She blinks a couple of times, from both the harsh sunlight, which contrasts so much with the gentle light peeking through her window, and an overwhelming amount of emotions she suddenly feels from the explosion of memories.

       As the dust settles, she looks across the way to see her massive white Range Rover looming over the two tiny cars parked next to it. She unconsciously smiles softly as she remembers.

       "Ji, where are we going?"

       "I can't tell you yet."

       "..."

       "..."

       "We've been driving for a while now."

       "Shh. You still owe me from last night. Just wait."

       "Last night was just--"

       "Shh."

       "But I--"

       "Okay! We're here."

       "This is..."

       "Like it?"

       "It's...it's just what I imagined! It's awesome!"

       "Happy birthday, my butterfly."

       Pure relief and delight was on his face, she recalls. He bought her the dream car the boy side of her was always obsessed with. She felt guilty for making him spend so much money, but he had a way with words. The guilt quickly washed away and was replaced with bliss.

       She walks past the car and begins down the bustling street. Her body carries her where it wants to, until she notices a light wind blowing, and the gentle rustling of leaves above her head makes her look around. A beautifully green forest is surrounding her, and her mesmerized eyes gaze around before coming to a stop at the single biggest tree. She quietly laughs to herself as she remembers.

       "Where do you want to sit?"

       "How about under that tree?"

       "That one? That tree is huge. It's obnoxiously large."

       "Is there a problem with that? That just means more shade for me and my butterfly."

       "Oh stop it, Ji!"

       "So?"

       "Okay, I guess."

       "Today, I made some awesome food for lunch!"

       "Since when did you know how to cook? What'd you make?"

       "Uh...ham and cheese sandwiches. Heh."

       "Wow, what awesome food THAT is."

       "Just try it! I don't know why, but they taste abnormally delicious to me."

       "..."

       "..."

       "Holy crap they actually do taste oddly amazing."

       "I know, right? It's weird."

       "Make these more often!"

       "Your wish is my command, my butterfly."

       His cutely nervous face when she took the first bite is forever engraved in her mind. What she would give to see him bite his lip, knit his eyebrows, and involuntarily show his puppy eyes again.

       She spends a while in the park, smelling the scents of nature that she missed so much, before leaving to grab a bite to eat. She strolls down the sidewalk until she arrives at her favorite café. She clutches her chest as a pang of hurt strikes her heart.

       "Hey, Ji! I'm sitting over here!"

       "Dara! Dara! Dara!"

       "Whoa, slow down there. What's up?"

       "I have some amazing news."

       "Yeah?"

       "I am not single anymore!!"

       "...what?"

       "I've got myself a girlfriend!"

       "..."

       "...Dara? Are you okay?"

       "...huh? Oh. Ji, I'm happy for you. What's her name?"

       "Kiko Mizuhara. I met her in Japan, and she's great. I think you'd get along with her well."

       "...I'd love to meet her."

       While ordering her dinner, she briefly wonders why. Why didn't he fall in love with her? Why did she fall in love with him in the first place? Why did he choose Kiko of all people? And why couldn't she ever make him smile that widely, that happily, and that often?

       She stuffs more food down than she's ever stuffed before. Perhaps in a miserable attempt to force out and replace her grieving emotions. Or perhaps just because she's been a wreck ever since he left, and virtually inhaling her food is one of the only things her body knows how to do anymore. Aside from remembering.

       She looks up at the shining moon, silently observing how it breathtakingly illuminates the city. Her feet take her out of the café and back onto the now empty sidewalks. Stars twinkle in the sky, and tears threaten to fall as she remembers.

       "Ji, you really don't have to walk me home."

       "Yes I do. It's dangerous at night."

       "Isn't...isn't Kiko waiting for you?"

       "She'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I don't have a valid excuse."

       "..."

       "..."

       "Ji...?"

       "Hmm?"

       "I dunno. It's just weird when you aren't being loud and putting your arm around my shoulder and--"

       "And teaching you about stars? Yeah, I know, I feel kinda weird too. But I don't want Kiko to misunderstand."

       "...okay."

       "Sorry."

       He began to change, and she knew that she was losing him. But she pulled herself up and hid everything, just like before. Because she thought she was the horizon between the sun and the moon. The line dividing two perfect people that were destined for each other. And she was sick of it.

       Her feet take her back to the apartment, and she enters through the door in a daze. She strides into the bathroom and begins to fill her bathtub with water. Turning around, she pauses after seeing her own distraught face in the mirror. She's a mess, she knows. Dark, heavy eyes on top of unhealthy, dirty skin, plus a coffee-brown mess sticking out in all directions on her head. But she isn't worried for her own health. Because her face only reminds her of someone else.

       "Ji, what in the world happened to you?!"

       "She..."

       "Who? Kiko? What did she do?"

       "It's all over..."

       "Ji, tell me!"

       "I was just a game to her, Dara."

       "...what?!"

       "She broke my heart. And no one will be able to fix it."

       He cried in her arms all night, and she remembers that his face was a nightmare come to life. He needed someone to help him, reassure him, and comfort him, and she was there. But he didn't hear her when she whispered that she could fix it for him. But did it really matter? No matter what, deep down she knew she was wrong.

       The bathtub fills up and she turns off the water, walking to the kitchen with a blank expression. She rummages through the drawers before finding one that she's content with. She gazes down at the knife in her hand. And she cries bittersweet tears as she remembers.

       "What do you want to eat?"

       "Ji, stop fooling yourself. You don't know how to cook."

       "Now I do. Kiko made me learn how...she never really ate any of my food though."

       "...that ."

       "What'd you say?"

       "Nothing. So what are you making?"

       "I'll make some kimchi stew, I guess."

       "Wow, you even know how to cook that? Well I'll look forward to it then, Mr. Chef."

       "You won't be disappointed, my butterfly."

       His materialized grief never stopped falling from his eyes...the stew was a little salty. But she didn't say anything. She knew what it was from.

       She walks back to the full bathtub and gets in with a stoic expression. She pulls the knife to her wrist and firmly presses. The red liquid appears and drips down into the tub, but she feels no pain. Instead, she remembers.

       She walked in to the room and dropped the bags in her hand. She rushed up to his familiar bed and screamed when she saw him. Never had she seen so much blood. It was everywhere...on his arms, legs, neck, and stomach. The cuts were deeper than she thought possible. She frantically called the ambulance, but deep down, her mind was telling her it was no use. Because she knew. This time, he didn't want anyone to fix it.

       The blood mixes with the warm water hugging her body, and she closes her eyes, welcoming the dizziness. And the last thing she does before sweet darkness saves her is remember.

       She remembers the darkness that took over when she found out that Kwon Jiyong had left her forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~