o=o=o

 

DARA’S POV

 

I propped myself on my elbow and smiled while watching Jiyong’s sleeping face. Words aren’t enough to describe what it feels like to wake up every morning seeing his face. A sigh of contentment escaped from me. Yes, I feel contented just by staring at the face of the person I love, my very own fallen angel, Kwon Jiyong. I tried to imagine him with wrinkles and wondered if I’d still stare at him lovingly; if I’d still love seeing his face every night before I sleep ore very morning right after I wake up.

 

Yes, I’d still feel the same. I’m sure of it.

 

“Staring is rude” he grunted with his eyes still closed.

 

I giggled and dropped my head back to my pillow. “Good morning, pancake” I greeted him. “Do you know how y your voice sounds early in the morning, hmm?”

 

He chuckled. “Really?”

 

“Yes” I answered, smiling.

 

He opened his eyes and smiled, his eyes naughtily gleamed. He leaned forward and breathed against my ear. “Good morning, spoof” he huskily whispered, nipping on my earlobe.

 

“You’re flirting!” I exclaimed.

 

“You started it” he chuckled lightly, his arms going around me. He then pulled me up on top of him. He leaned up and gave my chin a peck before attacking me with his tickling fingers. I gave a shriek of giggles and started thrashing but he kept one arm firmly around me while his free hand tickled me.

 

“S-stop!” I giggled. “Aigoo!”

 

We rolled over the bed and reached to the point where the lower half of my body went off the bed. I was able to escape from his arms then. I pulled myself up and started running away when I saw him climbed off the bed. I know he can catch me easily but I guess he was just being playful today because he let me ran around the place. When he got me cornered in the kitchen, I could only laugh, not feeling a tinge of fear. Why would I feel anything like that, anyway?

 

“Gotcha!” he chuckled, grabbing my waist and pulled me to his body forcefully that the tips or our noses bumped into each other. I locked my arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the lips. “You go take a shower first while I prepare us some pancakes”

 

“Hmn, do we really have to go to school?”

 

He clicked his tongue. “You’re such a bad influence”

 

“I’m just kidding!” I laughed and squeaked after I felt him squeeze my bottom. “Why you naughty shadow, oh yes you are!”

 

He laughed then buried his head on my neck. “Mmm, you smell y in the morning”

 

I felt myself blushed. “Are you making fun of me?”

 

“No” he breathed against my neck. I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip as he started kissing his way from my neck up to my ear. His hold on my waist tightened but not to the point of being in pain.

 

“Want to take a shower with me?” I hopefully asked.

 

“If I do that, we’ll end up being late” he chuckled. “Maybe later in the evening”

 

I blushed deeper. “I’d love that. And I love you”

 

“Huh” he snorted.

 

Silence followed. Neither of us dared to move, either. We just held each other tightly as if never wanting to let go. But then, we really don’t want to let go of each other. I just love everything about him. And I also love how he’s trying to stop himself from swearing in front of me though there were instances that he slipped, at least there’s an improvement.

 

“Have you changed your mind?” I broke the silence.

 

“About what?”

 

“About not going to school today?”

 

He chuckled. “Of course not” he said and pulled away. “Go ahead and take a shower”

 

I feigned a disappointed sigh, making him laugh. Ah, I just love hearing him laugh. The sound makes me giddy and tingly. Aigoo! What am I thinking? Aish!

 

“What are you still waiting for?” he asked, shooing me away with his hand.

 

“I’m going already” I told him after stealing a kiss. As I pulled away, he spanked my behind, making me jump a little. I shook my head at this but I still blew him a kiss.

 

 

JIYONG’S POV

 

I shook my head as Dara’s loud singing voice reached my ears. There she goes again. She’s obviously in a good mood. Right, I think it’d be better if she’s in a bad mood. Damn, what a spoof!

 

My hand froze on the process of flipping the pancakes over when I heard her chanting, “Jiyong, Jiyong, Jiyongie; I so love my Jiyongie” this time. I groaned and shook my head. She totally lost it. But then, a smile tugged at the corner of my lips. That girl, really.

 

As I was done, I decided to eat ahead of her. I still need to take a bath myself. I know she’ll pout and whine about it. She might even stomp around and throw a tantrum. I’m used to her childishness but sometimes, it still takes me by surprise. She just got her moments of maturity and childishness, not to say her moments of persistency and stubbornness. Either way, I still feel the same way. I sighed. Up until now, I’m still having some difficulties in admitting how I feel for her, let alone admit that I feel that way.

