Author’s Note: I don’t own anything.

/own thoughts/
italics – past lives

Never underestimate your opponent.

Bom wanted to cry. Or scream. Or hit someone. And her brother's smirking face seemed like the perfect target.

"Honestly, Youngbae, you've lost your mind!"

The boy scowled. "No, what I've lost is my sense of reality. I've been so busy trying to get pretty boy away from Dara I completely miss that you have a crazy person following you as well."

Bom's eyes flashed dangerously. "I don't want to talk about that, Youngbae."

"I don't care, Bom. What I do care about is the party tonight. I do not want you going."

"Oh, stuff it, Youngbae."

"Bom!" Youngbae's voice was scandalized.

" I don't know how else to say this to you," she continued, breaking away to root through the fridge. "But it’s not exactly the first time I've had guys being weird around me."

Chaerin let out a snort of laughter as she slid into the stool beside Youngbae. "Oh? Boys who shun sunlight in favor of video games and Dungeons and Dragons don't count, Bom."

Youngbae wisely muffled his snickers when he glanced his sister's darkening face.

"CHAERIN!"

The girl delicately caught the apple projectile thrown at her and wiped it on her sleeve. "She's going, Youngbae."

"No, she's not."

"It’s your fraternity that is holding this party," Bom pointed out.

"Another reason why you can't go."

Chaerin elegantly rolled her eyes. "So you want her to be alone tonight."

Youngbae frowned, "What?"

"Where she can get in all sorts of trouble."

"Yeah!" Bom was quickly catching on. "Like when I accidentally set fire to the microwave."

Youngbae gulped, considering.

"If you let her come, at least you can keep an eye on her."

"Keep an eye on her?"

"Yeah. You can make sure she doesn't set the fraternity house on fire too."

"Chaerin!" Bom protested, "I'm right here!"

Both siblings both ducked the flying food projectiles.

"You do have a point there," Youngbae mused, chewing thoughtfully on his lip. He missed his sister motioning for Bom to go upstairs and change. "Okay. Bom, I guess that you can..."

Turning, his voice trailed off. His sister was nowhere to be found.

"I think it would be safer to just admit defeat, Youngbae," Chaerin's eyes were sparkling with what Youngbae only hoped was a harmless mischief. She sauntered off with a cackle.

Youngbae put his head on the counter, wondering why God would hate him so, to put him in a family full of sisters.

Dara was having a bad day. After inexplicably throwing her philosophy book across the quad, the next thing she could remember was her teacher’s white face peering anxiously into hers.

"What is going on with me?" she kicked the street in her frustration, but only managed to scuff her shoe. She scowled darkly, wiping her bangs out of her eyes. "Am I going insane?"

"You shouldn't talk like that, love."

Dara stiffened, eyes growing wide at the sound of the laughing voice. She whirled around and leapt into the speaker's open arms.

"Jaejoong!"

Jiyong probably shouldn't have followed her, especially now that she was hugging another man. He turned away, disgusted with himself. Yeah, he probably shouldn't have followed her.

Gee, you think?

"Oh, shut up," he muttered, causing some elderly passerby to eye him warily. "I wish that you could just shut up."

Well, I wish that you didn't have your head up your...

"Jiyong?"

Jiyong was saved from coming up with a witty comeback to...what...the voice in his head? His past life? The annoying person who wouldn't leave him alone?

"Jiyong?"

/Oh, right. Person calling my name./

"TOP. What's up?"

The taller boy merely cocked an eyebrow and fell into step beside him.

The silence was stifling. Jiyong d for a conversation topic.

/Like what? Oh, TOP, guess what? I have this slightly obsessive thing living in my subconscious. He wants to use me to 'move on' or bond or something. Isn't that funny/

"So...weather."

Jiyong winced at TOP's narrowed gaze. "What about it?"

"It’s...nice."

A distant crack of thunder sounded. It seemed like nature was laughing at his misfortune.

