Hoku’s POV…

The day of the fan meet had finally arrived. To be honest with everything happening in life, I was actually really excited about this particular event, especially since this was my first fan club activity that I had set up on my own. Those that were lucky enough to snag one of the high price tickets to the event were all going to be there.

“How long are you going to be gone?” My mother asked as I dug through my closet looking for the perfect outfit.

“I’ll be gone till late mom, so just make sure to feed her alright.” I mentioned back to my mother, who was going to babysit Jolie for the day while I was away.

“Are you sure going alone is going to be alright? You don’t want to call Kai.” My mother whined since we had all woken up this morning to Kawika practically dying from the stomach flu in his room, he was off duty.

“Mom, I’ll be fine, alright.” I reassured my mother before going back to finding the perfect outfit. I quickly got dressed, piled everything I needed into my bag before running out of my room, heels in my hand.

“I’m leaving.” I announced running through the kitchen to the front door.

“Honey.” My mother called as I reached the door. I sighed stopping, slipping my heels on before she walked in with a bag.

“Take this with you.” She asked as I looked up confused.

“What is it?” I asked taking it before opening it to see containers of food sitting in there.

“Mom.” I whined looking up to her concerned expression.

“Hoku, you’ve been losing weight lately, you haven’t been eating correctly.” She scolded causing me to sigh as I looked down to my watch.

“Fine, I’ll take it.” I whined defeated before she walked over helping me adjust the collar of my blazer.

“Kawika told me what happened.” She whispered as I pulled away from her grasp to see the hurt expression on her face.

“Are you sure it’s ok to stay away from him?” She asked hesitantly while I sighed, pulling the bag further up my arm.

“Mom, I don’t want to be hurt anymore. That’s all I want.” I whined before she nodded forcefully.

“I really liked that boy.” She muttered under her breath causing me to chuckle and roll my eyes.

“And what that evil girl did to him, I would expect you to be at the child’s neck, strangling her.” My mother spoke outraged as I stepped away in shock.

“Mom, are you encouraging violence?” I asked speechless causing her to snort and turn away.

“I just thought I taught my daughter better.” She muttered before walking away. Ok, what the hell is happening? Here I am still hurting about my recent breakup, I find out that the guy that hurt me only did it because he was trying to save me, but in the end, with me still in tears everyone is taking his side.

“I just know how happy you were with the boy, that’s all.” My mother suddenly spoke again walking across the hallway into the kitchen.
“Well thanks for your sympathy towards your heartbroken daughter!” I shouted back annoyed before finally walking out to the car.
“What the hell is wrong with these people nowadays?” I whispered under my breath slipping my glasses on. I had to admit though, when I first saw him after finding out the truth, I wasn’t as upset anymore, but relieve for some reason. Was it because I knew he did it to save me from the media by doing what he did? I knew I was still upset that he didn’t just come out and tell me the moment things happened, at least then I would have been able to ring that es neck, now she’s in jail away from my grasp. So much for wanting to kill her myself.

I took the 30 minute drive up to LA and pulled in the back entrance to the Convention center.

“Name?” the security asked as I handed him my badge.

“Right in.” He offered passing it back as I nodded and did so. I pulled up next to the SUV’s that were surprisingly there already. Climbing out, I pulled both bags over my shoulder before walking into the back of my car to grab the box of raffle prizes I had collected from the girls.

“There.” I said making sure nothing was about to fall off onto the ground before I made my way to the back door.

“Forgot it was a door you have to pull open.” I muttered annoyed trying to reach my hand out from under the box to open it, interrupted by another hand pulling it open for me.

“You need help?” the familiar voice asked as my heart thump causing me to look over into those familiar brown orbs.

“Um…sure.” I whispered before he basically ripped the box out of my grasp and followed me into the building. It was definitely an awkward silence walking down the hall towards the room, side by side.

“Why are you guys here early?” I finally broke the silence, never looking up from the food bag in my hands.

“We had nothing else to do today, so we figured we could come down and help out.” He mentioned as I nodded.

