He was still holding her hand. . . . And he certainly didn't want to let go. . . . He slowly looked at Moniqa. . . . He was afraid that if he released her hand even for a second, he will never have the chance to hold it again.

Moniqa didn't know what to do. She was already very tensed. She couldn't explain the sensation she was feeling as Xiah still held her hand. It was as if . . . . she wanted to freeze the time and just hold hands with him forever.

Xiah held Monica's hand tighter . . . .

"Iqa . . . . " Xiah started to say.

Moniqa looked at Xiah . . . . "Yes?"

"I . . . . I . . . . . I need to talk with you . . . . about something," Xiah slowly said.

Iqa looked at his face, she was very uneasy . . . . Somehow she had a feeling she already knew what he was going to say. She was afraid that he was actually going to tell her about his true feelings for her.

"Please Xiah . . . . don't tell me you like me . . . . I don't know how I will respond to what you are going to say . . . . I am very confused on what to do . . . . " she said in her mind.

Moniqa noticed the direction that the car was taking was different from the route to the restaurant they were supposed to eat.

"Xiah . . . . where are we going?"

Xiah smiled sweetly. Somehow Moniqa's heart suddenly melted as she looked at his very charming and innocent face.

"It's a secret . . . . Just trust me . . . . ." he said as he held her hand tightly.

As Moniqa patiently waited for them to arrive at their destination . . . she couldn't stop her heart from throbbing wildly. She was very anxious . . .

"Xiah . . . . . . Please . . . . Please . . . . Don't tell me you like me . . . . More importantly . . . . Don't tell me you love me . . . . . . Please . . . . " Moniqa continuously said in her mind.

"We're here . . . ." Xiah said as the car finally stopped in front of a large hotel.

Moniqa looked out the car. "Why are we here?" she asked curiously.

"I told you . . . . I need to talk with you . . . ." he replied with a serious expression on his face.

Moniqa's heart started pounding again. She was totally speechless.

"Come on . . . ." Xiah said with a sweet smile.

Moniqa couldn't say no to him. His smile was too inviting. . . . that she was somehow hooked by it. Her heart was telling her to just follow him . . . . and just forget everything that she was worrying about.

Moniqa smiled . . . . she suddenly remembered what Se7en had told her in the studio . . . . . "Please . . . . just forget about everything . . . . and be true to yourself . . ."

"Don't worry . . . Dong-Wook . . . . I will try . . . " Moniqa said as she slowly followed Xiah out of the car and into the hotel.

The moment Xiah and Moniqa walked into the hotel, everyone all looked at their direction. Xiah led Moniqa straight into the elevator.

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

Xiah stared at Moniqa and then put on his very charming smile.

"Just wait . . . . It's a surprise," he answered.

Moniqa was baffled by Xiah's answer. "What surprise id he talking about?" she asked herself.

The elevator finally stopped at the top floor of the hotel. Slowly Xiah led Iqa into a room.

"This is your surprise?" Iqa asked Xiah with a laugh. She was trying to hide her nervousness.

Xiah smiled . . . and then slowly he opened the door. . . . Moniqa was totally shocked the moment Xiah opened the door.

The whole suite was filled with roses. . . . Moniqa couldn't believe it . . .Right in front of her eyes were different roses of different colors. The whole place was such a magnificent sight. The moment she stepped into the room . . . it was as if she was transported into another world. . . . . A world full of beauty and . . . . love.

"Xiah . . . . This is so sweet!" Iqa uttered with extreme joy.

"I'm glad you loved it," he replied with a sweet smile.

"You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble," Moniqa said.

"But . . . I did this . . . because I want to say something to you . . . something very important . . ." he said with a serious look on his face.

Moniqa's heart suddenly stopped for a second.

"Xiah . . . ." she uttered his name.

Xiah slowly walked up to Moniqa. Then he stopped as they were already face to face.

"Iqa . . . ."Xiah uttered as he looked straight into her eyes.

Moniqa's heart was already screaming Xiah's name as he gently drew her closer to him. She was unable to move . . . It was as if her whole body had suddenly froze. And then she started trembling as soon as he touched her. She wanted to push him away . . . . but she didn't have the heart to do it. As she stared at his expressive eyes . . . . somehow she could see through his entire soul.

