nothing to what she expected.

“Now what?” she asked to her confused self.

_________________________________________________________

“Stop!” Finally catching up on the crying Lyka, Key hugged her tightly from behind. “Please… don’t leave me. I love you” he said as his words turned into gentle whispers.

“Key… I love you too” Lyka whispered back as she turned around to face Key.

“If so, don’t leave me.” said Key meeting her eyes.

Sadness was both on their faces. Lyka smiled sadly at Key, “Key, I have to. This is the best thing for the two of us”

“Lyka, believe me. I love you. I always did”

“I believe you. I know you love me. But believe me; you loved her more than you loved me.”

Gently, Key took Lyka’s hand and kissed it. “Thank you, thank you for letting me realize what I have been trying to ignore this whole time.” he smiled.

“No, thank you. I’m very thankful for giving me the chance to love you and be loved by you” Lyka returned his smile.

Key could clearly see the sadness within Lyka’s eyes but she’s smiling sweetly on the outside. That’s one of the things that he admired from her. If he had met her first, he was sure that he’s going to fall in love with her first.

Reaching out his hand, Key moved the strands of Lyka’s hair that were covering her pretty face and tucked it behind her ear. “Yah! You should always fix your hair. You should maintain the reputation of being a special girl to Key. You should be proud that the picky and choosey Key liked you” he joked.

The girl let out a laugh trying to look like she’s buying his joke but her tears kept on flowing. “You really are Key”

“You have a very pretty hair. So tomorrow, I want to see the same cheerful and pretty Lyka, Araso?” said Key. To be honest, Lyka’s long and wavy hair was one of the reasons Key thinks that makes her very attractive. Especially if you would add her thick and long lashes, she will totally look like a living doll.

“I’m going to Paris tomorrow” informed Lyka.

“What? Paris? When did you plan all of this?” asked Key nonstop in surprise.

“Just now” smiled Lyka.

“Miss Lyka, what are you thinking?!”

“I just decided that after this entire roller coaster ride, I wanted to go on a vacation.” Lyka explained.

“Good luck on that. I will send you off tomorrow”

“There’s no need Key. I wanted to go without any hesitations. I might change my mind if I saw you.” smiled Lyka.

“Are you sure?” asked Key looking hesitant.

“Don’t you worry; I will send you a picture of a smiling Lyka tomorrow”

“Then stop crying so I will believe you” said Key as he gently wiped Lyka’s tears.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t control these stupid tears from coming.”

“They are not stupid, Lyka. They were a reflection of your feelings.” said Key as he slowly moved his face closer to Lyka’s. “I’m sorry and thank you.” he whispered before claiming Lyka’s lips.

____________________________________

Behind a nearby parked car hid two individuals who couldn’t believe what they just heard and witnessed.

“We were not supposed to hear that, right?” whispered Jessica looking guilty.

“I know. But it’s not that we meant to hear it, right?” said Jonghyun trying to ease his guilt.

They were planning to visit Nicole but they weren’t prepared to see Key chasing Lyka so they decided to hide to find out what is happening. They thought that it was just simple and just wanted to see how Key would handle things like this but what they heard was far from what they expected.

It was bigger and worse.

“Are they still there?” asked Jessica. 

Jonghyun looked again and to his disappointment, the two were still there standing.

“Yeah, let’s use this opportunity to leave while they’re still busy kissing” said Jonghyun as he pulled Jessica’s hand as they ran blending with the shadows. 

“Don’t you think that that was too long for a goodbye kiss?” asked Jessica when they were finally away.

“I don’t know. Ask Key” chuckled Jonghyun. Come to think of it, Jessica has a point.

The kiss was super long. 

“What should we do now? I mean I told the girls that I’m going to be out until 1 o’clock. It’s still 12:30, we still have half an hour left.” asked Jessica.

“How about a walk in the streets?” suggested Jonghyun.

“But there were only a few people walking by.”

