► Choi S e o h e e :

So I forced ‘Jonghyun’ to go shopping with me.

Well, more like he forced me into going with him when he got all excited about it, but it was something I wanted to do, so I complied. Sitting in the moving carriage now, I listened as ‘Jonghyun’ yapped on about all the new brands that defined his life, but zoned out completely when I imagined myself dressing up, doing my hair, applying cosmetics. I wasn’t too sure if the outcomes were going to turn out fine, but I didn’t let the thought stop me. Being able to hang out with new people sounded like fun. Lapsing into another daydream, I tried to think back to the last time I had been invited to a party. Nothing came to mind. Perhaps I had never been to one. But when I remembered the state I was in, it occurred to me that maybe I had, but forgot.

As soon as we got off the train, it took only a few steps from the station before I realised the intricately designed edifice that was just in front, looming over us. Key’s face immediately brightened. He didn’t hesitate to flash his pearly whites at me, pushing me towards the building, literally, which stood undisturbed despite all the people in the heart of the town square.

My eyes traversed the site, not being able to take everything in at once. The path leading up to the entrance was wide, bordered by rows of plants and little children with ice creams in their hands. ‘SCS’ was what the huge, blocked letters along the top of the revolving doors read. I couldn’t figure out what the initials meant, so I asked ‘Jonghyun’, who then told me the ‘Shopping Centre of Seoul’. I understood immediately.

We stepped inside, and the first thing I realised was how bustling with life the building was. It was like a heat wave hit me, and I went all dreamy inside. Men in suits, families, elders and children, people of all kinds, roamed the area. Catching the numerous plights of escalators that scaled the building, I became aware of the fact that we were only on the first level, but as we travelled deeper into the building, I noticed also all the different stores and accessory windows that dotted the walls. Every item on display looked as though it was coated in gold, but I refrained from sticking my head into every window we passed.

Mesmerised, I wanted to find out more about the stores on the second story and so pivoted on my feet to make a run for the escalators, but before I could get past my second step, ‘Jonghyun’ had pulled me into a store. The store was bright, colour co-ordinated and divided into three sections, each crammed pack with branded clothing and heels that sat on shelves jutting out from the walls. It didn’t take me long to notice the fragrance of leather that wafted through the shop, either.

“SEOHEESEOHEESEOHEE! SEOHEE! DOESN’T THIS SHIRT SUIT ME SO MUCH?!” He exclaimed, reeling me out of dreamland. I shifted my gaze to him as he grabbed the hot pink, buttoned shirt out from the trolley of clothing racks and placed it in front of his slim body. I couldn’t think of an honest opinion, and for a moment, I had thoughts that he could be… 

Gay.

No, he couldn’t be…

Could he?

But when my mind refused to think anymore, I pushed out any thoughts of ‘Jonghyun’ being gay and moved towards the girl’s section.
 

✰✰✰

Ransacking the whole store, I finally found an acceptable, silky white dress that suited my intentions. The bodice of the dress was mono-coloured and layered in immaculate folds, trimmed to correspond to the strap that ran across the right shoulder, its waistline accompanied by a chalky belt that seemed as though it would wrap beautifully around its owner’s body. Not too casual, and not too ty. I draped it over my arms and searched for a vacant fitting booth. Finally stumbling upon one, I went inside and locked the door, before propping in front of the mirror and matching the dress carefully against my body. The dress flowed elegantly to the spot just above my knees. I immediately decided to try it on, not realising that ‘Jonghyun’ might have had still been waiting for me outside.

Oh, wait, he was too busy caring about his own image, nevermind.

Stripping myself down, I slipped on the dress and admired how it hugged my physique perfectly. I turned around in it, completely satisfied with what I had found (without the help of fashionista ‘Jonghyun’, may I add) until I took my dress off and, during the process, noticed a black mark on my back. I stepped closer to the mirror, investigating the peculiar blotch I had never seen in my life before. It was about the size of my palm. It began with a thin tail, and then continued onto two outspread bodies, which to me looked like a pair of wings, until it met in swirls again where it ended, just slightly above my right shoulder blade. I noticed it was in the form of a butterfly.

