(16)

                  “Let’s leave them,” Joonmyun smiled and leaned onto the door. He put a finger on his lips and signaled Jongdae to keep quiet. Though clearly annoyed, the younger of the two wordlessly left the storage room in the basement. Joonmyun’s steps weren’t as light as his sibling’s, because something was tugging at the corner of his heart, and he didn’t like how uncomfortable he felt right now.

                  Call it protectiveness. Maybe it was. He had known Sena for a while; made out with her a few times and those were definitely memorable ones. There were times when she was more of a younger sister than a best friend – such that Joonmyun grew overprotective of her. She was so young, and yet she had experienced so much from her clan and the pressure of her grandfather. If possible, Joonmyun wanted to shield her away from the clan and life’s tragic consequences because it was better that way.

                  He remembered their first kiss very vividly – as if it happened not long ago. She was seventeen, and she had a ponytail down her back. Her hair was colored brown with blonde highlight and it fell onto her back gracefully. Her phoenix-shaped eyes looked almost too innocent when she stared up into his eyes; shyly but welcoming. They sneaked out of a practice session into his room to watch movie, and she was so tired by the time they finished. Her eyes were half-closed, lips parted alluringly, and all he could hear was the loud thump of his heart.

                  “Remember that promise we made a month ago?”

                  It happened all of a sudden – in the blink of an eye. Her curious gaze had set his heart on fire. It was the first spark he had felt in a long while, and that spark initiated a burning flame. Kim Joonmyun never thought that he would be so bold as to kiss Seiryuu’s first and only daughter – the future leader of her clan. He also knew that this wasn’t just any kiss, but her very first. And yet after, she was bewildered – perhaps excited, but then, she just nodded understandingly.

                  If anything, Joonmyun and Sena were fated to be soulmates, but not lovers. They were one and the same – as if God Himself, had broken a soul in two and created one future Genbu and one for Seiryuu. So he knew from very early on, right after he set his gaze on her at the very first sight – that they were impossible. They were fated to meet and bond as partners and nothing more. Joonmyun was smart. He knew. But he could not help the budding desire he felt when he first saw her in one rainy day – running in the rain with unabashed laughter, fearlessly avoiding his grandfather so she would not be scolded.

                  She was beautiful to him – always was, always would be. But it wasn’t the type of beauty that caught him in an instant, but the slow, inevitable kind that trapped him for a lifetime. He knew that years later – despite of their current situation – Joonmyun would always remember her as a bright-eyed girl whom he loved so dearly with a love so radiant it could light up his cold heart.

                  “Why can’t we barge in on them?” Jongdae grunted. He was still not satisfied that they had trailed the Seiryuu pair and cornered them into the storage room, and yet his brother chose not to act on it. What could an injured Jongin do to prevent them from winning? It was so close. They might never have the chance again. “Besides… You know they are not allowed to do that, Brother. Aren’t you her fiancée?”

                  “Just forget what happened back there and keep your mouth shut,” Joonmyun warned. He couldn’t ignore the bugging feeling and it was very uncomfortable. He would not let Jongdae noticed, but the sharp and quick-wit younger brother was smarter than he expected. His brother was clearly angry and pained, and yet he acted as if nothing happened in that empty room.

                  “Aren’t you angry that she kissed him?”

                  “If I were,” Joonmyun took a deep breath to clear his mind. “Then I did not have the right to be her fiancée. She knew about all my affairs and one-night stand and she still keeps quiet. Not a word from her. That’s why, this time,” and hopefully only this once, “I will let it slide. They are teenagers with raging hormones, and both are extremely attractive: doing something taboo once in a while won’t kill you.”

                  “She is a ,” Jongdae spat in all honesty.

                  “If she is a , then what am I?” Joonmyun pointed at himself, “Oh come on, Jongdae. We all have fun once in a while. Besides she is not in love with me and we do not marry out of love. Kissing someone doesn’t make you a , Jongdae, please fix that mindset. Sleeping with a lot of people is – and just because she is a girl doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t have fun. Frankly, I’m fine – as long as she knows the limit.”

                  “You are a , Brother. Don’t exclude yourself from the tag just because I have yet to finish my sentence,” Jongdae snickered rudely. Being the youngest of three, Jongdae was always the extra child nobody needed. In fact, the only person who came the closest to caring for him was Joonmyun – and he did it out of pity.

                  “That’s a nice compliment coming from your sharp mouth, Kim Jongdae,” Joonmyun sneered in return. “At least I’m not a like you.”

