Seungri liked Jung Baekli. She was friendly and smart and gorgeous, according to every single one of his friends.

He was twenty six years old and his mom was already talking about grandchildren. Apparently Baekli's parents were, too.

How long had he been dating Baekli now? Six years? He lost track. Youngbae met Baekli during college and hooked them up like it was nothing. It really was easy to talk to Baekli. She was insanely chill, fun, and Seungri considered her one of his best friends.

But just that. A best friend.

Even when Seungri had been dating Jiyong, he never really considered himself gay. Only after..Jiyong's death could he admit that he didn't have any attraction to girls anymore. 

In reality, he didn't have much of an attraction to men either. Every time he looked at a man he immediately thought, eyes smaller than Jiyong's or taller than Jiyong, too muscular, not delicate looking enough to be Jiyong.

Youngbae and Daesung were the only two people still on earth who knew that Seungri still thought about Jiyong every day.

Nine years. It had been nine years since Seungri's half-Neozakian prince was killed. All of high school, university, and some of real-world working later, and Seungri was no different than he had been as a seventeen-year-old boy. He no longer got himself in trouble and jumped between schools, though - he lost the motivation to do that after Jiyong died.

Baekli didn't know about Jiyong. Nobody other than Daesung and Youngbae mentioned the dragon any more, and when he was mentioned it was very careful and quick. 

It was a crisp January evening when Seungri decided he should probably propose to Baekli. She talked about it frequently, and Seungri knew there was nobody who could be better for him than her. She didn't ask too many questions and that was the way he needed it.

Youngbae was ecstatic when Seungri showed him the tiny box in his suit jacket pocket. Youngbae and his fiancee Amy, a girl from America, both knew Baekli from college and were excited for their old friends.

Seungri felt ty, but that was okay. It was nothing new.

"What are you going to say?" Amy asked as she handed Seungri a glass of water. He was going to a fancy restaurant to propose to his girlfriend, and Amy clearly expected him to be nervous, but he wasn't. Not at all.

"I don't know. The usual," Seungri said, down the water. He turned and looked at his still-mohawked cousin. "What did you say to Amy?"

"That I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her. Duh."

Amy grinned at Youngbae and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry about it too much, Seungri. She'll say yes no matter what you spit out or don't spit out."

"This is a very bad idea," Jiyong grumbled to his uncle as they tied their overpriced ties in a hotel bathroom mirror. "I'm already too antsy to be here. This planet..."

"Do you want to see Seungri or not?" Seunghyun demanded, turning on his nephew and wiping his own lapels fabulously.

Jiyong swallowed hard. He hated the way butterflies fluttered in his stomach, sweat broke out on his hands, and pain stabbed at his heart when Seungri's name was said. "It's been nine years, Seunghyun. He's twenty six! Twenty six! So am I for that matter. He's probably married with kids..." saying that out loud, embarrassingly, made his voice break, and he quickly looked away from his uncle.

"We're trying anyways," Seunghyun said calmly. "He has an eight o'clock reservation and it's currently seven fifty. Do you want to put on eye liner or not?"

Jiyong nodded grimly and took the stick from Seunghyun. "Are we even taking into consideration that he might be on a dinner date?"

"No."

"Okay."

Seungri and Baekli were fast eaters. Neither of them talked much while eating either, since all they ever did was stuff their faces until their plates were empty. It was hardly ten minutes after the food arrived when they were both finished and ready to order dessert.

"So you want dessert do you?" Baekli said with a charming grin. She looked stunning in a knee-length red dress and cherry lipstick, and she never failed to dazzle Seungri. In a very..."wow girlfran you look so cute" kind of way. He almost sighed out loud.

"I do..." he should just do it. "But I have something I want to say first."

Baekli raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "I'm bracing myself. What is it?"

He took a deep breath, looked into her eyes, and slid down onto one knee before her.

Baekli gasped and covered with one hand. "Seungri..."

"Jung Baekli," he said strongly, pulling the small box out of his pocket with steady hands. "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life of you...will you marry me?"

She nodded hurriedly, unable to pry her hand away from . The restaurant burst into applause as Seungri grinned up at her delighted face and slipped the ring onto her finger.

She stood up and reached out for him, so he stood as well, pulling her into a gentle hug as the restaurant continued to clap.

Seungri glanced at the line by the door as he hugged Baekli, scanning down the row of formally dressed smiling people...

His heart nearly stopped.

Seungri felt his entire body freeze up, cover in goosebumps, and then all the blood rushed into his head, making him sweat and his head ache.

There was...

On the other side of the restaurant, standing by the door, were two men with equal expressions of shock and disappointment on their inhumanly perfect faces.

Seungri held onto Baekli a bit longer than she liked so she pushed him lightly. He wobbled backwards into his seat, unable to tear his eyes away from the two people by the door.

"Seungri?"

"Baekli," he turned and looked her very hard in the face. "Please excuse me for a minute. I think I'm hallucinating."

"Sure..."

He leapt to his feet and turned to rush to the men's room as fast as his legs could carry him.

He washed his face in the impossibly luxurious bathroom sink and looked up into his eyes. They looked exhausted. He was exhausted. He started to turn around when he caught sight of the bathroom door opening in the mirror.

His entire world blurred, leaving nothing but the frozen reflection of Kwon Jiyong in the bathroom mirror.

Seungri cried out loud and ran towards the nearest wall, pressing his back against it and covering his face with one hand again. "Get the hell out of my head!"

"Seungri."

It was his voice. It was Jiyong's sm