Nichkhun was in the middle of getting himself settled for bed; he’d just finished talking to Victoria for the night. Now that Miranda is back in Seoul he can’t linger at the house like he used to, although he still stays and spends time with her after Nicholas goes to sleep, he can’t whine his way into staying the night even though Miranda haven’t voiced anything against it. He felt it was the proper way to show respect for the head of the family. He is also considering this as part of his punishment.

He didn’t waste any time today though, earlier after he had taken Victoria back to her shop, he stayed there to help out. Miranda was completely surprised when she walks in the office to see him folding boxes and taking calls, he had created for himself a makeshift worktable in a corner. The eldest cousin lifted her brows up at Victoria for an explanation as to why a CEO was folding cake boxes in their shop. Victoria only smiles and shrugs as an answer.

They had both agreed not to let anyone else know about what happened. Apart from Ga-In who already pledged allegiance to Victoria, they choose to keep the incident hidden for now, it was just going to get nasty if her family – meaning mostly Krystal –  got wind of things and he fears prosecution from his own family, now if they get their friends involved it will surely be chaotic and possibly bloody.

He knew very well she was protecting him from their wrath and that just added to the list of things he had to atone for. He found that at every turn he needs to thank her for rescuing him and she doesn’t even mind nor expect anything in return. So now he decided that he is going to live his life only for her, he is going to make himself available to all her whims and her needs and wants. He doesn’t mind really, anything that will make her happy is going to be considered his accomplishment.

The laughter around the dinner table earlier just made his resolve stronger, he took one look around and he saw the future she is going to give him and it’s the one he’d always dreamed of. He is going to be part and have a family that loves so deeply and so vast it extends to everyone who deserves it. He is fighting to be one of the deserving ones.

He was just about to sleep when he remembers that he hadn’t reminded his girlfriend of their lunch date tomorrow, before he left for Tokyo he already arranged to have lunch with her on the day he was supposed to be back since he was scheduled to go straight to work after arriving in the morning. He picks up his phone, he couldn’t help the smile from forming on his lips at the picture on the screen, he’d already changed it from the one of Nicholas and Victoria to the one he took earlier.

He taps the screen to display the picture in full view, he has his arms around her and she was smiling for the camera while he stares at her with a smile on his lips. Krystal saw it and scrunched her nose in distaste, she quipped that it was too Hallmark-y. Nichkhun smiles and traced a finger on Victoria’s smiling face; her eyes are bright and laughing.

He had accumulated dozens of her pictures but this one was special, it was taken on the day he made her cry and her heart break and yet she was still smiling on this one. He found it amazing at how easily she can turn the mood around from bleak to bright. She had confessed that she had always been carefree on anything and everything because she always has someone reassure her that things will get better. She said that before it was always Miranda and Krystal and now she has him too.

He swipes for his keypad and was just about to press speed dial one when his phone started ringing. His face darkened at the number on display. He’d already erased her in his contact list after seeing her multiple missed calls so it was only her number showing up. The thing he forgot to do was block the number entirely. He wanted to ignore the call but he realized the best way to deal with her was to tell her up front never to talk to him again.

He swipes to accept the call, “What is it?” he asks with an even tone. He gritted his teeth when she answered in her sweet voice.

“Khun?”

“What is it, Tiffany?” he controlled his voice to stay calm.

“Hi, I was trying to get a hold of you earlier but you didn’t pick up. I tried the hotel but they said that you already checked out this morning.” Her voice had an inviting tone.

“That’s right; I took the first flight home. I needed to be with my girlfriend.” He takes a deep breath to clear his mind from the anger and disappointment he was feeling towards her.

“Why? I thought we already had reached an understanding between us, what happened last night was a confirmation that we belong together, the things we talked about and shared, isn’t that enough proof? Why are you doing this to me?” Tiffany sounded confused.

 “I want you to know that whatever happened between us was a complete and honest mistake. I am really disappointed with you as much as I am with myself; you knew I am in a very honest relationship with the woman I love. I never kept that from you; all along I thought you respected that. I had extended my hand to you as a friend because I thought you had the best of intentions for me and Victoria and I also wanted to stay friends with you, she wanted to be friends with you. How could you betray us like this?!”

“Khun, listen to me first.” Tiffany managed to interrupt him, her voice was now frantic. “I still love you, what do you expect me to do? Just stand there and allow you to be with her? Is that it? I had to do something to get you back! We are so good together, last night proved it. I took my chance and I had you.”

Nichkhun couldn’t believe he was hearing that from her, his guilt feelings towards her suddenly vanished and was replaced with pure hatred.

“NO!” Nichkhun all but yells to the phone, he pauses to calm down, “I am sorry, Tiffany, whatever you think we have is never going to happen. I am with Victoria now and plan to keep it that way for as long as I live.” He was trying his best not to scream at her, “I want you to stay away from us. It’s not a request, Tiffany, I mean it.”

“No! Khun you don’t mean that, you promised to love me forever, don’t you remember? You said that you will stand beside me all our lives!” her voice now had a desperate tone.

“Yes, I did! But you were the one who decided you didn’t want me anymore, you discarded that promise when you thought you deserved more, don’t YOU remember? Or are you being selective with your memory? I got over you a long time ago! We are now living separate lives.” he breathes, “Please, while I am still being nice about this, leave us alone.” He delivers the last part like a threat.

He cringed when he suddenly hears her laugh mirthlessly.

“Oh really? What will your precious Victoria say when I tell her about last night? Huh? Will she still love you? Will she still stay with you and trust you? Can you guess what will happen next after I give her a call tonight?”

Her laugh was making him angrier, “I already told her.” he tells her calmly amidst gritted teeth.

“What?!”

“I don’t keep secrets from her and I never will; that is one of the things I promised her. I told her the moment I arrived and she listened to me. She forgave me, Tiffany.” He heard her gasp. He took advantage of her shock.

“That is one of the many reasons why she is worth so much more to me than you could ever imagine. You caused us a lot of pain with your deceit and I vowed never to let it happen again. I will protect her from you if it’s the last thing I do. This is the final time I will ever speak to you.”

“Now wait just a minute! You can’t just discard me like this!” she scr