WARNING: REALLY LONG CHAPTER AHEAD, SO BRACE YOURSELVES. 4,800 WORD CHAPTER AND WITH AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT 5, 300 WORDS. ALSO NEW CONTEST FOR MY OTHER NEW STORY, 'THE SOUND OF FALLEN LEAVES'.

ABOUT THE CONTEST

CONTEST: Who is your favorite character in 'Arranged Marriage to...' and why?

More info at the bottom of this extremely long chapter. xD And please take the poll at the bottom. ^^

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"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Dong Ho frowned when Eun Joo kept her dark brown eyes open and stared back into his eyes. "Trust me. I made you something you can eat. Something that will possibly help you with your eating disorder."

"I don't think that's a good idea considering what happened this morning." Eun Joo bit her lip, remembering the white mush that came out of .

"Please. Just trust me once. I won't hurt you. And moreover, if you don't like the dish, you don't have to swallow. You can just spit it out." Dong Ho argued.

"Okay." Eun Joo's voice wavered as she said that one word. She closed her eyes as Dong Ho left her side and headed to the fridge to take the cake out and take one slice. She was curious. What was her favorite dish? Was it possible for Dong Ho to know and not for her?

"I made this myself. To show how sorry I am." Dong Ho spoke as he took a fork and took a bit of the cake. He placed the fork by her lips. "Open up." Eun Joo opened timidly, not knowing what to expect. As soon as the tiny bit of cake reached her taste buds, water began to fill her eyes. 

It was like Dong Ho could see it anyways. Well, since her eyes were closed of course. With her eyes still closed, Dong Ho couldn't see her reaction.

"How is it?" Dong Ho looked at her carefully. He frowned when she stayed silent for a bit. "Well, you don't have to ignore me if it's that bad."

"This... this recipe, who did you get it from?" Her question took him by surprise.

"The- grandma at your- um.... apartment. She gave it to me. Chorim?" Dong Ho stuttered, surprised. "Why? Is it that bad?" Dong Ho took a piece of the cake as Eun Joo opened her eyes.

"It's sweet. So sweet." She muttered. Dong Ho spit the cake out in surprise.

"It's so bitter!" Dong Ho complained. "You didn't have to lie to me."

"It's sweet." Eun Joo replied, smiling. This time, it was different. Her smiles were usually small and polite. This smile was just... so happy. Eun Joo stood up and walked to the window and looked out at the dark sky of the streets. Dong Ho was truly dumbfounded by the look on her face. It was truly... puzzling. Her lips told one story, but her eyes told a completely different one. It appeared as if she was smiling and was truly happy, but her eyes only reflected emptiness, hatred, and sadness.

"What are we having for dinner?" She asked, turning back to Dong Ho with a smile. Dong Ho snapped out of it and answered.

Throughout dinner, Dong Ho couldn't help but pay close attention to Eun Joo. He watched her actions carefully as she took a bit of rice, chewed, then swallowed. It was just this morning that she had puked her guts out over a tiny spoonful of juk and here she was, eating a couple pieces of meat and a tiny bowl of rice. It was near impossible for a person like her, suffering for an eating disorder to be able to regain their appetite back so easily. It was.... worrisome as Dong Ho had found it to be.

After dinner, Dong Ho sat on the sofa, staring at the moving images on the television. To be honest, he wasn't even watching the television. It was just on because... well for the sake of it. Dong Ho didn't particularly like such quiet places to think. Eun Joo was busy in the kitchen washing the dishes after dinner and Dong Ho had no plans of leaving her alone. The way she was acting.... was suspicious and deep inside, Dong Ho could tell something was off.

After the long day of walking, Dong Ho felt his body grow tired with such tiresome thoughts and responsibilities and found himself drifting off to sleep....

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"I'll take over now, so you can head home now." Hwayoung smiled at Min Seo and Min Seo gave a tired sigh. 

"Alright." Min Seo headed to the locker room and to her locker to change out of her uniform and into her normal attire. She changed out of her Nikes and into black flats. Throwing on a light gray sweater and picking up her bag, she closed her locker and left the hospital. 

