“No” I said, barely a whisper. Then, with a firmer voice, I said, “you’re not that heartless”

He paused and looked at me. I can’t read his expression. I can’t tell what he’s thinking. He sighed then cursed out loud and turned around, throwing the knife over the sink. He put his hands on his waist and faced me again.

“Wait here” he grimly said and walked out of the kitchen. When he came back, he directly went to the sink, opened a faucet and wet the white towel in his hand. He went to me and wiped my face quite roughly. I had the feeling he’s trying to erase my face. After that, he took a band-aid and out it on the wound in my cheek. He then took his share of the cake and consumed it with two swallows. I can’t help but smile.

“Err, haven’t you eaten a cake before?” I asked. He glanced at me sharply, glaring. “Just asking” I mumbled.

“Can you just finish your cake and leave?”

“You’re extremely rude” I pouted. “I can’t leave yet. You still have to open my present and try it on”

A breaking noise suddenly followed. I squealed and jumped. I looked for the source and saw that Jiyong broke the saucer he’s holding. His grip must’ve tightened on the poor thing.

“Your hand’s bleeding!” I said and was about to reach for his hand but he pulled away.

“Don’t touch me!” he hissed and went to the sink. He put his injured hand under the running water. Then, I watched him tend to his hand.

“I envy you” I confessed. “You seemed so. . . capable of yourself. I always tell my parents that I can take care of myself already, that I’m old enough to do things on my own but the truth is, I’m quite dependent”

“Some things are learned the hard way”

I looked at him, wondering. “It’s so hard to imagine someone going through a very harsh ordeal. You must have suffered greatly”

“Nonsense” he scoffed.

I made face then decided to let the topic go. “Anyway, open my present. C’mon let’s see if it looks good on you”

He didn’t move so I decided to open the present for him.

~JIYONG’S POV~

I watched her open the present enthusiastically. I can’t help but mentally laugh at how excited she looked. It’s as if she’s the one who just received a gift.

“Ta-da!” she exclaimed, holding out a white hoodie.

I just stared at her.

“C’mon, try it on!”

I didn’t move. She let out a growl of irritation and walked over to me. She grabbed the hem of my shirt and started pulling it up. But she stopped halfway and gasped. I pulled the shirt down, scowling.

“I can try it on without removing my shirt” I growled. I looked at her closely when she didn’t say anything. She was staring at me in horror and tear-glazed eyes. One hand was covering .

Great! Just great! She must’ve seen the scars. I should be happy that she’s now afraid of me. Who would-? My train of thoughts suddenly stopped as she threw herself to me.

“Oh my God!” she cried. “What did your father do to you?”

I stiffened, my arms all frozen at my side as she hugged me tight. I didn’t hug her back. I don’t want a hug. I don’t need pity and sympathy. I don’t need and want to be comforted. With a snort, I pushed her away. I stepped back and crossed my arms across my chest.

“Why the fcuking hell are you crying?” I blurted out as I saw the stream of tears falling from her eyes. She just sniffed in response. Before I could stop myself, I started laughing. I find it funny how she seemed so upset with the scars.

“The wounds. . . must’ve hurt so bad. . . to leave scars like that” she said in between her sobs. “Now I know why you don’t wear white or any light-colored clothes. You’re trying to hide your scars”

“That’s b*llsh*t”

Her expression suddenly changed. Her eyes dangerously narrowed. “I told you not to curse in front of me”

“And who are you to tell me on what to do?”

“I’m- oh never mind!” she growled, took a deep breath then smiled. “Anyways, you can wear a shirt under this hoodie. That would still hide your scars. Here, put it on”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“Nope”

“What would it take to stop you from bothering me?”

“I’ll get back at you when I figured it out” she grinned.

I sighed and pulled the hoodie out of hood roughly, silently wishing that it’ll be ruined. When that didn’t happen, I mentally cursed myself and put it on quite grumpily.

“Wow! It looks good on you!” she appreciatively said, making me growl. I quickly took it off and tossed it aside. “I swear, it looked good on you” she continued. “But it would be better if you get a hair cut. Your hair’s almost as long as mine”

“Cut your own hair” I scowled.

“That would-“ she stopped as her phone beeped. She took it out and looked at it. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I gotta go”

“Finally!”

She went up to me, tiptoed and planted a soft kiss on my cheeks. I was too taken aback that I almost staggered down to the floor.

“Happy birthday!” she chuckled and ran to the door, bouncing happily.

It was a while later that I came back to my senses. I went to the sink, opened the faucet and washed my face.

“Dammit!”

o=o=o

~DARA’S POV~

“No, don’t bring your car” Jae said. “I’ll pick you up”

“I’ll be ready when you arrive”

“See you later”

I put the phone inside my pocket and went downstairs. We’re going out to watch a movie. I can’t help but smile. This would be the first time we’re going to watch a movie with just the two of us. I get giddy by just thinking of the things that would happen inside the moviehouse. Jae will whisper sweet nothings to me while we cuddle each other, then I would giggle, then. . . . aigoo!

