Prologue

I think they’re officially back together now. They will be going to Jeju in a week. I’m so sorry.

His fingers unconsciously clenched around the steering wheel as he read the message. The words spun in his head over and over again like a broken tape, forming a thick cloud that seemed to prevent him from thinking clearly. He felt the bile rising to his throat and suddenly the bitter taste in his mouth was growing stronger and stronger.

No, it wasn’t anger and Cho Kyuhyun knew it himself.

It was just... resignation. The realization of the fact that you’ve lost your game when you haven’t even started it. The fact that it was just not his faith to be the one who could have her and win her heart.

Six years falling in love with her was no easy for him. The first time he met her she had been broken, weak, and struggling just to keep herself standing upright.

She was broken by him. Weakened by him. Forced to struggle on her own because of him.

Him. The ex-boyfriend that had left her, while his shadows seemed to persistently remain to keep her from moving on. The ex-boyfriend that had messed her up terribly but never left her thoughts even for a second.

It was just sad that she was still so madly in love with him when he eventually came back to her – after leaving her broken for six years.

The six years where Kyuhyun came into the picture, helped her pick up all the pieces of her shattered heart, and never left her side because he knew he was falling for her since the first time his eyes were set on her.

But now he didn’t know who was pathetic anymore, really.

Was it her, the girl who was still accepting the guy who had completely crushed her heart into a million pieces even after six years with open, welcoming arms – or was it Kyuhyun himself, the guy who was so desperately in love with her, the girl whom he knew he wouldn’t ever be able to have?

Yes, Cho Kyuhyun knew from the very beginning that he wouldn’t ever be able to have her. He knew that he couldn’t get in between them even in the other guy’s long absence. Their relationship was just too complicated and tangled that she couldn’t seem to disentangle herself from him.

Cho Kyuhyun would never be able to replace him, because anyone with brains knew she wasn’t looking for his replacement.

But then Kyuhyun had been there for her. All the time. He never left her. He never hurt her.

How was it fair that the guy who had left her could get her back, while Kyuhyun who had been standing by her side couldn’t even have her as more than his best friend?

She never even spared so much as a look in his direction that indicated she was thinking of him as more than a best friend or a brother.

Oh yes, he was right. Life was definitely not being fair to him.

Kyuhyun sighed and turned the engine off, slipping his phone into the front pocket of his jeans. He was just on his way back to Seoul after a charity event at Busan, and when he received the message from his other best friend, Jinhee, he decided he should cut himself some slack and parked his car at the rest area.

Exhaustion was getting to him and the resolve to find caffeine to pull himself back together was getting stronger.

He was pushing the driver’s door open when a figure passed his car. And when he had stepped out a foot on the ground, a ‘thud’ sound was heard and suddenly the figure was nowhere in sight. Frowning, Kyuhyun got out of his car and closed the door behind him. He almost groaned when he did.

No kidding.

A woman had just fainted in front of him. On the ground, not even a meter away from him, she was there lying on the ground, her hair covering her face, her hands clutching her stomach. Kyuhyun realized she wasn’t completely unconscious yet as he could hear her small voice in pain.

Kyuhyun sighed inwardly. Just when I was going to get my much needed dose of caffeine.

However, his instincts as a doctor kicked in. He crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder, gently helping her so she was lying on her back instead of on her side. He pushed her hair from her face.

“Hey, Agasshi? Agasshi, are you okay? Can you breathe? I’m a doc-” his voice was cut mid-sentence as his eyes went wide. The oxygen was hitched in his airway and suddenly breathing wasn’t the easiest thing to do anymore.

He just couldn’t help but be stunned when a very beautiful face came into view.

She was so gorgeous. Heart shaped face framed with wavy light brown hair, eyes with the longest eyelashes he’d ever seen on a girl, perfectly shaped eyebrows and nose, completed with small, perfect lips... Even in pain, she was breathtakingly gorgeous.

Kyuhyun didn’t realize that he had paused to admire the beauty.

A hand shot up to grab his arm. “I-I... Oh my God... My stomach... hurts...”