Min Seo loved the night sky. The beautiful and mysterious dark blue color was seemingly dotted with tiny and few stars. Not to mention, a few helicopters or what not that she had often mistaken as stars at times. She headed to the bus stop and stood their with two teenage girls who were giggling and gushing on the latest news about their favorite idol.

Girls these days. I guess they like to waste their times gushing over useless things. Idols are humans just like us. Why are we fangirling over simple people. We could easily be fangirling over doctors and scientists who make actual contributions to this world. Mom was wrong. Being a doctor or I mean- nurse doesn't make me famous. It gives me a good amount of money, but who cares about all the people I've saved? Min Seo thought as she stuck her hands into her sweater pockets, letting out a loud sigh.

"I thought you said you were going to spend some time with me after work." Min Seo snapped out of her thoughts as her silver bracelet appeared in front of her, dangling from his fingers. "Well, I guess you don't have to. If you really don't care about this bracelet."

"I forgot okay?" Min Seo blew a few strands of stray hair from her ponytail out of the way and sighed once more. "It's late too. You should just give me my bracelet back."

"I waited for hours for a reason. I need someone to spend some time with." He pushed his sunglasses up as they were starting to slip down his nose. "And it seems like you could use a person to talk to as well." 

Min Seo didn't respond and he stood next to her, mimicking her and sticking his hands in his own sweater pockets. Min Seo knew that he wasn't exactly wrong. There was a lot on her mind lately and more so since it came to the anniversary of something important to her. Oh, how she'd have to buy flowers. It troubled her that she truly had nobody to talk to. Her mother never cared for her. Her dad? A drunkard way back in Busan. There was no way he'd listen to anything she had to say. He would probably faint after she said one word.

Min Seo was brought back to reality when the teenage girls starting to squeal about something else. "Oh my god, I was honestly hating on Shin Dong Ho's wife. But now that I see them together like that, I really think that they're a match made from heaven." The girl with straight black bangs squealed. 

"Me too. They're so cute together. And look at what the salesperson said. He said that Dong Ho was very considerate towards her and respected her choices. I wish I could experience that. The salesperson is funny though. I don't think that they were overly too affectionate." The girl with her hair tied to a braid commented, as she scrolled through the latest idol news on her Samsung Galaxy S4.

"Ha, it seems like Dong Ho is really trying to live up to his husband image." Min Seo heard him mutter. "He's trying."

Min Seo became dazed at the words the girls had said. Respected her choices. Match made from heaven. Oh how she wished she could live a life like Dong Ho's wife. How she would've have if she had noticed something sooner. Her mood dropped instantly and she felt her stress levels rising. Memories flooded back into her mind as the bus came to the stop.

"Aren't you getting on the bus?" He asked her. Min Seo snapped back to reality, pushing the painful memories back into her mind. Clearing she foolishly asked him a question.

"I promised I would spend some time with you to get my bracelet back. What were your plans?" She tucked the wild strands of hair behind her ear and looked at him. "Take me."

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Click.

Eun Joo turned off the lights to the living room and the whole house had become dark in an instant. She couldn't take it anymore. After she had thrown a blanket over Dong Ho, her eyebrows knit together, causing her to have a displeased look on her face. She headed into the bathroom, forgetting to close and lock the door. She brushed her bangs aside and saw tiny drops of sweat glistening off of her pale skin.

To her, it was rather suffocating. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She knelt by the toliet quickly and felt everything come back up. She watched the tiny chucks of mush that was once meat, float around in the toliet water.

Leaning against the white tiled bathroom wall, she sighed and breathed heavily. She looked up at the blank ceiling and closed her eyes as her breathing slowed down.

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"This...." Min Seo looked around the coffee shop and eyed him. "Is where you wanted to go?" She sighed once again and took a seat by the window, running her hand through her dyed brown hair. She took her hair tie off and gave another exasperated sigh.

"What? Were you expecting me to go to a bar?" He took a seat across from her. "If you don't remember, I have an image to protect."

"Well, honestly speaking, I can use a beer or a little bit of alcohol right now." She frowned and looked out the windows, sighing again.

"You're a nurse. Don't you need to watch your health too?" He asked, propping his head up with his hands. "By the way, a pretty girl like you shouldn't sigh all the time."

