[FLASHBACK]

 

 

"Can you... stay with me…” he said so suddenly as his deep black eyes zeroed onto hers that made her heart flutter. He looked so lost and so helpless that Youngji can’t help but take a step back in surprise. “…please?” he whispered to her in such a broken voice that Youngji found herself sitting beside him right at that moment.

 

 

They were silent. His hand still gripping tightly on her one wrist as he down another shot of tequila on the table.

 

 

"W-want some?" Jackson asked in a slurred voice then looked at the girl sitting beside her. She was looking at him with those expression he cannot fathom because of the alcohol. "Here. Cheers!" he said as he handed her a glass full of tequila and clinked it with his own shot glass.

 

 

Youngji was still in a daze and her mind is still hazy but nonetheless she accepted the shot glass from him and downed the tequila in one shot.

 

 

"Ugh..." Youngji groaned as the tequila gave a burning sensation. "...why do people like to drink this hellish drink?"

 

 

"Yah! Stop complaining and start drinking more." Jackson handed her a half full bottle of tequila and opened a new bottle for himself and brought it to his lips. "You know some people drink to celebrate. But I...I drink t-to forget everything. EVERYTHING!" he said before drinking from the tequila bottle.

 

 

 

He winced from the burning sensation the tequila brought but he didn't mind. He looked at Youngji and started to laugh.

 

 

She didn't know why he was laughing but with the alcohol clouding her mind, Youngji started to laugh too. They both laughed hysterically with no reason. If someone would see them right now, they might think they've gone bat crazy. When their laughter parade died down, there were tears on Youngji's eyes and Jackson's stomach was hurting from too much laughing.

 

 

Silence.

 

 

 

"Yah..." Jackson called out, breaking the silence between them. His voice may be slurred but it definitely sounded melancholy. "...have you...ever been in love? Does loving s-someone really h-hurts this much, huh?"

 

 

"Me?..." Youngji answered as she reached for the bottle of tequila in front of her. "...I've seen a lot of people cry and get hurt because of that stupid thing called love. I don't want it... getting hurt by someone you love is the last thing I want to feel in this world."

 

 

"You...are...such...a...coward!" Jackson yelled and pointed an accusing finger at her.

 

 

 

"No, I'm not!"

 

 

 

"Yes, you are!"

 

 

 

"No!"

 

 

 

"Yes!"

 

 

 

"I. SAID. I'M. NOT. A. COWARD!" She yelled at the top of her lungs as she fumed in anger.

 

 

 

"PROVE IT THEN!" he shouted back at her.

 

 

 

"I COULD MARRY YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

 

 

 

"THEN MARRY ME!"

 

 

 

"ARASSO, LET'S GET MARRIED NOW!" she answered in her most arrogant tone then got up from the couch they were sitting on.

 

 

 

Jackson also got up from his seat, annoyed not by her answer but by how arrogant she is. Never he had encounter this kind of girl, the only one he can stand without being angry every second.

 

 

 

"Let's go! Let's get married!" he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out from the private booth and out of the bar.

 

 

 

They stumbled and had a difficult time walking due to the alcohol's strong effect. They were not in their right consciousness, not in their normal state of mind. But somehow the two heavily drunk strangers found their way on a small chapel not far away from the hotel.

 

 

 

 

--

 

 

"Hello? Anybody here?" Jackson's voice echoed around the small hall at the middle of the night.

 

 

 

"Yah! Nobody's here! How are we supposed to get married?!" Youngji half-yelled, half-whispered as she scanned the place with heavy lidded eyes.

 

 

 

"Ani...yah! Yah!" Jackson tugged on her arms as they went closer towards the small room with an opened light near the altar. "Look, someone must be in here! Let's go!"

 

 

 

Jackson peeked at the small window outside then saw a man sleeping on the swivel chair. He knocked softly against the window but the man won't even budge.

 

 

"Yah! Is he dead?" Youngji whispered, her eyes rounding in horror.

 

 

"Pabo!" he whispered back to Youngji then went closer to the window. "Jogiyo...hey hey, uncle!" he tried again and this time the man stirred from his sleep and finally woke up.

 

 

"What..." the man turned to look at them and groan in frustration. "What the...Yah, you two youngsters! What are you both doing here at the middle of the night and disturbing my precious sleep?"

 

 

"We're h-here to get married!" Youngji answered slurrily as she hiccuped.

 

 

"You two?" the man narrowed his eyes and snickered at them. "I won't allow a marriage at the middle of the night of two drunk teenagers. Marriage is not a game. Now both of you should go home, sleep and sober up."

 

 

"What? No! We'll get married whenever and wherever we want to." Jackson yelled stubbornly and pulled out his wallet from inside his pocket. He slammed his valid i.d on top of the counter and gave the man a determine look.

 

 

"Look I know you two are--"

 

 

"You'll give us a marriage registration form or else..." Jackson threatened as he grabbed Youngji's hand and pointed across the street where a high cliff is located. "...or else both us will jump off from that."

 

 

"Yes, we'll jum-- What?! You w-want us to jump from that high cliff?”  Youngji's eyes went big and looked helplessly to Jackson. She shook her head to him. "Yah, we'll die if we do that! I don't want to die yet! I still have a bright future ahead of me" she whispered in horror secretly to him.

 

 

"We'll die together… because we are not cowards!" He whispered back at her and looked back at the man with a determined look in his face.

 

 

“Y-yah! These two brat