She screamed. "No!"

 

She was panting, panicking with her heart in as she desperately tried to get away. She was running as fast as she could, but somehow, it just wasn't fast enough. She couldn't outrun the person that was chasing her, and she didn't dare think what would happen when he caught her.

 

Not a second later, she screamed again because he'd thrown himself at her, successfully catching her as he pinned her underneath him in the grass. It was over. Now he'd exact his revenge on her, and she was sure that, even if she survived, she would be cruelly punished for her wrong-doings.

 

But she wasn't going to repent - if she could turn back time, she'd do it again and he knew it, too.

 

"You," he growled as he turned her so that she was facing him as she tried desperately to somehow free herself from his rough hands, "You think you can get away with what you'd done to me?"

 

She now began to whimper, no matter how embarrassing it was, as she whispered, "Please." What was she even begging him for? To let her go? She knew it wouldn't be that easy.

 

She was right - her begging only managed to make him more angry. "Please?" he scoffed in disbelief.

 

Then the torture began. She screamed because his hands were suddenly all over her body - on her stomach, beneath her armpits, at her sides, and she couldn't breathe. She could barely hear the words he was saying painfully calmly as she tried desperately to flee those sinful hands. "I don't recall you thinking about whether I would be begging for mercy too when you pushed my back and made me fall into the river. This shirt is expensive, and I know exactly why you caused it to be torn and slick and clinging to my body in all the right places," he finished in a hushed whisper as he leaned over her.

 

She didn't know if she was laughing or crying - it was some weird mixture of both as she felt happy but as if she was going to die at the same time. He increased the intensity as he kissed her temple, dropping his voice dangerously low. "You think I didn't see where your eyes were looking when I went out of the water? Let me tell you this - your gaze was definitely below my waist, and we both know how forbidden that is in Islam."

 

Now she was laughing from embarrassment too, as she felt her already-red face from all the tickling blushing further. Busted. His movements were getting slower and less intense, as if he was getting distracted from his own thoughts and, knowing him, it was definitely about forbidden things.

 

She used the moment to try and calm her breathing and her wildly-beating heart but she couldn't, because he was too close and now slowly, painfully slowly making his way down her face, his lips moving closer and closer to . Definitely forbidden things.

 

"As if you," she tried to take a deep breath, still giggling, "know what is forbidden in Islam."

 

She expected him to not stop until his lips found hers, but he gently kissed her cheek instead and moved to the side, his hands finally leaving her stomach and letting her take a breath. He was still soaking wet, though it was incredibly hot, even for a summer day, and he felt that her clothes were now wet, too.

 

He kept surprising her today - instead of hungrily taking in her partly-revealed form as she found herself in this compromising situation, his eyes didn't leave her face as he leaned on his elbow, turned sideways beside her. They were both grinning, but there was something very soft in his eyes as he said confidently, "I know a lot about Islam, aeri. I didn't before, but I've done my homework."

 

Her raised eyebrows betrayed her surprise. "You? Actually researching something? I really can't imagine that."

 

His grin widened, if that was even possible. How could he suddenly turn from a raging-hot breathing sin into an impossibly cute and seemingly innocent teenager? And she was completely in love with both of his sides. "Hey, don't try to portray me like that. I'm actually quite smart, though I don't often show it. I even got a Nobel prize once, though I was using the alias Albert Einstein. Maybe you’ve heard of him before."

 

He closed his eyes as they both laughed, and suddenly, it wasn't hard to breathe anymore. He'd put down his defenses and now he was showing her the true him, the one who sometimes got scared and shocked and whose heart hurt and who had so many issues. And that him was in front of her right now, and he was laughing. She couldn't help herself - her fingers were on his face in an instant, dancing in appreciation and love and making him open his eyes.

 

They were now golden.

 

Her brain didn't get a second to recover from the shock when he spoke again, having stopped joking. "I am a man of many sins, aeri, but when it comes to you, everything just fades away." He closed his eyes again while she just stared at him, wondering what she'd done to deserve him. "I want to do things right for once. I've already hurt you so much and you'd forgiven me in a flash, but... I want to make it up to you. And I don't want to disrespect you ever again."

 

He moved closer to her, raising both of his hands and tracing the hem of her shawl with his fingers. She still couldn't think. "I... I know it doesn't change anything, but when I... when I did that, I truly didn't know how important it was. I just thought this shawl was kind of a weird style, you know? But now I feel so ashamed because I'd seen you without it - and not just me, I'd let others see you and I feel so angry at myself because you're keeping it safe for me, you're hiding your beauty so that I can be the only one to bask in it-"

 

She stopped him with a sob. Tears were prickling her eyes, but she did not let them fall - if she did, he'd think she was sad, and she wasn't. How did he always understand her? And why was he always so thoughtful when it came to her?

