A crow landed on the windowsill. Its dark eyes blinked and it quietly flew inside the room as the window opened. The moment it was inside, the window closed on its own accord. The crow went to the darkest place of the room and resumed its previous form.

He’s quite confident normal human eyes could never see him. He blended himself well with the shadows. Inspite everything, he managed to smile as he watched his girlfriend’s peaceful face while sleeping. It’s rude for him to lurk in her room but recent events made him worry over her. He doesn’t want to think that she’s being tagged because of him. There must have been some other reason. And so, he waited.

1:00 am came.

2:00 am past.

He was starting to think that he was wrong. But as 2:30 arrived, Sandara started tossing in her bed, grunting. Jaejoong held his breath and stood very still. And there, there it was, a dark shadow looming above Dara’s body. The girl started to twitch, her body lifting off the bed while her hands hung limply at her sides. In his position, he was able to see Dara’s eyes and mouth opened. Her eyes were fathomless while an eerie, loud and soundless scream came from her.

“Stop it!” he hissed, unable to take it anymore. In that instant, Dara’s body fell back on the bed, her eyes and mouth closed. She looked like nothing happened to her. The shadow looming above her lingered, with a hiss of fury, Jaejoong went for an attack but the shadow suddenly disappeared.

He stopped at the side of Dara’s bed and looked down at her, caressing her face with a smoky hand. It’s confirm. Someone’s playing a game – a very dangerous and deadly game, that is.

o=o=o

“What’s that?”

Jiyong rolled his eyes then scowled. “Mind your own business”

“You’re being rude again” she noticed.

“And I told you to get use to it” he returned and glanced sideways at her. She pouted then grabbed the stationery out of his hold.

“Ooh, could this be a love note?” she sang.

“Give that back”

Dara slapped his and away and opened the folded stationery. “Oh, it’s a LOVE LETTER!” she exclaimed. “You got an admirer!”

“I don’t read them” he gritted.

“Ooh, so meaning, you’ve been receiving love letters even before?”

He just rolled his eyes.

“Dear Jiyong” she read aloud, winking at him. As she started reading, Jiyong crossed his arms and leaned against his locker, snorting or scowling every now and then. “. . . . Always, S”

Dara stopped chuckling and stared blankly at the letter S at the bottom of the paper.

“Eh?” she ushered and looked at Jiyong. “I didn’t write this letter!”

“Did I say anything?”

“But my name starts with S, too”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re not the only person whose name starts with an S. But if you ask me, it sounded so much like you”

“It isn’t me!”

He just shrugged. “I don’t really care” he said then turned to leave.

“Hey!” she called. “What am I going to do with this letter?”

“Throw it away” he waved off but without looking back.

o=o=o

“Oh, please not again!” Dara groaned as her car once again, won’t start. She stepped out of the car and went in front, pulling the hood up. She was trying to remember what Jiyong taught her.

“Get out of the way”

“Ah!” she jumped, clutching her chest. She turned around and saw Kwon Jiyong in his all-black get up again. She noticed that she was wearing a black hoodie with the words KISS ME written at the left side. “Will you stop sneaking up on me like that? And what’s with the KISS ME thing?”

“Bom gave this to me for my birthday” he explained. I suddenly felt a pang of irritation.

“How come I never saw you wearing my gift?”

“Because it’s white” he said.

“What’s wrong with white?”

“White is for purity and I don’t consider myself under that” he said. “And the color doesn’t suit me”

“Nonsense!” she scoffed, then smiled. “Did you come here to fix my car?”

“Obviously” he grimaced. “Now, get out of the way”

“How did you know I needed help, anyways?”

“Do you want me to fix it or not?” he gritted.

“Fine” she said and stepped aside to let him do his work.

“So, what happened to you?” he asked a while later without looking at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard you scream right after I walked you to your car” he carelessly answered.

“Oh, that” she grimaced and launched in retelling him what happened. “. . . good thing Jae arrived just in time. He said I must have fallen asleep. It seemed reasonable because I did drop dead due to sleepiness down in the arena before, remember?” she ranted and took a deep breath. She didn’t notice that she’s been talking without taking a breath/

“You still talk too much” Jiyong said, trying to hide the tension shaking his frame. Lucky for him, Dara didn’t notice his stiffness.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “That’s why you came back, didn’t you? You were worried about me! And don’t you dare deny it! I saw you walking away”

“I wasn’t worried. I just got curious” he dismissively said.

“Sounds the same to me” she knowingly and smugly said.

He snorted. “You’re trying to piss me off again. Sorry to break this down to you, but that won’t work on me anymore”

“I noticed” she retorted. “So, tell me, why are you TALKING to me now? In a polite manner, if I may add”

He shrugged.

“I know!” she cheered. “You consider me as your friend now! Hahaha!”

“Could you lower your voice down?” he hissed but she just stuck her tongue at him.

“As a sign of our friendship, we should shake hands” she grinned, holding her hand out to him. With a smirk, he straightened up and shook hands with her. Dara then gasped and pulled her hand out of his hold. She looked down at it and fumed as she saw the grease on her hand. Kwon Jiyong started laughing then. With a glare, she wiped her dirty hand on his face. She laughed louder than him.

“You laugh like a guy” he said.

“And you look AWESOME!” she countered.

“Hey” a new voice joined them.

Dara and Jiyong turned around.

“Jae!” Dara greeted happily and bounced to her boyfriend. He leaned down to kiss her while keeping his eyes glued to Jiyong. The latter snorted upon realizing Jaejoong’s hidden message.

“How are you?” he asked as soon as the kiss ended.

“Fine. Jiyong’s helping me with the car”

“Really?” he asked, raising his brows.

“Yep” she smiled. “Oh, wait. I’ll just wash my hand”

As soon as Dara went into the house, Jaejoong walked towards Jiyong. They eyed each other for a while. Jaejoong decided to break the eye contact.

“Thanks for helping Dara with her car” he said.

Jiyong nodded in return. “You do know someone’s playing with her, right?”

“Yes, I do” Jaejoong answered quietly. “And you do know that I’m capable of protecting her, right?”

Jiyong snorted and didn’t say anything.

“I’m just clarifying things” Jaejoong continued. “But I appreciate all your . . . help”

Jiyong just snorted again. Jaejoong eyed him carefully. “Do you like her?” he asked.

“Are you trying to be funny?” he laughed but when Jaejoong remained serious, he laughed even loud. “No I don’t”

“Good” Jaejoong nodded.

“But what if she likes me?” Jiyong asked.

“That’s fine, I guess” Jaejoong said. “She LOVES ME, anyways. There’s a big difference there”

Jiyong laughed again.

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