 

“Ya!”

 

I glanced over my shoulder and saw her behind me wearing a robe and a very annoyed look. “Hey” I grinned.

 

“Did you eat ahead of me?” she demanded.

 

“Yep”

 

Her face fell into an ugly grimace. Before she could throw a tantrum, a motioned her to sit on my lap. She crossed her arms across her chest stubbornly and pouted as she stomped her way towards me. I grabbed her wrists and pulled her down on my lap, sideways. I frowned. “Have you been losing weight?” I asked.

 

“Your fault” she stubbornly pouted.

 

I reached for her nape and turned her head to my direction to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “My fault?”

 

“Yes” she answered, glaring at me. “And why did you eat without waiting for me?”

 

“I’m hungry” I simply explained. “And I think you should eat a heavy breakfast or meal from now on. You’re getting thinner”

 

“I don’t want to get fat” she reasoned out. “I want to look y”

 

“Being thin isn’t y” I argued. “I don’t like overly thin girls”

 

“You don’t?” she softly asked.

 

“No” I told her. “So you better start eating heavy meals, mmkay?”

 

“It’s still useless, though” she said as she started eating.

 

“And why is that?”

 

“I don’t want to tell you” she stubbornly stated. “You might not want to do it anymore one you knew how much calories I burn everytime we-” she suddenly stopped and blushed.

 

“Oh. I get it. Huh!” I snorted.

 

“Oh well” she sighed. “I’ll just have to seduce you then”

 

I laughed. I grabbed her free hand and started playing with her fingers. Her face flushed but she chose to ignore it and went to finish her pancakes. As soon as she was finished, I carried her back to the room so she could dress herself up for school while I take a bath.

 

- - -

 

“Snap out of it, Dara” I wearily sighed as she jumped on my back for the nth time.

 

“How come you don’t want to give me a piggyback ride, anymore?”

 

“We’re on our way to school” I reasoned out.

 

“So?” she demanded. “Oh, right. No PDA”

 

I sighed as she started walking in a fast pace, leaving me behind her. Aish, this girl’s being a pain in the again when just a while ago, she was being flirty and cuddly. “Hey spoof girl!” I called but she ignored me.

 

“Hi TOP!” she called loudly. I stopped in my tracks and frowned when I saw her jogged towards this guy I recognized from my class. So, he’s TOP, huh?

 

“Hey” the guy greeted back.

 

“How are you?” Dara asked in her usual cheerful voice.

 

I pulled my hood up to my head and slid my hands to my pockets. I kept my head down as I walked past by them. They were conversing when I past by and as soon as I was up ahead, I heard Dara’s voice faltered. I could just feel her eyes burning a hole on my back. Then, I felt something hard hit the back of my head but I chose to ignore it.

 

“Ya! Kwon Jiyong!”

 

“See you later” I called without glancing back.

 

- - -

 

AUTHOR’S POV

 

“You can join me and my friends for lunch” Dara cheerfully told Kevin.

 

“Ah, no. I have to do something anyways” he smiled.

 

“Oh, are you sure?” Dara frowned. She wanted to ask why he always disappears during break time but she thought it’d be rude to do so.

 

“Yes” he smiled again. “See you later”

 

“Okay” she waved at him. When he was out of sight, she started bouncing to the cafeteria. As soon as she reached the place, he searched for TOP and the siblings. When she saw them at the end part, she smiled widely and went to get herself something to eat first before joining them. “Hello” she greeted, taking the place right in front of TOP, who was sitting besides Minzy and Daesung.

 

“I can still take some load” Minzy told Daesung after the latter greeted her back.

 

“Can you handle it?” Daesung asked. “We already had our choir practice after every class and you already had one part-time job”

 

“Part-time job?” Dara butted in. “Do you know any part-time jobs?”

 

“Is it really your habit to in with other people’s conversations?” Minzy.

 

“Oh, sorry” she mumbled.

 

“Actually, I do know one” TOP said.

 

“Really?” Dara asked eagerly, taking a sip of her juice.

 

“Yeah” he nodded. “But I think Minzy’s going to take it. You can fill in for her if you want, night shift”

 

“Oh” she mumbled, disappointment written in her face.

 

“You look disappointed” TOP snorted.

 

“That’s the only time I could spend time with Jiyong”

 

“Speaking of him, where does he stay at break time?” TOP asked.

 

Dara frowned. “Library, I guess”

 

“You don’t know?”

