Author's Note: This is the third to last chapter. It's wrapped up a lot better than I thought it would. The characters have actually worked with me like I wanted them to. Although I didn't expect something in this chapter.

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Storm sat at the table and stared at the grain work in the wood. She could see her hand out of the corner of her eye and that made it even worse. She had broken her hand and now she couldn't blow glass. In a fit of rage, she had broken the majority of her pieces, not that she regretted it.

Seeing Taemin had only fueled her hatred for herself. She couldn't talk. She didn't have the ability to do so now that he had walked away for the second time. She wished she would have held on to him the first time, and she had just had the ability to do so just then, but she'd let it go by.

But she hadn't made any promises. Taemin had been the one to open his mouth and spout nonsense he knew he couldn't keep. She was certain he hadn't fought for anything in his life except for his sister. He didn't know what it meant to have someone he cared for so deeply that everything else was a moot point.

Something niggled at the back of her mind. She remembered hearing something when the news broke that Taemin was engaged. Someone said on one of the many news stations that something had happened five years ago to the prince. No one knew what it was so they had only speculated.

She hadn't gotten the guts to ask the man what it was but she was certain it would bring something out in him she didn't want to see. Everyone had a past, including her. She hadn't told him about what made her stop talking, but she was certain he would never see her the same way again. It was why she hadn't brought it up. What if bringing it up to him meant he was going to go down a completely different road?

She sighed and dropped her head to her outstretched arm as she watched people pass by the window. It had started snowing not too long ago and it was still going steady. If the weather had been correct, they would have a thin layer on the ground by morning.

She hadn't seen snow ever until she had moved to South Korea. It didn't snow much in Hawaii. She had to go to higher elevation to see it. It was why she loved spending so much time in the furnace room. It was a little warmer than the temperature she was used to since the furnace burned so hot, but it was comfortable.

"I'm glad I found you."

Storm lifted her head and looked at Onew. Peace settled over her as he sat down and took her healthy hand. He took the other and kissed it gently. She settled against the window and watched him.

Onew settled as soon as he found Storm at Tae Il's restaurant. Actually Tae Il had called him to let him know she was there. He had gotten a call two hours earlier from Yi Jeong that the press had found and accidently hurt her. Then she had seen Taemin while she was being patched up only to be followed by a bout with Ji Hoon. She had finally destroyed her entire glass pieces that she was going to display.

He had been crazy as he had searched for her. He had texted her but she hadn't replied. It had told him that she hadn't wanted to be found. She had her own way of coping with things, not that he approved of her method. Normal people talked about their feelings with people they cared about.

He had been halfway across town when Tae Il had called him. He had taken a u-turn and had come to his friend's restaurant. The relief that had washed over him when he had seen her sitting at the table was palpable. He was sure he could eat it if he so desired, not that he wanted to since it would weigh against his heart again.

"Woo Bin hyung took care of the press. They shouldn't be bothering you anymore," he said. She nodded and watched him again. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Storm pulled her good hand back and reached for her phone. She saw that he had called and texted her fifteen times. She kind of felt bad, but she had needed the alone time. She pulled up her messages and typed in something. She slid it across the table not long after.

/What happened to Taemin five years ago? I heard on the news that his family was hiding a secret about him. Do you know what that is?/

Onew nodded. "Tae Jin was being stalked when she was in primary school. Taemin snuck out one day and followed her to and from school. He jumped the person who was after his sister. In the process of sending her away, he was smashed in the back of the head and knocked out. When he came to, he was naked and chained to a wall. He wasn't raped or anything, but one of the guys did suck his dick and he got off on it. Ever since then, he's refused to be with any woman though I'm not certain he's ever been attracted to anyone like this before."

Storm stared at him for a long while. She finally understood why he was so worried when he was with her. He hadn't wanted her to find out that his body had had a natural reaction to someone who wasn't of the opposite sex.

She pulled her phone back and typed as fast as her fingers would let her. /Ji Hoon knows that. That's why Taemin is doing whatever she wants. He doesn't want that to get out. What will the people think of their Crown Prince who got off on an accidental gay tryst?/

Onew stared at the screen. There was no way Choi Ji Hoon would know that. The palace had covered that up and tossed it into the sea of forgetfulness. No one spoke about it. That could be why his family was so adamant about him marrying a well-to-do person. They didn't want the world to think that he was in any way deformed.

He looked up into her gaze. "Do you want me to take you to him?"

Storm understood the hurt in his eyes as soon as she saw it. She took her phone back and typed again. She knew what he was feeling all too well.

/Onew, thank you for being with me during this, but I understand Taemin all too well. Two years ago I was dating a guy who tried his hardest to get what he wanted. At every turn he did his best to get me into bed. One night we were at a bar and he was drunk and trying to feel me up. I got mad and stormed out. He followed me and we got into a fight. I told him to take me home. I should have driven but I didn't. In the end we had a wreck. I went through the windshield giving me all these scars. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. I spent two hours screaming for help while he bled out on the side of the road. After that I never spoke again./

Onew lifted his head from the phone. "You didn't love him, and yet you screamed for him?"

