In less than a second, the place was b with sirens, news reporters, and police cars.

As a witness—since it DID happen right in front of her—the police took Nani down to their station for further questioning of what had happened. 

Nani had debated whether or not she should leave with them when she realized cameramen were starting to crowd around the scene and it would only be a matter of time until they approached her for the full story. She was not about to go on national television. For all anyone knew, Nani was merely a witness and that caused for no national appearance. It wasn't as if she'd saved a life--but she wanted to save a life. And she would if she went downtown with the police to identify the suspect.

The police, however, did have the films from the cameras at that stoplight—so that did help with Nani's explanation.

“And according to this film,” the cop in front of her rewound the film and played it in slow-motion, “you're light turns green, you go...and then break. Then this green car here runs a red light—intersecting your lane for a left turn—the same time this other car runs the other red light... Did you, by any chance, see the person inside this other vehicle?”

“Well,” Nani breathed a lengthy sigh. “The windows were tinted so that limited what I did and did not see. But I'm more than sure that he was a man. I'm sorry.”

It bothers me as to why I was apologizing.

“Oh there's no need to be sorry,” he smiled. “You're not at fault here. You actually did the right thing. Smart girl you are.”

Nani frowned, oddly enough. “Thank you.”

“Tell me,” the cop began, “what is your name?”

She stared at him--contemplating whether or not she should answer. If he revealed her identity to the news or anything... But he didn't seem like the type to do that. He was merely an average cop. A young cop, at that. Possibly a college graduate? Besides, this stuff was confidential, was it not?

“Completely confidential,” he assured Nani--erasing any lingering hesitation.

“Its, uh, its Kil Nani.”

“Really?” he seemed somewhat surprised, Nani noticed. “You're the child of both Doctor Kils?”

Why, she'd never thought of that before! Well, yes, she was the daughter of both doctors, but what if he'd notified them of the situation! They'd be on her in an instant! “Yeah,” Nani breathed for lack of breath suddenly consumed her—praying her parents weren't notified—and replied pathetically. “That's me.”

Though, if they had been notified, wouldn't her cell be going off the hook this very moment? Nani frowned, remembering she'd shut it off.

“Its interesting, Nana,” he was saying--but she zoned out, realizing even the officer called her Nana. Not Nani, like she had told him so, but Nana.

“Its just that this is a first time that a girl has actually done something other than...” he hesitated on whether or not to say it.

“Scream?” She offered.

He laughed. “Exactly. Did you know that most females get injured in motor vehicle accidents mainly due to the fact that they suddenly lose control of the car and...scream?”

Another frown crossed Nani's face. “Sadly enough.”.

“No offense to women though,” he threw in. Then he turned back to the film and replayed it a couple of times. “It would be easier if his license plate wasn't such a blur. This fellow was driving seventy in a forty-five zone...”

How could she have forgotten to mention that?

“I know his license plate,” Nani recalled the digits she'd seen so clearly as he sped off. 



“E-excuse me sweetie, can you help me get that can of bean paste on the top shelf?”

“I would love to,” Nani wore a bright smile--as part of her job--despite the accident just mere minutes go. She'd set the container of molasses in her hand on the shelf before assisting the kind woman.

Five-six is a height Nani considered to be average. It wasn't too tall, nor too short, but as she reached up for that can of bean paste on the top shelf, she found herself resorting to tip-toes.

“I got it,” came a voice from close behind me. Before his chest even touched her back, Nani'd already realize it was Ace. Only one person had that voice--smooth as silk and yet deep as danger.

Nani got off her toes the second his large hand wrapped around the can and she immediately realized she should've continued to stand on her tip-toes the moment her back accidentally met his chest. Her immediate response was jerking away from him--in an attempt to salvage her already flushed cheeks--but the movement had been so abrubt Nani was positive he'd noticed.

“Here you are,” he handed it to the woman who thanked him before leaving. Then he turned to Nani--giving her a full view of his front--and Nani would've continued to stare at him if it weren't for that glare he wore. “A car crash. Really?”

Her jaw fell--and the bubbling inside her heated up.

Why the hell was he glaring at her?! If anything, she should've glared at him! One second he's being rude and sarcastic and the next he's helping get a can off the top shelf?

Bipolar, perhaps?

Nani forced a glare at him in return. Her gut, however, frowned at the fact that the glare had to be forced. Why? She was angry--she knew she was angry--so why force the glare?

Her heart answered the question with a silly kick to her ribs. It was all she could do to hold back from tackling him. “How tall are you?”

Nani felt her guts laughing at her for the lack of anger. She wasn't even going to get into the fact that the question had appeared out of the blue. She busied herself with stocking cans of gravy in a foolish attempt to ignore the heat that rushed to her face.

“Six-four,” he answered, inserting himself between her and the shelves.