Kyuhyun blinked into realization and slipped his arm under her upper body, so she could speak more clearly. “Your stomach? Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere...” she started sobbing, a single tear trickled down her pale cheek. “Oh my God, Mommy, it hurts...” she was saying in English.

Kyuhyun pressed a hand on the center of her abdomen. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

She nodded weakly, still sobbing quietly. Then Kyuhyun pressed his fingers on her lower stomach, between the right hipbone and belly-button. She jolted and screamed in pain. Kyuhyun frowned sharply. It was probably her appendix.

“Come on,” Kyuhyun said, helping her to sit up straight, but looking at the way her legs were trembling, he decided he would just carry her. He slipped his other arm under her knees and lifted her.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked, her arms automatically locking around his neck in fear of falling down.

“We have to get you to the hospital.” Kyuhyun told her. When he saw that she was still looking up at him in apprehension, though he wasn’t sure she could see him clearly since her eyes were swimming in tears, he sighed and opened the passenger’s door of his car. “Relax, I’m a doctor.”

She finally nodded, and closed her eyes when Kyuhyun was done buckling her seatbelt. Kyuhyun rounded his car and got into the driver’s seat.

“Have you eaten?” he asked turning on the engine.

“No.”

“Since when?”

“I...” she clutched her hands weakly on her stomach. “I don’t remember.”

Kyuhyun cursed under his breath. He was briefly reminded of a certain girl that always made him worry because of her gastric – a certain girl who was now back together with her ex-boyfriend despite him leaving her for years, Kyuhyun thought bitterly.

She was a little careless about her health, just like this girl was. He gripped the steering wheel tightly.

“What is it with women and their inability to have a good meal time?” he murmured gruffly, staring straight ahead as the car shot out of the rest area.

A shifting sound was heard a few minutes later and Kyuhyun turned to her. The girl was now sitting sideways and pulling her legs close to her body, her arms hugging them tightly, her face still pale and slightly scrunched in pain. She rested her head onto the back rest beside her, her body curled up into a tight ball.

“Cold?” Kyuhyun asked. The girl nodded slowly and he reached the back seat to look for something. When she looked up, a blanket was magically produced in front of her. She accepted it gratefully.

“Thank you.” she said quietly, wrapping it around her body.

Kyuhyun nodded, observing her through his peripheral vision. If she thought she smelled some soft flowery scent from the blanket, she didn’t say anything.

“Feeling better?”

She was closing her eyes. “Would you drop me here and stop getting me to the hospital if I said yes?”

Kyuhyun let out a soft chuckle. “You’re definitely feeling better.”

There was a pause. “You’re a doctor?” she asked.

Kyuhyun answered with a ‘Hmm’.

“Please don’t tell my family I’m sick.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t.” She shook her head. “The whole country would know if my family found out I have appendicitis. Just do some surgery or something if necessary,” she lifted a finger to , “silently.”

Kyuhyun laughed again. She looked ridiculous talking so seriously with her eyes closed. She was frowning lightly now.

“Why are you laughing? I’m serious.”

“Alright.”

“What? You don’t trust me?” she asked sleepily.

“I didn’t say anything of that sort. I said alright.”

“But your tone said otherwise.” She was murmuring into her knees.

Unconsciously, a smile tugged at Kyuhyun’s lips as he watched the beautiful stranger slowly fall into slumber. “You’re exhausted. Just sleep...” he trailed off.

“Seyoon,” she mumbled. “My name is Im Seyoon.”

“I’m Cho Kyuhyun.” He watched through the rearview mirror as her lips started to part slightly. “Just sleep, Seyoon-sshi.”

[A/N] So that was the prologue, the first time he met her. For TOTGA's readers (omg that sounds funny haha), if you haven't realized it, the time is way before Hyukjae and Nana got married, it's when they were going to have that business trip to Jeju and Kyuhyun was just back from Busan. Tell me what you think, okay? Thank you for subscribing and even commenting and upvoting!

P.s: don't hate Kyuhyun for hating Hyukjae, he still didn't know the reason why he left yet. But other than that, enjoy!