*I remembered someone asked me when was the first time GD said I LOVE YOU to Dara. It's in the Epilogue of The Shadows.. :D

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I sighed in contentment. The wind blew hard against us, making me shiver a little. Jiyong pulled me closer to him. My skin felt so cold but I was all warm and comfortable inside. Our lips smoothly glided with each other. So I guess the rain got some advantages, too. But then, the need for air interrupted us. I kept my eyes closed as our foreheads leaned together.

 

“I love you, too” I told him. “I love you so much”

 

A lot of good things happen today. He was right. This day is very special. I ran down the good things that happened in my mind again: Jiyong waiting for me, kissing me, walking home together, giving me a piggyback ride, being all sweet all throughout dinner, walking hand in hand, kissing under the rain and giving me a ring.

 

A ring.

 

The words echoed in my mind. I gasped and pulled away from him gently. He had his eyes opened already. Omo! What did this ring mean? Is he. . . ? I don’t know how to. . . I can’t. . . my thoughts were so chaotic that I just stared at him blankly for a few seconds. “This ring. . .” I mumbled. “What does this. . .? Are you. . .? Did you. . .?”

 

He grimaced. “I’m not proposing. It’s just something I want to give you”

 

My heart faltered, my shoulders fell and my lips turned outside down. I’m not even going to deny how disappointed I am. I really thought. . . I really thought it’s an engagement ring.

 

“Oh” I mumbled. “I see”

 

“Dara, you didn’t really expect that-”

 

“Thank you” I cut him off. No, I can’t let this ruin our mood. I should keep this to myself. I shouldn’t have expected. Right from the very beginning, he already told me that he’s not the type of person who wants to get married and have children. “It’s really beautiful” I smiled. “So, what’s so special with this day?”

 

“I can’t believe you forgot” he said, rolling his eyes.

 

“Err, is this the day when we first made love?”

 

He stared at me. “Out of all the events that happened, THAT actually came to your mind first?”

 

“It’s not my fault!” I defiantly said. “I didn’t think of THAT on purpose, you know”

 

“You’re a ert”

 

“No, I’m not! It’s just the first thing that came to my mind. You have to at least give me a timeline”

 

“Before THAT” he said.

 

“Oh, this is the day when we kissed then” I smartly said.

 

“You’re hopeless” he groaned. “Way before that”

 

“Err, the day you fixed my car?”

 

He just stared at me.

 

“Oh, I know! It’s the day when we moved in to. . . no, that can’t be right”

 

“If it weren’t for this day, we wouldn’t have met”

 

I frowned. “But we moved in to the Valley way before this date! How did that happen? Are you sure you got your dates right?” I demanded.

 

“You really are stupid, aren’t you?” he said, clicking his tongue. “It’s your birthday, you stupid spoof girl. If you weren’t born, we wouldn’t have met. If your father didn’t give that car to you as a birthday gift, you wouldn’t have pestered me and I wouldn’t have fal-,” he stopped. “Oh well, you get the picture”

 

My eyes went wide. My birthday? Omo, it’s my birthday! I can’t believe I missed it. How on earth did I forget my own birthday? Aigoo. “It’s my birthday!” I squealed, jumping up and down, momentarily forgetting my disappointment.

 

“How could you forget your own birthday? Are you thinking of naughty things again?”

 

I pursed my lips. Well, I’ve been too preoccupied of thinking on how to earn money so I could get him a birthday present that my own birthday slipped my mind. Aigoo! I must be really in love. “I’m not a ert!” I then said.

 

“Yeah, right” he snorted. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine.

 

I smiled at him. “Let’s get going before we get hit by lightning”

 

- - -

 

As soon as we arrived at the apartment, Jiyong immediately pulled me towards the bathroom. “Are we going to take a shower together?” I asked brightly when he started taking his clothes off.

 

“Why? Don’t you want to?”

 

“Of course I want to!” I quickly said in fear of him changing his mind. I quickly stepped into the stall and turned the shower knob on. I looked behind me and growled. “Pancake! What are you still doing there? Come here already!”

