Starring: Dara Park, Park Taehwan

A story dedicated to my co-author who has put up with my crazy ideas, and who has crazy ideas as well.

Evidence?

Visit our fic, Kwon Jiyong must Die

/gets pelted with apples, the size of boulders

My co-author is so stressed with work and she needs a boat.

Hope you like it!

It’s neither her painfully exquisite face nor her petite yet shapely body that made Park Taehwan fall in love with her.

It wasn’t her voice that could be sultry and cute at the same time or her pair of eyes so expressive it could put the best actress in the world to shame either.

It has always been her hands.

The warmth it exudes to be exact.

The first time he held it, his mind went blissfully blank. His teenage crush-like infatuation turned into something more serious the moment they touched hands.

Jiyong invited him backstage to meet the former’s labelmates after their concert. Although a bit hesitant, he finally relented, half-enthusiastic, half-agitated on finally meeting face-to-face the girl that made him more interested with music.

There was a stream of people going to and fro, making Taehwan overwhelmed on how his and his friend’s world was so different in so many aspects. A group of girls, dancers he saw perform before, rushed past him and he noticed how blinged their costumes were. Athletes, particularly swimmers, aren’t allowed to wear those.

Taehwan was still staring at the girls when Jiyong nudged his elbow, saying, “Here comes 2NE1.”

By 2NE1, he meant only two members, two girls who bore the same family name, but otherwise unrelated. They were chatting to themselves and only stopped when they saw Jiyong. BIGBANG’s leader made small introductions, merely referring Taehwan as his friend and the girls shook his hand without realizing that the guy with a strong build was in fact an Olympic medalist.

Taehwan felt a wave of pleasure knock him over when the smaller of the two girls flashed him a smile and shook his hand shyly. His mind went completely blank after that and he barely noticed that the girls left in a hurry after hearing the PDs call them.

“Hwannie,” called Jiyong. “You do know you look like a total idiot, don’t you? Better close your mouth.”

His friend’s jibe only sounded like a buzz to him because all he was thinking at that time was how her hands were full of warmth.

Winter came.

So did a hundred invitations for Taehwan to attend, and he politely refused them all. After all, his training has just ended and he just wanted to take a good long rest, rather than boost his party boy image.

He has just decided to sleep the afternoon off when he received a message from his friend, Jiyong. He curiously opened it, and he felt his heart drop when he saw its contents.

It was a photo of him with a brown-haired girl, their hands intertwined while their free hands hold a snowboard. Taehwan felt a pang of jealousy course through him and he let out a profanity intended for his supposedly good friend.

He spent the whole week, wondering how it would feel if it was his hand holding hers and not him.

He could not believe it.

The friend who has been teasing him a month before played matchmaker and made him meet her in a show he was invited to be a guest. Taehwan was definitely surprised when she revealed herself out of the huge door and the new do she was sporting nearly made him breathless. She looked heavenly in her curly bob hair.

During the interview, she asked on what he found attractive about her. He wanted to say it was her warmth, but it sounded stalkerish even to him, that he mentioned the other things he did find charming. She flashed a shy smile at him after that, and Taehwan was not sure if he still has his heart functioning, because he definitely felt it stop.

At the end, she gave him a gift which touched him and made him laugh at the same time. Then they shook hands.

Just like the person she showed him, her hands were full of warmth.

He took a leap of faith, and it did Taehwan good.

After they get past all the awkwardness, he became close friends with her and waited patiently for his time to come. And when he did pop the question, she readily answered yes, much to his delight.

They were happy with the relationship they had, even though the physical contact was not so often. Differences in the industry they were working in and schedules made it hard for them to meet up but they remained loyal to each other, not giving in to any temptations.

The times they were both free, they see each other secretly. They had their dates in each other’s apartment, just hanging out, eating, playing sports, or watching a movie.

All those times, Taehwan would grasp her hand with his and think about how her warmth never ceased.

They share one thing.

Insatiable curiosity.

They would quiz each other, asking things about the other person, and would have a laugh at it. It formed part of their dates. One lazy afternoon, while they were on the elevator of the building she was living in, Taehwan asked her, “What part of me you like best?”

“Your hands,” was her unabashed reply.

“Why?”

Her cheeks became a lovely shade of crimson red and she said, “It’s so warm. It makes me feel secured and happy.”

Feeling totally euphoric, he kissed her, once, twice, and then it became a heated battle between their mouths. Their kissing was fueled not by lust, but by love.

It was pitch black.

He slowly opened his eyes, grunting a bit as he realized what just happened. Taehwan called out, “Dara?” He heard a female moan beside him and he used his hand to touch her face, relieved she was just next to him.

Dara finally stirred but remained laid on her back. Her head felt heavy and it was hard for her to move. “Oppa?”

“You okay?” Taehwan asked and he felt her nod. He chuckled and said, “It is fine. That’s normal.”

He felt her hand creep up to where he placed his hand and stopped. When she spoke, her voice was trembling. She said, “Your hand…Why is it cold?”

He did feel cold. Actually, every part of his body felt numb. Dara started to sob as she asked again.

“Oppa…answer me. Why is it cold?”

He did not answer. He could not find the strength to answer. He felt like wanting to close his eyes and just sleep it off.

Taehwan felt his girlfriend sit up. How he wanted to do the same but it was impossible for him. He could not move an inch of his body. He could not even breathe. He felt her tiny hands grasp his large ones and brought it near her cheeks.

Amazingly, he could feel her tears streaming down that beautiful face of hers.

“Your hands are always warm!” She was sobbing a lot harder now and he never felt so useless in his entire life. He wanted to wipe away those tears and make her happy for the rest of their lives together. But he knew he can’t.

He would never have the chance to do it.

“Please…someone…help us!” Dara screamed. Her voice just bounced on the walls and her grip became tighter as she said, “Oppa! Your hands…make them warm again! Please!”

Taehwan realized he was crying too, but no words came out to comfort his grieved girlfriend.

Nothing.

With every minute that passed, he felt colder, his breathing became more constricted and his body felt heavier. Gathering every bit of his strength, he opened his mouth and weakly said, “I love you.”

Dara stopped sobbing, desperate to hear the tiny voice of her beau, and replied as she flung her tiny body to his, “I love you more. Please…stay with me.”

Taehwan smiled, even though she could never see it in the dark.

“I’m glad,” he paused to breathe, “that your hands are still warm.”

A few heartbeats after he said those words, the lights came to life.

When it did, Taehwan came into full view, and Dara shrieked.

He was covered with his own blood, limp and lifeless considering the number of stabs his body has received.

It was too many.

The blood was too confusing.

And Dara lost her mind after she realized why Taehwan’s hands lost its usual warmth.

A/N:

Uh...so yeah. This is a spinoff of what happened in Chapter 6.

Now I've noticed that there were a lot of requests for a Jaedara fic. Yes, I'm not that dense. So now I ask everyone to please vote on the poll below and I shall follow what the majority wants.

Oh...and hi to new subs.