"Say what?"

 

"I said," Yongguk puts me down right in front of him and smiles. "I'm taking you to your throne, your highness." His hands clamp around my waist, effortlessly lifting me up and onto the stage.

 

All the while, I'm dumbfounded by his words, frozen with comprehension. I blink a few times when I realize I'm on stage. A silver and gold feather boa falls gently around my neck, tickling the bare skin and causing a light chuckle to escape. A crown is placed on my head and I'm lead to my throne, to the right of king Kwon Jiyong, much to his apparent amusement.

 

"We now present you with your king and queen!" The principal announces and the cheers grow louder.

 

A few students grab my hands, lead me off the stage and to the dance floor. Students and teachers crowding around form a circle, Jiyong and I in the centre. Slow music starts playing and Jiyong extends a hand.

 

"Please don't deny the king a dance with his lovely queen." He says, wrapping his fingers around mine.

 

"Whether I'd want to or not," I take a step towards him and place a hand on his shoulder, "the students would never let me escape."

 

Jiyong leads the dance and I let him, all my senses drowning out to let the music take over. Our steps are precise and perfectly in time with the melody. A lot of people in the school thought Jiyong and I would go good together; yet another excuse he would use. But it didn't seem right. Yes, he was and still is quite handsome, but his puzzle pieces fit beside someone else, not me. At times, he'd try to force the two pieces together, desperate to finish the puzzle, but I'd have to set him straight, no matter how much hurt was visible in his eyes.

 

Yongguk, on the other hand, was his own jigsaw puzzle. A few pieces would be missing here and there, but overall, he seemed near completion, no other piece needed. He had his six Matokis, a huge part of his puzzle already in place.

 

Until the night he 'fought' with Jongup.

 

Apparently, there was one piece he had yet to find. And that one piece is me.

 

"I'm actually surprised to see you here." Jiyong states. "I thought you wouldn't come at all."

 

"I didn't want to." I reply honestly. "But HyoJae wouldn't let me have it, and my boss and Yongguk went through the trouble of getting a dress." I grumble softly after my words, then take a deep breath.

 

"Ah, HyoJae's that quiet kid, right?" He asks, lifting an eyebrow.

 

"Not so quiet anymore, ever since little miss silent got a boyfriend."

 

"Really?" Jiyong laughs. "Who?"

 

"Youngjae, one of Yongguk's friends." I nod my head. My smile turns into a smirk and I lean in closer. "The yellow bunny."

 

Jiyong in a deep breath and looks towards my table, where Youngjae and HyoJae are quietly holding hands and Zelo and Jaexing are talking. His eyes widen and he chuckles nervously.

 

"Don't tell me... Those toys are..."

 

"Yep. Aliens. Alien bunnies from planet Mato, they crash landed in my backyard MONTHS ago and figured out how to turn themselves human. They work at a Chinese restaurant and are currently rebuilding their ship. HyoJae is the yellow bunny's girlfriend, Jaexing, the girl in the green dress, is the blue bunny's soon to be girlfriend.... If I have anything to do with it. And I'm-"

 

"One of the other bunnies' girlfriend?"

 

"N-no... Not yet..."

 

Jiyong throws his head back and laughs. "You have such a creative imagination! I admit, for a second there, you had me believing you, but alien bunnies? I don't know what those toys were that day, but surely there's a real truth."

 

I smile kindly and nod. "I'm glad you can tell a truth from a lie." What a dork!

 

"Do me a favour and tell your boyfriend not to kill me." Jiyong spins me around and pushes me into Yongguk. "This tux belongs to my dad and he'll kill me if I get my blood all over it." Jiyong waves and walks over to his date, taking her to the centre of the floor.

 

I chuckle and look back at Yongguk, who has yet to stop glaring at Jiyong's figure. "If you feel it's necessary to burn the whole building down with your glare, why don't we go outside?" I ask. Yongguk looks down at me and smiles.

 

"That's a wonderful idea."

 

I take off my boa and crown, placing the former on Zelo and the latter on Jaexing. "We're going outside for some fresh air." I whisper to HyoJae. She gives me the thumbs up before I allow Yongguk to lead me outside.

 

"Whoa!" I exclaim as the night sky covers my field of vision.

 

"You said it." Yongguk takes me to the school's miniature bridge, the one over a small pond. He sighs and leans his back on the railing, his elbows supporting his weight and his head turned up towards the sky.

 

"You haven't told me your story." I break the silence, looking over to him. He chuckles and looks at his shoes and then at me.

