Psyched
PsychedPsyched
Sandara Park looked at the calendar as if she was boring holes in it. She didn’t stare at it simply because of sheer narcissism—her face was on the calendar—or because it was pink, but because of the date that had been emphasized by a large red circle. It was the 18th—August 18 to be exact. And just as soon as she remembered what the date meant, she realized how much she screwed up.
It wasn’t as if she had forgotten it. She knew the date by heart. And she had anticipated this day to come since summer started. But then, even if she had a long to think about what to give him, she actually forgot to buy him something. Maybe it’s because of her busy schedule and her biological clock had been messed up due to the never-ending practices and promotions. She was even surprise that it was August already. But then, how could she explain that to him? It wasn’t like she could just show up and say “Happy Birthday”.
She could never do that—not after what he had done for her on her 28th birthday.
For a moment, she was transported back in time. She wasn’t in her room anymore. Her hair wasn’t messy and she definitely wasn’t wearing just a loose shirt. In her memory, it wasn’t even daylight. The moon was up in the sky, giving a bit of illumination to the large labyrinth in front of her. She squinted as she was trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness before she mumbled to herself how much she wished that the moon was full that night. She walked around until she found the only entrance, though she hesitated for a moment before entering the labyrinth. After all, labyrinths were made so cunningly that even the maker (well, according to the Greek mythology) could barely escape it.
Yet, in the darkness, she saw a pink heart-shape balloon floating a few meters away from her. After staring at it for a few seconds, she realized that there was a string attached to it and it looked like someone was pulling it away from her—or at least, luring her to follow it. She entered the labyrinth without hesitation this time to follow the balloon. With the help of the moon’s illumination, she saw that something was written on the balloon—follow your heart. She read it out loud and it was as if her words were magical—the balloon floated away from her and she did what it told her—she followed her heart.
She was following the balloon when she almost lost her balance. She had stepped on something hard and slightly elevated. When she looked down, she saw a trail of stepping stones. She bent down to look at it and she realized that something was written on it—these are the stepping stones to find your happiness. She laughed. Only one person could be this sweet and narcissistic at the same time.
She looked up and noticed that the balloon was far away already, she ran after it, slightly annoyed at herself for deciding to wear 6-inch shoes. With her running, it didn’t take long for her to reach the center of the labyrinth.
As she laid eyes on it, she gasped. There was a massive water fountain in the middle. Because of the moon’s illumination, the water looked like silver flowing out of the vases 4 beautiful statues were carrying. Behind it, blooming gloxinias cover the supposed plain green labyrinth walls. She wasn’t even sure gloxinias grow in here.
She walked around the fountain, enjoying the sound of the water flowing as if it was music. Behind the fountain, she saw a small square table, covered in pink cloth. There were two wooden chairs with intricate carvings on the opposite sides of the table. And what was on top of the table surprised her even more—Jolly spaghetti and Chicken Joy. She almost jumped because of excitement. She hadn’t eaten Jollibee products for long time already and she started to wonder how he was able to get these. It wasn’t like it was available here.
Just as she thought that he had enough surprise for her, she saw him appear from the shadows with a bow and arrow in his hand. He had a smirk on his face before he raised the bow and released the arrow. The arrow head pierced through the heart-shaped balloon, making Sandara scream out of surprise. ‘Was that really necessary?’ She thought as she stared at him.
“Isn’t this the time where you actually ran towards me and confess how you’re madly in love with me? After all, shouldn’t you fall in love with the first person you see when the hot God of Love shot your heart?” he said with conceit that somehow she couldn’t hate.
“Well, I don’t see a hot God of Love here. More like Narcissus who fell in love with himself,” She wittingly replied. “But then, someone didn’t have to borrow Cupid’s bow and arrow to make me fall in love with him.”
He smiled genuinely before he dropped the bow on his side. He walked towards her, embracing her as she was of arm’s reach.
“Happy birthday.” He whispered into her ear, making her giggle. His warm breath tickled her and she knew that he did it on purpose. And the rest of the night was too magical that even she couldn’t explain it.
