I don't want to let go without even trying

That afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Choi are spending time by watching TV together before tonight's dinner. Mr. Choi seems like he's enjoying the movie, however Mrs. Choi is silent and she keeps gazing to the floor. Her mind is flying off to somewhere else. She has a worried expression and then she glances back and forth to the situation upstairs. Noticing how she keeps fidgeting beside him, Mr. Choi turns away from the TV and observes his wife in curiosity.

"What's wrong?" he decides to ask her. Mrs. Choi turns her attention to her husband

"Oh, nothing. I'm just worried about Minho" she smiles a little, but obviously still has that worried expression on

"What about him?" he raises his eyebrows, totally focused on his wife

"You know how he is. This morning he looked like he lost his appetite after we told him about tonight. He must be feeling guilty. Look at him, he's been locking himself in his room since breakfast" Mrs. Choi gazes at her husband sadly. She knows very well that Minho always acts like this whenever he thinks that he has done something wrong. Mr. Choi can only nod

"You want me to talk to him?" he asks her. It also bothers him whenever his wife is feeling uneasy

"No, it's okay. Just let me talk to him. I'll go upstairs first, okay?" she smiles. Mr. Choi nods and she stands up from the sofa, heading for the stairs. Mr. Choi stares at her climbing to Minho's room till she's out of his sight and turns to continue watching the TV.

***

In the room, Minho is sitting on the bed with his arms hugging his knees. He has that devastated expression on and he's been staring emptily at the floor for a while now. His mind is busy thinking about his dad's best friend, Uncle Kwon when suddenly there's a knock on the door. He finally gets back to his senses.

"Come in" he looks at the door. As he expected, it's his mother peeking behind the door

"Hey, what are you doing?" she smiles warmly, slightly opening the door. Now he can see her whole face

"Why aren't you coming out of your room? You've been up here since breakfast" she releases her hand from the doorknob and approaches the bed to sit beside Minho. However, Minho just keeps silent and continues his activity by staring at the floor

"Are you okay? You wanna talk?" she touches his shoulder, staring at him. She knows that Minho is not feeling good right now and he definitely needs someone to talk to

"Mom... I'm sorry" he bows his head in guilt. He doesn't even dare to look at his mother beside him

"I'm sorry for disappointing you and father. I know how close you are with the Kwon family. Even more, I feel so sorry to Uncle Kwon. I know he treated me so well when I was little, as if I'm his own son. Yet I betrayed him by letting down his request when he actually puts his trust in me to be with his one and only daughter. I really don't know how to appreciate what others have done for me, don't I?" he finally lets out what he honestly feels in his mind. Mrs. Choi can only keep her stare at him and listen to his words attentively. She wants him to finish what he wants to say first

"If I could, I would for the sake of Uncle Kwon. But... I like someone else. The moment I met her, I know that I want to keep her by my side, mom. I don't want to regret by letting her go without even trying. I know that my decision will affect dad and Uncle Kwon's friendship, and it's all because he has such a selfish son like me" he mumbles while keeping his head low. He closes his eyes tightly, feeling so ashamed of himself. Mrs. Choi looks at his precious son in sadness. I knew it. I knew you would say that, Minho-ah. Why are you blaming yourself so hard? It kills her every time he's acting like this

"Minho-ah, look at me. Listen to me..." she cups his face and lifts his head up to face her. She can see the devastation in his eyes

"Minho-ah, we told you it's okay. We told you that you don't have to. Why are you blaming yourself? I told you that we're okay with it, didn't we?!" she scolds him. Minho looks down despite his face is still facing his mom

"Stop feeling guilty and stop blaming yourself. We support you, Minho. Plus just like what you said, Mr. Kwon is a great person. I know he will understand you. He will never ever hate you for something that you don't agree to do. I know he won't, and you know it too. Someone as kind as him will never ever hate anyone, right?" Minho looks up to see his mother's face. Well she does have a point. Other than his dad, Mr. Kwon is also a man whom he looks up to because of his kind and warm personality

"Just let us talk to him tonight, okay? I know he'll find someone fit enough for his daughter. When it comes to a great man like him, he'll be able to get even ten candidates just by snapping his fingers! Right?" his mother jokingly says to him. Minho chuckles, finally being able to smile

"Yeah, you're probably right. But for tonight, please give me a chance to apologize to him too. I should at least do that" his lips curled up. Mrs. Choi smiles and nods to her son. She pats his head. Finally she can make him smile

"Mom... Thank you. For always being there for me, thank you... You always know what to say" Minho gazes at his mother lovingly. How grateful he is for having a mother like her. Mrs. Choi smiles and pulls his head into her chest, hugging him tightly. She his hair. I'm also thankful for having you as my son, Minho-ah.

***

Exactly at 8p.m, the Choi family has arrived at the Castle Hotel, heading to the 15th floor. When the elevator door opens, they can see Mr. and Mrs. Kwon waiting for them in front of the restaurant. Seeing the Choi family, the Kwon couple smile to welcome their best friends.

