“The course of true love never did run smooth” – William Shakespeare

***

“You should not delay it any longer Kyuhyun. It is very risky and I’m afraid that it may cause greater damage.”

Kyuhyun is sitting on the chair in his kitchen counter with the deafening silence inside of his penthouse accompanying him.

He is massaging his temple, his head is pounding as he is trying to digest and accept the sudden cruel truth that he knows promise nothing, but pain and agony. The sudden truth dropped like a bomb that mercilessly destroying him; his future, his life, his everything.

Just the mere thought of the uncertain and the blank future send shivers down to his spine. He is afraid, terrified of the days to come, because from this moment onwards he knows that his life won’t ever be the same again.

He knows that he should think and act realistically and positively, but he is not strong enough to do so.

And the worst of all possibilities that terrifies him the most is the thought of losing the love that he just recently found and cherish. His heart aches with the unbearable pain, and the image of her smiling and laughing flashed in front of his eyes. He shut his eyes close, trying to find the last piece of faith to hold on to.

“I will fight until my last dying breath.” He mutters to himself, he can’t give up this battle, not this early; not when he knows that there is still a hope for him, isn’t there?

He wonders, of all times, why now? Why now when he finally knows how to love and be loved back means. When he finally met someone that he knows can change his life?

Life is never a fair game, of course he knows that, but he is not going to let it be the reason that will back him down. He is going to fight, because Kyuhyun knows that he is the only want that is capable of controlling his life at the moment, and he will not let anyone, or anything come in between the life that he has always been dreaming to have.

He is determined to never give up even though he can’t ignore the whispering voice inside his head that tells him that this time around fate is not on his side.

***

~~~

The weekend passed by quickly, and Sooyeon is glad, glad because the faster the days went by, the sooner Kyuhyun will be back to her side. There were few late night calls and emails from Kyuhyun saying that he had been busy with the never ending composing, recording and whatnot. Even though those calls and emails were not enough to fill the emptiness that Kyuhyun has left, Sooyeon is thankful because it seems like that Kyuhyun is enjoying his time there, fulfilling his lifelong dream.

Sooyeon was restraining herself from bringing the issue of Siwon to Kyuhyun, not wanting to ruin the happy environment. She convinced herself that Kyuhyun have his own reason of not informing Siwon about him being in Japan. She’ll hold on to that faith, at least until Kyuhyun is back from Japan.

Her Monday morning started as usual, with the same usual routine all over again but Sooyeon is not complaining. She loves her work, devoting and dedicating her physical and mental energy to her family business empire. Today, she is going to meet with Hangeng again over lunch, because he had insisted that they should start working on their venture as soon as possible.

Sooyeon is in the middle of finishing her work, when her secretary walked in her room and informed her that someone from Han Group wanted to meet her. She raised her brows, curious, because she is not expecting Hangeng, not until lunch hour.

But when she stepped in the meeting room, the figure that has been waiting for her is definitely not Hangeng. Sooyeon was shocked, but she still approached the woman figure that was looking at the outside of the glass window.

Disturbed by the sound of the door cracking, the figure turned around to face Sooyeon with a cheerful grin plastered on her face.

“Nice meeting you Sooyeon-sshi.”

Sooyeon nodded as she accepted the offered handshake.

Sooyeon politely invited her to take a seat and Sooyeon somehow can feel that she was staring, as if she is judging and grading her. Sooyeon felt a little bit uncomfortable, plus she had no idea of what this sudden meeting is all about, and she is working her brain faster than the normal rate, trying to choose the correct word to break the silence, but apparently the pretty figure that was sitting across had done the duty for her.

“You are such pretty little girl, Sooyeon-sshi.”

Shocked, Sooyeon quirked her eyebrows and throw one of her famous questioning gaze to the speaking form sitting in front of her. Little girl? She let the it slide though, not wanting to ruin whatever chance that is in store for her; at least not this fast, even though that statement is one of those statements that boiled her blood. She is not a little girl, not anymore, and that proclamation somehow sounds like a mock rather than a compliment. Sooyeon was cut off even before she had a chance to speak.

“It is very impressive to see such a young girl like you hold such a big position is one of Korea’s apex companies.”

Sooyeon is more than ready to retort back to her sudden and insensitive comments, because this is a business meeting for god sake, and every word that just come out of is definitely not the proper way to start off a meeting. Once again, she is not giving any chance for Sooyeon to speak, as if she can read the questioning and curios look that Sooyeon had been throwing to her.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong here Sooyeon-sshi. I mean what I say, I am really impressed. Oh, by the way, I think I haven’t properly introduced myself, my name is Victoria, from Han Group... And I’m here today on behalf of my company, I just wanted to make sure that you are still willing to close a deal with us.”

“Wait, what?” Sooyeon eyes almost popped out its sockets because she just can’t believe everything that she just heard. Han Group is proposing a deal with her? That doesn’t sound quite right.

“I believe that is not the appropriate reaction to give when someone is offering you a business deal, isn’t it, Sooyeon-sshi?”

“I’m sorry Victoria-sshi. I didn’t mean to let out such reaction... Honestly, I just can’t believe what I’ve just heard, my proposal was clearly rejected by your company, and last Friday I received a call and I just met someone that claimed himself as the representative of Han Group. I believe that there is some serious misunderstanding here.”

Victoria’s reaction is definitely not one of the supposed reactions that Sooyeon was expecting; Sooyeon really hates it when she is left clueless and puzzled like this, but she knows that in the competitive world of business, there is always an unexpected twist waiting for you. It depends on yourself whether you use everything that come in your way to your benefit or you just can screw your own road to success.  

“I believe that you’ve trusted the wrong person here Sooyeon-sshi, because I’m the one in charge of deciding whose comes and goes to Han Group.”

“Wow, that is definitely shocking Victoria-sshi. Because that Hangeng guy told me that he is the one in charge of Han Group, and his words are very convincing.”

“Hangeng, you say?”

“You heard me.”

“Humph... Why am I not surprised?”

~~~

Sooyeon is waiting nervously at the same restaurant from the last meeting that she had with Hangeng. Despite everything that Victoria had told her, she still wanted to hear the explanation from Hangeng. There are always two sides of the story anyway, and it will be unjust to Hangeng if he was not given the chance to explain himself.

“I’m sorry if I’m a bit late, Sooyeon-sshi. I got stuck in traffic.” Sooyeon was greeted with a smile that might warm one’s heart in an instant.

“Oh, it’s okay. I just got here anyway.” She still smiled and stayed compose despite of her raging curiosity.

“So, shall we start our business then?” Hangeng said as he sat in front of Sooyeon and reached for the papers inside of his briefcase.

“I don’t think so Hangeng-sshi.”

Hangeng stopped abruptly and he is staring at Sooyeon’s face with great amount disbelief.

“I thought we had a deal... And you had actually agreed to proceed with this, what with the sudden change of mind?”

“Yes I did, but not until I know that you are not the actual representative from Han Group.”

Hangeng let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m guessing that you’ve met Victoria, haven’t you?”

~~~

TBC