The Ugly Memories
The Black Phoenix
*banners by edherei
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Four months ran by. TOP watched how Dara lived like a soulless being at day. He thought she would never get tired of chasing after Jiyong but then one day, she just stopped going to the Valley to try to talk to him. Instead, she started sulking, imprisoning herself inside her own room. At those times, he would always see her curled in a chair, staring out of the window. She still goes to school, only mechanically. It’s like all the life in her was gone. She rarely eats; rarely talks and he never saw her smile or laugh again. It was becoming hard for him to see her being like that. Even the thought of getting to the black phoenix was pushed away into the farthest corner of his mind. A soulless body – that’s how she is at day. But at night, it was different. He would always wake up in the middle of the night with her screaming and crying. everytime he runs to her room, he would always see her thrashing around, trying to fight against the nightmares that haunt her. He would then gather her in his arms and let her cry to sleep.
“You’re meant to meet her, Seunghyun.”
TOP straightened up and looked back. “You shouldn’t be up this late, old woman,” she scolded.
“With or without the black phoenix, you’re meant to meet her.”
“Just go back to sleep,” he sighed wearily.
She closed her eyes as a strong breeze blew her way. She smiled. When she opened her eyes, she saw him, just flying in circles above her. She reached out and was able to get hold of one of his clawed feet. Then, he started flying higher, bringing her with him. He flew higher and higher with her still holding on to his clawed foot. But then, he started shaking her off, as if getting rid of her. “No,” she whispered. “Please don’t.”
The crow screeched out loud. Then, with his other foot, he clawed on to her hand, burying it deeply into her skin. It was so sudden that the pain took her by surprise. Her hand voluntarily let go and she started falling, falling, falling until she was sure that any moment, she’s going to die. She closed her eyes as she felt that she was nearing to the ground. She was going to die. But then, two set of arms were there to catch her fall. A wave of disappointment and relief came over her that it made her cry. She turned to the person who caught her and buried her face in his chest. She did not have to look up to see who it was. She knew, she knew that he would catch her just like the way he led her to the right path in one of her dreams when she got lost because of following Jiyong into the forest.
“Move on, Dara,” TOP whispered.
Then, the scene changed. She was back to the dungeon, watching Jiyong and Sulli together. She watched as Jiyong killed her parents. She saw Jaejoong, sacrificing everything to save her. Everything went back. Every pain, every tear, and every scream – she was drowning in it.
And then, the scene changed again. She was now facing Jiyong who had a bow and arrow pointed at her. Just as he let go of the string, the black phoenix came, the arrow going straight into its heart.
“Y-you. . . killed it,” she heard herself say. “You killed it.”
Anger started boiling up inside her until it consumed her completely. She looked at Jiyong with all the hatred in her heart. With a battle cry, she ran towards him, planning to attack him. She saw him load his bow with a different arrow. But she didn’t stop. The sight of the loaded bow actually made him angrier. As she neared him, a swoosh sound came and the next thing she knew, she was staring down at her chest where an arrow was buried.
Dara’s eyes snapped open, breathing heavily. She pushed herself in a sitting position. She was sweating and but she felt so cold. She gathered her knees up and hugged them to herself. Then, she started rocking herself back and forth, crying hard.
It all started after they broke up. She kept on dreaming about the past – Jaejoong, her parents, Sulli, everything and everyone. It was like when they separated, she was suddenly pushed into a sunlit place where all her memories were stored. She just realized then that living with Jiyong was like living in darkness, like he was covering her from the sunlight to prevent her from seeing those ugly memories.
There were times that she can’t help but think that Jiyong was right – that she hasn’t totally forgiven him yet, that she’s just staying with him because he’s all she got. Everytime those times would come up; she would always shake her head to drive such thoughts away.
The sudden ringing of her phone brought her back to earth. She stared at her phone for a long time. How long has it been since it rang? It felt weird hearing it ring again. She stared at it, not sure if she should answer it or not. What’s the point of answering that phone? There’s no point at all, she thought.
She let it be until it finally stopped.
But then, it started ringing again. Getting annoyed and impatient with it, she grabbed the phone and was about to turn it off when she saw her screen – the number was not registered on her phone. Curiosity made her answer the phone. “Hello?” she answered and was surprised with how she sounded. She herself was not able to recognize her voice anymore. Her voice sounded like it hasn’t been used for a long time.
