Big thanks for my subscriber, AhnCheonsa, for her beautiful pic that she made for Please Stay.  It's beautifully wonderful!    

           “Guys what do I do?”  Taecyeon mumbled with his head in his hands.  The past days were stressful for him not knowing what to do.  The drug situation at the docks was getting better, based on one’s definition of “better.”  His company, Legion Trading was ruled out of being involved with transporting the drugs.  However, the culprit was still on the loose.  Despite not being suspected of the crime, Taecyeon could not help but to feel like he let his family down.  At first, Taecyeon’s father, Hyunjae was upset with Taecyeon for not preventing the situation.  Apparently, his father saw him doing a poor job with the company.  His father did not see the effort he put into the company.  Then there was the fight with Eunhyuk.  Hyunjae preferred Eunhyuk rather than his own son.  He told Taecyeon to be the better man.  Still Eunhyuk did not do anything to stop the fight.  Luckily for Taecyeon, Eunhyuk’s father loved Taecyeon like his own son.

            Grandpa Joon was the opposite.  He saw Taecyeon as the next one line for president of Legion Trading rather than Ok Hyunjae.  Unlike his son, Joon understood the effort that Taecyeon put into the company.  He knew that Taecyeon was not the one at fault.  He was famous for his fairness and civility, so he tried to reason his grandsons.  Deep inside though, he knew that Eunhyuk had to accept some responsibility for allowing this to happen since it occurred at Eunhyuk’s docks.  Not only that, but based on what he heard, Eunhyuk evoked Taecyeon with the L.A. comments.  Still Joon did not want to add fire to their mutual hatred of one another, so he played the understanding grandfather for both men.

            “Can’t help you there man, having some lady issues,” Chansung said with his mouth stuffed with ddukbokki.  He then almost choked on his food when he felt a slap on the back of his head, courtesy of Junho.

            “Geez you Italian, don’t say anything that won’t help him now,”  Junho responded, giving his old maknae a lecturing stare.

            Wooyoung joined in the conversation with curiosity, “Speaking on lady problems, what’s the deal with you and Gyuri?  I tried asking about what happened a few nights ago, but all I received was a deadly glare.”

            All the boys’ ears popped up when they heard Gyuri’s name.  They knew her and Taecyeon were “friends”, but the details were a bit murky.  The little information they had was that she was hot, she was hot, and did they forget to mention she was hot.  Besides Taecyeon, she and the boys were buddies due to them hanging out at Bleu.  Not only that, she had a confident unique personality.  Whenever they were together, the boys joked around and   failed at flirting with her.  Gyuri always seemed like she was taken.  The boys somewhat understood why.

            “Do I need to beat up someone for the blonde princess,” Junho joked while playfully cracking his knuckles.

            Taecyeon could only look at his friends with a guilty expression, and recounted his previous encounter with Gyuri.  He did not expect them to feel sorry for them.  They didn’t at all.  Some shook their heads.  Others gave him disappointing looks.  By the end of the story, Taecyeon prepared himself to hear the riot act.

            “Seriously Ok?  As amigos we’re suppose to support you and all, but I don’t see how anyone could side with you,” Nichkhun responded first, surprising Taecyeon.

            Jay shook his head again, “At least Jessica isn’t here.  Had she heard this, she would have all Hellsica on you.”

            Even though he expected this reaction, he took a deep sigh.  “Well thanks guys, your comments sure make a guy feel better.”

            Never before did Taecyeon thought he would miss Gyuri like this.  No it was not he was ually frustrated.  Instead he felt like he lost someone he could rely on.  He always knew that he could count on Gyuri.  The look in her eyes.  Most people would say she was arrogant and mean.  However, when this shy, but confident, girl looked at him it was who she really was.  Her eyes were filled with warmth and care.  He could trust her in the midst of his dark world.  Still he could not drag her into it.  Could he dare say it?  Was he allowing her to come close?  He had to stop.  Although, he wished Gyuri would at least talk to him.  It would ease his heart, wait his mind.

            “Have you tried talking to her,” Junsu asked with concern.

            Thankful for at least one thoughtful friend at the moment, Taecyeon nodded no.  Every time he called or texted, she ignored him.  He almost went to Bleu, but Wooyoung stopped him.  Taecyeon did not need to start another scene.  What could he do?

-------

            Hara and Nicole decided to take Gyuri out to her favorite pizza parlor with some other of her friends.  Since the last time she Taecyeon, she was down and not her usual bright confident self.  Could they blame her?  Seeing her break down in tears, they knew something extreme went down.  After a waterfall of tears and muffled, but detailed, story, Nicole and Hara were ready to sharpen their pitchforks.  However, Gyuri did the unexpected.  Instead of unleashing her wrath, she made her “minions” promise not to try anything.