Butterfly… tattoo?

It seemed too familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, so I ignored it for now, more important matters on my mind. I walked out of the booth, wearing the same clothing I wore earlier to school and went to the counter to pay for my clo–

I didn’t have any money on me.

I had to look for ‘Jonghyun’ first, so he could pay, I thought. So I threw the dress onto the counter and said to the lady in indigo, “Please keep this here for me while I look for someone. Okay, thank you!” before running outside.

“Jonghyun! Jonghyun! Where are you?!” I shouted, waiting for a reply. But when I realised how stupid I had been, given that I was yelling in the middle of nowhere in a crowded shopping centre, I resorted to silently searching. I ran around the whole block, inhaling, exhaling. 

► Jang  S o r a :

It was so hard trying to find new clothing to wear for my birthday party tonight. Stupid shopping centre, just had to be so crowded, didn’t it? I felt the heat rush to my face as I crossed into another crowded section of the store, and almost boiled alive in all the heaters and body heat. Then, a soft, gooey substance ran onto my cheeks. I hid my face under my bronze locks and wiped the disgusting black liquid off, inspecting my fingers. My mascara. MY MAS-ING-CARA!

I ran towards the nearest bathroom in hope to immediately fix it before I could bump into anyone and humiliate myself, but as I walked out, a girl, who just ran in front of me, was yelling. 

“Jonghyun! Jonghyun! Where are you?!” 

I almost continued to the bathroom, desperate to fix my make up, but wait…

JONGHYUN!?

The pace of my heart accelerated by an extra kilometre per second.

WHAT DOES SHE WANT FROM MY OPPA!?

I examined her features just before she was able to pass me, and something clicked in my head. She was the girl from before, at school. Who was looking for Jonghyun oppa.

, not again.

“YAH! YOU!” I screamed, pointing at her, only to be ignored as she kept sprinting forward.

WHO DOES THIS GIRL THINK SHE IS? LOOKING FOR OPPA AND NOW IGNORING ME.

WHO DARES IGNORE ME?

I followed her quietly, trailing a few metres behind.
 

► K e y :

“Well, hello there, Mr. y. You look fa-bu-lous in everything.”

I winked at the man in the mirror, who was wearing jeans fuchsia coloured at the front and splitting into black towards the back. I stayed a little longer and continued checking out Mr. Gorgeous, only to find that the more I looked, the more I thought that the amazing ripped rose shirt that he was wearing had covered his figure nicely. Especially when it was matched with a white plain v-neck underneath.

“You know, I’d date you… But you’re me. HAH!” I chuckled silently at my jokes. I was just too funny.

Pulling another five 100,000 won notes out of my Gucci wallet, I paid and walked out of the store, adding one more to the pile of colourful shopping bags that overflew in my hands. This was the only time I could shop till I dropped, so I couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste. With Jonghyun around, it never worked out. He would exclaim about how girly shopping was, and would fear to be seen around me at school the next day. He probably felt he was too cool to be seen at the shopping centres or something… having his clothing only sent to him and all. So he banned me from it.

But right now, I LOVED LIFE.

I loved especially my life.

I itched to let Seohee know about all the things I had bought, but when I turned to my side I realised that she wasn’t there anymor– I meant of course I knew she wasn’t there anymore, how could I forget about Seohee. After all, she was the one who gave me the opportunity to shop. Of course I would remember h–

“OH MY GAAAAAAAAAH! THAT IS THE ONE AND ONLY SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION LEATHER JACKET! I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE. RIGHT NOW.” And I ran into the store without a second thought, like I was some crazy man because the shopkeeper had looked me funny in the eye. I continued nonetheless to squeal in delight, sprinting towards the display. My face stuck and squished onto the glass, disorienting my whole face. At this time, I couldn’t care less about how I looked, I JUST NEEDED TO BUY THAT.

I felt like I stared so hard at the jacket, as though it was enough to burn holes into the glass, until a deep, monotonous voice broke my concentration. “Excuse me sir, but you will have to remove your face off the display glass immediately.” It was a security guard.

