"Look what I got for my princess!" Youngjae exclaims as he hands me a simple small box. I take it and feel the silk, with which it is wrapped, soothingly on my fingertips. With me being mesmerized by it, he says, "Go on, open it!" I do as told and I can't believe my eyes after getting a glance at what's inside. There are two stunning earrings blinking in my direction.

"They are... beautiful. But they must have cost a ton!" I say, looking up at him. He reaches out and my hair, before putting it behind my ears.

"Don't worry about the price. They're a present for my princess, so of course they must be expensive to reach up to your beauty." He smiles at me with his eyes narrowing. "I just want a small reward" he then demands, pointing at his lips and tilting his head a little. I really don't know how anyone could have said no to that exchange, especially when the payment comes with a huge amount of profit. I kiss him, deeply, for a long time, until we finally part again and just stare into each other's eyes for a while.

"Really, Oppa, I'm amazed how you can always buy such expensive gifts for me, when you are only a normal college student." He gives me a half smile. "You didn't steal this, did you?" He laughs and replies, "Of course not!"

But the gifting doesn't stop there, not when your boyfriend is Yoo Youngjae. As of today, we are a couple for 100 days, and that needs to be celebrated. So Youngjae takes me out to eat dinner with him, to a five star restaurant at that. You can image how much the food there costs. I choose to wear a long black dress, since he always tells me I look best when wearing black, combined with the earrings I just received and my silver lace heels, which he suggested putting on. He himself throws on a suit with a yellow bow tie. Seeing how we are dressed only proves that the restaurant we are about to go to is EXPENSIVE, written in capital letters, because otherwise it would not have been enough.

He drives us to the restaurant located at the top of a skyscraper, where we dine. The food is delicious, as you would expect, and we are having a good time, so that I have to hold back laughter more than just once or twice. He also tries not to react as exaggeratedly as normally. In the whole place, we are the youngest people. The others are all about twice our age or even older. There is only one other couple who is significantly younger than that, but still appears to be older than us.

"And? How is your work going, princess?" Youngjae asks. Even though he's pulling himself together right now, he still won't drop the 'princess'.

"Good. I don't have any more exams coming up this month, so I try to work overtime a lot" I respond and take a bite of the fish on my plate. This taste is incredible. If anyone tries to tell me that I will ever eat something as good as that again, I sure won't believe them.

"But Y/N! You shouldn't work so much all the time! You'll get tired and your skin will get bad again..." he worries.

"It's fine" I reply. "I want to earn more money so that I can buy you something expensive as well." He sighs.

"You don't have to do that, Y/N. Just having you by my side is enough for me. I don't need any other presents from you!" He gives me a soft and loving look and he takes my hand in his. But I won't change my mind so easily. After all, I have always been a very determined person. That's probably also why working and studying so much doesn't bother me when I have a goal to reach.

"And how are your 'club activities' going?" I ask to shift the conversation away from me.

"They're good. Himchan-hyung seems to be planning something new" he explains. What we call 'club activities' when we are outside is actually something different. Youngjae is part of a street gang, and they frequently have to go on missions, some more dangerous, others less. At the start of our relationship I wasn't happy with that at all, but over time Youngjae proved to me that he knows what he's doing and that he won't get me or himself in danger, so I learned to accept it. And now it has become a normal part of our relationship, to talk about these things in a secretive way, and sometimes, when I don't take it too seriously, it's even fun to be let in on the things the gang is planning.

After we finish our luxurious dinner, Youngjae pays and we walk to the escalator to get to the car that is parked in the garage of the building. While we are moving I put my arm around his and snuggle up close to his side. A content smile appears on his lips. I know he likes it when I spoil him like this, instead of just letting him do all the work.

"And? Did you like it, my princess?" he asks, whispering into my ear as soon as the doors of the escalator closed. I nod.

"Yes, the food was delicious" I say, adding, "and of course I loved spending time with you."

"The evening's not over yet though..." he responds, turning around. Youngjae leans one arm against the wall, so that I am sandwiched between it and him. With the other hand he lifts my chin. Now my eyes are looking directly into his dark, widened pupils. He starts slowly leaning in more and more and full of anticipation I can barely manage to keep still, and then...

