AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

I just finished my finals! I'm free now! 

By the way, prepare yourselves for this chapter! This will take you everywhere in the world! Love you a lot! 

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Joohyun was making her way back to the living room, slowly because of her injury, bringing a glass of water as she promised, to help me ease the shakiness of my body after receiving her sudden confession. 

I leaned my back to the head of the sofa, inhaling and exhaling deeply, trying my best to stabilize myself. 

"Here," she offered the water to me. I get it from her and drink it. "Am I allowed to speak now?" She asked. 

"It's not prohibited." I said.

A curve slowly showing to the side of her lips. "Finally!!" She threw herself to the sofa where I seated beside her. 

"Hey, careful." I reminded. "You're leg will snap again." 

"Who would have thought that I finally said it to you?" Her eyes were sparkling. I just drink my water. "My chest felt light now. By the way, back there..." 

"Hmm?" 

"Why did you shake? Am I the only one who said I lo---" She didn't finish her sentence again when I scoffed. I warned her not to continue whatever she planned to say using my eyes. 

But she just gave me a small laugh and a wide smile, almost sarcastic. "I love you, Seulgi. I love you. I love you. i love you!" 

Those were enough to cover my ears using my hands. 

But she didn't stop right there. She leaned closer, put her face closer to my ears and whisper, "I love you. I love you. I love you." She said to tease me. I pressed my hand to my ears, hard enough to minimize the noise.

She burst out laughing, holding her stomach because of the pressure. "Why don't you want to hear that?" She said between laughs. 

"Look!" I put my shaky hands to her front, closer enough to see every single shake she gave me everytime she said the word. "I'm shaking, you know." 

She suddenly grabbed my hands and put it on her chest. "So, because it's shaking does it mean you don't want to hear I love you's?" She asked, eyes were teary from laughing. My hands immediately trembled from the word but she hold it tighter when she felt it. "How about saranghae? Aishtero? Mahal kita? Te amo?" She teased once more.

"Joohyun," 

She stopped. She did not add another comment to tease me anymore. Instead, she gave me a small smile and put our hands together on my lap. She fix herself on the sofa and I almost jumped when she placed her head in the crook of my neck. 

Silence embraced us for a few seconds, a comfortable one, and it helped to stirred the shakiness away. She rubs her thumb to my fingers while her other fingers already filled the gaps of my hands. I slipped my hand to her neck, to her shoulder, until I finally wrapped her into my arm. I saw her smiled because of my action but she still didn't speak a single word. 

The song stops but automatically replaced by another. It was Always, All ways. 

My mom's voice started to echo around my home. 

"That's my favorite song from her last album." Joohyun said quietly. But loud enough to pierce my already broken heart. 

The history why it became her last album flashed on my mind. 

"I know there is a story why you use your blood when painting your mother." She tried to use good words, afraid that I might get offended again. "May I know it?" 

I shifted my attention to the huge painting facing us. "She died because of me." I said silently, guiltily.

"Enlighten me, Seulgi." 

I took a deep breath. "Someone murdered her when I was young." 

"Oh Seulgi,"

"I was there beside her but I cannot do anything. I was just a young kid, powerless, useless." 

She squeezed my hands tighter than before to comfort me. She might felt the vibrations from my body because I'm holding the tears that are attempting to come out and it turned into sobs. Her other hand sneaked around my waist and rubbed my side. 

"She pushed me down to the car so nobody will see me." The image of my dead mother suddenly appeared on my mind. I shut my eyes and gently shook my head to make the bad memory go away. "She sacrificed her life for me." 

"Is that why you use your own blood when painting her because she use her own life in protecting you?" 

I looked down, only to see concerned eyes, already staring back at me. 

"Yes," I gently nodded my head. "What is blood for life, Joohyun? Mine isn't big deal, hers was." 

"Hey," she shouldered me for me to put my eyes back to hers. "If you wished to die because you blamed yourself for your mother's death, you're going to broke her heart once more. You will even make her effort in protecting you useless." 

A drop of warm water fell from my eye. I don't know if Joohyun's words make it worse or the opposite. The pain inside my chest suffocated me. This is a very sensitive topic for me.

"Your mother loves you, Seulgi. If your mother is still alive, she will say I love you to you too."

That's when my body started trembling again. Whenever I heard the word // I love you//, my body automatically shakes. 

Why? 

