At last...another update ^^ Happy New Year to all my readers and subscribers!! Hope 2012 brings loads of love, happiness and wealth to you all ^___^

Nichkhun walked back into his house and suddenly felt so lonely. All the ingredients for cooking the meal were still left on the counter top. The scent of Victoria’s perfume was still lingered in the air. Nichkhun walked in and suddenly felt tighten in his heart. Tears started to form in his eyes and pretty soon they were trickling down his cheeks uncontrollably.

“Aishhh!!!” shouted Nichkhun and grabbed up a pillow on the sofa and threw it across the room

“Arghhhh!!!!” grunted Nichkhun and swiped all the magazines on the coffee table onto the floor in frustration

His hands started shaking, his chest breathing heavily. It hurt so much that he was having a fight with Victoria again. It hurt so much that the woman that he loved the most was having doubts about him. It hurt so much that she said that he couldn’t be trusted. It hurt to know that despite all this love for her he still couldn’t convince her that he would never cheat on her. He couldn’t help but wondered why everything happened the way it did. Why did he have to fight with her, what did he ever do to deserve something like this. He slumped down on the sofa with his hands covering his face

“Why can’t you trust me??” said Nichkhun aloud

Meanwhile in a taxi

Victoria was sitting in the back of a taxi that she hailed in front of Nichkhun’s house. She got on and immediately told the driver her home address. Silently sitting at the back she began to reflect on what had just happened. She couldn’t believe that he would lie to her again. Tears began to well up in her eyes and soon she couldn’t hold it in anymore. A little cry quickly turned into a heavy sob and pretty soon Victoria was burying her face in her hands trying her hardest to control her tears, but failed completely. The taxi driver who was a man in his 60’s looked at his rear view mirror and said

“What’s wrong young lady??....Why are you crying???....A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be crying your eyes out…you should be enjoying your life” asked the old man in a concerned voice

“I’m ok ahjusshi….I’ll be ok” said Victoria while wiping tears away from her face

“Let me guess….It’s about love right??....There’s only one thing in life that could render a person completely incapacitated and lost” said the old man in a calm and understanding tone of voice

“I’m sorry ahjusshi….I don’t want to be like this, but I can’t help myself….It hurts too much” said Victoria in a trembling voice

“No, don’t be sorry young lady…. I don’t know what happened to you, but being in love isn’t always happy, it isn’t always about holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes. Love takes a lot of work, whether this love and how much work it requires was worth it or not for you, that you will have to decide….it’s normal for us to fall in love, fall out of love, get hurt by love, but don’t ever give up on love young lady…it’s the only thing that make human life worth living….” said the old man in a calm voice like someone who had been through life

“Thank you ahjusshi” said Victoria and began to ponder on what the old man had just said

Victoria never really thought about the other side of love before. She knew that she was in love with Nichkhun and she thought that that was enough. Growing up in a loving home all she ever witnessed from her parents were nothing but love and all its greatness. It was now that she suddenly thought of something. She wondered if her mom had ever doubted her dad when he was away for his many business trips. She wondered if her parents had ever quarreled about trust. If her mother had ever cried herself to sleep because of their argument just like she did with Nichkhun. She never knew that love had its ugly side as well. She was beginning to wonder if she could actually handle the other side of love. She was beginning to wonder if she has what it takes to handle all the baggage that comes with being in love with Nichkhun. Having to hide their relationship from the public, never allowed to go out on a date like normal people. She could never enjoy the little things that people take for granted. Things like holding hands in public, going out to watch a movie, go window shopping or a picnic in the park on a Sunday morning. Things that she had dreamt of doing with her boyfriend, but never allowed to do. She was beginning to think that maybe this love required a lot more than she could give

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The next day

Nichkhun couldn’t wait to get to the shooting set. He couldn’t wait to see Gyuri and confronted her about the earring incident. He walked in and saw her looking bright eyed all smile and cheerful and he honestly felt like strangling her. Nichkhun marched up towards Gyuri and stared into her eyes with angry expression on his face

“We need to talk” said Nichkhun obviously angry at her and walked off to a quieter and secluded place where they can talk in private

