“Are you punishing me or are you testing me? Why? Why did you give me such an unbeatable rival? I could fight with any woman… but not with a child. Why am I supposed to do now? Where do I go after this? I know what I must do. But my heart and my mind both have different decisions. What do I choose? I have always followed what is right and I have always done only good things… but right now, why do I feel like that I want to be bad… even for once in my life. Can I be selfish please… just this once? I love Micky and I really want to be with him. I don’t know if I can continue living without him. It hurts. It hurts so much that it’s tearing not only my heart but my soul as well. I suddenly realized that all the beautiful things that I have been seeing before were really not real. Now I understand that not everything can be fixed with words or beautiful intentions. Now I understand that once pain sets in your heart, it slowly tears a person into pieces. Now I fully understand what it means to love…” Muko uttered while kneeling in front of the small altar in her room. Slowly she started sobbing. “Can I be selfish? Can you give a sign please I’m begging you. I want to be selfish so I can continue to be with him. I really love him…. but I don’t want a child to live unhappily because of me…. What… do I do? I’m so confused.”

 

            Hikaru who entered Muko’s room, just silently watched and listened. Muko’s words were piercing her heart. Slowly she approached her sister and just embraced her tightly. “Sssshhh… I’m here. It’s okay Muko. It’s okay to be selfish. As long as I’m alive I will protect you, I promise…”

 

            “Hikaru… Hikaru, I… I don’t know what to do. Please help me,” Muko uttered while tears continued to fall down from her eyes.

 

            Hikaru closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see her sister in so much pain. “It’s all right, my lovely Mukades… Sssshhh…. Your sister is here and I will take care of everything for you…”

 

******************

 

            “What did you say? Are you guys serious? This is certainly not funny… How can you do this?” the DBSK boy’s manager suddenly angrily shouted over the phone. And as soon as he closed his phone, he angrily kicked a chair that was near him out of frustration.

 

            The DBSK boys who were busy rehearsing for their upcoming special show suddenly stopped and stared at their manager. They were all shocked with the way their manager acted.

 

            “Hyung, what’s wrong?” Xiah immediately asked.

 

            The older man just shook his head. “This is bad…. All your shows have been cancelled. I don’t know what happened. But they just informed me that all of you are going on a break for a month. All your TV appearances, shows and concerts are temporarily on hold for an indefinite time.”

 

            “What? How did that happen? We’re already in the middle of rehearsing for our special show. How can they suddenly put us on hold like that?” U-Know asked in total confusion.

 

            “I don’t know. They only said that all the sponsors for your show have mysteriously withdrawn their support for some unknown reason. Also all the TV shows and other special events that you are supposed to appear in have also called the company and withdrawn their invitation. The company is currently investigating what’s going on. They have instructed me to put you guys on vacation for a month,” the older man explained.

 

            “Well that sounds like fun. Imagine a month with nothing to do except watch TV, eat and sleep,” Max suddenly exclaimed with a wide grin on his face.

 

            Xiah quickly laughed and Jaejoong jokingly threw a towel at Max’s direction.

 

“Hey you’re the only one who’s going to enjoy 100%... Imagine I will be the one stuck with cooking and cleaning,” Jaejoong said with a deep sigh.

 

The other dancers who were also rehearsing just laughed out loud after hearing Jaejoong’s comment.

 

Max grinned again. “Don’t worry, I’ll help… with the washing of the dishes.”

 

Again there was a loud laughter.

 

“And I’ll help with the washing of the clothes,” Xiah added jokingly.

 

Suddenly one of the dancers asked out of curiosity. “Is it just me or do you guys also feel like you’re being boycotted or something?” 

 

“Or maybe someone is trying to destroy your careers because one of you broke an innocent girl’s heart,” another dancer added jokingly.

 

Xiah and Jaejoong exchanged glances with each other before putting on fake smiles and laughing like they heard a very funny joke.