"Even though I'm a nurse, I'm only human too. I have my toubles and I have my needs to drown them out." She huffed and looked away. "Sighing helps me relieve my stress. High stress levels aren't good for the human body." She looked towards him after wait a minute for his response to see that he was no longer there. She bit her lip and closed her eyes in embarrassment. She was just talking to the air.

"One coffee for the beautiful lady sitting right here." He gave her a sweet smile as she frowned.

"Thanks for leaving me without a notice." She said sarcastically, eying the cup of coffee. "I also wouldn't want to owe this idol a cup of coffee either."

"Didn't you say that you were stressed? A bit of coffee can help." He answered, taking five packets of sugar from the tiny basket on their table with tiny containers of milk as well. Min Seo's eyes widened as she watched him pour all five packets of sugar into the cup of coffee and stir it with the red straw like stick.

"I'm going to get diabetes if I drink that." Min Seo grew alarmed as he passed the drink to her.

"Just once in a while, I like to get a cup of coffee and get a bit of a sugar rush from it. It helps keep my mind active and away from stressful thoughts. Then by the time I get home, I so tired that I pass out and don't even have to strength to think about the things that are stressing me out." For the first time, Min Seo realized that it was hard for him as much as it was hard for her. "I don't drink it too often as I am very much aware of the damage it can cause if I go overboard. But once in a while, it's okay."

"It seems as if you've had a fair share of trouble. Mind sharing them with me?" Min Seo noticed how hesitant the idol was to speak and spoke up again. "It's okay if you don't want to share them with me. I understand you have an image to protect and I may not be the most trust worthy person out there."

"It's not that..." He muttered. "It's just that I don't know where to start."

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"WHAT?!" Dong Ho nearly had a heart attack as soon as Chorim questioned him. Her warm tone had turned into a upset and harsh one. "How could you give her the cake?!"

"But... you said that it was her favorite." Dong Ho answered, slightly confused. Never mind this whole sticky situation. Dong Ho had come to talk about Eun Joo and her eating habits.

"It was." Chorim sighed after seeing Dong Ho's confused face. "Never mind. What was her reaction?" The sunlight streamed through the window and rested on Chorim's wrinkled arm.

"She said it was really sweet."

"Was it really sweet?" Dong Ho shook his head. "It's starting again." Chorim murmured.

"What's starting?" Chorim looked at him and knew she could trust him with this secret.

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Eun Joo sat on the sofa, sipping at her cup of lemon tea silently. The entire house was still. She was the only one at home. Setting her cup down on the coffee table, she got up and headed towards the kitchen.

She opened the refidgerator and took out the green tea cake and stared at it silently.

"Liar." She whispered. She closed her eyes. "You lied to me." She leaned on the white kitchen wall and slid down to the floor.

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"Eun Joo-ah." Her mother's voice called out to her softly. Eun Joo turned away from her mother, huffing angrily. "Mommy's going to be late."

"You promised me that we'd make green tea cake today!" Eun Joo huffed. Chorim smiled and smoothed her messy black hair down.

"Mommy will keep her word. We'll do it after the event at the orphanage." Her mother coaxed her. "Eun Joo-ah, we can make the cake after the event." Eun Joo eyed her mother cautiously.

"Really?"

"Really." Her mother smiled at her and picked her up. "Ah, my little Eun Joo is growing. So heavy already." Her mother teased.

"Mommy!" Eun Joo protested in embarrassment.

"Go upstairs and change." Her mother laughed and put her down. "Chorim, go with her and make sure this time, she doesn't wear her dress backwards."

"Yes, Miss." Chorim gave a curt bow and headed up the stairs after bouncy Eun Joo.

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"Grandfather!" Eun Joo charged into his room, wearing a light yellow dress that fluffed out at the ends. "How do I look?"

"Absolutely beautiful." Her grandfather sent her a smile. "Following your mother to the event?"

"Yes, grandfather." Eun Joo beamed. Her grandfather chuckled and got up from his bed, adjusting his glasses to pick up his granddaughter.

"Aigoo, Eun Joo-ah, your hair is a mess." Chorim laughed as she entered the room to see gleeful Eun Joo in her grandfather's arms. "Little princess, how would you like your hair done?"

