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I walked out of the ballroom to where all the guest were gathered. My dress was ruin, torn, stained and cut. My hair was in a curly mess.

“Rin!” mama ran up to me she looked shocked, “Are you okay?” she checked my arms and gasped when she saw the wound I had. “Yixing! Come here!”

He ran over and saw my cuts. Without saying anything, he asked a nearby employee for a first aid kit. Mama brought me to a seat and I sat there as the security guards did their work, I think there were police officers around as well. Then someone placed their coat on me, I looked up and he looked away immediately.

“You are shivering. Use my jacket.” He said before turning away. I watched as his white figure got further and further away. I didn’t know I was cold but probably from the drenched dress and the air condition. I looked down at his jacket and I held it closer, it had his scent, green tea.

Lay came and sat in front of me, mama and papa were stand near me as he fixed me up. I watched as he applied the antiseptic cream on my wounds. He was so gentle and I couldn’t help but stare at him.

“Why didn’t you tell us? You are no longer Xue’s bodyguard you know. We could have done something about it.”

“You don’t know them. They are dangerous.” He looked up.

“You know them?” I didn’t respond. “Who are they?” he asked.

“Just don’t let Xue out of your sight when I’m gone. Make sure that one of you is always with her no matter what.” I said as he wrapped up my last wound and took a plaster.

“Why do you care so much about her? Even after the way she treats you.” he paused and held the plaster in front of my cheek.

“She is someone’s precious someone.” Placed the plaster on my cheek where I got a cut.

“You are too kind.” He said softly. “Too kind for your own good.”

What can I say? He was kind too, my whole family was. It’s in the genetics.

“Let’s just go back.” I stood up. “Mama, sorry about the party.”

“Nonono! Thank you for letting us know about it.” She looked at me apologetically.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” I held her hand to assure her. “Is it okay if I go back first? I’m a bit drain from just now.”

“Of course! Go and rest. I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiled and patted my hand.

“Good night mama, papa.”

“Good night.” they both replied and Lay took my hand in is, leading me to the entrance of the hotel. The valet brought the car and we boarded it. It was a quiet drive back home.

“I’ll be in my room, all that action has made me exhausted.” I said as we entered the house. It was quiet since we were the first home.

“Okay. Rest well.” I nodded and went upstairs. I changed out of the dress and took a quick shower before opening my laptop. As expected, Dae oppa had already sent me the information on Starship. The ones that I didn’t have before. I transferred everything into the thumb drive and ejected it.

Opening the folder, I started memorising their information. Every single one of them, from the guys to the ladies, their specialties to the way they look. Halfway through, I heard the rest coming back. I had the door of my room locked so I could have some time alone. And since I was working in the dark, I dimmed the light coming from my laptop. I heard some chattering from outside.

“Don’t bother, she locked the room. I tried opening it just now.”

“But, she is alone.”

“I know, she is fine. Give her some space.” Lay said.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, her cuts are not deep. But I’m not too sure if she is okay emotionally. Not when she has gone through so much."

"She's so young...." I couldn't hear what someone else, I think it was Jongdae talking.

"Just let her sleep. Tonight has been a rough night for her."

"But-"

"She will be fine, Kai. Trust me. She won't do anything, I know she won't." After a few protests by some of them, namely Jongin and Sehun, heard a couple of sighs outside and the footsteps went away. Just as I thought they all left, I saw a shadow outside my room. Slowly, I got out of bed and walked to the door.

"I'm sorry." his voice sounded pained. "I didn't know she would do that." I closed my eyes as I heard him, I rested my head on the door.

"I’ll make her change, I promise." my heart squeezed and I tear up. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that and for doubting you in the past. I'm probably the worst friend you have huh?" he let out a soft chuckle.

A chuckle of disbelieve.

"I'm the worst friend ever. P-Please forgive me." I cried silently.  A part of me wants to forgive but another part doesn't want too. Not when he made me like this. "I want us to go back to what we were last time. Just talking about our problems and chilling at the balcony. Those were really good times, I won't forget them, never." he sighed sadly.

"D-Do you really have to go?" he asked ever so softly. I closed my eyes as tears flowed down endlessly. "Please don't go. D-Don't leave me alone." he whispered.

'I don't want to.'

That was my answer to him.

I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with him. I want to be the first one he sees when he wakes up. The one who makes him breakfast and watch him eat. The one who comforts and encourage him when he is in a dilemma. The one who will shower him with love and hugs when he needs them. The one who will be next to him supporting him for the rest of his life. Most importantly, the one who will make him smile. I wanted to be that person. Just this once, in this life, I want to be with him. Was it too much to ask?

