“60 seconds is all I need for this story…I don’t need any reason,
you made my heart flutter and look for you…”

Kim SungGyu-“60 seconds”
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Her hand lifted to tuck a misplaced strand of golden hair behind her ear, never lifting her gaze from the script. A tear fell slightly, but she would not allow it to fall completely. Again, she read the inked paper that was brought to her by her father and she crumbled to the ground in defeat. The words echoed in his silken voice, marring her memories of him, allowing her to hate and despise him:

This is my choice. Forget what I promised.

 Forget all of it. I have already forgotten you.

 Look ahead and never back. I will not be

there when you turn.

Forget. Forget. Forget. Do not turn. If you ever once loved him, you will heed his words, Eunice. Forget. Then, the tears came, like a stream. A vile, clear, faceless stream.

“Eunice?”

“I’m fine, Chestar…please leave me alone.”

He knelt beside her, reading the note that she clutched in her hands and shut his eyes for a moment in despising hatred. Gustaffer had promised to take care of her, to make her happy. And he didn’t. Chestar looped his arm around the shaking girl and held her to him for what seemed like lifetimes. Her sobbing frame melded with his stiffened physique, as if she was melting from the sorrow. Her crying only made him stronger with the desire to find Gustaffer and kill him, but he stood by her side relentlessly like a barrier against aimed bullets.

“Chestar?”

“hm?”

“Will you tell me something, please?”

His heart shrunk with all desire, and instead filled with the complete wish to protect her

“What is it?”

She sat up now, wiping away the tears and grimaced through her fallen hair. “If I was to fall, would you be there to catch me?”

He was taken aback by her request, but nonetheless, he replied absolutely honest.

“Of course. You know I would. I will always be there for you, just like I have been.”

She placed her head in her hands solemnly and muffled “Shouldn’t you fight for the one you love?”

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My stomach growled for the hundredth time since yesterday night as I stretched achingly in bed. The sun seems different, even though it is the same yellow ball of fire that I’ve seen since forever. But it was less…intimidating? Like instead of a ball of fire, it became a ball of yellow dandelion fluff. Silly idea, right? But it was so much more inviting.

Maybe it’s the kimchi?

Groaning, I forced myself up and prepared for another day. My paint and equipment were still splayed around the floor as I determined what was to be done with the walls.

After putting my hair in a messy bun and quickly brushing and scrubbing away at my face for a new experience, I put on my blue overalls that became my official painting uniform since I was big enough to fill it in high school. “Aja Aja Aja! Fighting!” I cheered for myself.

Hungry as I was, getting things done will have to begin today.

I looked around for my special brushes, but couldn’t find them anywhere. Zipping and ping, then re-ping(?) and re-zipping through every case, I still couldn’t find the brush set given to me from dad the year he got into an accident for my birthday.

“Where is it?!” I huffed in exasperation.
Downstairs? Maybe. It’s worth a shot.

Stepping quickly into my slippers by the door, I charged out as quickly as possible and collided into a firm, solid frame that was softer than concrete, thankfully.

“Ouch!” Though I hadn’t fallen backwards this time, it still hurt like crazy hitting something at a full charge. “Excuse me!” I apologized to the stranger and rushed away until I caught a familiar vibe. The intense feeling of daggers hitting my back as I started off…Just like yesterday…?

A voice chuckled and I turned to realize that bumping into the stranger made him drop his things. I stammered an apology and went back to help him.

“You should be more careful next time, Lydia-ssi.”

My hand stopped in midair at the sound of my name from the stranger and looked up at his face to see an amused smile that reached deeply intrigued eyes. His arms were filled with belongings: a suitcase with a broken handle, and a few trinkets that dangled from his arms.

“M-myungsoo-ssi? Ah- what a coincidence?”

He laughed again, squinting his eyes from the sun, “or fate?” he mused.

“Let me help you carry your stuff, since you helped me the other day.”

He shrugged and allowed me to carry the things I was already picking up. Among the items, I noticed a list of familiar painting names by Van Gogh.

“The Two cut sunflowers”? I love this piece. You like art?”

Myungsoo leaned on the wall to shoulder the falling case and smiled bashfully, “It’s more of a hobby, actually…I’m working on a collaboration with a museum in Gangnam that centers around the works of Van Gogh.”

My heart fluttered at the idea of working with a museum, sparking his interest.

“Do you like art?” he asked.

I nodded mutely and prepared to follow him to his apartment with his things, but he didn’t move any further.

“Where’s your apartment?”

He pointed to the door right next to us a door away from my apartment, “we’re here already.”

“Oh…”

Myungsoo glided through the door after entering in a four digit code. I watched shamefully at how easy it was for him to enter his new code. Even after a night here, I still haven’t remembered my own code and used the key.

He flicked on the light with a swift movement of the wrist. Once on, I noticed the same problem with his room. The same shade, except of a curtain, he had a mat tacked onto the window.

His face entered a state between shock and puzzlement and I couldn’t contain my laughter.

He still stared at the lack of interesting feature in a blank state as I laughed, causing me to worry slightly. “Myungsoo-ssi? Are you ok?” My hand waved in his face to wake him from the daze.

His head cocked towards his left and he blinked slowly, recovering.

