d a r k  p a r t  1 : t h e  s w e e t n e s s

►Play the song

 

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Seoul, Korea. Christmas night one year ago.

Kim  Jongdae once again looked at his job and the lights as the final touch of his Christmas tree or he voluntarily said as their Christmas tree. Amused by his own job, he couldn’t stop staring at that tree which was filled by mostly pink-colored Christmas decorations, her girlfriend forever most favorite color. He didn’t mind to put that girly color as long as he could see his girlfriend’s smile pestered on her face. ‘She would love this.’ He took one his favorite Christmas ornament from a branch on the left side of the tree.

 

It was simply a white little angel blowing her trumpet. It was white-colored, contrast to the other decorations he put. He then hung his Christmas present for her, a red-feather star-shaped little box right next to that ornament.

 

“Deliver it to her safely, little angel.” he winked to that little angel mischievously. He couldn’t wait any longer until his girlfriend step through the front door of his flat. He stepped to his kitchen to prepare a romantic feast as the clock showed that his girlfriend would arrive in anytime soon. He pressed his chest and exhaled nervously the time he already wore his apron.

 

“Hyung, I will go hanging out with some friends, alright?” Jongdae’s little brother came out from his room already wearing his black coat and put on his shoes. Jongdae formed a smile to him before he returned to his cook.

 

“Alright, Jongin-ah,” Kept continuing with his cook, Jongdae tried to talk to his little brother. “But hey, don’t go home too late, okay? I know you went home late last night and drunk. It’s Christmas night, Jongin-ah. Go get yourself a nice girl from your dance group and spend your Christmas day with her and don’t just wandering around the downtown with Yixing and Taemin! People might think you were some kind of—” He stopped for a while.

 

“Gays?” Jongin cut his hyung’s talk and eyed the groups of freshly baked varied cookies placed on several jars on the diner table. They were cutely garnished with different colors of ribbons and those view made his saliva flowed unstoppably. His hyung just laughed and shrugged without looking at his direction. His brother just realized a variable he couldn’t sound out of his mind.

 

Jongin took a cookie from a transparent jar from the table and bit it before he chuckled bitterly. “Hey, hyung. I maybe won’t be home tonight because I know Yuri noona will come here and spend tonight with you.” Jongin couldn’t see Jongdae’s face—because his hyung stood backs him—but he knew, whenever he mentioned her name, Lee Yuri, his hyung’s cheeks would turn red and hot. He couldn’t hold his laugh seeing his hyung in a state like this.

 

“Hyung, these cookies taste awesome!! I think I really need to learn how to bake these from you.” chewing his third cookie, Jongin then quickly cleaned up his dirty palms, grabbed his umbrella and run to the front door because he knew what his hyung would do next.

 

Hearing what Jongin said, Jongdae shook his head unpatiently, turned his body to the front door and snapped to his brother—who was already running, escaped. “Ya! Kim Jongin! You DID NOT just eat the cookies I will give to Yuri!!” He tapped his face using his left palm. “This kid, really—“

 

He then gave up and continuing on whatever he did before he was interrupted by that young devil.

 

Kim Jongin was Jongdae’s younger sibling. He was 2 years younger than him and he was a professional dancer. Sometimes he was such a cocky little devil—always wandering around with his two partners in crime, Yixing, a Chinese guy in his dance group, somehow migrated from the land of bamboos to South Korea, that put his dimples and his warm glance as his ultimate weapons to flirt with so many girls inside and outside his group. He knew how to easily make those girls fall for her, yet he also knew how to break their hearts into pieces; and Taemin, a dancer and singer that always stayed behind after their daily routines just to watch his crush’s practice at the room next door, a girl—in which case, he didn’t even know her full name nor how old is she—with a long straight brown hair and angelic aura. He said she was the only girl who didn’t bother to tie up her hair although it was pretty long, and that was the reason he fell for her.

