“Finally,” Jongin took a deep breath and pulled both hands out of his pocket. His pale grey eyes were impossibly bright under the dim orange light. My heart skipped a beat. There were young couples outside – some kissing on one corner, some sheepishly smiled at me as I tried to put on a dignified expression when I was actually doing the exact same thing. “How was the dance with the others, hm?”

                  We walked through the football field, through the long corridor where we first kissed, “It was… pleasant.” I wished I could have danced with him at the very least. I met many people in the main hall, but conversations with others were so empty and boring. My eyes would inevitably try to find him in the ocean of people, but as always, he was nowhere to be found. I never realised how lonely it could be without him. “Where were you, Kim Jongin?”

                  “Oh, stop with that name-calling, Sena. What happens to ‘Jongin this’ and ‘Jongin that’? Hell, even and jerks sounds comparably better than Kim Jongin,” He groaned – almost growling in dissatisfaction. His tone was distant and odd, as if something was bothering him. I quirked my eyebrows at him and stifled a chuckle. Jongin and his endless sarcasm. Ironically, I started to miss his sarcastic remarks the moment he was gone. “I was back there with Kyungsoo and Tao, working.”   

                  “Working?”

                  “Just… some things,” He shrugged the topic off so calmly. Jongin was already walking ahead of me while I slowed down to think. I narrowed my eyes at the figure of his back and did not pursue the matter further. His behavior was definitely off today and I could not put a finger on it. Maybe it was the way he continuously checked on me, or the way he was unusually protective around other guys. It could not be jealousy, I told myself. Kim Jongin did not get jealous. “Where are we going, then?”

                  “Wouldn’t you want to know?” Jongin laughed, breathing in the night air with his gaze set forward. It was just like him – always full of riddles, leaving me rooms for plenty of questions. There was firmness and determination I always noticed when he thought I was not looking. I loved to steal glances at him, sometimes from behind, because I knew he could not catch me doing so. I was always fast enough to turn the other way but Jongin did not seem to mind my stares.

                  “Don’t tell it’s going to be some romantic movie scene like flower garden or fireflies,” I pleaded with a hint of humor. I would not actually mind had he brought me to those places, because what mattered was us and how close we were against each other and yet, at the same time we were so far apart. It was hard to catch Kim Jongin at the moment, because his mind always drifted away unknowingly.

                  “Well, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise, then,” was what he said as he halted his steps for me to catch up. His lips broke into a pleasant tender smile and I blushed instantly. Never in my entire six months would I imagine that Jongin would smile at me this way – at least not sincerely. I extended my hand and he squeezed it reassuringly, and in that moment, I felt like everything was right and perfect so long as I had him by my side.

                  “Where –” I was about to ask again. The words were stuck at my throat as I looked up at a separate part of the roof that was not decorated with the night sky. There was stairs that led down the building. Down below was a large pool with natural stones and clear water. The view was so beautiful, especially at night. I was awestruck. My heart was pounding against my chest so loudly it would explode anytime soon.

                  “Nice, isn’t it?” He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the astonished expression on my face. Both of us walked down the wet steps carefully. The only light source came from the pool, so the trees around it were pretty much illuminated by the light from the water. Jongin threw away his blazer and his clothes came next. I gaped in shock when he wore his black pants and jumped into the water without second-moment hesitation. “Jongin! What are you doing?”        

                  I looked around. Nobody saw.

                  “Loosen up, Sena. No one but the higher-up of Genbu knows about this place,” He surfaced in a second and shook the shiny droplets of water away from his hair. I knew Jongin was ridiculously impulsive, but not this crazy as to bring me here in the middle of a party – in a foreign place, mind you! – just to swim. I looked at my heavy gown and corset and sighed. “Come on, Princess. Don’t wait until I drag you in myself.”

                  I was hesitant. I had met all sorts of crazy people, but Jongin was on a whole new level. My hands reached the zip of my dress and slowly pulled it down. I was trembling in embarrassment, and my face was absolutely stony when the dress dropped on the floor. I undid the tie on my corset and threw it away, leaving me in my lacy undergarments. My cheeks were flaming hot as I walked towards the pool and tasted the water’s temperature. It was not cold, not warm, and good enough to soothe the heat in me. I jumped.

                  I remembered when I set fire to my training grounds when I was fourteen and got scolded the entire day for being so thoughtless and rash. I also remembered when I was caught half- in bed with a stranger after getting drunk in Japan, and how that stranger was now buried on the ground as bones without so much as a proper funeral. I remembered running away with Joonmyun once to Thailand when we got bored and how both of our families searched the entire country until they found us. None of those compared to the thrill I felt right now.

                  “This is crazy!” I shouted in-between my laughter. “You are crazy, Kim Jongin!”

