Kris frantically tapped his foot to the beat of his erratic heart. Being in the vast hall, all alone, left to only his thoughts, Kris nervousness rose in their levels. How would Yeonhee react upon seeing him? Would she be happy? No, of course not. That was a stupid hope. She's probably slap him the very second her eyes set on him. Kris was ready to take the punishment and all else Yeonhee might give him. All he was asking for was a chance to explain himself. And even that might be stretching his limits.

Kris paced, probably wearing a permanent hole into the linoleum floor, letting his imagination run wild. What the heck would he say? How on earth was he going to explain that he broke her heart to protect her? Knowing her to be the strong-headed woman she was, she wouldn't believe that. Probably all he would say would be received with disbelief.

Kris sighed and halted his pacing. He reclaimed his position on the wall, slumping against it. Worrying really didn't do any good to him, and only burdened him even more. Kris shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to ease the headache that blossomed with all the thoughts swimming in his mind.

Kris knew he shouldn't be, but he felt bitter that he was on the receiving and of such hatred. He had tried, he really had. To keep Yeonhee safe, but still be able to keep her in his arms. So why was he being treated this way for doing a good thing? He had done what he did in panic, desperation to keep the woman he loved from his harsh, cruel world. Nothing was supposed to have gone wrong from that point, and Kris had no one to blame for all the mistakes but himself.

A lilting voice bubbled from up the long hall. "Yeonsu-ya, where are you even-"

Time froze.

Eyes met.

Breaths hitched.

The heartbreaker and the heartbreak-ee were reunited again. And not once did their stares waver, not when Yeonhee slowly-but definitely not surely-approached Kris, nor when she stopped just five meters away from him. The short distance between them after such a long time of separation almost made Kris's brain short-circuit. But he had to keep his cool, so he let out a tight exhale and tried to look collected.

A pregnant silence settled between the two. Yeonsu was smart enough not to speak.

"What are you doing here?" Kris wasn't sure if Yeonhee was doing it on purpose, but he couldn't remember her voice ever sounding so cold.

"I...." 

Yeonhee had imagined her meeting with Kris many times (even though she would never own up to the accusation). 75% of those consisted of Yeonhee giving Kris an earful and calling him some very nasty names. Maybe and expletive or two. (The other 25% contained Kris taking her back. She never told anyone about those either.) 

But certainly none of them had Yeonhee feeling weak-kneed and moony-eyed over the person who had smashed her heart to a million bits. None of gem starred Yeonhee as the person who wanted to take HIM back. Nope, she couldn't have that. Her pride simply wouldn't allow it.

 But she could feel her will weakening. Just from looking at his soft blonde hair (she could still remember the jibes she had made about him being a blonde Asian) and his uncharacteristically open face,, she knew that rejecting whatever he came to say was a feat that would prove to be very difficult. If not impossible.

She forced her voice to sound cold and impassive. "What do you want?" The ice in her voice cut at her heart but she held her poker face.

Kris's face appeared unsure. "I... I'm..."

Yeonhee, keep it together, she mentally coached herself. "Hurry it up. I have a wedding to be bride in."

Kris looked hurt. "Are you just going to shove that in my face? The fact that you're getting married?"

"Well you're the one that left me so you should be okay with it." A small part of her felt sorry for that but these were one of the ones that she let her anger cloud her judgment.

Kris's pain turned to anger. "What right do you have to say that? You don't know what I've been through!" And so the plan of being noble and willingly accepting his punishment flew right out the window.

"What YOU'VE been through? How can you say that? YOU'RE the one that left me! YOU'RE the one that said you didn't love me! So what right do YOU have-"

"I did that to PROTECT YOU!" Kris cried. Their voices echoed along the empty hall. 

 The water works were now up and running. "I didn't need protection! What I needed was YOU!"

(Somewhere along the emotional chaos, Yeonsu had slipped away to eat something. She always ate when she got anxious. (She always ate ALWAYS.) And she was particularly anxious then.)

Kris and Yeonhee stilled, their breaths mingling with the dust dancing in the slowly-dwindling sun. The pregnant silence made a comeback into the scene. 

 It was Kris who broke it next. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Yeonhee. You weren't even supposed to know what I said. But you know and there is no way I can turn back the clock to fix what I did then." But I might be able to fix it here, he added in his head.

"I was scared, Yeonhee. For you, for me and especially for us. I couldn't bear the thought of what would happen if the world found out about us."

"Oh yeah, your hot supermodel girlfriend would just be devastated." It was hard not to flinch at the sarcastic bite in Yeonhee's tone.

"Let me explain, Yeonhee. Then say what you want." Kris paused, then continued when he received no response. "I didn't want you to be exposed to the harsh life of a celebrity. MY life. I wanted you to be as innocent as innocent can be. And stay that way."

Kris let out a cold bark. "But obviously, I screwed that up too. I tried hard not to, because I was doing that for you. But it's just in my nature to ruin seemingly perfect things I guess. I really don't expect you to come running back into my arms after alld is said and done.  But... Can we at least be friends?"

Yeonhee had a very hard time concentrating on the matter a hand. She blamed Kris for being so darn distracting. The way the light hit his lithe body. His perfect side profile. The light in his eyes when he spoke. He was too perfect to be healthy for her.

"NO!" Yeonhee cut in mid-sentence, wincing as her voice reverberated along the walls. She took a deep exhale. "I don't think that would be possible Kris."

The ray of hope vanished again, like a snuffed-out candle. Yeonhee felt guilty and rushed to continue. "But I'll try my best. I have a good feeling about this." She offered Kris a smile. 

The smile that she gave him was mirrored he brilliance of his own. As they offered the promise of harmony to each other and sealed the deal with tentative smiles, something shifted in their relationship then. Neither knew what it was but both knew that it was for the better. The moment was perfect and both didn't  wanted it to end.