"Mu Yeol-ah, you're here!" Mr. Kwon steps forward to hug his best friend and Mr. Choi hugs him back, while their wives greet each other happily. They truly have not met each other for so long

"Did you wait long?" Mr. Choi asks him, releasing their hug

"Nonsense. Aren't you on time?" Mr. Kwon chuckles. He turns his attention to the tall man standing behind Mr. Choi

"Oh? This must be..." Mr. Kwon points to him

"Yes, this is Minho, my son!" Mr. Choi turns to Minho and taps his back, motioning him to greet his best friend

"Uncle Kwon! How are you?" Minho hugs him excitedly. Mr. Kwon chuckles and hugs him back

"I'm doing great!" he releases Minho and holds both of his shoulders to take a good look at him

"Wow, you grew up to be so tall, Minho-ah. I guess the good looks run in the family, eh?" Mr. Kwon glances at Mr. Choi teasingly. He remembers how Mr. Choi was so popular because of his good looks during their teenage days. Minho is handsome just like how his father used to look when he was younger. Mr. Choi can only laugh at his friend's joke

"Alright, let's not let our tummies grumbling. Let's get inside!" the Kwon couple motions their hands and leads the Choi family inside to have dinner in the VIP room.

***

In the VIP room, dinner had been served and the two families sat together with the Kwon couple and the Choi family on either side of the table, facing each other. They are now enjoying their meals while chatting merrily. Well, not exactly for the Kwon couple. It's been 15 minutes, and Yuri is still not here. The Kwon couple is starting to get worried but they try to control their expressions and chat normally to maintain the good atmosphere in the room.

"Oh Yoon Seung-ah, where is your daughter? She isn't joining us?" Mr. Choi asks Mr. Kwon after noticing the empty seat beside Mrs. Kwon for quite a while now

"I believe she'll be coming momentarily. I'm so sorry on behalf of my daughter" Mr. Kwon apologizes, though he's not even sure himself where she is right now or whether or not she's joining them for dinner

"Yes, I believe she has a good reason for being late today. We're very sorry" Mrs. Kwon bows politely to the Choi family. But the funny thing is, Yuri never gave a good excuse as to why she's always late, and actually on the contrary, Mrs. Kwon hardly thinks that it'll be different this time. Aish, seriously Kwon Yuri! We told you not to be late yet it's been 20 minutes! You're seriously gonna get it from me! Mrs. Kwon thought in her mind. She glances at the empty seat beside her and clenches her teeth in frustration

"Oh no, don't be, Mi Sun-ah. She's probably late due to traffic. You know how the traffic is at this time of the night" Mrs. Choi says to Mrs. Kwon, assuring her that they truly understand with her being late. The Kwon couple just smile gladly in return.

***

Not long after, the elevator opens itself at the 15th floor, revealing a gorgeous young lady walking out the door in style. The two waiters standing in front of the restaurant notice her presence and they start to elbow each other in nervousness. The ice princess has come.

"Welcome, Miss Yuri!" the two waiters greet at the same time while bowing to her in respect

"Where are my parents?" she asks them in a low voice. Her icy gaze makes them even more nervous. Every staff of the Castle Hotel knows Kwon Yuri. She often raises troubles in the hotel and she fires people even without her father's consent. That's why they all know that it's better not to mess with her. One mistake and it'll ruin you

"Th-They're in the V-VIP room. Th-This way, Miss Yuri" the waiter immediately leads Yuri into the restaurant. The other stays outside, sighing in relief as if he just escaped from danger. The waiter finally stops in front of the VIP room at the corner end of the restaurant

"The chairman is inside, Miss Yuri" the waiter bows his body and points his hand politely to the door

"Alright, get back to work" she gazes at him. The waiter straightens his body up and bows his head, then turns around and leaves her standing at the door.

***

"Once again, we're truly sorry. It's almost time for dessert but our Yuri is still not here. Our apologies, Mu Yeol-ah" Mr. Kwon apologizes on behalf of Yuri whose not being punctual tonight

"What's there to apologize? We really don't mind at all, Yoon Seung-ah. Please, don't be so hard on yourself" Mr. Choi smiles reassuringly to Mr. Kwon. Just then, the door suddenly opens with Yuri walking in, keeping her gaze onto the floor

"Oh, here she is!" Mr. Kwon glances at Yuri in relief.

Finally she's here! The others then turn around to gaze at her. Yuri lifts her head up and she pauses her steps. She is surprised to see her parents having dinner with a few guests. Who are they? Yuri gazes at the middle-aged couple sitting in the opposite of her parents, and then she turns to the young man sitting beside the couple. Her eyes widened in surprise. What's he doing here?!

On the other hand, Minho pauses himself from eating his meal. His eyes are also widened in surprise because of her entrance. He locks his eyes into hers. Pretty angel?! What is she doing here?!

"Yuri-ah, what are you doing? Come and have a seat" Mrs. Kwon calls out to her daughter whose standing still, not even moving an inch. She looks so dumbfounded, and obviously clueless with the situation. Her eyes are still locked at Minho

"Allow me to introduce her. This is my daughter, Kwon Yuri" Mr. Kwon tells the Choi family while glancing at her. Hearing Mr. Kwon's words, Minho becomes even more shocked. He can't believe it! His eyes go wider than before and his jaw drops a little. What in the world?!

= = = = =

I truly gotta say that feeling guilty is probably the worst feeling ever. Don't you? Anyway, are you also curious for the next chapter? Hehe I'll try not to disappoint ^^ I also want to take this chance to thank all my readers for the supportive comments. And even though other people might think that I have gained such a small amount of subscribers, but to me that ain't true at all. Cos I've expected lesser than this. So having to have gained such awesome subscribers and your lovely comments... I really am thankful. Love you all! <3