S O U L

Soul - incorporeal essence of a person or living thing and is deemed integral or essential to the consciousness and personality, it may be synonymous with spirit, self or mind.

HyunJoong

He was standing at the edge of a four floored building.

He spread his arms wide. Feeling the wind as it moved around his body with such refreshing coolness. He felt the breeze of the air as it washed  his open hands and to his legs. The autumn wind was entangling to every single digit of his fingers.

He was in awe from it all...

He breathed in the smell of drying leaves. Crisp and damp, that was what he thought.

He then closed his eyes and opened his ears to the luscious last chirps of the birds. He revered in the feeling of utmost beauty surrounding him.

'Such beautiful and perfect creation'

He looked at the ground; it was a long way down from the top of the building. One wrong move and it would be goodbye, one wrong step and it was farewell & one little slip and it was the end.

But he held his ground.

He watched over the wondrous panoramic view from up above. He watched and pondered as people seem to disregard all the perfection that was surrounding them. They seem to take everything for granted. They continued with the daily routines. Walking, running, going to work or school, riding the bus and skipping along the autumn season without much care of the perfection around.

He observed every single person that passed by, then his eyes locked unto a girl who slipped on her footing and landed on her .

He saw her fall to her feet and heard her shout her lungs out. She looked up, her eyes swaying for a few seconds before focus came back. And with that, her clear eyes then locked into his.

Looking straight in to her eyes, he distinctly saw how it went from normal size to that as big as saucers in shock. Her face had a panic stricken look it them, with some deep sorrow hidden deep within.

Looking at her he finally decided, whispering to himself, "I guess it is now or never...”

With his eyes still locked into hers, he made his move. He took a step over the edge and in a matter of moments the sensation of falling came over him.

And he plunged...

...plunge from 20 meters on top the hard ground at the street below...

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Luna

She lay on the cold pavement on her ; she felt pain seeping through her skin towards her inner flesh. She looked up in the sky and only saw blinding light.

She told there was no pain -- strongly fighting and convincing herself to forget the agony. But then the pain on her right ankle was making her feel both numb and dizzy. She decided to stay sitting on the street for a couple of minutes to compose herself, erasing the agonizing pain.

Numb and unmoving she sat there.

Then she heard a very familiar voice calling 'her'. "Oh look at that, isn’t that our tuna Luna..?" the voice came.

She felt shock shooting through out her body, ' don’t tell me that the bully is back..?', she thought.

She looked to the side of the street in front of the old house - the all too familiar old house of her bully playmate in grade school. What she saw made her want to run and scream. A man standing by the doorway was none other than her arch enemy/nemises.

He was leaning so arrogantly at the mahogany door frame of the building with his arms crossed in his chest. Looking at his face, his signature wicked smirk was plastered for her to see.

It was definitely him, the almighty bully,  'the devil from hell', she thought.

"Hey ‘tuna Luna’ on the cob, are you going to stupidly stay sitting on that street, blocking every one passing here...?" he sneered

"C’mon give the people someplace to walk on, smelly fishy ugly girl.." he slyly said

'Damn it, why did it happen here & in front of him... of all people' she scolded herself. And in spite of the pain, she pushed herself to up.

But as she stood up, shooting pain starting from her ankle going straight to her head. It  made her feel three times more numb and dizzy than before. Right then, she suspected a sprain but she didn’t care about the pain, 'pain or no pain i have to get out of here..', she thought. She just wanted to get the hell away from the bully’s presence.

She forced her aching ankle to bear her weight slowly; as she stood herself up, she felt strong hands on her arms supporting & helping her as she stood up.

She was surprised as she felt him. And as he helped her up, she became a little imbalanced, but his firm hold on her was enough to steady her.

"Are you alright..?" his voice was solid, steady and direct. 

She turned around while removing the dirt that clung to her, she was curious of the man that helped her.

It is a rare experience for her to be helped in any way. She knew & understood since she was a child that she didn’t evoke any other emotion from people other than disgust, anxiousness, pity and fear. So there were just handful of people -- three people actually, that ever helped or comforted her...

