6 months later...

Kyuhyun’s POV

I stifled a yawn as I continued walking towards my dressing room in MBC. I have a shooting for Radio Star this morning so I came really early like I usually would.

    As I walked, I was surprised to see a very enthusiastic face chatting excitedly in one of the dressing rooms. Without hesitating, I intruded into the room and plopped myself on one of the couches.

    “Oppa!” Victoria greeted me cheerfully. Victoria then turned back towards the mirror as the make-up artist beside her continued her work.

    “What are you doing here so early?” I asked as I laid myself on the couch and stretched a bit. She just shrugged as the make-up artist dabbed something on her lips.

    I knew that Victoria was here because she’s one of today’s guests on Radio Star but even the rest of the hosts weren’t here yet. I stifled another yawn and closed my eyes for a bit as I waited for Victoria to finish.

    “Oppa?” I squirmed a bit when I heard someone faintly calling my name. “Oppa!” My body woke up with a jolt when something hard hit me. I opened my eyes and saw a box of tissues on the floor next to the couch.

    “That hurts!” I glared at Victoria as I stretched my stiff body. Victoria stuck her tongue out at me and turned to face back the mirror. I looked around and the make-up artist had already left.

    “Oppa, what do you think?” Victoria turned her chair around to face me as I tried to sit up on the couch.

    “What is it?” I muttered, still a bit sulky that she threw a box of tissues at me. Victoria rolled her eyes at me and pointed towards her head.

    “My hair. What do you think? Do you like it?” I looked at her long golden locks that she had dyed months ago for her new album. I stared at it for a moment, my eyebrows furrowed and just shrugged.

    “You already asked me that when you first dyed your hair. Why are you asking me again?” I clearly remember complimenting how different yet great she looked with blonde hair a few months ago. So why is she asking again? Victoria rolled her eyes again.

    “I dyed my hair.” She stated as though it was obvious. And it was obvious; her blonde hair had clearly dictated the original dark colour. So I nodded in agreement.

    “I can see that.” I agreed. “In fact, I’ve been seeing it for months now.” Victoria now seemed agitated. She turned around and I huffed out a puff of breath as I managed to successfully dodge a bigger box of tissues that was hurled at me. “How many boxes of tissues do you have?” I said frustratingly as I picked up the box and waved it in the air. But Victoria didn’t seem amused.

    “Can’t you see the differences?” She asked, almost in a frustrated tone. I leaned back against the couch to get a better view.

     “What differences? I don’t see anything.” I saw her fingers twitched and my body quickly straightened up as my hands shielded my face. “I mean is there… anything different?” Victoria’s face relaxed as she leaned back against her chair. She ran both her hands in her different (?) hair.

    “I dyed my hair from butterscotch blonde to vanilla blonde for today’s shoot. Can’t you tell?” She pouted her lips a bit as she played with her hair. I suddenly burst out laughing and received a well-deserved box of tissues to my face.

    “Yah!” I yelled as I rubbed my forehead. “That’s it, I’m declaring box of tissues as a lethal weapon in your hands.” I laughed but Victoria rolled her eyes again. “Okay I’m sorry, that was my fault but seriously? You’re going to be surrounded by only guys today and they won’t know if your hair is butterscotch blonde or vanilla blonde. All they see is yellow.” I pointed out and Victoria swiftly turned her chair around back to the mirror, ignoring me as she fixed her bangs.

    “They’ll notice it.” She convinced and I chuckled under my breath as I shook my head.

    “But Victoria, I’m curious.” I said and Victoria looked over her shoulder at me. “Why did you dye your hair for today’s shoot?” I asked, not that anyone will notice it. Victoria eyes widened a bit and she quickly turned back towards the mirror and shrugged. I could see her cheeks reddening in the mirror.

    “Just…” She trailed on, no intention of continuing. I raised an eyebrow and then I finally understood.

    “Ah… I get it now.” I leaned back against the couch and nodded. Victoria quickly turned to look at me.

    “What?”

    “There’s only one reason why you would want to look different for today.” I stated as I carefully watched her expression. “It’s pretty clear and obvious and it rhymes with Richkhun Dorvejkul.” Her cheeks reddened. She quickly spun around in her seat back to the mirror and shrugged.

    “What are you talking about?” She acted oblivious and I tried suppressing back the smiles forming.