Those were the last words my mother told me before she left, before they took her life, before they shoot her to the head. 

I sighed heavily, trying my best to get the shakiness away from me, trying my best to control myself, trying my best to calmed myself. 

She suddenly wrapped me around her arms, placing my head above her shoulder comfortably. I felt her gentle nods beside my ear. "I know," she said silently. "Those words are sacred, said your mother. And I am not allowed to just throw it or give it to anybody, right?"  

I nodded. I sneaked my arms around her waist, reciprocated her hug. 

"But you aren't just an anybody, Seulgi. You're the person I love." 

"Joohyun," 

"Shh!" She scoffed. "You told me that talking is not prohibited so let me talk." 

"Okay,"

"You miss your mother, do you?" 

I separated myself from her, leaned back to see her face clearly. 

"Did I say something wrong again?" She asked.

I shook my head, holding the tears that are coming out from my eyes, biting my lips to stop the noise that are attempting to come out.

She cupped my face and put hers closer to mine. "Then tell me, what's wrong?" She whispered. She brushed her tears away using her thumbs. "You missed her?" 

And that was it. It was a signal for me to burst out crying. 

I missed her. I missed my mother. I do really miss her and every single day I wish she was still alive. Every single day I prayed to go back to that time and let me save her so she would not die. If I only have the courage to protect her, she would be alive. 

If it wasn't me, if I wasn't coward, if I only drove us away from her murderer, she would be alive. Breathing. Smiling. Laughing. Talking. 

But... but's always exist in life and I am the but in her story. 

"Shhh," she pinned me closer to her, pressing my head to her chest while her free hand on my back, caressing me. "It's okay, just cry. I am here with you." 

"Joohyun, you have no idea how much I missed her. I can't stop thinking about her." I sobbed. "If.. If I only protected her back then, she would be alive. My father would be alive. I wouldn't be away from my broken sister right now." I leaned back again, only to see her misty eyes looking back at me. "I miss them so much!" 

She caresses my wet cheeks. "Don't blame yourself, Seulgi." 

"No. It's my fault, Joohyun. It's mine." 

"Do you think your mother will be happier to hear these words from you?" She said. "I think she won't. Instead, she will do the same thing if time rewinds." 

Joohyun separated herself from me, only to reached out for the glass and offer it to me. "Here, drink this." She demanded. I drank the remaining water in one shot. 

She caresses my faces while patiently waiting for me to speak again. 

"Joohyun, I--" 

"Shhh... talk when you're ready." She tucked my hair to my ears. "Who would have thought that the boldest girl I have met is as broken as any other normal girl. I thought she's stronger, colder, snobber but she was definitely a tsundere." She brushed my hair. "Seulgi... laugh when you wanted to laugh, cry when you wanted to cry, be mad when you're angry. Don't restrain your emotions from showing. It can suffocate you." 

I nodded my head like a baby scolded by her mother. "I just can't mov---" I didn't finish what I'm going to say when she interrupted me. 

"Are you ready to talk?" 

"Yes, I think so." 

"Be sure of it." 

"I am, Joohyun." 

"Really?" 

"Oh my God!" I rolled my eyes. 

She burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding, all right?" 

"Not funny at all." 

"Oh God," she mimicked. 

I looked at her, eyes frowning. But she laughed at me again. 

"You look so cute when you do that." She said. 

"Whatever," 

She smiled. "By the way, your house is beautiful." 

I sighed. "I planned to make it this way. This is where I kept my masterpieces. This is my paradise." I said. "Everytime I am in this house, I become human. I become normal. I become a sensitive girl. If I am in this house, I become me."

She looked at me, only to give me her brightest smile. "Everything in here is as beautiful as you are." 

"Why are you so good in lying?" I said. 

"Am not!" She raised both of her hands in the air. "Why are you so bad in returning a compliment?" 

I turned to see her. "Guilty. I'm not very good in that." 

"Tsk!" she scoffed. 

"Why is it so annoying to date an honor student like you?" 

She pauses. "Really?" Brows raised for inquiry.

"Really, what?" 

She put her face closer to mine, smiling like a baby. "Are we really dating for real? Like for real for real?"

Now, it's my turn to paused. Her eyes were waiting for an answer. "Who told you that?" I said sarcastically. It's my turn to . 

"You!" 

I stood up from my seat, ran away from where she was and gave her a signal to come after me. "I will tell everybody that you confessed your feelings to me." I teased. 