            Gyuri knew Taecyeon had a sort of conscience and common sense based on his recent messages.  At first Taecyeon had his business man foot out.  His voicemails started with, “Taecyeon.  Call me.”  Texts were, “Sorry. Call me back.”  However, as the days passed by, these messages became more personal.  “Hi Gyuri it’s Taecyeon.  I really want to talk about what happened.  Please call me.  I’m sorry.”  Texts were more in depth.  Sometimes a single message was three or four texts long.  Gyuri had to admit she was happy that she had the ball in her court.

            Despite having this control, she wanted to run to him as much as she was mad at him.  Never before had anyone had this grasp on her.  However, her pride and independence, also her angry “mob”, prevented her from this.  He deserved to realize his errors.  Still she was drawn to him.  It was not that he played hard to get.  There was that x-factor to him.  Maybe she could forget him tonight with that delicious extra cheesy pizza with her name on it.

            “So omma what else is there to do besides stuff our faces with pizza?” Nicole asked while her lips.

            Hara then joined in, “Yeah omma what should we do later?”  She had her big puppy eyes unleashed at their full max.

            Gyuri could only laugh, “I don’t know why you’re using this aegyo on me.  Maybe you should use them on your “boyfriends.”  Hara I’ve seen the way you look at Wooyoung.”

            “Unnieeeee, don’t say that out loud,” Hara whined.

            “Gyuri?” a deep voice asked behind them.

-------

            Taecyeon was listening to his friends’ lectures, but he saw his blonde beauty outside the restaurant.  She was walking with her friends.  She had a smile.  She looked happy.  He did not want to wipe her joy away.

-------

            Knowing the owner of that voice, Gyuri pulled Hara and Nicole so they could continue their walk.  Both of her friends looked at one another with confusion, and then they saw Gyuri’s expression.  Her eyes were cold.  Her nostrils were flaring.  They realized who it was.

            The girls did not get far ahead.  A large hand stopped on Gyuri’s shoulder.  It was not a tight grip.  More like a soft, but stern hold.  Gyuri took a deep breath and turned around.

            “Taecyeon.”

            There he was.  His back was a little hunched, but it was stiff from the tension in the air.  His head was down, but he made eye contact with her.  Unlike most people, he did not break away from her glaring eyes. 

            “Gyuri can we talk please?  You’ve been ignoring me, and it’s driving me mad.  I just want to apologize.  It’s hard to forgive what I did, and what I did was stupid.  Still hear me out,” Taecyeon humbly stated.  His eyes corresponded with a begging look.

            Even though Gyuri wanted to hold him, she did not want to be a fool.  However, she gave a look to Hara and Nicole, which made them give the two some space.

            Once they were alone, Taecyeon spoke up, “This may not sound sincere, but I’m sorry.  It’s difficult for me to say these kinds of things.  It was wrong for me to give you money like that, but I thought-“

            Gyuri yelled, “You thought what?  I was going to give you more?  I was going to be like other girls and take it like-“

            Taecyeon dared to interrupt her, “No, I mean it’s just that… just that… I can’t explain.  It’s something that I want to tell you, but I can’t.”

            Gyuri shook her head, “How do you expect me to forgive you and understand you if you can’t tell me.  You never tell me anything!  You tell me we are friends.  Friends tell each other what is going on.  We’re not friends.  We are something else.”

            “What are you then,” a new voice joined the conversation.

            Taecyeon immediately looked to see who dared to interrupt them.  Standing behind them was Eunhyuk.  There was a mixture of anger and annoyance on his face.

            “Is this guy harassing you?” Eunhyuk asked Gyuri with concern.  Before she could respond, Eunhyuk turned to Taecyeon, “Taecyeon stay away from Gyuri.  She’s a nice girl.”

            Taecyeon and Gyuri briefly stopped their argument to give the same expression.  “How do you know him?”  However, Eunhyuk spoke up again.

            “Let’s go Gyuri.  We can talk about this at the pizza parlor.”  The stubborn blonde did not budge though.

            “No Eunhyuk.  I am going to finish my discussion with Taecyeon first,” Gyuri stated.  Eunhyuk could not argue with her, so he left her alone.

            Once they were by themselves, Taecyeon answered the unspoken question.  “He’s my cousin.  Don’t tell me you’re his girlfriend.”

            “No we’re not like that.  I don’t really have a boyfriend.”

            Taecyeon slightly smiled.

            Gyuri rolled her eyes, but was secretly happy to see this. “Did you get in a fight with him?”

            Taecyeon chuckled, “You’re a smart girl.”

            “I know that.  It’s not difficult to put two and two together after what I just saw,” she scoffed.

            Seeing how the tension went down, Taecyeon gave a much bigger and charming smile, “Want to join some of my friends and I?  Eunhyuk can go too.”

            Despite his friendliness, Gyuri could not completely forgive him, “Not today.  I need to think about this, about us.  Besides my friends are waiting for me.”

            Flicking her hair, she walked away leaving him alone in front of the restaurant.

            “I wish I found a way for you to understand me.”