“NOOOOO! I’M HERE TO BUY IT!”

But before I could say another word, I was dragged away by the security guard from the special limited edition jacket I had my eyes on my whole life. I had to get it.

As I was thinking up of another way to sneak into the store, the security man appeared in my way again. I pretended to walk away. But I probably looked too shifty, so he chased me. When I finally lost him in the men’s bathroom, I returned to the shop as sneakily as I could and threw myself to the counter. I shoved my hands into my pocket containing my wallet and took all my money out, slamming it onto the table. “GET ME THAT LEATHER JACKET. RIGHT NOW.”

The saleslady jumped a bit, but my bluntness got her to power walk straight towards the case. I monitored her every step, my gaze easing only a little when she pulled out a simple, silver key with a lanyard attached to it. She inserted the small figure into the lock and turned it until she had heard a small click. She took the leather jacket in her grasp and carefully approached the desk. I tapped my finger on the counter impatiently as she laid down the piece of clothing – my piece of clothing – and wrapped it up with care.

“Thank you, sir. Please have a nice day.” Her voice sounded croaky, as if she was ill.

With the jacket in my arms now, I made it for the exit, scanning the area before leaving again in case the security guard had returned and decided to take my precious baby away from me. But when I realised that the coast was clear, I picked up my feet and disappeared from the scene.

Gallivanting around the rest of the level now, trying to take in the whole panoramic scene of y clothing that was laid out in front of me, I smiled. All this gorgeous collection of clothing, waiting to jump onto my body. But sorry girls (referring to all the clothing), I already have my darlings with me. I used all my muscles and brought the shopping bags in my hands to my torso, shaking them in sync with my head.

Pleased with myself, I swung my arms as I walked joyfully, with the millions of bags set in my clammy hands. My new, wonderful clothes. YESSSSSS BABY. So this was what it felt like to shop again after being put two weeks on hold. I continued to smile like a person on Botox when the crowd diverged and two figures came running my way. The first was a built guy, adorned in a boring, black outfit; behind him was someone half his size, chasing.

Someone was trying to rob an innocent girl’s bag.

► ??? :

I was happily shopping, until I was met with an unfriendly presence behind me. I swiftly turned around, hoping to prove my instincts wrong, when some middle-aged man swept up from behind and tried to snatch my bag off me. I shut my eyes tensely when the moment hit, and pulled attempting to get it back from the guy. I knew screaming out for help wouldn’t work with a person like me, so I fought the fear of having to handle this by myself and continued to battle it out with him. After all, I had grown up with supernatural strength. But when my flowing, hazel-coloured hair, which fell neatly half way down my back just a second ago, entangled with the strand on my bag, the tables turned to favour the robber. A torturing sensation reached my scalp every time he tugged with force onto my bag, so I let go.

I fell onto my knees, watching as my whole life collapsed and ran away with the robber. All the information I needed for settling into this new city was contained in that bag. I was too indulged in pain and worry to realise the crowd that had started to form around me, but when a boy, who seemed to be around my age, approached me, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get it back. Just keep all my clothing safe, okay?” He said, in the most lilting yet sweet voice I have ever heard. He threw down all his bags and flooded me in it. 

The boy ran all the way to the robber, quicker than lightning, and tackled him down before he could reach the bend leading to the escalators. From where I stood I heard the robber scream, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” only to be lashed out back at in a voice even louder by the boy, “GIVE THE BAG BACK TO THE GIRL”. He took my handbag from him. My hero–

Wait, no, actually, I take that back.

The robber threw the boy a punch, and he landed flat on the ground.

► Choi S e o h e e :

I found a nearby bench beside the railing of the second story and sat down on it to rest my poor feet. With my dress, cardigan and heels in the shopping bags that sank to the floor in front of me, my shopping fever had finally come to an end. I undid the zipper of the pocket on my jacket – well, 'Jonghyun's' jacket, the one he lent to me before we left the house because I was feeling cold – and wedged my hands into it, pulling out the remaining coins and notes which I discovered only after setting off. He must have had forgotten to empty it since his last outing... so I used the money, without asking him.