"I want it in a bun like mommy. I want to be like her. As pretty as her. But not too pretty. Mommy will always be number one." Eun Joo beamed. "And pigtails are for kids." Chorim laughed as she carried Eun Joo back to her room to tie her hair with her favorite yellow hair tie with a plastic daisy on it.

*At the event*

"The meat is a bit too raw. Remember, we're cooking for kids." Eun Joo's mother reminded the assistant chefs.

"Yes, chef." They replied in unity.

"Mommy, come play with us!" Eun Joo and a boy one year older than her, popped into the kitchen.

"Just one moment, Eun Joo-ah." Her mother answered. " Can you guys take over?" The assistant chef next to her nodded as she smiled and patted him on the back. "Thank you."

"Tag!" A girl tapped Eun Joo on the shoulder and ran away quickly, giggling. Eun Joo scanned the room and spotted the boy.

"Don't even think about it!" The boy teased.

"It's too late. I thought of it already!" Eun Joo answered, chasing after the boy. Running after the boy, Eun Joo tripped and fell on the loose wooden floor boards and found herself with a bloody knee. "Oww." The boy turned around and his eyes widened seeing Eun Joo with a bloody knee.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt?" He questioned as Eun Joo bit her lip, trying to hold back tears.

"It hurts." The boy ran off and came back with a wet paper towel and dabbed her bloody knee.

"Song Eun Joo, are you creating mischief again?" Her mother frowned at the sight of her bloody knee and took the paper towel from the boy. "What happened?"

"We were playing tag." The boy answered. "And then she tripped."

"Thank you for taking care of her." Her mother sent a soft yet beautiful smile at the boy as Eun Joo cried in pain as the water from the paper towel cleaned her blood off.

"I'll go get some band aids in my room. Mrs. Kim gave me the ones with cartoons all over them. Eun Joo, what color do you like?" The boy asked, sending her a childish smile. Mrs. Song almost had a hard time to believe that the boy was older than her daughter even by one year.

"Y-yellow." Eun Joo sniffed as she wiped away her tears. The boy dashed up the stairs of the small orphanage as her mother comforted her. Three minutes had just passed as an assistant chef came running out of the kitchen, gasping for air.

"We have to leave!" The assistant chef cried, as the other assistant chefs grabbed kids and quickly ran out of the orphanage. "A fire broke out. Something went wrong! Mrs. Song, you have to leave, now!" In the rush, the assistant chef herded a group of kids out of there as the person in charge carried a couple of babies to a nearby telephone booth to call the fire fighters.

"Eun Joo-ah, don't panic. Let's go outside." Her mother picked her up and carried her outside as Eun Joo began to get hiccups from worry. Eun Joo looked around for the boy, hoping he had those special band aids for her when she realized he was no where in sight.

"Mommy!" Eun Joo cried as her mother turned to her. "He... He's not here!"

"He?" Her mother stood still in confusion before remembering the sweet child who was getting a band aid for her Eun Joo. "Stay right here, Eun Joo. Mommy will be right back." She watched in fear as her mother walked towards the burning orphanage and an assistant chef pull her back.

"Mrs. Song, you can't go back in there! The orphanage could blow up any moment! The fuel from the gas stove and the oil we used for cooking could possibly cause this place to explode!" The assistant chef pulled her back as she watched her mother fling the assistant chef off of her. That's when Eun Joo changed her mind. She didn't want to lose her mother. She wanted to be selfish this one time.

"Mommy, don't go in! Let someone else go in!" Eun Joo cried. Her mother bent down and gave her a hug. Eun Joo felt herself tearing up again, as she managed to say one last thing. "You promised me you'd make cake with me today. You have to keep it if you go in."

"Nothing will happen to mommy. Eun Joo, nothing. Mommy will come out and we'll go home to make cake. Don't ever cry because of mommy ever. Okay?" Her mother gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and headed inside. As Eun Joo believed in her words. Took her words to heart. Eun Joo stopped crying and stared at the door to the orphanage.

The sky was the most perfect light blue anyone could've seen and the lush green leaves danced in the breeze. There were flowers surrounding the orphanage and everything looked absolutely perfect. All except for the wooden orphanage that was on fire with smoke seeping from the wooden roof.

