Love knows no boundaries, as what they always say.

Guessed they were right. It conquers anything in this world: social status in life, gender, uality, beauty--you name it. Look around, everything in this world involves with the word 'Love'.

But don't they know that this 'Love' can destroy people's lives? It's because sometimes they're exaggerating the meaning of love. Love is sweet, sometimes bitter. Happiness can turn into sadness, sadness will turn into painful tears. All of those feelings--we can all feel it with the use of love.

Love can make you do anything. 'For better or for worse, 'till death to do us part.' the newlyweds vowed. Yes, it involves reaching no matter what happens, doing things that are impossible and sacrificing.

Sacrificing. That's how I can describe love.

Love is sacrificing.

And sacrificing takes an important role to my love life.

---

I was about to put the puzzle piece on the board when I felt hands covered my eyes from behind. I reached for the unknown person's face, trying to recognize him/her.

Spectacle is the key. Gotcha.

"Ryeowook!" I exclaimed as I pried the hands away.

"You sure have a sharp memory." Ryeowook sat beside me. "If it wasn't for your spectacles, I may not recognize you." I smiled.

"I should wear eye contacts then." He chuckled. "You're still not finish on that puzzle?" He asked, looking at the unfinished puzzle board. That made me scratch my head in fury. "This puzzle is so hard to finish, you know." I pouted. "But uhh, you already figured out the image of this puzzle?" I grinned.

Ryeowook propped his palm under his chin. Man, he looks so cute! "Hmm, let's see. Lion?"

"EEEKK! Wrong!" I chuckled. "It's pure red. How come it's a lion? PSH." I snorted.

"Apple, then!"

"Wrong too!"

"I think it's a heart. Am I right, *insert your name here*?" I spun my head to see Donghae smiling at us.

"Hey hyung." Ryeowook high-fived Donghae. I smiled more upon seeing the wonderful sight. "So? It's a heart, right?" Donghae asked me again, eyeing the half-finished puzzle. "Yes, it is." I answered back.

"To whom will you give your heart then?"

That question made my eyes widen. I looked at Ryeowook, then to Donghae. "W-what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"Forget it. Come on, you two. We still have classes." Donghae said. I cleaned up the mess, put the puzzle on my locker and walked back to class with my two escorts.

Those two? They're my bestfriends. Kim Ryeowook's the one who wears a spectacle and Lee Donghae's the one who figured out the image of my puzzle.

'To whom will you give your heart then?'

To whom?

Of course. To Ryeowook.

Ever since grade school, my eyes are only meant for Ryeowook. 'I'm the prince, you're my charming.', he said. He never fails to make me smile. I'm running out of oxygen whenever he plays the piano.

He's my everything; heart, mind & soul.

Lee Donghae? He's my co-dancer on our dance crew. He's a transferee of our school. Donghae is such a sweet friend. Whenever we have a practice, he's always there to correct my flaws in dancing. He helped me a lot. He's always there for me just like Ryeowook.

"Ready to hear my new composition?" Ryeowook asked as he shuffled the music sheets on his hands. Donghae and I nodded in anticipation.

Soon, the melody of the piano is filling up the whole music room. Staring dreamily at Ryeowook, I didn't notice that Donghae is staring at me the whole time.

Ryeowook sure is a music genius. He plays the piano very well, and that made me fall for him even more.

"What's the occasion? Why'd you decided to play such a heartbreaking music like that?" Donghae asked.

"The truth is that.. I'm going to America."

"What?!" We both exclaimed.

'No.. I haven't finished the puzzle yet. I want to confess.'

And so, I made my plan to confess to my Wookie before it's too late. Outfit? Check. Make up? Check. Hairdo? Check. And the puzzle? Finished.

I think I'm ready now.

But then..

At my locker..

There's a post note and a bunch of roses. What's this? I'm going to confess to Ryeowook, and then--

Wait.

I quickly opened the little note and read it.

/A total of 99 roses. Want to get the 100th one? Come, see me at the music room./

M-music.. room? Could it be..?

I quickly dashed to the Music Room to confirm if it was the person that I am longing to see.

The Music Room was decorated in red paper hearts. The piano was decorated too, rose petals are everywhere. I mean, everything in the room falls into red.

But the most important thing that made my heart skip a beat..

Ryeowook standing in front of the piano, looking very stunningly handsome in his tux.