 

But Kim Jongin was Kim Jongdae’s most valuable treasure. He always put his needs above himself and always tried to fulfill anything he wanted to. Ever since their parents died in a car accident years ago, they lived with their uncle who thankfully treated them like his own sons, even sent them both to college. Jongdae tried his best to become Jongin’s parents figured and in the same time, his dearly older brother. He might had the death of his parents happened at such young age. But he felt his life was perfect. He had his uncle who was very sweet to him, his brother, and he had Lee Yuri, his first love.

 

He met Lee Yuri at his college’s library. He still remembered that day clearly.
 

***

 

Seoul, Korea, a day on summer three years ago.

The day he prepared for exams that were just next to him. The students were busy cramming for exams and so did he. Piles of lecture’s summaries, handouts, books, were placed messily in front of him and he didn’t bother to clean that mess up. He was so focused on his finance questions until somebody broke his concentration by tapping his shoulder roughly. He turned away, being annoyed by the action and he eyed a woman, also bringing a thick book, looked to him angrily. She clenched her teeth, trying to take some breath before began to speak.

 

“Excused me, but I think you are being irresponsible for not cleaning up the mess you made.” She pointed out Jongdae’s papers and books that were spread everywhere around the big table, made it unusable for other students. “This is a public place for students to study and I kindly appreciate if you’d like to make the table usable because I believe that the other tables are occupied in this moment and not only you who needs to study down here.” Because there was no response, the girl sighed heavily and without speaking any further, the girl put her books on the edge of the table right across him, then organized his messy notes and pushed it to his side. After that, when she felt the table was neat enough for her to study, she began to read her books and took some notes, leaving Kim Jongdae blank and during the next few hours, he got himself couldn’t concentrate on his finance papers anymore and glued his eyes to the girl who was now biting the top of her pen trying to study for her exam.

 

***

 

Few moments later, the bell on Jongdae’s front door happened to be chimed. Kim Jongdae didn’t wait until 3 seconds to run to the front door. He was welcomed by a smile from the one he had been waiting for.

 

Lee Yuri lingered her arms around Jongdae’s waist and rested her head on his right shoulder intimately. She let go her hug just to tiptoe then kissed him lightly on his lips before greeted him with sparks that he loved on her eyes.

 

“Happy Christmas, Jongdae. And happy 1 year anniversary.” She handed the big box she had prepared to Jongdae.

 

He observed the present suspiciously when Yuri rolled her eyes watching him in disbelief. “If you don’t want to receive it, then give it back—“ she tried to take again her present but before she could reach Jongdae’s hand, he alienated his hand that held her present playfully without putting his eyes off of her. He sticked out his tounge while keeping his poker face on her.

 

Lee Yuri looked stunning that night. Red long coat, black and white checkered skirt which length was above her knees, black legging and boots. She dressed up especially for tonight. But in Jongdae’s eyes, there was no other women could defeat her beauty, not even the most beautiful woman in the world. Lee Yuri was the prettiest and would always be the prettiest for him right now.

 

 

“Fine,” Yuri folded her arms in front of her chest. “so this is how you treated your noona, Kim Jongdae?” she pouted. Yuri was one year older than him and he thought that was a fact that made their relationship even sweeter. Despite her age, Yuri could put some aegyo that he was always found himself couldn’t resist. The reason she had that cute aegyo was that she was the maknae in her family and she had this habit of showing her aegyo to her older sisters and her family.

 

Jongdae chuckled before he put her present on the sofa and took Yuri’s hands and held it carefully like he was afraid that Yuri’s hands would get hurt if he held them too rough. Yuri always loved this sweet side of her younger boyfriend. He never dared to do any skinships without getting Yuri’s permittion and it never failed to make her smiled by herself when she remembered those things.

 

He intertwined their fingers and led her to the sofa where he put the big box she gave him. It was wrapped with ocean blue-colored oily paper neatly.

 

Yuri eyed the present and lingered her arm on his. “Open it!” She asked him excitedly. He saw there were some sparkles in her pretty eyes. He started to unwrap the box. It was now him holding his breathe when he saw what was inside the moment he completely unwrapped the present.

