o=o=o

 

~JIYONG’S POV~

 

“I kind of liked Bom” Mom said. “But Dara’s okay”

 

She asked Dara to give us some time alone. I don’t really know what gotten into her to pay me a visit all of the sudden. And I definitely didn’t know why she wants to talk to me ALONE.

 

“Bom’s more bearable than her” I agreed. “Dara can be really annoying and irritating and childish at times”

 

“But that’s what you liked about her, don’t you?”

 

“Not really” I sighed. “But that’s part of it”

 

“I’ve never seen you act that sweet to anyone before”

 

“I’m pretty surprised with myself” I admitted. “Are you jealous, Mom?” I laughed.

 

“A little” she admitted.

 

“She’s like a child inside a woman’s body” I told her. “She needs constant supervision”

 

“You care for her” she said matter-of-factly.

 

“Unfortunately, yes” I sighed. “She makes me feel different, it’s like she gives me reason to continue living”

 

“Care and love can be synonymous, Jiyong”

 

“No” I disagreed. “They’re different”

 

“You should not let what your father showed and told you rule your life”

 

“I’m not. I just happened to believe that way”

 

She sighed. “I take it Dara saw your scars already?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“What did she say about it?”

 

I looked far away. “She cried the first time she saw it. She thinks I don’t deserve them. And now, she’s claiming she got torn feelings about my scars. She said she loves them because they’re part of me but hates them at the same time because of the pain I experienced”

 

“She’s a weird girl”

 

“She is” I smiled.

 

“Have you told her the truth about what happened to your father?”

 

“No” I answered. “She didn’t really believe all the rumors surrounding me and she said she can’t blame me if I killed. . . him because she believes he deserved it. She even called him evil”

 

“She must really love you” she quietly said. “I’m happy to hear that”

 

Silence.

 

“What really brought you here, Mom?”

 

“The. . . higher ranks wants to-.”

 

“Mom” I stopped her.

 

“You’re a direct descendant, Jiyong. They want you there with them”

 

“I don’t want to be part of it, Mom” I said. “And besides, I’m not that strong or experienced or something like that. you know very well that for YEARS, I tried to live as a normal human being; for years I didn’t use any of my. . . . abilities”

 

“They can train you”

 

“What for, Mom? To make me their servant and puppet for the-.”

 

“No, it’s not that”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

Silence.

 

“They’re scared. I’m pretty sure you heard stories about masked shadows?”

 

I froze then glanced sharply at her. “Yes”

 

“There are reasons why their existence was kept hidden”

 

“What reasons?”

 

“The older ones are ashamed and scared of them” she said with a deep sigh. “They’re afraid that other shadows will be tempted to search for masked shadows and asked them to turn them into one. Also, they don’t know that much of masked shadows and they don’t want feeling. . .vulnerable and because they don’t know how to defeat them”

 

“You can be a masked shadow by choice?” I asked in disbelief.

 

“Yes” she nodded. “It happened before and that shadow turned masked shadow killed half of your population in fear of having a competition when it comes to power. You know how shadows can be greedy. But of course, the one who made him a masked shadow was a lot stronger than him. In the end, they end up fighting and killing each other. But of course, a new masked shadow was bound to be born”

 

“I’m confused”

 

“Remember how the first shadow became a shadow?”

 

“Yes” I nodded. Stories say one of the devil’s daughters asked him to sleep with her”

 

“Have you ever wondered if she bore a child?”

 

“You’re not saying. . . .?”

 

“Masked shadows are the devil’s grandchildren, Jiyong”

 

“That’s. . . . ing messed up” I muttered.

 

“Not really” she laughed.

 

“But how does that happen? How can an ordinary shadow become a masked one?”

 

“They say you have to give up your humanity or something” she answered. “It’s worse than death, if you ask me”

 

“What does it have to do with me?”

 

“They want you as a front line defense, Jiyong”

 

I snorted. “A sacrificial lamb, huh?”