She made a face, but I knew that she's ready to play the game when she also stood from the sofa and slowly walking towards my direction, still having a difficulty in walking. 

"I love you!" She shouted. I thought I could win this game but she used my weakness to me, teasing me even more. 

Just like before, my body trembled again like crazy. "Jesus Christ, Joohyun! I already told yo---" 

"I love you, Seulgi! I am madly in love with you!" She's taking the gap between us.

"You're crazy," 

"I'm crazy over you!" 

"Oh, God!" I found myself shouted when she embraced me to her arms, catch me like a prey caught by her predator. 

But the plot twist was, she tickled me to my sides and made me dance out of rhythm. "Stop. Stop. Stop!" I wanted to grab her arms but she move faster.

"Not so fast, Kang Seulgi." A smirked painted on her face when she saw what I'm doing.

"You," I returned the favor by tickling her on her sides too. I never had an idea that she's very sensitive under her arm. When I knew it was her sensitive stop, I tickled her even more there. Knowing that I am more stronger than her, she immediately lost the game. 

Now, the table has turned.

"Seulgi, stop!" 

"No, I won't" I mimicked. 

"Seulgi, I swear. Stop!"

"I won't!"

"What! No-- com-- Seulgiii!" She shouted when I accidentally stepped her foot when I was busy tickling her and now we are losing our balance. "Seulgiii~" She quickly hooked her arms around my neck when we were about to fall on the ground. I quickly embraced her and switch our position so I will be the one to receive the impact from falling. 

"Ugh!" I voiced out after we fell, after I received the unimaginable impact.

She's on the top of me now.

"You okay?" She brushed some of my hair away that covered my face. "Seulgi, you alright?" 

I couldn't answer when I was still holding my back because of the pain. "It hurts," 

"Where?" 

"My back, it hurts." 

"Let me check." When she was about reach for my shirt to look on my back, I grabbed her arms and quickly switch our position. I am on the top of her and she's the one on the bottom now, trapped by my arms.

I did it because I don't want her to see my bruises in my back that I got from the battle last four days.

When I looked down, her reddened cheeks and her ajar mouth greeted me.

But staring at her now, seduces my inner self to travel my fingers to her face. She was surprised when my hand landed on her cheeks and when I tuckled her hair to her ear. I gulped when my sight landed on her pinkish lips.

"Are you seducing me, Kang Seulgi?" Her hoarse voice began ringing on my ears that made me back to my senses.

I shook my head to set things aside and was ready to stand up when she grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer to her, only to locked her lips to mine. 

I was taken aback when Joohyun grazed on my lips but I immediately reciprocated her kiss when the adrenaline was rushing through my veins. But instead to kiss her deeper, I separated to checked her reaction, who is spotting a small, shy smile on her face. 

"Can you--" She whispered. She put her fingers on her trembling lips, surprised by my action. "Can you kiss me again?" She pleaded.

That was the only permission I needed from her to dive in for a full kiss this time, slowly invading , tasting every bit, every part of it. Everything is sweet, beyond of what I imagined. Joohyun's hand, the one that grabbed my shirt earlier, sneaking to my waist, which I take as an invitation to do more than what we are doing right now. I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her closer to me and gently carried her while I lifted ourselves up from the ground. 

What surprised me was, she's kissing me just like the way I'm kissing her. 

"You're sweet, Joohyun." I whispered to her ear. "You taste nothing but sweet," 

Because action speaks louder than voice, she dive her lips to mine, showing me of how grateful she was by kissing me. 

Her lips is like drugs, making me so addicted, even though it was only our first kiss, our first taste. 

I tighten my arms that enveloped Joohyun when I pushed my back against the door of my room, to make us a way for entrance, still lips are connected with each other, invading each mouth, memorizing each other's taste. 

I let my tongue joined the action. I was waiting for a slap from her to land on face because of what I did, but I was surprise when she mirrored what I'm doing. 

I kiss her even deeper. 

The look on her face was all I needed to make my heart skip a beat. The hug that she sealed around me was all that it takes to confirmed that our feelings for each other are mutual. 

And when she hold my hand, when she filled the gaps between my fingers, that is when I knew that I'm holding and kissing someone who would soon to be my treasure in the future. 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So, how was it? I can imagine your faces right now. Just kidding! Tell me your thoughts about this chapter guys! Love you a lot! Thank youuuu~