Then, I heard a loud commotion coming from the level below me.

I shot up in shock and ran to the open space behind me to see what was going on. A crowd had formed, and some girl broken down to her knees was in the centre of it. I grabbed my bags and limped to the escalators. My thighs burned with all the shopping I had done, but I was just too curious about what was happening. With fleeting steps, I eventually made it to where all the turmoil was taking place. Walking towards the crowd, I pushed my way through, shoving everyone to the side and noticing–

“JONGHYUN?!” I yelled, my jaw instantly dropping.

But he seemed to be too preoccupied with another customer in front of some store to hear me. Knocking down people in my way, I got myself to the front and tried to get a better picture of how and why ‘Jonghyun’ was a part of this mess. At first I thought maybe the two were snatching over the newest handbag in the store or something, and wanted to swerve to quietly leave and wait until they were done… but then the guy punched ‘Jonghyun’ in the face.

Hard.

My mouth proceeded to being shaped into a big circle when I realised just how shocking the scene in front of me was. The crowd ooh-ed and ah-ed. On cue, the guy stood. He cursed under his breath, seemingly still lusting for the large, amethyst handbag that was sandwiched and suffocating in between the weak arms of ‘Jonghyun’. I cringed at the image, my gaze following his abrupt movement as his hands sneaked into his back pocket and tried to pull out something sharp and shiny.

It was a knife.

“WATCH OUT!”

And before I knew it, the shopping bags were dropped to my feet and I was on the battle field, throwing punches and kicking the guy. My body moved like it had been trained to do it all my life. I didn’t know why, but whatever it was doing, I kept it up. My mind was filled with the image of a hurt 'Jonghyun'; and all I could think about  right now was protecting him. I flew and planted a high kick onto his face, causing him to spew out a mixture of saliva and blood. When he tried to get me back, instinctively, I dodged and li–

Wait.

What did I just do!?

► Jang  S o r a :

Oh… crap.

That girl was good. She threw another punch into the guy’s stomach as I watched from the level above, drawing saliva from his mouth. Yuck. As he tried to grab for her hair, she side stepped and twisted his arm into a lock behind his back, then pushing him away again to release him. Immediately, the guy was at a disadvantage.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

► K e y :

It… hurt…

Barely able to roll onto my stomach, the handbag still in my embrace, I opened my sore eye and spotted Seohee. She rocked back and forth on her toes like a machine with moves on replay (cue music XD), and was beating the crap out of the robber. Punch, kick, dodge. Punch, kick, dodge. Then lift. Wow. She was good.

Really. Really. Good.

Like… amazing.

But not as amazing as me.

She recovered pretty fast for someone who was clearly injured the night before, too. Like, I didn’t even know Seohee could do all that.

Amidst all the commotion, I then realised that the owner to this handbag had migrated to a corner and was still trembling in fear, though amazed as she watched the fight. I crawled to the wall and got to my feet, almost crying out in pain as I hobbled over to the girl and returned her the bag. She was shocked to see my arrival. As I extended my arm to hand it over to her though, my arm that felt like jelly caused a folder along with a pile of papers to slip out. I was amazed to see that it was a bunch of forms; I bent down to help her quickly pick everything up, when my eyes met coincidentally with the three words that attached themselves to the top of the folder.

“Pyeong… Moon High?”

She jumped after hearing my voice, gathering all her documents into a bundle about her arms before I could do anything else. Then she bowed down to me ninety degrees three times as she retreated, and before I could ask for her name, she had already vanished from the scene.

► Jang  S o r a :

The crowd of customers behind me continued to cheer, as the girl maneuvered another foot into the face of the thief. He withdrew himself, probably trying to think of a better way to handle the situation, but before he could have done it, she pulled his right arm over her shoulder and flipped him. His face made contact with the ground first, and by the looks of it, he had passed out. The security guards came, one pulling the thief away, the other the girl.

Game over.

