Five minutes passed by and no one said a word.  Min Seok cleared his throat and finally said, “Well…ah…this is a big surprise.”

Kris glared at him and kicked his knee underneath the table.  Min Seok jumped up from his chair and grumbled, “Yah!  What was that for?”

“Shut your mouth,” Kris snarled.

Min Seok scoffs, “Whatever…hyung is such a bully.”

Lay patted him on his back and whispers, “Let it go…he’s piss off right now.”

“Tsk…whatever…I’m going up to get more food,” Min Seok mumbled as stood up from his chair. 

Nana looked at Nicole and she could tell that her best friend was very upset, surprised, and confused by N’s birthday gift.

“You don’t seem very happy Nicole,” N gently said as he looks at her with a calm face.

Nicole sighs, “I’m not Hack Cha Yeon.  First of all, how did you get this necklace?”

“Your parents gave it to my parents a long time ago,” N replied.

Nicole raised her right eye brow up, “How long ago?  Please be more specific.”

“Ah…how about we talk about this later?” N suggested.  He didn’t like the fact that Kris kept shooting him the death stare and it made him want to jump up from his seat and punch him right in the face. 

Nicole sighs, “Listen N…I-I-I can’t accept this.  I’m sorry.”  She put the necklace back into the box and handed it back to him.

N could feel his heart slowly shattering into little pieces as he stares at the box.  Why was she rejecting him?  Doesn’t she know that he had been waiting for her for a VERY long time?

Kris couldn’t help but smile.  Yes!  She's rejecting his proposal!  Take that N!

N finally said, “I’m sorry Nicole…but I’m not taking no for an answer.  I’ve waited too long for you.  I hope you’ll reconsider and I just want to let you know right now that I’m not giving up on you.”

Nicole bit her lower lip, “N…I’m sorry…I really am.”

N sighs, “I’m still not giving up Cola.”

Kris eyes flamed with fire as he scoffs, “I’m not trying to be rude here Hack Cha Yeon, but Nicole is already mine.”

N smirks at him, “Nicole may be yours for now…but sooner or later she’ll be mine…forever.”

Kris quickly stood up from his chair spilling his soda everywhere on the table.  Nicole jumped up in surprise and held his right arm, “Oppa…please calm down.”

Lay quickly grabbed some napkins and started cleaning up the spill on the table.

“I’ll be taking my leave Nicole.  Today is your birthday and I don’t want to cause any trouble.  I’ll see you soon,” N said as he walked out of the restaurant.

“Hey!  You guys should really check out their desserts!  They have over 25 different kinds of flavor ice cream!” Min Seok happily cried as he came back to their table carrying a plate full of chocolate chip cookies. 

“How can you think of desserts right now?” Lu Han sighs as he rolls his eyes at him.

Min Seok gave him a confused look, “What?  Did I miss something?”

30 minutes later

The ride home was silent as Kris drove Nicole back to her dorm.  He glanced at her every now and then to see if she was okay, but she seemed to be in her own little world. 

Ring!  Ring!  Ring!

Nicole pulled her phone out of her purse and saw that it was her mom calling her, “Hello?”

“Hi honey.  Where are you right now?”

“I’m with Kris.”

“Kris?  Who is Kris?”

“My boyfriend.”

“Your what?!  Since when did you have a boyfriend?!”

“Mom!  Please don’t shout.  Kris and I just started dating 2 weeks ago.”

“………..”

“Mom?  Hello?  Are you still there?”

“Yeah…I’m still here.”

“Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember Hack Cha Yeon?”

“I do…”

“Mom, when did you give his parents the necklace?”

“Did you accept his proposal?”

“Answer the question mom.”

“You answer me first young lady.  Did you accept his proposal?”

“…no…I didn’t.”

“What?!  Why?!”

“First of all, I’m not ready for marriage.  Second, I only like him as a friend.  And third, I’m…I’m…”

“Your what?”

Nicole turns her head to look at Kris and smiled, “I’m deeply in love with my boyfriend.”

Kris smiled widely as he heard those words out come out from .   

“Sweetie…do you even know what love is?”

“Honestly…I don’t…but this feeling I have inside me right now tells me it’s love.”

“Honey, it’s not love…it’s lust.”

“You can call it whatever you want mom, but right now, I’m happy to have Kris in my life.  He makes me very happy.”

“What is Kris last name?”

