There was a gentle knock on Kyuhyun's door. He was snapped out of his tangled mind instantly.

Sung Ah? He rushed to answer the visitor.

Kyuhyun was disappointed to see Donghae standing in front of him.

Donghae peered at the mess behind Kyuhyun. “Did you get into a fight?”

Kyuhyun scoffed. “You finally noticed something obvious for once.”

Donghae was more scared for him than was offended. “What happened?”

“You honestly don't know how everyone suffers because of you, huh?” Kyuhyun asked maliciously. He drained the last drop of the wine.

The shattered shards, the fell chair... Did I cause the scene? It was hard for Donghae to make the connections.

Was his accusation too harsh?

“Sung Ah even gives up everything because of you.”

Donghae's stomach dropped. “What do you mean?!”

His clueless way infuriated Kyuhyun further. He grabbed Donghae's shirt collar out of sheer rage. “Why don't you ask yourself?! I don't know why Sung Ah loves a dumb like you!”

It wasn't Kyuhyun's iron grip that choked him, it was the truth. Hadn't he always knew about Sung Ah's feelings? It was not like Donghae to be in denial, then why...?

Kyuhyun shoved Donghae away. “Didn't I warn you about choices? Do everything you can to make Sung Ah stay, you bastard.” He stormed past Donghae and left him with the wreckage.

***

The overcast weather did not stop Jessica from dragging Kyuhyun outside away from his laptop. She had heard about the Starcraft marathon, while what he needed was a vacation.

Jessica fell off her bike, again. Kyuhyun offered his hand and laughed at her clumsiness.

“You at riding bike too,” teased Kyuhyun as he helped her off the ground. “You need a driver for that?”

Jessica's laugh was an embarrassing one. She climbed on again and toppled over.

“Just return it. You can ride with me.”

Kyuhyun's backseat was inviting. Do I want to get closer to him? Jessica contemplated.

She hopped onto his bike eventually and encircled her arms around his torso. It was warm and solid and secured... She knew for sure she would never fall off.

“Let's go!”

The dark clouds began to disperse. The shoreline surrounded the island sparkled under the afternoon sun.

“Kyuhyun-ah, did you talk to Sung Ah yet?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. Jessica could imagine his stoned face in front.

“What happened to you guys?” Jessica had been distressed over the fight starting from last night. “Sung Ah won't tell me anything.” Kyuhyun heaved a prolonged sigh, as if his life was ending short. Jessica touched his back that couldn’t speak to her. “Please tell me, Kyuhyun! I can't stand seeing both of you depressed!”

Despite of the gloominess, Kyuhyun had to smile a little. “I can't tell you why we fought, Jessica.” The truth will only hurt you.

Jessica pursed her lips. Why are they being so secretive? Just what I shouldn't know? Whatever she should not be knowing indicated that it might have something to do with her...

...or Donghae.

Jessica took a sharp breath. “Fine. I won't ask anymore.”

Although Kyuhyun's anguish was now diminished, he knew Jessica was not completely at ease. He assured, “This isn't so different from the fights we had before. It is a bigger scale this time, but we'll be back to normal soon.”

There's something in Kyuhyun's voice when he'd talked about Sung Ah stirred Jessica.

“You guys act like married couple.”

Kyuhyun accidentally braked their bike and almost threw themselves to the gravel. “I guess in a way we are...” He snickered, then he added hurriedly, “...but it's not what you think.”

Jessica understood. Hadn't she and Donghae been like that? They had always have each other's backs. It hadn't mattered if the conflicts were serious or trivial, they had always been the best of friends...

Jessica missed the old Donghae.

“I get it. I'm so jealous.” Her comment sent the bike out of control.

“Of what?” Kyuhyun asked skeptically.

“Of everything.”

"You like me or something?"

"Yeah!"  She giggled, not realizing how much more fluster Kyuhyun became.

Kyuhyun's palms started to sweat. Having Jessica hugged him from behind made him fidgety all of a sudden. They would crash for sure if Kyuhyun continued riding restlessly.

He stopped the bike by a bench facing the beach. The sun sank lower behind the silver linings at each passing moment, spilling dyes of magenta, lemon yellow, and apricot in the clear sea.

“Let's just watch the sunset here,” suggested Kyuhyun. “I can't drive you anymore. You're too heavy.”

They sat down contentedly after a day of strenuous work.

“You're just too weak!”

“I would show you my glorious pack, but a celebrity has an image to keep.”

Jessica laughed out loud. “What image from Super Junior? I was there at one of your concerts last year...” She laughed harder when she experienced a horrendous cross-dressing flashback.

Kyuhyun smiled and laughed fully at the thoughts of his embarrassing brothers. “I'm not like them!”

Jessica giggled, unwilling to believe him.

As they were still joking around, a small boy approached the bench. He struggled to climb the giant chair with his puny body.

Jessica caught Kyuhyun's eyes twinkling. He hauled the boy gently up beside him. Kyuhyun snuggled the child under his arm.

“Fu mu...” he attempted to communicate with his rusty Chinese. “...zai n'ar?” He asked the whereabouts of his parents.

