Nicole gently fixed the loose curl that hung from the side and applied on her lip gloss.  She smoothed out the dress that she personally designed for Key's birthday party.

"Ready?"  Nicole asked Hara.

She looked up at the stunning Nicole, wearing her not-released dress.

"Wow, Cola.  I think you should be your own model from now on."  Hara complimented.

Nicole giggled and walked over to Hara.

"I'll leave the modeling to you."  Nicole said.

She turned Hara around, looking at one of her designs she made for Hara to model for her next clothing line.

"This dress fitted you perfectly."  Nicole complimented.  "I'm such a good desginer!"

Hara playfully nudged Nicole.

They hopped into Nicole's BMW and drove off to the hotel.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * 

The ballroom was decorated with ribbons and streamers and balloons.  Soft classical music was played as the guests entered and waited for the party to start.

Nicole and Hara nervously walked into the lounge of the hotel.  They glanced around the giant room, in awed with the chandeliers that hung around the room.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim stood by the door, welcoming and thanking the guest for coming.  Nicole and Hara nercously walked to the door, bowing in respect to Key's parents.

"Annyeonghaseyo."  They said in unison to The Kims.

The Kims bowed back and chatted with them for a while.

"Annyeonghaseyo, girls."  Mr. Kim said.  "You must be Jung Nicole, our KiBum's girlfriend."

Nicole shyly smiled and nodded.  

"And if I may introduce to you my friend, Goo Hara."  Nicole said

Hara bowed to the Kims and the Kims did the same.  Mrs. Kim scanned Nicole from head to toe.

"You're pretty."  she smiled, causing Nicole to blush a little.

"Thank you."  Nicole shyly thanked.

"Oh, you're just saying that!"  Mrs. Kim laughed cheerfully.  "Well, we've kept you here long enough.  Please, head inside and make yourself comfortable."

They bowed and headed inside.

Nicole and Hara gave their jackets to the usher inside and walked into a beautiful scenery, with a giant chandelier hanging over a beautiful fountain in the front of the ballroom.  Nicole excusedd herself to the bathroom, leaving Hara by herself at the front.

Meanwhile, MinHo was surrounded by a group of ladies, trying to get a hold of him.

"Yah, MinHo-ah, why haven't you called me?  You promised!"  whined the girl in red.

"Yeah, same here!"  the green girl agreed.

MinHo embarrassingly scratched his head.  Why did he had to meet the girls he picked up at the bars and clubs at Key's birthday party.

"So, who did you come with tonight?"  the girl in yellow asked, tracing her finger on his muscular arm.

"Um..."

"If you came alone, let me be your date then."  The red girl insisted, pulling him closer to her.

"No, I want to be his date!"

The girls started to fight over MinHo.  He was in a tough situation and couldn't just walk away, creating a scene.

He saw a gleaming girl walking in alone, looking around the unfamiliar place.  As she turned her head towards him, her long curled hair swung around her milky skin and her chocolate brown eyes connected with his.  He smiled and let out a sigh of relief.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry."  He apologized and walked over to Hara.

"Hunn, why did you come so late?"  He said, placing his hand around her tiny waist.

She turned around and saw MinHo walking towards her.  He placed his hand on her waist and pulled her closer to his body.  She stared at MinHo with confusion.  He smiled and slightly nodded his head towards the bunch of girls staring at them.  Hara looked around him and saw the burning eyes of the girls that glared at her.  She looked back at MinHo, who was smirking at his smart plan.  She placed her arm around his waist and smiled back at him.  He pulled her closer and walked over to the bar.

"A Brandy for me and a glass of champagne for the lovely lady."  MinHo said to the bartender.

The bartender brought up the drinks.  MinHo sipped the drink and cringed as the burning alcohol ran down his throat.

"Thanks for playing along." MinHo said, swirling it around the glass cup.

Hara quickly glanced at him and then back to playing with her drink. 

"By the way,"  He said.  "you look beautiful tonight."

Hara blushed and thanked him.  She felt a touch by her ear, which sent chills down her spine.  She looked at MinHo, who pulled away a few strands of her hair that covered her face and hooked it around her ear.  She was surprised at MinHo's actions.

Nicole walked to where Hara was.

"There you are!  I was looking all over for you."  Nicole interrupted.

MinHo and Hara broke their gaze and looked over at Nicole.

"Wow, Nicole-sshi.  You're looking very pretty yourself."  MinHo complimented.

Nicole blushed and thanked him.  Key spotted them and walked over to them.

"Hey."  he said, hugging Nicole.  "Thanks for coming."

"Happy birthday."  she said, hugging him back.

Hara and MinHo congratulated him, too.  Key thanked them and they continued to talk with each other.

"Good evening, everybody.  I would like to ask if all the guests can take their seat at their giving table, please."  said Mr. Kim.

"That's my cue."  Key said.  "See you in a bit."

He slipped his hand away from Nicole and walked up to the stage.  The trio walked over to their table and the ceremony began.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * 

After singing happy birthday to Key and eating the cake, Mr. Kim got up and tapped his champagne glass.  Everybody took their glasses and looked at Mr. Kim.

"Everybody, thank you so much for coming to my son's 22nd birthday.  I'm so proud of him for being able to start his own business at such a young age.  KiBum, happy birthday."  He said.

Everybody clapped at Mr. Kim's speech.  Mrs. Kim also stood up.

"I would like to also thank our good friend, Mr. and Mrs. Lui, who came all the way from Taiwan to join us in celebration of our son's birthday."

Everybody applauded.

"So, with that, I would like to introduce to you my future daughter-in-law."  she announced.  "Miss Lui Amber."

Hara and MinHo looked at each other with a surprised expression, along with everybody else.  Nicole, especially, was taken by surprise.  Future daughter-in-law?  Key looked over at his smiling mother and shocked father.  He, too, was surprise of the news.  Who?

