“Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever.” – Unknown

~~~

“I think purple suits you the most.”

Siwon is in the middle of browsing for a new necktie when a feminine voice approached him. He turned around, startled to see that the owner of the voice smiling sweetly at him. Being the gentleman that he is, he bowed his head and smiled back.

“Oh, Victoria-sshi. I don’t expect to see you here.”

“Just call me Vic. I prefer that name when I’m outside of work and I think it is better for us to be more comfortable around each other, don’t you think so, Siwon?”

Siwon let out a small laugh as a simple response to Victoria’s sudden request. He can’t help but to feel a little awkward to suddenly drop the formalities between them. Furthermore, they barely knew each other. She is the heiress of Han Group that has taken over the position of the representative from Han Group for the project that both Choi and Han have been working together. 

“So, you think purple suits me?” Trying to sound casual, Siwon pick the purple silk necktie and bring it close to his chest only to be surprised by Victoria’s sudden action.

She suddenly grabs the tie and tying it up for him.

Siwon is taken aback by her bold action but did nothing to stop her even though he can feel his body turned stiff because of the sudden and unpredictable movement that has closed the gap of personal space between them.

However, he quickly averts her gaze when she looked up to meet his eyes, and slowly and subtly turned around to face the mirror behind him not wanting to make it obvious that he is actually quite uncomfortable with her action just now.

“I guess I will be taking this.” He said as he smiled at her reflection in the mirror and he handed the necktie to the boutique’s assistant to wrap it up for him.

“Do you have any other plan after this?” Victoria asked him as they waited for his necktie to be wrapped.

He glanced at his wrist watch, and at the same time trying to come up with the most logical excuse that he can make up but apparently he can’t come up with anything, because tonight is a Friday night and he obviously can’t use work as an escape like he always did. Somehow he knows that he can’t avoid whatever request that Victoria had in my mind so he just shakes his head lightly.

“Good. Now, want to grab some coffee together?”

“Sure, why not”. Siwon said as he followed her to the nearest cafe and can’t help but to recall Kyuhyun’s suggestion back then. Maybe, maybe this is a good chance for him to somehow move on with this life and get over his unrequited feeling for Sooyeon.

~~~

Siwon cursed himself silently as he noticed that he can’t get interested to the babbling Victoria that is currently sitting in front of him. Victoria is a successful young business woman with a beauty to match with. She is the direct opposite of Sooyeon, Siwon can’t help but to compare. Sooyeon’s personality might seem cold, but once you get to know her, she is the direct opposite of everything that she displays herself to be while Victoria on the other hand looks more approachable and friendly. Siwon slapped himself back to reality when he realized that there is no point of comparing Sooyeon and Victoria as both of them is totally different individuals that come from a totally different background.

Speaking of Sooyeon, Siwon almost freeze in his seat when he recognized a familiar figure outside the cafe, browsing through the shops and wandering around, alone. His eyes followed Sooyeon’s every single movement and actions. Why is she alone? She looked kind of lost and troubled. Did she come here with Kyuhyun? If she did, why Siwon is not able to trace any sign of the younger man? Judging from his view, he comes into conclusion that Sooyeon is indeed alone.

“Siwon?”

Victoria’s voice snapped him back to reality. He immediately apologized, realizing that he had been acting quite rude towards Victoria. Ignoring a speaking lady in front of you is definitely not one of gentleman’s virtues that he has been practicing for so long.

“You looked distracted... I believe I shall excuse myself. I’m sorry if I had been occupying your time.”

Siwon feels sorry, but deep inside him, he feels relived because now he can search for Sooyeon in the sea of people and wash away the troubled and solemn look on her face.

“Again, I apologized for my behavior Victoria-sshi. I just saw someone I knew just know. I really don’t mean to ignore you. I enjoyed having a chat with you and I promise that I will make it up back to you some other time.”

“It’s Vic again, Siwon. Just Vic.” Victoria said with a smile as she stands up to excuse herself.

Siwon nodded weakly with a smile. He made a quick mental note to not repeat the same mistake again in the future.

“So, till then Siwon.”

As soon as Victoria is no longer in his line of sight, he immediately sprints out the cafe, searching for that one figure that he misses so much, that one figure that has been haunting his dream and beyond.

He is running in the mall ignoring the questioning glares that he received from around him. He doesn’t care, because all that he knows now is that he has to find Sooyeon, he has to make sure that she is fine. He scanned every face that he sees looking for one particular face that he loves so much, but it seems like he can’t find her. He is completely sure that he saw Sooyeon just now, he swear to God, because there is no way that his eyes will deceive him; at least not when it comes matter regarding Sooyeon.

He is so frustrated, angry and puzzled because he can’t find any sign or trace of Sooyeon. He rubbed his face with both of his hands because he can feel that tiredness have crept in his nerves. Sighing heavily Siwon knows that he can never give Sooyeon up no matter how hard he convinced himself that Sooyeon is better off without him. He can never deny the fact that he yearns to have Sooyeon all to himself, to embrace her, to protect and to love her with all of his heart.

He almost gave up, thinking that maybe fate has been mocking and toying with his hopes when a soft pat on his back bring back his soul to his worn out body.

“Oppa.”