"R-Ryeowook?" I said softly, eyes glistening with tears. He, on the other hand smiled back sweetly.

"Did you like it?"

And to thought that Ryeowook said it. I turned back to see a handsome Donghae with a single red rose on his hand. He walked towards me and handed me the rose.

"Here. The 100th rose." He smiled.

The rose has a post-it note too. And it says..

/*insert your name here*, BE MINE./

"H-hae..?" That's all I can say.

Confused. That's how I can describe myself right now. I-I thought it's..

"Dance with me?" He begged, asking for my hand.

I turned my head to look at Ryeowook, whose too engrossed with the music sheets right now.

Hesitatingly, I held out my hand to Donghae. He held it and put my arms around his shoulders. His arms wrapped around my waist. "Wook, hit it." He said, signaling Ryeowook to play the music piece.

The melody of the piano started to fill up the music room, setting its mood. I, on the other hand is still in the state of nowhere. I mean, my mind is totally confused right now.

I was supposed to confess to Ryeowook. Now tell me, how did I end up with Donghae?

"So..?" Donghae said as we halted. Ryeowook stopped playing the piano.

I turned my head to Donghae, and then to Ryeowook. He was also looking at us with a blank expression plastered on his face.

Speechless, I ran out of the music room like a runaway bride. I can't.. I can't bear to see Wookie's emotionless face. It made me feel guilty inside, knowing that he has to witness Hae's confession to me. I mean, he's supposed to be the one holding me and dancing with me on that time.

But then.. does he feels the same feelings that I have?

My heart is telling me that he also feels the same thing. I can feel it. I mean, he's too sweet for me to have no feelings, you know.

As for Hae.. I only look at him as a friend, a good oppa. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thinking too deeply, I didn't notice how did I end up sitting here on the bleachers and holding the finished puzzle that was supposed to be in Wookie's possession right now.

"Why'd you leave?"

It was Ryeowook.

I felt his presence beside me as he also sat down on the bleachers. "Ohh, so you ran away just to get the puzzle. You're going to give it to him, right?"

He stood up and pulled my wrist, signaling for me to get up. "Come on, let's go back."

I just kept my head hung low so that he wouldn't see that I was on the verge of tears right now. "N-no." My voice is trembling, for I was crying silently.

"Hey, something's wrong?" Ryeowook held my chin up, seeing my hurtful expression. "Y-you're crying.. why?"

"Do you know what's the answer for Hae's question?" I questioned as I wiped away my tears. "This.. this puzzle.. belongs to you." I held the puzzle in front of him.

"Therefore, my heart belongs to you. I love you Ryeowook." I confessed.

The man of my subject just stood there with the same expression he had on the Music Room.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept it." He pulled away and retreated his back from me. "Come on, hyungie's waiting at the Music Room."

"What's the point of going back there when the only one that I love is in front of me?" I blurted out.

He just stood there, indicating that he's listening to what I'm saying.

"You know why I stayed up late just to finish this puzzle? Why I dressed up today, although there's no special occasion on this day?" I continued. "I was about to confess to you. I don't know that Hae's also going to do the same way as I am."

He heaved out a sigh. "Hyungie.. he loves you.. a lot. Please make him happy."

"But Wook--"

"I only look at you as a friend. A dongsaeng. Nothing more."

Ryeowook saying things like that hurts me a lot. Stabbed my heart continuously by an imaginary knife.

"I'm going back to the states to pursue my music career. I want you two to be happy when I'm gone." He said timidly.

I turned to him, eyes bloodshot red. "What's the point of being happy if you're not even here?!" I exclaimed. "I, too, sacrificed everything. Just so you know, you're my source of happiness."

"You too. When I'm with you, I felt happy. But hyungie needs that happiness more than me."

"Ryeowook--"

The school bell rang, interrupting our dramatic scenario. "I'm going back first. Settle things with Donghae-hyung." And he walked away.

Rejection. That's the word.

And because I don't have the mood to go back to class, I stayed at the school clinic and pretended to be sick. Then I remembered.

Ohh crap! My bag! It's still on my homeroom class.

/Jae, can you take care of my bag?/ I texted my other friend in class, Jaejoong. Yeah, the vain diva beauty. But he's a good lad, and a very beautiful guy. Ohh, how I wish to fall in love with him instead. But then, yeah. He's a homo. UGH. We don't match.

Okay, back to the story.