"Little Miss, we should wait in the car." The driver suggested. He placed a hand on Eun Joo's tiny arm carefully as Eun Joo flung him off.

"I'm going to wait for my mom right here." Eun Joo protested. The driver didn't want to be mistaken as a ert so he stood next to Eun Joo. The kids had already moved far away with the assistant chefs and the person in charge just in case the orphanage really did explode. Her bun became loose as the breeze continued to play with her hair and the fire. She saw her. 

"Mommy!" Eun Joo saw her mother standing by the doorway, with the boy. Eun Joo couldn't help but smile in relief, but something went terribly wrong. The wooden pillars at the side of the house that held the roof was badly burnt and could no longer hold the roof up any longer. The roof collapsed and her mother knew of it. She pushed the boy harshly, causing him to nearly fly a couple of feet as the roof collapsed. The boy groaned with a couple of cuts on his body, but it wasn't as bad as what her mother had to face.

Trapped. Her mother was trapped inside the sauna of an orphanage. The orphanage was like a deathly sauna. The boy quickly scrambled up and stared at the orphanage. At the doorway that he stood by a moment ago. With Eun Joo's mother. And now... Oh no. He had felt so bad. Eun Joo was gaping at the broken down orphanage.

"Mommy!" Eun Joo ran towards the orphanage as the driver yanked her back.

"Little Miss!" He yelled to calm her down. "Calm down. Calm down." The firefighters came just then, stopping to look at the little girl who was fighting a man in the suit.

"I'm so sorry." The boy apologized. Eun Joo caught a hold of herself and stopped fighting when she saw the firefighters put the fire out.

"Do you know if anyone is still in here?" The firefighters questioned the driver.

"Yes, this young girl's mother, Mrs. Song." The head firefighter gave a signal and the others began to lift up the burnt pieces of wood. That's when Eun Joo saw her. Her mother had ashes all over her and blood running down from her head. A firefighter gave the head a signal and the head frowned. "I'm sorry for your lo-."

"I want to go home." Eun Joo said, running to the car. "Mommy promised me that she would make a cake with me. She promised. If we don't go home now... I might not be able to make it with her."

"Little Miss," the driver was speechless. He made a quick call before sending her home.

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Ding Dong. Ding Do- Dingggggggggg.

"Really?!" Hye Ri mumbled as she fell off her bed. She got up and wrapped her light purple blanket around her body and trudged towards the door, yawning. "Who is it?"

"Me~," a bright voice replied. She opened the door to see her prince. Well- not to exaggerate, the guy she liked for a while now.

"Wait here." Her brown eyes widened in surprise and she slammed the door shut, throwing her blanket back onto her bed and then combing her hair. She stripped herself from her silly pajamas with Pororo on it and threw on a simple white dress with pink and orange stripes on. She ran towards the bathroom to give herself one last look in the mirror and to brush her teeth quickly so she wouldn't scare him off with her bad breath. Running back to the door, she took a deep breath and practiced smiling, before opening the door once again.

"Hi." She sent him a smile as he looked at her bewildered.

"I come to take you out on a date and you slam the door in my face?" He asked in a daze. Hye Ri sent him a nervous smile.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting you." Hye Ri tucked her newly highlighted blonde hair behind her ear as she invited him into her apartment. As soon as she closed the door and turned around to face him, she was surprised by a giant brown teddy bear in front of her.

"Do you like it?" Hye Ri broke out into a smile. She had a soft spot for surprises like this. Which was why she had easily fallen for him.

"Yeah. I like it." Hye Ri took it and gave it a hug. 

"It can be our son." He said childishly, smiling. Hye Ri felt herself blushing as she buried her face into the chest of the teddy bear to conceal it. "Don't just hug the bear! We should name it!" As he continued to speak, Hye Ri remembered the whole list of reasons to why she liked him. He was bright and cheery. He was the light of her day and light of her life. Well- not her whole life, but he was definitely the light she needed. But it seemed as if he was this cheeful with other people. She noticed this especially with other girls. 

It wasn't like he flirted with other girls purposely, but he just came out as the cheerful type. The type that girls would fall in love with easily. Hye Ri pulled herself away from the bear and looked at it thoughtfully.

