He couldn’t stop himself, he wanted to see her again. The urged was stronger this time. He sighed, he couldn’t find the usual peace when he mediated, his heart had not been able to contain itself. He stood up, his curiosity won. He left his cave once again, in search of her. Two weeks had passed, he found her at her home. He could see she was not happy, even if it nightfall, from the dim light of the candle, he could see her brows were frowning.

He wondered what was wrong, he didn’t like the frowning face. He wanted her to be the determine woman, or maybe better, the happy one. His heart was unhappy seeing her sad. He couldn’t help but wondered what the cause. Should he ask her, he should but just not now. Maybe he could find a time tomorrow.

She stared in the darkness of the night, she couldn’t forget his face and his gentle eyes. She missed him, she didn’t know why, she missed him so much. She wanted to see him again. “Kim Jong Kook”, she whispered his name, she felt the name said of strength. It was getting late, she blew out the candle and went to her bed, sleep slowly claimed her tired brain and body.

He heard his name, he thought he had heard wrongly. He stayed on top of the roof, guarding her, something he was not used to doing, but he wanted to. The night breeze gently blew across his hair, he felt the peacefulness of the night and knowing she was safe. He started his mediation. Morning came, the sun softly shone its first ray on his back. Dawn broke, the night turned into day.  He heard her stirred and his mediation was broken once more. His eyes opened and he saw her combing her long silky hair. Her long hair was soft and it flowed like water. He wanted to touch it, he had not felt such a want before. Was he sick or something went wrong? Maybe something went wrong with his mediation.

He heard her sigh while she stared out of the window. She summoned her maids and they bought her breakfast. She shook her head, and asked for paper and ink instead. She started to draw his face, from the slight meeting they had, she had remembered his features. She knew she would not forget him. She left the paper to dry and stepped out of her room. He took the opportunity and he slipped into the room and saw the painting. It was not a well drawn one, but she had captured the essence. The ink had dried and he rolled out the painting and left the room. He didn’t know the reason why he wanted to do that but thought it was better for the both of them.

He went back to his cave again. He took out the painting and stared at the picture, she shouldn’t fall in love with him, it would only make her miserably, he would not grow old, his training had kept him young, in fact, he could have look even younger. He could not marry her, celibacy seem to be an unwritten rule, that included him loving her. He didn’t know the reason, but all his seniors had warned him, falling in love would end his thousands of years training. That wouldn’t do, he had trained for thousands of years to reach where he was now, he wanted to train more to reach the status of demigod. He was already too close for it. He calm himself down, the painting he threw into the fire that lid his cave. Something burnt in his heart as the paper caught fire. He ignored it, this is the first night in a thousand year he didn’t mediate but choose to sleep.

He woke up, his heart missed her and he followed his heart. She looked older, he checked, he had slept for 2 years. She was still single, a wonder in that age. They said she was sick, something was amiss with her, no one dared to ask for her hand in marriage. Her brows were knitted together, there was no longer a hint of happiness in her. He was concerned why made her lost her smile, but yet the determination had stayed in her eyes. He stepped into her room, when she went out for a walk, it was then he realized he was the reason. His picture stared back at him, it was of the same pose but it was getting to be lifelike. Did her longing for him make her miserable, his heart frown.

They could never to be together, no .. if he wanted to continue his training, they couldn’t be together. There was too much difference to reconcile. Even if he burnt all the paper, she could draw another. Maybe the best would be let her forget him in this lifetime and he vowed he would never appear in front of her again. His heart grew heavy at his decision.

He appeared to her that night, she was frightened by the sudden figure appearing in her room, she was about to shout when she saw it was him! Her fear turned into happiness. “You are here.” She said simply, she felt no harm from him.

“Yes,” he wanted to have a happy memory of being with her, but that was too much for him to ask. “I wanted you to live happily, little one.”

“I am not little one, I am already eighteen.” She said.

“I am thousand and eight hundred years old, you are little ones.” He told her. She was clever, she would figure out what he was.

“You are a god?” she asked.

“No, a tiger demon.” He replied, motioning her to sit down at her table.

“oh, but you looked like a human.” She sat down and looked at him through the dim light of the candle.

“Well, that’s what you get when you trained for a thousand of year. Forget me. We never belong together.”

“How you know, I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but I loved you, not for a day, not for a week, but since our meeting. All of them told me I am crazy. But I know, I loved you.” Tears started to form.

He looked at her tears running down her whiten cheeks. His eyes filled with sadness, “We didn’t. I only looked human.” He transformed himself back to his true form, a while tiger, yet she had no fear. His heart knew what he needed to do. He waved his tail and she felt sleepy and fell asleep. He turned back to human and he then softly pat the back of her head.  Then he turned himself to a breeze, softly embraced her then left the room.

He knew when she woke up, all memories of him would be gone. He had taken all the pictures of him and he threw them into the fire. His heart felt like a thousand of needles pierce him. He was just a tiger demon, he reminded himself. He forced himself to mediate, but peace didn’t claim him, sleep did. In his dreams, he was with her, living as husband and wife, they had children and they grew old together, finally they die together. He felt so contented and he chose not to wake up from his sleep, even when an earthquake shook his cave and it cave in, robbing him of air, he still smile, knowing finally, peace would come to him once again forever.