Day 10

20 days left

Springtime.

Each flower that blooms is a sign of new beginning.  The ray of sun that filters the room is a shred of hope for a brighter day to come.  The once harsh and cold wind was now replaced by a gentler one that soothes a troubled soul.

With the arrival of spring, a beautiful change has come upon Seohyun. She started working again as a landscape decorator and besides getting in touch with her old clients; she has also gained some new ones. Perhaps, there must be something in Kyuhyun’s charm that they were easily convinced by him to recommend her to others. She could not deny that Kyuhyun has played a major part in all of these. He always cheered her up and encouraged her. She was slowly picking herself up from the abyss of her past.

Everything was going fine except for Kyuhyun who was clueless up to now of the whereabouts of Victoria. There were times when she would catch him staring sadly at the sand trickling down the bottom of his hourglass necklace.  However, everytime that she would start talking about it, he would often dismiss it with a reassuring smile.  A week has passed after all. Both Zhou Mi and Victoria were still on leave. They have also gone to both Zhou Mi and Victoria’s residence but they received no information about them.

For the past few days, Seohyun noticed that Kyuhyun had been busying himself as her helper. He would drive for her; he would assist in her gardening. He would do anything keep him occupied.  One night, Seohyun decided to join Kyuhyun on his midnight stargazing. She sat beside him by the door and stared at the stars shining brightly above them.

“Another day has ended.” Kyuhyun murmured followed by a sigh. Seohyun looked sideways at him and saw him touching the tiny hourglass pendant.

“I’m sorry.” Seohyun muttered. “I should be the one helping you and not the other way around. You have been a great help to me but to you, I can hardly contribute anything.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. You tried your best. It isn’t your fault.” Kyuhyun said. He reached for her hand and held it momentarily as he looked into her eyes. Seeing her worried eyes, he gave her a smile.  “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Seohyun retorted.

“I’m okay, really.” Kyuhyun quickly replied.

“I’ve been with you long enough to memorize what each of your facial expression means,” Seohyun said.  That smile,” she released her hand from Kyuhyun’s hold and pointed at his face, “totally says ‘I’m-not-okay-but-I-don’t-wanna-burden-anybody-so-I’ll-try-my-best-to-hide-it.”

Kyuhyun chuckled. “Busted.” Then he hung his head low.

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” Seohyun asked. “We can try again. You really don’t have an idea about the possible places where Zhou Mi could possibly take Victoria?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “Even though I consider Zhou Mi as my best friend, there are still a lot of things I don’t know about him. He is such a secretive person.”

He could remember the first time he introduced Victoria to Zhou Mi, Victoria gave him the cold shoulder. There were also times when the three of them were together and he could not help but notice the awkwardness between the two. He would often purposely leave the two of them alone so that they would get closer to each other. As time passed by, the relationship between the two was getting stranger.

On their engagement party, he saw Zhou Mi dragged Victoria in a secluded area. He followed them secretly and heard them fighting about something. He just couldn’t make out what they were saying because the music was loud but he was quite certain that they were fighting because they were yelling at each other. Since then, Zhou Mi had been avoiding him. He tried to ask him if he had shared a past with Victoria but he dismissed the issue. However, for Kyuhyun, that issue was still in the corner of his mind, and it still puzzled him out at times.

What was the real deal between them? Since when did they get close? He should not be suspecting like this. He got to shake it off his mind. Instead, he should be glad that they were now getting along with each other.

Seohyun observed Kyuhyun tensing up and saw him heaved a sigh. She gingerly touched his shoulder. “You have helped me so much. Can I return the favor?” Seohyun asked.

“There is actually a place where I used to go when I feel low. Can you accompany me there?” Kyuhyun asked smilingly.

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