...the escalator stops, the door opens, and within the blink of an eye Youngjae moves to my side, wearing a poker face. An elderly couple enter, slowly. Maybe elderly isn't quite the fitting word to describe them, so let's just call them damn old. They take their time deciding to which floor they have to go and they seem to have forgotten whether they had parked their car in the garage or in front of the building near the street. Instead of just getting off on the first floor and checking, they just continue arguing, while Youngjae and I frequently exchange amused glances. The back of his hand brushes lightly against mine every now and then, as he wants to hold hands but is too shy to do so in front of the elderly - pardon - damn old people in front of us. Finally the couple gets off on the first floor, and the door closes again with only the two of us remaining inside. Youngjae immediately gets back into position and smirks.

"Shall we continue where we left off?" he asks, this time jokingly. I have to laugh and he comes closer, not leaning in for a kiss, but to touch my forehead with his, which results in our faces just bumping together from the force he put behind it. I let out a pained noise as we uncomfortably touch and I can hear a groan coming from his side. With that the door of the escalator opens once again, to signalize that we have arrived in the underground garage. We take off and drive back home. Even though the original plan would have been to just drop me off at my dorms in order not to arrive past curfew, I end up staying at his place overnight.

----------

As summer begins, my classes become fewer and I have more time to work and earn money. Some days ago, Youngjae pointed out a really expensive watch to me, when he was skimming through some magazine. Because of its cost he insisted on not wanting it, but his eyes told my something different. In the evening I searched up the brand of the watch on the internet and found a small shop in the suburbs of Seoul where they sell them at slightly lower prices than usual. I decided to buy one from there, since those watches are more affordable for me. Now today, I just got this month's paychecks - meaning, I finally have enough money for the watch. By the time it's already getting darker, I head out and take the bus to a station near the shop. When I step onto the street, a bad feeling overcomes me. This neighborhood looks really shady. Despite all, I'm not afraid and I walk to the shop without any unfortunate happenings. That is, until then. Arriving there, I notice that the shop's door stands open a bit, but the shop seems as if it's closed, despite its website saying it's open. I step in anyways and give off a silent greeting, but I immediately stop. There, in front of me at the counter, stands the cashier, next to a man with a black mask that covers his whole head, leaving only a small slit for the eyes. The robber is pointing a gun at the cashier's head, while the latter is in the process of handing him a sack of money. Both their eyes turn towards me as soon as I finish my greeting and on the spot I recognize who those usually so kind-looking eyes belong to, even though I don't want to believe it.

"Youngjae-oppa...?" It comes out as but a whisper. He puts away the weapon, runs over to me, grabs my arm, and pulls me out of the shop, with the cashier remaining inside, probably still shocked.

"Y/N, please don't misunderstand!" he begs as soon as we come to halt some distance away from the crime scene.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm not misunderstanding anything, Youngjae. Is that how you got all the money for the presents you give me?" I ask him forcefully, but inside I'm still calmer than expected.

"That..." he stops, then pulls off the mask and looks down, before muttering, "Yes... I'm sorry, my princess." Somehow, upon hearing this, I snap.

"Don't call me that!" I scream and slap away his hand, that's still holding onto my arm. "I don't want stolen presents!" I pull out the earrings I'm wearing, which he bought for me at some point, and throw them on the ground, so that the pearls on them shatter. He just stares at me blankly, not knowing what to do or to say. I feel betrayed and tears well up in my eyes, but I swallow them. I meet his stare and answer it firmly. Then I say something terrible.

"I don't want to date someone who isn't even being honest with me. We're over." With that I turn around and walk away, the tears finally finding their way down my cheeks as I start running.

----------

The days after that are quiet. Youngjae doesn't call or text me, I haven't seen him since what happened roughly a week ago. I now have a bunch of money on my hands and it gets more by the day, since I'm working even more now, to give myself a distraction. I don't know what to do with all that money anyway, so I first thought about donating it, but came to the conclusion that it would be better to just save it up for later in life. That day, I get a text from one of my friends, inviting me to a party on Saturday. I decline the offer, since I'm planning on working there. Next thing I know, I get a call from her.

"Hey, Y/N-ssi! You can't just work all the time! Come have some fun with us once in a while, hm?" she says, but it sounds more like nagging.