"Xiah . . . . What are you doing?" Moniqa asked with confusion in her eyes.

Xiah embraced Moniqa tighter. Then he stared lovingly at her face.

"Iqa . . . I . . . I. . . . I'm sorry for doing this . . . . But. . . . But I don't think I can hide what I am feeling anymore . . . . The very first time I saw you . . . I already felt something special for you . . . . At first, I thought it was just an infatuation . . . But as time grew . . .I realized it must be love . . . ." Xiah said with love so visible in his eyes.

"Xiah . . . . we have only known each other for a very short time . . . . How can you say that you love me? Please . . . try to think about what you are saying . . . . It isn't possible for you to fall in love with me . . . ." Moniqa said with sadness in her eyes.

"Why? Why is it impossible? I know we have only met. But what can I do? I have already fallen in love with you the moment I saw you. . . . . I love you . . . . I am very sure of it now. . . ." Xiah said.

"Xiah . . . . I'm sorry . . . . but . . . . I don't think it will ever work out between the two of us . . . . There are a lot things . . . .things that you still don't know about me . . . . " she said as she tried to control her emotions.

"I already know what I need to know about you . . . . and that is . . . . I love you . . . I don't care about who you really are or your status as a star. . . . or who you have been with . . . . I don't care about what you have done in the past . . . . All I care about is you . . . . as the person I love . . . the woman I want to spend my whole life with. . . ." Xiah said with the sweetest smile Moniqa has ever seen.

Moniqa closed her eyes. She didn't want her eyes to betray her. . . . She didn't want Xiah to see the love she was also feeling for him. She was too afraid of too many things . . . . She wasn't sure if she was even allowed to fall in love again. There was still a very important part of her life that Xiah would need to know. . . . and she was afraid that the moment he knew about it. . . . he would also turn his back on her . . . . like what Akira had done.

Unconsciously, a tear slipped from her eye. Xiah saw the single tear that had ran down her face. Slowly Xiah kissed the exact path that the tear had fallen. And slowly . . . Iqa opened her eyes as Xiah kissed her.

"I never want to see you cry . . . .Iqa . . . .My heart aches whenever I see you cry . . . So please stop . . . .I love you . . . . Please give me a chance to prove how much I love you . . . . ." Xiah said as he lovingly stared at her.

Moniqa's heart was already shouting Xiah's name. She knew she had already fallen in love with him too. But she was afraid. She was afraid that in the end she would eventually hurt him. . . . And that was what she wanted to avoid.

"Xiah . . . . Please stop . . . I can't love you . . . ." Moniqa whispered.

"Why?" Xiah asked with tears already forming in his eyes.

"I . . . . I . . . " Moniqa wanted to lie to him and tell him that she already loved somebody else. But the moment she saw the tears in his eyes . . . . her heart had suddenly melted and started to feel pain.

"Iqa . . . . please I love you . . . . How many times do I have to tell you that I love you before you believe me? Tell me what I can do to make you believe what I am saying is true . . . . I am willing to do anything . . . . . Just give me a chance to love you . . . " Xiah said as tears started to fall from his eyes.

Moniqa didn't know what to do . . . . It was breaking her heart seeing him cry. She looked at him again . . . . Then she finally decided. . . . She was going to give it a try. She was going to forget everything that was stopping her from loving him, and just give in to her heart's desire. She had finally decided to give herself a chance to be happy . . . . even for the last time.

"Xiah . . . .I . . . I love you too." Iqa uttered with love in her eyes.

Xiah looked deep into Moniqa's beautiful brown eyes. And he finally saw the thing he was searching for . . . . love.

Slowly Xiah lowered his head and softly whispered. "I love you, Iqa." Afterwards he gently kissed her sweet and soft lips. Xiah couldn't control his emotions. He was filled with so much love and joy . . . . She wanted Iqa to be with him forever.

As Xiah and Moniqa kissed each other . . . They had somehow forgotten about everything . . . . All they cared about was the fact that they loved each other.

"Please God . . . . give me a chance to love him . . . . Please give me more time . . . . . ." Moniqa said in her mind as tears suddenly slipped from her eyes.