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I stepped back from Dara. True, the kiss was a death gift, at least for me. If this would work, I don’t have to worry about Dara. I felt a twinge of guilt inside me as I saw Dara gave an encouraging smile. It’s not the first time I lied and kept something from her. I have never said that I don’t have flaws. Maybe I just wanted her to hate HIM. Of course she would hate him after everything that happened. But then, if what I’m thinking is right, will she be able to forgive him? The answer came as quickly as the question popped into my mind. I admire his guts, though. I don’t think I could have done everything he did and about to do for her – that is if what I’m thinking he’s trying to do is right. I admit I felt defeated but after thinking about things, I finally had a chance to DO something to keep her alive. The ultimate sacrifice of my life, you may say but compared to the things the other person did, I still feel a short step behind. But a sacrifice is still a sacrifice, right? Surely, any sacrifices are equally the same?

 

As I turned to face Jiyong, he was smirking darkly at me. And I knew right then and there that the game is on. One mistake from me and it’ll ruin everything.

 

“Are you done bidding goodbye?” he asked, looking straight forward.

 

“Jealous with what you saw?” I returned.

 

“Huh” he scoffed. “Enough with the chat. Let’s get this going”

 

We eyed each other carefully, weighing each other up. I know Sulli would not fulfil her part of the deal even if I win against Jiyong but I’m still hoping she would. Plus, the opportunity to get back at Jiyong from the last time we had a face-off was too strong to resist.

 

“Ready to lose?” he smirked.

 

“All geared up to win” I smirked back, feeling the power surge through my bidy. As I looked across the chamber, I saw him all geared up too with his all black eyes staring at me.

 

Silence then filled the chamber. In a heartbeat, we’re on towards each other. We me halfway somewhere and eventhough we didn’t make body contact, we were thrown off away from each other. Due to my training before, I was able to land back to the floor gracefully. A smirk curved my lips as I saw Jiyong bounced off from the wall to the floor. He rolled over and lay flat on his stomach. A manic smile curved his lips as he slowly pushed himself up. Despite myself, I also found joy from the current situation I’m in.

 

Jiyong suddenly disappeared from his spot. I then felt an arm around my neck coming from behind. I grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull it off but when he only tightened his hold, I turned myself into a black smoke and quickly transitioned into a crow. I scratched his arm and heard a low hiss from him as I flew up to the ceiling. In an instant, he turned into a crow, too. I waited for him to reach me. as he did, the duel became a beak to beak and claw to claw clash. We were both trying to target each other’s wings, feet and eyes. So far, I managed to cause injury on one of his wings and feet while he was able to claw at my chest and pulled out one feather from my left wing.

 

I backed away from him the same time he flew back. With a distance of three feet from each other, I eyed him carefully. With a screech, he flew forward. I did the same and we met at the middle. My beak went to his neck whole my claw gripped on one of his wings. He screeched angrily again and went to bury his sharp claws in my stomach.

 

I let go of his neck and gave a screech. Without noticing it, we reached the floor. Upon reaching it, I quickly went to my human form and was about to step on the bird when Jiyong suddenly materialized from it.

 

“Jae!” I heard Dara called worriedly.

 

I wasn’t given the chance to respond because a force suddenly pushed me to the far away wall. I groaned out loud as the act caught me off guard, making me hit the wall hard. I looked up and saw Jiyong standing on his feet. I slowly pushed myself up. I felt myself faded from my spot and appeared on the spot where Jiyong was but he was obviously thinking of the same thing because the moment I appeared on his spot, he appeared on my previous spot at the far away wall.

 

Jiyong’s an aggressive fighter, it was pretty obvious. I first believed that I’m stronger than him but after finding out about his real identity and the fact that he’s been hanging out with a masked shadow, he has grown stronger and more aggressive than before. If he only had the proper training, I bet I wouldn’t even last a minute fighting with him. He suddenly disappeared fro his spot. Expecting him to appear behind me, I quickly turned around, summoned a great amount of strength and gave a push. I heard a whooshing sound, a crack followed by a thud and a grunt. The act left me a bit weak but I was satisfied to see that I was able to cause damage to Jiyong. A part near his temple broke out and started to bleed.

 

He touched that particular area and growled out loud. Angered by the injury I caused, he lunged forward again but I already prepared myself on what was going to happen so I was able to evade him. I appeared behind him and was about to drop him unconscious to the floor when I was suddenly pulled down on my stomach to the ground. Then, I was sent flying back against the wall. A tight grip then took hold of my neck as Jiyong was now surrounded by a mixture of violent black and violet smoke.