"I'm really sorry, Hyungi-ssi, I don't have the time..." But she wouldn't let me out of this so quickly.

"You're going! You can just tell your boss you're not feeling well. Or that you're overworked. He'll understand that!" In the end I just sigh and agree to it. That throws my whole weekend schedule out of the window, but at least I can finally use some of the money I saved up for... something I don't need any longer.

Come Saturday, Hyungi, our other friends and I meet in the city, to tour all the popular bars. We start off at a place that turns out not so exciting, so we soon move on to our regular place. There the music and atmosphere are a lot better and everyone in the group is just letting go and dancing - everyone except me.

"Hey, Y/N-ssi! What's wrong? Aren't you here to have fun?" Hyungi asks, who dances next to me.

"I don't know..." I reply.

"Come on, you should at least try! Or maybe, it would help if you found a nice guy to dance with?" She gives me a meaningful glance.

"I don't think that's a good idea..."

"It is! You need someone in your life again! How about him, over there?" I look where she points at.

"Who do you mean?" I ask, after not finding the right person.

"The one sitting at the bar all by himself" she explains. Now I see him - a guy, around my age, with black hair and a pretty face, probably waiting for someone.

"I don't think he's single..." I say and Hyungi looks over there again, where a girl has just arrived and now sits down to face him.

"Okay, well, he probably wasn't that special anyway" Hyungi tries to take away the disappointment from him having a girlfriend, but I don't feel any of that anyway.

"I think I just want to spend some time with you today" I say and look at her. She smiles.

"Fine" Hyungi finally says. "Then we'll get something to drink!" She drags me over to the bar, where she orders two bottles of soju.

"You want me to drink a whole bottle?" I ask her.

"Of course! Or do you wanna tell me you lost the ability to drink at least that much?" 

"...No. Bring it on!" I really didn't want to lose to her now, and getting fired up, we return to our table, where we end up being alone. Hyungi already starts pouring us the first glasses.

"On us and this night full of fun!" she exclaims before we start drinking. Not much after, I start feeling a bit dizzy and Hyungi too is getting drunk. We joke around and start gossiping, which we only do when we've had enough alcohol. Then, someone in the crowd catches my eye. I first can't believe that what I'm seeing is real, but have to admit soon that it is: There stands Youngjae, seemingly searching for someone and finally finding me. He immediately walks over to us and before my brain can tell my body to run away, he arrives at our table. Hyungi and I both look up at him.

"My princess, I am so sorry" he starts by apologizing. "Can you forgive me?"

"I won't, go away!" I say not in the most understandable way, but he gets the message and sighs.

"Then at least help me out on something else" he asks and fidgets with his jacket. Then he adresses both of us, "Have you two seen a certain guy? Average height, black hair, and probably with a girl."

"There's a lot of people in here who fit that description..." Hyungi responds mockingly.

"... with huge lips?" Youngjae adds.

"Oh, didn't the guy at the bar have rather big lips?" Hyungi asks me and I nod.

"Okay, thanks." Before leaving us, Youngjae turns to me one last time. "Please think about it. I really am sorry." Then he's gone as fast as he appeared. A few minutes later I see him leaving the club with the guy from earlier. Again, he gives me a deep stare, before I lose sight of him. Upon seeing him like this, I feel the sadness coming back to me.

"You really let go of a gem there, you know that?" Hyungi utters. I know. Damn it, I know! I look down at the table, covering my eyes with my hands. Then I start crying uncontrollably.

"Hey, Y/N-ssi... You okay?" my friend asks. I shake my head.

"I just... wanna hug him. And I wanna kiss him. And I just wanna be with him. But... But...!" Words pour out of me, only being stopped by drunk me not knowing what else to say.

"I can imagine that..." Hyungi places her hand on my arm. She gives me an empathetic look.

"I just miss him so much..." I breathe.

"Then go talk to him!" She suggests.

"Okay." I nod. "I will." I stand up and wipe away the tears, but the next ones are already following.

"Where do you think you're going?" my friend wants to know.

"I'm going after him!"

"Now? I think you should calm down and get sober first..." I take a long look at her face. In the end I sit down again and start crying even more.

"Want me to take you home?" she asks. I just nod.

