S T A R T

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb…” 

It was near midnight and Joohyun is lying in the comforts of her bed, staring at the small crack on the wall. Unable to fall asleep, she begins outlining the crack. Over and over again. She has that habit.

His arm s around her waist. Small puffs of breath tickled her neck. And his legs tangled with hers. Joohyun smiled. She knows she's blessed. Very blessed.

Joohyun tossed around in the tight confines of her shared bed. Her eyes trained at his form. She exhaled in utter bliss, wishing that this moment never ends. Hoping that she get to see this beautiful face every day of her life.

Joohyun's fingers reached out and begin tracing his eyebrows, nose, cheekbones and lips. Gazing at the pink thin lips, she reached forward and placed a peck on them. He remains motionless. She continued tracing to his collarbones, shoulders and his arm. Then, she started tracing unrecognizable patterns on his muscular forelimb. Still, he is as undisturbed as ever.

Joohyun sighed. She knows what is going to happen very soon. The amount of destruction that is going to happen. The blow she would have to take. Still, she needs to keep faith. She has to keep believing that this man, right in front of her, loves her. He said so himself. He had been reminding her of that the whole night. And she needs to trust him. Trust him to be different this time.

Joohyun pulled the duvet up to her chin, shuffling closer towards the warm body beside her. When she covered her ness, she sighed again, wondering and chiding herself for giving up so easily. Her resistance towards this man is so weak – he was her Achilles' heel.

Joohyun cleared her thoughts, needing to empty her mind. She needs to sleep. Need to sleep.

She shut her eyes and her world turns pitch black at once. She can’t see him. Not anymore. Perhaps, the next day as well. Perhaps, not ever.

Present

When Joohyun woke up, she finds herself breathing hard. Again. The run-of-the-mill constricted feeling filled her chest. The encircling pressure immediately begin. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. After a while, the pressure subsided.

She looked around her. Her eyes getting accustomed to the brightness of daylight filtered through the blinds, casting her room in luminosity and absolute radiance. Joohyun scowled, throwing her duvet to the side and marching towards the blinds. She shuts them. Tight.

Finally, she's in her comfort zone. The darkness. The only place that ever seemed alive.

Such a sweet dream, Joohyun thought, a dream that I can never have again. A dream that I get to keep thinking about all day.

‘Um. Earth to Joohyun, please?’

A hand waved in front of Joohyun's face, snapping her out of her usual reverie. She stared at Jongin across the booth. He stares back. A sort of recognition surfaced in his eyes. Joohyun looked away.

‘Joohyun,’ Jongin called, seeking her attention that she refused. ‘Joohyun, look at me.’ All the same, she avoided his imploring eyes, disregarding the firmness of his tone.

Joohyun felt his hand cup the tip of her chin, forcing it to turn towards him. His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and she smacked his