The last bit of breath coming from Nani ran back down the moment his body brushed hers. She stilled momentarily--relishing in the feel of his body soft against hers, then lowered the can in her hand so her arms rested beside her and raised her head to stare up at him. Ace, Nani confirmed then, was nearly a whole feet taller than her.

“And how did you know about the crash?” She stepped backwards for fear that her lack of breath would act up and throw her against him.

“The news,” he replied. “What really happened?”

The news broadcasts that fast? And, more shockingly, Ace watches the news? “Its exactly what the news had said.”

Ace didn't accept that answer and Nani knew that the moment he leaned down towards her. “Is that so? And what did the news say?”

Nani's jaw fell slack. Was he testing her? Did he not believe her that much? Why would she lie to him about this kind of stuff?

“The two cars ran a red light when it was MY green light,” she retorted. “I survived, surprisingly enough.”

His eyes narrowed and his face came slightly closer to Nani's. If he moves any closer, she promised, her hand-print will be imprinted red across his face. Nani didn't give a rat's HOW good-looking he was. This man doubted her. Why the hell would he even doubt her? SHE was the one in the accident--and why did he care?!

“And you really called for an ambulance and waited until it came?”

Nani may have been furious at him but when his face was staring straight into hers--every detail on his face beautifully clear to her silver eyes--Nani found herself gazing into his green eyes. They seemed to go on forever in depth.

And she would've continued staring into his eyes, if it weren't for his jaw that distracted her.

Blood slowly dripped down from the side of his jaw--one slipping after the other. 

Despite the fact that Ace was bleeding, Nani felt a grin creep to her lips. Apparently he didn't need her hand-print after all.

“You,” Nani spared her actions no thought before her fingers reached up to his face and brushed his jaw. He flinched away and Nani laughed as she retracted her hand.

“You're bleeding,” she said and, without waiting for his consent, she grabbed onto his sleeve and tugged him after her. “We need to get that bandaged.”



Ace flinched away from the cotton Nani had dabbed in peroxide and she breathed a loud sigh--the third within two minutes.

“Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?”

Those green eyes took a quick run over her face. “I was suppose to?”

“If you're going to show up before me with a bloody jaw,” Nani muttered, "you might as well inform me."

He didn't respond with anything.

“How'd this happen?” Nani prodded as she swiped another cotton ball over his jaw.

The whole time Nani tend to his jaw, she forced herself to look at anything other than his eyes. What made it harder was the fact that--whether he knew it or not--his gaze had her seared with such intensity, Nani had to keep count of her breaths in order to control her breathing.

When he still didn't answer Nani's question, she was forced to raise my voice--in hopes of drowning out her irregular heartbeats. “Dammit, Ace, if I'm going to tend to you, you should at least tell me what happened!”

It was hard to not shove the cotton against his wound. Especially when he responded with, “Am I forcing you to do this?”

“Ace,” Nani kept her teeth gritted tight, “just shut up with your remarks and tell me what happened, huh?”

He didn't speak for a couple of seconds.

“Answer, dammit!” Nani exclaimed, shoving the damp cotton ball hard against the cut.

“I was taking care of unfinished business,” he replied—his eyes glued to every detail on her face.

“And what would that be?” She angled her head and dabbed at yet another cut.

He let out a sigh and started to get up, but Nani pushed the cotton hard against his jaw again.

“Nani,” he'd nearly hissed as he seized her wrist and took on a crouched position. “Are you trying to help or make it worse?”

“Oh, if I could make it worse,” Nani retorted, pulling her wrists away from him, “I would.” She stood on her knees in front of him--and yet he remained taller than she even when he was crouched. “Tilt your head this way.” Since he was no longer complying, Nani resorted to physical force. In a quick movement--without the slightest contemplation--Nani had grabbed either side of his face with both hands and tilted it herself. He, in response, grabbed hold of her elbow. Nani's guts tightened in anticipation for fear of rejection, but he didn't remove her hands. Surprisingly.

The mistake Nani had made, however, was placing her hands on his face. The same feeling she'd felt this morning returned. That sense of long familiarity... almost as if this had happened before. The mistake of being so close to him and being able to touch him was also a negative. Not to mention his tight grip on her elbow, or those dark green pools of his that were so focused on every detail of her face.

“Keep your head still,” Nani muttered, before slapping the bandage on his jaw. “Alright,” her heart paused momentarily--upset when she dropped both hands from his face--and his fingers unwrapped themselves from around her elbow. “We're done here.”

It wasn't until much, much later, that Nani realized Moon Ace had came all the way to her work just to ask what had happened during that car crash.

It bothered her.

He hadn't asked if she was okay, but rather, he asked what had happened...

Why the sudden curiosity?