    Nichkhun is also joining Victoria for the shoot today. It was a ‘Foreigner Special’ so the production team decided to reunite Khuntoria back together as a bonus for fans. I stared at Victoria’s reflection in the mirror, flushed. Today will be the first time the two meet after half a year and honestly, I didn’t expect to see Victoria excited about it.

    Being close with F(x) and also SNSD, I already knew about what happened between her and Nichkhun and I was really pissed that someone could hurt my Qiannie like that. But I respect whatever decisions she’d made even though I think otherwise because I knew how strong she really is. But it sometimes hurt that I can’t protect her, I feel bad about it when I see her face.

    But now Victoria was doing okay since her debut in acting. She seemed like her old cheerful self again when I see her now but I still can’t help worry. I’m just afraid that seeing Nichkhun again could reopen her old scars.

    One of the producers suddenly came into the room, cutting my chain of thought. Me and Victoria quickly stood up and greeted him.

    “Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you. Here’s the new outline for today’s script.” I heaved a heavy sigh as I took the new script from his hand.

    “You guys changed the script again?” I asked frustratingly as I flipped through the pages. Since Radio Star was more of a variety-reality show, the scripts usually kept shifting from one to another and it wasn’t written in detail. Usually the scripts are just basic topics to bring up or ideas to be focused on, things like that and we have to improvise a lot. It’s hard being a host.

    “Not change but added a few lines and topics you should talk about.” I sighed again and nodded. The producer patted my shoulders, gave me an encouraging smile and left.

    I plopped myself back on the couch as I analysed the newer parts of the scripts. Victoria took a seat next to me and took a look at the script.

    “What did they add?” She asked.

    “Not much but…” I took a wary look at her. She raised an eyebrow at me as I folded the script in my hands.

    “But what?”

    “I think today’s shoot would be a bit… difficult?” She looked at me quizzically and I sighed. “The producers want the hosts to be more focused on your relationship with Nichkhun. They want me to dig up some secrets from you two.” I confessed.

    “Oh.” Was all she said as she leaned back against the couch. “That is difficult.” She agreed bleakly.

    “I mean I can just choose to ignore it but I can’t guarantee the other hosts won’t bring it up.” I tried comforting her but she shook her head at me.

    “No, no it’s fine. I don’t want you to get in trouble with the producers. Just ask me whatever you want.” I sighed as I looked at her smiling face.

    “You sure?”

    “Of course not but I can’t keep dodging the past. It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” She convinced but I couldn’t help but feel worried. Victoria was one of my closest friend and I look out for her, I don’t want to see her get hurt, not again and most definitely not by the same guy.

    “Okay…” I nodded and she let out a giggle.

    “But please do take care of me during the shoot, sunbae.” She giggled again and I laughed.

    “I’ll take good care of you during the show.” I smiled at her and continued mentally,

     And I'll take good care of him too as well

Nichkhun’s POV

“Nichkhun-ssi, you’re a bit late.” A staff said with surprise as he showed me to my dressing room. To be honest, I came late on purpose because…

    A voice suddenly giggled, stopping me from my thoughts. I looked and saw Victoria and Kyuhyun (?) looking rather close as they laughed and joked around in one of the dressing rooms.

    I came late on purpose because I was nervous to see her again. My company scheduled for me to do Radio Star with Victoria and Robert Harley for a foreigner special. I didn’t think much at first when I accepted the offer but now I’m not so sure.

    The staff gestured me to go into the room next to them. I thanked the staff and was greeted by the make-up artist and stylist as I entered my dressing room.

    All throughout the time I was getting ready, I could faintly hear Victoria and Kyuhyun laughing from the other side. And it annoyed me for some reason. I tried to ignore them but I found myself continuously glaring at the wall separating me from them.

    All the staff had left me alone in the room and I kept my eyes on the mirror. I took a deep breath and promised myself that everything will be okay. Months had passed and the distance between me and Victoria had grown. She moved on, I moved on, there’s nothing left.

    Right?

    “Nichkhun-ssi? You’re still here?” I turned around and it was the director. I smiled as I got up.

    “I was just about to leave.” I said as I walked towards him. He placed a hand around my shoulders.

    “I was on my way to the set as well. Let’s go together.” He patted my shoulder and I nodded.