I heard the doorbell a while later. I bounced up to the door while saying goodbye to Mom and Dad.

“Not too late!” I heard Mom called.

“Let her be. Jaejoong is a gentleman” Dad countered.

I pulled the door open. “Hi!” I smiled.

“Hey there” he greeted back. “Are you ready?”

“Always” I grinned. He chuckled and offered his arm to me. I locked my hand on his arm and we walked to his car. He opened the door of the passenger seat and motioned me in. “Thanks” I mumbled.

He went on the other side and get in. he started the car running.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“It was fine. Pretty ordinary” I said. “I spent thw whole day reading a book. I talked to Sulli a while ago. She said she got accepted to work in a convenient store, part time”

“You sound upset”

“I am” I scowled. “I just can’t understand why some parents neglect their responsibilities”

“it must have been hard for Sulli’s mother to raise her and her siblings by herself”

“Her mother isn’t doing ANYTHING. She’s leaning on Sulli”

Silence followed my outburst.

“I guess we’re pretty luck to have amazing parents” he quietly said.

“That’s why I’m pissed. Why can’t all parents be like our parents? Maybe he wouldn’t be. . . “

“We’re talking about Sulli’s parents here, right? Not someone else’s?”

“Yeah” I answered absentmindedly.

“Maybe they just had a tough childhood or some-“

“Then how would you explain Kwon Jiyong?” I burst out. “He had a hard childhood but he’s not as cold and heartless as everyone thinks he is”

“When there’s smoke, there’s fire” he quoted.

“You believe the rumors about him?”

“You believed it yourself before” he shrugged. “And I’m merely saying that people won’t make rumors about him without a reason or if there’s no sense of truth behind it”

“That’s why they’re called RUMORS. People just got wild imagination and-“ sighs, “let’s not talk about it anymore. I don’t want to argue with you”

“What do you want to talk about then?

“What did you-?” I stopped. “Hey, look over there”

There was a small crowd gathered up beside the road. I saw a body lying on the ground while a dark figure was looming above him, giving the former nonstop blows.

“Stop the car!” I said. “We should help”

Hae heeded and stopped the car not too far from the scene. We quickly climbed down.

“It’s Kwon Jiyong” Jae said. “He’s beating the guy up”

My senses alerted to what Jae said. As soon as that happened, I recognized Kwon Jiyong’s face as endless curses came flying from his mouth.

“. . . you son of a b*tch!”

“Ya!” I called. Kwon Jiyong looked up. His nose was bleeding and a portion of his lower lip was broken. “Stop that!”

He just smirked and gave the guy that I recognized as Yunhwan four more blows.

“YA!”

“Hey, stop that or I’ll call the police” Jae said. Jiyong stopped and stood up. He looked at Jae dangerously and made his way towards us.

“Did you really think I’ll run off just because of those gun-bearing fools?”

“Leave the poor guy alone” Jae gritted.

“I’m not intending to kill him” Jiyong smiled. “Yet” he added.

“H-help” Yunhwan croaked but no one from the bystanders dared coming to his aid.

“Jae” I tugged his arm. He glanced sideways at me then sighed. He went to Yunhwan’s side. I saw him talked to the guy for a while and then, he took his phone out. I think he’s calling for help. I turned to face Kwon Jiyong but he was already walking away. Without having second thoughts, I chased after him.

“Ya!” I called but he didn’t stop. I broke into a run. I grabbed his arm and whirled him around as soon as I reached him. “What happened? Why did you beat him up?”

“I love hurting people, that simple!” he hiised menacingly.

“I don’t believe- ah!” I gasped as he slapped me.

“WAKE UP!” he yelled, grabbed me by the arms and shook me hard. “Wake up from the illusion that I’m not the person the rumors are saying! I am that person, Dara! Do you hear me? I’m much worst than that!”

He let go of me then, more like pushing actually that I felt myself stumbling backwards. Instead of hitting the ground, I felt a solid body from behind me. I instantly knew it was Jae. He put me aside and was about to attack Jiyong but I stopped him.

“Please, no”

Jae looked at me for a moment then sighed. He dropped his fist to his side. Jiyong suddenly pulled Jae by the front shirt. I gave a start as Kwon Jiyong’s eyes went all black – all the white parts were gone. It reminded me of the eyes of one of the crows from my dream. He sudden;y closed his eyes and slightly bowed his head, his jaw clenching.

“Het her away from me” he gritted with a tinge of desperation then let Jae go. When he opened his eyes, they looked normal. I felt something warm fell down on my cheeks and I realized I’ve been holding back my tears. Maybe I just imagined the all-black eyes.

“Are you alright?” Jae turned to me as soon as Kwon Jiyong started running away.

“I’m-“

“I did warn you to mind your own business, didn’t I?” a voice said. I looked around and saw Seungri looking at me gravely.

“Seungri, come on!”

I looked up front and saw two girls and a boy running after Kwon Jiyong

“Coming!” Seungri called out. He glanced at me for a brief moment before going after the others.

-----

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