Silence is a melody, which lets us hear a different kind of sound. No, we don’t listen to silence. Rather, it lets us listen to what chaos has deprived us. In it, we hear what we couldn’t see.

 

Darkness is her companion, in him we find what we never loss – what the light has hidden from us. They were a tandem stumbled upon by many, but only a few had danced to its composition. Why? Because we never stop running away from it. We fear it, when it only wanted to tell us a thing or two.

 

 Thumping hearts, they were the instruments riding a beat. Some were slow, some were fast but still it’s a kind of music only a certain two person could hear. Sad, happy, confused, they were all music. Sweet, bitter, regrets and buts, they were all stanzas of love. It’s up to you what kind of rhythm you would want to waltz in. Better yet, find the other one beating the same notes as yours.

 

In the silence of the darkened room, Ji hyo and Jong kook stood facing each other. She had the ring on her open palms. Ji hyo averted her eyes and chose to look at the glimmering piece of metal band in her hand. “I had always wondered why… you never wore it,” Ji hyo it to him as if it was burning her skin. “And you have to leave it that night.”

 

Silence and truth. It was always hard when these two gather in one place. It was just a ring, but that was before he found its meaning. The other Jong kook probably felt the same – it was painful to be reminded of a love he didn’t deserve. The future he was guilty of binding her to a life of suffering that he couldn’t change.

 

But he was Jong kook. He was not the future, nor the past. He was just he who fell for the woman in front of him. Maybe it was absurd to say he truly loves her after all he did and with their situation… but at that moment that was all that he feels.  

 

“This ring is meaningless Ji hyo-yah… the words I love you they’re nothing. This,” he stepped closer to Ji hyo, “what we feel matters more and would never lie. You taught me that.” Jong kook closed the remaining space between them, feeling her disappointment. Their scents mingled, their heat warmed each other and they listened to the rhythm of their hearts. “I’m not saying it wasn’t important… I only wanted to – this time around, I only wanted it to be more meaningful.”

 

I want it to be with me, not with the future or anyone else.

This time around, it’s us.

You…

 

Ji hyo broke the spell. She reluctantly turned away and opened a drawer in the dresser. Jong kook eyed her, feeling uneasy. The last time he saw that drawer opening, he was handed divorce papers.

 

“I am not the only one who waited for you Jong kook-ah.” she said softly, unable to meet his eyes. “I love you I really do, but I also realized… it’s not just us.” She handed him a piece of paper and he looked at it, groaning at the image he saw. It was obviously Hyo Jong’s work and the message it sent were clear. Just like him. The child him and Hyo Jong both knew the pain of waiting for someone to come back no matter how long it takes.

 

He needs to go to her. Run to the little angel who trusted him all this time. But then, Ji hyo’s disappointment earlier made it hard to just leave. He could feel that she wanted a deeper reason on the rings, but just as he said… it was just a ring. A torture for future Jong kook who couldn’t handle the guilt of having it and Ji hyo.

 

Jong kook ignored the wall she placed between them and he walked to her, engulfing her in a hug, letting her feel what he couldn’t say. “I missed you, let me at least… just for a while. Just let me hold you for a while.”

 

With the kind of relationship that started in lies, only feelings wouldn’t ever lie. At that point in time, Jong kook no longer wanted to know why he was there. He no longer wanted to think that Ji hyo was his destined fate… that he was just doing what time has written for them. She was his choice, he chose her.

 

Silence accompanied these two souls. The two beating hearts outdid each other, echoing loudly, with excitement fueling them. They finally realized that they had met the one who would complete the unfinished song. Finally, the melody was in perfect harmony. And by this, even the laws of heaven and earth wouldn’t be able to intercept, nor could the laws of time.

 

Please let me love you as me…

 

Please let me show you…

 

I am not bound by anything but by what my heart says…

 

 

---------------

 

 

He has no right to hurt, for it was worst for the little angel. At first, he felt sorry she couldn’t have had a better father who would never hurt her – but that was foolish thinking. He could be that father who’d never hurt her, but he didn’t do it. Hyo Jong never wished for another one, but only asked him to be there. And now was his chance to salvage what he could.

 

Maybe she hated him, but then he also knows… kids could never really hate their parents. Never could they really mean those words, and if they did, regrets and guilt would always follow it. Even when they become adults, they still use that word hate but it was only because they couldn’t fully mean it. Because they continue waiting. Our stubbornness holds us back because we hate to admit it and we forget what’s more important, we train ourselves to believe what’s convenient.

 

That’s why sometimes we lost our chance with someone. And sometimes you also lose the person forever.

