[CONTENTID1]Another Side, Another Story III[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Cloudy dreams

He had this dream for the past week. Jaejoong wasn't a ert but he sure felt like one now-- not when his dream was inebriated with a girl that he often put on the same step as his younger sister. He was slowly losing himself to vortex of madness.  

He tried to ignore the dreams he had of Suzy but the harder he tried, the more brighter the images glared back at him.

"Hyung look," Junsu said, "Joongie hyung is in his dream world again."

They were back in their favourite noodle shop for early morning breakfast. The boisterous noise of people chatting and slurping their food muffled in the backgrounds. The clanking of chopsticks died away, because Jaejoong was preoccupied with only one thing in his mind: Kang Suzy.

He thought he held her close to his arms one day. She was so close to him, that he remembered the floral scent of her perfume wafting through his nose. That wasnt all-- he dreamt that they were locked into a chained embrace, lips searching each other in a fervent manner.

He cringed at the thought. His fingers trembled. An ominous rhythm encased his heart. He berated himself for the lecherous dreams. He felt sincerely dirty because he enjoyed it.

Never before had he visioned Suzy more than a sister. She was off limits to him. He never even found her attractive but now, his mind raced with frantic thoughts when he recalled the softness of her features. His mouth flashed dry and his breath refused to push past his throat.

Yoochun sighed and rolled his eyes. "I concur that it is termed 'contemplation'. Use more judicious phrases, Junsu."

Junsu scratched the tip of his nose. "What's that mean?"

There was something insidiously lacking in the dreams. Jaejoong's emotions sprung to life each time his eyelids closed. He knew there was more to the whole story. There was a reason why the dream replayed every time he slept. It was not just an illusion.

On no, it was a memory. In the hazy mist of his mind, he reminisced a drunken stupor that possessed him, with Suzy's petite frame in the circle of his grasp.

He stood abruptly from his chair, pulling his phone out of his trouser pocket. He loosened his tie, blazer in one hand, and he stalked his way out of the shop while ignoring Junsu and Yoochun's prying stares.

It was a chilly morning and it was still dark. The faint shadows of stars flickered in the pewter sky. The city was still encapsulated in blanket of sleep. It was waiting to breathe once it's inhabitants were woken from their enchantments.

With quivering fingers, Jaejoong swallowed audibly as he dialled a number into the screen of his phone. He pressed the specimen to his ear, eyes searching the wisps of clouds above his head.

His heart drummed against his chest like a ticking time bomb. Half of him wished for no answer, the other half was driven by persistence.

After what seemed like an eternity, he heard her breathe through the other end.

"S-Suzy," he stammered, afraid that he would collapse if she should say anything. "How are you?"

"...I can't talk right now, oppa-"

"Wait!" Jaejoong intercepted, "Please...I need to talk to you." He needed to know. She had witnessed a side of him that was normally constricted to the edges of his mind. He had chained that jealous fragment of his personality away because it bolstered his insecurity.

"Listen to me," he said, "I remember what happened, and Suzy, I'm so sorry."

There was a sharp gasp from her part. "E-e-everything?"

"Not much, but..." He closed his eyes. Remorse seeped through him and restricted him from living.  "I remember...kissing you."

A palpable silence clung in the air. It infuriated his patience but at the same time, he was certain that his dreams were more than just dreams. Her quiescence was witness to that.

She sniffled, and he didn't know why his heart broke into two. He had the sudden urge to locate her, wherever she may be, and hide her in the darkness of his embrace.  

"Do you remember what I've told you?" Suzy asked feebly.

"What? What did you tell me?"

"I don't need to tell you again, oppa..." She choked back a sob. There was a click at the other end of the line. She was gone.

"Suzy!"

He frowned at her reply but he pondered to himself. Did he truly wish to know? Fear overtook his senses. He could never perceive Suzy as just a girl again. A part of him was angry at her for kissing him. He was to blame as well. He failed as a brotherly figure for her.

He had watched her grow. He had primed himself into someone that she would confide with. Yet now, he didn't understand why his heart was treacherous.

He needed to clear any misunderstandings between them. The broken strings of their relationship strummed through him like a mournful melody.

In frustration Jaejoong slammed his blazer against the concrete, ignoring the estranged glares sent his way from passersby.

He didn't know why a solitary tear trickled down his cheek. He didn't know why it hurt.

Forget Me Not.

Rage. That was the only emotion that surged through his veins. It was a fiery substance that burned his heart to ashes, and charred his insides into black soot. It drove him to the brink of hatred. The mere thoughts of Suzy left him feeling angry and hurt inside.

Chanyeol ignored Halla’s attempt at trying to talk to him. His best friend will never know him truly. Actually, Chanyeol didn’t know himself either. It was strange to wake up every morning and stare into the face that was nothing but a stranger to him.

Everytime he hurt Suzy, he was swept over by a wave of remorse. He didn’t know what led him to mocking her. She befriended that idiot, Lee Sungyeol, over him. Chanyeol was the one who helped her. He even dared to proceed further and bully Yifan and his gang just for Suzy.

He was attracted to her. That was the truth. He should have refrained himself from telling Sungyeol about his true intentions. Little did he know that the sunbae would spill out all his secrets like a sack of falling beans. It hurt the most when Suzy rejected him for the ball. Watching her dance with a stranger last night set his heart alight with crimson anger.

Slowly, he ped his schoolbag in the hours of dawn, and pulled out the notes that Suzy’s tutor had written. The writing was tragically unruly but who was Chanyeol to complain? Most intelligent men had terrible dexterity anyway.

“Hello,” Halla claimed, waving a hand over his face. “Earth to Yeollie. What’s the matter with you? Why did you treat Suzy that way at the ball?”

Chanyeol blinked and glanced at her. “Because I wanted to.”

Halla gathered the air into her cheeks and huffed. “She’ll never like you if you do that! Don’t you see Sungyeol? You should learn some tips from him.”

His heart clenched in his chest. He sent her a pejorative glare but Halla was left unfazed. She merely smirked at him as if to provoke him further.

“Don’t compare me