#sensuouscollab

“What’s your name?” you ask of him, eyes trained on his relaxed form sitting on the edge of the clean, white hospital bed.

“I don’t know,” he tells you in a quiet, soothing voice. There’s awe between the vowels and a hint of the disappointment after a fruitless pursuit. He furrows his brows, pouty lips turning down like he doesn’t even know what he’s searching for. A name? What an intriguing phenomena.

You hum lightly and then jot down something in your notebook. He stares at the way you move your hand, his gaze follows the quick twists and turns of your wrist.

“How old are you?” you ask again, voice even and eyes gentle. You glance at the name tag by the bed, Kim Inseong, and it reminds you of the night when he was brought in, bruised, badly injured, barely breathing and the rank Mission Specialist on his uniform clearly visible.

“Time, therefore age too, is a manmade concept,” he replies in the same fashion, calm and unbothered. His eyes are now fixed on something afar just above your shoulder and you’re ready to ask the next question on the list when out of the blue you catch his stare directly on you. He looks just as curious as you are. “How old is the universe?”

The question throws you off a bit and you can’t provide more than a diplomatic answer.

“We don’t know for sure.”

Your patient nods slightly, licks his chapped lips and looks away again.

“Then I don’t know for sure either.”

Amnesia, you write down and tell him that it’s okay.

You ask him bits of questions everyday hoping that his memories would resurface from under the fog of haziness but in the end you tell him because he has every right to know about NASA, the mission, the accident…

“You almost didn’t make it back.” The others didn’t.

Maybe it’s for the better to not remember.

It has been two weeks since the sole survivor of the Venus Team woke up from coma and yet, he didn’t have any other visitor than higher-ups from his workplace. At first, you think it’s because the spaceship crashed into land halfway across the Earth where it was supposed to but even later nobody came, nobody called searching for him.

“Do you remember anyone we should call? Relatives? Friends? A girlfriend?”

“I miss the moon,” he replies and your heart aches for him, so you ask around. It turns out he’s a single child, his parents have passed away when he was young and even his emergency contact is his boss.

Only sensation-hungry reporters come all the way to the hospital asking for an exclusive interview about the failure of NASA's Venus Program. Inseong kindly declines them all. The world demands an explanation, grieving families need somebody to blame but there’s nothing more to tell: accidents happen, both humans and stars keep on falling and dying.

According to Inseong’s file in the medical database, he was born in South Korea, then moved abroad for his NASA training. You are talking with him in English even though you saw him reading a local newspaper like it’s nothing and you overheard him talking with another patient in French. He fascinates you with all his being, there’s just something ethereal about him. He seems out of place like he doesn’t entirely belong here at all and yet, he’s flesh and bones, human just like you. There’s nothing to prove otherwise. You can’t quite place it but there’s just something about him that draws you in.

He’s strangely calm for someone who has been through as much as him. He still has bruises because of the huge impact of the landing but he appears to be physically fine at first glance. You can only see the purple spots on his ribs when you accidentally catch a glimpse of him changing from one hospital wear to another. He doesn’t seem bashful about it at all but you guess it must be because he lived in a relatively small place with four other people for a long time. Or there’s that scar on his cheek barely noticeable but it didn’t heal perfectly, so it will always be a reminder of what had happened to him. But other than that, the doctors can be relieved.

However, the psychologist who was assigned to him gets worried. He says it’s not normal to be so accepting of one’s fate. That people always rebel, always question why this happened to them or suffer from the survivors’ guilt but Inseong is okay. And it should be great news but it’s still weird and Doctor Lee is concerned that the astronaut keeps it all pent up, keeps it all to himself, just like his buried memories of his past lives. What if someday something will trigger this barrier in his mind and everything will come back with full force bringing him to a mental breakdown? It breaks your heart a little.

“Aren’t you curious how you were… you know before?” you ask tentatively while sharing a dessert from your favourite place over his hospital bed. You know you shouldn’t stay but you could use a five minutes break and who are you  to say no when he pleads so nicely to help him with the cake. You know hospital food isn’t the greatest, so from time to time you bring him something from outside. He devours each one like he has never eaten anything like that before.

“That wasn’t me,” Inseong shakes his head dismissingly and he’s partly right. He is him but he’s also not, because how could he be the Kim Inseong everybody talks about if he doesn’t remember any of it? It renders you speechless, not knowing what to say but then, the young man lift his gaze to your face and there’s curiosity dripping from his gentle voice. “But you can tell me about it. You can tell me about Kim Inseong who wished to see the stars up-close and die like one.”