 

He smirked and lazily joined me. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He surprised me when he suddenly pushed me against the wall. I felt his knee spreading my legs apart. Oooh, someone’s impatient. Hahaha! I think this would be my best birthday ever! I slid my hand down his chest, feeling the scars and muscles jumped in response to my touch. The water was cold but he felt so hot to me.

 

His hands slid down to my waist and down to my thighs. He took one knee and hooked it at his side. I already knew what’s going to happen next. I broke the kiss to take a deep breath and managed to say ‘I love you’ to him before he claimed my body, earning a long moan from me. I accept the fact that between us, I’ve always been the loud one. Surprisingly, I’m not ashamed of it but sometimes, it annoys me how he rarely makes a sound when we’re making love. Aish! I’m not saying he doesn’t make a sound AT ALL but. . . but. . . but it’s just so rare for him to do that. And during the times that he does, I can’t help but compare the difference in volume between us. It’s like I’m talking on a megaphone while he’s softly whispering. Where’s the fairness in that, eh?

 

“Pancake. . .” I gasped. You would thought I’m having some kind of a monologue, tch.

 

 

A while later, we were both standing in front of each other, drying each other off. I’ve seen him a lot of times and he’s pretty used to seeing me too but I can’t help but blush at the sweetness and intimacy of the moment.

 

“Arms up” he said. I obediently lifted my arms while he went on drying my sides and err, everything else.

 

“My turn!” I cheerfully said when he was done with me. Since I was done with his hair, face and arms, I went drying his scarred torso and EVERYTHING else, too. I giggled a little at the part where I was face to face with my BESTFRIEND, hihihihihi. AIGOO!

 

I just can’t keep the smile off my face.

 

HAHAHAHA!

 

“What’s taking you long down there?” he asked.

 

“I’m being thorough” I told him then jumped back to my feet. I carelessly threw the towel aside, wrapped my arms around is neck and molded my body into his. I looked up at him with a knowing smile on my face. “It’s my birthday, right?”

 

He didn’t say anything but I saw his eyes narrowed. Oh, he already knew what’s coming.

 

“I’m thinking. . . .” I stalled and wiggled my brows at him.

 

“I hate it when you think” he said.

 

I grimaced. I went to my toes and reached for his lips. I think that’s already enough to tell him what I was thinking. And of course, my pancake’s not a slow person so he grabbed my waist and lifted me off the floor. I quickly wrapped my legs around him and smiled against his lips.

 

He started going to the bedroom with our lips still strangely attached to each other. And then, I felt the soft comforts of the bed. It felt cold on my back but Jiyong felt warm so it was okay. Eventhough his body’s not as smooth as the sheets because of the scars; I’d still choose to cuddle close to him than lay down on the softest and most comfortable bed without him beside me.

 

I bit my lower lip when he went to bury his head on my left shoulder, nibbling. Then, he went to my collarbone, still nibbling. I gasped when I suddenly felt his warm breath against one peak.

 

“I can’t. . .” I heard myself moan. He stopped and looked at me with a frown on his face.

 

“You can’t?”

 

I shook my head. “I can’t wait any longer. Just take me now, please? It’s my birthday so I should be followed!”

 

“You’re always so impatient, aren’t you?”

 

“Please?”

 

- - -

 

I was still trying to catch my breath when Jiyong pulled me closer to him. I rested my cheek and hand on his chest. His chest was wet with sweat but he still smelled so y to me. I smiled as I heard the heavy pounding of his heart. Blindingly, I reached for the angel pendant I made for him. I played with it for a while. The white angel’s a part of him in the same way that the black angel’s a part of me. We don’t take it off even if sometimes it causes us discomfort. Come to think of it, I rarely feel any discomfort with it.

 

“Pancake?”

 

“What?”

 

“Thank you” I told him. “This is the best birthday ever”

 

But it would have been better if he proposed to me, though. Oh well…

 

He snorted and took my right hand. While I was playing with his pendant, he started playing with the ring on my finger. “The K on the ring stands for Kwon” he said.