She appraised him slowly from head to foot. He was a smiling. This warm & soft faced young man looked to be about his mid-twenties--'just around her age' she observed. His height towered over her in height making her look up at him. His shoulders were broad and he had the style like that of of a normal college guy. The aura of a neighborhood 'oppa'.

He smiled at her, it was a smile much like honey and sugar. And at that moment she felt compelled to smile back,  for some unknown reason.

"Ahgasshi, kwenchana..?" he asked with the same tone of voice.

And all she could do was nod and whisper  "ahh, uhhmmnn...  ahju.... kko--komapp----kom--komapsahamida..."

"Ahhh, its good that you are okay..” he said in a gentler voice this time.

“Do you feel any pain in your ankle...?” she looked up at him curiously again, 'how could he know about my ankle..? is he psychic...?'

She shook her head and pulled her hand away from his grasp, "anyo, I am okay...", 'I am being silly thinking he is psychic...' she thought.

"Do you want me to help you carry these bags for you..?" he asked with too much friendliness pouring out from his pores, while pointing at the fallen bags.

"Anni, its okay, I can take it from here.." she told him, still feeling awkward from the unfamiliar kindness from a total stranger.

"It's okay I should help you, isn't it just right for people to help each other in time of need especially if they know that they can help..?" he smiled, another sweet saccharine smile.

"ahhh isn’t that sweet... yah Luna I think you should let him 'help' you.. ” her eyes immediately shifted to her arch enemy after he had spoken those words dripping with malice.

“And just seduce him on the way so that you can have some experience Luna.." 'the devil from hell' sniped again. Upon hearing those comments, she berated herself for forgetting for a minute that the ‘Bully’ was within hearing distance.

She grated her teeth, shut her eyes closed & took a deep breaths to calm herself down. She willed herself for composure after being distracted by the unknown stranger.

She faced his arch enemy and sent him dagger looks which just made the bully laugh to his heart's content.

She faced the stranger again and smiled. She then slowly took her grocery bags off of the strangers hands & bowed to him. She then said, "No it's really okay & I can take care of myself from here... komawo again"

She turned around and slowly took one painful step after another. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from screaming from the agony of each bearing of weight. She hugged her groceries to her body to hide her misery and walked away from the 'bully' and the stranger. 

She knew that she had to endure each step of the three blocks distance to her apartment. She knew that help like the one the stranger offered wasn’t for her. It wasn’t meant for her. It wasn’t something she should ask and it was something she should accept because 'Nothing good thing ever happens to me without any consequence. Nothing good thing...!' she thought, reminiscent of the past.

She was at the end of the street when suddenly a man got hit by a car. It happened just in front of her eyes. Screams from all around followed the crash. Everybody rushed to the scene trying to help -- people screaming  and other calling the hospital or any doctor. Everybody wanted to help.

Everybody tried to help, except for her.

She stood in the corner of the street looking at the devastating scene- a woman crying buckets full of tears & the man bleeding to his death. 

She looked at her surroundings with tired eyes. She stared at the face of the man lying in the ground. He looked liked he was in his late twenties which made her think, ’well that is life, if its time, its time. People shouldn’t interfere with how life works...'

After a simple glance at the chaotic accident, she turned around to the street and continued in carrying her grocery bags as she walked. He left the horrible accident behind without any backward glance.

She limped as she walked down the street alone, in her goal and agony.
 

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HyunJoong

He observed how she just glanced at the horrific scene then leave without any remorse or any other feeling except resignation. He stared at her as she disappeared in the corner of the street, then he sighed.

He closed his eyes after she disappeared from his sight. Then he felt her pain as if it was his own. He knew she was enduring the agonizing pain of her sprained ankle but still she walked on without stopping or taking a break. He sighed as he realized how much she endures all of it without any scream or tears.

He knew who she was...

He knew what she was thinking...

....and he also knew what she was feeling.

There wasn’t anything about her that he didn’t know. He knew her as much as she knew herself and he also knew what she was meant to do with her life...

He sighed heavily and whispered under his breath, "Someday Luna, you will know, understand & accept what you are meant to do with in this lifetime..."