TOP did his almost smile thing and shrugged as the rain began to downpour. "I guess."

"Yo!"

The pair turned to wait for Seungri, watching as the boy ran up. He threw an arm around both Jiyong and TOP, causing the smaller man to pitch forward. He nearly fell into a rapidly growing puddle.

"Aisht!"

TOP remained quiet.

"So! You two headed to the party tonight?"

Jiyong shrugged half-heartedly. "Frat parties aren't really my thing."

TOP nodded slightly in agreement.

"Darong will be there," Seungri barely managed to hide a grin at his friend's considering frown.

"Lee, how do you know that?"

"TOP, I date her sister. Of course I would know that the whole Park clan is going to be there. Plus, her twin brother's in the frat with me."

Jiyong winced, his mind traveling back to his brief encounter with the scowling boy. "What fun."

"Oh, please, Jiyong. To get with someone like a Park sister, you need to be a man and go out on a limb."

TOP snorted. "And how is it that you managed to get yourself someone like Park Chaerin?"

Seungri shrugged nonchalantly. "Easy. I had my style. I had my connections."

Jiyong laughed. "You probably ended up spilling beer all over her and offering to clean it up."

Seungri smiled, his eyes lighting with mischief. "Nah. I used to date her sister."

"What?"

Seungri let out an 'oomph' as he smashed into the shocked boy.

TOP held up his hands in what he hoped looked like a placating gesture. His eyes were solid ice. "Which sister, Lee?"

Seungri laughed and tried unsuccessfully to wipe his hair out of his eyes. "Does it matter? I'm with Chaerin now. The past is the past. Hakuna Mat--"

His voice died down into a gurgle as TOP grasped the boy by his neck and hoisted him swiftly above his head.

"Which one, Seungri?"

Jiyong knew the answer. "You went out with Dara?"

TOP let him down. Seungri used the brief silence to massage his burning throat.

Seungri lifted his hands, palm up. "I suppose."

"But...why?"

He smiled suddenly, and his teeth flashed in the dim light of the street light. "Because you weren't ready yet."

TOP watched the proceedings with a sense of interested detachment.

Jiyong stared, unnerved by the almost predatory gleam in his friend's darkening eyes. "What?"

Seungri smirked, amused. "You don't remember? You honestly forget?"

A promise in death.

Jiyong gaped. TOP was silent. Seungri threw back his head and roared with laughter.

"You were always afraid to face the truth, Jiyong."

"Coward." The boy's eyes were filled with pain. "Coward! You and Choi both. You have no one to blame for your pain but yourselves."

Jiyong's eyes were dull and blank. "Seungri."

"Don't!" he snarled. "Don't!"

Jiyong fell silent.

"You killed her."

Jiyong's wince of pain did nothing to stop the boy's rage.

"You bastard. You coward." Seungri choked it out, tears beginning to stream from his eyes. "All you had to do was tell the truth."

Jiyong said nothing. Seungri gripped the smaller man by the shirt, lifting him and shaking him, his voice rising with his sorrow.

"All you had to do was TELL THE TRUTH!"

Seungri let Jiyong fall to the ground unceremoniously, turning to grip his sword. He pointed the blunt tip towards his friend.

"You think you have everyone fooled. You think that everyone sees you as some kind of tragic hero. Poor Jiyong. Poor, valiant Jiyong. But I know better."

Jiyong didn't get up. "Seungri..." It was like a plea.

"Why?" his words were harsh, his eyes full of betrayal. "I don't understand. You loved her. Daesung loved her. I loved her."

There was a silence, filled with pain and hurt.

"And you took her away."

"Dara chose--"

"NO!" Seungri swung his arm, putting the blunt edge directly between the Jiyong’s pained brown eyes. Jiyong didn't blink.

"No," the boy's words were spaced and deliberate. "That's bull. Do you understand me? She would never do something like that."

