Minhwan’s statement kept running through his mind through the entire night and the next few days. The maknae for some reason was completely right. If you loved someone, you would want to make sure she was happy. If two people weren’t happy with each other, it was a sign. A sign that they weren’t meant to be together. Because sometimes love wasn’t enough.

The clash in their personalities only resulted in a stormy relationship. Even though Amber had been more than willing to change herself for Seunghyun, she couldn’t be entirely happy living out of character. As much as he in turn tried to stop himself from being jealous, in the end, it took a toil on both of them.

If you loved someone, you love them for who they are – that was exactly Key had told him previously when Seunghyun issued the SHINee rapper a warning not to stay too buddy with Amber. Now he was beginning to see the light. As much as he loved the girl more than anything else in the world, for some reason, he could not make her happy.

Loving someone doesn’t mean having to possess her. His world turned dark when she was upset yet more often than not, he was the very reason all the drama. In the early dawn, when everyone else was asleep, Seunghyun made up his mind – as much as Amber was the love of his life, he was not the right one for her.

The right man would be able to make her happy no matter what happened and be perfectly comfortable and chill when she shares a hug with her guy friend. Someone who would always be there for her and not need to run away sometimes just because he needed solitude to find inspiration or just to get over a hissy fit.

He sat on his decision for some time. He selfishly thought that maybe it would all pass and things would return to normal – Amber and him would live happily ever after. However, his decision stood in the end – he needed to be the better man.

His fingers were still trembling as if they were protesting about what he was about to do as he leaned against the railing, waiting for his lady love – most possibly for the last time.

“Seungie!” The delight in Amber’s husky voice rang in his ear as she pounced on his back. The f(x) rapper had been pleasantly surprised when her boyfriend eventually called her after five whole days. Normally, Seunghyun’s anger took less than three days to dissipate, however this time, Minho’s actions must have really hit a sore spot. She definitely needed to have a proper talk with the SHINee rapper to set some boundaries.

When Seunghyun finally turned around, she noticed a strange light in his eyes but before she could ponder more about it, he flung his arms around her to bring her into a tight embrace.

“Amber, I love you.” The guitarist whispered, the back of her head.

Something was definitely up – Seunghyun rarely told her those three little words even though she sometimes needed reminding when they were on the outs. Just like her boyfriend, she never beat around the bush so she tilted back her head to ask him, “Seungie, honey, what’s wrong?”

Seunghyun swallowed hard, what he was about to do was going to be the hardest thing, even tougher than giving up any semblance of a normal life for one in the limelight. Yet he had to stop being this demanding, all this time he had let his jealousy dominate their relationship.

“Amber, let’s take a walk,” Grabbing her hand, he led her down a path made by the thousands that had trod over the same spots over and over again. This was their usual place – deserted, away from the public eye. It was here, along the river where they shared their deepest secrets and dreams and tumbled to the grass when they got tired to stargaze.

Out of the blue under the shadows, the girl angled her body towards the boy and tilted her chin upwards so she could put place her lips right smack on his. Kissing him with a ferocity that only Seunghyun  had ever witnessed. Instinctively, his hands moved down to the small of her back as he obliged her actions, wanting so much more of her. She was his life support. Yet cutting her off was the only way she could find her true happiness.

“Seungie, let’s celebrate your birthday properly,” She broke away first, breathlessly.

The boy fought to concentrate. “No Amber, I have something to tell you.”

“Are you still mad?” Amber asked hesitantly. “I promise I’ll have a word with Minho.”

“It’s not that. You are never going to stop being the girl that every guy wants to hang out with.”

“I’ve stopped being friendly with them,” The girl protested.

“Yes, I know. And I don’t want you to change like this. I love you and I know that you love me too, but this love is not going to make you happy. I’m not the man who will make you happy. We’ve spent most of our time arguing.”

“But that’s the way we are. And despite everything, we are happy,” Amber was afraid of how this conversation was turning out to be.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes love isn’t enough. I need to let you go, to go and find that man, who will never ask you to change and make you cry.”

“Let me go? What do you mean? No! We are not breaking up!” Distraught crept into her voice.

“Amber, please listen to me. I love you because of the person you are but ironically, our characters clash so much, we are too different to stay together.”

Her eyes opened wide as Seunghyun said, “Amber, it was good while it lasted but we were not meant to be together.”

“I’m not the one for you.” He almost choked on his words but it was the right thing to do. When he finally dropped her hand, she stared at him incredulously.

Avoiding her line of vision, Seunghyun turned his head so all he saw was the night sky instead of the eyes that he had fallen in love with.

“Seunghyun, are you serious?”

His voice had fallen an octave and was frosty cold, “Yes, Amber, we will be better off separately.”

She had lost her will to argue with a Seunghyun that had seemed to have his mind made up. “OK. It’s over. We are over.”

****

“Amber noona, how are you!” Minhwan made a beeline for the f(x) rapper. Both FT Island and f(x) were performing at Music Bank to promote their latest songs. And it was the first time since Seunghyun had seen Amber since the break up.

The maknae twirled her around and she laughed, the sweet melody of her laughter pricked at his ears as he clutched his guitar tightly. They stopped and she swayed, only to find herself face to face with her ex-boyfriend.

“Seungie.” Her smile was bright and genuine. “Your guitar solo just blew the audience away.”

He had threw his broken-heartedness all into work and it paid off – the angst and sadness were inspiration for two songs and he did not have an off day in the recording studio again. If only his wound would heal and his heart stop beating so quickly at the sight of Amber.

“Thank you. And you rocked out there.” Seunghyun repaid the compliment and fought the urge to take the girl into his arms. According to Jaejin, all her male friends were glad to have the old Amber back and Key had reported that she was doing fine. He knew then he had made the correct choice.

The atmosphere between them became tense. Amber shrugged and bowed before running back to her members. As he watched her link arms with Krystal and Luna, there was a wave of nostalgia and he silently wished her all the best in finding her own happiness.

On his part, he would always love the girl.