[A week later]

MyungSoo and I were both very awkward around each other after that day.

It was like walking on eggshells.

We’d try our best to avoid each other at home.

Mostly me staying in my room, him staying in his.

In school, I made SungJong sit in between us.

At lunch, we sat on opposite ends of the table.

DongWoo, Hoya and SungJong had noticed the change and awkward atmosphere, but they didn’t mention a thing.

But, I really miss MyungSoo.

We used to watch television together over dinner.

Bicker over nothing.

Go out for ice-cream runs and stuff ourselves full.

As I thought back about all this, a single teardrop rolled down my cheek.

I buried my face into my pillow and screamed.

Why do I have to be a guardian, why does he have to be human, why did we have to meet!

Suddenly, I felt someone rubbing the small of my back.

I quickly flipped over to find my brother sitting on my bed.

“Oppa!”

“Hey” he greeted me.

Seeing my brother, I just felt emotions completely overwhelm me.

I lunged forward into my brother’s embrace and cried my eyes out.

I told him about my feelings for MyungSoo, about the kiss, about me missing him so much, about the times we use to share together.

SungYeol sat there, all ears and listened to everything that I had to say.

His expression hardened over time.

“KyoWen ah, you know very well that we Guardians are not allowed to have feelings for our humans”

“Our job is to only look over them. We can’t get emotionally attached to them. You know the punishment” he reminded.

I nodded.

“A guardian that becomes emotionally attached to their human would be banished from their duties and status as a Guardian and might eventually meet death” I recited.

“I know it’s hard for you to ignore your feelings, but you have to. I don’t want to see anything bad happening to you, understand? Mum and dad would be furious if they found out”

SungYeol then enveloped me into a bear hug, and I felt safe in his embrace.

Like finally finding something familiar among all this confusion.

“You have to be strong, okay?” said SungYeol as he left, the way he came.

I flopped back down onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m a guardian, I can’t be emotionally attached to my human” I recited to myself over and over again.

Eventually, I fell into deep slumber.

-
[Next day]

My alarm started ringing and I forced my eyes open.

Sunlight was streaming in through the window.

Groaning, I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom.

I quickly bathed and got dressed before dashing out of my room.

If I wanted to avoid bumping into MyungSoo, I have to be fast.

Picking up my bag from beside the sofa where I left it yesterday, I zoomed into the kitchen, grabbed a slice of bread and fled out the door.

But, as I locked the door, I felt someone’s stare on my back.

I quickly turned around and was greeted by MyungSoo.

He was leaning against the wall, waiting for the elevator.

Aish… why is he so early today.

Calmly, I walked over to the elevator.

“Morning” I greeted, staring at the bridge of his nose instead of his eyes.

I knew if I stared into his eyes, there was no way I’ll be able to deny my feelings anymore.

He didn’t bother to reply my greeting, instead he walked straight into the elevator as the door opened.

Awesome KyoWen, now he’s ignoring you!

I felt like I was on a death row penalty being stuck in that small elevator with MyungSoo.

I could feel the intensity of his stare on me, yet I couldn’t do a thing.

I shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to another.

Willing the elevator to move faster, I prayed silently.

“Do you hate me that much?”

I looked up, thinking that it was just me imagining things, but he really did speak.

“No, I don’t hate you” I managed.

“Then why have you been avoiding me?”

He had this seriously hurt expression on his face.

“I just… I don’t know how to face you” I confessed.

He took one long step forward and stood barely inches away from me.

“What do you mean?”

“I…I…”

I didn’t know what to say.

I averted my gaze down to his sneakers.

How am I suppose to tell him that I love him but I can’t because I’m a guardian.

MyungSoo then gently tilted my head back up to face him.

“Tell me..” he pleaded.

“I..can’t” I blurted, immediately regretting it.

“Why not?”

“I just can’t. I’m sorry…”

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, sadness in his voice.

“No, it’s not you. It’s just.. us…”

He tilted his head a little to the right, staring at me with confusion in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I mean I like you, but we just can’t” I tried to explain.

“We’re just too different” I concluded.

It’s not a lie, we are different.

I saw him wince, and that made me feel bad.

But, this was the best for the both of us.

The elevator finally reached the ground floor and I was about to exit when MyungSoo grabbed on my arm and held me back.

He pushed the button and the elevator doors closed again.

He then pressed the button that would bring us up to the top floor.

“What are you doing?” I exclaimed in shock.

He didn’t say a word, he just held on to my arm.

I sighed.

