Nichkhun pushed her away and wiped his lips. Yoona was crying profoundly and he pitied her with all sincerity.

   “Yoona-ssi, mianhe… I just can’t seem to love you the way you love me.”

   “Why not?” she asked with distress. Her face was soft and for the first time since they’ve ever conversed, Khun saw goodness in the tears. He felt her passion boiling on front of his own eyes.

   “I came back to Korea because of one person. And that person isn’t you, Yoona-ssi. Sorry for making it sound so direct,” he stated with a little regret. Nichkhun expected her to fall down on her knees in misery, but instead, a smile crept up her face.

   This smile didn’t look phony. On the contrary, it seemed like she was restoring some sort of hope inside of her. “Khun-ssi, why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” He remained perplexed and somewhat confused. “All these years, I thought that we still had a shot at each other. I was waiting for you. All you had to tell me was that there really wasn't a chance anymore.” Yoona took a bow. “Thanks for telling me. Although it may take time for me to completely get over you, at least I know that I shouldn’t dwell on your behalf.”

   Yoona crouched down on her knees and cried quietly for a moment. Nichkhun watched and leaned next to her while rubbing her back.

   “I’m sorry for making you sad like this.” His compassion had never been so big for anyone.

   Khun opened the door to Yuri’s hospital bedroom. He had just left Yoona outside when she had finished tearing up. He quickly found an expression of unhappiness that he didn’t like to see on Yuri’s face. Her eyes took a glimpse at his entrance and rapidly dove down to the floor.

   “Where’s Taec? Wasn’t he supposed to look after you?”

   “I don’t know,” she simply responded. He sat on the bed near her left leg.

   “What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly so gloomy? You looked completely fine before you kicked me out with Yoona.”

   “Khun oppa, can I ask you something?” He smiled appealingly and leaned backwards to make himself comfortable.

   “Go for it!” Yuri cleared and began.

   “Do you like Yoona that much?” Nichkhun frowned and didn’t really get where this was going. Before even giving an answer, she interrupted. “You do, don’t you? I presume things went well then.”

   “I don’t really understand what you’re trying to bring up here.”

   “I’m not bringing up anything. I’m just a little disappointed. The fact that you two are dating again means that you’ll be leaving me alone.” She managed to sneer a bit. “I bet that after a few weeks, you’ll forget about me and only hang out with Yoona. That thought just upsets me. That’s all.” Yuri lifted her shoulders and changed expressions. Khun couldn’t speak again. Words refused to come out.  “But now that I think of it, this might be a good thing…If ever anything happens to me; at least there will be someone to take care of you.” Khun’s eyes grew at these alarming words.

   “What are you saying? Why would anything happen to you?”

   “I never said anything was going to happen to me. I’m just pointing it out.” Yuri saw a concerned expression on his face that made her wonder if she revealed too much. He stared suspiciously at her again.

   “You’ve been acting really funny all day. Are you sure that there isn’t anything wrong?”

   “What do you mean? Why would anything be wrong?”

   “I don’t know… I just have this weird feeling that you’re hiding something.” She her lips and gazed away in order to avoid his firing eyes.

   There was a knock at the door. Yuri quickly leaped on her feet and passed Nichkhun without a word. She sprinted to the door and opened it abruptly. The person grasped her hand which particularly shocked her.

   “Yuri-ah, what happened?” cried Minho in panic. “Did your luckem…” Yuri threw herself on him and covered his mouth tightly. Minho was completely puzzled.

   “Shut up. Don’t just speak for any sort of reason. Watch what you say.” He pushed away, caught his breath and began to protest.

   “What are you talking about? I came all the way here to make sure you were alright and all you do is attack me like a savage.” Yuri gave him a twisted gaze and glanced behind her at the corner of her eye. Nichkhun was standing there, fixing Minho wrathfully. He came close to the scene and slid his arm around Yuri’s shoulder. This made her shiver.

   “Who are you?” asked Nichkhun. Minho lifted his eyebrow.

   “Ummm, shouldn’t I be asking you that? I’ve never seen you with Yuri before.”

   "First of all, I'm Nichkhun Horvejkul, Prince of Thailand. Second, to clarify, I knew Yuri-ah for fourteen years now, longer than you ever did.”

   “Then, what’s your relationship with her? And where did you pop out from all of a sudden? Why do you suddenly appear now?” Nichkhun smiled and laid his eyes on Yuri who looked a little embarrassed.