Your throat closes up at the implication of a part of him dying out there but maybe he’s right. It’s a miracle, everyone keeps saying, that he survived.

“I didn’t know you… him before,” you correct yourself respecting his decision of being considered his own being and clearing your throat, you sit down on the edge of his bed. “But I can tell you what I know.”

It clinks as he puts down his fork on the plate and focuses all his attention on you.

“He was born in Korea and he loved the sea. He has always been interested in astrology and after he saw the movie Apollo-13, he decided he wanted to go up into space. The NASA representative told me he even wrote it into his CV.” A small smile tugs on your lips as you remember the tall, stern man telling you this while you were waiting to see whether Inseong will be able to make it after his first surgery. He needed two more but he made it and later, he woke up from coma, too. He’s a fighter. “He was fresh out of high school when he moved to the United States to learn engineering specified in spacecrafts. He was one of the bests in his NASA training, so he was chosen to join the Venus Mission as a flight engineer. He was twenty-one, the youngest of the crew when they left three years ago.”

You have never been really interested in the NASA’s work but it was a worldwide phenomenon to send men to Venus. Everybody knew about it, everybody watched the launching of the rocket.

“What happened then?”

“It was a test to see if life is possible on Venus. It was supposed to be a year long mission plus the journey there and back and according to the NASA, it went fine. However, when they were supposed to come back, something went wrong. Rumours are about miscalculated supplies, others say asteroids, but what matters is that they couldn’t leave, so a rescue team was formed and everything seemed fine once they reunited. Then about half a year ago, we lost all communication with the team. There are some speculations that there was a supernova relatively close by and the waves of it caused the turbulence that damaged the spacecraft and sent it flying, at least towards Earth luckily. The others, they either died during that collision or the crash when you arrived.”

Even NASA couldn’t believe it when they saw the approaching nose-diving spaceship in the atmosphere of Earth. They evacuated the area of the landing place just in time and tried to make sure of the safe landing by alerting the closeby authorities like your hospital of the event. But nothing could prepare anyone seeing the burning metal monster rip through your sky.

“They died because of me,” Inseong whispers astonished just like a researcher when he finds the evidence of a hypothesis he has been looking all his career. It’s terrifying to see him jump into such conclusions based on his memories’ broken fragments.

“No, they didn’t,” you rush to protest but he doesn’t believe you. You can see it in his dark eyes, the pitchless holes leading to another sad galaxy. There’s grief and regret there beside his usual calmness. Yet, he turns towards you with a forgiving smile.

“You don’t know that.”

He’s right. You really don’t, you weren’t out there, you can’t be sure what happened. Nobody can. Still, from what you’ve learnt about Inseong, you know he wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt others.

“It wasn’t your fault,” you say and that you can be sure of. How could something so huge like this be anyone’s fault?

Inseong doesn’t say anything.

It’s been weeks and it’s certainly not the first time that when you walk past his room at night, on your way out of the hospital, you see Inseong standing by his window, staring out to the sky. You knock on the wood of the doorframe lightly to avoid startling him with your presence.

“Why are you still awake?”

The patient turns toward you slowly.

“I cannot sleep. Not at night,” he says in a quiet voice and you know he keeps his curtains shut even during daytime but his eyes are not accustomed to artificial lights either. He’s too used to dark with only the stars glimmering.

Insomnia. You’ve added it to his files.

“What are you still doing here, Miss?” he asks softly, curious even with a crooked brow.

“Extra hours,” you shrug because it’s nothing new, the bags under your eyes are only hidden by a good brand of a concealer. Normally, you’d flash him a smile and continue your walk down the hallway to get home, shower and sleep as soon as possible but there’s something keeping you there. Maybe it’s the slump in his shoulders or the look on his face that makes you ask: “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” he nods curtly and smiles a bit before looking back at the stars. It’s obvious he’s drawn to them like a moth to flames.

“Do you miss it?” you inquire because you cannot even fathom how could it feel to be back to Earth, to get used to its gravity again, to see and feel things he doesn’t even remember. All he can remember is the spaceship and the universe and he has absolutely no recollection of his life before here on Earth. It might be the trauma or the fact that the Venus Mission went on for three years. A lot of time for a failed project.

So all he knows is what it's like out there. You can only compare it to the homesickness engraved deep into your bones when you moved out from your parents’ place for university years ago. It’s not an easy process. And Inseong, sometimes you catch yourself thinking that maybe he really belongs out there.