                  “Yeah, but you like it, anyway,” He grinned widely and swam closer. The water level left only my head on the surface because I was short. He reached out and touched the pin that secured the curl on my hair. Slowly, one by one, he unclipped and threw them aside. I stood there unmoving as his chest was touching my face. I did not know what came to me as I circled my hands around his waist and stepped closer until my face was buried onto the nape of his neck. It was warm and he smelt good.

                  “Such a flirt,” Jongin chuckled and continued what he was doing. His fingers curled my hair and let it loose into a beautiful wavy texture. “Are you trying to tempt me right now?”

                  “Depends,” I cheekily smiled and graced his clavicles with butterfly kisses. He tensed for a while, frozen and tickled. His hands grasped my back in an attempt to hold me unsuccessfully. I continued trailing the kisses from his shoulder to his neck and cheeks before stopping at his nose. His eyes were stony as he glanced down at me with unfathomable darkness. “Are you tempted?”

                  “You got me there,” Jongin smirked sarcastically and swooped me into one deep kiss. I melted right then and there. They said that a man should know how to treat the girls right with kisses. The pounding in my heart exploded into sparks and inexplicable burst of joy. I clung onto his arms tightly, diving in deeper as if by doing so, I would be able to drown in him. I was drunk with this feeling. There was nothing logical, nothing rational. It was just this magical string that pulled me onto him, and him to me.

                  At times rough, sometimes tender.

                  Other times caring, then indifferent.

                  I was so helplessly in love. It was exactly like a dream I did not wish to wake up from. He was real, skin and flesh, kissing me like he did not want to let go. In that dream, we were together, hands in hands, blissfully ignorant of others’ opinions about this taboo relationship. It took me too long to realise that no matter how much I wanted us to be real, it was just not possible. And perhaps, for the best of everyone, I should stay forever dreaming, never waking up again.

New Year

1 January 2016

West-southern Island of Singapore, 47 km from the land, South East Asia

Genbu Headquarter

                  New year was the only time that the youth of Genbu family were allowed on the surface of the ocean. There were forty of us, including the Elites and the main family’s children. As the unhabituated island was fairly close to Singapore, we could enjoy the fireworks display from afar in a large ship that could host hundred of people. We went up by a submarine and moved onto the boat. There were drinks and snacks and even swimming pools party. Most of the girls wore bikini and stayed on the pool with cocktails in their hands. It was a lively atmosphere. I stayed on the balcony of the other side where it was more quiet and peaceful.

                  “Why don’t you interact with the girls, Sweetheart?”

                  There were only two of us now. Joonmyun casually put his arms around my shoulder as we watched the calm water with ease. It was the first new year I spent with him on the Genbu headquarter and it was much warmer than the cold, lonely years I used to spend alone with Grandfather in the Seiryuu house, “I don’t know. I’m just not very good at socializing. And besides, no one would notice that I’m gone. It’s much more peaceful here, without the noise and the alcohol smell.”

                  “Of course people would notice that you’re gone! You’re the Dragon Heiress, for goodness sake, Sena,” He rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly. I smiled and nodded as the hollowness grew in my chest in a suffocating speed, “People would notice that Seiryuu’s leader is gone, but not Yoon Sena. So it’s fine. It wouldn’t matter.”

                  “There you go, being so pessimistic again,” Joonmyun shook his head and patted my hair affectionately. “You are Yoon Sena. Yoon Sena is the leader of Seiryuu. And that leader is you. It’s one and the same. Who cares if people entitle you as the Princess? You are one, Sena – and I mean, literally. There are people who envy you and people who respect you. Then of course, there will be people who love you. Isn’t that the way it is for everyone else? Stop looking at the dark side of the picture and start at the brighter part, instead. I love you, Luhan loves you, your Elites love you. Why bother with everyone else?”

                  “Pfft,” I burst out laughing. “I didn’t mean it in such a melancholic tone, Joonmyun, and now you make me sound like a freaking drama queen. But thank you. That’s so sweet. I haven’t heard that kind of sincerity from you since I-don’t-know-when. Oh God, now I miss your flirty teasing and sarcastic jokes. It sounds more like you, you know? I don’t think I can ever get used to your tender side. It gives me creeps.”

                  “Brutal, Sweetheart, really stabs me at the heart,” Joonmyun clutched onto his chest pretentiously as we both laughed it off.

                  “Hey, Kim Joonmyun, do you guard this ship with the sea creatures as well?”

                  I looked down at the water and noticed a small movement that disturbed its calmness. Joonmyun looked at the direction I was staring at and quirked his eyebrows together. Apparently he was as confused as I was. The ship shook a little, and I suspected that something else was going on underneath the water. A dark, huge shadow casted over the ship and moved upwards.

                  “No, it’s not. I don’t know what the hell that is…”

                  “I think I know.”

                  A large submarine surfaced from beneath. We did not need to guess who it was because of the obvious emblem printed on the metal, shaped like three squares joint together in a disorderly manner. Joonmyun’s hand fell down from my shoulder as he gritted his teeth in anger. My face paled down in shock. There was no mistake who it was.

                  “Byun Baekhyun.”