The guards came in with a girl with short brown hair.  She was carried by her arms and she was kicking and complaining.

"Yah, put me down!  Who do you think you are to do this to me?"  she shouted.

Everybody looked over at her with surprised faces.

"Everybody, this is Miss Amber Lui, KiBum's fiancée."  Mrs. Kim introduced.

"WHAT?!?!?!"  Key and Amber both shouted.

The guests stood up and clapped for the newly couple.  Key couldn't believe his mother would do this to him.  He quickly looked over at a shocked and embarrassed Nicole.  She met the eyes of a worried Key and tried to hold back her tears.  She excused herself from the table and left quietly.  Key was about to go after Nicole, but his mom stopped him.

"Don't make me look back in front of all these people, KiBum."  she said, smiling.

Hara followed Nicole.  MinHo looked back at Key and shrugged.  He quickly followed Hara.

Nicole grabbed her jacket and walked out to the lobby.  Hara and MinHo ran after her, stopping her.

"Nicole."  Hara said, out of breath.  "Are you okay?"

"So, this is why Key's mom wanted me to come,"  Nicole said, trying to hold back her tears.  "so I can see that I've been dating a engaged man."

"That's not true."  MinHo corrected.  "Based on how that Amber girl was acting and brought in, they probably didn't even know about this until tonight."

Nicole took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.  Amber saw them and walked up to MinHo.

"What is going on, oppa?"  Amber asked.  "Do you know anything about this?"

"Oppa?"  Hara and Nicole mumbled.

MinHo looked over at the confused girls.

"Amber, this is Goo Hara and Jung Nicole."  MinHoexplained.  "Amber is Key and my friend since childhood.  We treat each other like brother and sister.  Nothing more."

Amber nodded her head in agreement.  A part of Nicole was happy that they didn't like this idea, but the majority of her didn't want to believe that.

"I'm so sorry about this, Nicole-sshi."  Amber said.  "I swear, this is not going to happen."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Miss Amber."

Everybody turned around and saw Mrs. Kim walking up to them.  They bowed in respect.

"I'm sorry for bringing you to this party like this, Miss Jung Nicole."  Mrs. Kim said.  "but I knew that if I didn't do this now, my son would be making a big mistake in his life."

"Imoni!"  Amber said.  "How could you say that?"

Nicole looked up at her.  She was a big mistake?

"You're a good girl and you have good intentions, but I would like it if you won't see my KiBum anymore."  Mrs. Kim said.

They were all shocked at Mrs. Kim's harsh words.  Amber couldn't believe that she would say that to Nicole, even though they just met tonight.  Key's been telling Amber about how he has found the perfect girl and wanted them to meet, but this kind of meeting was not the kind that she thought about.

"The Luis and I have been friends for many years and this has been a promise that has been kept through those years.  I hope you can respect that."

"Auntie,"  MinHo and Amber said.

She looked at both of them and they backed off.  She smirked and looked back at Nicole.

"So, can you do this, Nicole-sshi?  If not for me, for my son?"  she asked.

Key ran out of the ballroom and saw Nicole.

"Nicole!"  he shouted.

"Give me a few minutes with him."  Nicole asked.

Mrs. Kim nodded and walked off.  Key ran up to the group.

"Let me explain, Nicole."  Key said.  "I don't know what my mom said to you, but please, you have to believe me."

Nicole shook her head and fluttered away the tears.  She looked Key in the eye.  The eyes that melted her heart everytime they met, the ones that made her fall for him, and now, it was going to be the last time she saw them.

"KiBum, marry Amber."  she said, in the calmest voice possible.  "Do what your mother wants.  Please."

Key shook his head and held her hands.

"Nicole, I don't want to get married to Amber.  She's like a sister to me."  he explained.

"And now, she's your fiancée."  Nicole said.

He couldn't believe what Nicole was saying to him.  This was not like her.

"Why are you being like this?  Tell me to marry some other girl, on my birthday?"  Key said, trying to hold back his tears.

Seeing the tears in his eyes made Nicole wanting to stop everything and hug him, but she promised his mother.  To make him believe that she doesn't care, she looked into his eyes, passed the tears that was because her, and passed the memories that it held.

"You and I are just like any other relationships.  It has to come to an end."  Nicole said.  "So what if it's your birthday?  Your parents invited me for one reason and that reason was to let you know that you have a life to get back to.  Get married to Amber and forget about me."

Nicole shook off his hands and walked out the door, leaving a shocked Key behind.  Hara said goodbye to Amber and MinHo, and followed Nicole out.

The ride home for Nicole and Hara was quiet and depressing.  Nicole slowly walked inside the house, while the confused Hara followed.

"Are you okay, Nicori?"  Hara asked.  "Want me to brew you some tea?"

"It's okay, Hara.  I'm fine."  Nicole, forcing a smile.  "I'm gonna go to sleep.  Good night."

Hara watched as Nicole walked upstairs into her room, and then walked into the kitchen.

Nicole listened until Hara was away from the stairs then she shut the door.  She sat down by the door, leaning her back against the door.  Her eyes started to fill up with tears, and this time, Nicole wasn't going to stop them from falling.  She clutched her chest, where her aching heart was pounding with anger and sadness.  She covered with her other hand, trying to reduce the sound of her sobs as she thought back to the birthday party.

"Get married to Amber and forget about me."

The more she thought about those words, the more her heart hurt.

It was for you, Key.  For our love.

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A U T H O R ' S  N O T E :

chapter 8! hopefully, you guys and gals are still hanging on to this story.  Sorry for all the late, long updates!  writer's block is so bad for me!  

Please comment and I'll try to update as soon as possible.