As we reached the top floor, MyungSoo lightly tugged at my arm to follow him out.

Giving in, I allowed him to lead me.

He brought me to a small shack situated at a secluded spot.

“What?” I stared at him, stupid.

“Open it” he urged me.

I cautiously turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Inside, hundred of pairs of eyes were staring back at me.

My eyes, to be exact.

“Wha… what’s this?” I asked, dumbstruck.

I turned to look at MyungSoo, and he just stared back at me.

He led me into the small shack and sat me down on a stool.

“It may be unbelievable, but I fell for you the moment you called me a stupid blockhead”

“I feel comfortable around you, like I could be myself. I didn’t have to put up a wall to protect myself from getting hurt”

He fidgeted with the sleeve of his blazer uncomfortably.

“And, I didn’t know how to tell you, it’s been so long since I felt this way. So, I followed you around a bit”

I’m a failed guardian!

How could I not know when someone was following me around.

And to add, it was my human that was following me around!

“MyungSoo ah…”

He lifted his gaze to me, and my heart started beating rapidly.

“I know I shouldn’t have kissed you the other day, but I couldn’t control myself. And when you started avoiding me, I regretted it even more….”

“I’ve missed you” he confessed.

With those three words, I felt my whole defense system fall away.

I could no longer deny my feelings.

The strong feelings I have for him.

I stood up and threw my arms around him.

He stumbled backwards in shock before wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m sorry” I mumbled over and over again.

“It’s okay” he cooed into my ears.

“What matters is that you’re here in my arms now” he continued.

It felt so right to be in his arms that I forgot all about being a guardian, all about the laws of being a guardian.

-

We spent the next few months together.

We went everywhere together.

SungJong, DongWoo and Hoya were really happy when they found out that we had gotten together.

DongWoo was like “Finally! You guys should have just gotten together from the start!”

Hoya and SungJong couldn’t agree more.

MyungSoo then completely opened up to reality once again.

He went to society meetings, made friends and lived like how every other human should.

But one day, after school I found SungYeol standing at the entrance waiting for me.

“I’ll be right back” I told MyungSoo before running up to my brother.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked.

He looked angry, and without a word he dragged me off.

I could hear MyungSoo screaming out to me, and I just flashed him a reassuring smile.

-

Apparently, my parents had found out about my relationship with MyungSoo and they weren’t very happy about it.

They had asked SungYeol to drag me back home where they locked me up, not allowing me to leave the house.

I begged and pleaded to my parents to let me out, but they wouldn’t listen.

My cellphone didn’t work in our realm, so there was absolutely no way I could contact MyungSoo.

I spent the days crying.

I had tried all kind of ways to get out, but they all failed.

Until one day, when my cousin, Kim SungGyu dropped by.

He had heard about what had happened to me and being my favorite cousin, he obviously understood how I felt as he too has fallen for a human before.

The only difference was that, he managed to control his feelings while I failed miserably at that.

SungGyu had asked if he could sleep over for the night, and my parents agreed.

Thinking that he would be able to talk some senses into me.

But little did they know, that he was here to do the exact opposite of that.

He had let me out in the middle of the night when my parents were fast asleep and SungYeol was with his human.

SungGyu brought me safely out of my house and back into the human realm.

“Now, do what you have to do” he told me.

“Don’t waste my sacrifice, okay?”

I hugged him tight before sprinting down the road towards MyungSoo’s apartment.

Running up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, I finally reached his front door.

Taking a few deep breaths, I pressed on the doorbell.

I waited a few minutes, but nobody came to the door.

I rang the bell again, and again and again until the door was finally opened.

MyungSoo looked dead and unkempt.

The apartment was in a mess as I could see from the front door.

“KyoWen!” he exclaimed.

I threw my arms around him and held him tight.

I’ve missed him.

“Where have you been?” he asked, half worried, half angry.

“I had something urgent to attend to” I lied.

“You could have at least called! I was worried sick!” he nagged.

“Sorry”

He then quickly ushered me into the apartment.

“Yah! The place looks like a pig sty!” I scolded.

“That’s what you get for leaving me alone without a word” he retorted, with a grin on his face.

I frowned.

“I’m not cleaning it”

He pouted.

“No, it’s your mess”

“And, hit the showers, right now. You stink” I joked, pushing him into the bathroom.

As he was in the bathroom, I quickly cleaned up the place.

I decided to clean it the human way.

I’m going to turn my back on the guardian world forever.

After showering, MyungSoo came back out and we spent the night watching television and talking until we were so sleepy, we both dozed off on the sofa.