- - -

 

I knew I was dead even before I open my eyes. Well, at least not literally. The moment I came back to the surface, the first things that came to my mind was Jiyong’s face. I was afraid to open my eyes in fear of what would greet me once I do. But then, the need to see his face overcame all other fears and doubts. I took a deep breath first before opening my eyes. As I did, I was greeted by a white ceiling.

 

“Finally. . .”

 

I blinked my eyes and glanced sideways. I saw TOP watching me with an unreadable expression. I frowned a little when I realized Jiyong was not here. “Where’s Jiyong?” I asked.

 

“Probably on his way” TOP shrugged. “Your phone was endlessly ringing a while ago so I answered it”

 

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut. “I am so dead” I whimpered. “Jiyong’s gonna be so angry with me”

 

“Why would he be? You didn’t ask to be stabbed, did you?”

 

“Well, no” I said. “But I disobeyed him and looked where my disobedience led me. I’m so dead”

 

“Why are you so scared of him?” he asked. “Did he hurt you before?”

 

My eyes flew opened. I wanted to say no but the word just won’t come. “What happened, anyways?” I asked instead. “I only remembered being pulled into a corner and being stabbed. Who was that person? Was he a thief or something?”

 

“Well, I wondered where you were so I called your name out. Then, I heard you moan so-”

 

“I moaned?” I asked.

 

“Yes, you did. I followed the sound then I just saw you sliding to the ground. . . . I was rather hoping you could describe the person’s face because I wasn’t able to go after him since well, you were wounded so I brought you here in the hospital instead”

 

“But you’re a shadow, right? You could have just healed me”

 

“Not everyone can do that” he quietly said.

 

“Oh, right” I grimaced. “I forgot. Sorry”

 

“It’s okay” he said. “About the guy, how does he look like?”

 

“He. . . he was wearing a mask”

 

“Well, that’s-”

 

The door suddenly opened. My eyes grew wide when I saw Jiyong. I cowered in the bed sheets. I know he hated going to hospitals so I should be glad he’s here. But the look on his face made me wish for a black hole to engulf me instead.

 

“What happened?” he demanded at once.

 

“Well, I. . . I was. . . .”

 

TOP must have heard and sense how scared I was because he saved me from a lot of stuttering and stammering with my explanation. I have now new found respect for him for explaining to Jiyong what happened. I don’t think ANYONE could talk steadily when pancake’s being err, like that. But as TOP recounted the story, Jiyong’s face went from blank to blank and to nothing. When the story went to the stabbing part, Jiyong suddenly flipped the bed sheets off me. He then pulled the hospital gown up to my chest, making me gasp in embarrassment. I quickly glanced at TOP. He was shocked and surprised as me. I tried pulling my gown back but Jiyong won’t budge. Okay, I may be used to being around him but TOP’s here too for crying out loud! I reached for the bed sheets instead and covered myself. I was about to tell Jiyong off but the look on his face stopped me. And then, it hit me. The stab wounds in my stomach. . . they must have reminded him of the time when he stabbed me himself. . . .

 

“Jiyong. . . .”

 

He sharply turned away and stormed out of the room. I flinched at the loud banging of the door.

 

“That was intense” TOP said, his brows rose up in silent query.

 

- - -

 

“Thanks for walking me home” I turned to TOP.

 

“No problem” he nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

“Yeah” I smiled.

 

“Ring me if your guy do something or-”

 

“He won’t” I cut off. “I better go”

 

“Okay”

 

“Take care”

 

“No, you take care” he said.

 

As TOP went out of sight, I took a deep breath before heading towards the apartment. My heart thumped painfully against my chest. I’m scared, alright. But it’s not the kind of fear of being physically hurt. I just don’t want to see him upset or angry. I know he’s very much capable of hurting me when he loose control but right now, it’s not really what I’m worried about. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by a jungle. Well, sort of. Everything was turned over, thrashed. There’s a loud noise coming from the bedroom. He was playing rock music in full blast. I know it was his way of saying that he’s not in the mood for a chat. I gasped a little as my wounds pricked but I tried to ignore it as I went to the speakers to lower the volume down.

 

“Pancake” I softly called.

 

He didn’t say anything.

 

“Jiyong. . .” I lamost whined, walking towards the bed. He suddenly pulled the covers up to his head. I know it’s inappropriate but I can’t stop the smile from curving my lips. “Pancake, I’m sorry if I-”

 

He suddenly flipped the covers out, stood up and walked out of the room. Aigoo! He’s really angry. But then, I’m Sandara Park, I don’t give up that easily. I will woo him. Yes, that’s right. It’s not like I haven’t done that before, right?

 

- - -

 

I was up even before the sun rose up. I noticed that everything seemed back to their places. He might have fixed them while I was asleep. That’s a good sign. It means he’s already calm to put the things back to how they were before. I was finishing some personal touch on the breakfast I prepared for my pancake when he came. Our eyes met but he quickly looked away. He went to the coffeemaker at once. I let his silence passed for the meantime. When he settled himself in the stool, I quickly pushed the plate containing three pancakes with writings on each of them. With the use of the chocolate syrup, I wrote the words ‘Sorry’, ‘I love U’, and ‘Peace?’ on each of them.

