“Jiyong? Wha-?”

“Don’t move” he whispered. Not long after that, he felt million of sharp needles hit his body. His eyes then went all black. The urge to fight back was taking over him but he knew the girl will be harmed if he chooses to face and fight whoever that person is. He tried to keep the pain to himself but he wasn’t able to stop himself. He grunted and curled his fists tightly.

Dara then realized what\s happening. But since Jiyong was keeping her head buried in his chest, she can\t see anything. She holds onto his shirt and started crying.

“Don’t cry” he told her. But instead of being comforted from it, she cried harder.

“STOP!” she cried. “Please stop hurting him!”

“I told you to stay away from her” an eerie, squeaky voice answered.

“ you, you coward!” Jiyong gritted.

The bed suddenly lifted into the air. Jiyong felt fear for the first time. Left with no choice, he gathered up all his strength, channeled it to the girl and sent her away, leaving him vulnerable and less powerful.

The moment the girl disappeared, the bed dropped back to the floor in a loud thud, shaking the floor. Jiyong took the needles out of his back and left them suspended in the air as he got off the bed.

“I had enough of your ing games already” he said to the black smoke a few feet away from him. He then sent the needles towards the smoke but they only flew back to him. He waved them off to the wall where they buried themselves deep through it.

“You can never defeat me, Jiyong” a husky voice said. It didn’t escape Jiyong how the person changes voice from time to time.

“What do you want from her?”

“Hmm.. I want to play games with her” a child-like voice answered this time. “She’s so funny, don’t you think?”

Fury took over Jiyongs’ mind and body, turning him into a black smoke himself. Having the same form with his opponent, he went for the attack.

~DARA’S POV~

I gasped out loud as I suddenly appeared in a well-lit place. I looked around the room and saw Seungri, Bom, CL and Youngbae watching a movie.

“Seungri!” I called. They all looked up.

“Hey, what are you doing here? How did you get here anyways?” Seungri asked, standing up. I ran to him and grabbed the front of his shirt. I started tearing up again as I looked up at him.

“You have to help Jiyong”

“What happened?” Youngbae asked alertly.

“It’s not the right time for chitchat” Bom hissed then turned to me. “Where is he?”

“I-in my room” I sobbed.

“Go” Bom ordered Seungri and Ypungbae. Both guys nodded and disappeared right in front of my eyes, making me dizzy. My knees felt weak, making me stumble to a couch. I tried to suppress my tears but they continued falling down heavily.

“CL, get her a glass of water” I heard Bom said.

“Okay” CL answered.

“Tell me what happened”

I looked up at Bom. “I. . . I really don’t know. I just woke up because I felt something heavy pinning me down on the bed. I instantly recognized Jiyong’s scent. He told me not to move, so I didn’t. Then I heard him grunt from pain. That’s when I realized something’s wrong. I f-felt the bed lifted in the air. The next thing I knew, I’m here already”

“I hope through this, you’ll finally realize the seriousness of the situation” she said.

I wasn’t able to say anything. I’m too shocked to say anything. But one thing’s for sure, Jiyong’s in danger.

“I’m sorry” I sobbed.

“Your sorry won’t do anything” Bom snapped.

“Here, drink some water” CLK’s voice emerged. I accepted the glass of water and sip a little amount.

“Stay with her” Bom said. “I need to prepare some stuff. For sure, Jiyong will need them”

Five minutes of silence passed between me and CL from the time Bom left. Fear started to crawl to my system, seeing that the guys aren’t back yet. To distract myself, I decided to start a conversation with CL.

“I’m sorry” I said. “For putting your friends into this”

“Asking for forgiveness won’t do anything” she said. “As much as we don’t want to get involved with this, it’s already here. Well, it’s fine with me if Seungri will be in danger. That’ll teach him a lesson”

“It wasn’t in my intention to involve you guys” I whispered.

“But Jiyong’s involved and he’s our friend. We can’t just abandon him because we don’t like you or just because we don’t approve of your friendship”

“He doesn’t really consider me as his friend” I mumbled. “But I think he’s getting to it already”

“Huh” the girl snorted. “To tell you the truth, Bom and I envy you because it took Jiyong less time to be comfortable around you than with us”

I shook my head. “But he doesn’t trust me like he trusts you and Bom”

“It took him a while for that, too. He trusted Seungri and Youngbae first before us. Well, I guess that’s because they’re of the same kind”

“How-?” I started but stopped as I heard a pained shout from somewhere.

“They’re here” CL said, standing up. I followed her as she went to the source of the voice.

