Key's POV

Damn, for some reason, Amber's looking sorta cute today......did she dye her hair? o_O

"Ummm....boo?  Why're you looking at me like that?"  Oh, I didn't realize I was staring.

My attention came back to her and where we're at.  "Amber?  Wow, you're looking cute, boo."  I complimented her.  Wait, is she blushing?  She's been doing an awful lot of that lately.

Amber punched me on the shoulder, of where I used to wince at because it'd form a bruise every time she'd hit me.  But now, why does it feel weak?  Oh yeah, I've been working out with Minho.  Keke~  I love seeing Amber's reaction to my shoulder!  "Have you been working out?"  she asked.

I nodded.  She nodded back in reply.  "It shows clearly."  Then uncomfortable silence rose upon us.  What the hell?

Then it dawned on me.

What the hell?

Where is Nikka?!

I quickly scanned the area the same time Amber did.  That's when I forgot to ask the obvious question.

"What are you doing here?"  Oh wow, telepathy much? o.O  We both asked at the same time.

Amber decided to answer first.  "I was actually here with Jonghyun hyung on his new motorcycle.  I was surprised he bought it out of the blue with me.  Next thing I knew, he drops me off here to go buy something and then miraculously he disappears along with the bike!"

My heart felt like dropping.

It doesn't take an idiot to realize that the only motorcycle that drove past me and Nikka earlier had been Jonghyun and had lured Nikka by snatching her purse.

"So, have you seen - woah, boo, you're crying....what's wrong?"  Amber asked me.  I blinked a bit and let my hand touch my face.  Huh.  I was actually near to tears.

I quickly brushed my tears away and shook my head, quickly walking throught the path next to the wall as Amber trailed beside me.  "Ummm....do you mind if we talk about it since we're already here?" I asked.  She gave me a worried look, then sighed as she patted my back.

"Sure, what's going on?"

I sighed deeply as I continued to think things through with what just happened.  "I think.... I think Jjong took Nikka away."

I heard Amber gasp beside me and then sounded curious.  "Nikka?  You brang her here?"  I nodded in reply.

"I already had a feeling that she'll never like me, but I wanted to create more hope for us."  I glanced at the sky, the early noon light shining upon my face.  "Why am I so love-strucken over this girl, boo?"  I whined and pouted to myself.

I heard a sigh beside me as Amber replied, "Actually, I've been love-struck as well...."

My eyes widened at the sudden confession and turned to my right, watching Amber's expression as she closed her eyes and looked up at nowhere.

"There's this guy who's practically my complete opposite, but I guess that's what makes us complete.  We get along most of the time, but when it comes to simple things like what we're interested in, we'd have this dog and cat fight."  I nodded as she continued on, "He, too, has some interest in this one girl, so he never sees me as someone to be with, which totally seeing as he's the reason...."  then she trailed off and looked at the ground.

I waited for her to continue, but she just kept looking at the ground.  "He's the reason....?  Reason for what?" I questioned her with curiosity.

Amber slowly took a deep breath and replied in a low tone, "This guy I'm crushing on has been the reason why I overstayed in L.A. last year.  I needed to get away from him, but no matter what, he's always in my head and it's frustrating me!"

I let things sink into my mind.  .......what?  The guy that she likes is the reason why my boo flew overseas and stayed there for months?!  At the moment, I felt a bit angry and turned to my best friend.

"BOO, IF HE EVER MESSES WITH YOU EVER AGAIN LIKE THIS, I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL - "  Amber suddenly raised her hand in front of my face to signal my ramblings to a stop.

"It's okay, boo, I'm fine now,"  she flashed a genuine smile at me.  "Actually, I'm slowly trying to move on.  I realize that we're never meant to be anyways - "  She started to say, but I cut her off.

"What the f*** are you talking about?  That bastard would be lucky to have you and is an idiot not to notice you in the first place!"  I ranted and scoffed at this 'friend' of hers that she likes.  "If I were him, I'd definitely go out with you!"  I exclaimed.  Well, that's true, I'd go out with her if she'd like me.

Amber nervously chuckled and looked away from me.  I raised an eyebrow at her.  Why is she acting like this?

Suddenly she pointed up ahead with eyes of amazement and wonder.  Curious, I turned to where she was looking at and read the sign near a building we're walking close to.  I squinted to read it better.

"Seoul Museum of Art?"  I read aloud.  Then I turned to my best friend.  Amber smiled and nodded her head childishly.

"I always wanted to come here~!"  she cheered and grabbed me by the arm.  "Let's go~!" then she dragged me through the pavement and into the building to check out the museum.

Amber and I spent only an hour and a half in that museum, but it felt forever!  But, it was pretty cool looking at all the art.  :)  We left that place and walked a bit more until Amber tugged my arm aside to another place.

"C`mon!  Let's watch a traditional play!  I've never seen these before!"  Amber exclaimed as she excitingly dragged me into the Chongdong Theater to watch the latest play.

I gotta say, during that time, it was pretty funny.  They were of professional actors and the traditional play had been a comedy.  I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my chair if it weren't for Amber holding me back.  We started to stare at each other's eyes for a bit, then we both bursted out in laughter and fell off our chairs, earning more laughter from the audience.