“Sorry…mental breakdown… this-uh-room, is quite…remarkable…?”

I placed his things in a corner and inspected with him, the shabbiness.

“The keeper said that we can fix up the rooms, as long as we join her for dinner once in a while.”

“Oh,” he said a bit more animatedly, “I’ll have to take her up on that.”

Myungsoo sat down, cross-legged, with the items still in his arm. He was analyzing the room, I realized, just as I had done last night. I joined him, careful not to ruin his concentration and placed my chin on my arms, resting.

We sat for hours, or maybe less. But in those hours, we just sat and stared, basically. He sat unmoving the whole time, making small conversation while glancing at the barren interior perplexedly. His concentration was enigmatic, almost unnaturally.

“Um, Myungsoo?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t you think we should get up now?”

He looked at me for the first time in hours and smiled adorably, “why? This is nice.”

With the look of a sad puppy, he got up and offered his arm to me. I took hold and he pulled me up quickly until I was an inch from his face. We froze like this for a moment, and I watched his adam’s apple rise and fall.

Finally, I back away and thanked him. His expression fell slightly, but he spoke, revealing no negative emotion whatsoever.

“I’ve got a small idea of what I want to do with this box” he mused. “I was thinking of a metallic-dark blue, like the galaxy. Then maybe some white in the other section of the room, blended slightly with the blue.”

My surprise was amusing to him and he grinned, “what do you think?”

“I think—” I paused for dramatic emphasis “that you should help me with my room first.”

His eyes were filled with confusion, “what?”

“I haven’t done what I wanted with my wall yet, maybe we could help each other out?”

Myungsoo nodded with a smile “Ok, but I don’t guarantee that I’ll approve of your work” he said sarcastically.

“Sure, no promises that I’ll like yours’ either” I retorted.

He laughed and we walked back to my room in comfort. Whatever it was, fate or coincidence, it felt right. So much worrying faded away with him. I was glad we bumped into each other, literally. He watched my gestures as I described what I wanted to do with my walls intently, nodding occasionally to show approval.

He helped me lay out a floor covering and we set to work. His motions were deliberate and precise, like a true artist. Humming in a soft melodious tune, Myungsoo took two walls, and I the others.

The light began to fade away as we talked and laughed in absolute comfort of each other’s presence. He seemed to be genuinely interested in everything I mentioned, from home to Korea and never cut in once.

I listened as he spoke about his experience in art and his family’s pretense of his work. I couldn’t help but wonder more about him each time he mentioned something new.

“What do you do besides art?”

Myungsoo smiled shyly now, “I’d rather show you instead of tell you. I’m sure it’d surprise you.”

“You’re not a superhero are you?”

He laughed, “No, not yet. I’m…a performer.”

“Like in a band?”

“Sort of.”

He sighed and nodded, “Why don’t you come see me and see for yourself?”

I smiled brightly with excitement, “really?”

Myungsoo sent me a message with an address and a picture of the place. “Tomorrow at 5pm.”

After handing it to me, we bade farewell and I watched him walk a few feet down the hall. We waved once more before he went in and silence surrounded the area once more. I looked at the picture, giddy like a little girl again.

Tomorrow.

I can’t wait. If this is destiny or fate or coincidence, then it came at the right time. Maybe this is what the visions and feelings are leading me to…

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Please Read the following short Myungsoo POV :3 thanks!

Lydia walked towards her wall and left me facing the bare white colors. The bareness, coldness, and unsettling oddity of the simple white color reminded me so much of the past. The color of the snow that day when Elizabeth had walked away from Daniel into the arms of Luther. She left without so much of a goodbye, just leaving behind her coat on my arms as she walked away. 

The memory itself was painful, more so than actually living it. But I must endure. I must.

I looked behind me to see what Lydia was doing. Her shoulders were stiff and she concentrated heavily on the wall in front of her. A smile touched my lips watching her ease her brush slowly along the wall. My eyes lingered on her curtain, the one proof I needed to know she remembers everything.

That moment she painted was a very distinct memory for me as well...

Elizabeth and I had gone to the beach beside our village in England and I watched her run with her skirt clenched in her hands along the golden beach towards the marvelous blue waters. That day was the best weather England had experienced in a long time as we had gone down to enjoy it.

I took her as a surprise when I got back from the town court for her twenty-fourth birthday. It made her so happy, and it was a memory I cherished deeply more than the others because in that lifetime, we were happy. That was the one lifetime that we were happy together, without him. She was mine.

I was determined to make her so, again, whether it was by fair play or foul play.

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Until Now, it was DaeJaeBangHimUpnLo<3~

Please look forward to the next chapter: Merely Shadows Lost in Memory

PREVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The crowd around me cheered deafingly as fog encircled around a dark-casted figure on center stage. My new friend was bouncing beside me along the rest like a gigantic wave, but my eyes froze on the eerily familiar crooked smile that was lit by the stagelight. From the smoke rose the figure, appearing tall, tan, and well built. His eyes lit up the world, embracing the large sea of people beneath him with confidence. The crooked smile played along his face as he emerged into the light, dauntingly. The strangest bit from this act was that I could swear...he was staring and smiling directly at me. And I realized, the pull became so intensely strong in his direction, enough to make me black out. Who was he? Why does he seem to recognize me?