 

It was a white hand-made knitted scarf. He felt his heart was about to explode because he realized that to knit this must have needed a long time and it wasn’t easy to make it this nice. He was left there speechless.

 

Because he spoke none, she worriedly looked at him. She cleared . “H-how is that, Jongdae-ah?” She tried to search him in his eyes and tried to read his expression. She found none. She looked down when she bit her lower lip and sighed. “I’m sorry it wasn’t even close to nice. Well, I only practically learnt how to knit properly from book and—“

 

Her words were cut when she felt that her lips were sealed.

 

Jongdae didn’t know how to react and it needed a few moments for him to proceed everything. The next second he knew, his lips sealed Yuri’s lips. It wasn’t a needy kiss, nor lustful kiss. Their lips pressed together romantically and Yuri didn’t need a long time to close her eyes, trying to enjoy every second in heaven she felt with the kiss. She lingered her arms around his neck to deeper the kiss and Jongdae didn’t need to be commanded to put his arms on her waist. The moment they pulled away, he saw her cheeks turned tomato and he couldn’t help but to peck her forehead, just to bring her to rest her head on his chest.

 

“Noona, I love you and I thank you for being here with me.” he put his chin on her small head and hugged her dearly. All Yuri could do was smile.

 

“Your lips tasted cookies, Jongdae. Did you make those cuties in the jars?” Jongdae laughed by her question.

 

“Alright I know now where this is heading to. Let’s eat before the foods get cold.” She nodded and without letting his hands go, they went to the table to have their Christmas feast. Jongdae was being such a gentleman when he pulled the chair so that Yuri could sit on it comfortably. He then went across the table to sit on his own chair.

 

He opened a bottle of white wine—she preferred the white one because for her, it was sweeter and thus it made her life sweeter—and poured it to her wine glass before he poured to his and initiated a toss.

 

“For our christmas.” he lifted up his glass then followed by her. Just the moment they placed their glasses down, he then stood up and Yuri watched him in surprised. He walked to her and placed his right hand in front of her with his palm opened up and his left hand placed on his back. Yuri took his hand and they made a way to the Christmas tree he prepared. He could feel his heart pounding until he swore she could hear it if he didn’t turn on the music previously.

 

Yuri stared at the Christmas tree before her without blinking, amused by her boyfriend’s hard work. She carefully touched every ornament she managed to reach and her eyes stopped to one ornament which color was different than the others. Jongdae grinned from ear to ear when he realized where her eyes were pestered to.

 

That little white angel he commanded to deliver his heart to her.

 

Jongdae took the box beside the angel and opened it.

 

It was a simple silver bracelet decorated with stars.

 

And now it was Yuri who was speechless. She felt her eyes got teary the time he put it on her right arm.

 

“Lee Yuri, you are my star, my guiding star, that led me to a better door. You are the star that accompanies me during my sleeps and during the hardest time of my life this past year.  You are the star that shines the brightest above the rest.” Jongdae looked at the window placed next to them and smiled before he got back to eye his girl.

 

“You are my Christmas, my valentine, my princess.” he pressed his lips on her forehead before pushed her into his hug.

 

“Happy anniversary, Lee Yuri. I look forward to spend another Christmas with you next year.” 

 

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From author:

Good day~ my body aches right now because the fatigue i felt from doing sports 2 days ago. I can barely move my right arm ouch :x Okay stop talking nonsense /clear throats/ HELLO! :D welcome to my story and this chapter started to be the real storyline and I thought it will be a good start to see how sweet uri ChenChen is towards woman~ yea, the king of trolls can turn into the most romantic guy in the world too, I believe(?)

For the ost, hem I really have a good time picking so many songs and I basically read the lyrics whether they really fit the story well or whatsoever. At first I will pick Memories Ringing by K.will or Magic Castle by DBSK but I think the song I pick is quite okay too although the romantic atmosphere couldn't be felt really exactly. *lol what am i trying to say hereee*

Lastly, hope you can enjoy the story <3

xoxo, EXOshineeing