 

Jong kook closed the door and left. He was he, not his father. Sometimes we wait and wait… but there are times when we have to be the first one to make the first step.

 

 

---------------

 

 

The street was crowded with people from all walks of life. Each one of them has different missions, each one of them has different goals. We were all different but that makes us the same. Everyone has a reason to exist, even finding that reason to be here counts.

 

Kim Jong kook would never know the answers, nor does he want to ponder anymore what to do or what his reason to be there was. He touched his chest feeling the cold chains of his Equation – its tangible side. He grasped the cold metal chain and yanked it. The chain bit painfully on his skin but he smiled, and tossed away the hourglass in the trash.

 

He is living for the moment. He was no longer bound by any laws, but his feelings. He was free in a sense. Now his actions were truer and more sincere and not because of some mission entrusted to him.

 

 

---------------

 

 

Reaching the gated walls, he could hear children shouting and laughing. Those little voices gave him a different sense of peace. The memories of being a child made him remember when he was young enough not to know hurt and pains. When he was just a kid who was already very happy and contented to look at the shadow of his father and walk on it. When he could turn beside him and wallow in the gentle smile of his mother, with his hand on his hyung’s who’d look at him with a stern but caring gaze. When he was innocent enough to believe fairy tales and everything else the adults told him.

 

Shadow, that was what he was. Jong kook was a shadow of the past who refused to leave what time has abandoned. But then, the world with all its flaws was still worth living in. It is worth experiencing all those tears and heartaches, the losses and the wins. There was nothing to throw, because in them you see the truth. Not anymore the childish dreams and pretentions, but the real beauty marred and hidden in the chaotic disorder.

 

 

---------------

 

 

Hyo Jong looked outside to the empty grounds, her teacher was giving out stars for the kids in the classroom but she wasn’t interested. She felt like the other children were laughing at her. It was as if no one would understand and that they would all look at her weirdly if they knew about her father.

 

“Hyo Jong-ah, yah…”

“What is it again Hoon? Are you going to tease me again? Don’t you know that appa—”

 

Oh right… appa is not coming…

 

“Your appa would what Hyo Jong?”

 

He would… he – Appa… but he is not coming… appa is going to do nothing…

 

Sometimes people learn to stand for themselves. Sometimes we learn that we couldn’t always rely on others, but with it, we forget one important thing. Sometimes, being alone, not having them beside us doesn’t already mean that we are forgotten. Absence doesn’t mean they are gone. There were times we lost them only because we think we did.

 

 

---------------

 

 

Jong kook went in, smiling at the guard who even saluted him.

 

This was just like that day. Perfectly still, perfectly normal but in it one could sense that special something waiting to surprise us. It is one of the rare days when as if nothing could go ever go wrong. As if, it was never wrong from the start. And it was just a cover, a disguise to hide a little gem.

 

Jong kook knew his way by heart, passing empty classrooms, listening to the sounds of the voices. He closed his eyes and let his heart lead him to where he was needed.

 

 

---------------

 

 

“Byul hoon-ah, will you stop teasing me?” Hyo Jong said with determination. She had wanted to hit the boy in front of her a long time ago but she promised someone never to use her fist. “Or else I would tell others about your secret.” she warned him.

 

The other child only laughed, while others were looking curiously. “What could you know about me huh?” Byul hoon soon lost his cool expression, after hearing Hyo Jong’s next words. “I heard my omma and Haha samchon talking about you… I heard something really funny.” Hyo Jong cut her words, letting it sink in and waited for her tormentor to step back.

 

“Yah, I don’t believe you Hyo Jong-ah! When did appa met your omma?”

“During my omma’s drama! Appa and I watched… even the other samchons were there. If you want I’ll just tell –” Byul hoon covered with his hands. It took a lot for Hyo Jong to maintain her stern expression when in fact, all she wanted was to burst out laughing. It was clear the boy had never really watched any dramas before. “Shut up, don’t do it!” Byul Hoon hissed.

 

Hyo Jong was quick to turn around and push away Byul hoon, making sure she wouldn’t hurt the bully too much. She laughed when the boy’s face looked so red as if he’s close to tears. He looked at her with a hurt expression and then ran away.

 

The other kids clapped and cheered, the others teased Byul hoon for being a wimp but most of them just wanted to know what Hyo Jong knew.

 

“It’s a secret –”

“Kim Hyo Jong!” The familiar sound of her teacher’s voice made Hyo Jong spin around. She has on a forced smile on her face, knowing she was in trouble all because of the crybaby Hoon. “Kim Hyo Jong come here.” The teacher called again and Hyo Jong has no choice but to run to her.