   “Oh I'll tell you. We were best friends before I left for Thailand, but due to an unfortunate fight, we lost contact and never spoke with each other. Recently, I decided to come back to Korea when realizing how unbearable it was without her.” Yuri began to shake out of terror by those words. “When I saw her for the first time in four years, I realized that, I couldn’t hide it any longer; I fell in love with her.”

   Minho was speechless. Yuri was acting similarly ; she couldn’t move a muscle. Her whole body was numb.

   “So, since you asked what my relationship with her is, my answer is this.” Yuri finally managed to face him. What would he say? “She’s my girlfriend.” No matter how much she wanted to protest, it was as if her body was keeping her its silent mode on purpose. Minho looked at Yuri in discontent but she didn’t notice at all. She was stuck into her own world. Khun grinned when watching Yuri’s passive yet frozen expression.

   “Is there anything else you want to know?”

   “Ummm… No thanks, I heard enough,” said Minho, and then addressed himself to her. “Yuri-ah, I hope that you feel better. I’ll come visit some other time; it looks like you’re a bit busy now.” She felt the sadness he was resenting. Somehow, leaving him this way was making her guilty.

   “Don’t believe that face of his. It’s all a mask to make you fall into pity,” she thought to herself. As he left, she couldn’t stop replaying the scene in her mind over and over. She had never seen Minho with comparable emotion throughout their whole relationship. It surprisingly hurt a lot, unlike the last time she rejected him on front of her apartment door.

   “Yuri-ah,” nudged Nichkhun to her back to reality. She quickly remembered where she was and wacked his chest with her fist.

   “Khun oppa, why did you say that?”

   “Say what?”

   “Don’t act this way! You know exactly what I mean. Just because we both know how angry I am at Minho oppa, you didn’t have to lie to him like that. Did you see how heartbroken he looked?  I never intended for him to end up this way!” Nichkhun’s smiled dropped.

   “Are you saying that you still have feelings for that punk?” Yuri was confused. She had no idea what was going through her head. Just moments ago, her envy was directed towards Yoona for being with her long time former crush. However, it was different now. She was upset for breaking her ex-boyfriend’s heart.

   “Oh, I don’t know.” Yuri gave in and sat on her bed; she really didn’t know what was happening with herself. Nichkhun crept up beside her but remained quiet.   “Mianhe oppa, I made you lie just to defend me. I must be a real burden to you right now.”

   “How is that?”

   “Yoona would probably feel weird if she heard all of that. Aish! I’m already breaking my promise. I told you that I would help you get back with Yoona, and yet, I’m just drawing you away all over again.” She sighed. “Mianhe, I really don’t deserve to call you my friend, don’t I?” Nichkhun gave her a long yet powerful stare.

   “I didn’t utter a single lie back there.” Yuri’s guard rose.

   “Bwoh?”

   “Everything I told Minho was the truth. I didn’t just tell him a bunch of empty words.” Yuri scratched her head in bewilderment.

   “But… But what about Yoona? Didn’t you two get back together just now? Isn’t she the reason you came back to Korea in the first place?” She began to laugh insincerely. “Oppa, stop joking around because your gag isn’t funny at all.”

   “Did I ever say that I came to Korea for Yoona? I didn’t. You simply presumed that for whatever reason. And a few minutes ago, I didn’t hook up with her. We simply clarified one thing which was that we were through for good. To finish, what I said to Minho explains everything. When my mother imposed me on marrying that Victoria person, I could only think of one thing: You!! Because of all those feelings I stocked up throughout these years, I just couldn’t get married to Victoria no matter how good my mother spoke of her. When I saw you on front of the door yesterday, I knew it. I was completely and wholeheartedly in love with you. And it’s not a joke!” He finished and waited for her reaction.

   “Khun oppa stop confusing me.” Barely a split second after these words, Nichkhun leaned over and pressed his lips over hers. His left hand was holding her check gently. He jerked away and opened his eyes. She did the same.

   “Did I confuse you even more?” Without a word, he smiled and kissed her again.

   Minho sat outside Yuri’s room, on the chair further down the hall. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Yuri was going out with that Nichkhun guy. Minho folded his hands and dove into a deep moment of reflection. ‘This explains why she rejected him that morning.’ He glanced at the door of the room and couldn’t help but take a quick peek. He had to make sure that Yuri was safe in there and that nothing bad was going on. Through the rectangular glass, Minho could see Nichkhun and Yuri crystal clear. But he didn’t like what they were doing. Their kiss nearly made his heart melt.

   “Why did you cheat on her Minho? Because of your stupid games, you managed to lose her. Babo!”