“Hi, is this Sandara Park?”
“Yes?” she answered hesitantly, frowning. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, this is Lee Chaerin’s aunt,” the lady answered. “I silently took your number from my niece’s phone without her knowledge. We’re actually going back to the Valley for a vacation and I was wondering if you could help me. I’m planning to have Chaerin and her friends a little reunion, so, it would be really great if you could come. And of course, I really want to meet all of her friends.”
“Reunion?” she echoed.
“Yes,” the lady laughed lightly. “We were supposed to go there four months ago but something would always come up making Chaerin unavailable
- - -
The sun was up but there were dark clouds hovering around it. A few people were out on a little field just at the entrance of a forest that leads to several mountains. Two of them were lounging under the shade of the tree, trying to be oblivious by the dark stare being thrown at them by someone who was keeping his distance from everyone. Another two were under a shade of a tree, a man and a woman. The woman was holding a baby in her arm while the father of the said baby girl was playing peek-a-boo to keep the tiny brunette occupied.
“Someone’s coming,” Bom said.
Youngbae looked up and saw a vehicle coming. “Do you think it’s her?” he asked his wife.
“We’ll soon find out,” she answered.
Youngbae looked around at the others. “Well, since everyone seemed pretty busy, I think it would be best if you go and greet whoever’s coming.”
Bom glared at her.
“You’re better in talking,” Youngbae defensively said. “Give Hye Ji to me.”
“Fine,” Bom sighed and passed her daughter to Youngbae. She stretched out. “I swear, Hye Ji is getting heavier everyday.”
The little baby shrieked, making Youngbae laugh. “But she’s very intelligent for her age.”
“Oh dear,” Bom suddenly said. Youngbae looked up.
TOP came out from the vehicle first, followed by Daesung and Minzy. TOP went to assist Dara down. She murmured a low thanks to him and smiled a little. Awkward silence enveloped them as they exchanged glances with Bom and Youngbae. Then, Dara’s eyes went to the little girl on Youngbae’s arms.
“Our daughter,” Youngbae smiled proudly. “Hye Ji,” he went on. “She’s little big for her age but she’s pretty intelligent too.”
Dara stared at the baby girl and can’t help but feel a bit hurt. She was not even informed that Bom already gave birth. “How old is she?”
“Roughly four months,” Youngbae answered.
Dara stared at the baby girl in silence. The baby stared back at her steadily. It was quite unnerving actually. Surely, for a four month old baby, it was quite weird to have a steady stare like that. But then, the baby’s eyes went to Dae, Minzy then TOP. And then, it suddenly shrieked joyfully. Dara stared at the baby and realized that the little girl was laughing while holding out a tiny fist to TOP. She glanced to TOP and saw the surprised look on his face.
“That’s weird,” Minzy chuckled. “I think the baby likes you.”
“I don’t think so,” Bom contradicted. “Youngbae, give her to me.”
Youngbae was about to protest but then, Bom gave him a look that made him sigh and surrender his daughter to her.
Awkward silence filled them again.
“Ahm, this is Minzy,” Dara started, “Daesung and well, you know TOP.”
Youngbae smiled at Minzy and Daesung. “Youngbae,” he introduced himself formally. “And this is my wife, Bom. The little girl’s our daughter, Hye Ji.”
“Can’t I just go?” a voice suddenly joined them. Every head turned to the source. Seungri was walking towards them, an annoyed look on his face. “I can’t bear seeing them like that anymore.”
“Seungri,” Youngbae warned.
“What?” Seungri demanded. Youngbae and Bom just gave him reprimanding looks. “Oh great!” he muttered and crossed his arms, sulking.
Dara’s eyes roamed around, looking for the source of Seungri’s annoyance. And then, she saw them. They were sitting under a shade of a tree. He was sitting in front of Sohee while the latter was trying to get his shoulder length hair into a messy knot. Dara felt it then. It felt like her heart was going to burst. She felt like she hasn’t breathed for a long time until now. She silently checked him. There were a few changes in him. The most notable one was his hair. As to how he was able to make it that long, she was not sure. She just wanted to run to him, to wrap her arms around him, to kiss him, to love him.
Oh God, please help me!
Fierce longing washed over her like a tidal wave that it almost made her cry. The main reason as to why she stopped chasing after him for four months was not because she had given up. It was because she thought that maybe Bom was right, that maybe Jiyong needed time. But seeing him right now made her regret why she ever listened to Bom’s advise. She just missed him so much!