“Every day,” he sighs and the moon reflects his sadness in a magical glory.

“How is it out there?” you inquire, not able to hold back your curiosity. How can a man be so enamoured by whatever it is like out there to disassociate the here and the present so often?

“Cold. Lonely,” he tells you simply and honest as always. You don't correct him about his team members who were there with him. By now you know it's not what he means. “But beautiful.”

It must have been truly gorgeous if he’s still yearning to go back.

“Do you maybe want to get out of here?” you ask already giddy and ready to go. You know you shouldn’t. It’s breaking the protocol but Inseong has been stable for quite some time and he hasn’t been out of the hospital. Perhaps, he should. But Inseong looks at you with an unreadable expression like he doesn’t know what to make of your suggestion. Then slowly, so slowly you’re ready to take it all back, he nods.

“Let’s go,” he stands up in his wrinkled hospital clothes.

“Uhm, I will get you some change of clothes,” you offer a bit baffled because you didn’t expect him to actually agree right away.

You take a pile of warm, casual clothes from the dressing room for nurses and go back to Inseong’s room to give them to him. He doesn’t question the lack of colours, white all over. He decides on sweatpants and a t-shirt with the hospital’s logo.

It’s a short ride, a quiet one. Inseong mostly stares out of the window, watching the scenery ride by beside us. It’s not uncomfortable or awkward though, just nice. When you arrive, the receptionist welcomes you and ‘your friend’ zealously but not as much as Inseong is based on the brightness of his eyes when he realizes where you brought him. The observatory just outside of the town is one of your favourite places to go if you need a peace of mind. So you lead him to your usual place in the projection room where the whole ceiling is covered by the endless beauty of the universe.

“Do you like it?” you turn to him who was trapped in a body of a boy who had to grow up too fast.

“It’s– it’s like home. Thank you,” he mumbles, marvelling at the close to realistic sky above. Words can’t express the look of gratitude in his eyes and it truly makes you the happiest person on Earth, to be able to make him smile. It’s the greatest wonder to have a positive impact on others’ lives.

You sit down there on wooden chairs just staring up enjoying the light breeze and the faint, calm music from the speakers. It’s the first time you’re sharing this experience with somebody, so it feels strangely intimate even though you don’t do anything more than sitting next to each other. At least for a while.

“Humans call that the Apus, the Bird of Paradise,” Inseong says out of the sudden, pointing to a bright constellation on the west. Humans, he says and you wonder what does he feel like then. An eternal soul stuck in a mortal body?

“How do you know so much?” you blurt out suddenly amazed by his knowledge he never shows off but is always there. It seems impossibly how well educated and all-knowing he is despite barely remembering anything including his own name.

“I learned it all. With time, I believe.” he answers carefully, not sure if he should but he does it anyway while watching your reaction closely.

“That takes a lot of time,” you hum searching for the stars reflecting in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he nods and you think maybe his soul has lived more than you can imagine. If that kind of thing is possible. You start to think a lot more is possible than you’d previously believed.

Inseong doesn’t act like he has any plans to leave the hospital. He seems quite at ease in his room. The hospital, however, might have been understanding until one point because of the consideration towards an international tragedy but they need the space and they kindly ask the man to leave. You witness it all, how he lets out the small oh sound when the realization flashes in his eyes. He nods politely and says he’ll be out by tomorrow.

You’re worried how he will integrate back into society but you try not to show it to him while you help him pack. He barely has anything with him. His boss sent him a pack of personal belongings from the States like ID card, passport, keys and clothes and NASA also arranged a flight for him back to the American continent. He hasn’t said anything but you could tell that Inseong was hesitant about it first, going back, and once he mentioned that he might go to Korea instead to find his roots and to figure out some stuff. It seems, however, that by now he has made up his mind and decided beside NASA to be closer to the stars in both metaphorical and literal sense.

You offer to take him to the airport because that’s your free day anyway and Inseong is sensible enough not to turn down your attempt to stay by him as long as possible. You have only known each other for a bit over a month and yet, you don’t feel ready to let go. Despite that you’d never stop him from doing something his heart desires. You wish him nothing but happiness.

“So that’s it, I guess,” you shrug with a forced smile when you reach the gates to the terminal, the very last point until you could walk with him.

“You, people, tend to stress too much over distances. It’s not like we won’t see each other anymore,” Inseong smiles down at you, the way he always does, moderate and soft but you can see sorry and slight panic in his eyes as he looks around in the crowd. “I’ll be only a flight away.”