* * *

Thunder clapped furiously outside of the hospital. The rain fell with rage, pounding at the hospital window. And, despite this calamity of a weather, the full moon shone brightly. Its pale yellow light seeped in through the window, shining upon the newly born child.

Kil Nani.

Her mother slept soundly in the other room, exhausted after giving birth.

Thunder clapped again, this time louder than before. It brightened up that room for just a second before the power went out completely.

The power in only that room, for some reason.

The room fell pitch black with no light but the pale light from the moon itself.

Sixteen. Sixteen dark figures stood in that room, in a line facing Nani.

There was only one female amongst those sixteen figures. She said some words, recited something, then reached for baby Nani.

Nani giggled when she was picked up. For a newborn, she was quite the contrary.

Slowly, and gently, she was passed down the line—smiling and cooing, with her eyes closed the whole time. It wasn't until she got down to the tenth one, that the amazing happened. The ninth, gently carrying her, passed her into the arms of the tenth.

He held her for the time alloted. And, though he was well-known for his bad reputation and other convulsive things that made him notorious, he held the baby with delicacy and drew her close to him—having her head rest lightly against his chest.

She smiled. Then she let out a giggle and her hands went up to touch his soft face. He felt her hands, her fingers, soft on his skin.

Slowly, her eyes opened and those sterling gray eyes of hers met his deep green eyes. For that long second, they held the other's gaze.

Then Kil Nani said one thing. One thing that would change her life—and his—to come.

“Ace.”



“Nana~Nana~” Nani's body rocked to and fro. “Nana~ Wake up! We're up before you today~!”

Nani growled an irritated sigh before leting her eyes drift open.

Ammie and Pearl were happily jumping up and down at the foot of her bed and as soon as she sat up in bed, they stopped.

“It is not what it seems,” Pearl said, slowly getting off the bed. “This was what Em told us to do. Right, Am?”

Ammie nodded. “Right.”

A pillow crashed into the wall with a muffled thud and Pearl released a shriek. Another pillow quickly followed suit, which got them laughing and shrieking as they ran out of the room.

For a long second, Nani contemplated whether or not she should move out of bed. 

"Nana and Ace, sitting in a tree," sang Ammie and Pearl who had crowded around her door, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G--" 

Nani crawled out from under the covers after tossing yet another pillow at the two, too distracted by that dream to care about how cold the room was.

What kind of dream was that?

How did it involve Ace? Better yet, WHY did it involve him? How is that even possible?!

She shook her head--still brushing her teeth--all the while blaming it on the fact that she'd simply seen him too much, too quickly. The man was everywhere.



Nani jumped at the touch of her facecloth—soaked in ice cold water—and shuttered. Nevertheless, she kept it over her face to get the blood in her face pumping.

She sighed, letting the coldness seep into her skin. At the thought of her dream again, she sighed.

Why is it that such a dream can feel so real? It wasn't impossible to replay the whole dream in her head and that's what irked her above all.

When the facecloth on her face began to grow warm, Nani took it off and threw it into the laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom.

Heaving another sigh, she turned again to face the mirror with her toothbrush in her hand--

—and shrieked.

His tall figure, lean posture, big arms. Biceps.

A sudden urge to reach up to passed over her momentarily. Perhaps she should check for drool, Nani scolded herself. How dare her body function against her will and drool on it's own. Then again, her brain was quick to defend her body, she did just wake up.

Ace stood there, leaning back against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. His reflection watched intent on watching Nani. “Noticed me, did you?”

It wasn't a question but rather a statement.

“How long have you been there?!” She spoke to his reflection in the mirror--immediately taking note of the scrape on his jaw. It'd healed rather quickly.

“Long enough,” he answered simply. His face, expressionless. And still so intriguing...

That bastard.

“And you didn't say anything?!”

“What was I to say?” he answered with another question.

Nani turned to him then—instead of speaking to his reflection—only to shoot a silver-eyed glare at him. “'Ahem' would've worked.”

He didn't let on. “Then you would've jumped and shrieked.”

“I did that anyways!” She threw her hands into the air, furious.

“Well,” he kept the same posture as he spoke and Nani admitted to jealousy that such a simple posture could take control of her mind. A curse, was what it was. “I'll remember to say that next time.”

It wasn't until he had said the words 'next time', that the situation dawned on Nani.

He was in her bedroom AND bathroom. And, to make matters worse, her parents weren't home--in addition to that was the fact that he's got a girlfriend.

Something about that just felt wrong--unethical.

“Please,” Nani scoffed as she went over to him and grabbed onto his sleeve, dragging him out of her bathroom. The fact that she felt his arms under her hand managed to slow her down immensely. “There's not going to be a next time, so there's really no need to rehearse.”

Her gaze on him didn't ease until she'd gotten him into the hall. Nani's eyes narrowed at him as she dropped his sleeve. “How did you--why are you here?”