Siwon eyes never went wider when he immediately recognizes the owner of the soft voice. For once after all these times Siwon somehow is able to believe once again; that what's meant to be will always find its way. He slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice that he recognized with his heart.

“Sooyeon-ah.”

The moment he laid his eyes on Sooyeon’s face he can immediately read the sad look in her brown eyes. There is no twinkling of liveliness and happiness in those beautiful eyes like it used to be. Siwon is fighting his own battle where he is restraining himself from hugging and kissing that sadness away, but he knows better that he doesn’t have that particular right to do so. Sooyeon don’t belong to him, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how strong the feelings that he felt for her, Sooyeon heart belongs to someone else.

Sooyeon flashed him a smile, even though the sparkle of her smile did not reach to her eyes but it was one sincere smile. Sooyeon is glad that she met Siwon here, because finally she is able to identify a familiar face in the sea of people in the mall. Somehow she doesn’t feel so lonely anymore. No, she is not using Siwon as a substitution of Kyuhyun’s absence, she never will, because the handsome man that is now standing in front of her always will hold that one special spot in her heart.

“What are you doing here Oppa?” She asked weakly because to be honest she can feel that both her soul and body is weak and weary at the moment, and of course Kyuhyun’s sudden departure to Japan is the main reason. She can’t even probably reason out the main cause that has brought her here. Maybe, for once after so long, she is feeling alone in her own company and she is out to find some sort of solution for it.

“I was just doing some simple shopping a while ago.” He stopped for a moment analyzing Sooyeon’s face again.

“You don’t look so good, Sooyeon-ah”.

“Oh, thanks for the compliment Oppa.” Trying to joke around but somehow it sounds more sad rather than funny.

Siwon gulped hard, and he can make a guess that her current condition must be related to Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun can’t be doing something that might upset her, can he?

“Hey, what’s wrong little princess? And why are you here alone? Where is Kyuhyun?”

Siwon really wanted to bite his tongue when the word ‘little princess’ slipped from his mouth easily. Little princess is a nickname that he has given to her since they were kids, because she was so beautiful since she was a little girl, and she really fits into Siwon’s imagination of the fairy tale princesses. He has fallen in love with that little girl and after so long he is still madly in love with her.  

However after acknowledging about Sooyeon’s relationship with Kyuhyun, he had promised to himself to stop calling her by that name. He knows that he no longer has the right to do so, but who is he kidding? Old habits really die hard, what more when it comes to Sooyeon, it dies harder.

Sooyeon is beyond shocked when Siwon is asking her about Kyuhyun’s whereabouts. She almost can’t believe what she has just heard, because Siwon is always the first person that Kyuhyun will come to for everything, and not letting Siwon know about his departure to Japan sound so weird and wrong. Something is not quite right with the picture here, because literally speaking Siwon is like the other missing self of Kyuhyun; he is a friend, a brother and a virtue that will bring him back to stand whenever he slip his way through.

“He didn’t tell you Oppa?”

“Didn’t tell me what?” It is now Siwon turn to shoot a questing gaze to Sooyeon.

“He is in Japan now, for 2 weeks. I thought you know about this.”

“What? Japan? This is definitely news for me, because the last time I spoke to him he didn’t mention anything...”

What is wrong with Kyuhyun? He better not pull any funny stunt here, even though Siwon knows that sometimes the snarky man can be very unpredictable. However, being secretive about his departure to Japan for god forsaken two weeks definitely brings his unpredictability to another whole new level. For once since their lifelong friendship Siwon seems to not know the younger man anymore.

Both of they stayed silent, digesting this whole Kyuhyun-secret-departure-to-Japan thing. For Sooyeon is has doubled her anxiousness, has made her heart even sadder and waver than she has felt before. Why Kyuhyun suddenly acted this way? There must be something that has caused him to not let Siwon know about him being in Japan. If he went there pursuing his dream like he claimed to be, he must have shared the news with everyone. It is something to celebrate, not to be hidden like this.

They are both lost in their thoughts when suddenly a reckless teenage boy that was rushing for god-knows-what pushed Sooyeon that clearly was unprepared for the sudden impact. It makes her loses her balance, and she is beyond shocked by the sudden push. It's almost like she has lost her control over her body and she lost her consciousness for awhile before a pair of strong hands grab and calm her in his safe embrace.

For Siwon, it almost makes his heart stop beating seeing her almost stumble to the floor, he didn’t even dare to imagine what will happen if he is not fast enough to catch her. His eyes scanned his surroundings, searching for the culprit, he is furious because the incident that flashed in front of his eyes is mocking his insecurities about Sooyeon that he has been feeling and helding for so long.

He was hesitant to confess his feelings for Sooyeon at the first place was merely caused by his insecurities and uncertainty. He is paranoid, always afraid that he is never enough for Sooyeon; not strong enough to protect her from the harsh reality of the demanding and cruel world and not good enough to make her happy and laugh whole heartedly. He cursed under his breath as he grabs the still shocked Sooyeon for a tighter hug and he is whispering comforting words to her.

But what Siwon has missed is a smirking face behind a pillar near them that has been watching all of their actions.

~~~ 

TBC

A/N: Thank you for reading, commenting and subscribing guys. It really motivates and keeps me going. <3