So. . . I'm not dead ;;; :3  PLEASE ENJOY THE UPDATE I'M SORRY <3

Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer as she sprinted out of the airport terminal.  Even though her feet were barely touching the floor because she was running so fast, Yuki felt as though she was going at a snail's pace.  Her eyes scanned the space in front of her frantically, looking for a familiar gleam of silver.

She found it almost instantly.

The girl immediately started sprinting towards the end of the terminal, throwing caution to the wind as she weaved her way around the hundreds of people going in and out of the building.  She didn't stop or slow down at all, not even when when a woman with several suitcases stacked on top of a dolley came in front of her.  Yuki leaped over the large pile almost effortlessly, leaving many dropped jaws behind her.  

Finally, after what felt like hours, Yuki jumped onto her loyal, silver bike.  She didn't have time to appreciate its engine's purr as she jammed the key into the ignition, or the feral snarl it emitted as she made it fly forward at full throttle.  Only one thought was fueling her actions.

I have to make sure he's okay.  He has to be okay.

Caution seemed to be the last thing on Yuki's mind.  The black roads were still slick from the previous night's rain, tampering with the friction from her bike's wheels, yet the girl didn't let her speed go even a tic under 150 miles per hour.  If anything, she kept trying to push her bike to go faster.  It's going to take forever to get to downtown Seoul. . . even if I do take the freeway, the girl thought grimly, there is ONE other option. . . 

Without even pausing to consider the possible consequences of what she was about to do, Yuki made a sharp left, forcing her motorcycle off of the street and into a narrow alleyway.  The girl's senses were on hyper-drive, barely navigating the dangerous hairpin turns that popped up every few seconds.  The slippery roads weren't doing her any good either.

The streets of the underworld were dangerous, risky, and the fastest way to get to any place in South Korea.  Much faster than any freeways the girl could have taken.  Twice, her bike almost crashed into a wall because its wheels skid across the wet asphalt of the narrow road.  Three times, Yuki unexpectedly crashed a drug/weapons deal, barely avoiding the spray of bullets that followed after her.  Several times, the girl was forced to take detours because of red light districts, and more times than she could count, Yuki revved the engine of the bike to let bystanders know to get the hell out of her way.  

It was a miracle she hadn't died yet.

It wasn't long before the girl managed to cross into Seoul's city limits.  A trip that would normally have taken several hours took Yuki a little under one thanks to her mind-numbing speed and Underworld short cut.

Her speed increased to 180 miles per hour, ignoring her engine's whine of protest.  The girl deftly began maneuvering her way through traffic, her panic and adrenaline sharpening her focus, her heart thundering inside her chest.  

"He sounded really b-badly hurt.  He said someone attacked him.  He's not sure how much longer he can hold out.  The line went dead right a-after that.  We tried to trace it, but his ph-phone went dead halfway through.  He's somewhere a little ways down the Han River, but we can't find him a-anywhere.  Noona. . . please. . .  We don't have t-time."

Yuki didn't wait for her bike to stop before she jumped off of it.  The only sounds she could hear were the light roars of thunder and the bubbling laughter of the Han River.  She was quite a ways away from the Banpo Bridge, so only darkness surrounded her.  The girl spun around looking everywhere, looking for some sign of him.  Her breath caught in when she saw nothing.  Frantically, she began running up the length of the river, turning on the flashlight of her phone to increase her visibility.  A violent wind ripped through the air.

He must be getting cold. . . I have to hurry.

The girl raised her phone high in the air, hoping the powerful rays of light would illuminate some type of clue.

She was not disappointed.  

Yuki started when a rectangular object caught her eye.  She ran towards it and picked it up.

The Keroro on Minho's iPhone case stared up at her, its face permanently frozen into that excited smile.

Yuki took a deep breath to calm herself, forcing her panic down.  She raised her phone's flashlight once more.  If his phone is here, maybe he's still   nearby. . .

Her eyes widened when she caught sight of a particular crevice in the greenery to her left.  She had been so focused on looking for Minho that she hadn't even realized where she had ended up.  Could he have hidden. . .? the girl wondered, it's my only lead.  I HAVE to check.

The small Sakura forest was quiet.  Too quiet.  It was as if the small space was holding its breath, quietly observing the girl that had just entered its depths.

Cherry blossoms crunched under Yuki's feet as she slowly walked around the forest.  Her flashlight was turned off, casting her and her surroundings into darkness.  Her hands were by her sides, curled into fists and ready to act at a moment's notice.  