Gyuri knew what he wanted to talk to her about, but she pretended to look innocent and followed him along

“Did you know that you left your earring in my bed last night Gyuri???” said Nichkhun through gritted teeth

“Oh I didn’t realize that until I got home, but I was too tired so I figured I’ll ask you about it today……Why am I getting the feeling that you’re mad at me Khun??...Did something happen to you??” said Gyuri looking at him innocently with her big eyes

“Yes!!...something happened!!...My girlfriend found your earring in my bed and now she’s furious with me!!!” said Nichkhun in an irritated and raised voice

“Oh no!!!.....I’m so sorry Khun!!...I never meant for any of this to happen….I honestly didn’t realize that my earring fell off in your bed!!....I’m really really sorry Khun” said Gyuri with her head hung low pretending to feel guilty about what happened

“Sorry isn’t going to make it better is it Gyuri??....Your apology to me isn’t going to make my girlfriend less mad at me now is it??....Why couldn’t you have been more careful Gyuri???....Why??...I’ve been nothing but nice to you and this is what I get???” said Nichkhun exasperated and frustrated

“I’m really really sorry Khun….I never meant for any of this to happen to you….I never meant to cause any problems with you and your girlfriend…...but Khun just hear me out ok??....I know you’re mad at me right now and you have every right to be, but we didn’t do anything wrong….you were just trying to help me….why couldn’t she understand that??....She’s your girlfriend…shouldn’t she trust you Khun??”

What she said struck a nerve at Nichkhun. He paused for a moment and Gyuri noticed it too. He couldn’t pretend that what she said wasn’t already in his mind. He had thought about it. He had wondered about it “shouldn’t she trust me?” he thought. Gyuri knew instantly that Nichkhun was thinking the same thing that she just said. His face told her that. She was delighted to see that finally Nichkhun was having doubts about his relationship with Victoria and that was exactly what Gyuri wanted

Nichkhun snapped back and pushed aside the thought that was in his mind and focused on Gyuri once again

“My relationship with my girlfriend is none of your business Gyuri” said Nichkhun through gritted teeth with a stern expression on his face and stormed out

Gyuri didn’t mind his actions and what he said to her. She knew he was mad and frustrated about everything that had happened. She was willing to take it for now because she had expected things to go this way. She didn’t mind that because she had already said what she wanted to say. She had already planted the seed of doubt inside his head, just from the look on his face she knew that he had already thought about it too and that was enough for her. All she had to do was to wait for that seed to take root and grow and that was when she’ll reap the fruits of her labor

That afternoon during lunch break

Gyuri snugged out of set because she had an appointment with Lee Joo Won at a nearby café. When she arrived she saw Lee Joo Won was already there waiting for her. He was sitting at a table next to the café window looking out onto the busy street and people walking by. Gyuri approached him and sat down at the chair opposite from him

“It’s good that you’re on time….let’s get down to it….tell me exactly what happened that day Mr. Lee Joo Won” said Gyuri looking straight into his eyes

“I’ve told you everything….What more do you want from me Miss Gyuri??” said Lee Joo Won in and irritated voice

“I want to make sure that your incompetence and stupidity will not come back to haunt me later…so If you want the rest of the payment from me…I suggest you tell me everything” said Gyuri sternly

Lee Joo Won had no choice but to comply with her wish. He didn’t really care anymore; all he wanted was the rest of the payment and to be done with it. He began recounting the incident to Gyuri who listened intently

Outside on the street

Luna stopped her car at the intersection as the light turned red. She turned to the left and immediately noticed a woman and a man sitting by the window at a café engaging in what looked to be a serious conversation. Luna squinted her eyes trying to recall who the woman was and then suddenly she remembered, it was Gyuri. Luna gasped in shocked and began observing the interaction between Gyuri and the man sitting across from her. From their interactions and the expressions on their faces Luna could tell that neither one of them really enjoy each other’s company all that much. Gyuri’s facial expression was more of contempt and the man was talking with his hands moving animatedly looking a little annoyed. Gyuri then asked the man a question which he answered half-heartedly while rolling his eyes at her. Gyuri then proceeded to reach into her purse and took out a white fat envelope and slide it across the table to the man who took it greedily and proceeded to take out the content inside. It was a big fat chunk of money. The man began to sift through the money quickly then put the envelope in the inside pocket of his jacket

