“How did you and your ex-girlfriend meet?”

Jiyong stiffened for a moment as he stopped playing with Loki, a sting hitting his heart. He took a deep breath, slightly smiling as he didn’t have tears in his eyes or the feeling of death from heartbreak. He looked up at Ara, wincing slightly as the pain in his heart throbbed. Jiyong sighed, “We met through mutual friends. At first…she was just like a little sister, you know? She was close friends with almost everyone I knew, so I didn’t dare make a move. I have a friend who used to like her as well,”

With a shaky breath, Jiyong looked up at the sky beginning to cloud, wondering if Ara was controlling it, or if it was natural. He shook his head, reminding himself the past was the past, “As soon as they found out she had a crush on me, everyone told me to never dare make a move. I wasn’t going to – I really wasn’t. But one day, Kiko came to me, crying. She told me her heart was breaking because I was avoiding her…she told me she wished to turn back time so we didn’t meet, and she wouldn’t feel the way she did,”

His head hung, gulping slightly as his stomach churned. Jiyong looked at Ara, not even trying to mask his shaking eyes, “That’s when I took her into my arms, and told her I’d convince our friends to accept us. It was the first time I actually felt something for her. Maybe it was because I felt bad…because I pitied her…or because I hated to see a woman cry. We spent the night together, and the rest is history.”

Ara nodded, seemingly unfazed by his heart-touching story. It took a minute for Jiyong to swallow down the pain, taking deep breaths of the fresh forest air. When he recovered, Jiyong smiled, “How about you, princess? Why are you…a legend?” Ara turned to him, scrunching her nose in thought. He smiled, turning away to try and mask the grin on his face. Sometimes, Ara was like a child rather than a goddess who had lived for long years. Ara leaned back, closing her eyes as she tapped her fingers.

“In the place I lived, I sinned.”

Jiyong raised a brow at Ara, then furrowed his brows. He lay down beside her, turning to rest on his side as he stared at her profile. My, she was really a beauty. He shook his head, “That can’t be possible.” Ara turned to face him, her eyes serious and piercing, “I am a disgrace, and so my mother sent me down here. Sometimes I wish I could go back though, mortal. I wish I could go home.” They stayed silent for a while as all Jiyong could do was lay down beside her, comforting her with his presence.

He could not really relate, because the longest he was away from home was a month or two. Jiyong had a kind housekeeper who made him home-cooked meals from time to time. He had s, his friends, his fans, and his company to support him, and his family who he saw occasionally. He had people around him all the time – how could he ever feel how she felt?                                                                                                                                         

“What…what did you do that was so bad?”

Ara smirked and turned her head to him, the gem on her necklace shining a bright yellow.