She didn't know who was inside the forest with her yet.  

One of her hands came up to touch her dragon pendant, her eyes flickering from side to side as she walked. 

The sound of a twig snapping had Yuki whirl around in the blink of an eye, her hands up and her feet ready to jump to the side in case her enemy was armed.

Suddenly, the moon broke through the clouds, causing a subtle glow to be cast on the ground and illuminating the silhouette in front of Yuki.

Silence.

"I'm sorry," Minho breathed.

Yuki walked towards him, almost in a trance.  Minho simply stood and watched.  

Yes, he and SHINee had come up with the ruse, but it was only because they wanted to make one last ditch effort to get her to come back.  But none of this would have even happened had Taeil not decided to call Taemin and tell him where Yuki was going.

The boy watched Yuki warily.  She looked. . . confused.  When she was only a few feet away, she paused.  Hesitantly, Minho raised his arms, as if to embrace her.

"I'm. . . okay?" he said with a slight lopsided smile on his face.

That smile quickly disappeared when Yuki closed the distance between them and punched the boy solidly in the gut, causing him to double over from the force.  The attack didn't stop there.  Yuki continued, each punch punctuated by a string of the worst Japanese and Korean insults she knew.

"BAKA! (punch) GESEKI! (punch) KUSOTARRE! (punch) SHIBSEKI! (punch) KONO YAROU! (punch) JOT DEGARI! (punch) KUTABARE! (punch)." 

[A/N:  I'm going to vote against translating these for you guys ;)]

"YAH YAH YAH YAH!" Minho shouted, flinching at the powerful blows.

"YOU ING IDIOT!" Yuki shouted, her voice shaking, "I THOUGHT- I COULDN'T- YOU-"

Minho said nothing as Yuki's punches finally began decreasing in strength.  They became weaker and weaker until finally, she was barely slapping his chest.  The violent sound of thunder permeated the air.  Yuki looked up at the boy.  Suddenly, a drop from the sky fell on her cheek, followed by many more. "Damn you," she cursed, her voice still wavering, "damn you for lying to me again.  I hate you."

He grabbed her shoulders firmly, but gently.  The girl squirmed, trying to break his grasp, but he refused to let her budge.  "Liar," he finally said, making Yuki stop her movements.  She looked up to glare at him.  She opened to retort, but he cut her off.  "You don't hate me.  You care."

Yuki scoffed and looked Minho dead in the eye.  "I do hate you.  And I don't give a about you, thank you very much."

Minho didn't miss the increase in speed of her blinks, nor the way her eyes shifted to the side for just a moment before returning to meet his own.

"Really?  Because I don't think I would break every single one of South Korea's traffic laws for someone I didn't care about."

"I don't need anymore of your , Keroro," Yuki fired back venomously, finally breaking Minho's grip on her.  He grabbed her again.

"WHAT?!" she demanded.

"You. . . you called me 'Keroro'," Minho said, his eyes widening slightly at the sound of the familiar pet name.  Yuki stopped short.  She had been refusing to even think his name for the past couple of months, much less the stupid nickname she used to use.  

"Slip of the tongue," the girl mumbled, "it means nothing."

"I don't think it means nothing,"

"Yeah, well your opinion doesn't matter anyways.  Now let go of my hand before I break it."

"Four months hasn't changed you one bit."

Silence surrounded the pair again, broken only by the sound of rain that was soaking them to the skin.  Finally, Minho decided to break the silence.  "I've lived my life with a lot of regrets, Ice Princess, but not being able to stop you from leaving me is one regret I'm not going to be able to live with."

"Well you're going to have to learn," came the icy response.

Yuki's eyes widened in shock when she felt herself being pushed against one of the trees in the forest.  "WHAT THE FU-"

"Look me in the eyes," Minho interrupted her, "look me in the eyes and say you don't love me.  Say you don't care.  Tell me that you want to leave S.M. and never look back.  If you can do that without wavering, I will leave you alone."

His form towered over hers, shielding the rain from her face so she couldn't even use it as an excuse to not look at him.  She looked up at him and met his eyes.  She did her best to force the necessary words out of .

You've made it this far.  Just do it.

"I. . . I want to. . ."

"Ice Princess," Minho said, cutting off Yuki's feeble attempts, "please.  S.M. needs you.  SHINee needs you. . .

I need you."

Without waiting for the girl's response, Minho wrapped his arms around the girl's figure and crashed his lips against hers.