“That’s exactly why I said so.  So that no one will see us.” explained Jonghyun.

“Did we also had one of this late night dates years ago?” asked Jessica.

Jonghyun chuckled and answered, “Well, yeah. It’s kind of funny how we wore those attention-getting disguises not to be noticed. It’s good that no one saw our faces thanks to the masks I borrowed from Leeteuk hyung.”

“Huh? From him?”

“Well you see, dating during the late hour was an unending trend among celebrities like us. And hyung used one of those masks while on a date with his former girl.” explained Jonghyun.

“That’s a funny thing” Jessica chuckled. “I wonder if we would ever meet dating celebrities on the way.”

“We don’t know. Let’s just see how this night will turn out. Besides, the start was really interesting”

A few moments later, it was funny how they met one of their friends along.

“Donghae-hyung!” greeted Jonghyun in surprise.

“Nice seeing you here” Jessica smiled and greeted Donghae’s girl, who’s also a very good friend.

“Are you guys on a date?” asked Donghae.

“You can say it like that” grinned Jonghyun.

“Well, enjoy yours and we’ll enjoy ours” smiled Donghae as they walked away.

But before Donghae and his pair could go further, another couple appeared.

“My my, it’s Donghae and Jonghyun in the middle of a date!” greeted a grinning Yoochun.

“Nice seeing you hyung!” greeted Donghae.

“But I thought you were so busy to have dates?” joked Jonghyun.

“Not every time” said Yoochun. “I always tend to be busy but you-“ he was cut off when a figure joined them.

It’s no other than Taemin.

“Taemin-ah! You’re also on a date?!” asked Jessica in disbelief.

“Sorry to disappoint you guys, but I’m alone” smiled Taemin.

“Then what are you doing here?” asked Donghae.

“I just went out to get some drinks. I didn’t notice that we ran out of them” Taemin explained showing the cans of soda in the plastic bag he was holding.

“Okay. Then I guess we should go on separate ways. We might attract attention because of our number” suggested Yoochun.

Following their senior’s suggestion, each of them went on separate ways.

“I don’t why but I find this very funny” chuckled Jessica.

“What’s funny?” asked Jonghyun.

“How idols run into each other during secret dates” said Jessica.

“Yeah, I know. Let’s get to your place.”

_______________________________________

“Are you sure you won’t come in for a cup of tea?” asked Jessica.

“No, It’s fine. Besides, it is late. You should go and get some rest. Tomorrow’s another day of practice for your comeback” refused Jonghyun.

“Okay then, take care.”

“I will” smiled Jonghyun and started walking.

Then, he stopped on his tracks and walked back towards Jessica.

“What? Did you forget anything?”

“Yeah, I forgot one thing.”

With a sparkle of light, Jonghyun reached unto Jessica’s scarf.

“Good night, Jessica.” reaching over Jessica’s scarf, he pulled her closer to him and closed the distance between their faces.

It was just a quick and soft kiss but it meant so much to them.

“Yah! Why did you kiss me?” asked Jessica when the kiss ended.

“Good night!” Jonghyun winked and started walking away waving his hand.

“You’d better be early to pick me up tomorrow!” Jessica shouted instead.

“Don’t worry. I will” said Jonghyun as he disappeared in the shadows.

Keeping a straight face trying to hide her smile, Jessica stormed into the living room and found Yoona, Sooyoung, Sunny and Tiffany seated in the couch while watching something on the TV.

“Good night! I’m going to sleep!” she said and opened the door towards her room. But before she could close the door, Yoona said something that bothered her.

“Erica’s already asleep. By the way, you view from the window was nice.” smiled Yoona.

“Yeah, the trees look nice” said Jessica simply and closed the door.

Why were her friends giving her that mysterious smile a while ago?

“No way!” thought Jessica when she realized something. The view from the window… Looking from the window, you can clearly see everything that was happening.

Down.

“Did they just saw what happened a while ago?”