“Beeeppp Beeeeppp Beeeeeppppp” the sound of a car horn honking behind Luna suddenly startled her. The light had turned green and Luna had no choice but to drive off and left her curiosity of what Gyuri was doing with the man and why was she paying him a lot of money behind

“What was she doing with that man??....Why did she give him a lot of money??...Why do I have this uneasy feeling about this??” thought Luna

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It has already been 5 days since the incident at Nichkhun’s house. During the past five days Nichkhun had been trying to contact Victoria through every means necessary but to no avail. Victoria completely refused to acknowledge his attempts to contact her, to talk to her, to explain to her what happened. Nichkhun had called and left numerous voice messages, sent dozens and dozens of texts and even showed up unannounced at her house several times in an attempt to get her to talk to him, to hear him out. However, despite all his efforts Victoria was still adamant at avoiding him.

The constant agonizing over his relationship with Victoria was starting to affect his personality and his attitude on set. Nichkhun was getting gloomier by the day. It was obvious to everyone on set that something was bothering him because he began to talk less and less. He barely spoke to anyone and only did so when he absolutely had to. During the break he would stay in his trailer minding his own business and people on set were beginning to think of him as a snob. They thought that he didn’t want to talk to them because he was Nichkhun, the famous actor. People were beginning to avoid talking to him and giving him smirk or rolled their eyes at him behind his back. They didn’t know that he was hurting so much and misunderstood his pain as self-righteousness.

Nichkhun was drained physically and more importantly, emotionally. He knew that Victoria was furious with him and she had every right to be, but avoiding him wasn’t going to solve the problem. He wanted to talk to her to have an open heart talk about everything that bothered her. He felt that it was the only way for them to get through this hardship together. He wanted her to know that their love meant so much for him that he was not willing to let it go that easily. He didn’t want to play the “pride” game with her. To him it didn’t matter who apologize first the only thing that matter was that they finally understood each other better through this hardship. However, in order for them to begin to understand each other better they have to start talking, but it was something that Victoria was unwilling to do.

Another development in the past five days was that Teacyeon had called Nichkhun to let him know about the progress of finding the mysterious Lee J.W. He had informed him that Krystal had gone through the department store database of its members and narrowed down the members whose last name was Lee and whose initials was J.W and still came up with more than a hundred of possible suspects

“She had narrowed it down and so far there’re more than a hundred of Lee J.Ws on the department store database, but she’s going to check for the last transaction that was used on this particular card and hopefully she will come up with a picture of the man through the store security camera….let’s just hope that the last transaction that he made at the store was captured on camera…I’ll let you know about the progress when she find out more” said Teacyeon

“Oh one more thing….Krystal asked me to tell you that she knows about what happened at your house and the reason why she’s still helping you find this guy is because she’s doing this for her best friend….because she wants to get to the bottom of this and if at the end it turns out that you really are cheating on Victoria then you’ll have a lot more to worry about than a photographer stalking you…..there that was her message for you man…..now it’s my turn…..have you talk to Victoria at all?” asked Teacyeon concerned and worried

“No, she wouldn’t answer any of my calls or texts....I left her hundreds of messages already…I even showed up at her house but she refused to see me…..I really want to talk to her, but I just don’t know how” answered Nichkhun with a heavy sigh

“She’s probably still angry with you Khun….I mean it was pretty bad” said Teacyeon

“I know she’s mad at me, but I didn’t help Gyuri because she was Gyuri Teac….I helped her because she needed help….I would have done the same thing regardless if it was Gyuri or not…..I understand why she was mad at me, but I need to let her know that she doesn’t need to be….I need her to understand that there’s no way I could have love anyone else but her…..I need her to understand that even though I may be working with my ex-girlfriend but Gyuri and no other girl could ever mean anything to me as much as Victoria does….I need her to understand that, to take comfort in that….so that we would never again fight over something as petty as this” said Nichkhun frustratingly