    As we both stepped out of my dressing room, my feet froze when Victoria and Kyuhyun suddenly walked out of their dressing room, arm in arm. I felt a tug in my chest as I watched them walked further away, laughing the whole time.

    “Is something wrong?” The director asked and I quickly snapped out of it and shook my head at him. He raised an eyebrow and looked ahead and said, “Ah… You must be nervous because you’re seeing Victoria for the first time in what? Half a year right?” I let out a shaky laugh and only nodded.

    We entered the studio and I greeted all the staff. Then the assistant director guided me towards the set. Robert Harley suddenly greeted me with his raspy rich voice.

    “Hey, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” We shook hands and I immediately shook my head.

    “No, I’m the one who should be honoured to be working with you.” He laughed as he patted my shoulder.

    “Eii, I’m just lucky to finally meet a real life prince like yourself.” He joked and we both laughed. I heard a soft voice giggled along and I finally noticed Victoria sitting on one of the chairs. Harley gestured for me to seat in the middle, next to Victoria, but I hesitated. Harley took his seat and pulled me down next to Victoria.

    The staffs were getting everything ready as they adjusted the cameras and lights and I was getting anxious in my seat. I wanted to start a conversation with Harley but I was quite intimidated by his rough look and accent. I was a real fan of his but I was a bit nervous to talk to him so I just kept my mouth shut and just played with my fingers.

    “It’s been a long time.” I looked up and was startled to see Victoria smiling at me. I only nodded.

    “Yeah.” I agreed.

    “Um, how are you?” She asked. I was a bit confused that she wanted to start a conversation with me. But then again, so what if she wants to talk to me? There’s nothing wrong with that.

    “Nothing much, same old, same old.” I said dryly.

    “Eii, what do you mean? I heard you were shooting a movie in Thailand.” She said and I nodded.

    “Yeah…” And the conversation just died there. To my relief, the recording finally started.

    The hosts, You Se-yoon, Yoon Jong-shin, Kim Kook-jin and Kyuhyun introduced us and we quickly got up to join with the hosts. Victoria went in first and sat on the first seat and I contemplated whether to seat next to her or let Harley be in the middle. But I’m pretty sure the hosts would ask me why I didn’t seat next to her instead. That would be really awkward so I relented and sat next to Victoria.

    Victoria introduced herself first and I couldn’t help but be attracted to her cheerful mood. One of the hosts complimented at how beautiful Victoria looks and I found myself nodding at the statement. I quickly snapped out of it and crossed my arms together to control myself. But I couldn’t help but swaying my chair covertly towards her direction to catch a glimpse of her face and my heart raced.

    I was startled when it was my turn to greet myself.

    “Hello. I’m 2PM’s Nichkhun.” I said a bit rushed and nervous. “Uh, it’s been a while…” The hosts laughed as I stuttered. I was still in daze from the rapid beating of my heart earlier. Sae Yoon joked about how I was trying to sound fluent and everyone burst into laughter. But one laugh caught my attention and my heart raced a bit more rapidly than before.

    I tried to snap out of it and laugh it off. I tried thinking up of an excuse.

    “No, it’s just that it’s been a while since I appeared on a variety show. I’m really nervous.” I excused, which was partially true but not exactly the main reason why I’m nervous. I was a bit startled when Se-yoon asked me to introduce myself again. “Ah, um, don’t catch a cold.” Was the first thing that popped in my mind. Everyone boomed into laughter again.

    Great, way to start the show Nichkhun, I mentally scolded myself.

    “A cold in the middle of winter?” Kyuhyun asked sceptically. Why did he have to ask that? Even I don’t know why I said that.

    “It’s because I have a cold right now.” I lied and everyone kept laughing. Aish stop talking already! “I feel like dying.” I muttered, intentionally to myself but it sounded like I was joking.

    Then Harley introduced himself, lighting up the atmosphere with his American-Busan accent and cracking everyone up with his jokes. I only smiled as I tried rubbing the humiliation of my stupid introduction earlier off my mind. Everyone must think I’m a bit foolish. Kook-jin suddenly asked how Harley liked his seat and Harley said he felt like a pastor officiating a wedding.

    I suddenly felt hot inside and only laughed it off awkwardly. I suddenly wondered if they were going to talk about more related subjects about my relationship with Victoria.

