[IMPORTANT A/N]

Eun Ah bit her lip, her heart beating a mile a second as she pulled on a simple maroon dress. She felt giddy, like she was a teenager going on a first date when she threw her jacket on. She didn't even care that it was chilly out, she was sure that the adrenaline in her system would warm her up in her dress.

She was going on a date with Yongguk.

He came into her room that afternoon and told her to get dressed with that mysterious smile that had butterflies torpedoing in her stomach . She didn't need to be told twice before she raced through her shower.

Eun Ah couldn't remember the last time she was this excited to go out.

Watson was thrown at Himchan for the evening who begrudgingly agreed when she told him that Yongguk was taking her out.

The last 6 months, she had been imagining going on another date with him. Just to be able to spend one last day with him.

And now she could.

She had to bite down on her lips to make sure a blinding smile didn't burst out her face.  Not wanting to waste another second, Eun Ah grabbed her bag and raced down the stairs to see Yongguk standing by the door.

When he heard her speeding footsteps he looked up and felt blood rush to his head.

, she was so damn beautiful.

How did he ever manage to leave her for so long?

"Hi." She said breathlessly as she jumped in front of him.

Yongguk gulped before pulling a strand of hair out of her face, "You look beautiful."

Eun Ah bit down on her lip and looked at her feet, her heart racing. "Thank you." She said bashfully.

There was something so pure and so real about the fact that even after being together for 3 years and seeing each other in the most intimate light, they still managed to be shy around each other.  

Yongguk smiled at her sudden shyness. "Let's go."

He reached his hand out before he saw her gulp nervously at his gesture. She was still not used to be so intimate with him. She was hoping that today was going to help her re-assimilate to him. He slowly retracted his hand and tried not to let his heart twist before smiling brightly.

"Come on, Hwang. We don't want to be late."

-----

Kris smiled at Alice's sleeping figure when his phone started to buzz. He moved off the bed and walked away from the bed.

"Hello?"

"It's been a while, Yifan."

Kris's eye twitched and he immediately slipped out the sliding door, to the balcony. "If you're having so much fun taunting me, then why don't you man up and come as me in person, Ryu."

Ryu chuckled on the other line, "I'm not going to waste my time on you, Yifan. I have more challenging people to take out. People who actually are a threat to me. Going after you would be like a sniper going after a kid with a bibi gun."

"So what the do you want from me?" He spat out through his gritted teeth.

“Why do you always avoid the topic of Yongguk?" Ryu asked leisurely as if he was checking up on a lifelong friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kris replied arrogantly.

Ryu chuckled, "You try your best, but you can never defeat the born genius. You’re Salieri to his Mozart. You wish he wasn’t around. You want to kill him, right?”

"He's my ally. How could I hate him? How could I want to kill him?" Kris's body started to tremble.

"If you really hate someone, you don’t make it obvious. It’s only when you dislike them that you pick fights and swear at them; that’s when people know. If you really hate someone, it’s done in secret. It's a well known fact. That's why you went after his girl, right? Whether you did it sub-consciously or not, you wanted to take her away from him, even when you thought he was dead. ”

"Shut the up." Kris said darkly.

"Not very eloquent, are you? But let's be honest, Kris. You're no fun. You're too attached to death which makes you an opponent that I'm not going to be bothered enough to face."

"Attached to death? Provoking me seems like you're the attached one…not me. You're asking for a death wish." Kris spat out.

Ryu chuckled at his threat and spoke happily. "Over anything, you want to be a hero. You want to be the one that's praised even if that means that you have to die doing it. I have more fun with people like Yongguk. People who actually want to live and are willing to kill their opponents instead of themselves."

"What makes you think that I don't have a reason to stay alive, now?" Kris fired back.

Ryu's voice lifted, "Ahhh, you're right. You're rejuvenated now, aren't you? You finally got your second chance."

Kris frowned in confusion but Ryu continued talking, "I've had people cowering in front of me, begging me to release them. Begging and pleading me by to give them another chance. I've had people crying while they apologized. But you know what I always thought was the most interesting? When people got mad when I pointed a gun to their helpless head. They would always call me a monster. That got me thinking…Yifan, do you think monsters are born, or made?"

"I don't have time for your ing riddles. You don't want to come after me, so then why are you calling me in the first place?"

Ryu hummed joyously. "I always thought that it depended on the person. Heroes for example, are born monsters. Every single one of them. I think they're born that way, but it's hidden, repressed. But once it's awakened, it will be far stronger and blood thirsty than anything in the world. The rest are either born as monsters or as regular civilians."

"You're contradicting yourself." Kris pointed out, angrily.

"Oh? How so?"

"You said that I wasn't a worthy opponent because I wanted to be  hero, but you claim that heroes are the most dangerous."

Ryu chuckled, only angering Kris more, "But you said so yourself. Your attachment to death has subsided. You found something to start re-living for. You don't want to be a hero because you want to live."

"Yes." Kris said breathlessly, but he knit his eyebrows as if he wasn't sure of himself.

"Speaking of which, did you like the little gift I gave you?"

"What gift?