As soon as the jet made its landing, the four of them hurriedly flew out with their backpacks without even knowing which direction to take. Luckily, Jaehyun had taken care of finding a car to drive them to the Nakamoto's inn, but the problem now would be finding the location of the wedding ceremony.

They were already inside the car, and as the driver drove them to the combined place, they came up with a new plan as the first one failed for their delay.

"Ok, everyone just calm down" Jaehyun raised his hands asking everyone to stop talking "We can go to the inn and see if anyone can tell us where the wedding is."

"What if there's no one else there? Doyoung said the inn was closed."

Johnny was more pessimistic than usual that day, but it wasn't purposeful.

"Yes, but someone answered the phone, right?" Katrina still held out hope.

"Exactly, and we're not that late, it's only been eight minutes since we talked to Doyoung. I'm sure we'll get there in time."

"Excuse me..."

The driver said, and even being Japanese, his Korean was pretty good.

"I didn't mean to overhear, but are you talking about Nakamoto Yuta and Kinoshita Ayumi's wedding?"

Their silence confirmed what he wanted to know.

"Being one of the most successful families in Osaka, they put an article in the newspaper about the ceremony and where it's going to be held. Search the internet, you'll find it."

"He's right!" Jaehyun looked at Taeyong who had been faster with his phone "Found anything?"

"Just a second... Hm... Here, found it!"

Everyone gathered to analyze the phone's screen.

"It's practically beside the inn, in the church at the top of the hill... It seems that we just need to go up through the staircase."

They breathed more relieved.

"Fine, but now what we'll do if we get there too late?" Johnny pressed his hands "The marriage has already begun, and ten minutes is enough for them to say 'I do', don't you think?"

Katrina bit her lip, yet it was Jaehyun who answered.

"We are going to make it, be a little more optimistic, we still have time. It's an important wedding, it ended up in the newspaper. I'm sure that with the number of guests, the bride hasn't showed up yet."

"Yeah, stop worrying us Johnny..." Taeyong gave him a death glare "You almost made everyone cry, that's enough for today, right?"

"I'm sorry, hot-head!"

Just as they were about to fight, the driver parked the car in front of a huge house with japanese-style decorations and various cherry trees in the garden.

"Shut up you two, and get out of the car already."

Jaehyun opened his door quickly and as soon as Katrina left, he turned his attention to the driver.

"Thank you very much Mr. Takano! You may have saved our friend's life!"

"I'm just doing my job boy" he smiled "If you wish to go somewhere else, you already have my number" in a brief bow, he said goodbye.

Amazed by that inn, the four of them followed the stone path through the garden amid the cherry trees looking for the staircase that Taeyong had commented.

"How can a staircase that big disappear this way?!" Johnny analyzed each corner "OH, OVER THERE, let's go!"

They ran in the direction the tallest one between them pointed to find the stone staircase, which seemed much larger at close range.

"God in heaven..." Taeyong took a breath "Why so big...?"

While the two of them were impressed at their vision, Katrina and Jaehyun made their way up ahead.

"Stop complaining, let's go."

Jumping over the steps he could, Jaehyun led the way.

If they weren't so desperate, it would take long minutes to reach the top, but the rush helped them a lot. As soon as they found themselves at the end, they marveled at the well-decorated path of white roses and the cherry trees bathing the floor with petals.

"Wow..." panting Taeyong put his hands on his hips "I should've brought my camera."

"There, the church...!" Katrina pointed forward with one hand on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"You all are very sedentary..." Johnny scratched his head "We're already late if you didn't notice, run, go, go!"

Jogging in the same spot, Johnny warmed up and then led the way.

"He's... Right... Let's go..."

Jaehyun followed him even though he knew he would have cramps when they got back to the jet. The way wasn't too long. On the other side of the church many luxurious cars were parked as well as one white limousine that they thought was the ride for the newlyweds' honeymoon.

"You must be kidding me that we could've used the car instead of going up that stair this whole time..." Taeyong said as they approached.

"You should've said the address of the church...!" Jaehyun replied "But now it doesn't matter, we're here already... Jesus, my legs are hurting..."