 

His black eyes turned darker. I willed myself to turn into a smoke to escape his grip. As I did, I quickly manoeuvred myself behind him and took form of my body again. I don’t have any intentions of killing him, of course. I just wanted to knock him out. As I forced out my strength to knock him out, my surroundings vibrated, indicating that he blocked my attack. I then went for the physical attack but before I could do that, he beat me to it. Once again, his hands encircled my neck and his grip was tighter compared a while ago, totally blocking my airway. The lack of air left me weak that I wasn’t able to take the form of a smoke or a crow.

 

“Da. . . ra” I rasped. I felt something cold up against my stomach as Jiyong smirked at me.

 

“Rest in peace” he said.

 

~AUTHOR’S POV~

 

Sulli’s delighted laugh filled the chamber as Jaejoong dropped to the floor, unmoving.

 

“Very good, Jiyong” she clapped. “Though I admit I’m a bit disappointed with the duel. I expected more action, you see”

 

“Can I kill the girl now?” Jiyong asked.

 

“Of course, by all means” Sulli smiled.

 

“How would you want it?” he asked again.

 

“Up to you” Sulli shrugged. “You did all the work with Jaejoong anyways”

 

Jiyong looked around, finding nothing to use as a tool for what he’s about to do, he let out a disappointed growl.

 

“What’s wrong?” Sulli asked.

 

“I want something sharp” he grunted.

 

“Oh” Sulli mumbled thoughtfully. “There’s a pile of broken pipes up the hall. You could use one if you like”

 

Jiyong grinned. “Perfect. I’ll just go get one” he said then went away.

 

Sulli walked to Dara as soon as Jiyong was out of sight. She was wearing a smug expression as she looked down at Jaejoong’s body on the floor. Then, she looked back up at Dara. “Too bad, you’re pretty boy didn’t win. You could have lived”

 

“As if you really let me live” Dara hissed.

 

“Aren’t you afraid?” she whispered lowly. “Aren’t you afraid to die in the hands of someone you love?”

 

“I actually can’t wait for Jiyong to kill me” Dara lightly answered. There’s really nothing left for her in this lifetime. She lost all her reasons to live but deep inside, she was trembling from fear.

 

Grunts of protests suddenly emerged. Sulli glanced sideways, suddenly remembering that she still got other guests, too. She titled her head to the side, wondering how to dispose them.

 

“Patience” she said. “You’ll have your turn later”

 

The grunts of protests grew louder as Jiyong came back with a rusty broken pipe in his hand.

 

“Got it” he grinned at Sulli.

 

“Good” Sulli smiled in approval. “But before you take her life, how about we ask her for one last wish? A death wish”

 

“Up to you” he shrugged.

 

Sulli turned back to Dara. “Any death wish?”

 

Dara wasn’t able to respond at once. After a while, she came up with an answer. “I want Jiyong to kiss me”

 

The smug smile on Sulli’s face disappeared. Her face went blank that Dara can’t help but think she fell asleep with her eyes wide open. But after some time, Dara felt a surge of satisfaction surged through her veins as she watched Sulli’s face.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, deciding to rub in more salt. “Scared that he would change my mind after we kiss?”

 

“Of course not” Sulli waved off, then turned sharply to Jiyong. “You heard her”

 

“Do I really have to?”

 

“Aww” Sulli cooed. “Let’s be selfless for once”

 

Jiyong took a heavy sigh and walked with heavy steps towards Dara. He turned awfully silent as he stood in front of her, his grip tightening on the broke pipe in his hand. He slowly lifted his eyes to her and was greeted by sarcasm and mockery.

 

“I hate you” she hissed.

 

An empty smirk curved his lips as he looked into her eyes. “And I hate you for asking me to kiss you”

 

“Exactly! I want to piss you off before I die” she said. “Now do it!”

 

Angrily, he cupped her face and crushed his lips on hers. But he wasn’t able to last long. He quickly pulled away and looked down, his jaws clenching really hard. He exhaled and leaned towards her ear. “Goodbye, Sandara Park” he whispered and pushed the broken pipe in her stomach. He heard her sharp intake of breath followed by heavy panting.

 

“You. . . .” she panted heavily. “. . . really are. . . the best. . . . liar”

 

He withdrew the pipe out and pushed it back in. he felt her body leaned slightly forward and her head rested heavily on his shoulder as she struggled to take in more air. He pulled the pipe out again and closed his eyes as he shoved the pipe in her body for the third time. He just stayed like that and waited for her heart to stop beating and for her breathing to cease. When Dara finally stopped breathing and when he could no longer feel her heartbeat against his chest, that’s when he opened his eyes. He slightly moved his head to the side and inhaled her scent. And then, he stepped back and faced Sulli.

 

“I already fulfilled all conditions” he said. “Make me a masked shadow now”

 

Sulli smiled and went to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tiptoed to give him a peck on the lips. “Good job, Jiyong” she said. “But. . .”

 

“But what?”

 

“I changed my mind” she said. “I don’t want to make you a masked shadow anymore”

 

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