“Khun I know how you feel….I know you love Victoria very much….and I know that you would never cheat on her….you’re not that kind of person….but you still have to make her understand that she could trust you despite whatever happened” said Teacyeon in a calm and gentle voice

“I know….and that’s what I’ve been trying to do…..I know that trust is important for any relationship….. I just want her to trust me just like I chose to trust her when we’re not together….when I’m off flying half way across the world…..I just wish that she would give me time to explain that to her…..I need to find a way to get her to talk to me…..or at least to pick up my calls…” said Nichkhun with a heavy sigh

“Good luck man….If you need anything, Wooyoung and I are always here for you” said Teacyeon sincerely 

“Thanks Teac and please thank Krystal for me…Regardless of her intentions on helping me I still owe her a big time” said Nichkhun gratefully to his best friend

“No problem….I’ll tell her” said Teacyeon and hung up

Meanwhile at La Caffe

Victoria walked into La Caffe looking as if half her soul was missing. She looked like someone who had just discovered that they have an incurable disease. Luna looked at Victoria and suddenly felt like someone had just all the air out of the room. She couldn’t take it anymore. Luna walked over to Victoria and grabbed her hand and dragged her to a table at the back of the restaurant where it was secluded and sat her down

“Oh Vic…..look at you…..you look terrible…..did you get any sleep at all??” asked Luna holding Victoria’s hand in hers looking worried at her best friend

“Not really Luna…..I tried to, but I just couldn’t really sleep….I might have gotten a few hours of shut eyes though” said Victoria looking dead tired

“Oh Vic….you shouldn’t be doing this to yourself…..Why don’t you talk to Khun??....You guys need to talk it out and fix this….I don’t like seeing you like this” said Luna heartbroken at the sight of her best friend in pain

“I don’t know how to talk to him Luna….I don’t know if I can trust him” said Victoria tears b in her eyes

“Come on Vic….Do you really believe that Khun would cheat on you???....Do you really believe that he would cheat on you with that woman who broke his heart???....Tell me something Vic…Do you honestly think that Khun cheated on you??” asked Luna looking straight into Victoria’s eyes

Victoria paused for a while and contemplated what Luna had just asked her and thought about what Nichkhun told her that night

“No, I don’t think he cheated on me….He might have lied to me, but I believed him when he told me that he was just helping her” said Victoria in a determined voice

“Then why don’t you talk to him??....I don’t understand?...You don’t think he cheated then why torture yourself??” asked Luna looking confused

“Oh Luna it’s not that easy….even if he didn’t cheat he still lied to me.....Why didn’t he just tell me the truth??” said Victoria frustrated

“Vic have you ever consider why he didn’t tell you?....Try putting yourself in his shoes Vic…what would you do if you were him??....You would abandon someone in pain just like that??....and you know he couldn’t take her to the hospital or it’ll be a scandal so what was he supposed to do??....maybe he didn’t tell you because he believed in you….maybe he believed in your love for one another….maybe he thought that you of all people would understand him best, that you’d know why he did what he did without having to ask for permission or telling you. Maybe he didn’t tell you because to him it meant nothing and that your love was secure enough that both of you don’t need to concern or worry about a petty thing like this…have you ever consider that?? Maybe he thought that you’d trust him enough to know that he would never do anything to hurt you” said Luna

“Vic…let me tell you something, being in a relationship is hard….Love takes a lot of work….You need to learn to trust him otherwise how can your love grow???....Without trust you can never be in a stable relationship….Trusting him doesn’t mean that you have to close your eyes and pretend not to see anything….but it means despite all the things that happened inside your heart you should be able to know what kind of man you had given your heart to….take comfort in that, trust that and not what appears to happen” said Luna calmly

Victoria knew what Luna was trying to say to her. She was really upset and angry when the incident happened, but as time passed and she had cool down she had been thinking that she might have overreacted a little bit and that she should have listen to her boyfriend a little more.

