As the fans started to gather for autographs before Ryu’s game, Ivy went to speak with Melody.

“Hey pretty!” She greeted as Melody instantly jumped into her arms. “Ivy, sis! You’re back! You’re well! So glad to see you!” She cheered while in tears as Ivy patted her head and helped her wipe her tears away.

“Aww don’t cry. I am fine now. Thank you for coming over that day and bringing me those succulents. They were lovely. I will take good care of them.” Ivy kept her in her hug to comfort her.

“You’re most welcome. I didn’t know what I should do or bring…” Melody smiled, stumbling a little at what to say.

“It’s alright. You did well! Everything including taking care of my baby brother. You were great!” Ivy praised as Melody ended up giggling when some of the fans shrieked as they both turned to look at some fans kissing Ryu on his cheeks.

Ryu was dumbfounded for a moment before smiling awkwardly at the photo. The next thing Ivy knew, Melody excused herself abruptly and ran outside. Ray and Nick noticed the entire commotion before springing into action.

“Alright, alright. Everybody, please calm down. Please be reminded to respect personal space and with such, no kisses are allowed.” Ray announced while the crowd instantly “boo” in unison.

“Time is up for today! Thank you, everybody!” Ray continued and dragged Ryu down the stage as Nick assisted to direct the fans to the field leaving Ryu sitting by himself in a corner, looking a little lost.

“Ophal Ai Rui would you like to explain what just happened?” Ivy nagged as she folded her arms in front of Ryu while Nick held her shoulders to calm her down.

She snapped her fingers in front of Ryu. “Are you here? Are you aware of what you didn’t justify? What were you doing? Have you thought about how Melody would feel?” She scolded this time which send Ryu’s mind running and realise he was just kissed on his cheeks and that would cause misunderstandings with Melody.

“Melody…” He mumbled as Ivy snapped. “Right! There! Melody! Ha, boy if you’re not serious don’t even lead her. Cut ties! Isn’t that what all of you have been telling me about Jason? Now, what?” Ivy scolded further sending Ray rolling his eyes at the fact that she was indeed right. However, Ryu was lost in his own thoughts that he couldn’t register what Ivy said other than Melody’s name. Instead, he ran outside to search for Melody only to be called in for the tournament already.

He was very unsettled during the entire tournament and close to making a mistake leading the team to lose. Fortunately, the match nearly ended up in a tie but the team captain led them to a victory with a winning three-pointer shot at the very last minute. Ryu was then given a severe scolding by the team manager for losing his focus and he was told to not have fan events anymore if he cannot keep up his performance.

Melody was watching the entire match from a hidden corner and knew he was distracted by herself disappearing abruptly. Ivy knew she had to look for Melody at the end of the match as she felt very uneasy not seeing her at all. However, all Melody wanted to do was just give up on being with Ryu as she run off to catch her last bus back to Landsfield only to be greeted by terror.

“Hey sweetie… you’re alright?” A guy leading a group of girl fans who surrounded Ryu and the girl who kissed him earlier was looking at her intimidatingly. He was stopping her from leaving when he muffled Melody’s mouth from screaming as he carried her away with the group of girls covering up behind him.

“What is it? Stop worrying…” Nick urged Ivy to calm down when he noticed her restless self. “Something isn’t right.” That was all she could say when Ray approached them.

“What is it?” Ray asked with concern noticing Ivy’s worried face. “I don't know if I think too much but that girl who created this chaos and huge bunch of them wasn’t in the crowd. Melody wouldn’t miss a match at all but…” Ivy swipe her hair back in frustration as she frantically walked around in search of Melody but to no avail.

Then it strike Ivy to check the fan page and saw no updates yet. She then scrolled to find any other clues but nothing. She stumbled upon a few other fans and asked them if they saw Melody but none of them did. She then noticed a girl who sat by herself looking worried too.

“Hello… Are you alright?” Ivy asked upon approaching next to her in a hurry. The girl was startled for a moment but nodded with a forced smile, wanting to run away. Those were the signs which gave Ivy a clue that something wasn’t right with her.

“Have you happened to see Melody somewhere? Or what’s that girl’s name earlier who went up on stage to kiss Ryu?” Ivy questioned which instantly made the girl nervous.

Ray stopped Ivy from asking further as he stepped forward to the girl. “Hey, could you tell us your name instead?” Ray asked in a friendly manner as the girl began to calm down a little.

“Susan.” Ray then sat down next to her. “You were with the large group of girls earlier, weren’t you? Did they threaten you?” Ray asked nicely with a smile still on his face as Susan was getting nervous and terrified.

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“Act normal. Else you will give yourself away. Relax. Just slowly tell me what’s going on and we will take it from there. Let’s begin by smiling first.” Ray instructed noticing there might possibility of her being watched. Susan obliged nervously and to Ivy’s surprise, Susan began to tell the truth.

“The pack was led by a guy called Kyle. He is scary because he is linked to the underground gangsters. Su Lian is the sister of Kyle’s girlfriend, Melissa. They didn’t like Melody for being so close with Ryu and the leader of his fan club. They wanted to make Su Lian the president. They … they…” Susan was afraid to continue when she saw Ivy’s stunned look.

“You’re alright?” Nick quickly supported Ivy who was about to lose her balance.

“It’s who did you say it was again?” Ivy stuttered when Susan confirmed it was Kyle.