“His last name is Wu.”

“Wu?”

“He's Chinese mom.  His Chinese name is Wu Fan.  So Fan is his first name and Wu is his last name.”

“He’s Chinese?!  Yah!  Are you kidding me right now?”

She didn’t like the way how her mom was talking right now, “No I’m not mom.  He’s Chinese and he was born in Canada.  His Canadian name is Kris.”

“Are you telling me that you picked a Chinese guy over Hack Cha Yeon?”

“Mom!  Why are you acting like that?  What’s wrong with dating someone who isn’t Korean?  Why are you being racist?”

“I’m not being racist honey…I just…I…”

Nicole suddenly felt angry, “Mom…I’m truly disappointed in you.  I really am.”

“I think you should reconsider Cha Yeon proposal.”

“Mom, this is the 20^th century!  Who are you to tell me what to do?  I will make my own decisions, and if the decisions I make in my life end up being mistakes, then I will learn from them.”

“You just don’t understand!” her mom suddenly shouted.

Nicole bit her lower lip, “What do you mean?  What’s there to understand mom?”

“…your dad and I…we…”

Nicole froze as her eyes widen, “What did you guys do?”

“We owe N’s parents $100,000.  We borrowed money from them a long time ago and when the family restaurant went bankrupt, we didn’t have the money to pay them back; therefore N’s parents wanted you as their daughter-in-law as an exchanged for their money,” her mom sadly explains.

“Please tell me you’re lying mom…please,” Nicole whispers.  She could hear her mom crying in the background, “Mom?  Why?  How could you and dad do this to me?"

“I’m so sorry honey…we had no choice.”

Nicole felt anger rushed through her body, “You had no choice?!  I’m your daughter for crying out loud!  How can you tell me you had no choice?!  I hate you mom!  I hate dad too!  I’m not going to marry N!”

Kris held onto her hand, “Nicole…what’s wrong?”

“Kris, take me to the dance studio,” Nicole demanded.

“But...campus is closed.”

“Then take me somewhere where I can dance.  I need to release my anger.”

Kris thought for a moment and then smiled, “I know the perfect place.”

One hour later

Kris stared at his girlfriend from a far distance as he watches her dance by herself.  As soon as he pulled into the YMCA parking lot, she jumped out of his car and ran inside towards the receptionist and demanded to use one of the dance studio rooms for two hours.  She had been dancing ever since they got here and she didn’t seem to be tired at all. 

Nicole was too busy dancing that she didn't realize that Kris had shut the music off.  She turned around and cried, “Yah!  Why did you shut the music?”

Kris walks over to her and handed her a bottle of water, “Drink this first.  If you don’t drink it, I’m not going to turn the music back on.”

“Thank you,” Nicole mumbled as she took the water bottle from him.  She took a few sips as breathed heavily.  The next thing she knew, tears were falling down from her cheeks.  She hated crying!  She didn’t want to cry in front of Kris, but no matter how hard she tried to fight her tears back, they kept falling down.

Kris wraps his arms around her and whisper, “Go ahead and cry Nicole.  I’m here for you.”

Nicole sobs, “What am I going to do Kris?”

“Shhhhh…everything’s going to be alright.”

Nicole buried her face into his chest and sobbed even louder. 

One hour later

Nicole leaned her head on Kris right shoulder as she watches a happy young couple taking pictures together in front of the mall.  She smiled, “I wonder how long they have been dating?”

“From the looks of it…I would say a couple of years,” Kris replied as he pulls her closer to him.  “How are you feeling?”

Nicole wrapped her arms around his muscular waist and happily replies, “Much better now that I’m in your arms.”

“That’s good to know.”

“I’m sorry Kris.  I’m usually never like this…but…”

“Don’t worry about it Nicole…I don’t mind at all.  I’d rather see you unleash your anger than holding it in.  It’s not healthy for you.”

“Thank you for understanding oppa,” Nicole said smiling.

“You’re welcome.”

Nicole looks up at him, “Aren’t you going to ask me what happen earlier?”

“I do and I don’t,” Kris truthfully replied.

Nicole giggled, “Do you want me to tell you?”

Kris her hair, “I would like you to tell me, but if you don’t want to, I’m not going to force you.”

“It’s going to be a long story…do you really want to hear it?”

Kris kissed her lightly on her forehead, “Sure…why not?  I have all night.”

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