Elvis Presley- Now or Never

Walking through libraries with Fei was somehow different from the way it felt with his friend. Dohyun couldn't help but stare as she seemed to fly through the racks. She was so serene, as if the people around her didn't exist. Whenever she found a title that she liked, she'd smile softly and her eyes would glint. Dohyun couldn't help stare in amazement at how many faces she showed him and how many she still had to show in the future.

Fei knew he was watching which was why she sometimes hid her face with the book she was skimming through. It was embarrassing and a bit too intense for her nostalgic heart. It was bad to have a man look at her and all she could think of was her first love. But she just couldn't help it. The resemblance was uncanny although Dohyun was far more direct in his words and actions. But it wasn't the general aspects, it was the subtle gestures and reactions that felt like were mocking her.

"What are you thinking of?" He asked approaching her. "Is this book so interesting?" He literally grabbed it from her hand and read the cover. "It's about the first world war." He said with disappointment.

"It makes me wonder how I would have acted during those times. I did serve the god of war, after all." She answered avoiding looking at him.

"True. But I bet there are better times to live in than war."

"You'd be surprised how many wars used to be. It was so common to go to battle for really petty reasons."

"Like what?" He asked seeing how she was walking away.

"Money, land, women..." she enumerated the most important.

"Nothing changed then." Dohyun replied coldly.

Fei chuckled bitterly, feeling her heart tremble at how true those words were.

"It will never change. There will always be a reason or another to fight for and humans...they don't know when to stop and by the time they do, it's already a mess."

Dohyun nodded along although he had never truly seen that side of humanity. And then Fei realized she didn’t really know anything about him and got curious about a few aspects of his life.

"Have you gone to the army yet?" She asked, again not looking at him.

"Not yet. Have you?" He asked as a joke but she actually nodded.

"I did. In the past I had to actively participate in battles and have the soldiers pray to Ares. Later on, when he vanished from people's belief, I chose to work in logistics. But that did not mean I didn't learn how to fight. However, I did not participate in any wars in the last 100 years." Her answers were always such an inspiration to Dohyun's artistic brain. "Can you fight?"

"I have a black belt in taekwondo I know how to shoot too. My father is a marine and my grand-father fought in the Korean War." Dohyun said, straightening his back as he boasted about his family.

"How prestigious." She muttered to herself. "Did you graduate?"

"Sure. I majored in Korean literature."

"That regent would go crazy after you if you weren't human," she said chuckling to herself. She glanced at the boy and suddenly felt resentful. He was living his life and yet because of his face, she had to be restrained and kept under watch.

Dohyun was surprised when she scoffed and hurried past him towards the exit.

"Who's that?" Dohyun asked following Fei out of the bookstore.

"Lord Hwanung, the supreme regent and whatnot..."

Dohyun's eyes widened as he realized just who she was talking about with such disrespect.

"But...he is a super important figure in Korean history and legend!"

"Yeah. So?" She asked nonchalantly with an eyebrow raised.

"Wha- is he around too?" The human asked looking around.

"That tried to blame the Korean-Japanese war on me. Pf," she could still feel his glare, "He is the one who punished me to live all by myself and prohibited me from ever lying." She muttered still annoyed with how she became the scapegoat.

"You...can't lie?"

"Why do you think I answer so quickly? Do you think I want to tell the truth all the time when it can get me in trouble?" She added seeing how it made no difference if he knew.

Dohyun seemed to be thinking hard about it before he turned to her. He has been holding onto her vinyl in order to give her the freedom to actually do her research so he decided to use that as a test.

"Do you really listen to this?" He asked swaying it in front of her.

"Yeah. I like Elvis, especially his early albums. I am also a big fan of the music from the 70's and 80's."

"What is your favourite song from Elvis then?"

"I have a few." She said before she actually started to sing softly. "It's now or never, come hold me tight, kiss me my darling be mine tonight. Tomorrow we'll be too late, it's now or never my love won't wait."

Dohyun stood there, unable to form a sentence or think right. Her voice was so melancholic and soft but it sounded so beautiful. It was as if the wind was speaking to him, it felt so sad although it was supposed to be romantic. Her eyes were sparkling like two little stars and she seemed to glow in the light coming behind from the stores. It was already getting dark and there was a lot of noise on the street but he couldn't hear anything but her voice.

Fei took her album from Dohyun and leaned a bit towards him.

"Careful now, Dohyun ssi. Some stories say that nymphs used to lure men into the woods and seduce them with music."

"...what..."

She laughed and quickened her pace, walking in front of him with a huge smile. Dohyun blinked twice before he ran after her.

"Is that for real?" But she didn't answer, only continued to walk. "Wait! You said you can't lie! Wait up!"

When Fei arrived at the library, she couldn't help but smile like an idiot. She couldn't stop, she tried several times but the smile appeared again.

"What happened?" Hikaru asked sensing the beautiful smell of happiness. "And where is Minjae? You said he'll come in an hour but here you are and he hasn't come."

Fei couldn't care less.

Dohyun arrived home safe and sound and rather eager to draw. His manhwa was supposed to be published in six months and although he had half of it done, he still lacked the little drop of magic.

He sighed as he threw his coat on the sofa in the living room and sat down. Maybe several minutes passed before his phone vibrated with a new text message.

I'm going to excuse you for abandoning your best friend if you tell me who that woman is. Is she maybe your girlfriend? ^^

Dohyun rolled his eyes but when he was ready to type the answer, the door bell rung. He got up with a sigh and opened it only to meet the glare of Kim Minjae.

"Can we talk for a bit?" The raven asked as he invited himself in. "It's about Fei."

"What about her? I walked her to the library, did something happen?"

Minjae stared at the boy and noticed the genuine worry in his eyes. The raven sighed heavily. This Lee Hyang doppelganger was going to be a lot harder to confront because unlike the king, Dohyun was a lot more cunning and free.

"Fei is already very busy. She won't be able to teach you anything anymore. It would be even better if you just stopped coming to the library but that's too much to ask."

"Why?"

"...she has gone through this already. I don't want to witness her downfall for the second time."

Dohyun frowned, not quite sure if he understood Minjae correctly.

"Look, Lee Dohyun ssi, you personally didn't do anything wrong. The problem does not lie with you but this-" Minjae said pointing at his face, "-is a problem."

"Why would my face be the problem? I always believed myself to look approachable and friendly."

Minjae stared at the confident boy not believing his words.

"This is hopeless, I'm leaving." Minjae said getting ready to leave.

"Wait. You just barged inside my home and threw all this information for a reason. What is it?"

"You resemble him. Too much." Minjae said and hurried out of there.

Dohyun stood there in confusion. Well, at least he knew that if he asked Fei she was going to tell him the truth.