"What do we do now...?" Katrina sighed feeling the sweat take her back "How do we get in?"

They came across the closed doors of the huge church.

"We break in."

By the time Johnny finished his speech, a mess seemed to be happening inside the church.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

A thick voice, that appeared to be old, shouted drawing the attention of the four who were outside. As footsteps approached, Jaehyun pulled his friends behind the nearest bushes. They hurried down to hide as soon as the doors of the church were flung open.

"I can't do this!"

Jumping the steps of the church stairs the boy spoke Korean and looked back briefly.

"I had enough!"

"It's Yuta...!" Katrina wanted to get up, but Jaehyun stopped her.

"Wait, look..."

"Think straight my son!" Mrs. Nakamoto took Yuta's arm "It's for your own good!"

"My own good?!" he freed himself from his mother's hands without using brute force "You are doing it for your own good! I won't let you manipulate or threaten me anymore, it's my life...!"

He went back down the church steps without looking back.

"If you go back, you know very well what will happen to your friends!" his father said making Yuta stop walking "Do you really want to destroy that single mother's life too?!"

"Are they threatening him?" Jaehyun's eyes widened, he was getting extremely annoyed.

"Wait... Single mother...?" Katrina whispered.

"Yeah... About that..." Johnny muttered "We discovered your secret a few days ago... I'm sorry I didn't say anything; we were afraid of what you would think..."

"What do you mean...?" she frowned in confusion.

"Charlotte... You two, you know, mother and daughter."

"What... The hell...!"

"I know... I'm sorry, we should've warned you..." Johnny lowered his head.

"No...! I'm not Charlotte's mother, she's my sister...! Where did you get that idea from...?!"

"What...?!"

Johnny didn't even get a chance to react, Taeyong covered his mouth quickly.

"Shh...!"

"Don't worry."

Yuta turned one last time realizing that the security guards were slowly surround him.

"My friends no longer need to be involved in this. This matter is between you and me, and today it will end" he took two steps back raising his hands "From now on... Pretend that you never known me."

"Ungrateful child!" the man clenched his fists "I'm your father, you must respect me!"

"I was never your son; it won't be now that I'll be."

His mother began to cry as his sisters tried to calm her down.

"I'm just an easy way for you to get what you want, but now..." he quickly looked away for a second "That path is off limits."

As soon as an opening was found between the security guards, Yuta began to run desperately, as if his life were in danger.

"Get him!"

Mr. Nakamoto stamped his foot, yet his eyes showed sadness at the words his son had said.

While Yuta was being chased, the four friends agonized over what they should do until Ayumi in her wedding dress appeared at the door with her hands over her lips. However, she didn't seem surprised by the whole situation.

"Let's see what happened..."

Jaehyun got up not caring that they would be discovered.

"Johnny, Taeyong, go after Yuta."

"But I...!" Katrina had been interrupted.

"They'll be faster, don't worry we'll catch him" Jaehyun smiled.

"Alright, we'll call if anything happens...!" nodding to Johnny, Taeyong retraced Yuta's footsteps.

The moment they emerged from behind the bush, Yuta's relatives stared at them in surprise. Jaehyun was annoyed and just looking at that man, Yuta's father, made him want to call him bastard.

As they approached, Ayumi go down the stairs to meet them.

"I believe you planned to take Yuta back, right?" she said.

"But you messed up everything" Katrina replied staring at the other.

"You have every right to be angry, I made you come all the way here..."

"Cut the drama and let's get to the point" Jaehyun stared "You used our secrets to threatened him, and almost forced him to get marry. There's anything else we should've known?"

"I did a lot of bad things, I know!" she looked annoyed, but remained polite "You want to know if I regret letting him go now? Yes, I do. But I couldn't see him feeling broken like that anymore, so I asked him to flee before the wedding began!"

"That won't change the fact that you were an egoistic bitch..." Katrina replied.

"You two!" Yuta's father approached "You're Yuta's friends, don't you?"

They didn't answer, but he already knew the answer.