                  “But seriously, Hyung,” Jongdae spoke Korean with accented American, so he rarely did so unless he needed to. It was also a reminder of his parents, both of whom never paid any attention to him or his brother. When he spoke Korean, he felt the irony for being sent away to America at such early age. “Don’t you feel jealous that your girl is kissing another guy? Don’t you like her at all?”

                  “One day you will know that love does not give you anything,” Joonmyun smiled – and no one could see the faltering façade of his own lies. He was good at keeping things to himself, and very rarely would he show genuine emotion in front of anyone. He was used to it. “Just because I like her, does not mean that I feel for her. I am only after Seiryuu’s power and nothing more.”

                  Kim Joonmyun hated to admit that jealousy was acid that burnt his heart to black. He hated it.

(17)

                  “I think they’ve left,” I whispered to Jongin. We were staring at each other, and it was so unexpected. The kiss would forever be imprinted on the back of my mind – and hopefully, it would be the first and the last. Today we committed a taboo, and I could not say that I hated it, because truth was, I did not. I loved it – but I should not have whatever it was that I felt for him. A kiss was frighteningly accurate to pinpoint the truth of someone’s feelings and in that thought, I drowned in bliss. If it was our last kiss – and may only God knew – then it was a blessing amidst the chaos of my life.

                  “Hm,” He nodded and slowly got up as well. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room, so when we got out, the light almost blinded my sight. We were moving along in the corridor, but my mind was still in daze. I kept replaying the kiss over and over again – and oh God, I thought I was going crazy. Why would a kiss leave such a bittersweet scar in my heart? “So what’s the plan now?”

                  “I have no idea,” I put a distance between us and kept walking steadily. Jongin didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed so out of it since we left the storage room. Perhaps the kiss wasn’t as important as I thought it was. Perhaps those things I saw and the feelings I felt were only a grand illusion my heart created. And at the thought of it, my entire body ached in longing and despair at the man who walked beside me. There were many things I could have said to ease the tension but the words disappeared at the tip of my tongue, and I was forced to swallow them down painfully.

                  For the eighteen years old me, this was the first time I had ever felt so rejected. As to why I felt that way – I dared not to wonder too far. Love should not exist in my life. And it shall not exist for a man like Kim Jongin. He was dangerous – my mind reminded, he wanted to kill me, he once said, and yet my heart yearned for him. To me, there was no other. I should have guarded myself better, but to fall for Jongin was truly inevitable. I did not know when it happened, because when I realised what this might be, I had already fallen in too deep.

                  “Sena?”

                  His voice when he called my name woke me up from the long trance I was in. I looked up and sighed as I realised that we were surrounded by four Genbu Elites who looked very, very angry. The news of Minseok and the Prodigal Siblings loss must have reached their ears, and they were now looking for revenge, but if we could take them down, we would be down to three pairs and that would make the job so much easier.

                  “Say, will you allow me if I can fight without using hands?” Jongin whispered so closely that his lips were an inch apart from my ear. He was gripping onto my arms tightly and refused to let go as we were cornered onto the walls. The suggestion he made sounded almost surreal. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t fight four trained soldiers with just his feet.

                  “I doubt you can, but alright,” I gave him permission and he instantly stepped out in front of me in a shielding manner. I didn’t have the time to be surprised because he was already running towards the first Elite and did a somersault as he gripped no.9’s head between his legs and threw him on the floor. I was so dumbfounded I could not even move but watched as he fought with just his feet, jumping and kicking around almost faultlessly. I did not get the chance to do anything as he moved from the first person to the second and kicked the third at the same time with such grace and power that the Genbu Elite no. 4 fell over and never got up anymore.

                  This was the first time I had seen a match of such gap that the four of them could not stand a chance against an injured Jongin who fought without hands. They were no. 9, no. 4, no. 7 and no. 5, and even though they might not be ranked high as Seungcheol, but it was still an impressive defeat on Jongin’s part. His eyes – I noticed – were scarily blank when he fought. He was born for this – to kill my enemies if I ever wished to. Without much difficulty, Jongin panted and stepped back while the four of them lied on the ground – one unconscious and three others completely worn out.

                  “Still doubting my skills?” Jongin wiped off the sweat on his forehead and pulled me along to the end of the corridor. This time we were out of the labyrinth-like path and onto a massive football field. Sometimes I wondered just how big the Genbu headquarter truly was, and how much technology they had spent to develop the entire space. The size was truly monstrous.

                  “No,” I smiled sweetly at him, “Not anymore.”          

A/N: Yo peeps, could you suggest to me some good stories to read? I have been abstain from the K-fanfiction world for so long and I need something good to return to. Any genre is welcome as long as it's not and has decent grammar. Thanks.