"I hope you will get better." he said and I heard him walking away. His footsteps were heavy. I let out a soft whimper as I slid down to the floor.

Why must this happen to me? Why do I have to go through this? Why was fate so cruel?

Why must he make me into a monster?

Starship was long forgotten. I stayed in that position for a long time, crying silently. I cried my heart out until no tears flowed anymore. Once I've calm down significantly, I got up. I've made up my mind.

I'm not going to cry anymore.

I'm not going to cry because of him. I won't let him affect me anymore, no matter how hard my heart beats upon seeing him or hearing his voice. I am going to ignore that feeling. I am going to block them all out. They will be outside of my bubble, they won't be able to get in. I'm closing myself in, building a wall around my heart.

I didn’t want to be hurt again.

Walking back to the bed, I resumed memorizing their information. I needed a distraction, something that will keep me from thinking of them.

Call me heartless but I was determine on making it work. It is my life and I'm going to control it my way. And the only way was chasing them away or what others say, I'm running away from my problems.

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Kris POV:

Xue was really pretty, she really was. When she came down the stairs at home in her baby pink tube dress, my heart raced upon seeing her. I was really happy to have her as my girlfriend. I thought she was the most beautiful lady I had seen. But when I saw Rin walking into the ballroom, arms linking with Lay, she took my breath away. She shone brighter than Xue. It was probably the first time we all saw her in a dress and all dolled up. Unknowingly, my eyes trailed after her, watching her every step. The way she walked, the way the dress fitted her perfectly, the way she linked arms with Lay and the way she talks. Everything she did was so graceful. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Compared to Xue, she had a different kind of beauty. Xue was outstanding and loud in a certain way. Anyone who looks at her would agree that she is beautiful. Rin on the other hand had this aura around her. The way she portray herself, the way she carries herself was different from Xue. She was the kind that makes people do a double take. I feel calm just by watching her.

When Xue dragged me nearer to them, I got to see her more clearly. She didn’t wear lots of makeup but a thin layer that was natural looking. Looking at how Lay was so close to her, I was a bit upset. I know that they were getting closer and she was his date for the night but still I couldn’t help but feel a bit upset.

I watched as she conversed with Mr Wong and I could tell that he was really impressed. I didn’t know that she could talk business. It was something I failed to know as her friend. He was right, she was a keeper. She had the skills, the brains and the beauty. Whoever gets her would surely be lucky. When he directed that comment to Lay, I got more upset. When Lay didn’t deny it either, the feeling got worse. I didn’t know why, but I just felt weird seeing them together.

When I saw what Xue did to her just now, it startled me. I never thought that Xue would do something like this. Maybe what Chen said was true. None of us actually took noticed of this. And if these things actually happened without our knowledge, she kept quiet about it. She didn’t mention anything about it.

She suffered in silence.

The look on her face when Xue poured wine on her, she didn’t even look angry. She looked more hurt. It was not a face I would see on her, she was never sad or was she? She never showed it. Suddenly, she appeared, asking us to take Xue away, I wondered what she was doing. We moved her away, all of us surrounded Xue just in case. Once we were a safe distance, I turned and I saw a lady lunged at her, I knew that I shouldn’t have moved from my position.

She fought with her. I’ve never seen her in action. I regretted my actions in the past. I regretted doubting her skills. She fought against the lady, it wasn’t a fair one but was matched with the lady. She had a knife, Rin was fighting bare handed. Knowing that Xue was in safe hands of the others, especially when Tao was with her, I wanted to help her. But with all the crowd panicking, I couldn’t get to her, instead, I got pushed out, away from her. I watched her get kicked, she didn’t even pause or flinch in pain. She immediately attacked. A day before, she was discharged from the hospital but she was fighting like she wasn’t sick at all. The lady escaped and I managed to make my way in. she was injured.

I was sad when she pushed me away. I held her tightly and she struggled to break free, her hair was in a mess but it looked lovely to me. For a moment, she made me forget that I had a girlfriend. She had that effect on me.

I walked down the corridor and went into my room. I didn’t want to lose her. I don’t want her to leave. I’ll be lying if I said that she doesn’t hold a special place in heart. She was my very first female friend. She was someone I could tell things too and not feel burden or worried that she will tell other people. She was my only confide.

I sat on the bed and buried my head in my hands. Why was I feeling this way? I’m not supposed to be like this right? She is just a friend and it just happened that today, she looked really pretty. That’s all it is to it, right? I was confused. I heard a knock on my door.

“Hyung? Can we come in?” I looked up and saw Suho standing by the door. I nodded and all of them came in, all except Lay.