----------

The next day. I wake up, having no alcohol remaining in my blood. The first thing I do is calling Youngjae - but he doesn't pick up. What's with him now? First he wants me to forgive him and then he won't even talk to me? I put away my phone and get up to drink some coffee. I switch on the TV and zap through the channels, until I get stuck on the news.

"A group of young men were found in the outskirts of Seoul tonight around 1 a.m., many of them dead or seriously injured."

Hearing this sentence, panic arises within me. It is further reported that the men were from two separate groups of gangsters. And now I am sure: this has something to do with why Youngjae won't pick up his phone. I hurriedly get mine and call him a second time, again without reaching him. I already fear the worst, but I still won't accept that as the truth. But how else can I reach out to him? Ask the police if he was among the victims? No - then they'd know he has some shady business going on. Then what else should I do? I can't just sit around in my dorm room and wait, so I decide to go out. Maybe, just maybe I find him somewhere in the streets of Seoul. So I hectically wander around, without a real destination, but always on the lookout for him - for the person I should have never let go. Yes, he made some mistakes, and yes, stealing money is a really bad thing to do - but in the end, he did it all for me! He did still love me!

...I wonder, does he still love me?

After hours of just walking around aimlessly, exhaustion finally hits my body and I return home. I kick off my shoes and throw myself onto the bed.

"!" I shout into the room. I'm scared, because I have no idea if Youngjae is even still alive at this point. And I don't know where he is, if he still lives. I decide to watch the news again, in the hopes  of them mentioning the names of the dead or at least showing footage of the crime scene. But as to be expected, they show nothing. They don't even say anything else than what they did in the morning. I shout into my pillow and try to get rid of the frustration like this, but obviously it wouldn't work. That night, I barely sleep. The nights after, I also don't manage to sleep enough, so I have to take some pills in order to finally drift off into the land of dreams - but all that awaits me there are more of my fears in the form of nightmares. Monday, I call in sick at work and stay away from university. Instead, I set out to find Youngjae again, but I fail. In the evening I return, eat a quick meal, and then sleep with the help of medicine. I repeat that for the rest of the week, until I finally give up come next Sunday. I'm going crazy from the constant search and my body and soul are getting weaker by the hour. I start feeling as if I was coming down with a cold, but I really need to stay healthy now, as I have to go to work again tomorrow. In the evening I take some medication to prevent getting sick and I get to bed early.

Monday, I go to university as usually and then do my part time job in the afternoon at a small comic shop. Not a lot of customers come in and most of the time I'm just left alone with my thoughts. Obviously they would drift off to Youngjae time and time again. I'm still as worried as on the first day and I just can't shake the feeling that he might be-

A teenage girl comes in and greets me. She lets her shoulders hang and doesn't seem very confident - or maybe bothered by something. The girl walks over to look at some of the manhwas in the corner of our shop and I decide to talk to her a little bit as a distraction.

"Hello, can I help you?" I ask and give her a friendly smile. She's a bit smaller than me and at second glance, she might not be a youth anymore, but a young adult.

"Um.. I-I'm looking for something for my b-boyfriend" she stutters shyly.

"Oh, what does he like to read?" 

"He's not picky... He just needs something to pass the time, b-because..." she stops. It looks like she has decided not to say any more.

"Well, then I recommend this one here. It's really thrilling and you never know where the story is going next!" I say, holding out a book to her.

"I think he already has that one..." the girl says.

"Okay, then..." I put it back and go to a different shelf. "How about that one? It's new, so I doubt he already read it." The girl takes the manhwa and gives it a long, thorough inspection. Then she slowly nods. "I'll take it, thanks." We go over to the counter, where she pays.

"Should I wrap it in for you?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"I see. I thought it's for his birthday or something..." I say.

"No, it's just... he isn't feeling very well at the moment, so I thought reading comics might take his mind off of things for a little while. After all, he's had a rough week healing up..." she replies.

"Don't tell me he was part of one of the gangs on the news!" I say jokingly as I hand her the book. To my surprise, she looks to the side and seems to be thinking. Then she finally answers.

"He is..."

In shock, I look at her. "Which side is he on?" I ask her. "Is there a young man called Youngjae in his gang?"

"You know them...?" She looks at me with widened eyes. She knows them?! I nod. 

"Where are they now? Where is Youngjae?" I want to know. Finally I can feel a glimpse of hope lighting up inside of me, only to be crushed again by her next sentence.