 

He now moved even closer, his lips hovering over hers. "This is mine," he whispered. "All of it. And nobody else's."

 

She closed her eyes as she shuddered from the deep, dangerous tone of his voice he was using on her for the second time that day, expecting him to finally close the distance and kiss her, but he again moved away.

 

"Baekkie," she whined, frowning. What was wrong? Usually he'd be all over her ages ago - why was he like this today?

 

But when she opened her eyes, he was grinning, his eyes still golden, so she bit her lip and sighed deeply, deciding not to ruin the moment when he was so happy. She wanted him to stay that way forever. "You are so impossibly cute," he said shyly as he giggled at himself. She noticed that he was now actually blushing - the blush was clearly distinguishable because his face was so pale these days, but much better than when they first found him by their cabin - which had never happened before.

 

"Why are you so shy today?" she echoed her mind's questions, not complaining but not quite understanding it either. "Usually you're..." she tried to explain by waving her hands around his face, "different than this."

 

He rolled around so that he was on his back now, kicking with his legs slightly. "Oh really?" His smile was wider and brighter than the sunlight washing over them. "Well, to your utter disappointment, you're going to have to get used to it, because this is how it's going to be from now on. You're going to get your next kiss when we get married, which is hopefully going to happen soon."

 

"What?" she said in a voice that was way too loud. He'd nearly rendered her speechless. She decided not to think about the getting married soon thing. "But... why?"

 

She wasn't stupid enough to start wondering those cliche things like, Does he not love me anymore. She knew his decision had nothing to do with that, but she couldn't believe Baekhyun would do something so radical without a very good reason. She had to pry him off her ninety-nine percent of the time, and now he was suddenly going to play innocent?

 

She couldn't think anything was wrong when he was laughing so honestly like that as his eyes, now shining even more than before, focused on her again as he leaned over to look at her. "You see, it's exactly because of that. I've turned you into this, aeri! Half a year ago I stole your first kiss and now you're shocked that we're not going to be doing that anymore, when it should've never happened in the first place."

 

She frowned, not understanding his words. Was he regretting...

 

He shook his head at her as he slowly approached her again, moving so not-suspiciously until he was only inches away once more. He took her hands in his as the light shone on her face, but she couldn't move her gaze from his eyes. She thought she could see his soul through them and she would not waste such a precious moment.

 

"Aeri," he said gently, and she could feel the love in his voice. Why was he acting like this, then? "Aeri, I should've respected you. I should've especially respected your choices, but I failed to do either because I was so selfish." Then he laughed again, but this time it was not out of happiness but disbelief instead.

 

He shook his head as he closed his eyes and bit his lips. "I've... researched about Islam. And I know now that even touching you like this," he continued in a low voice as his hands squeezed hers, "Is considered disrespectful and forbidden by some scholars. But I can't..."

 

He gulped, still not opening his eyes, and she thought she finally realized what all of this was about. "I can't not touch you, no matter how hard I try," he managed to say as he opened his eyes again - now there was something desperate in his gaze. "And it's taking my everything to not just pin you down and start kissing you like no tomorrow and then take that shawl off you and do so much more to you, with you, but I won't ever do that again because that would be taking advantage of you. So I'll settle for just..."

 

She could not take a breath until his lips were on her - not her lips, but peppering her cheeks and forehead with small, shy kisses, as if he was scared of something, as if he did not know whether even this was okay and he was cheating.

 

He hid his face in her neck as Aya began laughing loudly. She didn't mean to make fun of him, but he was so adorable and she found herself falling in love with him all over again.

 

She put a hand in his ash-colored hair, which seemed to be shining on the sunlight, too, just like the rest of him was. She was never happier in her whole life. "You silly boy," she whispered, holding him close to herself. "You should've thought about those things a long time ago. But no, you had to get me used to being close to you like this and now you want to suddenly act all proper and innocent?" she .

 

She laughed again as she kissed the space just above his left eyebrow, turning serious. "It's okay, you know. You seem to keep forgetting that I know all about you and why you'd done the things you'd done. I know that you had no idea what this shawl means to me. I was never angry at you because of that, I was angry because I didn't understand why you hated me when you had no reason to."

 

He was silent for a long moment, but she felt a part of the tension leaving his body slowly but surely. "And... the rest? Will you allow me to at least..." He trailed off, falling silent again as he held her closer, his mouth now on the space between her neck and her ear.