“Where is Yixing?”

“He is in the shower.” Chen replied.

“What is it? It’s not normal for all of you to gather in my room without something to say.” I looked at all of them.

“You know right? That you are changing.” I nodded. “Is it because of Xue?” Xiumin asked.

“I believe so.”

“What makes you so sure? I mean, we all know that you are cursed but we don’t know that you could actually break it.” Suho asked.

“Actually, there is a way. I didn’t tell you all, I only told Yixing.” They looked surprised. I guess it was time to tell them.

“You see, I’ve been having these dreams, though recently it stopped. It’s always about a girl. At first I didn’t know why I was having these dreams. Then I figured it out. I had to find her. Only she could break my curse.”

“How do you find her?” Luhan asked.

“She has a marking on her back. That was my only clue besides the fact that she would make me feel again.”

“What kind of marking?”

“A flower.”

“Xue has something similar on her back.” Luhan said. “It wasn’t clear or obvious when she was younger, but when she got older, she decided to tattoo over it, making it look more like a flower. A sunflower to be exact.”

“I saw that when we were in Busan. That’s why I’m sure that she is the one.”

“You said that you got all these clues from your dreams right?” I nodded at Chen. “What makes you so sure that Xue is the one? I mean sunflower or not, it could be anything else. And from what Luhan hyung said, she had a marking but it wasn’t a sunflower. It looked like only.”

“There was something, I can’t seem to remember right now. But being with her, I’m happy. I could feel emotions when I’m with her. I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“Don’t hurt her you hear me? If you do, I’ll come for your head. She may be a spoilt child but she is still my sister.”

“I won’t.” I smiled and they looked at me shocked. I just shrugged it off and some of them smiled back.

“I guess this clears up everything.” Suho said and stood up. “Let’s go and rest. We have a flight to catch tomorrow.” Everyone nodded and said their goodnights. That’s when I remembered it.

“Oh, Jongdae ah.” He stopped and turned. “I remembered the clue.” Everyone left already.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know why you are asking about it but I hope it answers your question. I remember drawing on her back, like it was a piece of memory from my past life. I told her that it symbolize hope, new beginnings and an undying love.” The moment I said it, I thought I saw him flinch. His face immediately changed, he paled.

“Are you sure you said that?” I nodded.

“It’s late hyung, you should rest. Good night.” he said and rushed out. I closed the door behind him and wondered what could have caused him to look like that. I decided to rub it off, it might not be anything at all. I washed up and went to bed.

The next day, I got up bright and early. I slept for 7 hours the most but I felt refreshed. I packed my bags and went down to get something to eat. I walked out and at the same time, Rin came out of her room. My mood immediately lighted up I jogged up to her.

“Rin.” I called out to her but she didn’t turn back. It was like she couldn’t hear me. My jog turned into walking as I watched her go down the stairs. She was very straight and she didn’t have any expression. I followed her down and saw her heading to the kitchen, a few maids greeted her happily but she just walked pass them. They were shocked and baffled that she didn’t greet them like what she normally does. It was weird, it was not like her to not greet people. Something was definitely wrong.

I watched her silently as she maneuvered through the kitchen, doing her own things. She didn’t even make a sound. She made herself a slice of bread with jam and placed it into . It was when she turned around, I knew something had happened. I looked at her, straight into her eyes. They were emotionless. She looked back at me cold hard eyes, I shivered a little. If her eyes could kill, I would have been dead by now. She turned her head and went back upstairs with the bread in .

“Rin.” I called out softly but she continued to climb the stairs. From her back view, she looked so small, so lonely.

I was worried. What caused her to become like this? She was a lovely girl, she smile could light up anyone’s bad day. That was when I realised, she stopped smiling. She no longer smiled.

“You are up early.”

“Good morning, Zhang mama.” I bowed and she smiled. “I’ll get breakfast ready, could you wake the others up? I wouldn’t want them to miss their flight.” I nodded and went back upstairs. I went to every room, knocking on the door, pulling blankets off and even blasting music, waking everyone up. Of course, I didn’t do that to Xue. I woke her up normally like a normal person would. She smiled at me as soon as she woke up and she looked cute. I waited for her to get ready and we went down together. Most of them were already downstairs with their bags and were eating breakfast together.

“Yixing ah, where is Rin?” he looked up and I looked around. I mentally slapped myself for forgetting to call her. I got too caught up with Xue, it slipped my mind.

“I’ll go call her.” he pushed the chair back and went upstairs. After a while, both of them came down the stairs together.