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For the past five days Gyuri hand been observing Nichkhun meticulously and from the way he had been acting she knew that he still hadn’t mended things with Victoria. She took this as a good sign for her to press on with her plan to break them up

“Khun you’re not looking right….are you still having trouble with your girlfriend??” asked Gyuri in a concerned voice and a worried expression on her face

“It’s none of your business Gyuri” said Nichkhun coldly and ignored her

“Khun please….I’m sorry about what happened….I really am…and I want to fix this….I have to fix this…it pains me to know that I’ve caused trouble between you two” said Gyuri looking straight into his eyes trying to convince him of her sincerity

“Fix it??...How are you planning on fixing this???.....What makes you think that you can fix this, she doesn’t even take my calls…..What makes you think she’ll listen to you??” said Nichkhun sarcastically and unknowingly let out information to Gyuri that he and Victoria still had their misunderstanding

“Oh Khun hear me out first ok??....I’m also a woman and I know what she’s thinking right now….I think if I talk to her…..then she might understand…..I want to show her my sincerity……I want her to know that she could trust you and that there’s nothing going on between us….You know an open and honest talk between two women….I really think if she had met me and see that I am not a threat then I really think she’ll forgive you” said Gyuri in a calm and collective voice

“What do you mean open and honest talk between two women??” asked Nichkhun looking a bit confused

“Well I think if you could tell her that I want to apologize for causing trouble between you two….tell her that I want to treat you guys dinner and give me and her an opportunity to talk privately, to give her a chance to say what’s on her mind without fearing that you wouldn’t approve and for us to clear the air…..I’ll make a reservation for dinner at a place where we have a private meeting….all you have to do is to get her to agree to come and I’ll do anything for her to forgive you Khun” said Gyuri smiling encouragingly at Nichkhun

Out of desperation to get back with her Nichkhun thought for a while and agreed that it might not be such a bad idea to have Gyuri tried to clear the air between her and Victoria. He thought that if Victoria has met Gyuri in person and hear directly from Gyuri that there was nothing between them then she might feel better and forgive him

Nichkhun texted Victoria telling her about Gyuri’s plan and told her that he would really love it if she could come. At first Victoria was hesitant, but thinking about what Luna had said to her she felt that she really should have listen to her boyfriend a little more. Moreover, Victoria was also curious about Gyuri, she couldn’t deny that a part of her wanted to know the woman who used to mean everything to Nichkhun too. Victoria wanted to get a feel of the real Gyuri, she wanted to know if all the incidents that had happened between Nichkhun and Gyuri were purely coincidental or was it planned. With that in mind Victoria agreed to the dinner invitation

Gyuri had made a reservation for a private room at an exclusive French restaurant. The private room that Gyuri had reserved had a one-way mirror which allowed the occupants in the room to be able to see the outside but not the other way around which gave the guests total privacy.

Gyuri was the first one to arrive at the restaurant. Gyuri was sitting at the table facing the one-way mirror looking lovely in her beautiful mid length charcoal gray fitted waist dress that hugged every curve on her body. After a while Nichkhun and Victoria walked into the room. Gyuri immediately got up and smiled her bright smile and greeted them

“Hello Miss Victoria….it was nice of you to come…..I’m Park Gyuri” said Gyuri and extended her hand to Victoria while looking into her eyes

Victoria looked at Gyuri with a calculating look on her face and took Gyuri’s hand

“Hello Miss Gyuri….it was nice of you to invite me for dinner” said Victoria with a little smile on her face and sat down opposite from Gyuri

Nichkhun sat down next to Victoria trying to gauge the emotion in the room and to his relief Victoria seemed to be in a somewhat enjoyable mood and that gave Nichkhun a sense of relief that things were going fine and hope that at the end Victoria would understand that there was nothing going on between him and Gyuri

Gyuri was smiling brightly and trying to create a lovely atmosphere to which Victoria and Nichkhun were grateful.

