"If stars fell everytime I thought of you, the sky would soon be empty."

Kyuhyun looked at the lyrics of his self-composed song and shook his head.

'Meh. Too corny.'

Erasing a few words, filling in some more notes, squeezing a couple of melodies here and there, checking over the final piece... he was finally done.

'I hope she likes it.'

Packing up his stuff, he grabbed his guitar case, his completed song, and yelled for Cherie to come downstairs.

"I'll be ready in a second!"

"If you're putting on makeup, don't even bother. You're just messing with perfection!" Kyuhyun crinkled his eyes as Cherie descended down the stairs.

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Makeup is scientifically proven to make people pretty." Cherie pursed her lips.

"Says who?"

"Me."

"Who are you?"

"Your conscience."

"Why, hello conscience. Does this mean I'm dead?"

"You will be if you don't hurry up and tell me where we're going!" Cherie laughed as she chased Kyuhyun out of the door and into the garage.

~*~*~*~

"Here it is - the Duomo di Milano." Kyuhyun announced, killing the engine of his car at a nearby carpark.

Cherie stepped out of the car and was completely blown away. She had only seen pictures of the Duomo in magazines, on the internet, and in travel shows, but never in real life until today.

The forest of openwork pinnacles and spires were set upon beautiful arches of flying buttresses, the ancient stained glass windows were surrounded by a variance of delicately carved, high relief marble sculptures, and the grandeur yet solemn structure of the cathedral was set against the rich, cerulean-blue sky, reaching high into the heavens.

"Kyu, this is absolutely breathtaking. Why didn't you tell me we were coming here? I could've brought my camera!" Cherie whispered, tugging at his shirt sleeve, awe-struck by the majestic splendor of the cavernous interior as they walked inside.

"I wanted you to just savor it with your eyes. If you brought your camera along, you wouldn't be paying attention to my company at all," Kyuhyun whispered back, taking her hand and holding it.

"I pay attention to you all the time. This-" Cherie gestured around, "-is what really needs my attention."

"I'm jealous. Whatcha gonna do about it?"

"Laugh?" Cherie suggested. "How petty you are Cho Kyuhyun!"

"Aww, then what should I do to win your favor back?"

"You could start off by telling me why we're here."

"Well, I have a confession to make," Kyuhyun started, setting his guitar case down on a pew. Sitting down, he arched his neck to admire the gothic vaults that made up the high ceiling.

"What is it?" Cherie asked, sitting down beside him.

"Ever since I graduated from high school in Korea and came here for architectural design school, this church has been my inspiration in a lot of my designs, including my villa. I feel so strangely attached to it, and can't imagine what life would be like if I didn't come here."

"It's been with you throughout your whole experience as an architect. There's bound to be special feelings for your first muse."

"Yes, but it's had so many visitors, so many photographers, designers, and artists come here, so I feel like I'm not special. I'm just another faceless person in the crowd."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because Cherie. The truth is..." Kyuhyun picked up his guitar and started strumming the notes to his song.

The Truth Is - (YouTube)

"I almost said the words last night
I told myself the moment wasn't right
No one wants to be the one who says it first
But I been keeping it inside a secret for so long it hurts"

Cherie looked at him, confused as to why he was suddenly singing. Kyuhyun just continued to sing in his caramel macchiato voice, starting out soft but gradually building up to the climatic chorus.

"The truth is that I love you
And I need to know from you if you love me too
The truth is that I want you completely
So if you love me too I need to know from you
What the truth is"

Looking into Cherie's eyes, Kyuhyun sung out his hidden feelings that he had been harboring for Cherie ever since they broke up after his graduation.

He still loved her.

He still wanted to be there when she was sad, happy, hurt, alone.

He still wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her on the lips, to gently brush away her hair from her eyes and proudly say that he was her boyfriend, her man, her lover, her soulmate.

"I'm trying to look behind your eyes
I been trying to read between unspoken lines
We keep dancing 'round and we don't know what's real
Can't let the music end
Before we can find a way to say the things we feel"

Startled, Cherie didn't know what to do. Frozen in place, she could only stare back into Kyuhyun's eyes, wondering, imploringly.

"The truth is that I love you
And I need to know from you if you love me too
The truth is that I want you completely
So if you love me too I need to know from you
What the truth is"

Reaching the end of his song, Kyuhyun was beginning to feel anxious. Cherie wasn't responding at all. No tears, no cries of excitement, nothing.

"Oh I thought I could just walk away
That you might be a passing flame
I told myself I wouldn't care
If you weren't there

But the truth is that I love you
And I need to know from you if you love me too
The truth is that I want you completely
So if you love me too I need to know from you
What the truth is"

Just a stoic face with an uneasy expression in her searching eyes. He stopped strumming the guitar, took her hands, and finished the last two lines of his song.

"What the truth is
Tell me what the truth is."

"I love you. I always have and I always will love you. When your sister died, I understood your situation and didn't want to force you to stay by my side when you broke up with me. I've been thinking a lot about us, about our relationship, and I don't think it was fair. I still love you Cherie."

"Kyu..." 

"Things have changed, we've grown older, more mature. You're even in Italy, I mean, what are the chances! I feel like with all these years that we've been apart, you've forgotten about me and moved onto other things while I'm still stuck in space, stuck in time, stuck in our happy memories that I painfully replay and relive in my mind every single day I don't see you."

"Kyu, that was in high school. We were young and naive. After everything that happened with my sister, I needed space. I didn't want any restrictions. I haven't been involved in a relationship ever since you. You have to believe me," Cherie whispered, feeling tears prickle her eyes.

Kyuhyun, looking deeply into her eyes, softly caressed her cheeks.

"That's perfect. Give me another chance to make you the most happiest woman in the world."

Moving closer, he gently kissed Cherie full on the lips.

But instead of kissing him back, Cherie's silent tears started rolling down her face, moistening the area between their touching cheeks.

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