[CONTENTID1]ADDICTED TO CHOCOLATE[/CONTENTID1]

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

[CONTENTID3]

She had been getting dreamless sleeps for the past few days. It was unusual because whenever her head fell on the soft mound of her pillow, she slipped into a realm of sleep. When she woke up, Suzy rarely recalled what thoughts fizzled through her mind while she snored away for eight hours. She was too tired to think, too tired to even dream anymore.

The truth about Luhan was not welcoming at all. She wanted to reach out to him, but he distanced himself even more. Her heart ached when she remembered how freely his tears dribbled down his cheeks. He appeared so morose and miserable; she wanted to throw her arms around him to ameliorate his sadness but it was all in vain.

Luhan was a werewolf, and that frightened her. Contrary to superstitious belief, getting bitten by one would not turn the victim into a werewolf in the future. Hence, Woohyun would not be affected, although the latter did disappear when he friends woke up late afternoon. A month passed since that encounter but it all seemed like it happened yesterday.

The kiss as well...though she hated to admit it, Woohyun was a good kisser.

Suzy sighed, but almost jumped when her phone rattled against her desk that morning. She  glanced at the caller and a smile crossed her lips.

“Hello?”

“Suzy! How’re you?” Sungyeol’s voice buzzed through static. “Do you know what day it is today? Okay, I won’t keep you guessing but it’s Valentine’s day! I’m wondering if you’re up for a salsa class this evening? I was looking at a few classes and it seemed fun and I thought I should break it to you.” He stopped to catch his breath. “Anyways, I’d like you to go to salsa classes with me.”

Her heart pounded against her chest. Of course, she had forgotten all about Valentine’s day. She wondered why Sungyeol called her. A month passed since he first woke up but he was still on the way to full recovery. The doctors had to keep an eye on his vital functions before they would let him perform any strenuous activities.

Suzy chewed on her bottom lip. “Umh...I...shouldn’t you be resting, Sungyeol?”

His laughter almost deafened her so she had to pull the phone away from her ear.  “Yeah, you’re right, which is why I asked Myungsoo to take my place.”

“Oh, okay.” She paused. “Wait-- what?”

“Basically, I’ll be taking you to salsa but Myungsoo will be dancing in my place."

"A-and you've asked him about this?" Suzy refrained from rolling her eyes. she should have expected such rambunctious behaviour from Sungyeol.

He snickered at the other end. "Well I didn't ask him yet but he knows I want to take you out for Valentine's day-- as a friend of course."

Her heart dropped in her stomach. "And the others?"

"They're cool with it. What do you say? You. Me. Myungsoo. Tonight?"

"...I guess."

She was unsure. A ludicrous image of Myungsoo swinging his hips with his infamous apathetic expression invaded her mind. Suzy resisted the urge to laugh.

Besides, she had more important matters to attend to that morning.  She and Jieun had asked Yoona to accompany them to Taekwoon's house and give them a lift to his old orphanage. Suzy was determined to find out the origins of Taekwoon's behavioural problems.

As she trekked out of the apartment, a familiar tingling echoed behind her. It was a sunny morning, despite the chill that crept into the crevices in the buildings. Wisps of smoky clouds flitted across the sky.

She glanced over her shoulder and a smile crossed her lips. Jungkook brought his bicycle to a halt next to her. When he beamed, it was as if the whole world was ignited by a gigantic light bulb.

"Good morning, noona," he said.

"Good morning,  Jungkook."

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. A timid flush coloured his cheeks. It bolstered his adorable face.

"Noona, are you doing anything today?" he asked, or Suzy thought he mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm going to bring Taekwoon to his orphanage," she replied.

She wondered how she could coax her bodyguard into going. She had not mentioned the plan to him.

Jungkook frowned. "But noona, it's Valentine's day."

Suzy chuckled. "I know but I forgot."

"Oh...I wanted to take you somewhere-- you know...as a friend," he stammered. His face was so red, she thought he would evaporate into thin air.

Her heart fluttered. "Oh...you can always join us if you want. I'm sure Yoona'll have space in the car."

"Really?" He broke into a wide smile.

-

"Taekwoon was always very quiet. We were a group of six, and I was the only girl. The other boys protected me as if I was their sister. I felt the closest to Taekwoon. He was different than the rest, observant and calculating."

Jieun paused  as Yoona drove her Honda round the bend. Suzy gazed at her friend through the passenger mirror. Jieun's eyes quivered with an unusual sentiment.

Jungkook scratched his head. "Noona's bodyguard's an orphan? That's...sad."

"When did he start showing behavioural traumas?" Yoona asked.

They now roamed the outskirts of Seoul, where the houses stood on higher ground. Trees towered over them, riddled with cherry blossoms that swirled in the sky when the wind pulled the flowers from the buds.

Suzy tried to imagine Jieun's scenario in her head. A pang of jealousy hit her. She wondered what life would have offered if she had the chance to be Taekwoon's childhood friend.

"He was very young," said Jieun. "It was unconventional. It was as if he had three people living inside him: a Frenchman, Hyde and just Taekwoon."

"That sounds scary," Jungkook croaked.  He shivered with the fear of the unknown.

Jieun nodded.  "I was scared but the boys found it funny."

"Why is it that he can't remember you?" Suzy questioned.

She clung to fleeting hope that Jieun lied to her, that her story was a farce and nothing more. Her hands rubbed her arms and she berated herself for the jealousy that pulled her into a pit of darkness.

Jieun may have been the most quiet and enigmatic in her group of friends, but she was also someone that Suzy tried to protect. Her fragile personality frightened her. It was as if Jieun was a porcelain doll, ready to shatter if placed into the wrong hands.

Her friend stared at her hands and clenched the hems of her frilly, floral skirt. Eyes glimmered like a dark lake under the glare of the sun.

"When he turned into Hyde, he set off to hurt me but...he knew that, so he banged his head against the wall."

Jungkook snorted but hurriedly composed himself when Yoona shot him a glare.

Suzy shut her eyes. She placed herself in Taekwoon's position. She felt the pain that he must have experienced, scorching and electrifying. It fizzled down her skull, throbbing against her jaws and pulsing in her neck.

"He lost all recollection of me afterwards," Jieun continued in a low, inaudible voice. "I was adopted before I told him anything else. When I saw he became your bodyguard, Suzy, I thought it must have been fate. I wanted to remind him of the past."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I saw something else too. I'm just his past, but Suzy-" Jieun met her gaze in the mirror. "You're his present."

-

Yoona pulled the car to a narrow alley, and just outside steps that led to an array of congested apartments. Walls were decorated with impressive graffiti. Clothes hung from lines up high.  There was a strange homely attribute to it.

"Well." Yoona glanced at Suzy. "Wanna go and collect your hunk of junk?"

Jungkook scrambled to get his seatbelt off. "I'll go with you noona! This place seems dangerous."

"Ah no, Jungkook. Thanks but stay here," replied Suzy.

She stepped out of the car. To her dismay, Jungkook followed her up the stairs to VIXX's household. She refrained from slapping a palm across her forehead. Jungkook puffed his chest, straightened his posture and held out his arms like some bouncer at a club. He pretended to scrutinise the vicinity like how Taekwoon always does.

Suzy wished the boy would stop exceeding his own expectations and learn to be content with himself. She opened to encourage him but h