    “Nichkhun-ssi said that he feels nervous from meeting Victoria-ssi for the first time in a while.” It felt like being shot in the chest when Kyuhyun suddenly said that. My eyes quickly look at the director who was smiling sheepishly at me. I never thought he would use that on the show. “Are you just pretending that you haven’t met her in a while?” Bang, another shot to my chest. I turned to look at Victoria and my heart raced again when my eyes met hers for a fraction of a second. I focused on Kyuhyun and shook my head at him. Victoria giggled, pulling me into another short daze.

   “No, no, it’s really been a long time.” I stated, my ears were probably red by now. I took a glimpse at Victoria and her cheeks were slightly pink as she pressed her lips together into a thin line, holding back her giggles.

    “Long time… as in a day or two?” Okay does Kyuhyun have a problem with me? I mean I know he’s just asking those questions for the show but it somehow felt personal. He was smiling when he asked the questions, but there was this hardness in his eyes, like he knew the questions could hurt me. The image of him and Victoria laughing and walking arm in arm popped in my mind.

    Pride, ego or whatever but I wanted to prove him wrong, that I won’t be thrown off by his words. Victoria opened to speak, maybe she wanted to help me out but I quickly cut in. I don’t need her to defend for me.

    “Victoria’s been filming a drama in China,” I explained and everyone nodded. “And I’ve been shooting a movie in Thailand.” I realized that it has been a long time since I last saw her. She being in China and me in Thailand, we were too far apart from each other now. “Yeah, it’s really been a while.” I said, mostly to myself.

    Then Kyuhyun said something, probably something mocking, but I was too in my thoughts that his words faded in the background. But everyone was now looking at me, did he ask me a question or something?

     “Yeah, it has been the longest time.” I figured he was asking whether if this was the longest time we’ve been apart. But when everyone suddenly boomed into laughter, I guess I was wrong. I only pull out a coy smile.

    “Did Victoria take care of her looks today to meet Nichkhun?” Se-yoon asked and I was a bit curious about her answer. I turned my chair towards her direction and  she shyly looked up at me and then faced the hosts.

    “Uh…” Victoria slowly turned to face me as she answered, which was a surprise. “I dyed my hair…” She confessed as she looked at me and giggled. I tried to keep my face together but my ears said it all. I didn’t know why but it felt nice to know that Victoria did try to make an impression on me today.

    “But isn’t it part of Electric Shock’s concept?” Jong-shin asked and my chest tightened. He’s right, Victoria’s only blonde because it’s for her new album. Why would she want to make an impression on me? Why would she care?

    Victoria looked oddly surprised by Jong-shin’s question and giggled. “Ah… just for today… I asked them to do this.” She touched the thick braids crowning her head. So now she braided her hair for me? It’s obvious that she was making it up. And to make it even more hurtful, she even used her aegyo to stop the hosts from asking more questions, knowing that she was busted about ‘dying her hair today just for me’.

    I just had my arms crossed and tried to look pleased with her ‘effort’.

    Then the hosts talk about F(x)’s newest song Electric Shock, praising how well it’s been doing in the music industry. Victoria was looking more excited now as they praised her song. Like all hosts on shows like this, when they’re promoting an idol’s song, it’s customary for them to ask the idol to sing their songs live. So Jong-shin asked Victoria to sing a small part of her song and she took a quick nervous look at me. I turned my chair towards her, anticipating her performance.

    Victoria sang the chorus part of the song and half-way everyone started laughing. “You gotta sing it together.” She reasoned for her failed attempt at singing her own song.

    Kyuhyun suddenly swoop in and saved Victoria by saying that each member has their own parts in the song. I felt slightly irritated by him. He was taking good care of Victoria during the show yet he gave a hostile vibe towards me. My irritation grew bigger when Victoria giggled in agreement.

    The hosts asked her to sing her part instead. She sang her part this time and failed half-way through it again. Everyone started laughing but I only looked at her. I remembered her saying that she never has confidence when performing, whether for an MV or live, she never thinks she can do well. I suddenly wondered if she was still having a hard time about performing.

    “How come you have no confidence?” Kyuhyun suddenly said as the others laughed. It may sound like he was joking but I could tell he was serious.