 

He paused for a moment. “I already told you I didn’t want you to work but you still went on with it”

 

“I know” I mumbled shamefully. “I’m sorry”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, I. . . I just wanted. . . wanted to earn some money”

 

“You should have told me that what I’m giving wasn’t enough. I could have-”

 

“It’s not like that” I quickly cut off. “It’s just that your birthday’s coming up and I wanted to buy you a gift with MY OWN money and I. . .” I stopped when I realized I said too much already.

 

“A BIRTHDAY GIFT?!?” he breathed. “YOU ING DISOBEYED ME AND RISKED YOUR ING SAFETY FOR A ING BITHDAY GIFT?!?”

 

I winced. “Well. . . the risk for my safety isn’t really an issue since you know, none of us expected THAT to happen. . . and it’s just a minor thing. . . I mean, I’m still alive and. . .”

 

A string of curses flew from his mouth. Aigoo, he’s really pissed. He’s not mad, that’s for sure. I know how he is when he’s mad.

 

“I’m sorry already” I mumbled and reached out for his face across the table. Jiyong backed away, bring a sting of tears at the corners of my eyes. I pulled back and bowed my head. Belatedly, I realized that I should feel some discomfort in my tummy from reaching across the table but I felt nothing. I didn’t really pay that much attention to it since I was pretty busy with thinking of ways to woo him but now that I think of it, eversince I woke up, I felt oddly. . . pain-free. I pulled my shirt up and looked down while my right hand went to caress my stomach. It was SMOOTH – no gauze or whatsoever. I gasped and glanced up. A lump suddenly rose to my throat at the realization that he healed me again.

 

 

JIYONG’S POV

 

I already sensed it coming even before she acted up on it. Her eyes started welling up while her lips trembled. I sighed wearily when a sob escaped from as she rounded on the table and threw herself at me. She then started wailing childishly. I grimaced, keeping my arms on my side. Maybe I should call her giant baby instead of spoof.

 

I’m upset, all right. Pissed even. Angry or mad? Probably. The twin stabbed wounds on her stomach reminded me of what happened down in the chamber. I’ve been trying my very best not to remember that particular event. I know it’s a long shot but then, my attention was diverted to another emotion I didn’t want to feel.

 

Envy.

 

It’s a cruel and crippling thing. That TOP guy’s slowly getting into my nerves. The thought of him helping or saving Dara brought something inside me – envy. I don’t want other people to save her. I want it to be ME. I let that emotion envelope me in order for me to forget that event I’d rather not repeat. But feeling Dara’s warmth in my arms, it makes much of a difference. Every feeling or emotion still takes me by surprise, it even confuses me sometimes. There’s a part of me that’s been rejecting emotions Dara’s bringing out from me and there’s also a part inside me that’s been welcoming and wanting everything from her. Maybe it’s being brought by the fear of the unknown. Every specie got this instinct to shy away from something uncertain.

 

Love is uncertain. There’s no concrete definition of it while hate, jealousy, envy and others can be easily defined.

 

I sighed. What the ing hell is going on with me? These thoughts are unhealthy for me. “You’re being ridiculously childish”

 

She wailed louder.

 

“Enough already” I grimaced.

 

She didn’t stop.

 

I sighed again and lifted my arms to hug her. I pulled her tight to my chest and tucked her head under my chin.

 

“I love you” she sniffed.

 

“Oh yeah?” I cynically asked. “Then why did you disobey me? Do you want to recount the times you disobeyed me and where those disobedience of yours landed?”

 

“I already told you the reason” she mumbled quietly.

 

“That’s bull!” I let out. “You know I don’t give a ing damn about gifts that much”

 

“But I want to give you something” she argued. “And stop swearing! It’s rude to curse in front of a girl, most especially if that girl is your girlfriend!”

 

“Girlfriend?” I scoffed. “You don’t even obey simple instructions and you seemed to listen more with that. . . . TOP guy”

 

A minute of silence passed.

 

“Oh ” I breathed when I realized I voiced my thoughts out loud. Dara tried to pull away from my hug but I didn’t let her. I think I already know what would happen once I let her out from my arms. But then again, she’s known for her stubbornness and persistence so after a while, she was able to free herself from the confinements of my arms.

 

I breathed harshly at the look on her face – she was euphoric. And then, she started laughing. “You’re jealous!”

 

“I’m not” I growled.

 

“Yes, you are!”

 

“I’m not!”

 

“Liar”

 

“Oh, shut up” I growled for the nth time. And just like that, she started doing her washing machine dance. Oh crap, not again. I can’t understand why she calls what she’s doing a ‘washing machine dance’ when all I can see is. . . I can’t even describe it. “Snap out of it”

 

“My pancake’s jealous!” she cheered.

 

Oh, so you won’t stop?”

 

“No” she laughed.