I got confused at first because everybody seemed to be in chaos. Amidst Jiyong’s swearing, I heard Bom told CL to tend to Seungri and Youngbae. I quickly turned to the two. There were few scratches on Youngbe and Seungri’s faces. There were some torn on their shirts too but aside from that, they seemed fine.

“Don’t mind me” Seungri hissed at CL. “Help Bom with Jiyong first”

“Ph mu God!” I heard Bom gasped. I quickly went to her side to see what’s going on. The moment I saw Kwon Jiyong, I felt all my blood went to my feet. It’s like I stopped breathing”

Kwon Jiyong was lying flat in his back, hi shirt ripped open. There was a large black spot on the right of his stomach, resembling that of a burned wood.

“That’s a cursed wound” CL faintly said.

I may not know that much but that sounded bad. “Is he going to die?” I blurted out.

“No” Youngbae answered. “But that wound would make you want to be dead. It’s not meant to kill, it’s meant to make the person suffer”

“F-for how long?” I asked.

“If left untreated, you’ll suffer as long as you’re alive”

“You have to treat him then!” I panicked. Silence greeted my word.

“None of us know how to cure it” Bom said. My heart gave a painful squeeze. For the first time, I’m seeing Bom’s vulnerable side.

Kwon Jiyong shouted again. A ob escaped my throat hearing and seeing him suffering like this. It’s breaking my heart. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back and saw Seungri. He pulled me for a hug and started my back to comfort me.

After Jiyong’s series of shouts, he started cursing under his breath. “That ing stings!” he hissed then panted. after a while, his breathing went back to normal. “The girl?” he croaked.

“She’s alright” Bom answered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Where is she?”

“I-I’m here” I answered, pulling away from Seungri. Jiyong opened his eyes and looked at me. I felt a knife stabbed my heart as we made eye contact. “J-Jiyong!” I cried and ran towards the bed, dropping to my knees on the floor. “I’m sorry!” I wailed out loud.

“Pfft. This is nothing” he arrogantly said. I took his hand and enveloped it with mine.

“Wait” Youngbae suddenly said. “There’s still a way to cure Jiyong”

“No” Jiyong protested.

“What do-? Oh of course! The royalties” Bom said.

“I don’t need- !”

“Whether you like it or not, we’ll ask for their help”

“!” Jiyong hissed. His hold on my hand tightened and I saw his face twisted in pain.

“We’ll get help” Bom said and leaned down. Heat crawled to my cheeks as she kissed Jiyong on the lips. I tried to look somewhere else but my eyes would always go back to Jiyong.

“No” Jiyong turned his head to the side after a while. “I don’t need- !”

“Youngbae, let’s go”


When they were all gone, I grabbed the towel that Bom left and started wiping his sweat off. He was sweating profusely and endlessly. The way he was biting his lip down told me that he was trying to stop himself from shouting.

“Dammit!” he gritted and squeezed my hand tightly

“I’m sorry”

o=o=o

We were sent to the living room as soon as the so-called “help” arrived.

“Jiyong calls them the royal shadows” Seungri informed me. “He loves making names, you see. They’re the most experienced, influential compared to us. They’re quite powerful, too. More powerful than what Jiyong calls elite”

“But why did Jiyong protest on asking for help from them?”

“It’s because his stepfather is one of the royal shadows”

“W-what?”

“You heard that right” Youngbae joined u. “The royalties, as what Jiyong call them, usually keep to themselves, like us. Since our kind aren’t really that coordinated, we tend to group ourselves according to our class. Bom and I went to his mother and asked for help. That’s the reason why he protested a while ago”

We all turned silent as we heard Jiyong screaming again, followed shouts of swear words. Unable to settle myself, I stood up.

“What’s going on in there?” I asked loudly. “Why are we all here? Can’t we-?”

“We’re not allowed to go there”

o=o=o

I jerked awake and looked around, only to find myself alone in the living room. I rubbed my eyes and stretched lazily. I straightened up as I remembered Kwon Jiyong. I quickly ran to the room he’s occupying. I stopped at the door as I saw Bom sleeping on the chair with her hand on Jiyong’s hair.

“Finally, she’s asleep” a voice behind me said. I looked back and saw Youngbae. “She’s been up for hours. I told her to take a rest but she refused”

“She must really care for him” I mumbled, looking back art Jiyong.

“She loves him” he sighed and walked to where Bom was. “I’ll just carry her to her room” he informed as he carried her up. I just nodded in response. I walked towards the bed and sat at the edge. My eyes darted to his lips. I suddenly blushed upon remembering how his lips felt so soft against mine, at how heat coursed through my veins that it felt like I was going to explode. I suddenly straightened up as my brain finally processed something.

Kwon Jiyong actually kissed me!