CHAPTER 10

The Han River.

Nichkhun had brought me here before, that night when he'd made me feel as though everything would be ok, that we'd be ok and that somehow, we'd work it all out at the end of the day.

But now, I was sitting in front of it again and I couldn't have a larger feeling of dread.

The dread pool like the river before me, swishing through my veins like the river's current.

It felt like it'd wash me away, this feeling of dread, and quite honestly, I didn't feel like resisting against it.

Maybe the current would lead me back to China.

Where I'd rather be right now.

And boy, had I tried, but I realized that I had no money to my name here in Korea. Nichkhun had brought me here and had bought me everything. Money of my own had been the last thing on my mind during the past few weeks.

I could always call my parents. I knew they'd get me out, but I didn't want to burden them with this right now. They would be my last resort.

First, I had to try and find a job here in Korea.

Wait, was I even allowed to work?

I didn't have a working visa. I still wasn't sure how Nichkhun had gotten me into the country.

"Aish!" I sighed aloud to myself as I placed a hand on my forehead and creased my brow in frustration. I really hadn't thought any of this through, had I?

I'd simply gotten on a plane with a man I hadn't seen in five years.

After sleeping with him.

I sighed again, this time leaning my head on my knees. I really had jumped and dived into the deep end on this one, hadn't I?

Nichkhun should've forgotten the deal.

He should've left me home in China.

I was ok without him. I had been surviving.

I felt the tears welling in my eyes and I knew that I'd never be able to hold them back at this rate. But, after all that I'd experienced today, I needed to cry.

And thus, I allowed the salted wetness to stream down my cheeks.

Soon, the sobs were wracking my small frame and it didn't help that the winter chill seemed penetrated through my layers of clothing, beginning to freeze me. Quite honestly, I wouldn't mind if my body became numb.

"Are you ok?"

The soft voice caught me off guard and I immediately raised my head from my knees and turned my head. Beside me sat a young girl, with milky skin and timid eyes. Her brown hair cascaded down her shoulders from beneath the cover of a pink hoodie. She wore a concerned expression, her lips in a narrow line as her doe eyes scanned my tear stained face.

The tears had halted from the disturbance, but my body continued to quiver from the effect. Hesitantly, the young girl reached out a hand and gently placed it on my shoulder. The touch was light, but I instantly felt comforted.

My eyes offered her a quiet thank you.

She smiled in return, "You're not from here, are you?"

She meant I was a foreigner. I nodded.

"I figured," she spoke, "As pretty as us Koreans can be, you have a different prettiness about you. It's very regal."

My eyes widened at the compliment.

The girl herself looked as though she'd walked off of the front cover of Vogue, even without makeup staining her face.

"And a face as pretty as yours shouldn't be puffy and red from tears."

With that, she turned her head and motioned for someone nearby to approach. I wanted as soon, another girl, who seemed to be the same age as the girl approached. She too was beautiful, her features simply more innocent with pouty lips and slightly dazed eyes. Yet, as soon as she saw my gaze on her, she smiled.

"Here you go," she said as she handed me a tissue. I gratefully accepted the tissue and quickly put it to use in drying my eyes. I began to feel slightly self-conscious around the two Korean youths.

"... Thank you," I stammered out to them once I'd finished drying my eyes.

"Ahh," the girl who came later gasped, "You're so lucky your makeup didn't run! Whenever I cry, I always have these thick mascara and eyeliner lines that run down my cheeks and make me look like a raccoon!" she complained while pouting.

The simple look on her face was enough to crack a smile on my lips, even if I didn't understand half of her sentence.

The girl in the pink hoodie laughed at her friend's antics, shaking her head before she turned to me, "Jung Krystal," she told me her name with an incline of her head, "And that's Choi Jinri, but we call her Sulli." She too bowed her head to me.

"Song Victoria," I replied, glad that my voice hadn't creaked as much as I'd expected it to.

"Well Victoria," Krystal said as she stood up, "You look like you're in need of a pick-me-up, so would you like to join us for dinner?" She then shyly offered me her hand.

I felt tears welling from her simple generosity.

So, with a timid smile and a single nod, I grasped her hand.

- - - - -

Krystal and Sulli led me to a small restaurant not far from the Han River. Throughout the walk there, they had attempted to comfort me, including many attempts to make me laugh. But due to my lack of knowledge, it was more their overly expressive faces that cracked smiles onto my lips.

The restaurant had a homely feel to it and from what I could understand, one of their friend's families owned the restaurant and apparently, the girl would be joining us for lunch too.

But I wasn't worried, I felt comfortable around these two girls.

"So Victoria," Krystal directed at me as we sat in one of the plush booths, "How old are you?"

"I'm 25 this year," I replied honestly.

"Wah," Sulli immediately sighed, "You don't look older than 20!"

I smiled at the compliment.

"That means you're our unnie," Krystal spoke for the two of them, "Since we're only 18 this year. We just finished high school."

My eyes widened. They really were young.

"But, we're both studying singing at the same university."

Well, from what I'd seen of female idols in Korea, these two definitely had the potential to become singers. Well, that's if their voices were good that is.

"I'll be sure to cheer for you guys!" I said as I raised a fist.

"Thank you unnie," Krystal replied before handing me a  menu, "Now, find something nice to eat. The bill is on us."

Somehow, my day had just gotten brighter.

An hour later and the rest of Krystal and Sulli's friends had arrived. One of them was a small girl with a bright smile and she'd introduced herself as Luna and the other was a rather tomboyish girl named Amber, who I'd been pleased to find out, spoke Mandarin. It made talking to the girls a lot easier.

And true to their word, the food at the restaurant was delicious.

