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ALMOST PERFECT
“Welcome back to the Korean F1 Grand Prix. I’m Park Jungmin here with my friend Lim Si Eun and we’re on the last lap of what may turn out to be another historic day for racing…”
Dash like the wind Jiyong… I’ll always be at the end, waiting…’
He gripped tightly on the steering wheel as he stepped on the engine. Sweat trickling down the sides of his helmet-clad face… focusing himself on winning… focusing himself to meet her at the end…
“Right you are Jungmin-ssi… two cars are tied for this season and one of them is the Dragon of the race track…! Looks like he’s really determined to win this one again for the fifth time..!
The crowd was uncontrollable… the whole stadium was filled with loud cheers… absolutely hooked on the heated race between the number 3 red Ferrari and its all time competition the number 4 black Mercedes.
“Coming in first place is the Black Stallion of the race track… Dong Youngbae… he thought this was his year, Si Eun-ssi. His chance to finally emerge from the Dragon’s shadow… and talking about him… Kwon Jiyong… the Dragon of the race track is tailing just behind his arch enemy…
“He’s been the Grand Prix’s golden boy… always surprising us by firing out his fire in the race track…!”
He swerved to the side… dodging the tail of the black Mercedes as it kept blocking his way… they were near the finish line and it looked like it was already impossible for him to get the trophy this time.
But then after several attempts of getting past through the car ahead him… he finally found an open opportunity…
An infamous sly smile slowly crept on his lips… he stepped on the gas taking his last chance… leaving it all to fate to bring him where he was supposed to be. And as if everything went in to slow-mo… the announcers as well as the spectators had all stood up from their seats as he, again for the fifth time unleashed his dragon-like blaze…
As fast as the wind he went… flaring up with his unbelievable speed, he incredulously made himself ahead of the race…
“I can’t believe what I’m watching Jungmin-ssi…!”
“The Dragon is fifty feet away from his fifth Grand Prix Cup..! But the Black Stallion is keeping up with his pace..! And oh..! They’re once again head-to-head…!”
“Too close to call Si Eun-ssi… too close..!”
Everyone had their breaths caught up in their throats… heart beats pounding hard like wild drums as they all had their eyes… unable to blink… not wanting to miss another spectacular event in the history of their Korean car racing.
His eyes… full of determination…slowly closed…in his ears, silence sheathed the loud stadium and ‘her’ face welcomed the darkness that supposed to envelop him…
“I don’t believe it…!”
And the next thing he heard was the loud cheers of the spectators… as he opened his eyes… confetti showered over his car and people began chanting his name…
“The Dragon snatched up the Cup once again..! For the fifth, astonishing time..!”
He slowly parked his car… his teammates were all running towards him and for a moment… he stayed seated… grabbing on to the steering wheel as mixed emotions overwhelmed him…
He sighed… hand reached up to something inside his suit.
His gaze slowly landed on the picture of a woman on his hand… who was holding on to the helmet he was wearing… smiling at him…
“I did it…” he whispered… before a warm smile crept on his lips.
As soon as he got out of his car… his team mates carried him and threw him up in the air… all celebrating from his victory. He laughed with them… extremely in great bliss as it finally sunk into him his fifth victory.
As soon as he got on his feet… his smile went wider upon seeing Dong Youngbae slowly approaching him…
“Well… well… well… I guess I still need to have more practice… but that was really close… a little more speed and you’ll be finally eating my dust…”
Youngbae said playfully as he shook Jiyong’s hand. The latter let out a contented laugh before he turned to his arch enemy as well as his best friend.
“You almost scared me earlier… but luckily those short legs of yours weren’t able to step on the gas to its limit… try growing them next year and maybe I’ll be really eating your dust ”
“You fukcing piece of sh!t..!” Youngbae playfully punched him on the shoulder while he only laughed back at him… soon, they both laughed out from their childish blows against each other.
“Well… see you at the after party… I still have an interview to attend to… and the girls had been waiting for me since I hit the track…” Jiyong smirked at his friend… and waved goodbye as Youngbae sped away towards the media.
He stood there for a while before his gaze slowly shifted to the finish line… his face wore a melancholic expression as he once again imagined ‘her’ to be there waving and smiling at him…
And he was woken up from his trance as slowly, the crowd as well as the media surrounded him… the sadness on his face slowly faded as he began to creep out a forced smile.
“He’s rich… he’s young… beautiful girls surround him… and he’s the greatest car racer in Korea right now… what else does Kwon Jiyong… also known as the Dragon of the race track wants more in his life…?”