/Why? Where are you my dear *insert your name here*?/ He texted back.

/I'm on the clinic. I don't have the mood to go back to class. Can you bring my bag here on dismissal?/

/Sure thing, dear./

I laid myself on the bed and fell asleep, tears continuously falling.

---

"That's what I'm doing! I'm giving her up!"

"Good then. Because if you won't, I'll forget the friendship that connects us."

"I'm.. I'm giving up my love for *insert your name here*. Because your happiness is more important than mine. I would going to leave her anyways.. I would only hurt her."

Wait. Those voices belonged to..

"*insert your name here*! You're up! What happened?" Donghae rushed to the side of the clinic's bed, worry and concern reflecting on his eyes.

Instead of looking at Hae, my eyes averted to Ryeowook whose standing on the farther side of the room.

'Y-you said those things, right? You finally admit it.. you also felt the same. But why did you.. lie?'

These unspoken thoughts.. I wanted to voice out.

Stunned, I rose up from the bed and walked towards the apple of my eye.

'Why can't you just voice out your feelings? Why do you have to hurt me?'

"We found out from Jaejoong that you're here. Rest well." Ryeowook said, not looking into my eyes.

'Please, look at me.'

Before these tears would fall down again, he retreated his back from me and walked to the door. "I don't want any of you to be sad of my departure.. so better not go to the airport tomorrow. I wish you two happiness."

He's.. he's gone. And I may never see him again, knowing that he's staying there until he gets famous.

'Why do you have to leave me? Why?'

I felt someone hugged me from behind. "H-Hae.."

"Why'd you leave me at the Music Room?"

I just stayed there, frozen and speechless on his arms. He slowly let go of me and faced me. "I'm sorry, did I scare you back then?"

"N-no.." I shook my head low, afraid to see my solemn face. "Would you please leave me alone.. for a while? My mind is still confused."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, it's mine."

'I blame it to my feelings.'

Sacrificing has its positive and negative results. Positive means happiness, and negative means sadness. And the sacrifices we made contain sadness.

---

Few months passed by since Ryeowook's departure. Yeah, Hae and I are now officially dating. I can't make things go back the way it used to be. I blame it all to my stupid emotions.

"Glide, glide.. yes, that's right.. that's--*insert your name here*!"

My eyes averted at the dance choreographer. "W-what is it, sir?" Iasked dumbfoundedly, cutting off my trance.

"You're doing it wrong! You've been like this since the past few meetings! What is wrong with you? Aish, if I caught you slacking off again, I might force you to leave the crew." For the nth time, I got these repetitious sermons again. I screwed up again, great.

"S-sorry Sir Leeteuk. I'll do it again." I apologized as I bowed down.

Glide, glide, bend, grind, sway. Hope I'm doing it right.

"No! *insery your name here*, aish! I'll--"

"Can I help *insert your name here*?" Donghae interrupted. "In behalf of her, I'm really sorry for her weird behaviours. I'll teach her the steps again." He said, holding my waist possessively.

The choreographer eyed us. "You know, I'm not prohibiting my members to have their boyfriends and girlfriends. But if everyone notice it's a distraction to your dancing, better break up."

Leeteuk-oppa sure is so straightforward. I like the idea, but Hae doesn't have any plans of letting me go.

"Sir, Hae is not my distraction. I guess I'm just tired, that's all." I defended.

"Everyone, fifteen minutes break!" He turned to me again. "Practice makes perfect. If you still didn't get it, I'm afraid I might punish you. Work hard, the dance competition will be on the 27th!"

I'm being pressured. And with Wookie still lingering into my mind, I think I would not survive.

"*insert your name here*, pay attention." Donghae said as he started grooving into the music. I like Donghae's dancing skills.

But nothing beats Ryeowook's piano skills.

Aish, I promised not to bring him up again. But then, I still can't forget him.

---

It's dismissal time. And before I knew it, we're already sitting inside the ice cream parlour shop. Yeah, the same shop where Wookie, Hae and I are always hanging out.

Instead of being happy the way we used to be inside the shop, the aura today seemed to be so dull. Lifeless. Colorless. The people around us noticed that, because they knew we used to be sitting here in trio. Now, three minus one equals couple.

"I want to break up."

That sentence made me woke up from this insanity.

"W-what?"I immediately spun my head to Hae whose sitting across the table. "I said I.. wanted to break up." He shook his head, eyeing his lap.

