“You know that I want to, but we just can’t. You’re married now, and you can’t basically abandon Victoria like that,” she finished.

   “Okay,” he could simply make out. There was an uneasy silence between them as Yuri tried to shuffle away.

   “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” She turned her back at him and began to walk away. Nichkhun couldn’t watch her leave so easily. He held his eyes shut, trying to hold himself down. Before he knew it, his body reacted for him. It was as if it had a mind of its own. He got a hold of her and brought her to the nearest bedroom. The door shut behind them as he pinned her down on the bed. Yuri closed her eyes in fright while Nichkhun remained on top of her. His face was a centimeter away from kissing her. He stopped and observed Yuri carefully. She looked as if she didn’t want to do it.

   “Khun oppa, don’t…” He listened before making a move. “This isn’t right. We’re better than this.” Nichkhun ignored and tried to force his lips on hers. She resisted and interrupted again. “Do you think that doing this will really do any good? Are we really that cruel towards Victoria who has only been kind up until now?”

   At these words, he gave up. His face went past hers and dove to the bed in shame. Yuri wrapped her arms around him in comfort.

   “Why do you always do this to me Yuri-ah? Why do you always tell me what’s right? How am I supposed to get what I want?” he let out in despair.

   “I don’t know… But my brother used to tell me that those who do what’s right always win in the end,” she answered while tapping his back. “Let’s just go back to the way everything was. I miss it when things were like that.” Yuri slowly sat up and helped Khun do the same. “I miss being your little sister.”

   Nichkhun smiled. Even if letting her go would surely be hard to accomplish, he had no choice but to accept the truth; he was a married man and that couldn’t be undone.

   Yuri, Taec and Yoona were ready to leave the beautiful country they were visiting. Mr. and Mrs. Horvejkul sent Nichkhun and Victoria to the airport to see them off. Taec gave his usual warm farewells. He reminded Khun to text him weekly updates. He even respectfully shook hands with Victoria. Yoona on the other hand, did not like the new princess. She gave Khun up for Yuri, not for some stranger whom she didn’t trust. When Victoria held out her hand, Yoona grinned coldly and rolled her eyes. Yuri pushed Yoona playfully and greeted Victoria instead.

   “Sorry about her. She’s in a bad mood,” explained Yuri.

   “It’s okay.”

   “Well, I guess that I’ll be going. Good luck with Khun oppa… He’s a handful.” Nichkhun glared as she slowly transitioned towards him. “Hey you! Be good. I don’t want to receive any calls from Victoria saying that you’ve been misbehaving.” He pushed her head.

   “Shouldn’t I be saying the same?” They laughed. The conversation was forcefully not awkward. They tried their best to view each other as siblings. Nichkhun fixed the scarf on her head with a tender touch, just like a brother would do. Victoria felt a tingle in her bones when seeing her husband care for another woman. “Recover quickly. Don’t you dare go out of remission. I worked hard to keep you here.”

   TaecYeon cut their conversation short and glanced at his watch. “Sorry to interrupt. But the plane will leave us if you don’t speed it up.” Yuri picked up her bag and pulled away.

   “Annyeong!” she finally said. Having the reflex of hugging every time they parted, they didn’t do it this time. Victoria was there and it would be inappropriate. Instead, Yuri bowed respectfully to both as they split ways. When turning around, she felt mixed emotions. Half of her was happy that Khun would be at peace, but the other half was mad at herself for not even trying to be with him. Yuri turned around one last time to take a glimpse at the couple. They smiled at her with so much warmth. As the escalator went up, their shadow slowly disappeared behind the wall.

   “Annyeong, Khun oppa. This is really the last time now. I’ll say this once more… Saranghae,” she said interiorly with Yoona and TaecYeon obviously not noticing.

   “Are you okay?” asked TaecYeon.

   “… Yeah…”

   Nichkhun sighed, almost wanting to cry. Victoria faced him beaming and attempting to lift his spirits up. She took his arm and stuck to him sweetly.

   “So, how about we go home? I’ll cook you something nice.” Having her speak to him in this matter was somewhat disturbing. Treating her like she meant nothing to him would be easy because that’s what he truly felt, but that’s not what Yuri would want. If she were here, she would’ve wanted him to cherish her, to love her.