That was just one of the many questions the whole nation had for him… yet the only answer he had for them was engraved deeply in his memory… and it would only stay there for as long as the person who was living that memory will come back to him and fill that one missing part in his life.
“What do you mean you won’t come…? Many models will be there Ji… and they are all waiting for you man..!”
Youngbae told him over the phone… loud sounds can be heard from where Youngbae was and surely, his friend was enjoying his time there as he could hear him giggling as well…
It was just one of the many after parties he had to attend to after the race… winning yesterday was probably one of the most tiring day in his life… for after it… several interviews and parties had all took every minute of his time… he was happy… after all… it took all the opportunities his mind could drift off into thinking about ‘her’…
“I can’t… I have a date today remember…?” he said with a smile as he started his car’s engine… all ready to go to his destination.
“Ah… is it today…?” Youngbae’s voice faltered a bit. And as much as he didn’t want his friend to worry and most especially pity him… he couldn’t help but to just accept everything for sometimes… he too… pitied himself.
“Yes…” he tried not to crack a voice.
--
“So is it one of his charity works…?” one media asked Youngbae when he told him that Jiyong won’t be able to come…
“Yes you could say that…” he said with an awkward smile…
“Wow… I guess Jiyong-ssi is not only good looking and a great racer… he also has a very good heart…” the others said as they all nodded with each other…
--
His white Bentley passed through the big patio in front of a familiar villa-like building… surrounding the place were different trees and gardens… it looked like he went in a province for the place was far from the ambiance of the places in the city…
He could see people seated on the benches around the place… some of them were walking around… taking in the beauty of the place… which made it look like a big resting house.
As he stepped out of his car… his heart began pounding recklessly. Sweat began to form on his palms as excitement and as well as fear filled his whole being. He could feel the dryness of his throat as he started walking his way inside the building…
Despite his fame… no one recognize him… some of the people would just pay a look before shifting their gazes away. For in this place… popularity means nothing… everything that you’ve established were all nothing… and even their own accomplishments were of nothing… because who you were, what you were, and people you once loved and knew were all just figments of the past… had already been swept easily by time no matter how may you wanted to stop it.
And slowly… his footsteps weakened as he reached his destination…
Holding on to a bouquet of roses in one hand… and a container, wrapped in a plastic bag which contained the curry he cooked last night… knew that all of it were the once ‘she’ all loved, he slowly made his way to one particular room.
There… he saw her…
Had her back on him as she was staring out the window… her short brown hair had grew longer as it tumbled over her shoulders… yet her frame stayed slim as he last saw her…
A slight gentle smile formed on his lips as he noticed her wearing the dress he gave her the last time he visited… it fit perfectly to her… and made him want to pull her to him and turn her around to see it clearly…
Just then… as if she felt someone was watching, she slowly turned around…
The light coming from the window showered over her untainted beauty… she glowed before him… that made him glued on his spot… and could only stare at her beauty…
She looked at him with those innocent eyes… her plump lips slowly turned into a slight pout as she wonder filled her mind. For a while they were stuck staring back at each other… no words spoken… and the only thing that he could hear was his heart beats… pounding loudly against his ears.
And as if eternity had passed… Jiyong felt something landed on his shoulder… realizing it was a hand…
His gaze shifted away from the woman in front of him, towards the lady wearing a white uniform behind him…
“Mr. Kwon… it’s nice to see you again…”
He could only stare at her for a while before reality sunk into him. He smiled back and shifted his gaze back to the woman inside the room who was now staring out the window again.
“I brought her, her favorites…” he mumbled as he kept his gaze on the woman inside the room. The lady beside him smiled before she reached up to the plastic bag he was holding, leaving the bouquet of roses in his hand
“I’m sure she’ll love this… I’ll just talk to her so you two can go…”
He only nodded… waited outside the room as the lady in white went inside and talked to the woman he had been staring at.
She looked at him and he felt his heart tumbled in bliss when a warm smile curved on her lips. She finally went out of her room together with the lady in white.
Jiyong stared at her for a minute… taking in her beauty… [i]‘almost perfect…’[/i] .She did the same, looking at him intensely before the other person with them cleared .
“So… I’ll leave you two… Mr. Kwon… you know the drill… just bring her back before the day ends… have fun…”
Not moving his gaze away to the woman before him… he mumbled ‘thank you…’
Soon they were left alone… still staring at each other… he noticed her flinched a bit… probably felt awkward by his intense gaze and with that, he smiled.
“This is for you…”
She looked at him with rounded eyes before her gaze fell on the roses he was holding…
“Thank you…they are beautiful…”
She slowly reached for it and when their skin touched… Jiyong inhaled deeply… felt his skin burned from the ache of finally feeling her skin against his again.