Involuntarily, her foot took a step forward. But then, a hand encircled around her arm. She looked back and saw TOP shook his head discreetly. She was about to protest, to scream at him but then, he suddenly pulled her into his arm. “Stop hurting yourself, Dara,” he whispered silently into her ear. “Stop.”
No!
How much she wanted to scream that word. But there was something in TOP’s voice that stopped her from doing so. It was then that she realized how much she was trembling.
“It’s so nice of you all to come here,” a voice came.
Dara pulled away from TOP and looked back. It was Jiyong. He smiled at all of them, even to her. His smile took her breath away and she had this weird urge to push TOP away and threw herself in Jiyong’s arms. But then, TOP’s hold on her was quite firm and assuring that it wavered her resolve for a moment.
She drank in the sight of him. The longer she stared at him, the more she wanted to run to him and feel his warmth again. But the casual way Jiyong was smiling at everyone stopped her. Somewhere, someone scoffed. She looked around and realized it was Seungri, who was looking at Jiyong bitterly. She wondered why he was looking that way to his friend. As she turned her eyes back to Jiyong, it was then that she realized who he was with – Sohee.
Her heart skipped a beat for a moment and then it hammered quickly against her chest that it almost suffocated her. jiyong’s arm was draped on Sohee’s shoulder. “Hi Dara,” Sohee greeted her quietly, smiling tightly.
She tried to smile back but her face was frozen. She looked back at Jiyong, accusation and hurt in her eyes.
“Hey,” he nodded at her, smiling.
She felt it then – the signs of breaking down. And TOP was there, holding her tight to keep her together. But she wasn’t able to stop herself. “Why?” she asked him.
Jiyong chuckled a little. “You haven’t changed,” he said. “You’re still weird. Anyways, it was nice of you to ask TOP and the siblings to come. I’m pretty sure, Chaerin would be glad to have more friends.”
The way he can casually talk to her hurt her even more than he’d hurt her before.
“I could just imagine what an honor it would be, being Chaerin’s friend,” Seungri suddenly voiced out loud.
“Seungri,” Sohee warned.
Seungri looked at the girl and Dara was quite surprised seeing hurt in his eyes. Seungri – she had never seen him as transparent as this before.
“Stop it, Seungri,” Jiyong warned him, too.
“Stop what?” Seungri asked bitterly. “Stop showing how hurt and betrayed I feel about you getting –”
“SEUNGRI!” It was Bom now. “You’re being an –”
“Bom don’t,” Sohee stopped her. The girl then turned her eyes to Seungri. “I’m sorry.”
Seungri was about to say something when the sound of a car coming close came in. all of them turned towards the direction of the car. A middle-aged woman came out first, smiling brightly at all of them. She waved enthusiastically at them as she waited for a companion to step down from the car.
CL then stepped out, her dirty blond hair hanging loosely. They were all tongue tied upon seeing her in a body-hugging dress.
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HELLO GUYS! SORRY FOR THE BORING CHAPTER! 
Keep your guesses coming, btw! Some of you got them correctly! Hehehe.
To those of you asking for my twitter account, it's hagocimit
Btw, got a new banner! All thanks to T3kei!!
Thank you everyone for reading my fics, leaving comments, making banners, etc. Sorry I was not able to greet you guys on Christmas and sorry if I won't be able to reply to all of your comments and messages! Mianhe. 
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Having you guys read my fics would always be part of the greatest gifts I received! :D
SPOILER ALERT!! 3 boys from Bigbang will die, 2 girls from 2ne1 will be gone at the end of this story.
Since it's Christmas, I feel a bit generous so I'm going to post a teaser that can be found on a future chappie of this fanfic!
Here it is:
"If I die tomorrow, will you shed at least a single tear for me?" he asked.
"You're not going to die," she quietly said. "You're the direct descendant after all."
-
"How about you?" she asked. "Will you cry if I die?"
"I don't think TOP would allow that to happen," he responded.
"Will you allow that to happen?"
-
"TOP would not always be there," she said. "Let's say i die, would it be too much to ask for one last wish?"
"You're being ridiculous."
"Grant my last wish, Jiyong."
He sighed impatiently. "What is it then?"
"Kiss me."
One more thing!
Get ready for this:
cr. OhItsLai
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