Pulling away, Ji Sung smiled at him. A sad one, much unlike a smile that a girl like her would be smiling after her boyfriend just sincerely poured out all of his feelings he had for her, to her. She knew that after tonight, there will be no more 'us' for her and Jong Dae, or at least, not for another few months.

  They couldn't keep doing this.

  But most importantly, she couldn't keep doing this. It was adding to the tonne of other things that Ji Sung had to worry about, and it was exhausting her. Even if the times she spent with Jong Dae were indeed even more precious than all of the diamonds in the world to her, the times without him were not enjoyable at all and they were apart more than they were together. They could only meet once a week, or sometimes twice if they were lucky.

  Ji Sung took his hand in hers. She shook her head with much difficulty, as if it was the hardest thing that Ji Sung had to do in her whole life, which to her, was quite true. 

  "Jonggie... I'm s-so, so sorry."

  "Don't-"

  "I really c-can't do th-this anymore, I-I real-really can't."

  "I-"

  "No, Jonggie, I can't." She said in a more confident voice to sound convincing, but, as expected, Jong Dae could see through her fake confidence immediately.

  He sighed in defeat. "A-are you sure?" Jong Dae asked, while looking down at Ji Sung's hands which covered his own. The hands he loved to hold and warm up after their snowball fights. The hands which fitted perfectly into his slightly larger ones. The hands he would kiss whenever the two of them were playing 'Prince Charming and Princess' while dancing to their favourite sentimental songs in their pyjamas. The fingers which belonged to these hands that always liked to softly pinch his pink tinted nose or give it an occasional pull. The fingers which would mess his already messy hair in the morning, making it stand up in all directions. The same fingers that would caress and his cheeks ever so softly, before the owner of these magical fingers and hands leaned in for a quick and playful kiss.

  Ji Sung nodded again, with much more difficulty than shaking. Her mind was telling her to nod, to tell him that she was absolutely sure about her decision. Her heart, however, was begging her to shake her head vigorously, desperately trying to tell her that nodding would be the worst decision that she would ever make in her whole life. In the end, the mind always wins against the heart (for now, that is).

  "I-" she started, but nothing else came out of . Ji Sung broke down again, tears continuously dripping off her chin and onto her scarf. Her hand flew to cover and muffle her sobs. Her hair fell forwards to cover the sides of her face and at the same time, it got drenched by her tears. Ji Sung pulled her legs up while leaning her whole body on Jong Dae. His arms instinctively wrapped around her body, his lips pressed together firmly to stop him from breaking down as well. He didn't know how their future would turn out to be, but he knew that one thing's for sure: he had to stay strong for both of them.

  He pulled her close, and whispered in her ear, his breath touching that extremely sensitive area, "One more night, Sunggie. Just give me one more night."

  She knew exactly what he meant, so she nodded, and allowed him to pull her legs out of its uncomfortable position and onto his lap. His arms reached underneath her body and effortlessly scooped her off the slightly snowy park bench.

  The snow started to cover the park bench once again, this time leaving no place un-snowed. Both of them watched as a single snowflake fell from the sky and floated in front of their eyes. It landed right on Ji Sung's bottom lips, and melted the moment it touched her lips, leaving a tiny, barely visible glistening puddle on her bottom lip. She was about to it off with her tongue but Jong Dae beat her to it. The boy used the hand that was supporting her back to bring her lips closer to his, returning it to its original position right after they locked their lips. Ji Sung's hands pulled him even closer to her, allowing her cold fingertips to rest on his neck. He flinched at first but got used to it after a while and continued kissing her lips, which were so irresistible to him. He wanted to keep kissing her like this. Forever, if he could.

  But, irresistible or not, they shouldn't do this in public. When he realised that they could get caught by a random passerby, he quickly broke the kiss (although he thought that no one should be out here this late in such cold weather anyway). She gave him a grunt in response, clearly not satisfied with his actions. She shot him a questioning look, of which he returned with a shake of his head.

  Jong Dae hovered his lips over Ji Sung's as he whispered a few words which made her tingle with delight. "Let's continue this in my house."

  He gave her one last kiss on her forehead before readjusting her in his arms and walking across the road to the house he rented when he came to Seoul to study. He completely denied any requests from her to put her down and made her take the keys out of his jacket pocket instead. She struggled at first because she was laughing at him and his lame attempt at being a 'gentleman' by carrying her into the house.

  "Jonggie! Put me down!" Ji Sung squirmed but Jong Dae was far too strong for her.

  He shushed her quickly, "Don't be too loud or else someone else might hear us!" He was trying to sound stern, but his laughter got the better of him.

  She finally got the frustratingly little key into the frustratingly little key hole, turning it clockwise with her slim fingers. As soon as she turned the door knob, he manoeuvred the two of them into the house, with her clinging onto him tightly because of his sudden movement, and in a blink of an eye, his right foot had already kicked the door shut, shutting them out of the world and into their own.

 

  But outside Jong Dae's house, behind a pine tree, hid someone who witnessed the whole scene. The question is, was that person a friend or a foe? 

 

 

---

  

 

  Tears were shed, feelings were conveyed, love was made. Two hearts and bodies combined and came together as one. Inseparable, yet so separable. Hurt, yet not torn. They both longed for the morning to never come, that the night would go on forever. But time can't be stopped. And for them, it was running out.

