[CONTENTID2]If You Leave[/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID1]It was ten years ago when I first met her. Brown eyes, black hair, slim, and skin... milk white, it glowed in the dark. I remembered staring silently at her back side while she stood in the aisle five rows away from me. No one seemed to mind that she obstructed their view of the stage. As if she was an invisible entity only I could see. I liked her skin very much. Enchanted by it. Mesmerized. I could not escape it. I did not want to escape. I wanted to be like her. No, I wanted to be her. She attracted me like no other. So much, I began to question my own preferences. You see... I had always loved boys, all through high school and university...

Even when my friends called out my name in concern. Boa... Boa... Kwon Boa! What the hell is wrong with you, girl?

Even when my friends shook me hard, trying to snap me out of whatever spell I was under. ! Why are you so pale? You look like you've seen a mothering ghost!

Even when the concert was over and the aisle stood empty, I could not bear to turn my eyes away from the very spot blessed by her grace.

After that night, I found myself afflicted. I could not eat. I could not sleep. I could not work. All I could think of... was her. The mysterious woman with the glowing white skin. She devoured all my days and nights. Of course, I went looking for her... like some love crazed girl.

She had to be a celebrity... an idol... I was so sure of it. So sure as to camp out at every talent agency in the city, to go to every music gig, to go to every stage act.

When I was about to lose all faith, all hope, all sanity, she appeared in front of me... like a vivid dream.

It was at his concert that I saw her again. Her back side... as she was facing the stage, standing near the steps, watching his performance.

A miracle had given me strength. This time, I was able to tear my eyes away from her to glance at the stage. I could tell he saw her... how his eyes would always drift back to the steps... to her. He smiled. He laughed. He existed... for her. It did not surprise me. We were both under her spell. I was so sure of it... that we were both under her spell.

At the end of the concert, she waited for me at the exit... leaning against the doorway like a statue of a goddess. She waited for me... for me.

Her hand brushed my hair, every so slightly. My legs turned to jelly and I found they could no longer support the rest of my body.

There, there, sweetheart. No need to go weak at the knees.

She knew. She must have known... the effect she had on others.

What is your dream, baby?

To be like her. To be like her. To be her.

She smiled and I melted. She laughed and I stopped breathing.

Would you exchange your soul for that dream? Is it worth it?

I did not lose a moment to hesitation. Her persuasive eyes need not work their magic for I had already fallen in too deep. What was a soul to me?

As you can tell, I am now full of regret. Fame and fortune, I would return it all if I could...

But my story does not end there. I had tried to cheat her once. I had discovered her weakness and believed I had found a comrade in him. Like me, he had made a soul exchange. When she was not by my side, she was by his side. We shared her like we would share a lover.

Though... he seemed to know much more about her than I did.

When our time is up, we will be reduced to a single gem in her jewelry box. A hobby, of a sort. Like trophies. Like stamps. Like pinned up butterflies. She is a collector. A soul collector.

Jaejoong... are you really okay with being turned into a object... to be collected?

Of course not.

Don't you want to live a little longer?

Of course I do.

He had agreed to my plan. We would lure her, weaken her, and then... and then... I would destroy her.

But things did not go as planned. We had her... right where we wanted her. But... he froze. Seeing her in pain, he froze.

Jaejoong... what are you doing? Quick, before she—

And what do you think he did?

He reached out his hand to help her. He embraced her, weeping tears not for himself but for her, the devil that would seal his soul away in a dusty old box.

I believed him a fool. A complete fool.

Forgive me. Forgive me for being selfish. Forgive me for wishing to stay by your side a little longer. Forgive me, Xinling.

That was then. But now, I can see... I was the true fool. He did not wish to kill her. He had only wished to weaken her. He had only wished to buy himself more time... to be with her.

Just a while longer.[/CONTENTID1]