12-year-old Joohyun sobbed on Kyuhyun's shoulder as he hugged her tightly.

"Joohyun ah, sorry for not being able to give you a present this year. If I survived, I will come back to find you so I can make up for it. Until I do, think of this necklace as my presence. Please don't think about today again. Be happy and stay healthy."

With every sob the trembling figure in his arms made and every word he whispered into her ears, silent tears streamed down his pale cheeks.

"Don't cry, Joohyun. I will surely come back. I promise. Be strong." He held her shoulder, turned her trembling body around and gently pushed her back, making Joohyun cry even harder.

Kyuhyun lovingly stared at Joohyun's dark brown curls falling freely on her back as she started running away. Tears that he had tried to withhold flowed down his cheeks. But before Joohyun could get far, he saw some people surround her. He ran towards the frightened girl with worry.

"Andwae... Joohyun!"

~~~

Kyuhyun abruptly woke up, panting hard and in a shirt soaked with sweat. He took a few deep breaths as he realised it had been just a nightmare. It wasn't true. He tried to calm himself down. Joohyun was able to escape that night. He already found her. She was safe and sound. 

"Kyuhyun." Victoria, also known as Qian, rushed to him and hugged him tightly. "Do you know how worried I was?"

"I'm sorry. It was an accident, Qian."

"Don't lie to me, Kyuhyun. I was watching from the rooftop. I saw everything. You shouldn't have just run off to save her. Don't you see that she doesn't even appreciate it one bit? And because you listened to her words and hesitated, you got injured."

Kyuhyun held his stomach and sat up on the bed. "Is she already in a safe place?"

"The police escorted her home. Just worry about yourself Kyuhyun ah. You got stabbed."

"I... I told you Qian, I am not Kyuhyun anymore. And the wound is not big. I am ok."

"It is not big? You lost so much blood. Kyu-" She stopped. Since Kyuhyun came back after the fateful encounter with Joohyun 3 days ago, he insisted her to call him K because he hated what he had done. Kyuhyun was so soft hearted despite everything he was doing for his one and only girl, Joohyun.

"Just K, Qian. I don't want her to know that Kyuhyun had become such a cruel murderer like me."

"But you are only killing to save her."

"Just like you said, Qian, she doesn't appreciate it."

"Then, quit it. And live as Kyuhyun again. I can't see you like this anymore."

"Staying as Kyuhyun won't help her at all. So, I can't go back to my old self when her life is still constantly in danger."

"You are crazy. But fine. I will pretend like you are not Kyuhyun but you have to promise me that you will take care of yourself."

Kyuhyun smiled weakly, "Thank you for everything Qian."

Victoria looked at Kyuhyun with sympathetic eyes. He had been through a lot for the girl who no longer cared about him. He was willing to sacrifice his life for the girl who only disgusted him as a murderer for the moment.

Victoria sighed as Kyuhyun looked away from her gaze after a few seconds, not liking the feeling of being pitied. Sincerely, she prayed both of them would reach their destinations safe and sound. If she could return to mainland China and Kyuhyun could return to Joohyun, all their sufferings would be worth the outcome. But she was only a few steps away from her dream when Kyuhyun was still amidst of nowhere.

She recalled their past. They became each other's best friend when they met through the hard times. She believed that there would be no man as trustworthy and responsible as Kyuhyun. They have been together for 6 years. If one specific girl hadn't constantly been in Kyuhyun's heart, Victoria would have wanted to be something more than friends with Kyuhyun.

Even then, she still had feelings for Kyuhyun but she knew what the best thing she could do was. She needed to disguise her feelings to keep their friendship remain strong over the years.

"But K, if you are going to have to suffer any more than this, I will not only break my promise but also get rid of her." She continued in her thoughts, 'Not as her love rival but as your best friend, who could not bear to see you suffer for that girl'.

It got Kyuhyun's attention back to her, judging the way his eyebrows raised and lightly clenched his fists. "So, you better take care of yourself seriously. Rest now." She said and left the room to give Kyuhyun some peace so he could rest a bit more.

~~~

2 days later at the police station...

"I had my eyes closed because I didn't dare to see them being murdered mercilessly." Seohyun gritted her teeth. She had decided to help the police her best to find out about the murderer but it wasn't easy to recall the murder scenes she had witnessed. She was actually surprised that she was still sane. 

Park Junsu sighed with slight frustration. He had expected to be able to dig something more out of her because she had witnessed the same murderer at the crime scene twice. But the witness being a soft hearted girl was dragging the case longer than he wanted to be.

"But Junsu shi, I think he won't kill me easily. He might appear again when I am followed next time."

"Do you think the murderer might be someone you know?"

"I don't think so. I have been homeschooled since my childhood and I rarely have chance to make friends. If he were someone I knew, I believe I would have noticed right away."

He gave a deep thought at what Seohyun said and asked her the question that had been bothering him since his first investigation with her, "Is there a reason for those people to come after you?"

"There might have been one but I don't have the memory of some part of my late childhood."

"I see." He nodded even though he wasn't satisfied with her reply. "Do you think they will come after you if you go home again?"

"Those people have no idea where I live because i have managed to trick them by taking as much possible transferable routes to go home. But when I come to downtown, they almost always come after me."

"Do you want to recover your lost memories? It might stop those men from following you."

"There must be a reason why god made me forget those memories. I do not wish to remember them." 

Although Junsu wasn't sure, he had a feeling that Seohyun was very deeply connected to the murderer. "Is there anything else you remember about the killer?" 

" I think the killer has a female partner. But I have not witnessed anything to confirm it."

"It's a useful piece of information. Are you feeling better now?" 

Seohyun bit her pale lips. How could she feel better? But she sm