“Rin ah! Did you sleep well?” Zhang mama asked her but she just looked at her before nodding. She didn’t even open . Mama seem to have noticed this as well and walked closer to her. “Are you feeling alright? Do you feel unwell anywhere?” Rin blinked before shaking her head slowly. By now, it wasn’t just me and mama, Yixing, Chen and a few others noticed her sudden change. Her actions and the way she responded, it wasn’t her. It was very stiff and very robot like.

“Are you sure.” She nodded once and looked ahead. Yixing looked at his mother and they didn’t know what to do. She changed overnight.

“Rin ah, come with me for a while.” Mama held her hand and led her to the backyard. I couldn’t help but keep looking in their direction, I was worried about her.

“Why aren’t you eating?” I turned back to Xue. She looked at me with her big eyes.

“Oh, I’ll eat.” I smiled a bit and took a piece of bread. Thoughts of her were still at the back of my head.

After a while they came back in and mama’s eyes were a bit red. Rin was still the same. She sat in a corner and stared into space. It was scary, to tell you the truth, we all didn’t know what was happening to her. We cleared the dishes and some of them tried talking to her. She didn’t even reply them.

“You guys better get going or you will miss your flight.” Mama said and we went out with our bags.

Yixing hugged his mother and father and we all received a hug from them. When she got to Rin, she couldn’t help but tear up. She tugged Rin’s hair behind her ear and looked at her.

“Take care. If fate allows it, we will meet again.” we were all boarding the bus when I heard her voice.

“If fate allows us.”

Once she boarded the bus, we headed to the airport. Everyone chatted while she sat in the front alone, staring out the window. I want to know what she was thinking. I actually wished that at this point of time, I could read her mind. I couldn't bear to see someone like her become like this, it pained me. She was always by my side, encouraging me. She was that kind of person. I wanted to help her.

"Kris, did you hear me?" I broke my gaze and looked down at Xue who hugging onto my arm.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she rolled her eyes and let go of my arm, folding her arm in front of her chest.

"Hmph. You didn't even listen to me when I talked."

"I'm sorry." I touched her arm. "I was thinking about something. Sorry." she peeked at me then she smiled.

"Just don't ever do that again." I nodded.

"Argh, you are so cute!" she squeezed my cheeks, I pulled back in shock. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing just don't do that again."

We reached the airport and everyone got off the bus. As soon as we entered the airport, I heard whispers and people we're looking at us.

"Is that his girlfriend? That girl is lucky. He's so handsome and she is so pretty." I couldn't help but smile when I heard that. We looked good together.

"The other guys aren't that bad either." We were gathering a lot of attention. Not heeding them any attention we made our way to the check in counter. One by one we checked in and then headed to the rest area. There was a group of girls following us from behind.

"Hey, did you see that girl? She's pretty." instead of hearing female voices, I heard male ones. I turned around and was about to glare at them but that's when I realised that they weren't talking about Xue. But to my surprise, they weren’t even looking at her. "Do you think she is taken?" I looked at the direction that they were facing, one of them slowly made his way over to her and I didn't like it. I didn't like that they were hitting on my friend. They were looking at Rin.

‘Oh no you don't.’

I was about to walk towards their direction when someone beat me to it. If it was Yixing, I would have been assured but it wasn't him.

I heard a couple of sighs. "Dang, she's taken!"

"Hey, why are you here alone? We should seat together." he sat next to her. She didn't say anything. I watched as he reached out and held her hand, his expression changed into a serious one. I immediately clenched my fist tightly. Then he turn towards her and whispered something to her. Her eyes widened and she pulled back. She stared back at him.

"Please tell me I’m wrong?" he sounded like he was pleading with her. She looked a bit shocked and it was the first time her expression changed that day. Though she isn’t small in size, she was slightly taller than Xue. However, seeing her next to Chen, she looked small against him. She looked so fragile.

"How did you know?" his face fell, like how hopes were dashed. He stood up and pulled her up, together they walked away from us. I didn't move from my place, the scene kept replaying in my head.

She held his hand.

Besides Yixing, Kai and Sehun, I've never seen her holding hands with the others. Not once. There was this indescribable feeling building up inside.

"Where is Rin?" Yixing asked after a while and everyone looked around.

"There they are. She is with Jongdae." they walked back together, still hand in hand. She was back to normal, wearing an emotionless and cold looking face.

"Where did you guys go?"

"Just walking around. We had time." he shrugged and picked up his bag.

"Let's go, it's time to board." I turned and looked at her, she just stared ahead. Together we all boarded the plane for Seoul.

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Dont hate Kris, he too is having a slight hard time.Try to understand him. Someone found out about Rin's secret. What's going to happen?

Thanks for the comments and subscribers!

Happy reading:)