► K e y :

Unable to find the right emotion that settled in my heart as I watched her petite figure grow to a speck in the distance, I turned around to see Seohee being pulled away by a security guard.

SECURITY GUARD? OMG WHAT DO I D–

But then the crowd dispersed, and I realised that the security guard this time was someone different. I stopped hiding and moved as quickly as my legs allowed to Seohee’s side, one hand over my bruised eye. When I arrived the security guard cast me a glance, but then ignored me and went on to asking Seohee questions about… well, a lot of things.

“What’s your name?” He put a pen to the notepad that was cupped in his huge hands.

“C-Choi… Seohee…”

“Age?”

Seohee froze on the spot. Given her situation, she wouldn’t have a clue. So I looked at her overall appearance in the corner of my eye and estimated. “Twel– I mean six–" I figured she looked my age. "–nah seventeen.” Chhyeah, I saved her .

The security guard stopped writing at the break of my voice. “And you are…?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Her… her…” I was about the say brother, or guardian, something along those lines, but Seohee’s sudden tugging on my sleeves made me blurt out “boyfriend”.

The security guard challenged the gaze in my eyes. Slowly, I s my arm around Seohee’s waist, and finally he decided to trust me. Seohee shot me a look, but played along too when we both let out an awkward laugh in unison.

"Address?"

"We're living together in..." and then I went on to giving him the specific details, all the while making sure my voice sounded as calm as possible.

He then ripped a paper from his notepad and shoved it in my face.

A fine of 50,000 won for disrupting public grounds…

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?

Inside, I cried.

► Jang  S o r a :

The crowd of customers retreated on the first floor when the security guards came. When they cleared like a tornado had hit their path and the section in front of the store had emptied, light from the open ceiling shone through and showered on the first floor. I finally got a clearer view of the site, and searched hectically for my oppa. In doing this, I made sure I had my eyes on the girl as she returned to her shopping bags, next to a mountain of others, perfectly unharmed.

Concluding that my oppa never appeared at the scene and feeling slightly at rest, I wanted to withdraw my weary eyes, when suddenly some guy, whose face was covered and back was to me so I couldn’t see who, slid smack bang into her side. I was interested so I kept spying. Some time passed and all they seemed to be doing was answering the security guard’s questions, but my eyes widened when he placed her arm around her waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. I paid extra attention as they laughed something off and resumed speaking with the security guard.

Ommomomo, so she already had a boyfriend!?

Deep down inside, I suddenly felt relieved that she did, only because then it would have meant that the chance between Jonghyun oppa and I was restored. So maybe our relationship wasn’t as threatened as I thought it would be. But when my brain decided to take the fact an alternative way, it was like a cold wave washed over me and I shuddered. The thought of the girl having an affair while trying to hook up with my Jonghyunnie crossed my mind. I bit my lip.

Eventually I swung around in defeat, pushing aside the number of thoughts that continued to swirl and then clash in the cavity of my head. I was pissed, and I felt a headache coming on. Not wanting to spend any more time observing the girl and her partner, I involuntarily slumped to my knees to get the shopping bags at my feet–only to find that my hands were sweeping air. I realised I hadn’t gotten any shopping done for my party tonight, and all the stores were getting ready to close. My make-up was still running and undone. I stomped my feet in fury, and my heels cracked. I freaking yelled.

FM to the L.

✰✰✰

A/N: OMGGGGGGGGGGG CONGRATULATIONS YOU GUYS, YOU JUST WENT THROUGH 4,000 WORDS WORTH OF TEXT ASKASJKASJAKSJAKSJKS. I love you all who made it to the end and still want to read on ;_______; 300+ VIEWS AND 17 SUBSCRIBERS!!  0: 0: -records into diary, hehe-. BUT WHERE ARE ALL THE COMMENTS!? And yeah, Seohee still thinks Key is Jonghyun...................... BUT DW MORE JONGHYUN IS COMING SOON. Anticipate our next chapter yo, and happy reading! ♥ Lots of love, hyukxin and ayshienjulie.

hyukxin ft. ayshienjulie ©