 

“It’s not really like that, Jiyong. The-.”

 

“Save it, Mom” I cut her off. “The answer is no. I don’t want to be involved in their ”

 

“It’s not just that, Jiyong. They want you to reproduce. . . . they’ve been doing some kind of. . . .” sighs, “. . . experiments on female candidates for you to-.”

 

“Tell them I’m not a baby maker machine”

 

o=o=o

 

~DARA’S POV~

 

After talking to Jiyong, his mother asked to have a little chat with me.

 

“Did you know about Jiyong and Bom having a relationship before?” she asked.

 

“Yes” I nodded.

 

“Frankly, I prefer Bom for my son” she said. “She knows some things about shadows and she can be helpful since she’s a native healer but I can’t just order my son to choose her instead of you, can I?”

 

I remained silent for a moment. That stung. “If you’re asking me to leave him and stay away from him, you’re just wasting time”

 

“Why do you think Jiyong went into a relationship with you?”

 

I was taken up short. “I. . . . I don’t know” I mumbled, fidgeting on the necklace Jiyong gave me.

 

“Where did you get that?” she asked, nodding to the necklace.

 

“Jiyong made it for me” I answered, trembling a little. Aigoo. Why am I being this fidgety? I’m not usually like this.

 

“Did he, really?” she chuckled. “That’s odd”

 

“Jiyong can be really sweet” I informed her. “So I can’t understand why you have to leave him behind just like that then come back and act like you two are okay”

 

She paused and looked at me for a moment. Whoa! That was pretty brave of me. Way to go for myself!

 

“Jiyong asked me to leave”

 

“What?”

 

“He begged me to leave him, actually” she sighed. “Jiyong loved his father. He shoved off being a shadow because of his father. He tried living like a normal human being so his father wouldn’t feel so bad about being skipped. But my former husband has been humiliated already and coming from the direct line, that’s a big deal. He was angry, he was so bitter that when Jiyong was born and manifested some signs of being a shadow, his emotions only heightened. He envied his own son that he almost killed Jiyong. But Jiyong didn’t fight back. He accepted his father’s wrath. Then, one day, he was near to killing the both of us already. I was beaten up badly. Jiyong stood up against his father but he was too. . . softhearted to even hurt his father who endlessly hurt him. When I saw him took a knife and went after Jiyong that was the last straw. I fought him and in the process, I killed him”

 

I gasped in horror.

 

“I killed my husband. I was so scared and Jiyong must have seen it because he begged me to just go along to his plan. He shouldered the crime and begged me to leave and never come back again just in case the authorities discovered the truth. But since he already admitted, the authorities didn’t investigate the case deeper. You can’t trust authorities these days”

 

I was speechless.

 

She sighed. “Anyway, I believe you and Jiyong had already? And still having , am I right?” she started bluntly, making me red all over. “How is he in bed?”

 

I gasped out loud and stared at her with wide eyes, her confession to the crime she did all forgotten. How could she ask me just like that? I can’t just talk about how. . . . how me and Jiyong are in bed! “I’m not a kiss and tell type of person”

 

She suddenly burst out laughing. “You’re so different from Bom. The exact opposite of her, actually”

 

“Bom might be better in everything than I am but that doesn’t mean that she loves Jiyong more than I do”

 

Silence.

 

She sighed. “Eventhough I prefer Bom than you and eventhough I’m jealous because again, I’m not the only woman in my son’s life, I’m happy to know that you’re here for him. And I hope you won’t leave or hurt him because this is the first time that I saw him act so sweet and concern with someone else”

 

“I actually believe he’s more capable of leaving and hurting me” I mumbled.

 

“My son might be one of the smoothest liar there is” she said. “But his actions never lie”

 

“Bom told me that, too” I said.

 

She nodded. “Take care of him”

 

“I will” smiled. “Ahm, can I ask you something?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Can I call you Mom?”

 

Silence.

 

“Of course” she then smiled.

 

o=o=o

 

“My cheek still sting!” I lied, whining childishly.