"I'll just name it after you." Hye Ri decided, smiling. "Just so I can remember who gave this to me." She was startled when he pulled her into a hug.

"You're so nice, Hye Ri." He laughed. He pulled away and ruffled the hair that Hye Ri had fixed just for him. "Let's go on our 'date' now." He was so openly happy and affectionate that it made Hye Ri confused. Was she like a sister to him or was she more?

The sun felt good on Hye Ri's skin as she walked around the neighborhood with him. He was constantly pointing out the things that he thought were beautiful and the things that he thought she might enjoy looking at. And just like that she spent a whole day with him.

"Shouldn't you be doing promotions right before you go to Japan?" Hye Ri asked as he walked her home.

"Hmmm.... Well, Dong Ho's kinda in the center of the news right now. That's why we're not promoting for today. Just to keep the crowd in some sort of suspense." He answered thoughtfully. "Anyhow, Dong Ho's too busy taking care of his wife, Eun Joo these days. Otherwise known as your best friend." He stuck his tongue out at her playfully and before long, Hye Ri was disappointed when she got to her apartment door.

"Well, I hope you had fun today." He said as he dropped her off by her apartment door. She nodded.

"I did. Thanks." She smiled at him as he smiled back. But in the middle of the smile he frowned and Hye Ri felt as nervously fiddled with her fingers, afraid that she had done or said something wrong. Or rather... was it her looks? He bent forward, his face just a few inches away from her face and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled again.

"This strand of hair was keeping you from looking pretty. I couldn't allow that." He laughed. "Well, go inside! Sweet dreams." Hye Ri smiled at him and went inside as he turned away and left. Hye Ri sighed as soon as she closed the door, her heart beating incredibly fast.

Damn it. Why does he have such an effect on me? Do I have the same effect on him? Psssh... Probably not. He's an idol. I'm just... Hye Ri. Hye Ri ruffled her hair in frustration and saw her teddy bear sitting on the sofa. She picked him up and pinched his cheeks.

"Do you think your daddy loves me?" She asked. The teddy bear didn't say anything. Just like she expected. She put the teddy bear down and sighed. "I've fallen head over heels for him, haven't I?" Just as she said that, the teddy bear fell face first onto the sofa.

"Yes, I have." She murmured. "Even our 'son' knows." She picked the teddy bear up, remembering its name. She had always had the urge to say those three words to him. But since he and the bear had the same name, she could say it to the both of them at the same time.

"I love you...

Wait till the next chapter to find out who Hye Ri's in love with!"

*Yes, I probably just ruined for you guys, but I just wanted to make sure the contest has completely ended before giving us a hint about Hye Ri's crush. Hye Ri's crush is not the someone. Let me repeat this again. Hye Ri's crush is NOT Someone. Her crush and Someone are two different people. The reason why I'm not telling anyone about her crush is because it lets everyone cross him off of our list of possible 'Someone's. So as for the contest, I have chosen the two winners already. It doesn't seem like there will be any more people entering.

CONTEST WINNERS:

FIRST PLACE: UKISSGIRLLOVESDONGHO    (You may choose the main character for the new story!)

SECOND PLACE: STAR4SQUARE    (You may choose the korean name for the female character!) 

Congrats! You guys won! Please congratulate them! Yay! ^^ You can message me about it as well.

For the rest of you who entered the contest, thank you! I really appreciated it. Thank you ^^. If you didn't win and you really want to win, I have another contest for you guys!

ABOUT THE CONTEST

CONTEST: Who is your favorite character in 'Arranged Marriage to...' and why?

HOW TO WIN: You can either message me your answer or leave a comment on this blog post or even leave me an answer on my wall. This question will have no right or wrong answers evidently. And because of that, I will choose the one that I think is the best.

PRIZE: You get to choose the main male character for my other new story, 'The Sound of the Fallen Leaves'.

Of course, I'm a big KissMe, so I will request that you guys keep it within the boundaries of the U-Kiss members. Jun, this time will be permitted to be chosen, since I have no particular set role for him in the story.

CONTEST ENDS: June 15. The contest will end on June 15 and I will not accept any late entries! So be sure that you send it in now or never. ^^

For those who want a preview of the story before joining the contest.... go to the next chapter!!! :D