A ten-hour-flight, yeah, but you have to admit that after his three-month-journey to and back from Venus, that’s probably nothing. Still, you can’t help but worry.

“Just take care, okay?”

Inseong’s fingers grazes against your cheek as he carefully brushes a lock of your dishevelled hair behind your ear.

“Don’t worry about me,” he says, voice so so soft like the best pillows you’ve ever had. It doesn’t put your heart at ease though. “I’m okay… it’s just that sometimes I realize how small I am. From there I could see everything and now it’s like something is ripped away from me.”

It reminds you of the night you asked him how it was out there. Maybe nothing could compare to that. Maybe you’ll never understand but still, you would like to be there for him. Not as a nurse but as a friend or whatever he needs.

“If you ever feel alone, call me,” you give him your professional card but you previously scribbled down your personal phone number on it.

“Thank you. For everything,” he takes it and you swear you see stars in his eyes even in the daylight.

Then it’s a bit awkward, the boarding announcement is made but while people are flooding around you, the two of you still stand there engraving each other’s features in your minds. Inseong has always been physically there but distant, never touch-starved even though he has spent so much time alone in his own opinion. You, on the other hand, crave to just touch him, to believe he’s real and there.

“Can I… hug you?” Uncertainty seeps into your voice as you fumble with your own clothes not sure what to do.

Inseong looks at you for the longest time but his eyes sparkle when he nods, stepping closer. You’re pretty sure he hasn’t been hugged since he’s come back on Earth. All the human touch he got was for medical check-ups, so you’re extra careful with your touches to not be too evasive. You nuzzle close to his chest, clasp your arms around his waist as you breath in the scent of his coconut shower gel.

When the last warning call resonates through the speakers, he steps backwards and you fold your arms in front of you. He doesn’t remind you that you both see the same stars at night, you don’t mention you’ll think of him everytime you catch a glimpse of the Apus constellation. You just don’t speak, that fond look you share says it all.

And then he’s gone. Just like that. He came unexpected like lighting and now he has left nothing but a burning spot behind. (In your heart.)

Time passes weirdly when you miss someone.

It slows done in the most mundane ways, when you’re shopping, walking home from the hospital after a night shift or when you’re waiting for his call. But it rushes by so fast when you finally hear his voice, when you read his letters because that’s what he writes, the old-fashioned letters instead of texts and you find it endearing. You like to go back to the observatory and read his letters there, under the fake stars, imagining his voice as he tells you about everything.

NASA made me go through mental and physical check-up. They looked at me sadly. I guess I’ve already known then what it meant. They won’t take me back as an astronaut because they think I have post traumatic stress and don’t want to risk a breakdown. They said they could get me an office job but… that’s not my field. I need to think on what direction my life should go from now. What am I good for if I can’t go back there?

I wish I was th I hope you’re happy. You deserve it. Don’t forget that the stars are looking out for all of us.

P.S. They are pretty from here, too.

That’s his last letter about two weeks ago. You haven’t heard from  him since then except one rushed phone call. After he quitted his job, he’s busy with moving out of the place NASA provided him. He seemed excited about it, to start anew while you still feel static, frozen in one place. It feels like how you imagined lost-distance relationships would be except it’s not a relationship and friends shouldn't feel the way you do and you know that. You would never burden him with your feelings until you’re sure he’s ready. Especially since he hasn’t made many other friends or acquaintances at all since he came back. It might not be the best conversation starter to drop the bomb of him being amnestic and being the sole survivor of a failed NASA project. You just hope he’ll find someone who understands him.

“Hey, you’re coming here more often than ever before,” the receptionist of the observatory greets you with a wide smile, pointing out the obvious. You’re lucky that the stargazing hall is for free or else, you’d be broken because of all the times you’ve spent here during the last months.

“Oh well, I guess I fell in love with the stars,” you shrug, hiding a shy smile, clenching Inseong’s brand new letter close to your chest.

“Well, then lucky for you, boss just hired someone who seems to know everything about the universe. I’m certain he’d be delighted to tell you all about it,” the guy winks at you and you let out a low chuckle.

“That sounds nice but I’ll be fine on my own for now, thank you,” you excuse yourself because you need time and space to read the letter in peace. You walk to your usual place, the seats you took back then together with Inseong. You take a deep breath, soaking in the soothing effect of the place before folding out the paper in your hand. On contrary to any of his earlier letters, this one is rather short. Only one sentence written in neat handwriting in the middle of it and you might be hallucinating but if you close your eyes, you almost here him reciting it from right beside you:

“Did you know that stars always find their way home?”

