Maybe they shouldn’t go to Luhan’s place for dinner that day. Maybe he shouldn’t allow Hyoyeon to help Luhan with the cooking. Or perhaps, maybe Hyoyeon and Luhan shouldn’t have met in the first place.

Why Luhan had to come into the picture? Why Luhan had to feel the same was as him towards Hyoyeon? Why Luhan had to know the truth about their marriage? Why Luhan? Why his cousin? Why him?

So many ‘whys’ he wanted to ask. If only Luhan wasn’t there… but, how was he sure if Luhan wasn’t there, everything would be better? Wasn’t everything already a mess from the beginning?

“Kris? Are you sleeping?” She asked, stepping closer to Kris.

Kris blinked. He met her gaze. “No. I’m just resting. Why?” he asked.

Suddenly, Hyoyeon found it hard to talk with Kris. She had never had this problem before. So, why now? Why today?

“I…” Hyoyeon stammered for the right words. “Can we talk?” She bit her lip, silently praying Kris wouldn’t see through her sure-to-be-fail attempts to look calm.

He had a feeling she was going to say something that would hurt him…

“Yeah, sure!” Kris sat up, ready to hear to what she had to say. But, his action made it more difficult for Hyoyeon to speak her mind.

Hyoyeon cleared . Then, she sat beside Kris at the edge of the bed without looking at his face. She figured it would be easier for her to talk like that.

“Do you remember what I said last night?” she asked.

He did remember. How could he forget? No matter how he wished it was a dream, the fact their marriage was only limited to thirty days remained.

“Which one? About you not wanting to sleep with me?” Suddenly, she felt his fingers brush her shoulder.

She looked sideways at him, shooting a death glare. Of all things, how could he mention that?

“No! About our marriage to last only for 30 days!” She snapped.

See? He was right. She wanted to talk about something that would hurt him.

Kris’ hand falling away from her shoulder. “Oh.” He murmured. Her eyes might be playing trick on her because she could almost see as if he was in pain. But, much to her surprise, he suddenly smiled. “You mean that.”

“Don’t tell me you forgot about that! If you forgot, I will…” Hyoyeon trailed off.

“You will what?” He asked, still wearing the playful smile.

“I will curse you. Curse of hatred,” Hyoyeon said, finishing her sentence.

“Heh. What an extremely simple curse,” Kris replied with cheerfulness that, Hyoyeon felt, didn’t really fit the circumstances.

“The point is, you better remember your promise!” Hyoyeon made herself clear, staring deep into his eyes.

Kris raised his eyebrows. “You sound angry, Hyo. Why don’t you enjoy this marriage a bit?”

“I’m not angry, I’m exasperated. All you’d ever brought me were troubles. Troubles, troubles and troubles! I’m not planning to stick with you my whole life, do you understand that? I’m sick of you. And, I’m not a fool.” The words just flowed out of without thinking of the consequence whether they would hurt the man sitting beside her. Only after that she felt the familiar bite of guilt in her stomach.

So, she was sick of him? That was it? So, she never planned to be with him her whole life? Somehow, he already knew it deep in his heart but hearing the truth from her own mouth, indeed painful. So painful he thought he would die of asphyxiation.

And all he ever wanted was for her to love him...

But, if it could make her happy, he would let her go...

If it could make her smile again, he would be willing to let her go...

If it could erase all the trace of pain from her face, he would be more than willing to let her go...

Even if it would cause him the greatest pain and the deepest regret.

In fact, he really regretted it a lot leaving Hyoyeon and Luhan together in the kitchen. He should have watched them. Perhaps he could help Luhan instead of Hyoyeon. He was the one who brought Luhan into the picture. It was all his doing for Luhan falling in love with her too.

“Kris, I don’t know why but my heart feels wrong… I might not live long… What should I do?”

Kris lowered the magazine and looked briefly at Luhan before continuing with his reading. “I think your brain is wrong.”

“But, hear this. It is thumping crazily!” Luhan plucked the magazine out of his hand.

“I recommend a psychiatrist.” Kris replied and sat up straight. His hand rubbed his neck, still not taking him seriously. Instead, he felt annoyed for being disturbed suddenly. He tried to take the magazine back from Luhan.

“What should I do? I only thought Hyoyeon is cute. Then, it suddenly becomes like this.”

He had a bad feeling about that. He should have seen the sign there. It wasn’t hard to fall in love with Hyoyeon. He had to set them apart. Fast. Luhan was a bit of a klutz so he may not notice what that feeling meant immediately. So, he shouldn’t give him time or even the slightest chance to resolve his feeling.

“Don’t worry. There is only one solution. No matter what you do, don’t get close to Hyoyeon.”

That was his warning to Luhan.

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