Hell, I'm just thanking God that no one recognizes us!

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Jonghyun's POV

Nikka & I walked out of Deoksugung Palace with smiles on our faces.  For late winter, it's awfully looking like spring.

Not that I mind, though, because it means my birthday's coming up soon~ ;)

Anyways, after that purse-snatching plan (SUCCESS), we headed off to Deoksugung Palace to just walk and explore without having to bump into Key or Amber.  Nikka kept blabbing about how it kinda feels bad to just dump them together without permission and leave them behind.  I rolled my eyes and hugged her closer, telling her just how much I love her with a smile on my face.

Yeah, we're a bit of a cheesy couple.  Get used to it. =.=

Afterwards, we passed by Jungmyeongjeon Hall.  It looked too creepy....*shivers*

Just then, I saw someone moving through the big bush.  My eyes widened and clung onto Nikka, making sure she's safe from whatever the hell's in that bush.  Nikka looked up at me in confusion.

"Jonghyun oppa, what are you - "  Then she heard rustling from the bushes as well.  We both froze, waiting until the noises stop.  Seconds later, a small camera crew literally pops out from the bushes, yelling, "SURPRISE!"

I screamed so loud I sounded like a girl.  -.-""  Nikka squealed cutely and held onto me tighter.

WHAT KIND OF FANS ARE YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!  I DON'T WANNA GET JUMPED!

My eyes were shut tight, so I couldn't see what was happening.  But, I could hear.

"Awww~ you guys are so cute~!"  I heard someone say in Chinese.  Wait a second.

I slowly opened my eyes to find the director/producer Jing Ma Wang in front of us with a camera in his hands.  He flashed a smile at us.

"Hey!  Long time no see!  I also do photography!  I was just about to call you guys, too!"  he called to us with his bright smile.  Damn, he could pass as Onew hyung's descendant.

I saw Nikka opening her eyes as well and staring at him in disbelief.  "Why're you here?"  she bluntly asked.

Jing Ma Wang laughed heartily and grinned.  "The Lucifer's Curse's promotions start soon!  Have you guys forgotten you're part of the main roles?  We need promo pictures for a magazine in Korea, to establish the information towards Taiwanese citizens the relationship between Taiwan and Korea."  he explained thoroughly.

Nikka and I nodded, suddenly noticing only Edison and Danson as the other models as well.  We gulped as we saw the concept of the magazine shoot.

"Really?  We're using the Lucifer concept?" I asked them.  Edison and Danson nodded and had to take pictures around the huge hall, so they excused themselves and left.  Before I could react, Jing Ma Wang pushed both me and Nikka inside 2 different tents that were set up on the side of the place.

"No time to chat!  Go change quickly because we also have another location to shoot by!"  he yelled with authority (and a hint of happiness) as he closed the curtains in front of my face.  I groaned and turned to find similar outfits to what SHINee wore last year.

After struggling with the stylists for 10 minutes, I managed to put on something.  I sighed and walked out of the tent, only to turn my head to the right and see my girlfriend dressed in THAT.

Damn....Sooyoung's outfit on Nikka looks amazing.....

Nikka turned to me and smiled brightly.  Omo~ she's so cute and hot!  I smiled back and held her left hand gently.

"Let's go take some pictures, neh?"

After about an hour into these Lucifer clothes, Jing Ma Wang suddenly stuffed us in a large van and drove to Gyeonghuigung Palace.  Over there, I mentally cursed at him as we all had to wear traditional Korean outfits and had instructed us to just play around.

You want a playing around?  You got it.

We had a soccer ball to play around with.  I caught it when it came towards me and kicked it right at the old man.  He bounced off of his feet and fell backwards trying to dodge the ball.

Edison gasped while Nikka had a laughing attack.  Danson tried to calm her down as I grinned in victory.

Just then - BAM!  OW!  WHAT THE F***?!

I glared behind me at the director/producer/now photographer, cackling and howling in laughter.  I can hear everyone else laugh at me as well.  Damn, just - how many jobs does this Jing Ma Wang have?!

Anywho, he finally let us off after TWO HOURS of the photo shoot.  =.=""  I finally got rid of the traditional Korean clothing and dressed in something more comfortable.  I waved goodbye with Nikka to everyone and grabbed her hand.  It was then I realized her outfit matched mine, and in fact, it matches Taemin's from our debut days except the size looks extra bigger.

Did she get more clothes one size bigger than hers again?  Aish, this cute chic!

I dragged her along to Seoul Museum of Art, which required us to walk a bit more.  "Let's go to Seoul Museum of Art, I have something to show you~"

We entered the museum and headed to one of the specific rooms that I wanted to show her.  I came here once and saw something that I wanted to share with Nikka.  When I finally found the room and checked the time, I let go of Nikka's hand and showed her the place.

"Every time there's a new concept dance for our upcoming album, I always come here by myself to relieve stress,"  I confessed to her.  "Honestly, I never have the utmost confidence to freestyle dance by myself like Key and Taemin do.  And I can't even make a solo dance performance with anybody like Minho or Onew can.  So, I dance here by myself at this hour."

