Author's POV

Jiyong laid awake that night thinking about what happened earlier with Dara. Specifically what he said to her. The part where he said that he doesn't want Dara to change, that he likes Dara just the way she is and that he doesn't want Dara to be someone like him. 'You wouldn't want to be a miserable fool like me Dara' he whispered into the darkness.

His earliest memory of Dara was the one with her and her family playing in their backyard. He was 7 years old, Dara was 6. They looked content and very much happy to a kid whose parents were always away. He used to watch them play almost every afternoon then watch them go out on walks every Sunday morning wishing that he could be a part of something as good as that. Out of all the beautiful things that he saw in their family, the thing that always registered to him was Dara's smile. Always Dara's smile. How radiant it is. Like sunshine after the rain. Until her parents died in a tragic car accident. He never saw Dara smile after that. He used to watch her sit in the steps of their front porch. Looking far. She never cried but Jiyong saw emptiness in her eyes. He longed to see her smile and he promised himself that he will do everything that he can to make her smile once again.

~

Dara's POV I laid awake clutching Tam Tam in my chest, pondering about Jiyong's words and actions earlier this evening. That snitch. He always manages to surprise me. I remembered the first time I became aware of him. It was after my parents untimely death. They transferred to our neighborhood two years before the accident that claimed the lives of my parents. I always saw him watching me and my parents whenever we play in our backyard. Many times I've wanted to ask him to come play with us but I'm always overcome by fear because I always see him scowling. Then the accident happened. For an 8 year old girl, that was a lot to take in. My Aunt Jinah took over my welfare and moved in our house. I used to sit in front of our porch, just staring into nothingness. I don't cry because I think I dried up my tears after almost a week of bawling. I just sit in there reliving the memories that my parents left me, wishing that I could go back and freeze the time. Yes, I stopped crying but I stopped smiling too. I couldn't find any reason to smile. Until Jiyong.

It was one of those times where I was just sitting in the front porch. The boy from the neighborhood approached me minus the familiar scowl. He said nothing while walking towards me. He just looked very intent. He stopped in front of me. I raised my head and looked at him. He reached for me, then tucked a stray strand on my ears then opened his palm in front of me. There was a coin in there. Magic. And because I was a kid, I was fascinated. I smiled. Not my usual wide-toothed grin, a simple curve but a small smile nevertheless. Then he left without saying a word. But he came again the next day, with a different trick. And the next day, and the next, my smile growing wide for every new trick. Almost every day I'd sit on the front porch and wait for him to appear. His magic tricks gave me something to look forward to. He just stopped performing his tricks after I interrupted him while doing one, this one involving strings. I couldn't help it at that time. I tugged the strings that he was knotting making him look at me instead, then I said thank you to him while giving him the warmest smile I could muster. He looked dumbstruck at that time, like someone who have seen an apparition. After a while, he said welcome then said something along "I think my work is done" or something like that and then he started to walk away. I stopped him by grabbing his hands. I asked him his name because I still don't know what it was. He just shrugged and then walked away, but I caught up with him and pestered him until he finally told me his name. I kept pestering him ever since. It became a habit. A hard habit to break.

AN: Short update xD SORRY for the suuuuuuuper loooooooong delay. :)))