 

He rolled his eyes. “You’re such a bad liar”

 

“You said you’d make it go away” I pouted.

 

He pulled me in his arms and leaned down to plant tiny kisses on my cheek. I can’t help but smile and closed my eyes as he went to kiss the corner of my lips. And when his lips touched mine, my arms automatically went to his neck while my lips parted in response to his demanding tongue. He grabbed my waist then lifted me in the counter.

 

“Oh Jiyong” I gasped.

 

I pushed him away as I started hearing footsteps and Sulli calling me. Jiyong gave me a glare then growled. He turned away and stalked off. I sighed as I watched him climb the stairs. He’s being rude and mean again. Aish! That guy’s driving me crazy. It’s so hard to keep up with his mood sometimes.

 

“Hi” I greeted Sulli as soon as I saw her.

 

“Why are you still up?”

 

“Had a chat with Jiyong” I shrugged.

 

“Oh” she mumbled. “Where is he?”

 

“Upstairs” I answered. “So, how was work?”

 

“It was okay” she nodded. “By the way, ahm, Mom went to talk to me a while ago. She asked me to come back. . . .”

 

“You didn’t say yes, did you?”

 

“I did” she sighed.

 

“But SUlli, she’s been taking you for granted for how many years already. You should let her-.”

 

“She’s still my mother, Dara” she said. “And besides, my siblings need me”

 

“Are you sure about this?”

 

“Yes” she smiled “Don’t worry, Mom promised me that she’ll stop drinking and she’ll look for a job. Thanks for letting me stay, by the way”

 

“It’s nothing. You know you’re always welcome here, right?”

 

 

o=o=o

 

“Jiyong!” I called out brightly. “I’ve got a surprise for you!”

 

He raised his brows at me, looking unperturbed.

 

“Oh, come on!” I growled. “Show some excitement”

 

When his face remained blank, I twitched my lips from annoyance. Aish! He can be really difficult sometimes! If I only don’t love him or if only I’m not that desperate to be with him, I already left him long time ago. But I guess that’s just how things are.

 

“Close your eyes!” I trilled. He rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. “Close them already” I impatiently ordered this time. He gave me a bored expression before closing his eyes. I took his hand out and placed a box on his palm. Then I told him to open his eyes.

 

“What’s this?” he asked.

 

“Open it” I excitedly told him. He then opened the box. I smiled and waited for him to say anything but when he remained silent, I took the initiative to break the silence. “Did you like it?” I asked. “I made that myself. I asked Bom for some materials and she gave me a white crystal. Then, I asked Seungri to teach me. He taught me the basics but it came out a bit crappy compared to the pendant you gave me. I tried my best but it didn’t come out as beautifully as yours so I asked Seungri to polish some bumps and sides. . . .”

 

He remained silent. He wasn’t even looking at me. He stared at the white angel pendant I made. When he didn’t move after a few minutes, I took out the necklace and put it around his neck. I smiled as the white crystal glittered pink when being hit by light.

 

“Jiyong” I whimpered. “Say something. Don’t you like it?”

 

He suddenly grabbed my hands, which by the way are heavily bandaged. I saw his jaw clenched the moment he saw them. “I told you not to do it!” he hissed so low that I shivered a little. “Seungri and Bom are-.”

 

“Ya!” I protested. “It was my idea, not theirs! And what are you doing?!” I burst, pulling my hand back as he started removing the bandage off.

 

“I’m going to heal-.”

 

“No!” I protested. “I want to heal them MANUALLY, just like yours”

 

“Don’t be stubborn!”

 

“Don’t be difficult either!” I returned, “You haven’t even thanked me yet”

 

“Thank you!” he snapped sharply.

 

“If you don’t like it, just say so!” I burst out. “I’m not going to force it on you. On second thought, I think I’ll just take it back!” I added and reached around his neck to unclasp the necklace but he stopped me. He grabbed my wrists then crushed his lips against mine.