You hum, wondering what it could mean while slowly blinking your eyes open. Then maybe it’s just a sixth sense or a special feeling tugging at your heart but you look on your right and you can’t believe your eyes.

“Inseong,” you literally squeal standing up abruptly and look around to make sure there are no other surprises on the way. It seems like just another miracle on the row. “You knew I would come here?”

“The receptionist might have said something,” he shrugs and even the wrinkles around his eyes are smiling. There’s so much warmth in him, in the pastel sweater he wears, the silver bracelet with a crescent moon on it and his crooked smile you love so much. It seems too good to be true. You might be dreaming and it gets even more surreal when Inseong is closing the space between you.

“I missed you,” he whisper-tells and your breath is caught in your throat. Both of you are covered by the reflection of the galaxy’s canvas about you and you literally feel like floating. There’s only Inseong’s soft hand touching your cheek keeping your grounded. “You’re the best part of being on Earth.”

You feel like you might cry, even your voice sounds wet with unshed tears.

“You… you came back? For good?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to be,” he answers but you can tell that’s not everything. But you’re too happy to ask him to go into details. After months of missing him, seeing him in flesh is too good already. You lean into his touch easily, fingers curling into the front of his shirt. “Did you know that stars are basically balls of burning gas held together by their own gravity?”

You shake your head no. You never thought much about stars before him. Before you saw them shining right in his dark orbs.

“You’re my gravity,” he says so simply as if he just stated a fact but it’s the most beautiful thing anybody has ever told you.

Without thinking, you stand on your tiptoes and kiss him. Gentle and chaste but with all the love you have. You can feel him smile into the touch of your lips and pulls you into his arms, keeping you there like you were something precious just like the night sky embraces Mother Earth. It feels like a galaxy spilling inside of you and filling you up with everything fond and soft and good.

How is it when a star falls in love?

Once upon a time, there was a narcissist young prince who brought nothing but demolition to the kingdom.

Prince Zuho was supposed to be the next king of Fantasia, taking the throne after his father who died so suddenly that it took everyone by surprise. However, to be a king, one must have a queen. The royal family wasn’t on the best terms with any particular kingdom, so they knew they didn’t stand a chance; there was no way any king from the other kingdoms would offer their daughter’s hand to him. In order to benefit from the abrupt and slightly infuriating situation, the royal family did what they did best; throwing balls. Their only chance was to find the right one for prince Zuho while a ball would take place in the palace, all princesses and their families from the 12 kingdoms invited.

The night took a dramatic turn when the infamous witch of the kingdom ‒ the dreaded Seolhyun ‒ turned up, offering her only daughter’s hand to the soon-to-be-king. The prince himself merely laughed off her offer, dismissing the witch and threatening to imprison her for violating the event because she was there despite not being invited. The witch, enraged by the immense rudeness of the young prince, cursed him and the whole kingdom, casting a spell on Fantasia, so that no one would be able to come in and out of the kingdom as it would be shielded by an unbreakable glass dome. Prince Zuho laughed at her antics, assuming that she was being delusional, and called his guards to put both Seolhyun and her daughter into one of the cells in the dark and muddy basement of the palace.

“Misfortunate will come for you when you least expect it, and nothing can break the curse, only a truly selfless heart instead of your stone-cold one.”

These were the last words of the witch before she was dragged away along her daughter, the remains of her evil laughter resonating against the walls. Prince Zuho shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant feeling that was engulfing his restless heart and tried to act like nothing had happened. He made sure to reassure the frightened guests that nothing would happen neither to the kingdom, nor to them because the witch was merely exaggerating.

After that, the ball went on as if was supposed to, yet the prince was indignant. After the ball was over and he retreated to his bed, insomnia knocked on his door and stayed with him through the whole night. He had enough time to make his decision, and he made sure not to let anyone know about it.

The next day, when the cowardly prince was about to leave Fantasia and leave everything from his stupid royal family to the trivial people of the kingdom, he literally bumped into the massive walls of the dome the witch was talking about. Not to mention that he actually found himself turning into shimmering, scarlet scales with a fringe of gold spikes around a snub-snouted face and protruding eyes. His smooth human skin was replaced by greasiness and he even radiated a special kind of odour.