"I don't know. I only know where Yongguk, Himchan and Zelo are. Sorry." She looks down and up again. "But I really have to go now. Goodbye."

"Goodbye..." With that, she walks out of the shop. Still not being able to believe what had just happened, I keep staring out the window for a good 30 minutes, until the next group of customers come in.

As I get back home in the evening, it's already dark. There, under the streetlight next to the dorm entrance where I live, stands a person. At first, I can only make them out to have short hair and to be wearing a coat, despite the warm temperatures. Then, I recognize his face.

"Youngjae-oppa!" I exclaim and run towards him, but come to a halt a few steps away from him.

"Y/N..." he starts. "My princess, I'm so sorry for coming here again. But I just couldn't stay away from you..." I notice a healing wound on his bottom lip, as well as a bruise on his right cheek.

"Oppa, what happened? Are you hurt badly?" Worries arise in me again and I move without thinking, until I'm holding him tight in a warm embrace. He lightly wraps his arms around my body and rests his head on my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for everything. I should have never betrayed you..."

"That's not what's important now! Come on in!" I let go of him and grab his arm instead, but pull away as he twitches in pain.

"Please, not there..." he mutters.

"Just how badly are you hurt? You should be in hospital now!" I say and take his hand lightly, where there are no visible injuries.

"No, it's fine..." he insists, but I make him come with me to my dorm room anyway - even though I'm not allowed to have visitors at this hour. But this is urgent. Arriving there, I make him take off his coat and sit down on my bed.

"It's really not that bad..." he tells me again. I roll up the sleeves of his pullover. How can he even wear clothes that warm when it's summer? What greets me next is almost sickening. His whole right arm is colored blue and violet and on the right one, there are bruises everywhere, as well as a bad flesh wound, that looks like a bullet had grazed him there.

"Oh my god, Youngjae-oppa..." I whisper and cover my mouth with my hands in shock. I quickly snap out of it though and get my first aid kit. Then I wrap his arm with a bandage, after disinfecting it carefully. He must be in pain, especially during the procedure of sanitizing, because he clenches his teeth every now and then. At the same time, he continues watching my every move. After cleaning and taking care of all his wounds, I put away the small box and sit down next to him again.

"I really need to tell you something" I start, and have his full attention on the spot. "Youngjae-oppa, what you did was wrong. You stole money and used it to spoil me." He looks down and nods, acknowledging that he made a mistake. "But you did it all because you wanted to show me how much I mean to you, right?"

"Of course! Why else would I do it..." he answers.

"Then I'm thankful." I throw him a smile. "But you really don't need to buy things for me all the time. Remember what you told me when we were out eating, on our 100 day anniversary? You said that you don't need anything else from me other than just me being by your side." He looks up at me, making a regretful expression. "The same goes for me. As long as I have you, I'm happy!"

"But... I'm really not a special guy, you know?" he replies and I almost have to laugh at how silly he is being.

"To me you're more than special!" I shout, adding softly, "After all, I love you." I lean in for a kiss. He comes closer as well and tilts his head, while touching my cheek. Only a moment later, our lips touch. I can feel my heart beating strongly. My chest feels as if the whole atmosphere was pounding along, rhythmically, fast-paced, but in a welcome tempo. My hand moves up to his head, where I let my fingers entangle in his hair. I know he likes it when I play with his hair like this, and he shows it by deepening our kiss and letting his tongue in on the fun. After what feels like an eternity, we part again, and I have to take a few seconds to catch my breath.

"I missed you, my princess" he whispers and places both his hands on my cheeks and carefully touches my forehead with his.

"Me too" I say, shortly before we dive into another deep, long kiss.

----------

After that, our relationship feels closer than ever. Youngjae doesn't get me presents as often anymore, even though he occasionally likes to give me gifts still. We both have the feeling to finally have reached the 'happy ever after', and in September, I move in with him. We're the couple everyone secretly admires, and now I can finally say, that we are admirable. I don't want to brag, but our love is just perfect. We keep no more secrets from each other, and our past struggles have finally brought us closer together. We really are happy, at least until that day - the 7th of November...

One long- chapter again, but I hope y'all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading :)

(At least this time there was no long- introduction xD)