When the first bell of midnight strucks, Shadow will arrive to retrieve your most precious possession.

You looked up from the slip of paper with a pale face. “Appa… You think he meant our family heirloom, the Lost Star… right? Do you think this paper was really from him?”

Appa rubbed his temple, he was troubled over the same issue as well. “If it’s real, then according to the Shadow’s usual habits, he’ll steal the diamond at the night when we receive the note. This means it’s tonight.” He crushed the paper. “~~~~. We need to protect our family heirloom, at any cost.”

“I understand.” You let out a sigh. “It was a gift bestowed by the King to our great grandfather for his sacrifice during war. We can’t lose it… Should we call the police?”

“Ok. I’ll contact the police now. Stay in your room tonight. Don’t come out, ok?” 

“Appa.” You frowned. “Why must I stay in my room? I want to protect our family heirloom as well.”

“No, ~~~~. It might be dangerous. We’re dealing with this experienced thief who is involved with more than half of the jewelry missing cases. But no one knew his real identity. Who knows whether he might harm you?” 

“But-”

“No buts.” Appa rejected without hesitation. 

“Appa!” You pouted, feeling frustrated. “Can’t I help?”

“Listen to your appa.” Umma joined in. “Don’t make us worry ok?”

Your shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Araso. I’ll stay in the room.”

***

An hour before midnight, the police had gathered in your house and installed all the monitoring equipment at every corner of pathway to the safe, awaiting for the Shadow’s appearance.

In your room, you were waiting nervously. You were curious about the Shadow’s real identity and wanted to catch him for yourself.

Your best friend, Minji, was a hardcore Shadow chaser. She was obsessed with this mysterious thief and kept telling you how handsome he would be, despite no one has ever witnessed his true face.

“OMG! SHADOW IS COMING TO YOUR HOUSE?!” Minji screamed from the other end of the phone. “OMGOMGOMGOMG!”

“YAH!” You yelled back at her. “My ears are about to go deaf because of you!”

“Hehehe. Mian.” Minji giggled. You could almost hear her sticking her tongue out cutely. “Shadow oppa is so cool. Can I go your house and wait for him too?” She begged.

“Huh?” You raised an eyebrow. “Do you think this is fun? Of course no. Moreover, I’m not allowed to even leave my room.”

“Aww… That’s a shame… It’ll be daebak if I could see him in real and be his girlfriend. Kekeke.”

“What?” You gasped. “You haven’t even seen this guy’s face, how could you even fall for him?”

“Because he has beautiful eyes and he is just like a modern hero. He steals jewelry from the evil rich people.”

You rolled your eyes. “Are you trying to hint that my dad is a rich evil guy? And from what I know, he steals jewelry because he is one arrogant jerk who just likes to make fun of others.”

“Anniyo!” Minji yelped. “Shadow oppa is a good guy.”

You did a face palm, thinking that your best friend is a hopeless fangirl. “Good guy doesn’t steal, Minji. He’s a jerk.”

“Oh really? I bet you’ll fall for him if you meet him. He’s such a charming person.” She challenged.

“No, I won’t. Never, ever.”

***

15 minutes till midnight. The atmosphere in the house is getting more tensed by seconds. Everyone was feeling nervous now because Shadow might appear anytime.

Unable to contain your curiosity any more, you sneaked out of the window and climbed down the pipeline. *I must catch this thief myself and prove that I’m not just any normal girl.* You thought with an excited face.

However, as you were thinking about other thoughts, you missed a step and slipped. “AH!” You squeaked with your eyes shut tight as your body fell down towards the ground.

Just then, a pair of hands caught you. 

A voice chuckled. “Are you an angel falling from the sky?”

Your eyes flew opened and a masked face came into view. Something about his mask clicked in your mind. As he put you down, you immediately recognized him. *IT’S HIM!!* “S-Shad-”

Before you could complete your sentence, he cupped your mouth. “Uh uh.” His eyebrow arched as his eyes glimmered dangerously under the dim moonlight. “We won’t like you to attract any unwanted attention, you know.”

Your eyes widened. *LET ME GO!* You struggled under his grip but he was too strong. Unable to think of other ways to escape, you stomped on his feet. And it worked. It seemed to be painful because Shadow backed away. 

Once he released his grip on you, you immediately took out a handcuff (which you had prepared to use when dealing with him) and cuffed his wrist with yours.

He frowned and gave you a shocked look.

“Hah.” You grinned. “Serve you right. Now, surrender now and follow me to confess your crimes to the police.”

Daehyun smirked. He had not expected the situation to end this way. In fact, things were much interesting than he thought.

“What if, I don’t?” 

You narrowed your eyes. “Mwoh? Then I’ll personally drag you there myself.”

“Ah…” He studied you from head to toe. “Are you sure you can do it?”

“Don’t underestimate me!” You snapped. “Let’s go now.” You tried to pull the handcuff but Shadow did not even move an inch. He stared at you with interest.

You bit your lips angrily. *DAMN. NOW WHAT SHOULD I DO?*

Daehyun smiled. He enjoyed the way you were feeling helpless because of something dumb you did. He leaned coolly against the wall and folded his arms. “Why do you want to catch me so much anyway? Are you a Shadow chaser?” He joked.

“What?” You gaped at him. “Do you think I’m that kind of stupid girls who would fall for a criminal like you?” You scoffed. “Please, I’ve much higher taste.”

“I see.” Daehyun let out a laugh. There was this something about you which made him forgotten about his mission. Instead, he wanted to play with you a little longer. “How about a bet?”

“Bet?”

“If I can’t make you fall for me before we meet again, I’ll go to the police station with you.” He suggested.

“Mwoh? What if you escape and never come back again?” You eyed at him warily.

“I will, because I will take the Lost Star.” 