 

“Umm, teacher Lee did Byul hoon said anything? I didn’t do anything bad.” It was just a mind game from Running Man!

 

The little one nervously shifted on her foot. She was only mimicking Running Man strategies. She doesn’t really know anything about Byul hoon’s secret.

 

“Someone came to pick you up. You can go home earlier today.” the teacher said, her face breaking into a smile. Hyo Jong looked up in surprise but instead of looking at her teacher, her gaze fell on a man she knew so well.

 

Appa!

 

She immediately brightened up, smiling widely – until she remembered… appa told me he won’t ever leave… but he went away without telling me…

He broke his promise to Hyo Jong…

 

Betrayed and hurt she looked up at her teacher with teary eyes. She breathed deeply and tried so hard not to show her tears. “I want to finish my class… it’s only recess time.” she muttered, sounding so burdened, her voice but a little whisper. The teacher didn’t know what to do at all and looked back helplessly at Jong kook.

 

Jong kook nodded to the teacher with a faint smile on his face. Understanding everything, teacher Lee leaned down to level her gaze to Hyo Jong.

 

She had witnessed before similar situations between parents and children. Luckily, she was actually a fan of Jong kook and she could somehow hazard a guess that the problem has something to do with the man’s work or something. She also knew how much Hyo Jong loved Running Man and her appa. “Hyo Jong-ah, will you accept a mission from me?”

 

Hyo Jong nodded skeptically, but there was an undeniable interest and excitement mirrored in her eyes. “I need to know if your appa is the spy… will you find out for me?”

“B-but appa…there’s no more Running Man teacher.”

“We only need to know if he had been on a mission, neh?”

“But there’s no more…”

“Hyo Jong-ah, missions never stop coming okay? Even teacher Lee has a mission.” Hyo Jong‘s eyes brightened and Lee smiled knowing the little angel was getting there. “As for teacher, it is my mission to make sure everyone learns well. So will you find it out? What mission your appa had?”

 

Sometimes, we lie. Sometimes we have to use them to explain the truth. Sometimes it even becomes the truth… in this kind of world, what we believe in becomes our answer – our truth.

 

“Appa in a mission? But he left…” the kind Mrs. Lee had always dreamed of teaching little children and now she had, for almost 15 years. It had been a hard challenge but now, she knew right away. “Silly, remember when you asked about the difference of abandoning and leaving?”

 

The little girl nodded. It was one of the words she was most proud of after reading it in a book and she loved its meaning after her teacher explained it.

 

Abandoning is permanent, leaving is temporary.

 

 Still Hyo Jong hesitated, her gaze alternatively looking to her appa, then to her teacher.

 

Finally, Hyo Jong turned away and went back to her classroom.  Mrs. Lee looked hopelessly at Jong kook. “Mr. Kim –”

“Thank you. You are a good teacher Mrs. Lee.” And I trust my daughter.

 

 Jong kook smiled widely to the confusion of Teacher Lee. After a little while, a little girl reappeared with her book bag.

 

“Appa, let’s go.”

“Of course, angel.”

And he held her little hand in his as they walked out and left the school.

 

 

---------------

 

 

It was not the usual kind of loudness whenever Jong kook and Hyo Jong were together. It was unusually silent as they threaded the way home.

 

“Appa went somewhere…” Jong kook began, gripping the little hand a bit tighter in his. “I had to look for something.” He only wished the little angel wouldn’t give him the silent treatment. That she’d give him a chance.

After a long while, she spoke timidly. “A mission appa?”

“Neh, it was like a mission.” He wondered if she would understand. It transported him back to his own past… would the little him understand that sometimes people needed to leave? But then Hyo Jong was different, he had Ji hyo to thank for that for raising her well. “Appa was sorry I didn’t tell you about it, Hyo Jong-ah.”

“Did you find it appa?”

“No…”

“Why?”

“Appa looked in the wrong place, baby. I left it at home.” he whispered, looking down at Hyo Jong. Then something happened. Those little brown orbs looked at his directly. It was as if he was looking at his own eyes and then there was a connection, a spark of something. And he knew she’d understand, little Jong kook would’ve also understood if only the world was a little bit honest.

 

“That was silly.” she said after a long pause and then she finally smiled. “You wouldn’t leave Hyo Jong again appa?”

 

No he wouldn’t lie. He wouldn’t make empty promises anymore because it would only hurt more that way. “Hyo Jong-ah, there would be times that appa won’t be with you. Even if I really wanted to be, sometimes I just can’t.”

“Because of missions.”

“Neh, but I’d always be thinking of you and I’d always regret that I couldn’t be with you.”