   “Sure, let’s go,” he accepted kindly. He acted like a real husband, the way he would if it were Yuri.

***

   Years went by fast for Nichkhun, faster than he thought or even imagined. To his surprise, he learned to appreciate Victoria. More than that, he learned to love her. She was a nice and talented girl whom he respected a lot. They even worked together really well. Their chemistry was remarkable and people enjoyed watching the couple continue to be successful. The king and queen were pleased with the outcome of their decision. Slowly, Nichkhun removed Yuri out of his heart and replaced her with Victoria. He didn’t do it on purpose, it just happened.

   Victoria entered their bedroom when Nichkhun laid on the bed, reading a few papers. She jumped on the vacant space beside him and put her arm around his chest. The prince smiled as his princess came closer.

   “What’s up?” he asked still reading his paper.

   “Nothing really… What are you doing?”

   “I’m just clearing up a few things.” At that instant, his phone vibrated. He reached out of his pocket and pulled it out. “Taecyeon,” it clearly read. He opened it.

Weekly update! Yah! I know you’ve been busy and all but a text wouldn’t hurt. Anyways, I hope that you’re doing well. I’m still working on that job of mine. It’s getting really painful. Hopefully things get better. Yuri is also contributing a lot. I have to say that she really takes a huge part off my back. Not to worry about her, she’s still as strong as ever. Her cancer is gone and it’s almost as if it vanished, but you never know… Oh, and by the way, Yuri’s asking if she can date WooYoung instead of Chansung whom she suggested last week. Aish… she would find any excuse not to date Minho. He’s so persistent He follows her EVERYWHERE! As for Yoona, she’s been staying at our place for a while. Don’t ask me why, even I don’t understand. Anyways, text me back. Araso?”

   The prince let out a smirk and answered the text with one hand while the other played with Victoria’s waist.

   “What are you writing back?” asked Victoria curiously.

   “Ah! The usual.” She watched her husband finish his message. “Oh! By the way, your mom has a new project for you abroad.”

   “Really? What is it?” he questioned without looking at her.

   “It’s another foundation… In Korea.” He froze and directed his glare at her. “I’m actually excited,” she added.

   “Where are we staying? And for how long will this be?” He hoped that it wouldn’t be anywhere near Yuri.

   “Your mom left it up to us.”

   “Okay, we’ll find a hotel or something. That would probably be best.”

   “I have a better idea. Why don’t we ask if we could stay with TaecYeon? It’ll be fun,” she suggested. Nichkhun didn’t really like the idea. Seeing Yuri again meant trouble. Victoria snatched his phone away and finished the text message. “We’re leaving in two days,” she beamed with enthusiasm.

   …This was surely going to make a mess. Nichkhun considered it again. “I wonder how Yuri is like now,” he thought naturally. His worries turned into excitement. He couldn’t wait to see his old friends.

The doorbell resonated throughout the apartment, Yuri’s head peeked out of the kitchen. She wasn’t used to the ring they installed last weekend.

    “Coming!” she shouted while wiping her hand and slipping on the floor here and there. She got to the door, out of breathe, and unlocked it. “Minho!? Didn’t you visit me yesterday?” His face was gleaming of joy.

   “Yeah! But I missed you. I couldn’t help it.” She sighed, partly annoyed.

   “Minho oppa, I’ve told you about a thousand times that I’m NOT going to date you.”

   “Yuri-sshi.” This voice didn’t belong to Minho. Yuri glanced above his shoulder and focused at the silhouette approaching. There they were, clearly hand in hand: Victoria and Nichkhun. Yuri’s heart began to beat faster as they came closer. “Annyeong,” greeted Khun warmly. The feelings she possessed when they were still together three years ago came back. It was a bittersweet feeling that killed her.

   He was so different for some reason. In contrast to previous moments, he seemed happy.  There was a feeling of maturity in him. Being separated from Yuri did him some good. Minho moved over to expose Yuri’s surprised expression.

   “Ah! It seems like Taec didn’t tell you, huh?” Yuri nodded and bowed formally.

   “Eoseo oseyo.”