Victoria came home, dragging Yuri behind her. Both held bags of clothing, toys and other supplies. Victoria looked so excited at her entrance while Yuri remained passive and somewhat irritated. Nichkhun, who saw them make their entrance, understood her no doubt.

   “Annyeong!” greeted Victoria, shouting throughout the apartment. Yuri got her shoes off first. She might have given Nichkhun a tough glare before disappearing in her room. Despite her lack of words and annoyed behavior, Victoria didn’t seem to care very much. She simply made her way to her husband with suppressing joy. Wanting to peck him on the cheek with affection, Nichkhun avoided it.  

   “Can I talk to you for a second,” he suggested instead.

   “Sure honey! What is it?” He cleared his throat before resuming.

   “I wanted to talk about Yuri.”

   “Oh! Yeah, Yuri and I had tones of fun today. We…” He interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

   “That’s not what I meant to ask. I wanted to know a little more about her head. I was wondering if there’s something you might know or if, perhaps, you have something to do with it.” Victoria seemed shocked. Her words couldn’t come out as she pleased. She had to be excessively careful to what would be revealed. “Be honest Victoria, did you hurt Yuri by any chance?”

   “Ar-Are you questioning me? How dare you doubt your own wife? Don’t you trust me at all?” Her voice came out innocently as if she were absolutely certain of herself.

   “No, that’s not what I intended to say. I trust you!”

   “You don’t! I know you don’t. It’s because you love Yuri more. Isn’t it? You’re still in love with her. That’s why you’re siding up with her now.” Nichkhun tried to get a grip on her but she resisted. “Fine go! Go to Yuri!” Tears kept rolling down her face as she backed away and slammed the bathroom door behind her. Nichkhun was baffled.

   “What on earth has gotten in to her? She’s never been so sensitive. Aish!” He couldn’t believe her lack of understanding. The prince jumped back on the sofa and sighed reluctantly. “My life is a mess,” he stated, covering his face with a pillow.

   Meanwhile, in the washroom, Victoria stared at herself in the mirror. She was going completely crazy. No matter what, she didn’t intend to loose her husband, and all that was changing because of YURI! She hated her like never before.

   “That’s it! I spared her life twice; I’m not going to let it slide this time. I’m getting rid of her, no matter what the world says.”

  Taecyeon knocked on Yoona’s door. She was in the middle of reading her book, and the sudden thump scared her.

   “Who is it?” she called.

   “Taec,” he simply made out. She began to feel jumpy and nervous. Her book fell on the ground as she paced back and forth between the door and the mirror. She gave one last glance at the mirror to make sure that her image was proper and clean. Finally, after a big sigh, her hands managed to twist the door knob and peek through the small opening. “What took you so long?”

   “I was half asleep,” she gave as an excuse. Taecyeon smile mischievously and retreated.

   “Sorry for bothering you, but I was just wondering if you were going to Nichkhun and Victoria’s closing night.” She thought about it for a bit and answered gallantly.

   “Oh! Well… Of course. Wae?”

   “Nothing. I was just looking for a date for the dinner. That’s all. But it’s okay because I think I found one.” Yoona stood aggravated. It was as if her confession the other day was meaningless.

   “Really… Who must that be?” he cackled playfully.

   “You really haven’t figured it out?”

   “How would I know? Does it look like I spy on the amount of girls you go out with? Even if you had a thousand girlfriends in one week, I wouldn’t care one bit because you’re a big jerk. You don’t consider that I’ve confessed my feelings. You just play with them. I’m tired of you!” Ready to slam the door, Taec put his foot on the way to keep it open.

   “Yah! What are you saying? Who else would my date be? You, of course!” he blurted out halfheartedly serious. “Anyways, get ready fast. I’ll be waiting.” Yoona turned so red, it almost was incredible. She hit her head multiple times and fell on the ground. The nurse’s embarrassment was overwhelming.

   “Are you okay?” asked the passing Yuri when seeing her friend’s state.

   “Yuri-ah! I can’t believe how shameful I am. You’re brother probably thinks that I’m… I don’t know.” Yuri tapped her on the back.

   “You two are such complicated individuals. I don’t get you at all. In any case, my brother isn’t the romantic king type, so you better make the move first, or you’ll never get him.” Yuri slowly backed away and glided across the hall, to her own room again, leaving Yoona perplexed. “Ah! They have it so easy, and yet they can’t take advantage of it. They’re not the ones who had to go shopping of someone else’s baby.” She stopped herself from completing her complaints. It wasn’t appropriate. Instead, her guard juggled between two of her nicest dresses. She hadn’t decided what to wear for Nichkhun’s banquet. But what was the use…? Nichkhun was married. It didn’t matter what she wore.

   Minho would be her date tonight, but Yuri only viewed him merely as a friend. She grabbed the blue dress over the red one. Her logic over it was this: Minho’s favorite color was blue and Nichkhun’s was red. If she wanted to stay away from the guy, might as well avoid his favorite color as well. The dress was simple and plain, but it would have to do.

   She slipped it on and zipped back. Her expression was blank when looking at herself in the mirror. Something was missing. Oh yeah… her smile. She couldn’t seem to smile, not even a little.