/If Taemin were bleeding out on the side of the road, you would be too. It's taken me two years to get over it. After screaming for so long, my vocal cords were so swollen I couldn't speak. But after several days, it felt like ice had settled over them. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't talk. Jax ran with it and became my voice, but it didn't endear me to anyone after that. But I had my art so I didn't mind too much./

"Did you think of telling anyone else this?" She shook her head as she blinked slowly. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I don't compare to that. I was just going to let you come to me naturally."

Storm typed on her phone again, but this time when she set it between them, she framed his face in her good hand. He looked down at the phone to see what was going on.

/Onew, I like you. There's nothing about you that isn't kind and sweet, and you're so protective. It makes it easy to be with you./

Much to his amazement she leaned forward and kissed him before he even had a chance to finish reading the message. He moved his mouth against hers in a gentle kiss that didn't cease to amaze him. After a moment, she pulled back. He looked down at the phone again.

/Now that I know about him, I want to make sure that it's not just a fling I have had with him or with you now. I'm torn between the two of you, and it's slowly killing me./

Onew smiled and closed his eyes. Gently he pushed her hand back to the table and folded his in his lap. "I know you're honest. You don't say anything without there being some sort of emotion behind it. I haven't denied that I like you, and I know you like me. But you don't love me like you do Taemin. If you did, you wouldn't have destroyed the glass you made. You would have just walked away and come to me without any regrets. So don't choose between the two of us. As of right now, I will respectfully bow out and help the two of you to be together."

Storm smiled at him and pulled her phone to her. She felt good now that she knew where they stood. Since the whole thing at the studio, they had gotten close and she had wondered what would happen if she actually decided to be with Onew. Now that he could tell something even she hadn't been able to see it meant he really was looking out for her.

Onew stood and held out his hand. She took it and he led her from the building. He unlocked his car and walked around as she got in the front seat. They listened to music as he drove to the ritzy side of town. Suddenly she was nervous. She was actually seeking Taemin out when she had been told to ignore him and leave him alone. No one had ever told her what to do and she wasn't about to start letting someone now.

Taemin was standing in his bedroom when the doors flew open. Expecting Ji Hoon, he turned around to snap at her. The woman hadn't given him a moment's reprieve since she had threatened to blackmail him. She called and texted him so many times it was amazing his phone didn't explode.

But it wasn't Ji Hoon standing in his room. It was the one person he had ached to see for the last two weeks. He stood his ground as she came towards him. If he moved in any uncertain terms, she was going to be a flight risk. Then he would have to chase her down.

As soon as she was close enough, she grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him forward. She pulled his head down and kissed him. He tasted the dried blood on her lips but it was solely Storm. Even when Ji Hoon forced him to kiss her, it wasn't the same. There wasn't the same taste. It wasn't the same.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he deepened the kiss. His body was reacting, his blood burning through his veins and dropping to his slowly growing erection.

He pulled back quickly. "I can't."

Storm pulled her phone out and handed it to him. She already had a message ready. /Onew told me what happened five years ago. Whatever Ji Hoon has on you won't bother me./

A huge weight suddenly lifted from his chest. That had been the one thing he had been worried about. It had been a deciding factor for him when he thought about asking a girl out. He had known that as soon as he told her about her dirty little secret, she would have left him and would have told everyone she knew. His reputation would have been smeared through the mud a long time ago.

Gently he took her face in his hands and rained kisses on all the wounds she had sustained due to him. He kissed around the scar already visible on her eye. Once again she had surprised him.

"Do you think it was Ji Hoon who called the press about you?" he asked between lavishing tenderness. She nodded. "I don't know how I'm going to deal with her."

Between them, he heard a motorized voice. /I know how we can, but it will have to wait until next week./

Taemin pulled back and let his hands settle on her shoulders. "Are you saying I can't see you for a week?" Sadly she nodded. "All right. I'll trust you like you've trusted me."

Storm looked up at him before she pushed him into the chair. He grunted in shock as she reached for his belt and buttons. She eased him out of his pants and slowly took him into her mouth. He gripped the table as he tried to keep his hips in place. Two weeks it had been, but his body had felt like it had been forever. It reacted instantly. He felt the heaviness all the way down in his hips.

He wanted to cry. Not because it felt so good even though it did, but because she had forgiven him for being a complete ass. He should have stood beside her, but because he had been afraid, he had pushed her away. Onew had been right. He shouldn't have cared what anyone had said about this.

He came with a grunt, then felt instantly horrible because she gagged around him. His heart hammered as he watched her choke it down. She looked up at him then down at the floor with a gentle smile. At that moment he hated her almost as much as he loved her.