“Why should I let you take our family heirloom?! No way. I rather take you to the police now.” You rejected without thinking.

“Hah. Do you seriously think that you can catch me with this stupid handcuff?” Daehyun shook his head. With a click, the handcuff broke opened and it fell off his wrist. While he was talking, he had already hidden a needle in his other hand.

Your eyes rounded. “I-Impossible!”

“So, do you still want to have a bet?” Daehyun chuckled darkly. “It’s the only way for you to have the chance to catch me. Or… are you afraid that you’ll fall for me and lose this bet?”

“Of course not!” You snapped. “Fine! Deal!”

“Good.” Daehyun was pleased and took a step closer towards you.

You warily stepped back. “W-What do you want now?”

“I’ve came here to steal something. I can’t leave without something right?”

“Mwoh?”

Suddenly, he took off his mask right in front of you. As his face revealed under the moonlight, you took in a deep breath. *OMG…He’s… beautiful…*

Daehyun smirked when he caught you gawking at him for a split second. When you saw his smirk, you immediately regained your composure. “W-Why did you remove your mask? Aren’t you scared that I’ll recognize you and send picture of you to the police station?”

“You won’t.” Daehyun said confidently. “Because any women who has seen my face before, would never betrayed me.”

“W-What? How?”

“Because, not only did I steal their jewelry, I stole their heart… and body...” And as he ended his sentence, he held your chin and kissed your lips. You froze when you felt his warm and soft lips on yours. 

Dumbfounded, you did not even realize when he moved away. Daehyun his lips with an evil grin. “Until we meet again, angel.” He said before flipping over the wall.

Moments later, you finally woke up. And you were fuming away because he had stolen your first kiss without even telling you. “YAH! YOU STUPID FREAK! HOW DARE YOU!” 

***********************************************
-Second part-

A week quietly went by and nothing has happened ever since then. As the Lost Star was not stolen that night unlike usual, everyone thought that it was just a prank by someone else. But only you knew, Shadow really came that night.

However, you did not dare to tell anyone about your encounter with Shadow. You did not want them to know that you let him go and he even stole your first kiss.

You rested your chin on the table and let out a long sigh. *What should I do? And why isn’t Shadow coming back again?* You touched your lips unknowingly as you recalled the kiss.

Suddenly, your cheeks heated up. *OMG! What am I thinking! Andwae, I’m not going to fall for him. He’s a criminal!* 

Shaking your head vigorously, you tried your best to knock his face out of your mind. But the more you tried to forget him, the more you recalled his kiss.

Eventually, he was always on your mind. You could not forget him.


***

2 weeks soon passed and there were still no news about Shadow’s movements. And you grew angry because he backed out on the promise of appearing again. *He lied to me!* You angrily punched your pillow. “Stupid Shadows. I never wanna see you again!”

But you did not realize that you were no longer mindful about his identity. Instead, you were only concerned with when are you going to meet him again.


***

Finally, the day came. Early morning, a note flew into your house. And it was the exact same note which you had received 3 weeks ago. Once again, your whole family went into panic mode.

“Call the police. I think this time, it’s real.” Appa ordered you to call.. 

But this time, you hesitated. “C-Call the police?” You croaked.

“Yes. We are not going to let this thief off this time.” 

You grew a bit worried. *What if he gets caught? It’s good, right?* 

“Can I join in this time?” You faked a smile. “I wanna see how you catch this Shadow.”

“No, honey. It’s too dangerous.” Umma disapproved. Appa agreed with her. 

“A-Araso…” You turned away and stared out of the window. Although you were worried, you were also feeling excited to meet him again.


***

Night soon came and the police had invaded your living room. You were forced to stay in your room and not come out.

Pacing around the room, you were feeling insecured. Bad thoughts about Shadow getting caught, kept making you feel worse. You were wondering whether you should go and check it out.

“THERE HE IS!”

Just then, someone shouted from outside. You quickly stuck your head out of the window and caught a glimpse of a black figure speeding down the streets and on a motorbike.

Your eyes widened in horror as the police chased after him. “No…”

Suddenly, you heard a gun shot and the screeching sounds of tires colliding with the road. Your knees went weak and you fell to the floor. *H-He was… shot?*

You could not believe it. Tears began to flow down your eyes as you thought about Shadow’s death. “No, it couldn’t be. He’s Shadow! He wouldn’t die that easily!”

However, your heart hurt so much because of the news that you bawled out loudly. While you were crying, you did not notice someone came into your room through your window.

“Are you crying for me, angel?”

You went stiff at the voice. You could even recognize it even in your dreams. *Shadow…* You whipped your head and saw Shadow leaning against your window pane. He smiled and flashed the diamond in his hand.

“You don’t really think that I’ll be that stupid to let the police see me, right?” He laughed.

“You’re not dead?” You asked among your sobbing. It felt unrealistic to see him standing in front of you.

“Very alive.” He reassured.

You stood up and hammered his chest. “You pabo! How can you play with me like this?”

All of a sudden, there was a knock on your room door. It was your dad who had heard the commotion. “Honey, are you alright inside?”

Daehyun stared you at you wide-eyed, wondering what would you do. If you tell your father that he’s here, he might not be able to escape.

You were surprised too. But you did not know why you lied to your appa in the end.

“I’m fine. I was just talking on the phone.” 

“Oh, okay honey. Sleep well.” He said before leaving.

You let out a sigh in relief and turned to Daehyun who was grinning widely. “So, I guess, I won this bet?”

You gave him a look. “Yes…” You unwillingly admitted it.

Daehyun smirked. “Right from the start, I knew you will fall for me, Angel.” He came towards you and held your hand. With a light tug, he pulled you into his embrace as he lowered his head to kiss you gently.