A STAR FOR A STAR (XIAH FANFIC)

CHAPTER 17

Xiah was very silent while the van was on its way back to their apartment. He was with the other DBSK members. They had also seen the scene with Se7en and Moniqa. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at that exact moment. The only thing that he could think about was the scene that he had seen. It was like a movie that kept on repeating in his mind.

            As soon as the DBSK boys arrived at their apartment, Xiah had hurriedly went to his room.

            "Hyung . . . . " Max had called out. He was trying to stop Xiah from entering his room. But he had already gone in and had immediately locked the door.

            "It's better if we leave him alone . . . . for now. He needs some time alone to think . . . . " U-Know said seriously.

            "I'm starting to think that all girls are the same . . . . a girl makes a guy fall in love with her, but the moment  . . . . another guy comes along, she ditches the first guy for the second guy . . . ." Micky said irritatedly.

            "Hey! That's unfair . . . . Not every girl is like that . . . . and besides . . . . in Moniqa's case . . . . we all saw what happened . . . ." Jaejoong said.

            "And besides what? We all saw that Se7en embraced her and kissed her," Micky said.

            "Just like you had said . . . . Se7en embraced her and kissed her. It wasn't Moniqa who started it," Jaejoong tried to point out.

            "But still the fact remains that she didn't object to it. She didn't try to stop him. She just stood still while Se7en kissed her . . ." Micky said angrily.

            "How can you react when you're shocked?" Max suddenly asked. He was obviously trying to point out Moniqa's side.

            "Why is it that I feel that all of you are trying to defend her?" Micky asked the other DBSK boys.

            "Because . . . . we also want to be fair with Moniqa . . . hyung . . . . We all know that she also loves Xiah. And we don't really know the whole story . . . . So we can't judge her that so easily . . . ." Max said to Micky.

            Micky suddenly lowered his head. His friends were right. He had no right to judge Moniqa so harshly. "I know . . . . I'm sorry . . . . But I am just so angry . . . . I can't bear to see Xiah so hurt like that."

            "We all don't want to see him hurt . . . . But the only one that can help him now is himself . . . . He has to learn how to deal with this all on his own. He must learn to accept what he saw and forgive . . . ." U-Know said with a serious expression on his face.

            "But frankly I don't think Iqa is to be blamed. She was just a victim . . . ." Max said with a sigh.

            "Victim? I guess . . . . she is kind of a victim too," Jaejoong said helplessly.

            "What are we going to do with hyung?" Max asked (pertaining to Xiah).

            "Nothing to do . . . . but leave him alone, I guess," Micky answered.

            "Should we talk with Iqa?" Max asked again.

            "No. . . . . we mustn't interfere . . . . Let them settle this all on their own," U-Know said to the other DBSK members.

            Max looked at U-Know. He didn't agree with what he was saying, but there was nothing that he could do.

            "Maybe things will be fixed in a couple of days . . . . Just give them some time," Jaejoong said again.

            "I just hope that they will be able to talk to one another again after this . . . ." Max said.

            Jaejoong sighed. "Knowing Xiah . . . I don't think that Iqa will have a chance to talk with Xiah again . . . . unless he wants to . . . . ."

            "You're right . . . . I hope hyung will try to talk with her again . . . . so they can clear everything up . . ." Max said.

            "The best thing we can all do now is just keep quiet and let him be . . . ." U-Know said.

            After several days . . . .

            The DBSK boys were already having breakfast when the doorbell rang. Max hurriedly stood up to open the door. And within minutes, he entered again with Moniqa behind him.

            Moniqa looked at the other DBSK boys sadly. She didn't know how they boys felt about her and she certainly didn't know how Xiah would react to her.

            "Hyung . . . . someone wants to talk with you . . ." Max said.

            Xiah looked at Max and then at Moniqa. There were mixed emotions in his eyes. But what made Moniqa scared was the hatred that she saw in his eyes.

            "Xiah . . . . Please . . . . Can we talk?" Moniqa asked in a low voice.

            Xiah stared at Moniqa as if looking right through her.

            "No!" Xiah answered as he suddenly stood up and left the dining room.

            Moniqa's heart was silently crushed as Xiah just carelessly passed her by . . . . .it was as if she didn't exist. Slowly her tears fell . . . . one by one . . .

            "Xiah . . . . Xiah . . . " Moniqa uttered as she suddenly broke down into tears.

            The DBSK boys didn't know what to do. They could see and feel that Moniqa was hurting badly. And they all pitied her. Somehow Micky's perception about her changed the moment he saw her cry.

            Now they all knew that Iqa truly loved Xiah. And the only thing that they hope now is that Xiah will learn to forgive and try to clear everything up with Moniqa. They didn't want to see both of them suffer . . . .

            "It's all right Iqa . . . . Everything will be all right. . . . Please don't cry . . . ." Max said as he tried to calm down Moniqa.

            "Why won't he talk with me? I want to explain . . . ." she softly uttered.

            Max just shook his head. "I'm sorry . . . . but there is nothing we can do."

            Moniqa looked at Max. "I love him . . . . and I thought that he loved me too . . . . So why doesn't he trust me?"

            The DBSK boys didn't know what to answer.

            Moniqa silently left the DBSK boys' apartment with a broken heart. She was very hurt that Xiah still didn't want to talk to her. Now she was starting to wonder if he truly loved her as much as she did.

            Moniqa sadly climbed onto the car that was waiting for her. Then she looked at Se7en who was sitting next beside her.

            "How did it go?" he asked.

            Moniqa just shook her head. Then she suddenly broke down into tears again. Se7en just held her in his arms as he gently caressed her head.

            "I'm sorry . . . . I know it is all my fault . . . . I should have just kept my feelings to myself," Se7en said sadly.

            "No. . . . I don't blame you . . . . What hurts me most is that the fact that he doesn't trust me enough . . . . Now I am starting to wonder if we can ever be together again . . . ."

she said as tears flowed down  from her eyes.

            "Iqa . . . . you know that I love you and no matter who you are with and no matter what you do . . . . I will always be here for you . . . ." Se7en softly said.

            "I know . . . . I know . . . ." she uttered as she rested her head in his chest. She was still crying . . . . crying for the love that she knew she was going to lose.