 

I shrugged. “Fine. Suit yourself”

 

“Kwon Jiyong is jealous, Kwon Jiyong is jealous. . .” she started chanting while dancing her washing machine moves.

 

With a growl, I pulled her down on my lap and shut her up with my mouth. I suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. I know for sure that she’ll have bruises at the corners of her lips later or maybe tomorrow but the way she was responding to me wasn’t helping me in restraining myself from being a bit. . . enthusiastic.

 

“Bring me to bed” she said in between kisses.

 

I wasn’t able to stop myself. I pulled away and laughed out loud. I kissed the side of her neck then looked at her. “I’m sorry” I whispered, rubbing my thumb on her lower lip. “You might have bruises later or tomorrow”

 

“I don’t care”

 

“Ah, Dara. Why are you making my life difficult?”

 

She stuck her tongue out. “Why don’t you eat breakfast first, hmm? Then, after that. . . .” she trailed, wiggling her brows at him.

 

“I’m not in the mood”

 

She grimaced.

 

I exhaled. “Dara, you were just. . . . stabbed last night. You should rest first”

 

“I already had my rest” she reasoned out. “And you already healed me, so I’m back to my healthy being”

 

“Aren’t you evens stressed about what happened? Or hasn’t the event dawned on your below see level intellect yet?”

 

“Ya!” she protested. “As you can see, I’m still alive. Nothing to stress about and besides, what would it do? It’s not like we’re going to catch who that person is. He was masked”

 

I turned thoughtful. I was too pissed last night that I didn’t give a thought about it. I find it a bit odd. It wasn’t robbery for sure since Dara still got her phone with her and as what that TOP guy narrated, the culprit didn’t attempt stealing anything from the store.

 

Coincidence or planned?

 

If it was a coincidence, then what’s the reason behind the act? Could the person be a psycho who enjoys hurting people? No. it’s not that. Before we moved in here, I already checked the records of this place. This place almost got a clean record. Sohee’s father made sure of that. Of course there are other shadows around too but Mom said they’re almost as harmless as a bee. And if it was a shadow, that TOP guy would have sensed him.

 

If what happened was panned, then the most important question to be asked is why? And who would want Dara to be hurt?

 

Something strong washed over me. It’s like a dam of angry water was opened. Memories came flooding into my mind. It would always haunt me, wouldn’t it? No matter how much I try to keep it buried in the past, it’d always come back to me. The wrong things I’ve done would always haunt me.

 

“I wonder why the cops or some reporters aren’t interviewing me or something” Dara’s voice broke into my reverie.

 

“I already talked to the police” I said.

 

“Really? What did you say?”

 

I shrugged.

 

“Kwon Jiyong! You didn’t do anything to them, did you?”

 

I glanced sharply at her. When I saw the dark humor in her eyes, I relaxed. “Why? Am I really that cruel to you now?”

 

“I’m thinking more of bribery” she said, rolling her eyes. “And that reminded me, why didn’t you tell me about the school being run by Sohee’s father? And what\s this direct descendant I heard about?”

 

“Who told you that?” I growled.

 

“TOP” she answered. “And why are you avoiding my questions?”

 

“Because the answers won’t change anything”

 

“I don’t want to go to that school anymore!” she declared stubbornly.

 

I paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay, if that’s what you want”

 

She looked surprised. “Really?”

 

“Yep” I answered. “You can transfer if you want”

 

“What does that mean?” she demanded. “You’re transferring with me, aren’t you?”

 

I let a minute passed before answering. “No”

 

“Why not?” she whined.

 

“Because I don’t want to”

 

“You don’t want to or because Sohee won’t let you?”

 

“Dara, I can’t understand why you’re fussing over this” I exhaled tiredly. “And we talked about Sohee before. There’s no need for you to be so ingly jealous”

 

went into a firm line, a frown creasing her forehead. “I don’t have anything against Sohee but she’s. . . . I. . . I just don’t like how. . . it’s. . . I just don’t like how you two formed some sort of. . . bond in a short period of time. And you haven’t told me about how you two spend time together before. . .”

 

“You’re being ridiculous”

 

She glared at me. “You’re being rude again.

 

“Can’t change who I am” I shrugged.

 

“You should be grateful that I love you because I could have hit you in the face already”

 

“You’re not a violent person” I pointed out.

 

“Oh yeah? Want me to prove it to you?”

 

“I doubt you can”

 

“Aish! It’s so unfair!” she suddenly burst out and jumped off my lap.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Away from you”

 

“Don’t get too far, okay?” I teased.

 

“Whatever you arrogant, conceited and rude crow!”

 

“Ouch!” I laughed.

 

“Laugh all you want, Mister Kwon Jiyong” she darkly said. “Mark my words, I’ll be having the final laugh”

 

Instead of feeling threatened, I laughed even louder. There’s just something funny with the look on her face when she said that. “Is that a threat, Miss Sandara Park?”

 

“Argh! How could you laugh like that when I’m trying to scare you off?”

 

I laughed harder than before.