 

“Boycotted? Us? No… Maybe it’s just coincidence… Besides the entertainment industry is really such an unstable field. So it’s normal to be busy at times and to be a bit lie low at other times,” Jaejoong tried to explain and change the topic.

 

U-Know looked at Micky’s direction. He was very quiet and had a serious expression on his face. “Hey… don’t think too much. You’re being too obvious,” he just whispered to his friend.

 

            Micky stared back at his friend. So he wasn’t the only one who was thinking that everything that was happening is somehow related to his current situation with Muko. “I’ll go visit Hikaru after this…” he uttered back.

 

            U-Know shook his head. “That isn’t a good idea. You’re just going to make the storm into a big hurricane. Better wait for now.”

 

            Micky shook his head. “No, I need to settle this or else it will just go on until everyone’s totally destroyed as well.”

 

            U-Know sighed. “Fine, but we’re all going with you. We’re affected by this as well. So we have a right to be there when you confront the storm.”

 

            Micky nodded and just continued to be silent.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

            “What are you planning to do? Are you really that evil? Or are you so free that you don’t have anything else to do but mess around with other people’s lives?” Micky quickly asked out loud as soon as he entered Hikaru’s office.

 

            Hikaru who was sitting comfortably on her seat, quickly laughed. “Actually I was busy counting how long it would take you to pay me a visit. I guess my estimated time is… just right. But I never expected that you would be bringing your whole gang with you. Honestly I’m a bit disappointed Micky. Why? Are you afraid of being alone with me? Are you so afraid that I would actually hurt you or my words would make you cry so you brought your friends with you,” she replied mockingly.

 

            “We decided to come here because we are also involved in this. We may be different persons but we are one as a group. So if Micky is affected then we are affected too. We also want to know who is behind the trouble that we are currently facing,” U-Know said in defense of his friend.

 

            Hikaru laughed, then she clapped her hands several times before finally stopping laughing. “Well said, for a leader. I salute you. But… your bravery and loyalty isn’t going to help in this situation. Your so-called friend is going to be the destruction of each and every one  of you…”

 

            “Please can we just talk about this in a more civil manner? We don’t need to be so hostile or sarcastic,” Xiah tried to change the tone of the conversation.

 

            Hikaru shook her head in disapproval. “When your friend decided to hurt my sister, he already decided to destroy his life, his career and your lives and careers as well.”

 

            “Don’t you think you’re being unfair? Even if you’re angry with Micky you shouldn’t be doing this kind of things. Besides you haven’t even heard his side of the story. You should try to look at both sides first before you make your final judgment,” Jaejoong added.

 

            Hikaru’s face dimmed and she immediately took out an envelope on her table. “Actually I have done my homework already. Here, maybe you want to take a look,” she said  before she threw the envelope on the floor where Micky was standing.

 

            Micky’s face became red with anger. “Who do you think you are? And what is this?” he angrily shouted at Hikaru.

 

            Hikaru glared back at Micky. “Look and see,” she answered.

 

            Micky quickly grabbed the envelope from the floor and opened it. Inside the envelope were a lot of written reports… reports about him, Nan Hee and their baby.

 

            “I asked someone to make a background check on you, your past, your ex-girlfriend, her past and all about the baby. So I already know everything, maybe more than I should know actually. I was kinda expecting that maybe the child wasn’t really yours since your ex-girlfriend has been very naughty and busy after she left you, you do know what I mean right? You know you should thank me since I saved you the trouble, I already ordered a DNA matching between you and the child and it came out positive. So congratulations, you truly have a daughter. Unfortunately, this makes things more complicated and very hard to fix,” Hikaru explained.

 

            Micky threw the reports back at Hikaru’s direction. “Who gave you the right to dig into my past and other people’s past?”

 

            Hikaru angrily got up from her seat and banged on her table. “I am the one and only sister of the woman you have hurt and for that reason I have the right to do whatever I want to do with you… with your friends and even that woman of yours,” she said with such a frightening look in her eyes.