“Melissa the cheerleader, his girlfriend?” Ivy questioned half hoping it wasn’t right but Susan nodded. Ivy gasped when Ryu walked up to them while Ivy tried catching her breath.

“Where did they go?” Ryu questioned Susan as he looked directly into her gaze which scared Susan to not tell the truth. “The school’s hall.” She quickly said in a squeaky voice. Ryu quickly sprinted over when Ivy chased him.

“Ryu! Stop! Ryu, it’s dangerous! Kyle is dangerous!” Ivy yelled from behind as Nick and Ray chased after them.

Before Ray left, he gave Susan some money and told her to head back to Landsfield and not mingle with the group anymore. He even ensure he gave her his name card in case of any complications, and he told Susan to contact him.

The more Ryu heard of Kyle the more furious he got. He heard the rumors back then of when Jason saved Ivy from a close call of being raped and now she was trying to stop him from saving Melody.

Ryu stopped midway and breathe heavily as he glared at Ivy who was panting.

“You know what Kyle did to you?! Yet you ask me to not go save her! What’s wrong with you? Did the accident cause brain damage?!” Ryu vented as Ray who caught up, quickly stood in between them.

“There’s a better way to solve this than to barge right in! Do you not think before you act? Who are you to fight with a potential gangster?! You had lured the wrong company and yet it had to be the sister of his girlfriend! Do you have no sense to watch over Melody who is pathetically heads over heels for you?! What conscience do you have to argue with me when it’s you who was not taking any actions when you let those girls kiss and do whatever they want at you?! So, now if it was her in your position, what would you do?!” Ivy scolded back which made Ryu want to fight with her but Ray stopped him.

“Are you out of your mind?! That’s your older sister!” Ray scolded which made Ryu send his punch to the tree trunk by the side of the pathway while yelling out in anger, ignoring the bleeding on his fingers.

“Nick, call the police first and get security over!” Ivy instructed when it hit Ryu that Ivy was right about what if it was Melody who was surrounded by boys earlier and got kissed by them. He was frantic and furious about his slow-minded self.

“At least bring your brother who can fight, idiot!” Ivy scolded when he went up to Ryu before pulling him to the school hall hastily. By the time, they reached they could hear a commotion inside despite the loud music.

Ray easily threw open the main door as the trio entered and saw Melody tied to a chair, unconscious while her jacket was down on the ground. Ryu was furious that he started a fight directly at Kyle only to have Kyle punch him off landing him in front of Ray.

“Well, well look who had come?” Kyle teased looking at Ivy who was glaring at him.

“What are you still doing with this pathetic bastard?” Ivy daringly walked forward to Melissa with her arms folded around her and raised an eyebrow. Melissa looked half guilty when Kyle protected her and stood in between them.

“Hello, sweetheart from another different time.” Kyle greeted and before he could lay his hands on Ivy, Ivy gave him a good punch which caught him off guard.

“Oh, wow wow! I don’t remember you being able to fight back then.” Kyle yelled which send Ivy punching him in his face without caring that they were surrounded by his underlings who were fighting against Ray and Ryu.

Fortunately, Nick came in right on time with the guards and the police were behind, hot on their wheels. Whistles were blown that Ray quickly grabbed Ivy to the side to prevent more harm.

“Stop right there all of you!” The police instructed as they saw the pack of underlings and Kyle was beating up not just Ryu but also Ray who was protecting Ivy.

The police then instructed to capture all of Kyle's underlings, himself, and the fan girls while taking down statements from Nick and Ray about the pack trying to rape Melody.

“Oh sweetie, we shall meet again!” Kyle called out before being dragged outside by the police and Ivy knew it was directed at her.

Seeing it was all in defense, the police let all of them go, and Ryu who was quite injured couped up whatever strength he had left to carry Melody to the car as Nick drove all of them to the hospital.

Melody ended up warded for the night with Ryu by his side not wanting to get treated. Ivy and Ray walked in after their treatment with Nick seeing Ryu in his horrible state sitting by Melody hopelessly.

Ivy knew that feeling so well that she sighed and touched Ryu’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t be losing my temper at you. It wasn’t your fault. Kyle…” Ivy wanted to say Kyle was out of control but Ryu turned around to hug Ivy as he sobbed in her arms.

Ivy smiled sadly and gently patted his head to comfort him as she winced back her tears. “I’m sorry! I know I was wrong but I refuse to admit it! I couldn’t lose her and don’t want her to ever be harmed. With me around, I foresee she would face this more. So, how could I tell her I do love her? If not telling her would protect her and keep her safe, I would rather not tell her…” Ryu explained in between his sobs. Everyone realised Melody was awake and listening to him except he didn’t know.

“I don’t want her to be hurt… I want to protect her but I am not capable of and there are so many threats around us.” Ryu went on as Ray tapped on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Why don’t you speak to her about this?” Ray asked as Ryu shook his head and lifted his head while Nick passed him some tissues.

“No… I would not want to worry her. She had suffered enough…” Ryu decided as he blew his nose.

“What if I am willing to …” Ryu heard Melody’s voice which send him startled not knowing what to do in the midst of blowing his nose. Ivy chuckled as she helped him wipe his face.

“Have a good talk. She needs you.” Ivy whispered before leaving the room with Ray and Nick.