"Seungri, you're drunk and not thinking clearly."

"Someone killed her. Someone stabbed her. Darong would never leave us that way."

"Seungri, I found her--" Jiyong trailed off, his troubled eyes searching his memory. Had something not seemed odd to him that morning?

Nothing had been the same since. Nothing ever would be.

So what did it matter?

"Fight me!"

Jiyong’s head shot up, and an odd gleam crept into his gaze.

"Damn it, fight me!" Seungri raged, swinging his sword crazily. "Coward! Pick up your sword!"

Jiyong straightened his shoulders and picked up his fallen weapon. Smiling an odd little half smile, he stood. And waited.

The taller boy roared in anguish, raising his sword and swinging it with all his might. Jiyong threw his arms out to the side and waited for the blow.

It threw the small man back about fifty feet. He laid there, motionless.

There was silence.

Then Seungri screamed and rushed over to the fallen warrior.

It was over quickly. That much Jiyong was thankful for, even if he didn't deserve it.

Seungri stood above his fallen friend, watching the life seep slowly out of his blank eyes. A peaceful look settled over Jiyong’s face, and he reached for his friend's hand.

The spiky haired boy wept, his eyes filled with confusion. "Why? Why? You could have easily avoided that. I was going so slow..."

"Seungri," Jiyong whispered, his eyes gaining a sort of spark. "Why would I want to?"

The boy gaped at his friend. "I'll go get Chaerin. You'll be fine. I'll go..."

"No, please." Jiyong sighed deeply, the sound full of relief. "I want this. You were right. I am a coward. I do not want to be alone."

Seungri bowed his head, his tears falling on clenched fists. "You can't die. Da...Dara wouldn't have let you."

Jiyong nodded slowly, feeling the welcome pain creep over him. "I hope...I hope that I see her. If there is such a thing as an afterlife. I would like to tell her the truth."

"Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive." Jiyong's voice was quiet, but surprised. "I just ask for one thing."

There was a silence, punctuated by Seungri's harsh sobs. Jiyong's breaths began to slow.

"Anything."

"If there is such a thing as a second chance..." Jiyong trailed off.

Seungri grasped his friend's cold hand in his, eyes hard with determination. "I promise I will help you find happiness."

Seungri smiled and slapped a friendly hand on the still gaping Jiyong's shoulder.

"I always keep my promises."

I ask but one thing of you, only one,

...never stay your hand. Never hold back.

And we will wish for each other's future.

Author's Note:

I know that there are probably going to be a lot of outraged cries from readers, so I'm going to use this time to try to alleviate fears.

Yes, Seungri killed Jiyong. But not on purpose, and not because he wanted to. He tells Jiyong straight out that he went slow on the blow, expecting him to dodge it. It was Jiyong who stood still, and let himself be hit. Seungri's rage is understandable, but it is not hate. He still loves Jiyong– so much that he devotes himself to the promise he made. Devotes himself enough to be reincarnated to fufill it.

Second, Jiyong wanted Seungri to hit him. He doesn't blame his friend in any way. I know that something like that makes him out to be some sort of coward, who cannot cope so he commits suicide. And you can see it that way and still be right. I just ask you to consider a different view. (I do not IN ANY WAY condone suicide) Jiyong believes Dara to have killed herself. To live with the pain of knowing that you could have prevented the death of someone you love...

To be short, Jiyong seeks redemption in death. He wishes for her forgiveness. He puts his trust in an afterlife or a reincarnation so that he can right his wrongs again and tell Dara how he truly feels.

Anyways, I hope you like it! The idea just flowed into my head, and as I was writing it, I just knew it would be very controversial, but went ahead with it. I knew that I would have to kill Jiyong in the past, and, to be honest, I was heartbroken by the idea that Jiyong would be killed off by an enemy who would gloat over his defeat.

( PS— we know why Seungri was reincarnated!)

Until next time... :)