 

She giggled. "Baekkie," she sighed contently, "To be honest, I'd allow you a lot more, but in a way, you're right. We've gotten too carried away, and it'll be hard to get used to this, but if you're okay with it, I think we should tone things down a bit."

 

Her hands were acting on their own accord again, moving out from his own and slowly trailing a path up his arm. She watched in wonder as goosebumps appeared, not able to ever get used to the fact that she had the same effect on him that he had on her. "Touching is fine," she spoke confidently, "And so is kissing, but innocently and not the mouth. And stop saying this nonsense stuff about disrespecting me, okay? You love me. You never do anything but think about me and how I'll feel if you do this or that. You should stop overthinking things, Baekkie."

 

He made a strange, small high-pitched sound as he hid his face further in her neck, now almost behind her and in the grass behind them. "I've been very selfish, aeri. But I didn't know... I don't understand why it's all forbidden. The big stuff, okay, but kissing you..." He took a deep breath. "I don't know how I'll be able to suppress myself from doing that. But I'll do it, for you."

 

She moved away from him and he tried to follow,but she stopped him with her hands on his face, making him look up at her, though he tried to escape her gaze. His whole face was red - he was adorable as the light of his eyes moved past her own and straight into her heart, where it'd shine forever. "It's not forbidden because our religion is cruel," she said gently. "Islam is not meant to make things tough, it's just that we sometimes don't recognize how the rules are helping us. It's forbidden because that way..."

 

She then moved her face until their foreheads were touching and there was nothing but his eyes looking at her in innocent wonder and curiosity. "That way, we don't let our bodies overthrow our minds, Baekkie. That way, we can know that we really love each other, not the feelings we get when we kiss or do other things. And that way, when we get married, the physical stuff means so much more - it's not just something we'd done with many people before that has no meaning."

 

She kissed his forehead and intertwined both of her hands in his beautiful hair. He sighed. "That's beautiful, aeri, but that means I've already ruined myself. I've done things with girls - hell, I've done things with girls on this planet. And I've almost ruined you, too, because I've kept pushing myself onto you without even wondering if there was something more to it."

 

Aya leaned away so that she could see his face - it looked conflicted, as if he was suffering. She knew what he was aiming at, but she knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. "Oh, Baekkie," she said with a giggle, making him look up in wonder. "In Islam, there is always forgiveness for the sinners. All you need to do is realize that what you'd done is wrong, stop doing it and ask for forgiveness from God honestly. God is The Most Merciful, you know - He'll forgive you."

 

He sighed again, and his face kept merging into something different every couple of seconds. He kept looking younger and younger as his fears started floating on the surface and he bared his soul to her. It's beautiful, she wanted to say. You are beautiful.

 

"But I..." he started in a very small voice, his hands finding hers again. "I've never believed in God... not that way, at least. I think what I believe in is closest to taoism, aeri - I believe in forces of good and evil, but not that there's Someone up there, watching over us and pulling the strings."

 

"I know," she said immediately. She wouldn't lie - it had bothered her for a long time, and she'd often wondered if she'd be able to accept the fact that his beliefs were nowhere even close to her own, but she knew that his heart wasn't closed - he'd just never thought about things that way before. She hoped she could guide him and show him what she believed in. She hoped that maybe someday, he'd believe, too, though it was still way too early for that.

 

Meanwhile, he seemed to be going through some kind of crisis, looking anywhere but at her as he fumbled for words he could not seem to find. "I- I don't- I mean-"

 

She shushed him with her fingers on his mouth. "I know," she repeated with more intensity. "You don't have to say a thing. I don't expect anything from you, Baekhyun. Even the fact that you did a real research on my religion to try and understand me better is a miracle itself. I won't push you, so don't push yourself either."

 

The tension slowly seeped out of his body while she touched his cheek with her fingers. He leaned into her hand. "I don't want to disappoint you, aeri. This is just uncharted territory for me. I've just never thought about this..."

 

She was about to reassure him further, but he traced the hem of her shawl with his fingers again and spoke before she had the chance to. "I've sinned, but I won't lie - I'm so glad that I know what your hair looks like. I'm just angry out of my mind that others know too - others who shouldn't." His voice was slowly turning into a protective growl. She found it adorable.

 

Was this love? Being protected and cherished by someone who was willing to give up on things that were important to him in order to treat her the best way possible?

 

She knew the answer - she could see it in his eyes. She hoped he could, too, though her eyes couldn't shine the same way his did. His power was beautiful, even though her stomach sank at the thought that maybe, he'd never be able to use it again.