The child looked far away, not paying attention to Kyuhyun.

“The kid doesn't understand what you said,” Jessica teased. Though the sight of Kyuhyun wrapping his arm protectively around the child provoked her heart to flutter.

“He's just too young to understand!” Kyuhyun protested. “My Chinese is good!”

The child grew bored, so he slipped away from Kyuhyun's grasp. He bounced towards another couple by the railing. The man scooped him up effortlessly. The woman started feeding him a bottle of milk.

The tranquil scene of the sunset and the young family by the beach triggered a desire from Kyuhyun. He stole a glance at the woman by his side. The image of Jessica in a long ivory dress running towards him was something unforgettable...

“Jessica...” Kyuhyun's trembling lips parted and closed again.

She returned his intense gaze. The unspoken words hung between them shook Jessica too. Her heart beat wildly, waiting for his next words.

Kyuhyun broke the stare abruptly. “We should head back now. It's getting dark.” He breathed a shallow breath silently.

The way he turned away from her was the only thing Jessica remembered vividly from that evening.

***

“Please don't go!”

Donghae hugged Sung Ah tightly from behind. It was no use struggling. Part of her wanted to root on the spot forever with him. She finally didn't have to face the turmoil alone. She didn't have to go with him being hers...

As soon as the sky became the monotonous blue, Sung Ah's reality returned.

She was all alone again.

Someone sneaked up behind her on the balcony to drape a blanket around her chilled body. She looked up from her hands and jumped.

“You expected someone else?” Donghae asked.

Heat crawled into her cheeks when she saw the real Donghae.

“You're waiting for Kyuhyun?”

Sung Ah shook her head.

Donghae scanned the horizon. “He told me some weird things. I couldn't figure out what he meant.”

Sung Ah's blood ran cold. “What did he say?!”

“He said...”... that you love me... “... something about 'making Sung Ah stay'. Are you going somewhere?”

Should I tell him? Sung Ah chose to only nod, not meeting his eyes.

Donghae grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him. “Where?!” He jolted her. “Why?”

Sung Ah was on the brink of crumbling. His desperate eyes broke her heart, but she was also tired. She pried his grips off of her shoulders. “I want to find myself, Donghae. I've been so involved with other things lately. I'm forgetting why I'm in Seoul in the first place.”

What she had said made no sense to Donghae. He seized her into an inescapable embrace. “You're not going anywhere!” The very idea of Sung Ah disappearing like last time pierced Donghae.

“I've made up my mind. Don't make me hate you too, Donghae.”

The cold words were more effective than any struggles she'd displayed. Donghae stepped away from her, stunned.

Sung Ah hadn't uttered those words out of spite, she had truly meant it.

What have I turned into?

Donghae could not see if Sung Ah have left or not for his visions were blurred. His world was contorted into the wrong shape.

He did not see his troubled girlfriend watching from below either.

***

“I don't want to go back to Seoul yet,” Krystal complained on their last full day of vacation.

Krystal and her unnies were enjoying the warmness of Spring under the canopies by Yalong Bay, except for Tiffany. She had been disappeared since last night, which Krystal could have cared less.

Even with their sunglasses on, there were fans who recognized Jessica and Krystal. Still, it was a million times better from their home country.

“Look at the guy on my left,” Jessica pointed her chin at the sun tanner. “Damn.”

“He is hot,” Krystal spoke everyone's minds.

“I don't like guys with too much muscles though,” Sung Ah added.

“Like Siwon oppa?”

Sung Ah nodded. “But his face makes up for everything.”

They giggled like high school girls hanging out in hallways. The laziness of the day soothed their nerves.

“I think Donghae oppa's build is just right,” Krystal pronounced.

Jessica noticed Sung Ah's blushing. In fact, she had been observing Sung Ah sharply for a while now.

Krystal continued blabbering, “I like stylish and fun guy too. What about you, Sung Ah unnie?”

Sung Ah closed her eyes. “A man who knows me well. I can connect with people who understand my past better.” Donghae's face floated in her mind's eyes. Her eyes flew open.

Jessica and Krystal looked at each other. Sung Ah's apparent feelings were short-lived, but were not unnoticeable.

***

The box of chocolate, the purple bouquet of irises, the bottle of red wine, and the card were arranged and rearranged on the coffee table until they were presented at a perfect angle.

Tiffany walked into the room as soon as someone suspicious had fled. She spotted the romantic display straight away. She plucked the card off of the table and read:

                                    "Jessica,

                                                   Meet me at the Pier at 8pm,

                                                                          Kyuhyun.”

Author's notes: Oh wow?  What now?

I don't know if you guys like these kind of melodrama, but hey it was bound to happen. :p

Sorry for the late update.  I was busy doing my birthday stuff for the past two days.  I'm exhausted. :/

But it was great and random.

At least the present was really great.

Thank you for reading/subsribing/commenting. I love you all!! <33

I really need to sleep now...

PS. The chapter title is Iris, it's implying the meaning of the flowers, which are faith, hope, courage, and admiration. Hwaiting everyone!