 

"You already know. Youngjae told you."

 

"How-"

 

"I asked him." I nod silently and look down at the pond, watching the small fish swim their lives away as the moon shines on their backs.

 

"So, will you?"

 

"Will I what?" Yongguk raises an eyebrow.

 

"Tell me the story."

 

"What story?"

 

"Your story!"

 

"... Why?" He snickers.

 

I clench my fist and stare at the heavens. Why must this man be so evil? "Because I'm curious!"

 

"Why?"

 

"Why not?"

 

"Exactly."

 

"WHAT?!"

 

"I dunno."

 

"Yongguk!" I scream, slapping his arm. "Stop being a thick headed idiot! If you don't want to tell me your story, fine. Whatever. Just," I take a deep breath and glare at him, "stop."

 

He smiles, rubs his nose and leans in. "Why?" 

 

Just as I'm about to protest, Yongguk wraps his arms around my small frame and pulls me into a hug, laughing his head off in the process. "I'm sorry," he says between laughs. "You look so funny when you're angry."

 

I place my two hands on his chest and attempt to push him away. Futile action. "Lemme go." I mumble into his tuxedo. "You big dummy, lemme go!"

 

"But you're so warm, and it's cold outside." 

 

After a few more tries, I let my arms drop to my sides and Yongguk loosens his grip just barely.

 

"The princess I was supposed to guard was the kindest and most generous person I knew. Even before I became her guard, she and I were quite good friends. Of course, I took my job as her protector very seriously and made sure not to let my emotions get in the way, avoiding the possibility of loosing someone close to me. At one time, I did have feelings for her." For some strange reason, a sudden pang hits my heart. That time at the fun park when he said I reminded him of someone; the princess suddenly fits into the jigsaw puzzle.

 

"Why... Why did you turn her down?"

 

"Well, she was the princess, destined to marry one of the princes of the other kingdoms on Mato planet. I'm solely her guard. Nothing more."

 

"Don't give me that sappy fairy tail stuff." I push away and look him in the eyes. "That shouldn't ever stop someone from loving another. Why did you break her heart."

 

Yongguk moves a strand of hair from my face and pulls me back into his hug, swaying gently back and forth. "I had to protect her, not become her weakness. And vice versa."

 

"If you weren't her guard, could you have loved her?"

 

"Hmm, maybe... but she wouldn't have loved me back. You see, she's kind, patient, and generous, whereas I'm-"

 

"A jerk, ruthless, stubborn, dense, sometimes cold hearted, a fighter and an idiot?" I interrupt, a smirk pulling at the corners of my lips. I feel the way Yongguk rocks me in his arms. I take in his smell, savouring the time spent in someone's arms again.

 

"Whatever." He clicks his tongue and scowls. "Either way, we wouldn't have fit together." He unwraps his arms and leans back on the railing of the bridge, the fish becoming a sudden interest of his.

 

I nod silently. My heart is usually burning with care, constantly worrying about the well-being of others. I smile and I laugh, but it's been a long time since I've smiled and laughed while the matokis have been around. For a while, part of my heart was dedicated to watching over the strange alien bunnies, taking them in as family and hoping they'd treat me as such. The other part was the full out truth and emotion I'd put into my insults towards my rival. I admit, after a while and the constant company of a certain (sometimes) gentleman, another part was created solely for liking him. It beat with an incredible rhythm the night I found out he liked me back and it started noticing small and subtle changes in his personality towards me.

 

"Hey, Yongguk?" I say in a soft voice.

 

"Hm?"

 

"Why do you like me?" The words escape my mouth quickly and quietly, my mind secretly hoping he didn't hear. Yongguk tears his gaze away from the fish and looks at me with gentle eyes. He stands up and closes the distance between us. His hand comes up and starts playing with my pendant-less chain for a necklace.

 

"This chain," he says, "it doesn't suit you." His hands move around my neck and unclasps the chain, carelessly tossing it off the bridge and into the water, scaring off some of the fish. He reaches into his jacket, pulls out a case and opening it towards him, depriving me of view. "This suits you perfectly." Yongguk pulls out a thick gold chain and lifts it until the pendant came into view.

 

I gasp as the object reflects the moonlight. The pendant is small and circular, approximately two thumbnails in diameter. The circle is divided up similarly to the Yin and Yang symbol, with obvious differences. On the right is the gold half, hibiscus flowers made from gold embedded onto it. A line of diamonds down the middle, slightly drifting into the other half. The rest of the pendant is the simply complex presence of an opal stone.