 

She decided to ask him the one thing she wanted to figure out but couldn't. "Baekkie," she started and he hummed at her, fumbling with one of the pins keeping her shawl in place, "Why are your eyes shining? You can't reach your powers, so how come they're golden?"

 

His hand froze on the pin. His whole body froze, too, and her touch seemed to have lost its soothing effect on him.

 

Had she said something wrong? She hoped she hadn't insulted him somehow. She started to apologize, but he quickly averted his eyes as he whispered shyly, "Oh."

 

He seemed to still be getting younger - now he looked like a little boy and even more innocent than she did as he bit his lip, seemingly caught with his hands in a cookie jar while he kept blinking, as if the movement itself would make the light behind his eyes disappear.

 

She leaned into his face, half-worried and half-amused because she'd never seen him act like this. "Baekkie? Come on, tell me what's wrong. Did I do something?"

 

He would still not look at her, no matter how hard she tried to catch his gaze. He just kept moving his head until finally giving up, whimpering in what seemed like embarrassment as he hid his head in her neck again.

 

She didn't push him for further information, but she couldn't help the bubbly giggles that wouldn't stop exiting . She put a hand in his hair again, making him lean into her further, not quite sure what she was even feeling at the moment. She just knew that she was happy, and even though he seemed to be very embarrassed because his eyes shining meant something the childish him didn't want to face or tell her anything about, she knew he was happy, too, and that was enough.

 

A couple of seconds later, he started giggling himself. "Aeri..." he spoke into her neck. "The Tree of Life... it told me something, but I've never experienced it before. To be honest, I've stopped believing it was even true a long time ago."

 

She hummed in approval. Where was he going with this? She hoped it wasn't some side-effect of him losing his energy or something. But if it was like that, why was he giggling?

 

He said something indiscernible in her neck.

 

"What?" she asked slowly, trying to lean back so that she could hear him better.

 

"They'll only shine when I fall in love," he whispered with a little more intensity.

 

And that was his big secret? She burst out laughing, and Baekhyun started whining as he now put his hands on his face while she finally managed to lean back and look at him.

 

"Baekkie," she said pointedly. He just shook his head at her as he fell silent, moving away from her.

 

"Baekhyun," she said through another fit of laughter, "Look at me."

 

Saying his full name seemed to work, because he peeked at her through his fingers - the gold was clearly visible, shining through his makeshift shield. She leaned over and kissed his hand, finally getting his full attention and making him stop his pointless freaking-out.

 

Aya took his hands and slowly lowered them from his face. "There's nothing to be afraid of, baby. It's beautiful. They've been shining for a long time," she whispered as she kissed his burning-red cheeks. "Do you know when they first started shining?"

 

"Ah," he moaned brokenly, probably shocked by the new revelation. How could he not have known? The embarrassed him was her new favorite thing - she wanted to get to see him more often. "Stop staring at me, aeri," he managed to whisper somehow as he closed his eyes.

 

She kissed his temples slowly and deliberately. "The first time I saw them shine was when you were begging me to touch the back of your neck." She paused to laugh at the memory. "I thought it was because of other stuff, but it became a regular thing so I thought it was just you being happy. So…” she paused dramatically, her grin getting wider and wider. “You're in love with me, huh?"

 

He whimpered again, silently begging her to stop teasing him so she finally stopped with her lips inches above his.

 

"I love you, too, you know," she whispered. He finally opened his eyes, and now the golden color made an entirely different feeling arise in her heart. "And I knew I wasn't just some new impulse of yours. I've seen all your memories, Baekkie - I know you."

 

"And I know you, too," Baekhyun said as he finally seemed to recover from his embarrassment.

 

She nodded, still not moving from their dangerous position. She was vaguely aware that they were lying sideways in the grass in South Korea - the closest thing to home he'd ever seen, he had said. It looked like Bosnia and Herzegovina, too - if they closed their eyes, maybe they would be able to deceive themselves they were at their homes, at least for a second.

 

"Aeri," he spoke with intensity in his voice.

 

The world was made of gold and brown.

 

"Let me... just this once."

 

The world was shining, shining on her, though she'd done nothing to deserve it.

 

"Please," she whispered as her hands found the back of his neck, making him shudder and close his eyes, but not violating him with her powers.

 

"I love you, aeri."

 

The gold faded as their lips found each other and then the gold seeped into her veins, running further and further until it reached her very soul, marking it forever so that she'd never be able to let go, so that she'd never be able to seek anything else but the shining eyes of a scared boy that was hers with his whole being.

 

I love you too, Baekie.

 

If her eyes could have shined, they would've been colored in gold, too.