You sat at the table calmly reading your novel, enthralled by the characters, the story and most of all, your surroundings. The smell of the coffee brewing from the little café nearby the library you were in, the low murmurings of the many study groups present mixed with the pleasant weather that was just beginning to cool into winter. It was the perfect day until... 

"(F/n)!" a small group of females called, their collective hands banging on the heavy wooden desk you sat at. 

"Ah!" you exclaimed, startled by the sudden noise. 

"You have to tell us how it ends." they all exclaimed in unison, almost freakish in its cult-like reply. 

"But you know how it ends!" you replied in a calm tone, attempting to dispel the attention the group drew. 

"No-one tells it like you!" Yujin objected, her hands clasped in desperation. 

"Yeah, it's like you were actually there!" Hani added, her eyes alight from all the past storytelling sessions.  

Before you had to hear a lecture about why you just had to tell the story, you interrupted. "It's called dramatic storytelling and believe me, you girls would do a fantastic job on your own." you said with a chuckle. 

"Oh come on (N/n) please!" you looked at the pitiful looks your friends sent your way and the many pleas for your group to quieten down from the many study groups and sighed. How could you say no? 

"Fine but can you all please just keep quiet?" you whisper shouted and promptly got up from your seat to immediately find the historical section of said library. You discovered early on in your little storytelling exploits that the library had a very aesthetic copy of The Peach Blossom that Found Paradise that contained a beautiful watercolor depiction of the legendary couple. 

"Right, where were we?" you asked as you carefully turned the pages almost lovingly, a faint smile tugging at your lips. When would you tire of this story, you wondered idly. Years later, the story was just as magical as when your mother first told it to you. 

"The part where (F/n) has to leave but she wants to stay." Mina piped up almost tearfully.  

"Yeah yeah and when Taekwoon gives her his ring and said to her: I know I am a selfish man for asking this of you but do not forget me. And then (F/n) said: It is not selfish if I asked the same thing. So romantic!" Sora all but swooned in reply. You remember being happy you chose a park for that particular session. 

"Alright!" you clapped your hands once, feeling the familiar tingle of excitement. "After (F/n) left in her tiny little dingy fisherman's boat, she left, heartbroken. So overcome was she that she had to close her eyes so she wouldn't see the paradise in which she lived, disappear." you looked at each girl with sorrowful eyes, occasionally looking down at the book for reference - even though you no longer needed it. 

"Too soon! That's so sad!" Subin pouted, holding and shaking Hani's arm all the while. Though the small group nodded their head furiously at the sentiment, they still shushed your friend. 

The tall adolescent man removed his sunglasses and earphones that played his new favorite song. Refuge at last! Having just parted ways with his friends, as a classic introvert, he felt exhausted and what better than a café latte to spoil himself after the day he had? 

Entering the pleasantly designed university café slash library, the young male took note of the typical sounds of chatter, utensils clanging delicately on plates and...a very loud female? The man turned his head to find the source of the noise and though at first, he was entranced by the dramatic and theatrical use of her words and gestures, it was the story that he recognized that made him pause. He had to admit that he never heard a version quite like hers. The young man decided to stall his order for now and found a table nearby to continue to eavesdrop on the impromptu performance. 

"When our heroine finally reached home, she could only feel her heart break further. The colors, the splendor of the Shangri-la she lived in had all disappeared and even though it was Spring in her village, the pure majesty of the season was not to be found. All she had to look forward to now as she dragged her multitude of treasures home was her family, whom she missed dearly." you bowed your head sadly, your hands clutched at the front of your fashionable sweater. 

"Were her family still alive?" "Did she keep her promise about not marrying Taejin?" Were all questions shot continuously you though they all knew the story well enough to know the answer. 

"Not only were they alive but they were overjoyed to see her! Her mother cried from relief – she thought her beloved daughter ran away because of the impending marriage! With the many jewels the king gifted (F/n), her family used some of it to throw a feast in her honor. Though she had been asked many times about the wealthy family that had so graciously taken her in, all (F/n) ever said about the king and his sons were that they were very kind and that she became friends with them in a short time. Her promise to her beloved Taekwoon, how could she ever forget?" you asked rhetorically, looking at how your group of friends hung off your every word with a smirk. "No, she couldn't. Almost as soon as she returned, she  told her mother that she couldn't marry Taejin and having realized what it was she was asking of her daughter previously, she graciously agreed." 

"But she wasn't happy was she? She had everything except the one she loved." Yujin added sadly. 

"She had the hibiscus flowers that Taekwoon gave her though!" Mina reminded, more cheerful than her friend. 

"That's true...." you agreed and sighed, five pairs of eyes locked on you again, "but the beauty of the flowers that had been given to her, could only last (F/n) for so long. How do you think she felt when in the winter months all she had to stare at were barren, brown stalks? When she wanted to recall her beloved's embrace but felt the memory of it slipping through her fingers like fog? Or when the only person she had to talk about him was herself and slowly but surely she began to forget? Or how about when she stared at the flourishing plot of land only to wonder if the ring she wore was nothing more than a dream, that after all, the man she loved and promised to never forget was just a lovely apparition?" You implored, feeling your own eyes water at the very questions you asked yourself the many times you read the story. 

"I never thought of it that way..." Mina trailed off, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 

"What happened next? Did she ever see him again?" Yujin asked, impatient for you to continue. 

"She did." you nodded and vaguely noted a handsome man sitting nearby who nodded as well. How strange. You quickly shook away the thought and continued. "An entire year had passed. She watched the hibiscus flowers flourish, then wilt before turning barren and tended to them until she saw their bulbs once more. It was one particular spring day when she sadly admired the flowers that she wished she could see Taekwoon just once more, if only to confirm that he truly was real when-" 

"He came back!" Subin excitedly interrupted, eyes sparkling like a child's. 