She tried resisting, pushing against his chest, trying to force him away from her.  His grip only tightened, as if Yuki would disappear if he let her go.  He tried to convey everything through that little bit of contact:  his regrets, his sorrow, his relief, and of course, his love for her.

He wanted Yuki to feel the pain and hell he had gone through the past couple of months.  He wanted to know more than anything that she missed him as much as he missed her.  He wanted her back so badly it hurt.

He pulled away after a few seconds, stiffening from her lack of response.

Yuki kept her eyes fixed to the ground, saying nothing.  Minho waited for another few seconds. 

His spirits deflated when she still didn't say anything.  He turned around without another word.  I guess this really is it. . . he thought to himself dejectedly.  As much as he wanted to keep pushing her, he didn't want to force Yuki to do something she didn't want to do.  He felt the crack in his heart get bigger.  It began to rain much harder, but Minho ignored the freezing droplets that touched his skin.  He simply kept walking, his mind blank.  All he could do was hope that Yuki was as good at hiding as she used to be.  

Minho was a man that had been famous for breaking hearts back in the day.  This was the first time he had experienced being on the receiving end.  The sky released the tears that Minho was trying so deperately to keep in.  He blinked rapidly, refusing to show so much weakness.  He kept his back straight and kept walking, his mind a flurry of confused thoughts.

Minho was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. 

"I'm too weak," Yuki said, her voice shaking as her grip around Minho's chest became tighter, "I can't do it.  I can't leave."

Minho's eyes widened, unable to believe his ears.  Gently, he released himself from Yuki's grip so he could turn around and look at her.  The girl's dark eyes were glistening, the rain drops hitting her face relentlessly, but Minho knew her well enough to know that Yuki wouldn't let her tears fall.  The rain would do the crying for her.  "Who said anything about being weak?  It's your strength that's letting you swallow your fear," the boy said.  Yuki opened to argue, but closed it after a moment.  She couldn't think of how to respond to the boy's statement.  "So. . .you'll. . . you'll stay with m- with S.M.?"  He hoped that his slight slip of tongue had escaped Yuki's notice.

The girl took a breath and looked at Minho.  A small smile formed on her lips.  Small, but it was the first genuine smile she had displayed in months.  "Yes," she said, "I'll stay with you."

A smile stretched across Minho's face that was so wide that Yuki was sure his mouth would break.  The boy pulled Yuki back into his arms again, holding her close, afraid that she would disappear in a whisp of smoke if he let her go.

Yuki held Minho equally as tight.   was tight with emotion, so instead of speaking, she attempted to silently convey her feelings to Minho.  The boy seemed to have understood her, because she felt his grip on her tighten just slightly. 

Those past couple of months, Yuki had felt lost, alone, and broken.  Everything had stopped making sense and nothing had seemed to mean anything anymore.  She had lost her family, her identity, and the one person she had put her full trust in.  Little pieces of her had broken like shattered glass, scattered anywhere and everywhere into the farthest reaches of oblivion.

But right then, at that moment, Minho was hugging Yuki so tight that all of her broken pieces managed to stick back together.

The world is cruel and merciless. . .

but it is also very beautiful.

~Mikasa Ackerman (Attack on Titan/Shinkeji no Kyojin)

Well for starters, I'm alive? LOL.  I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long.  I haven't forgotten about you guys, I swear :/  Just college apps and life and ;akdfj;askdf.  Lots of crap going on at once @_@  BUT HEY I UPDATED RIGHT AT LEAST SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENED.

AND MORE GOOD.

BECAUSE THE MINKI COUPLE SURVIVES!!! <3 *THROWS LOTS AND LOTS OF CONFETTI*

BUT WAIT.

It's NOT OVER YET.  So please be patient with the rolling out of the next chapter because I have NO idea when it's going to come out!  Thank you all for your patience~

AND FOR THE LOVELY SURPRISE OF 6100 VIEWS AND INFLUX OF FLURRIES WOW.

LIKE.  WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM O_O

So without further ado, WELCOME NEW FLURRIES!! <3 I hope you continue to enjoy the story!!!

stellasweet 
 

Dyomatic 
 

Jumpyjump1 
 

mountaindew 
 

jkj1234 
 

cynthia132123 
 

steftrespecs 
 

kgs123 
 

sushi_sykes 

Thank you all for sticking with me throughout the duration of the story so far :)  It means a lot and I'm so glad all of you subscribed :)
 

PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, AND EVEN UP-VOTE IF YOU CAN!!!!  See you all real soon!!

~Yuki ❄