“Where are we going today…-“
She hesitated… and another slight smile formed on his lips as he knew what to say…
“Jiyong… Kwon Jiyong…” he mumbled… controlling his tone… hiding the pain behind it…
She nodded… looked down on the card that was hanging on her neck just to be sure before offering her hand as she wore that familiar warm, beautiful smile…
“Ah… nice to meet you… I’m Park Sandara… so Jiyong-ssi… where are we going today…?”
His eyes blinked for a couple of times… just like the first time…’
--
She couldn’t help but for her eyes to wander once they seated inside his car… eyes filled with amazement and lips pouted in curiosity. He watched her for a while… heart swelled in bliss as he could see the happiness in her eyes…
“Wow… you have a beautiful… car…”
“Thanks…”
He reached for her seatbelt… fastening it and he didn’t miss to smell the familiar sweet scent of Jasmine in her…
His heart started to ache once again… wanted to pound himself to have more self control… yet no matter how many times he had done it before… he couldn’t help but to surrender yet again from the pain.
He gripped on the steering wheel… sighed deeply as he started the engine of his car….
At the side of his eyes he watched her… she was silently watching the scenery outside the window… just like the old times…
Known for his fast driving skills… known as the Dragon of the race track… he was now driving as slowly as possible…
Wanted her to see every detail of the sceneries outside the car… but mostly wanted to prolong their time together…
Going ahead of time was valuable for him… breaking off the record was one of his jobs yet today… time was all he needed… spending it to its last second with her… spending it to create memories that would last forever was greater than any victory he could gain… even though for her… every time spent to create memories would be of nothing.
He took her everywhere his car may reach… they went to the amusement park… riding almost all the rides. Then they went to the zoo. They even watch a romantic movie after it … and the last place they went to was the beach…
It was a routine whenever he would visit her… to take her to those places… places that had very significant meaning to him… but probably no longer for her…
He may had ride the rides millions of times before but for her it was a first time… he may had watched countless of cheesy romantic movies before but for her seeing people kissing on the big screen had put her into a big awe… and he may had memorized every specie of animal in the zoo… but for her… seeing a tiger for the first time was the most spectacular thing in the world.
And he will do it… over and over again. No matter how sick he could get doing it repeatedly… just as long as he was with her he will do it.
“I had a great time Jiyong-ssi… thank you…” she said as they sat on the mat he prepared on the beach…
“I’m glad you loved it… we can do it again the next time I visit…”
And just then, her beautiful face slowly got tainted by sadness… tears slowly welled up inside her eyes… and her lips formed into a sad smile…
“I know who you are… the nurse told me earlier…” she said… her voice was shaking a bit…
Jiyong stared at her… blinked away the tears that were slowly forming in his eyes…
He smiled to her once again before his hand reached for the side of her face…
'Do you know that today is also our 6th year wedding anniversary..?
'Do you also know that i've been loving you for God knows how long...? And I will keep loving you till the last pulse of my heart...'
She closed her eyes as he caressed her cheek… her hand came to cover his and it took him a great effort to control himself from not breaking in front of her once he saw her wearing the same ring he had … probably the last reminder of what he was to her…
“I missed you so much Dee…” he chocked out before he finally couldn’t help but for his tears to escape his eyes…
Without hesitating… he gathered her in his embrace… may he squeezed the life out of her for all he cared…
“I’m sorry…” she whispered…
Upon hearing it, he pulled her out of his hug… watched her tear-stained face for a while… he shook his head… told her the words he won’t forever get tired from saying…
“I love you…”
He mumbled before he leaned down and took her lips with his… she gasped… surprised from his sudden move… but she chose to gave in to his kiss… closed her eyes as the familiar feeling of his lips slowly came back to her…
“Her memory is quickly deteriorating… I’m sorry but there’s nothing we can do about it but to just prolong it… all we can do is to give her more time to savor each memory she has left before it’s all gone…”
He cried between the kiss… all the sadness… the longing had all came in one… and he cried all of it. The renowned racer… who had beat off almost the entire racing team in the country… who was almost perfect in the eyes of everyone… was now crying… longing, just to have this one kiss to last forever…
He took her lips with so much passion… how he missed the feeling of it… how he missed her presence beside him... how he experience death almost everyday without her.
If he would wish for anything right now… he would wish for the time to stop… would wish that a miracle would happen that this feeling won’t last… that the feeling of his lips against hers would stay etched in her mind… at least she would know how much he loved her… at least that she would know that she was the missing piece of his almost perfect life…
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THANKS FOR READING!
SORRY FOR THE TYPOS!
SORRY FOR THE TYPOS!
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