    I felt a pang of jealousy crashing over me. If it were somewhere a year ago, I would be the one to ask her that. To be worried about her. To encourage her. But now all I can do was looked at her as she smiled gratefully at Kyuhyun for boosting her up.

    The conversation then shifted into how much aegyo Victoria has, even though she was a foreigner. I knew that part of her well, she used it all the time when we were on WGM and I didn’t hate it, to be honest. I love that about her actually but as the conversation went on, I realized that she would use her aegyo on everybody and on shows. It wasn’t something special between us. It was a charm of hers and she used it as an everyday habit.

    I suddenly wondered how many times she had used her aegyo on other guys, personally. How cute she would act with guys like… Kyuhyun. I looked at Victoria and noticed that she’s been keeping her eyes on Kyuhyun whenever she talked. I clenched my arm with my fingers to hold back the ‘whatever it is that makes you so crazy that you have to break a few things to calm down’.

    Kyuhyun suddenly asked whether Americans have aegyo. Victoria turned to look at me, probably curious.

    “I heard American’s don’t have aegyo.” Jong-shin questioned and I nodded, since it’s true.

    “There are none.” Harley stated and I nodded in agreement. Harley then told the hosts how frustrating it is when his wife used aegyo, deserving a laugh from everyone.

    “Americans don’t like cuteness.” I stated and from the corner of my eyes I can see Victoria’s smile died. “They like y and confident women.” I emphasized and Victoria quickly looked away. By now I should’ve added ‘But even so I think girls who have aegyo are charming’, but I wasn’t in the mood to say that and indirectly cheer Victoria up. So I just let my comment soaked into the atmosphere.

    As the show went on, I laughed when they laughed and ‘just listened’. Not something idols would really do. Idols would usually want to stand out and show their charms on variety shows by my mood was more into just sitting quietly and talk when they want me to talk. Then the hosts asked Victoria about how she thought of the changes in the show since this was her second time.

    She said that there are new hosts, Se-yoon and Kyuhyun and that she likes it. But somehow it my mind it sounded like she likes the show because Kyuhyun was hosting in it. Then the conversation suddenly focused towards Kyuhyun.

    “What is Kyuhyun’s image like in SM?” Jong-shin asked and Victoria giggled.

    “Amazing.” Kyuhyun declared and I wanted to roll my eyes at him but instead I only smiled.

    “He’s great in singing, nice, handsome…” The whole time her eyes kept fixated on Kyuhyun and he was smiling at her. I clenched my arm tighter, knowing I’ll be leaving a bruise if I didn’t let go but I didn’t care. The whole conversation now was excruciating for me to hear.

    “Does everyone think that way?” Jong-shin asked and Victoria quickly nodded.

    “As a friend, I think that.” She agreed and I wanted to scoff.  Friend? From the way they’ve been looking at each other this whole time, it feels like they’re above the ‘friend’ line. And that is a bit irritating.

    “But she’s married to Nichkhun so she must not be interested in guys like you.” Jong-shin said and a small satisfied smile was on my lips.

    “Like me?” Kyuhyun said in a way like he’s offended, like I’m no better than him. “I’m a member of Super Junior.” He reminded everyone and I could tell he was a bit irritated by the situation now. My smile grew wider as everyone laughed.

    “What about Kyuhyun’s image from a fellow male idol?” Jong-shin asked me. Kyuhyun gave me a hostile yet subtle look for just a fraction of a second and I crossed my arms as I took his challenge. If he thinks he’s just as good as I am then…

    “Really… A prince image.” Kyuhyun  smiled, probably satisfied that I couldn’t criticize him.

    “You mean he has the prince illness?” Jong-shin joked earning a loud laugh from me. Kyuhyun looked even more irritated. Being famous as the Thai Prince and all, I knew calling him a prince would only be a disadvantage for him since I hold that title. And I was right.

    “He’s like a prince.” I convinced the hosts, pretending to be nice.

    “Nichkhun’s nickname is Thailand’s Prince too.” Bingo. Another satisfied smile grew on my lips.

    “He’s the Thai Prince and I’m the Korean Prince.” Kyuhyun pushed, not wanting to loose. I nodded in agreement and I suddenly realized how childish I’m being. I burst into laughter and he joined in too but I’m only laughing at how immature I’ve been acting.