"I want you to know that no matter how long it takes, my son will see that he is being a fool and will return home."

"You meant that you're going to drag him back, didn't you?"

Jaehyun was fed up with that situation.

"Stay away from him, or...!"

"I'm not afraid of you, didn't waste your time threatening me. You're no good and played dirty forcing your own son to pay your debt."

Those words shook the man in front of him.

"How dare you...!" he took a step back.

"You don't know your son; you don't even know what he likes to do... If he's happy or not. Doesn't even imagine how painful it is for him to hate his own family. Why is everything about money? The love that Yuta feels for you shouldn't be enough?!"

Katrina noticed a lonely tear run down his face, but Jaehyun quickly got rid of it.

"If you really love him, let him live..."

As soon as he finished talking, his cell phone started ringing, so he turned around recomposing himself.

"Hello...? Hm... Ok... We're going... Call Mr. Takano, we're heading there."

He looked around with putting his phone again in his pocket and faced the man once again.

"I care about my best friend's feelings and no matter what you try to do, I'll always bring him back home."

Walking away, Jaehyun looked at Katrina calling her to follow him

"They lost Yuta... It seems that he took one of the family cars."

The instant they would rush to meet their two friends ahead, they were stopped by Ayumi.

"Wait!"

They only turned their heads to hear what the japanese girl wanted to say.

"I know where he went... Tokimeki Beach."

Katrina and Jaehyun looked at each other.

"Please..."

Now it was Yuta's mother's turn to speak.

"I need to talk to my son... I can't lose him that way, even if it costs us years paying a debt..."

With that, Mr. Nakamoto just lowered his head.

Jaehyun knew that the situation was delicate and that Yuta had already tried to escape once. Nothing he said to the woman, only called Katrina and the two left.

Yuta's father felt the weight of those words and also knew that Jaehyun was right. Too proud to admit that he failed as a father, but never forgot how important his son was in his life. Even though he was harsh to him and cold-hearted, he loved him unconditionally and just noticed what he was doing now, that he knew he could lose his son forever. He could blame it on the money, but this time he decided to take responsibility for his own actions.

Takano was familiar with those streets, and even though they were a little far away from Tokimeki Beach, he tried to hurry as much as he could. Their real challenge began now. The beach was more like empty, but it was huge.

"Great, how are we going to find him now?" Johnny sighed as they got out of the car.

"It will be easier since he's wearing a black tie" Taeyong crossed his arms "Just look for a black dot in the middle of the sea. It'll be him."

"Or in the sand..." Jaehyun laughed analyzing each corner of the beach "Let's go further."

As he got ready to go down the wooden stairs, he spotted a black car ahead.

"Wait, is that a Mitsubishi New Outlander?"

"But why would an Outlander be parked at the beach...?" Johnny shaded his eyes from the sun with his hand.

"I think that's the car Yuta took."

Just out of curiosity the four approached as soon as Taeyong finished his sentence.

"No one's here..." Katrina approached the windows covering the sun to see the interior of the car "But the key's inside."

"Is that the same one?" Johnny looked to the sides "Are you sure?"

"Maybe he's still around..."

Right when Taeyong turned to search, he noticed Jaehyun a little further ahead looking the other way.

"What are you doing?"

"There..." he pointed out "He's over there."

He was by the sea, walking slowly in the opposite direction in which the others were. His gaze steady on the waves and the immensity. He seemed unfathomable, heading aimlessly.

Katrina felt her chest fill with courage and approached Jaehyun quickly. She clasped her hands to her lips, took a deep breath, and released all her energy into that call.

"NAKAMOTO YUTA!"

Jaehyun put his hand to his chest at the shock he felt just as Taeyong and Johnny felt the surprise with a little jump.

Ignoring the reactions of her friends, Katrina kept watching Yuta, who slowly looked back in confusion. Once he recognized her, he stood still as if inviting her to meet him. It didn't take long, she hurried down the sand toward him.

Yuta started walking in quick steps until he found himself running to the girl. The distance was enough for both of them to notice how strong were their feelings. They hugged each other briefly, spinning their bodies around by the strong impact their speed caused as they collided.

