Forever - Chris Brown (Jason Chen Cover) (open in new window)

A/N: i luv you guise XD you're too kawaii. but to be fair, i planned to kill her off since the start of this fic. anyway, thanks for all the lovely compliments~

Three Months Later...

Kyungsoo lifted up his cup of coffee while leaning back in his chair. Hot white steam could be seen being emitted from the mug. He slowly drank the liquid, even closing his eyes to savor every bit of it as it traveled down his throat.

Stacks of unfinished paperwork lied on his desk, but he felt too tired and exhausted to do anything. All he wanted was to run away, to get as far away from here as possible. But he knew better than that, than to leave his people to fend for themselves.

"Hey, King Do!"

Kyungsoo exhaled as his moment of serenity was just taken away from him.

"Don't call me that, Luhan. You sound like you're calling my dad."

"But you're a King now," the prince sang.

Right, I'm officially King. Kyungsoo exhaled as he rested his elbows on the table before him, and buried his face into his hands. The young King always anticipated to be the leader of his kingdom since he was a little boy, but never thought it'd be this hard, that he'd have so much to do and to take care of.

"You okay?" Luhan inquired while settling himself across from his best friend.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need some rest."

"No, like how are you holding up."

Kyungsoo bit his lips at the quetion. He knew exactly what Luhan was referring to. For the past three months, he has been pretending to be fine and happy for his parents and for the sake of the kingdom. But  truth be told, he was anything except fine. His mind was a mess; he felt so lost. He tried to put on a smile but that smile was hollow and only for show.

Luhan could see his pain; he saw through the act his best friend tried to put up everyday.

"You might have everyone else fooled, but you can't fool me," Luhan said in a serious tone.

Luhan knew Kyungsoo had been avoiding this conversation; everytime he tried talking about her, Kyungsoo would deliberately change the subject. All he wanted to know was what happened to you, why did you suddenly disappear.

"I'm sorry, Luhan," Kyungsoo finally croaked.

"I don't need your apology; just tell me what happened."

Kyungsoo swallowed hard while balling his hands into tight fists. "I failed. That's what happened."

Luhan frowned. "What are you talking about now?"

"Ariel!" Kyungsoo shouted as he brought his face up to meet the other's. "I'm talking about Ariel."

Unfazed by his friend's outrage, Luhan continued to calmly press on the issue. "And how did you fail her?"

Kyungsoo let out an almost helpless cry. "I failed to protect her. I failed... I just failed her when she had so much faith in me."

Luhan was a little taken aback. He knew they both had feelings for each other, but he didn't know it was that serious. He stayed silent, waiting for the other to explain further.

"She was a mermaid, Luhan, and the worst part was I let her turn into seafoam right before my eyes."

Luhan's eyes enlarged when the truth finally hit him. Guilt started to spread through his veins as he saw Kyungsoo's frustrated expression.

"I-I...uh." Luhan was at a total loss for words.

"She told me she loves me right before her body disappated. She loved me even after all the pain I caused her." Kyungsoo tilted his head back when he felt tears forming in his eyes.

Luhan felt horrible as he watched his friend's strong exterior crumble. He wanted to provide some kind of comfort, but he just didn't know how.

"I didn't deserve to be loved by someone as special as her."

"Come on, don't think that way. You're a great guy, and quite handsome too," Luhan tried to joke but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"If I'm such a great guy, then why did I make Ariel cry so many times?!" Kyungsoo scoffed at himself. I'm such a great guy. He thought sarcastically.

Luhan sighed before crumbling a piece of paper and flung it at Kyungsoo's head. It seemed to have snapped his friend out of his trance, causing a smirk to emerge on Luhan's face.

"Hey, that was an important document!"

"Exactly. That means you have a lot of King duties to do, so stop daydreaming," Luhan said.

Kyungsoo glared at his friend, but felt tired as he was reminded of all the stuff he had yet to do.

Realizing the sudden mood change, Luhan got up to sit next to the young King. "But Kings need a break once in a while, so why don't we have a guy's night? We could go eat and then we could go clubbing?"

The young King only stared blankly at the other, not speaking a word.

Luhan smiled encouragingly before continuing. "Dude, you're single now. I know a lot of girls who would love to have some fun with the newly single King."

Luhan was right. In fact, Kyungsoo was finally successful in filing a divorce with Annabelle a couple days ago. Reluctance could be seen on his face; he wasn't ready to get to know anymore women. To be honst, Kyungsoo didn't think he'd ever be ready; he still loved Ariel so much, and as unrealistic as it might sound, he kept hoping that she'd come back to him one day.

"But we need to set something straight before we both move on." Luhan's voice trembled a little as he remembered all the times he had argued with his pal in the past few months. "Let's never fight over the same girl ever again." He valued the bond he had with Kyungsoo, and never wanted a girl to come in between them and ruin that friendship.

As always, Kyungsoo knew exactly what his friend was referring to. But he realized that that'll never happen again, ever. He loved Ariel and he will continue loving her for the rest of his life. Even if she wasn't with him anymore, he still wanted to remain faithful towards her. If showing his sincerity like this was the last thing he could do for her, he would be more than happy to comply.

Sensing his friend might want to be alone for a while, Luhan patted his friend's back before getting up and heading for the door. He still had lingering feelings for Ariel, that was for sure, but he was sure he'd get over them with time. But what worried him was whether his friend would be able to do the same, to completely move on with his life. With a final glance back, Luhan gently closed the door and exited