    Jong-shin then told us about how amazed he was to see my face on every product when he went to Thailand. I suddenly felt shy as he continued praising me but Kyuhyun suddenly meddled in and said that he was a model for a product too.

     This guy, really. I was going to let things go and act more maturely but he really is busting my every nerve. What is his problem with me actually? Another nerve popped when Victoria giggled cutely as her ‘friend’ boasted about himself. But Kyuhyun’s attempt to be in the same level as me backfired when Jong-shin said his product was selling too cheap. Kyuhyun looked pissed but still kept his smile in place.

    “What other idols are popular these days?” Kook-jin asked.

    “Siwon.” Kyuhyun said and I agreed. In the end, the hosts started comparing Kyuhyun to him and he looked even more irritated than before.

    Then the hosts asked about how we came to Korea. I started to enjoy myself as I listened to Harley’s interesting stories and my cheeks hurt from laughing at his jokes. And then it was my turn. I told them the story I’ve been telling everyone, how I went to a concert with a friend and someone asked me for my number… and the story goes on. Jong-shin said that the casting manager had a good eye for casting me. And that there wouldn’t be 2PM without me.

    “That’s like Super Junior without Kyuhyun.” Now Kyuhyun just looked adorable, always wanting to win over me. But he lost again when Se-yoon reminded him that he joined later. Kyuhyun gave in and laughed awkwardly.

    Then it was Victoria’s turn. She told her story and I listened carefully even though I already knew about it. But I kept myself attentive. Kyuhyun was teased again by the hosts halfway through Victoria’s story and I couldn’t help but laugh and clapped my hands together at his humiliation. But even though I was enjoying myself, Victoria only smiled, probably worried about him.

    And then the hosts asked us about our impression of Korea. We were now talking about food and the hosts had a little game where they test to see how high our level is when it comes to Korean food. The first few dishes that the hosts mentioned were familiar but after that I didn’t know any of the food they named. I didn’t even know what half of them were made out of.

    I wasn’t as surprised as everyone else when Victoria admitted having eaten all the Korean dishes listed. But what shocked me the most was when she said that she likes to eat chicken brain. She continued telling her adventures exploring the chicken and how she come to love eating it’s brain. I didn’t even know chickens have brains. But it was really amusing to hear her talk about it so animatedly. She even casually explained the dishes I didn’t know about to me. I somehow missed the conversations we used to have back when we were on WGM. She would always have something to tell me and I find her stories very fascinating each time she told me with such enthusiasm.

    “Cow kidneys?” Jong-shin asked another type of dish that I didn’t dare to imagine.

    “I eat cow’s tongues too.” Victoria added and everyone laughed in disbelief.

    “Do you eat cow brains too?” I suddenly asked and she looked surprised by it.

    “Do they sell them? I don’t think so.” Everyone laughed but I somehow felt stupid after that as the conversation continued on. For almost an hour being here on the show with Victoria and the first thing I said to her was, ‘Do you eat cow brains too’? Really smooth.

    After another long conversation, laughing at jokes, listening to stories, we were now talking about our dreams. It was Victoria’s turn now and she was telling everyone about her dream to open a bakery and a coffee house. I nodded as I listened to her and memories were playing in my mind.

    I remembered Victoria telling me that she wanted to open a bakery first and then a restaurant after that, with Chinese, Korean and with a smile on her face, she said Thai food as well. Even though I never plan on going into the food industry, I always tell that her we should open a restaurant together. We would discuss the menu, the restaurants décor and even fight about which concept would be great for our restaurant. I was happy when we discussed that unreachable future.

    But now she was talking about running the bakery and restaurant alone. She probably didn’t remember about our plans together. To her, it was probably just pretend. I sighed mentally. Victoria wasn’t even a metre away yet the gap between us felt too deep. Things had changed a lot for 6 months and I feel like this Victoria was practically a stranger to me now.

    I suddenly missed the past. The ‘us’ back then. I suddenly missed that.

    But that was the only thing I could do now, just miss it and nothing more.

~~~

Hello! I hope you like it cause I worked extra hard on it. It was so hard T.T

I wanted to cry as cracked my brain open for ideas. Now working on the next chapter.

And I might postpone Everything Has Changed for a bit, well not for long. Not until I finish the Radio Star part of this story.

Okay, so, fighting! I’ll work hard.

Please comment&sub~~~