"Yah, thanks for ruining it. I actually don't know how it ends." Hani huffed from beside her friend, clearly unimpressed. 

You merely gave a chuckle and continued. "He did. He called her name so gently that she almost missed it but when she did, she shakily stood up and saw the prince." your voice rose dramatically as if you were telling a ghost story rather than a romance. "He took her into his arms and she sorrowfully told him: I was beginning to forget you. Our hero, so sweet and understanding, only shushed her with a kiss on the forehead and replied: You were not the only one, to me you were starting to feel like a lovely dream that no longer was. All I had to remember you was a painting. It was never enough and I was beginning to lose myself in the fact that I struggled to recall things I used to with ease." you declared, looking into the far off distance dramatically while your female friends emitted squeals worthy of seals.  

"I wish my boyfriend was like that." Mina sighed dreamily. 

Yujin waved her off, practically leaning over the table to hear more. 

"Right there in front of those hibiscus flowers, he declared his love for her, prepared to live in her world as she did in his." you said, once again looking for the watercolor depiction that you laid your eyes on one too many times. 

"And he still chose to leave his own family for good? But it's such an uncertain choice." Hani questioned, her head cocked cutely to the side. 

"He loved her. To him, being with her in an unknown world was better than staying behind and staring at a painting that he would one day wonder if it was even real." you answered, turning the book towards your friends, showing them the very same painting that left you enraptured. "In the end, what mattered was that although they were never supposed to meet, they overcame those odds to stay together. They say, visiting that very same hibiscus field brings luck to your relationship." you added. 

You and your friends continue the discussion until they all realized they were running late for all their appointments that ranged from lectures to part-time jobs. Rushing out of the library in the same chaotic manner in which they came, your friends promised to message you later. 

Letting out a sigh, you decided it was time for a good cup of coffee, you always seemed to forget how exhausting it was. Getting your purse from your handbag, you made your way to the counter, contemplating on whether or not to order that one delicious piece of cake in the display window. 

"Excuse me?" you heard a musically soft voice call and you whipped your head around to find the handsome man from earlier. 

You could not help but notice how stylishly he dressed and the way his dark hair fell into his eyes. Was it even possible for someone to be so attractive? 

"Yes?" you asked when you realized you were quiet for too long. 

"I was wondering if that was The Peach Blossom that Found Paradise you were talking about earlier?" the man asked and you realized his natural speaking volume was unnaturally quiet yet pleasant to the ears. 

Your face flushed. He probably thought you were crazy. Great. The one day there was an actually good-looking guy in the vicinity, it was the day you were raving like a lunatic. 

"Uhm...yes...you know it?" now that you thought about it, you found it strange that he seemed to know the story. Both of you order before he replied. 

"My older sister took classical literature in university and was obsessed with the story. She never told the story like you though." he replied, amused. 

"I've known the story since I was a child, it's a bit difficult for me to not take liberties." you bashfully responded. 

He chuckled. "I'm Leo." he introduced, he seemed shy yet friendly. 

"(F/n)." you said and waited for realization to dawn on his face. "Named exactly after her." you added as though sharing a secret. 

"It's appropriate." he smiled and showed off his sparkling teeth; causing your heart to race at his strange compliment. In the back of your mind you wondered if this was how (F/n) felt when she looked at Taekwoon. You collected your orders. 

"This song was based off of the story." Leo commented as you walked back to your table together.  

You carefully listened. 

"I'm drunk, a little more drunk. I wanna fall into this dream. You came to me, only to me." 

"It's beautiful." you guffawed. "Not sure how I managed to miss that." you admitted. 

"I thought about what you said," Leo began after taking a sip of café latte, "about how (F/n) felt about leaving Taekwoon behind but have you ever thought how he'd feel? While she went back to her home, leaving him behind, he was let with memories of her everywhere. From the home he walked her to, to the apple orchid they'd sit beneath. It's always harder being the one left behind." he commented, staring at the painting still open on the table. Somehow he struck you as the type that barely spoke but you found yourself pleasantly surprised. 

You stared at him in wonder. "I never thought of that before. To his credit, he refused for things to stay the way they were. He loved her enough to leave everything behind: his family, his home, his title, everything." you replied with a smile.  

"Would you tell me the story?" Leo asked, looking up from the book. Handsome though he was, there was something childlike in his appearance. 

"You seem to be busy, are you sure you have the time for it?" you joked with a girlish giggle. You enjoyed his company more than you would like to admit. 

"I have all the time in the world." he responded with a dazzling smile that made butterflies flutter in your stomach. 

"Well let's see. Once upon a time..." you once again threw yourself into the role of the enthusiastic storyteller, feeling energized by Leo's varying facial reactions. For the first time, you found yourself more enthralled and entertained by the man in front of you than the story you were telling for the umpteenth time. The way you only had eyes for each other amidst the crowded room made the story of the legendary couple only more special. 

"Just one thing only you know. The place I've been looking for is you. When I open my eyes again, you only come into me." - Shangri-la 

A/N: And here it is, the last chapter! I apologize for how long it's taken, but I was hoping VIXX would have another comeback before I finished this. I had this chapter planned since before I wrote this story and I like the idea that even though it isn't a reincarnation, a story can still bring our Reader and Leo together. This particular plot line was inspired by Hwarang. Not sure if I wanted Leo to be famous in this, so you may read it either. I hope all of you had an amazing Christmas and an even better New Year, please enjoy and thank you for all the comments, subscriptions and upvotes! Hopefully we'll all be seeing each other when the Concept Kings make their next comeback. <3