 

            “Leave Nan Hee out of this. Don’t you dare touch her or my baby,” Micky warned Hikaru.

 

            “Whoever said that I would do something to the child? Even if I am so evil I would never hurt a child, but the mother… that’s another part of the story,” Hikaru said with a chilling laugh.

 

            “You’re a monster,” Micky uttered with such hatred.

 

            “You’re the monster here. I gave my sister to you so you could take care of her. But what did you do? You hurt her and break her heart just because your ex-girlfriend suddenly shows up,” Hikaru shouted.

 

            “I know I have hurt Muko. But I really never expected for this to happen… Please believe me. I love your sister. I love her with all my heart. It’s just that things are so complicated right now and I’m really confused on how to fix this,” Micky said in a low voice. He knew he was at fault for this whole mess and somehow it was already too tiring for him to fight back.

 

            “Then let me help you and let me fix this problem,” Hikaru unexpectedly announced.

 

            Micky quickly looked at Hikaru. “How? What are you planning to do?”

 

            “Patch things up with my sister and let me take care of Nan Hee and the child. I believe she would be totally satisfied with the amount that I am willing to give her. The amount would be enough for her to pay off all her debts and live comfortably with the child… But there is a condition… she must never appear before you again… she and the child.” Hikaru suddenly stopped talking.

 

            “What? Is that your way of solving things? You’re driving Nan Hee and my daughter away from me? Keep your money! We don’t need your help. We can solve everything on our own. So stop interfering,” Micky shouted.

 

            “Tell me the truth…what are you really afraid of losing Micky? Are you afraid of losing your daughter or Nan Hee? Tell me, are you afraid of losing Muko even one bit?” Hikaru suddenly asked out of the blue that suddenly left Micky in total confusion and unable to answer.

 

            “I… I… I just don’t want to lose both of them,” Micky unexpectedly answered.

 

            “You can’t have both, Micky….” a voice suddenly uttered.

 

            Micky, Hikaru and the other DBSK boys suddenly looked at the direction where the voice came from.

 

            “Muko, you’re here. It seems your husband is not willing to choose. How about convincing him,” Hikaru said coldly.

 

            “Choose Micky… It’s either me or Nan Hee and the baby,” Muko uttered with a quivering voice.

           

“Muko… you’re making me choose?” Micky asked in a low voice. He somehow couldn’t believe what he heard.

 

            “You can’t have both worlds Micky… You have to choose,” Muko said with tears in her eyes. Somehow she was begging Micky to choose her.

 

            Micky shook his head. “No, please don’t do this. I… I can’t… Please don’t make me choose between you and my daughter,” he begged.

 

            Muko’s expression suddenly changed. “If you can’t choose, then it only means that you’re choosing them over me. Fine, I accept your decision. I hope you’ll be happy with your life. Enjoy it while it lasts,” she coldly said with such hurt and hate in her eyes.

 

            “Muko…. please… don’t do this….” Micky uttered as he tried to approach his wife.

 

            “Don’t! Don’t you ever touch me again. You no longer have any right to act or to be called my husband. From now on, we are only married on a piece of paper. I will still finish this arranged marriage with you. I’ll come home in a few days time but prepare a separate room for me. I don’t want to share it with anyone else. Until the contract ends, I’ll continue to live as your fake wife when we’re in public but once we’re alone… please remember we’re already strangers. I will no longer interfere with your life. So I expect you to do the same with me. I don’t care anymore who you share your bed with. Just make sure you don’t interfere if I also share my bed with someone else. Are we clear about things? I’m leaving. I don’t want to see your face right now,” Muko said with a cold and frightening tone.

 

            With tears clouding his eyes, Micky just stared at Muko as she quickly turned around and left. He had never imagined he would hear such words from his wife. His mind was totally blank and his heart was totally numb. He started crying uncontrollably and suddenly fell down on his knees. He hated himself for hurting Muko and turning her into a cold and unforgiving person. At that exact moment, he felt like he just died. He had lost the woman he was planning to spend his lifetime with.