Sandara opened her eyes and now she was back in her bedroom. She realized that she just had a flashback. She hoped that somehow, her flashback would give her some tips on what to do for his birthday. Too bad, it didn’t. In fact, it even made her feel worse. How the hell was she going to top that?
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It was his birthday. And he was supposed to be happy. He wasn’t—not even the least. She was supposed to be here—with him! But she never showed up.
He knew her schedule so well. He knew that she got nothing to do today. He made sure that she wasn’t doing anything today. She was supposed to spend the day with him!
The YG family had a small birthday celebration for him but he ditched it because he was annoyed. Annoyed by the fact that she wasn’t there... annoyed by the fact that she didn’t even bother calling him or even text him or even greet him via me2day. Yes, he was that desperate.
He stomped back to his room and walked directly to his bedroom and shut himself in there. He was about to jump on his bed when he noticed that something was odd in his room. His desk looked the same (but he noticed a bit of dust) and so was his bed. But his bathroom door was slightly ajar. It was weird; he knew that he closed it before he left. He knew something was up—he wasn’t exactly Mr. Oblivious, and so he opened his bathroom door.
On his mirror the words ‘Look outside, it all yours. Happy Birthday’ was written. There was an arrow on the wall that directed towards his window, telling him to look outside it—to the sky. He looked through his window and saw the moon that lightened up the night sky. It was rather a cloudy day and he couldn’t see anything else besides the moon. He wondered if something else was supposed to be in there.
Still confused, he looked at the sky again. The moon was still there. And that was it. Nothing else was there.
Disappointed, he erased the writings on his mirror with a wet piece of tissue. He was quite please that she knew him well enough to use window pen rather than lipstick or worst a permanent marker. After making sure that his mirror was clean, he reached for the arrow, which was clearly taped on his wall. He let out a sigh of relief when he took the arrow off the wall without taking off the paint with it.
And then a sound started him, making him drop the paper arrow on his feet. It was his phone and he just received a me2day update—from her. For a moment, he was mad that she updated her me2day with a picture of herself (narcissism was quite a trend nowadays) with a caption, ‘I’m Dal-ong. Cupid’s Psyche.’
He reread the caption before he got it.
‘Look outside, it’s all yours.’ It was the moon—Dal... short for Dara’s name.
It was as if she knew when to enter—just as he had the realization. She laughed before she said, “It took you long enough to realize it. Whatever happened to the great Kwon leader,” She paused for a while to stare at his feet... no, more like what was on his feet. “And thank God I posted that picture on time, what would I ever do if you hit yourself with that arrow and you saw another mortal? At least I’m the first one you saw and now you’re bound to me!” She said with delight. But he didn’t even care about all of this.
He pulled her into a hug before he called her stupid. “Babo! Why did you just show up now? I waited for you the whole day!” He said over her ears.
“You’re welcome? Wait— is it just me, or you didn’t say thank you like a normal person would,” She paused to push herself off him, but he tightened his grip around her waist. “Fine! I wasted all day long just to figure out some riddles to make your birthday a little special, my Cupid.”
Jiyong groaned. “You could have showed up in your pre-showered self the first thing this morning and brought me a cake or something! And I would have loved it! Heck, now that I think about it, I actually don’t need a cake—I’m sweet enough already. All I needed was you.”
Sandara laughed softly. “Did you just confess how much you needed me and complimented yourself at the same time,” She stopped for a moment before proceeding. “Your conceit never failed to amuse me, Mr. Kwon.”
“My Psyche, did you know that I’m never letting you go? Since you spent your day away from my sight, I’ll make sure you in my arms all night,” Jiyong said. “Wow, that even rhymes! Damn, I’m so good!”
“Will I ever see the day that you actually stop complimenting yourself,” Sandara asked, still locked in Jiyong’s arms. She tightened her grip around him just like he did. “And can we even call this as punishment? If it is, then punish me forever!”
Jiyong smirked before he whispered in her ear again, just like how he did on her last birthday. But this time, a different word got out of his mouth.
“Psyched.”
------------A/N: "Dal" means moon in Korean btw.
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