"W-why? Why sudden--"

"Admit it. You're not happy with me."

Running out of words, I uttered, "I.. I'm sorry."

"No. I should be saying that. It's my fault. My effin' fault." He cursed. "I'm such a selfish bastard who claimed you as mine yet you don't have any feelings for me."

Feeling guilty, I walked to his seat and hugged him so tight.

"You're not a bastard, Hae. You're the best boyfriend that I ever had. Caring, romantic, sweet--you have the traits that girls love to dream about." I smiled, tears wanted to come out. "And swear, I'm not one of those girls because I don't deserve it. You deserve more than me, Hae. I'm sorry for not harbouring any feelings to you."

He sighed, pulled away slightly and brushed my bangs from covering my eyes. "To think of it, it's really my fault. What can I do, I really love you. But now, I give up. I'm sacrificing my love for your own happiness. Feel free to love Ryeowook now." He bitterly said.

I paused. "W-what? You know that.. I love Ryeowook?"

"Yes. Don't worry, he also feels the same." He smiled coldly. I frowned upon seeing that. "Aww, don't be sad. I will always be with you. We're still friends, right?" I held out my hand to him.

"I.. I guess that's it. Fine. Friends."

When he touched my hand, I pulled him again for a hug.

And that's how we ended up the romance.

---

Finally, graduation came. Sigh, how I'm going to miss highschool life. I experienced everything in this stage: happiness, sadness, love, sacrificing--

Here comes this word again. Sacrificing.

Unfortunately, sadness is what we obtained from sacrificing. But then, things went back into the same again. Me and Donghae are still friends despite of what happened to our relationship. All's well, ends well. But one thing that we can't obtain again..

Ryeowook being on our side.

I scattered the finished heart puzzle--yeah. The puzzle that belongs to Ryeowook. I tried to create it again, just like rebuilding my love for him.

My phone vibrated from my pocket. I fished it out and answered it. "Yes?"

"My dear *insert your name here*, where the heck are you?" It was Jaejoong.

"I'm working on a puzzle."

"Sheesh, it's about time for us to march in the graduation ceremony and yet you're still doing nonsense things? Come on!"

"But I'm still waiting for Hae! We'll go there." And then I hung up.

"Almost there.."

I was about to put the last piece of the puzzle when hands met my eyes, covering it from behind. Wait, this feels like deja vu.

I reached for the person's face to confirm who it is.

'N-no spectacles. W-who--'

"Guess who." A familiar voice sounded through my ears. I quickly pried the hands away and looked back to see the person I wanted to see. To hold. To hug. To.. kiss.

"Did you like my surprise?" Donghae appeared next to him.

I dashed towards them and hugged them tight. "Hae! Wook!" I exclaimed. No words can express how much I'm happy right now.

Hae pulled away and smiled. "Guess I need to leave you two alone. You two better catch up." And he left, leaving the two of us alone.

Wook saw the puzzle. He finished it, putting the last piece to the right place. "There. Finished."

"And this.. belongs to you." I handed him the puzzle, and he gladly accepted it. "I should've given this a long time ago."

"You still give it to me, although I've hurted you."

"We've done enough. Now, will you be mine?"

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" He chuckled. I laughed along.

Then I remembered something.

"Omo! The graduation ceremony! We need to hurry!" I pulled his hand, ready to run away.

"You're forgetting something." He smirked. "Huh? Wha--"

He sealed my lips on his as we stood at the spacious soccer field. I gladly returned the kiss, but reluctantly pulled away.

"I'll kill you if I didn't receive my diploma." I said, causing him to laugh. "Okay, then. I'll carry you there."

Without any warning, he swept my feet off the ground and carried me to the function hall in bridal style.

"Wookie! Yahh, put me down!"

Sacrificing still gave us a positive result despite of the things that happened. Like a rainbow that shone after the storm.

I guess sacrificing is not so bad after all, knowing that you did everything for your loved ones. I'm glad we sacrificed, because that sacrifices gave us a big ounce of happiness: love.


END. :)


[It's so amazing that a certain author writes his/her own story based out of his/her imaginations only, without even re-enacting its scenes. It's so amazing that the readers can also feel the emotions of the story itself because of the author's imagination, knowing that the story is just a mere product of fantasy. The relationship of the author and the reader is soooo AMAZING. :)]