 

She pouted. “I don’t really ask. I don’t want him to think that I’m too obsessed with him. And besides, he hates it when I’m being nosy”

 

“And I hate it everytime you disobey me” an awfully familiar voice came from behind her.

 

Dara looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. “Jiyong!”

 

Jiyong grimaced at the loudness of her voice. But setting it aside, he took the empty space beside her and placed the tray of FOODS in front of her. “Eat them”

 

“All of these?” she asked in bewilderment.

 

“Yes”

 

“But. . . but. . . but it’s too many!”

 

“You have to finish all of these in ten minutes”

 

“Why?” she childishly asked but Jiyong just gave her his authoritative look. He then inserted his earphone in and pulled his hood up to his head. Dara sighed when Jiyong turned his head away from her.

 

TOP’s eyes narrowed when Dara started eating everything her boyfriend bought while the latter was staring blankly outside. He rested his elbow on the table and in doing so, he accidentally brushed his fork off the table. He pulled away from the table and went to pick his fork up. He was about to sit straight up again but something stopped him. He looked forward and saw Dara’s hand resting on Jiyong’s thigh while the latter was playing with her fingers with both of his hands. He slowly straightened up in his place. Dara was still trying to eat down all the foods with one hand. She had her head bowed but he could just see that she was blushing. Jiyong on the other hand, had still his hood and earphones on while continuously staring blankly outside.

 

‘So this is how he works’ he thought. He fidgeted in his place and clenched his jaw. “Hey, you got something on your chin” he said and reached out to wipe the spaghetti sauce off her chin.

 

“Oh” she mumbled. “Thanks, hehe. I tend to eat messily sometimes”

 

“I noticed” he smiled. “I do that sometimes, too”

 

“Really?” she chuckled.

 

“Need help with that?” TOP nodded towards the tray of food. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Jiyong straightened up and had his eyes on him.

 

“Oh no, it’s okay” Dara smiled. “I need to gain weight anyways, so I’m all good”

 

“If you say so” he shrugged then glanced at Jiyong. TOP smirked at the intense stare of the other guy. For one or two seconds, he saw Jiyong’s eyes flashed all-black. But it soon disappeared. TOP then glanced back at Dara and opened up a conversation. He asked about what she likes, dislikes, favorites, etc. She eagerly responded while continuing to take down her lunch. He could feel Jiyong’s death glare but he ignored it. He was waiting for the other guy to challenge him or even snap up. Based from what the girl told him before, Jiyong’s not really a showy person. He wanted to see how confident Jiyong is about his relationship with Dara.

 

“I’m all done!” Dara announced minutes later. “Ah, I’m so full”

 

“I’ll go ahead” Jiyong said upon seeing that she was finished. He stood up from his chair.

 

“Where are you going?” Dara asked.

 

“Library” Jiyong answered, walking away.

 

“I’m coming with you” she said, gathering her things up. She bid goodbye to TOP and the siblings before running after him. She then pulled to a stop when she reached him. She stepped sideways then started walking innocently with him to the library.

 

TOP saw everything, making him smirk.

 

“I don’t think you could get her” Minzy said.

 

“Have you seen her face? She looked so head over heels in love with him. It’s like she’s hero-worshipping him. You won’t stand a chance” Daesung seconded.

 

“Let’s see” TOP quietly said, smirking to himself.

 

- - -

 

“Will you stop pretending that you’re reading?” Jiyong irritably asked when he saw her stifling yet another giggle at the corner of his eye. They’ve been in the library for quite some time now. He had one arm around her shoulder since the girl insisted it while she rested her head on his shoulder as she ‘read’ the book she randomly took from the shelf.

 

“I AM READING!”

 

“No, you’re not” he retorted. “Do you know how many times you giggled already? And you’re blushing to the roots of your hair!”

 

“I AM READING!” she insisted.

 

“No, you’re not. You’re thinking of dirty thoughts again”

 

“Ya! I’m not thinking anything like that!”

 

“Oh yeah? What are you thinking then?”

 

She didn’t answer at once. The blush in her cheeks went deeper as she chewed on her lower lip. “I was just. . . .”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I was just thinking about. . . about. . .”

 

“I knew it” he grinned triumphantly.

 

“No, you don’t!” she contradicted. “I was just thinking about. . . about. . . about how beautiful I’d look in a. . . waitress uniform”

 

Jiyong smirked. “I was right again. You’re such a ert. And that was the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard”

 

“I’m not a ert!” she gritted.