“Miss Victoria first of all, thank you for coming tonight….it means a lot to me that you have agreed to come….I hope you don’t mind Miss Victoria, I’ve taken the liberty to order the specialty here for you….It’s the best beef tenderloin you could ever find in this city….oh and I hope you like red wine because I’ve also order a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for us as well” said Gyuri smiling brightly at Victoria to which Victoria replied with a polite smile of her own

“Thank you for inviting me too Miss Gyuri” said Victoria feeling more comfortable at the atmosphere

Sensing that Victoria was quite comfortable with her surrounding, Nichkhun took that as a sign to leave Gyuri and Victoria alone so they could have their open heart talk so he excused himself to go to the bathroom. Once Nichkhun had left the room Gyuri’s expression changed abruptly

“So Miss Victoria….How does it feel to be the famous Nichkhun’s girlfriend??.... it’s a lot harder than you thought right??” asked Gyuri with a little smirk on her face

“Any relationship is hard Miss Gyuri….It has nothing to do with Nichkhun” said Victoria looking a little confused to the sudden changed in Gyuri’s mannerism and expression

“Really??....I would have thought that it was hard on you…seeing how you handled your relationship and all” said Gyuri with a little scoff at Victoria

“What was that supposed to mean??....Why do I get the feeling that you know than you let on about what happened to me and Khun??” said Victoria with a serious expression

“Well….I’m just going to come out and say it to you because I don’t like to beat around the bush……..Yes I know more about your relationship with Khun and I have every intention of getting him back and I will do everything necessary to make that happen.....so may I suggest that you give up now because I'm not stopping until he's mine” said Gyuri looking straight into Victoria’s eyes challenging her. The lovely and friendly expression earlier was now gone

Victoria was shocked to hear this. She was completely shocked to see how a person could be such deceitful and manipulative. It was scary and disgusting for Victoria to witness. She was shocked and couldn’t think of a proper response to Gyuri’s statement. It took her a minute to register what Gyuri had just said

“I see…..so it was you all this time…..it was you who sent those pictures to me….it was you who had that guy following Nichkhun…..I supposed the earring incident wasn’t an accident too wasn’t it???”asked Victoria calmly with a dignifying tone of voice

“I supposed you could say that….It was an opportunity and I was willing to take it…..I told you I’m willing to do anything to make him mine again” said Gyuri smiling her bright smile at Victoria

“Isn’t that a little low???.....I could never imagine anyone stooping that low just to get a guy” said Victoria sarcastically

“You have no idea what a person is capable of Miss Victoria….you have no idea what life can throw at you….and don’t play the I’m-a-noble-person card on me…..even you are capable of such thing when you have to” said Gyuri stood up pointing her finger at Victoria and speaking through gritted teeth

“Don’t you ever compare me to you Miss Gyuri…..I’m not as low as you…..nor will I ever be!!!” said Victoria also stood up pointing her finger right back at Gyuri and speaking sarcastically while eyeing Gyuri from head to toe

Behind Victoria outside the room Gyuri could see through one-way mirror that Nichkhun was walking back from the bathroom

“I don’t care what you think of me….all I care about is that I’m the winner at the end” said Gyuri smirking and suddenly grabbed Victoria’s wine glass and splashed it onto herself and fell down to the floor

“Arghhh” Gyuri screamed as if someone was assaulting her

Victoria’s mind went completely numb at what just happened. Seconds later Nichkhun opened the door and walked in and shocked registered on his face when he saw Gyuri laying on the floor covered in red wine

“What….what’s going on???” said Nichkhun shocked and confused

“Why are you doing this to me Miss Victoria???....I told you that Nichkhun and I are just friends!!!!….there’s really no need for you to do this to me…..I’ve been nothing but nice to you all evening….I’ve tried to show you my sincerity, but you’re too jealous!!!....I can’t believe that Nichkhun would fall for someone like you!!!!” said Gyuri tears b in her eyes looking like a lost little girl

Victoria was shocked. Her eyes widen at what Gyuri had just said. She immediately turned to look at Nichkhun who had just as shocked expression on his face after hearing what Gyuri said

“And that’s the final nail in the coffin Miss Victoria….. Let’s see what he’ll think of you now” thought Gyuri