She didn't want to let him go, didn't want him to escape her arms once more. While embraced like that, no words were needed, they both knew the feeling was reciprocal.

She wanted to cry, but held back her tears, holding on to the strength she had left to move away briefly. Yuta smiled, and Katrina wouldn't deny it, that was the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen in her life. They touched their foreheads lightly. Eyes glued together, she managed to let the words out.

"You said you loved me, so why did you leave me?"

"I left because I love you" didn't disconnect from the hug.

"You got it all wrong... You should've told me..." she looked down "None of this would have happened if..."

Yuta raised her chin gently.

"Do you love me?"

"Why do you ask if you already know the answer?"

"Make me regret leaving you and not wanting to do it anymore. Tell me, Katrina... Do you love me?"

Those black eyes got her once more.

She approached, tiptoeing, and took him by surprise. It wasn't the first or second time those lips touched. But as brief as that act was, it was enough for Yuta to know that he had finally found his safe haven.

"I love you, Nakamoto Yuta..." she whispered.

He looked pleased, but brought her closer with a silly smile on his lips. In the midst of low laughter, the two exchanged kisses before finally having a real kiss. It had been delicate at first, but full of affection.

"And by the way... I'm not a single mother" Katrina said as they ceased the caresses.

"You heard everything, huh...?" Yuta looked embarrassed.

"Everything."

They intertwined their fingers and began to walk back to the car.

"So, actually you are..."

"The big sister" she grimaced as if angry "When our parents died in a car accident, I was nineteen... It was a bit hard, but they gave me the custody in the end."

"I'm sorry..." he shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry about it, there was no way you could know" she looked at him "But why don't you look surprised?"

"I had my suspicions, you know...?" he laughed "But I'm somewhat relieved to know that you are siblings."

"Oh, really" stared at him."

"Don't be mad, I didn't know she was your sister when I said I loved you the first time!" he laughed to see her blushing and slapping him "I should've asked since the beginning. A lot of things would be different now."

"You think?" laughed wryly.

"Now tell me, how did you manage to get here?"

"Jaehyun's to blame" she pointed to where the car was parked.

"Oh..."

As soon as he saw his friends, Yuta sighed.

Taeyong had his arms crossed ready to punch him, Johnny was full of suspicious smiles and Jaehyun just stared at him without expression, it was impossible to know what he was thinking. It didn't take long for them to meet the three next to the car.

"You guys came..."

Yuta didn't know what to say, so he just rubbed his head with a shy smile.

"Of course, someone needed to make you come back to your senses" Taeyong frowned, but was really glad that all that affliction was gone.

"I'm sorry..."

As soon as Yuta replied, he was surprised by a tight hug from Johnny.

"You stupid, I hate you!"

Squeezed him so hard that the japanese could barely breathe.

"Do you know what went through my mind?! Even murder, Yuta. Yes, M-U-R-D-E-R, you idiot!"

He rubbed his face in the hair of the smallest one in his arms.

"Johnny...I...can't...breathe..."

"Whoa" and released him "Sorry pal... I'm happy, you know how it is, I can't control it."

"Well, I know how it is, right Yuta?" Taeyong smiled but his gaze was devilish "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

They were laughing and Yuta finally felt at home being in Japan with his friends until he noticed that Jaehyun remained quiet, a little farther alongside the car.

"Jaehyun..."

Before Yuta could finish, the friend raised his hand in a request for him to stop talking.

"We need to go back to the inn."

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"You know very well you can't run away forever."

"But..." Katrina looked at Jaehyun who now smiled.

"It's the right thing to do. You need to settle things out with your dad. I know you love your family even with all the flaws and difficulties."

He patted Yuta's shoulder, but the other hugged him.

"Thank you, Jaehyun" even with surprise the other hugged him back laughing.

"I should've been the one apologizing here...!"

They walked away and Jaehyun opened the car's door.

"Let's finish this..."

With a smile, Yuta looked at Katrina ready to get into the vehicle.

"We need a girlfriend, Taeyong" Johnny commented.