“Ah I see.” I whispered looking away from him before we reached the room.

“Where do you want me to put this?” He asked as I reached out for it.
“No, I’ll take it wherever it needs to be.” He rejected me before I sighed looking up to his face before nodding in defeat.

“Backstage.” I mentioned walking down the middle aisle of the chairs towards the stage area that was being set up with our fan clubs backdrop. We walked around the stage area to the curtained off area to see everyone hanging out in the back.
“You can put it here.” I mentioned pointing to a free table before he nodded and did so.

“Thanks.” I added bowing my head before he walked back over to a free seat next to Youngbae. I smiled at the familiar warm feeling in my chest before shaking my head annoyed.

“Damn you.” I cursed under my breath, grabbing a free chair before pulling it up to the table the box was resting on. I pulled out the food my mother had prepared, putting it on the table before pulling out the fork and began eating.

“Oh you’re eating.” A voice interrupted my first bite causing me to look up and see the girls all taking a seat around the table.

“Oh hi.” I said placing the first piece of food into my mouth before looking around.

“You look different.” Tyra’s voice mentioned as I looked over to her and then down to me confused.

“I do?” I asked before the 4 of them nodded.

“Thinner.” Eden insisted as I patted my stomach.

“I haven’t lost weight, have I?” I asked up before Selena nodded quickly.

“A lot of it.” She added as I shrugged going back to eating.

“How are you doing?” Steph asked before I sighed looking up to them begging.

“Please guys, I just wanna enjoy my breakfast and then get to work. Can we please not bring that up?” I whined as they all looked to each other.

“We saw you both walk in together.” Tyra mentioned as I nodded.

“Yes, is it illegal for us to do that?” I asked annoyed before she shook her head.

“Are you guys going to get back together now that you know what really happened?” Eden said as I snorted.

“Just because I know the truth doesn’t mean I want to go back. He lost all my trust the moment he hid it from me.” I spoke annoyed staring down at my food.

“Hoku, as much as I already hate him, he did it because he didn’t want you to get eaten up by the press or media.” Selena mentioned seriously as I looked over to her.

“He should have just told me, we could have figured something out.” I hissed going back to eating.

“What about the guys? If he did say anything, you think their group would still be intact?” Steph asked over as I froze in realization.

“Guys, please.’ I whined giving in before looking up to them.
“He loves you still.” Eden whispered as I looked over to Jiyong laughing with the others.

“He cried for you every day after you left, after he read your letter.” Steph added as I sighed, slamming my head down on the table.

“I give up.” I growled standing up and covering my food before packing it back into my bag.

“I’m going to go out and help.” I mumbled annoyed, pushing my way away from them before heading for the stage area, away from them. Not once did I say I had stopped loving him, I had lost all my trust for him. My trust was something that was as fragile as a baby, once you earned it and destroyed it, there was no going back, no matter how I felt towards you. That’s just the way my mind and heart worked after so many years of being used.

Steph’s POV…

We all understood her feelings, she felt betrayed, tossed aside and forgotten, then to suddenly find out that it was all a lie, it was complicated. But the thing was, we could all tell that she still loved him. She may not have noticed but we did catch all the side glances she gave him whenever he was near. The way she would smirk whenever he did something stupid, that’s just the way she used to when they were together.

The girls and I wanted to do everything to get those two together again. She may hate it but they needed each other desperately especially from the way she looked now.

“This is going to drive me insane to no end.” Selena muttered massaging her forehead as we watched Hoku disappear through the curtains.

“Well we can’t force her to go back to him.’ Eden whined as I nodded in agreement.

“What are we going to do then?” Tyra asked as we looked around in thought.

“Let’s just give it time and wait to see if anything happens.” I offered before the girls nodded.

“At least she’s talking to him, that’s a start.” Eden admitted. Hoku needed to realize how much she actually needed Jiyong in her life, no matter how many times she had been hurt in the past, Jiyong was the one person that would only hurt her to save her, that’s how much he loved her.