"So Victoria-unnie, how long have you been in Korea for?" Sulli asked after a mouthful of food. Amber looked to me, but I nodded - I'd understood this question just fine.

"About... a month now..." I trailed as I tried to think when exactly I'd arrived in Korea. It'd been a whirlwind couple of weeks, thus it made it harder for me to believe that it had only been a month that I'd been here.

"That's not long at all but your Korean is already good," Luna stated. It was her parents that owned the small restaurant.

I smiled a 'thank you' at her as I continued to eat, mildly listening to their conversation about school and their love lives.

The girls were telling Krystal to just ask her sister to set her up on a date with SHINee's rapper Minho. I frowned for a moment as the name sounded familiar. Wasn't... SHINee the name of a popular boy group here in Korea? I was almost positive. The one with the leader that loved chicken, a singer who acted like a diva and then with a boy who could be a prettier girl than any girl if he tried.

Wow,  I thought to myself, her sister must be in quite a high up position if she's able to organize something like that.

"Can you understand?"

Amber's question caught my attention as she phrased it in Mandarin. I nodded.

"Most of it," I responded, "Is her sister really important that she can organize a date with famous idols?" I asked with curiosity apparent in my voice.

Amber's eyes widened as she creased her brow.

Had I said something... wrong?

"Well..." Amber trailed, as though unsure of what to say, "I suppose because you're a foreigner..." she cleared once, "Well, Krystal's sister is really famous around Asia."

I nodded. It made sense that way.

"Krystal sister is Jessica from SNSD."

SNSD.

A name that brought grief to my heart.

But I tried my best to mask it, plastering a smile and a surprised expression onto my face.

"Really? That's amazing! No wonder her sister can organize her a date with famous idols," I giggled after my sentence, trying to make my excitement real.

I knew of Jessica, the ice queen of SNSD.

SNSD.

Yuri.

Nichkhun.

The tears began to well, but I couldn't cry now, not after these girls had tried so hard to cheer me up.

"Unnie, are you ok?" Sulli's gently concerned tone reached me as she reached out a hand to put on my shoulder. She sat beside me, making it hard for me to avoid her worried gaze.

"I..." I so badly wanted to lie and say that I was completely ok. To tell them that I was simply missing China.

But... I wanted to open up to someone.

I wanted a friend.

"Does this have anything to do with the reason you were crying at the Han River?" Krystal carefully asked.

I sighed deeply and nodded, my eyes closing in the process.

Sulli squeezed my shoulder in support, "If you want to tell us, we'll help you in any way we can!"

The simple trust in their eyes was enough to convince me.

And thus, I told them my story.

- - - - -

"Unnie, are you sure you'll be able to find your back from here?" Luna asked me as we stopped by a nearby traffic light.

I nodded, offering her a reassuring smile, "I promise I know my way from here." After all, the pharmacy I'd gone to just two days ago was to my right. Subconsciously, a hand went to my barren womb.

The girls saw my action and all offered me a bitter smile.

I'd opened up to them and told them about the deal my best friend and I had made and that he'd then come to Korea for work. Then, just when I thought that he'd forgotten about me, he'd come back. I told them how we'd hoped that I was pregnant, but then, when I wasn't, he fled to the arms of another woman.

I just hadn't told them his identity.

The young girls had immediately comforted me and had said some rather class insults about Nichkhun. Amber had even offered to castrate him for me. While the offer had been tempting, I still cared about Nichkhun enough not to resort to that.

If he couldn't be happy with me, he at least deserved to be happy with someone else.

"Remember not to let that man walk all over you!" Krystal reminded me as she hugged me, "Tell him there's a group of girls you know that aren't afraid to mess with a boy."

I smiled at her confidence as I hugged her back.

"And remember to call us whenever you need," Sulli added in as she too hugged me goodbye.

"And that we're meeting next week at the restaurant," spoke Luna as she embraced me goodbye.

"I definitely won't forget," I told them as Amber was the last to say goodbye.

And then, they were waving as they walked in the opposite direction. I watched them walk for a bit, before they turned a corner and disappeared from my sight.

It felt as though a weight had been lifted from my heart.

It'd been such a relief to finally open up to someone, or some people.

People who were on my side.

And dinner had been pleasant with the four of them.

Even though they were all younger than me, I could easily see myself befriending them.

If I stayed in Korea.

The walk to Nichkhun's apartment wasn't far and I briefly wondered if he'd be there.

Dread and fear began festering within my heart.

Would he be angry for today?

I had slapped him and left without a word after all.

But then again, it wasn't like he had tried to follow me.

Song Victoria, you think too much, I told myself as I entered the elevator that would take me to the apartment. I began digging in my bag for the keys, silently praying that I would be alone tonight.

I needed time to think.

Nichkhun wasn't home.

I could tell from the facts that the lights were off when I entered the apartment.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I immediately shuffled into the bedroom, feeling my body crave for the soft, cushioned mattress.

I needed to sleep after this taxing day.

But, as soon as I neared the bedroom door, a note on the wooden door caught my attention.

Dear Victoria

I will be staying at the dorm... to give you some space.

I don't know what happened today and I'm really confused. But, I hope that you'll tell me when you need to.

My phone is always on.

Love

Nichkhun.

- - zomg can you believe we're on chapter 10 and the support I have from you guys is simply amazing and I love you all and you just give me all this motivation with your wonderful compliments and this sentence is now committing grammar sins so I will end it. Anyway, here f(x) finally made their fabled appearance! I hope the girls are in character and all that^^ And Nichkhun won't be out the picture for too long, I'm too much of a Khuntoria er for that to happen!

Anyway, my exams are officially over so hopefully, I have time to complete this within the coming week^^ Remember to give my other Khuntoria, If You Want, some love too please <3