 

“Yeah, I figured that out myself”

 

“Good for you” he chuckled. “You’re becoming brighter”

 

“Tease me all you want, pancake. Nothing’s going to ruin my happiness”

 

He chuckled again and kissed my forehead. “Go to sleep”

 

“Mmm” I mumbled, stifling a yawn. “Goodnight” I murmured. “Sweetdreams. And I love you”

 

- - -

 

I knew I was dreaming but I can’t seem to pull myself out of it. I was at the cemetery again, wearing a white dress with stains of blood on it. The moon was shining brightly down at the hundred or thousand of dead crows on the ground. Somewhere in my mind, I remembered this dream. I’ve dreamed about this before. I remembered Jaejoong asking me to choose him while Jiyong was begging me to stay away from him. I looked around, trying to see the both of them but there was no one. I frowned at this. I was a bit disappointed. I was secretly hoping to see Jae again even if this is just a dream. But obviously, something has changed. I stood undecided on my spot. What should I do? Where should I go? Moreover, should I even do something or go somewhere?

 

I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Jiyong. I automatically smiled at the loud pounding of my heart. Jeez, even in my dream, my heart reacts to him all the same. I was about to run towards him when he suddenly lifted his bow-bearing arms and aimed at me. I stopped in my tracks and stared at him. My eyes then went to the pointed end of the arrow he loaded on the bow.

 

“Jiyong. . .”

 

He let go of the string. My eyes widened as I watched the fast-approaching arrow in fear and disbelief. Then, something huge and black went in front of me, saving me from the arrow. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, the arrow pierced deeply into its chest. With a jolt of surprise, I recognized my savior as the black phoenix. I was about to reach for it when it suddenly burst into flames and burned to ashes.

 

“It’s dead. . .” I mumbled. I slowly lifted my eyes to look at Jiyong. “You killed it” I whispered in disbelief. And to my surprise, I felt angry. I felt mad at Jiyong. It was so strong and intense that it scared me. With my rage, I started running towards him, planning to attack him but even before I could reach him, I saw him aiming at me again. For the second time, he let go of the string. I heard the whistle of the wind as the arrow flew fast towards me. I just stood on my spot, unable to believe what’s going on. And then, it hit me. The arrow pierced right through my heart. I gasped. And then. . . . darkness.

 

I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the middle of the forest.

 

“Child. . .” a voice echoed in my head. “My child. . . come to me. . . . come. . . .”

 

I frantically looked around.

 

“My child. . . my little one. . .”

 

I tried following the voice, stumbling here and there. I walked and walked until I saw my parents waving at me with proud smiles on their faces.

 

“Mom! Dad!” I cried. But even before I could reach them, they started fading away, like ashes being blown by the wind. “No, wait! Don’t. . .!” I desperately called out hey were already gone. I dropped to my knees and started crying when that voice echoed in my head again.

 

“My little lost child. . .”

 

I looked around again but I saw no one. It was then that I realized that the voice was just inside my head, not from the outside.

 

“Hey, spoof” a deep familiar voice entered my ears. I was more than surprised to see TOP standing lazily in front of me. “What are you doing there? Get up”

 

“What. . .? How did you. . .?”

 

He shook his head and grabbed my arm, pulling me up to my feet. “You’re lost again, aren’t you? Did he leave you AGAIN?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Jiyong left you again, didn’t he? I already told you not to go with him here. Good thing I followed”

 

“Jiyong would never do that”

 

“Correction, he already did” he snorted. He took my hand and started pulling me with him.

 

“Where are we?” I asked.

 

“He didn’t even tell you?” he asked in disbelief. “This forest. . . this used to be the place where the first shadow slept with the devil’s daughter”

 

“Why am I here?”

 

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

 

“But. . .”

 

This is really weird. I can’t understand what’s going on.

 

“Finally!” he laughed. “See? I led you to the right way”

 

I looked back at the forest and saw something moved. “W-wait. It’s Jiyong” I mumbled. “JIYONG! JIYONG!” I called and went to go after him. I called his name out loud again but he didn’t even glance at me. He kept on walking and walking and walking. I just followed him. And then, he disappeared. I looked around and found myself in the middle of the thick forest. I heard a screech from above me. I looked up and saw crows flying above me in circles. And then, they started attacking each other. Off. Blood rained down on me, making me scream. Then, TOP appeared again with a huge black umbrella.

 

“You kept on getting lost” he said. “Come, I’ll lead you out of here”

 

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*ah, i just love writing dream scenes, ke..

 

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