Nikka studied the room in awe and glanced at a random boombox in the corner away from all the other true art belonging to the museum.  "So....you're not that confident when dancing without your members?"  she asked me.  I nodded sheepishly and scratched the side of my head.  She smiled at me and walked towards the boombox.

She fumbled with the radio setting a bit until a song boomed through the speakers.

 Super Junior M's Miracle?

"You fumbled to a Chinese radio channel?"

She nodded as she began to dance to it.  Omona~ do you know how extremely hot she is?!  It's freestyle, too.

Pretty soon, I started to bob to the music and I ended up dancing beside her.  We had a blast dancing with each other and reached to the dancing break of the song.  I suddenly moved closer to her than I intended to, but Nikka never moved away from my touch.

Once the song ended, that was when Nikka went off-balance and landed into my arms.

I'm a lucky guy. ^^

We walked home together late at night.....like at 11p.m.?

I parked the motorbike into the drive way and carried a sleepy Nikka upstairs to the dorm room.

Suddenly, I thought I saw a flash and heard a few bushes moving a bit.  Eh, maybe it's just the wind.  Besides, didn't the weatherman say on the news that there'd be thunder today?

for those who are staying up way later out here.

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Key's POV

It's all thanks to Amber that I temporarily forgot my problems.  :)

We walked home around midnight because we hit it at a club before going home.  I don't quite understand why we never got caught with the paparazzi - we were wearing our daily clothes. o.O

Guess it's a lucky day.

I walked Amber to her dorm first before going back to mine alone.  Wow, there really are no paparazzis around!

The thunder in the sky gave the reason why.

I freaked out and rushed into the building, immediately running through the stairs and into the dorm.

I bursted through the door with a key to find everyone playing Wii.  Onew hyung was cheering on Nikka on the controller as he bit into his drumstick.  Chicken drumstick.  I sighed mentally and glanced at Minho.  He rooted for Taemin over the other controller and at the same time chatting with someone on MSN in his laptop.  Probably with Nikka's sister, Connie.

Taemin and Nikka were busy playing against each other in Wii boxing.  So far judging by the screen, they're on a tie.

Wait, but where's -

"Key?"  Ah, speaking of the devil.

Jjong's voice was coming from the kitchen.  Taemin and Nikka turned for a brief moment, murmuring, "Welcome back,"  then focusing back on the game.  Damn, competitive much? -.-""  I blame Minho.

Onew hyung and Minho suddenly turned to me and waved, but then pointed to the kitchen.  Ah, so Jjong wants to speak with me?  Okay then.

I walked into the kitchen slowly and made sure no one was eavesdropping.  There was just Jjong and me in the kitchen.  He was busy trying to make dinner.  Without turning around, Jjong called out to me.

"Key, I'm sorry."

I blinked numerous times and looked at him weirdly.  "Eh?  Why would you apologize?"

Jjong looked behind him and at me.  "Because I... I managed to ditch you with Amber together and took Nikka with me." he managed to say.

Oh, I almost forgot about that.  My heart clenched a bit at the familiar feeling, but calmed myself down and urged Jjong to continue.

He nodded and opened his mouth.  "I just - I love Nikka.  I do, really.  And the fact that YOU have to act as her boyfriend instead of her actually being with her REAL boyfriend really hurts so much.  I'm really sorry, Key, but I really love her."

I nodded my head slowly and registered those words in my head.

Lately, I've been giving nothing but slow pain to Nikka.  I can tell she loves Jjong back, and that I can't force any more love from me to her.

There's only one thing left to do.

"If I can...."  I started off, causing Jjong to snap his head up to look at me.  "I'll......try."

He raised an eyebrow.  "Try to what, Key?"

I took a deep breath and sighed as I closed my eyes.  "I'll....try to....try to give up.  I want her to be happy, and I know she can't be happy if we're together."

Jjong's puppy eyes widened in excitement yet worry.  "But-But what about - " he stuttered, but I placed my hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

"Yeobo~ don't worry, I'll figure something out with the press about a mutual break up.  But it'll take time, so you guys are gonna have to wait before you pounce on each other."  I laughed a bit and ruffled his hair.  I'll try to forget this painful feeling...

Jjong's face gleamed with happiness and glomped me into a bear-crushing hug.

"REALLY?!  THANK YOU, YEOBO~!  DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU?!?!" he shrieked with joy evident in his voice.

I rolled my eyes playfully and patted him on the back.  "Yeah, yeah, I love you, too, babe.  Now get your heavy a** off of me!"  I shoved him playfully off me.

Right then, we heard a whine from Nikka and a shrill cry from Taemin.  "YAY!  I WON!  THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO DO THE DARE!"

"AHHH~ I DON'T WANNA KISS MINHO ON HIS ABS!"  We heard Nikka whined out.  Both our eyes widened and stared at the kitchen doorway.

"OH F*** NO MAKNAE."  Jjong and I dashed to the living room and punished our son.