"The heck, why so suddenly?" Taeyong didn't mind laughing.

"I am serious. Look at them, they look like men."

"And we look like what, monkeys?" frowned still laughing "If you say yes, I'll punch you."

"You look more like a cute, but grumpy Pokémon, Taeyong. So tiny but still so angry. Looks like you want to kill everyone all the time."

Taeyong stopped laughing at that moment and looked serious.

"I'm just kidding...! Jesus Christ" he moved two steps away from the boy "I meant they look mature, you know."

"Now that you said it..." Taeyong stopped to analyze his friends "I think I see your point... I see it, huh."

"What are you two talking about?" Jaehyun put his hands on his waist "Get in the car, idiots..." laughed by their conversation.

It wasn't necessary to call Takano this time, they didn't need to haste to return to the church this time.

Katrina kept staring at Yuta at times, and with every glance she gave, it was a burst of laughter at the boys in the backseat. They poked each other with their elbows whispering.

"Now, now, look..."

"Oh, oh, she did it again, look..."

"What's so funny?"

Obviously, Yuta had noticed the weird stares by the rearview mirror.

"I have no idea, how about we ask what Katrina is looking at?" Johnny simply replied.

"Ah!" she turned blushing completely.

Jaehyun laughed out loud with a suspicious smile pushing Taeyong lightly that laughed as if he was going to die.

"You're crazy..."

Yuta didn't contain himself, ended up laughing together.

By the time they arrived, the guests were already gone, only the family cars were parked, not even the limousine was there. However, Yuta knew where everyone was. They headed to the inn.

Going down the stairs was much easier than going up, but Jaehyun knew they would regret it when they returned. Luckily, Yuta found his parents in the garden with Ayumi's family. They seemed to be arguing.

"Father..." Yuta said.

Curious eyes fixed on the boy as he approached. Neither had time to said anything else, his mother rushed to hug him.

"Forgive us my son! Your father and I were wrong! Please come home and I...!"

"It's okay, I won't run away again..." returned his mother's hug and smiled "But I need you to understand, my happiness does not live here" directed his words to his father "I will continue my engineering course on college. I will help with our family business as I promised to, is what I want to do... But I also want freedom to choose how to live my life."

"Yuta."

His father spoke harshly as he approached. With a serious face he stared at his son.

"You were never what I wanted."

They all widened their eyes.

"But you were always more than I deserved..." with certain strength, he hugged his son "I was wrong... Please forgive me..."

"Father..."

More than anyone, Yuta was the one who was most surprised, feeling his chest gets warm.

"I'm proud of you Yuta, you are everything I could've never be" he held the boy by the shoulders "Your sisters tried to show me how wrong I was, but your friend's words" stared at Jaehyun "opened my eyes... Please don't give up on us. We are your family, we have many flaws, but... We love you more than anything."

For the first time Yuta saw his father smile.

"You are free now, Yuta."

"But what about the debt...?"

"That's my problem, I should've never involved you in that" he touched his son's shoulder one last time "We'll be fine."

Ayumi was there. She stayed away watching Yuta follow the path with his friends. She just kept looking at him, and as soon as their eyes met, she saw his lips whisper:

"Thank you."

And he put up a smile of pure contentment on his face. Ayumi didn't hold back the tears, but she was happy for him. It took her a time to realize that his happiness was what she wanted the most. She loved him too much, it was time to let him go.

Many things happened in such a short time; Yuta pondered as they made their way back to Korea. From the day he first came back from Japan, he had experienced things he had no idea could've happen. He fell in love with his first love again, fought with his best friend, was rejected, almost got married, and met an amazing girl. Yuta was sitting by the window while his friends laughed in the back seat having fun and talking loudly. Beside him was that girl, the one he met a few days ago, who changed his routine and colored his once black and white days. They faced each other, the moment she smiled they approached and sealed that moment with a caress.

Anyone would say it all started months ago, yet Yuta knew, his life was just beginning...

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ . ⋆ ･

Many thanks to all of you who read this story!
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I had fun writing it
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