 

“I don’t believe you”

 

“I don’t care”

 

“I am so right” he mumbled, sounding very triumphant.

 

Wanting to divert his attention from teasing her, she cleared and said, “Speaking of, you never told me how much you find me pretty”

 

“I don’t find you beautiful” he said, chuckling a little.

 

“YA!” she protested.

 

“I’m just telling the truth” he shrugged.

 

“No, you’re not. You’re lying”

 

“If you don’t want to believe me, that’s up to you” he shrugged again, smiling playfully.

 

“Why are you teasing me?” she asked with narrowed eyes.

 

“I’m not”

 

“Liar” she growled. “I know you find me beautiful. Huh, I bet you find me pretty every second”

 

Jiyong closed the book he was reading and set it aside. He took one of her hands and started playing with her fingers again. “Conceited” he snorted.

 

“Are you having an affair with my fingers?”

 

Jiyong laughed lightly. “I think I should send you to a mental institute. What do you think?”

 

Silence.

 

“Don’t you really find me beautiful?” she then asked.

 

Jiyong grimaced. “You’re being ridiculous again.

 

“Even just a bit?” she followed up with a pleading tone in her voice.

 

He looked down at her upturned face and frowned. “What’s going on with you?”

 

Dara looked down. “It’s just that. . . it’s just that. . . .” she mumbled. “It’s just that. . . I mean, Bom’s beautiful, Sohee’s pretty, Victoria’s charming. And Su. . . Sulli’s. . . she’s cute. And you never complimented me. . .”

 

Jiyong’s hold on her hand loosened as his chest felt tight. The mention of Sulli’s name carried some unwanted memories up to the surface. His jaw locked as he let out a harsh breath. “Dara” he thickly said. “How could you compare yourself to them? Do you really think you’d be called the shadow magnet by the others if you’re not. . . physically appealing?”

 

“But I don’t care what the OTHERS think” she argued.

 

Jiyong went silence. He resumed playing with her fingers. He sighed several times before deciding to break the silence. “Dara, you’re not an ordinary girl. You attract attention anywhere you go. Let’s just say you’re one of a kind”

 

“Is that good or bad?” she nervously asked.

 

“Both” he chuckled and planted a kiss on her head. “You’re beautiful, okay? I actually got three moments to attest to that”

 

“Really? What?”

 

“Third would be when you’re. . . ”

 

“Ya!” she burst out. “Aish! And I though you’re being serious”

 

“I’m not meaning it in a erted way” he explained. “Tsk, how polluted and clouded is your mind already?”

 

“What did you mean then?”

 

“Seeing you all bare with no makeup or whatsoever brings out the pureness in you. Natural”

 

“Oh” Dara mumbled, blushing. She’s so digging his explanation.

 

“Second would be. . .” he trailed, a naughty smile in his lips. He leaned down on her ear and whispered, “The way your face look everytime we’re doing IT is exceptionally beautiful”

 

Dara’s face turned so red that she was sure steams of hot air were coming out from her ears and nose. “You. . . you. . . you ert!”

 

Jiyong laughed lightly and went silent after a while. Dara’s face was now buried in his chest and he could just feel the heat coming off from her. Het hen lifted his hand to her head and started her hair gently. “But nothing and no one could contest the way you look in the morning. Even if your hair looks like a nest and even if there’s a trail of dry saliva down your-”

 

“I do not. . .! I’m. . . YA! Take that back!” she whined. “How could you possibly put that on your top list?!?”

 

“I’m not done yet” he chuckled.

 

“I don’t want to hear it anymore” she refused, crossing her arms across her chest with a frown and pout on her face.

 

Jiyong chuckled again and gave her a tiny peck on the lips. “I’m serious, though” he then said. “The way you look in the morning is on my top list. Aside from what I said earlier, the way you look. . . so happy right after you open your eyes is just good to look at”

 

“Huh” Dara arrogantly snorted. “Of course I’m happy. Every person who wakes up seeing the face of the person they love first thing in the morning would feel that way. And it’s so unfair how you look so neat in the morning sometimes but that’s just the way it is. I’ll always be the happiest person for waking up beside you”

 

“Damn it, Dara! Why are you like this?!” he demanded. But before Dara could even utter a sound, he already had covered with his.

 

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*banner by nabi_chi

 

there ya go! double updates.. hehe.. 

 

sorry for the typos and grammar errors...

 

xoxo

hagocimit