 

They stopped walking and Jong kook didn’t hold back anymore. He missed her so much, his little angel. Picking her up easily, he imprisoned her in his arms, making the little one chuckle in delight. Until he felt her little arms hugging him back. “Appa would always have you in my heart, my angel. Trust me…,” he whispered with all the sincerity he could muster.

 

“Leaving but not abandon Hyo Jong.” she said, trying to wrestle down her father.

“Of course… I’d never abandon my Hyo Jong.”

“Mission success!”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a secret. But don’t worry appa Hyo Jong loves you really, really much!” She smiled eagerly, finally succeeding in escaping his bear hug. She ran in little circles with the sun kissing her black mane and her little dress billowing in the wind.

 

Would it be too much to wish that his little angel’s sweet smile would never vanish?

 

 “Kim Hyo Jong,” she didn’t turn back but continued to race ahead of him, squealing and laughing. He ran after her and soon caught her. Clasping their hands together, he looked down on her and gave her little head a kiss.

 

“I love you my angel.” he whispered.

 

He wouldn’t let her walk in his shadow. From now on, they’d face the world side by side and not look at only one person in front. Because sometimes if we are too focused on the light, we forget our surroundings. To us that someone is the world but what would the world be if we ignore it all the time, when we are its reason to be here?

 

 

---------------

 

 

Ji hyo was changing to covers of the bed when a curious object fell with a soft thud in the floor. It glinted in the dim room and it exuded an energy that made her wary.

 

She first saw the chains, then the almost empty hourglass. No, not really empty, but the other side seems to be.  Ji hyo couldn’t understand the instinct that told her to run away from it, but then something also told her to go on and get it. It was taunting her and she was scared.

 

The woman put down the comforters she was carrying and walked to the other side of the bed. She leaned down and touched the hourglass. It was warm, too warn to be ordinary. As if under a spell, she picked it up and brought it closer to his face.

 

KJK

 

The sands twirled inside, as if there was a raging sandstorm. The glass showed the faintest of crack, but she didn’t notice it. For something else has caught her attention.

 

Song Ji hyo mindlessly dropped the chained ornament on the drawer with trembling hands. She closed it gently and collapsed on the bed, and the sand lulled her to a deep sleep.

 

 

---------------

 

 

The heavens have no sense of time. It is a place where fate and destiny doesn’t happen. It has no future and past, nor the present. What you see is what it is. It has the most unexplainable phenomenon of simplicity, devoid of complexities. That is heaven, stripped of time and human laws.

 

Even weirder was how Jade only silently watched the events unfolding before him. He wasn’t surprised anymore for there was no way to predict time. In fact, even after all these years, the first Equation attempted by the mortals still exists, unsolved.

 

Find the mysteries of time – but the wonders it has were never-ending. There was no bottom, no way out. No right and no wrong.

 

He defied it but not completely, and that man, would he be able to do it?

 

---

New Jong Kook so new style... err I hope it didn't bore you to death guys. Happy Eid to our Moslem readers even if it's a bit late ^^

Thanks for reading and for always cheering me up (especially you angel). Thanks for putting up with this dramatic author hahahaha >U<

Warning review rant:

I know this would be weird because I rarely do this thing. But I think I'd I need to explain a bit of stuff. The story could have millions of interpretation. Did JK really love Jihyo? Or was he just compelled to do so because she was the future meaning JK had already accepted the fact that it's the two of them someday - that it was their fate and that everything else around them forced them together. Was he bound by guilt, the circumstances or what? The truth is, even I wouldn't know. *kills self*

But there is one thing clear in this chapter. This time around, JK throws away the hourglass - and this, he threw his past, and present. He defied time and refused to be governed by it. In Hyojong's part, JK said he could just be that father who wouldn't hurt her. In a sense, he could just be that man who loves JH. Start anew with her without needing to go back in time. He wanted to stay, that was his answer... before he would always check the hourglass to see if he did "right" but now he doesn't need it anymore, because now all his actions is just because of him and his feelings. Maybe it was petty because he couldn't escape time, but even that deed was already a big thing to him because Jade warned him already that the Equation is dangerous and JK just mocked it.

Now he was seeing the world. He was looking at it and not just walking in someone's shadows. Yes, it wouldn't be easy and it wouln't be done completely at a short time but he is trying hard. About the ring, he wanted it to be him. The man he wants JH to love is him... not that future. That's why the ring - it was meaningless, because it wasn't really him but the other one. That's it... that's the chapter hahaha sorry for this rant ^^ I culd be vague sometimes and I don't know if I am writing what I really wanted to tell you guys so I thought I'd explain a bit XD