He looked up at the bright sky above, smiling as he thought of the home he loved most of all.

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Luna

Her apartment was just a few steps away. She  knew that she had a few seconds left before her consciousness will be taken from her. She can already feel the signs - blurry vision and black& gray spots in her sight, breathlessness, taste of blood in , and heart pumping none stop.. 

Beyond all those myriad of chaos, one thing kept pushing through the surface, it was the pain was too agonizing to scream about. Her arms felt like long useless jellos & her legs felt like a thousand ton tank, too heavy to carry..

She looked ahead and tried to focus through the pain and the blurring vision. The distance was about three meters away. In ten steps or less she would be free to faint in the confines of her room. Breathless and in agony she walked the ten piercing steps to the front of the door of her apartment.

'Yes i made it' she thought as she leaned into her front door. She fumbled to get her keys from her pocket. She hastily placed it in the key hole while clumsily pushing it forward. And as she turned the knob, she heard the most magnificent click of an opening door.

Just when she was feeling relieved that she had made it inside, her vision immediately turned into total darkness. Her hands & legs give way, and she was falling to the ground. 

As she fell, she felt something touch her. In her chaotic slipping consciousness she felt someone catch her. Then numbness, darkness & complete silence took over...

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Taecyeon

He saw her from a distance. Just by looking at her, he knew that something was wrong. He sprinted forward like a gazelle, leaping at almost every blockage in the street.

He saw her in front of her apartment door fiercely opening it. just when he was within arms length from her, he felt her lose herself. and as he saw her fall, he rushed to her side as fast as the a speed of light while calling her name "Luna..."

Just before her head touched the ground, he caught her -- her lifeless body.

In his arms, she looked like a drowned cat -- with her sweaty & pale face, limping arms and unmoving legs. Gently but surely he carried her inside her apartment while softly calling her name, "Luna... Luna.. wake up Luv..."

He laid her down in the soft bed, placing her head in her favorite pillow and putting her mothers blanket over her. He stood up looking at her from the bed's edge. She looked like a little kid that was lost. He bent his head lower to put aside the stay hair from his face & wipe away the sweat in her forehead.

He whispered her name pleadingly, "Luna Luv, open your eyes... please...” 

As gently, and as softly as can be her eyes fluttered after lifetimes of minutes. Then he noticed her breathing normally. His heart was at ease because she was starting to come back to him.

He waited for her to finally become conscious, in her own terms, in her own time & in her own choice. Her eyes opened fully and to his out most joy she laid her eyes on him. He smiled with his whole heart on his face...

He her hair, soothing her as much as possible. He cleared the stray hair from her face again & asked gently, "kwenchana..?"

Though tired and bed dragged, she smiled at him - her usual warm, sincere & 'Luna-greeting' smile that he had memorized by heart, and she asked "oppa, is that you..?"

Then with recognition came curiosity, she looked at him puzzled at his presence, "but how come you are here..? Taec oppa"

He gently held her hand and assured her, "well i heard you call me. You cried 'help', so here i am.."

He smiled, his usual boyish smile that she had always described as charming. He then continued, "Didn’t I say before that I, OK Teacyeon swear on my life that I will always be your superman. That when ever you need me, i will always be by your side. And when you call for help i'll be there..."

She sighed at his outrageous but definitely charming explanation and she said, "k-kk--ko--koomawo oppa..."

He looked at her eyes, and he saw mixed feelings - happiness combined with sadness then fear. He knew she had lived a hard life. He knew that she believed in the fact that ‘Nothing good ever happens... especially for her'. It was her life's creed, her proverb and the words she lives by.

She closed herself to the goodness & kindness of the people that a simple "thank you.." is foreign words to her. But he had decided long ago that he would take care of her, make her see the beauty of the world that was comparable to her beauty...

"You don’t need to thank me, I am here cause you need me & I will always be your superman cause I love you, there is no need for 'thanks' cause it is my right, my choice and my pleasure to be your superman..." then he smiled at her

She smiled and hugged him to her hearts content, whispering to his ears, "komapta Oppa.."