His hands slid into his pocket and drew out his phone. “It seems you called me.” There was a glare in his expression, Nani noted--directed at her, to be exact.

“That's preposterous,” Nani claimed, crossing her arms. “I don't—” have your number? That would be lying.

“Have my number?” he finished--a questioning glare in his eyes. Why is it that every look directed at her was nothing more than a glare?

“Then you must've remembered it by heart, because” he flipped open his phone and pulled up a log of recent calls “this seems to be your phone number, am I wrong?”

No, Nani admitted silently, he was not.

“I never called you!” And that was the truth.

“Oh, I know,” he gave one nod. “The point here is that you have my number.”

Her glare at him turned murderous. There was nothing she could say. If she'd disagreed, she'd be lying. Nani cursed her younger siblings upon remembering that they'd been in her room that morning. They'd more than likely took her phone and dialed him.

Oh, good God, why didn't he just leave her alone? “I'm gonna get dressed,” Nani quickly closed her bedroom door on him only to catch sight of that arrogant smirk just before the door slammed shut.

He smirked—the first of today. “Call me if you need help with that.” The bastard even put emphasis on the word 'call', as a way of making a joke of the situation.

It wasn't until she drew in a deep breath to calm her nerves, that Nani realized how crazily her heart was beating.



“So he actually agreed to take Ammie and Pearl to school?” Em asked, looking over at Nani from where she sat beside her in the car.

Nani nodded.

“Huh,” Em said simply. Then to change the subject, she said,“Nana, did you know that the police found a person dead in a car yesterday? I found it weird because your near-car crash happened yesterday, too, you know?”

She may have been blabbing, but she had Nani at 'dead person' and 'car'.

“And the weirdest part,” she continued on—despite the fact that Nani wasn't replying, “was that after the police got to the scene, they verified that the car the person was in was the same car as the one in the crash. You know, the one that did the hit and run?”

It was as if she wasn't even expecting a response, because she went right on blabbing about other things in no relation to what she was just talking about. Nani's heart released a sigh--it was a good thing Em wasn't expecting an answer because she wouldn't have gotten any.

Nani knew just about as much as Em at that point. And yet, she questioned herself as to whether or not such a thing like that was possible. Things like that just don't happen coincidentally.

What if it wasn't a coincidence?

“So what's your relationship with Ace, anyways?” Em leaned over towards me. “C'mon, Nana, you can trust me.”

Seeing how she expected a response this time, Nani immediately shoved her clouded thoughts away.

“Trust you?" Nani managed a laugh. "Em, that is the most hilarious thing I've heard you say. Good one.”

“Na~na!” she whined. “C'mon! I'm only two years younger than you--I'll understand regardless--and I want to know what's going on in your life!”

Really. You don't say.

“Well,” Nani inhaled, getting ready to tell Em the story of her life. “I was born on December 21st in LA, California. About two years ago, Mom and Dad were asked to come to Seoul by the presi—”

“RECENTLY!!” Em exclaimed. “I want to know what's going on in your life RECENTLY!!”

“Well then be more specific next time.” But, of course, Nani had done that on purpose to get on her bad side.

“Nana,” she restated, thinking her words thoroughly. “What...big things have happened to you...recently?”

“I saw my life flash before my eyes yesterday, saw a car crash take place right before my eyes, and I had a really weird dream last night.”

At the mention of 'weird' and 'dream', Em perked up. “Really? Was Ace in it?”

Of course she'd ask that. “Yes, he was, actually.”

“What was it about?” she smiled at Nani as if it'd be some kind of R-rated dream.

“My birth,” Nani stated simply as they pulled into the school's parking lot.

Well, now that she actually thought about it, Nani pondered the moment of her birth. She couldn't remember her birth. . . Naturally, no one would, but that dream--that dream had been so real it could've almost passed as her birth.

Em's interested look faded. “Who has a dream about their birth and a HOT guy?! Nana, you're... I really don't understand you.”

She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door to get out.

“Don't bother,” Nani chided.



“Oh, my God, Nana,” Liz cooed. “That is so cute!! Skirts and boots!”

“The cute long white coat!” Lori exclaimed, touching the fur of Nani's coat. “It's to die for!!”

“Where do you get your clothes!?” Lyn asked. “It just looks so...so exquisite.”

“From where I work,” Nani answered, throwing yet another textbook into her locker.

“Latest Fashion?!” they exclaimed in unison.

“That would be it.”

“We are SO hitting that place after school.”

“Nana, you in?”

She hadn't a choice. After all, her four hour shift there after school wasn't going anywhere.

Nani nodded, but they didn't seem to be paying attention to her anymore.

“Nana?” asked the person that tapped her shoulder.

A glance, a glance was all it took for Nani to recognize the person before her.

That top.

Aura..