   “Fighting Kwon Yuri! Fighting!” Still not a single smirk could go through.

   Later on that evening, they all arrived at the banquet for the foundation’s grand opening. The visitors looked up to the tall and majestic building that stood before them. Yuri shivered, not just because of the cold winter evening, but also because of the intimidating rich architecture that stared at her harshly. Taecyeon let his arm out for Yoona to take. She bowed and accepted awkwardly.

   “Don’t be shy.” He dragged her inside, leaving Yuri with Minho at the entrance.

   “Let’s go inside,” suggested Minho as well.

   “Araso!” Yuri didn’t appear too eager at all. But what could she do? She went in anyway and forced herself to smile in the process. They went inside the banquet hall. It was absolutely huge. Banners with the prince and princess’ name were all over the place.

   “Don’t look at them. Keep your head down,” whispered Minho. He knew that she felt overwhelmed at the moment. Yuri listened, knowing that he was right. “If it’s too hard on you, tell me.” She nodded as they continued to walk to the table where Taec and Yoona waited as well. Minho could spot the stage where the royal couple would most probably stand. He thought it would be logical to make Yuri face the opposite direction, to avoid any sort of contact.

   “Komawo oppa.” She bit her lip and gazed back down. Minho grinned with satisfaction. Soon afterwards, dinner was served and Yuri didn’t hesitate to clean her plate to perfection. She ate like there was no tomorrow. TaecYeon sighed in despair. He knew what it meant when Yuri ate this quickly. Making matters worse, Victoria snuck up from behind and coughed to get their attention.

   “Is the food good?” she asked referring to Yuri’s stuffed cheeks.

   “Better ask Yuri that question,” teased Taecyeon while handing a napkin to wipe the dirt off the side of her lip. She shooed his hand away and swallowed her food. Somehow, Victoria was still annoying her, especially after being brought baby shopping unwillingly. If Nichkhun wasn’t there, who knows what she would’ve done to her. 

    Yuri took a last gulp of water. “Minho oppa, I’ll just outside to get fresh air. I’ll be at the front.”

   “Do you want me to go with you?”

   “Aniyo, stay here and eat. I want to be alone.” She then addressed herself to the prince and princess. “I won’t be far away. Give me a second.”

   Victoria had a small smile on the side of her lip. This was the perfect time to do what she planned to accomplish. She put on a concerned look on her face, obviously seemingly compassionate.

   “Yuri-ah doesn’t look very well. I think I’ll go check on her.” She bowed and took off considerably further behind her victim. Nichkhun had a horrible feeling about this. He knew that his wife was up to no good. He chased after as well. The front of the hall building was almost deserted, and only Yuri could be found walking on her own. Victoria had vanished. But didn’t she say that she would check up on Yuri? She was utterly no where to be found. Yuri stopped at the front of the building, outside. Nichkhun kept an eye on her through the glass doors. He couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but the feeling of danger was still present.

   He made his way past the doors and beside Yuri, still trying to catch his breath from all the running. “Yuri-ah! Don’t stay here. It’s dangerous. Let’s go back inside,” he warned seriously. His eyes kept glancing at every direction to find the hazard.

   “Wae? Why would it be dangerous?” Then, he saw it. A flower pot came falling from a higher floor above Yuri’s head. Seeing it only last minute, Nichkhun pushed her away from the targeted spot, but it was a tad too late. A huge smash was echoed under the evening sky. Both were on the floor, Nichkhun on top of Yuri.

   “Nichkhun oppa, gan cha na? What happened?” He shouted in complete pain and cried. Nothing ever hurt him so badly. The hard pot hit him on the lower back. Yuri held him in her arms.

   “It hurts so much!” he shouted while holding the painful area. She sat up with the prince still twitching in pain.

   “Here get up and we’ll see what’s wrong.” Yuri tried to make him sit but his back hurt way too severely. “Yah! What’s the matter?” He was crying like he never did before.

   “Yuri-ah! I can’t feel my legs, but my back hurts like crazy.” This didn’t sound right at all. If he couldn’t feel his legs, it meant he got hit on his lower spine. She learnt in one of her classes that applying an enormous amount of pressure on that part of the spine could possibly remove the ability to walk. Yuri tried not to think about it. It made her shake in fear.

   “Try! Try harder oppa.” He did everything to move his legs, but they wouldn’t budge. Yuri began to panic. “Khun oppa, hang in there. Someone, help!” she screamed to the top of her lungs for someone to hear. Nichkhun’s eyes slowly closed on their own. “Oppa, mian… This is all my fault.” Continuing her calls, she prayed that this wasn’t serious. “God, his legs have to be okay, or I’ll blame myself forever.”

   Victoria watched from the balcony where she dropped the pot. When the piece of glass hit her husband by accident, her heart pounced. Watching him fall to the ground, she was baffled. A tear drained down her cheek when Yuri began to cry for help.

   “Victoria, you monster, now look at what you’ve done.” She lost all sense in her body. “Nichkhun-sshi, now I’ve even hurt you.” 

Thank you all for your comments and subscriptions. I'm sorry to all the people I made cry. :,,(