  Ji Sung stirred in Jong Dae's arms. Both of them were exhausted, and it was safe to say that they stayed up all night. They made love and talked and neither of them could ask for more because they were together and nothing else mattered. It wasn't until around 4 in the morning did the two of them start to doze off. Around that time, they started to notice that they were blabbering about nonsensical things. It was as if they were drunk, drunk for each other's love. Just like any drunk person, their movements became sloppy and their words, slurred.

  That was when she started to cry again.

  "Stop crying," she muttered to herself inaudibly. "Crying won't solve anything, Ji Sung. You're so stupid, so stupid." She began hitting her head as the tears returned to her eyes. Her actions seemed to snap Jong Dae out of his 'drunken' state, causing him to grab both of her hands and pin them on top of her head. 

  He rolled on top of her, leaned down and kissed away her tears slowly, softly and gently. "Crying won't solve anything, but let it all out. It helps, so cry, and don't hold back."

  She avoided his gaze and turned her head. "But I'm acting like a big cry baby and wouldn't you find it annoying or-"

  "Hey," he let go of her hands and tilted her chin towards him. "I love you, okay? I will never get annoyed by you as long as you love me. The day that I will be annoyed by you would be the day that you leave me alone to walk this earth. And even then, I don't think I'll stop loving you. Nothing will stop me from loving you."

  "But we still have to-"

  His expression turned into one of disgust and pain. He didn't need reminding that they would have to part their ways when the morning comes. "We'll talk about it later. You need your sleep now, just rest and cry if you have to."

  She nodded and wiggled into his arms, sighing in content when he embraced her from the back. She allowed herself a few tears, but no more than that. Jong Dae noticed and couldn't help but to wonder after all they had been through,

  why her?

  Why him?

 

  Why them?

 

 

 "Morning, sleepyhead." Jong Dae whispered from behind her. Those were the first two words she heard when she woke up, and she treasured them. She treasured them dearly, because there will be no more whispered conversations in the morning with him. This was their last.

  She turned around to face him, and like any other morning when they woke up beside each other, she messed up his hair then raked her fingers through it, attempting to straighten and tidy it up again but failed. Jong Dae pouted, and he treasured these moments. He treasured them dearly, because there will be no more hair messing in the morning with her. This was their last.

  "So..." He trailed off, hands on her hips as he turned her whole body around to face him. Jong Dae gazed at her morning face. Her hair dishevelled, her eyes still slightly closed but her gaze was still gentle, caring and calming. He immediately knew that he'll miss this. He'll miss her. He returned her gaze with the corner of his lips turned upwards, "Any tips on resisting the urge to kiss you and hold you in my arms when we..." He gulped.

  "Well," Ji Sung started to draw circles on his chest, and Jong Dae recognised the message the gesture was sending: she was nervous. She did it a lot in the past when she first started dating him. "I was thinking, maybe... Just maybe, if I somehow managed to get good grades, somehow, then maybe we could... I don't know..."

  "Start seeing each other again?" He chuckled softly, finishing his sentence for her. Ji Sung and Jong Dae shared a mutual relationship, and neither of them doubted that, because they've known each other for so long and that was what time had given them. It was as if they could read each other's minds, without magic and crystal balls, but magical in another way, in their own unique and special way.

  He played with a strand of her hair, adding to her nervousness, which was building up because of reasons unknown even to her. "My dad only talked about our finals so..." She looked up at him, an unsure look written all over her face. She was unsure whether he will still be willing to take her back after all of the tears she had caused him and all of the pain that he had suffered. She was unsure whether he will still be in love with her after a few months of separation. But a small part of her was confident that he will still love her, because that is just how Jong Dae is. The other, bigger part of her was simply unsure.

  "You know that I'll still love you, right? I don't want you to have a single doubt in your mind about that. Just focus on your studies, and don't think about me-"

  "But-"

  "I know it'll be hard, but try your best. Then before you know it, finals will be over, and our relationship will go back to normal." He smiled softly, thinking about all of the dates they would go on because of their huge amount of free time after their finals.

  "But-"

  "Yes, I know that our relationship is not normal, but what I meant to say is that we will go back to how we were again." Jong Dae saw a glint of sadness flashing in her eyes. He knew what she was thinking and what she desired strongly, but they could never have it.

  "Don't worry too much about that, okay? All you need to remember is that I will love you and only you and I will never leave you." Jong Dae finished, he pulled her even closer and her back lovingly.

  "Promise?" Ji Sung met his eyes again and held out her pinkie for him to shake.

  He shook his head knowingly, "My Sunggie, always thinking ahead and worrying herself." He mumbled to himself. He didn't even bother to shake her pinkie, rather, he gave her a peck on her cheek, one that lasted longer than normal pecks, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. 

  And with that, she believed him. For she knew that he wouldn't throw everything they had away, not after everything they've been through. Not after all of the tears they had shed. Not after all of the pain they had suffered. Not after all of the sacrifices they made. They were bonded in a special way, and not a lot of people would understand their relationship if they knew about it. 

  

  After all, you need to be hurt before you can truly feel and truly appreciate happiness (the factors that vary are how much pain one has to tolerate and how much pain one can withstand).

---

{ A/N }

second chapterrrrr! :) i wanted to post this yesterday but i couldnt finish it in time cos i ended up reading fanfics instead of writing lol BUT good news is that i plan to update this fic more often (once in two weeks maybe?) when school starts (next monday T.T)

PS i finally found out how to use the autorcorrect thing ahaha

PPS I hope that the chapters aren't too long or anything~ if it is then pls tell me hehe

bye readers and hope you enjoyed~