It was almost time for Valentine's Day. Kyuhyun was waiting for it because on that day, Kyuhyun had decided to confess his love for Siwon.

Kyuhyun was unpacking a few boxes which were brought from the previous mansion. As he was doing so, he found a diary. He opened it and saw that it was from the previous year and it belonged to Siwon. At first, Kyuhyun didn’t open it since it might be rude of him but then, curiosity won over him and he started reading. Kyuhyun was surprised to see that no one’s actual names were mentioned. Instead, code names were used. One specific page caught his attention. He looked at the date. 13th October. That was the day of the wedding. He read through the page but couldn’t understand all of it. The page said

What a melancholy! The rose finally showed its thorns. The thorns that pricked the giraffe, the horse, and the cat. Not their body but their heart. The rose was greedy but little did it realize the pain it caused. The giraffe was left devastated while the cat and the horse were bound with handcuffs of an unclear future. The giraffe was stuck in the thorns of the rose but the blame was on the horse. None knew about its thorns except the horse but he had no choice but bury the fact. The horse was deeply hurt but it had to stay strong since it had to save someone who was bound to it. No one would hear anything bad about the rose. After all, the rose was precious for everyone. Nobody knew what the future had for them but one thing was clear as crystal… a rose had shown its thorns.

Kyuhyun wasn’t dumb. He knew that Siwon was the horse, Zhoumi was the giraffe and he was the cat. He understood the events and that left him shocked.

So, I was right! Siwon wasn’t behind any of this. He was innocent all along. Everyone blamed him for something he had never committed. So, this someone who is named as a rose is behind all of this. Who is this rose? They definitely belong to this house. I just need to know who it is. All of these misunderstandings have to be cleared. I need to know who this rose is…

~~~

Kyuhyun was going downstairs when he saw Ma talking with the butler.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I like to keep roses in my room. Replace the daisies right now!”

“Yes, ma’am” The butler hurried away.

Just then Siwon came “What happened? Why are you firing away at that poor guy?”

Ma sighed “I have told the butler many times to place only roses in my room. It’s the only flower I like but he never remembers it.”

“Ah… Of course! Our rose only like roses, doesn’t she?”

Ma chuckled “You kids and your nicknames” She went back to her room.

Siwon called Ma ‘rose’? Does that mean…

“Kyuhyun? Were you going somewhere?” Siwon’s words brought Kyuhyun back from his thoughts.

“Um.. yeah, I was going to get some water.” Siwon just nodded and was going upstairs when Kyuhyun stopped him “Siwon, why did you call Ma as a rose?”

Siwon smiled “It’s a nickname I gave her. She loves only roses so I’ve given her that name. But, why do you ask?”

Kyuhyun shook his head “Just curious.” He went downstairs. That page… that rose… was Ma! She was behind everything that happened on the wedding day. No wonder Siwon wrote that no one would believe it because Kyuhyun himself wasn’t able to believe it. But why would she do that? Asking Siwon would only raise more questions so he had to ask the only other person who knew about it. To Ma.

~~~

Kyuhyun entered the room to find Ma reading a book on the bed. When she saw Kyuhyun, she gave a bright smile and asked him to sit near her.

“So, how come you remembered your Ma today?” Kyuhyun took a deep breath. Ma noticed that something was wrong “Kyuhyun, is anything wrong?”

Kyuhyun didn’t know how to ask. He wanted to know the truth but he didn’t know how to bring it out. So, he decided to ask it the straight way “Ma… what happened on the wedding day?”

Ma’s smile turned into a slight frown “Whose wedding day are you talking about?”

“My wedding day. What happened on that day?”

Ma’s expression turned serious “What are you talking about?”

Kyuhyun sighed “I… got to know a few things about that day. I want to know if they’re true.”

Ma sighed as well “Who told you? Siwon?”

Kyuhyun shook his head “He would never tell me about it. I… just got to know it… from somewhere.”

“How much do you know?”

“I believe I know a lot.”

Ma nodded. Guilt was written all over her face. Tears formed in her eyes “I’m sorry.”

Kyuhyun was dumbfounded. He knew he should have expected it but it still shocked him. Just one word came out of his mouth “Why?”

Ma cried “Because I was stupid. I was narrow-minded. I wanted Zhoumi to marry a woman, not a man. And I regret it a lot”

Kyuhyun couldn’t believe it. Then was all the good treatment of Ma a facade? Was everything that she did was just an act? As Kyuhyun thought about it, everything started to make sense. The kidnapping, the wedding, Victoria marrying Zhoumi, the treatment he got during the time he worked as a servant… Kyuhyun was hurt and couldn’t really understand why she had to do all of this. She could have just said no.

“Ma… if you were not okay with me, you could have just told so.”

Ma shook her head “I know Zhoumi. He’s a very stubborn kid. If I were against you, Zhoumi would be ready to leave the house to live with you and I didn’t want my son to go away from me. That’s why I had to accept it. But then, my ego couldn’t tolerate a man marrying Zhoumi so I did everything I could to destroy your relationship. I was the one who told that news channel about you, I was the one who did it. And the kidnapping of Zhoumi, I was behind it as well. And even your wedding with Siwon…”

Ma broke down into tears. She had finally realized how bad she was while confessing to Kyuhyun “I’ve not only hurt you but I’ve hurt Zhoumi and Siwon as well. Actually, I hurt Siwon the most... I tried to emotionally blackmail him but he… he didn’t accept to follow my ways because he wanted to see you and Zhoumi happy. So, I used him as a pawn to marry you and then told him to never tell about it to anyone.”

She started crying even more “He must have been so hurt because of me. He is better than any son in the world but I mistreated him. I showed Siwon living hell. I deserve to be sent to hell for that. Siwon took all the blame upon himself just to save you.”

Ma sobbed “Just thinking about what you both might have gone through due to me makes me feel like the worst person in the whole world. And I even destroyed my own son’s life. I made a mistake about Victoria. She isn’t as good as she shows herself. I couldn’t do anything good for both of my sons.”

Kyuhyun didn’t know how to respond. It was a lot of information at once and there were too many emotions bubbling inside him. Ma was behind all of this and no one had a single idea about it except Siwon. Siwon has tolerated a lot He just stayed silent as Ma continued “Kyuhyun, I won’t ask for your apology because I don’t deserve it all. Just, don’t tell about this to anyone. I’ll tell it to everyone when the time comes, I promise.”

Kyuhyun sighed deeply “I don’t think I’d be able to forgive something like this but I won’t say about this to anyone except Siwon. He needs to know that I know about this.”

Tears filled in Ma’s eyes once again, but she wiped them “I’m happy that Siwon fell in love with you. You’re a good person. I regret what I did but now that you know the truth, don’t leave Siwon. As you can see, Siwon was only trying to take care of you. He must have loved you for so long. And he is someone you know f