Baek Zuho had to realize that he turned into a real dragon. To be precise, he was cursed to become a dragon.

Misfortunate will come for you when you least expect it.

The damage was done. Not only was the kingdom trapped inside a dome, but the coward prince was also trapped with the consequences of his selfish actions. He put his own life on the line as the witch’s words left little to no to the imagination. If his stone heart doesn’t change, he wouldn’t see another day as a human being and Fantasia would forever be doomed.

As a coward he was, he rather hid inside an abandoned cave than in the palace because he would scare everyone off around him anyway. Considering that he couldn’t speak, nor could he use any kind of body language that was convenient for both him and humans, there was no chance he could make himself understood. Though he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be understood in the first place.

 Of course, as it usually happens, everything changed one day.

It was maybe a week or so after he turned into this giant monster and hid inside the cave to avoid any interaction with humans. Luckily, no other animal and no human being had dared to step foot inside his territory (he liked to call it his territory now), so he was alone, spending most of his time sleeping or searching for food outside of the cave. After all, he was a living creature. Even though he would have rather died of shame than to live as a dragon for the rest of his life (let’s be honest, no one has succeeded to teach him how to be humbler), he couldn’t shake off his ravenous hunger. Not to mention his very obvious animal instincts that prompted him to hunt for food.

He lived a quite peaceful life in his new-found home even though guilt was almost eating him up alive. He couldn’t shake off his unwanted thoughts concerning the threats of the witch and the way the dome would affect the kingdom. What was his family thinking? What did they think when they heard that he was nowhere to be found? Were they searching for him at that very moment? How did the isolation affect the life of the people in the kingdom? How did it change Fantasia’s commerce and economy?

The internal turmoil was too much for him to bear, small wonder he didn’t want to spend too much time dwelling on what had happened and how he could have prevented it. It was already the past now, and he himself had to bear the consequences of his actions quite literally. He didn’t have time to pity everyone else in Fantasia. People never liked him anyway; he was considered odd ever since he was born.

First things first, he didn’t even know how to read because he couldn’t. He couldn’t concentrate on the words written down, and when he did, those words just seemed like they were hovering in front of his eyes. Letters never made sense to him no matter how much his teachers tried to get him to at least identify the different characters. He already failed the royal family with his inability to read, so his pretty rebellious and mocking personality didn’t exactly help to improve his image. Not to mention his carelessness and lack of responsibility, especially towards his studies and the future of Fantasia.

He never wanted to be a king, he was merely born into a royal family, that’s why he never bothered to show any kind of enthusiasm when people talked about him taking the throne one day. He knew he was next in line, yet he had no desire to actually rule the kingdom. Maybe, just maybe, he wished deep down that if he had been neglecting his studies, then his family would want to get rid of him before he can become a real king.

Nevertheless, his father died and all the hopes of avoiding the thrown were gone with him. He almost accepted the inevitability of becoming the next king and living like his father – living like he was a superior to the people of the kingdom, to the people around him and to his own relatives. That’s what he was taught by his father, that’s what he witnessed with his own eyes. Small wonder he turned into such a presumptuous boy; he never saw a good example.

 Then, one day everything changed. It was as if someone had set fire to the ashes that were left off after his dreams had been burned down and the flames ignited the pitch-black sky of his hopeless future.

While he was sleeping, a petite yet feisty female showed up in the cave, and the dragon woke up only when he heard the unmistakable growling of a hungry animal; the girl who dared to set foot into the cave was seemingly chased by a beast – one of the almighty half-wolf, half-lion creatures called wolions that were well-known in Fantasia for their cruelty and immense thirst for shedding blood. As expected, blood was already dripping down the beast’s jaw, so Zuho was pretty sure that the animal had already had a feast before it led its eyes on the girl.

As opposed to the female’s height, she didn’t seem fragile at all. She looked as if she had been trained to fight because she had all kinds of knives and dangerous weapons hanging from her waist pack. She was even holding a sharp knife in her right hand, trying to protect herself as much as she could, yet the beast knocked it out of her hand in such a short span of time.

She was quick to react; she reached for another weapon immediately, but the wolion wasn’t stupid either. It jumped on top of her and pinned her to the ground. She was visibly struggling to push it away, the difference between their weights obvious even to the naked eye.

Everything happened as if Zuho was watching the scene only from afar. However, something in him prompted him to act, so when he finally got back to his senses, he came out of the darkness to make himself seen. When the beast caught sight of the dragon, he wasn’t so focused on the girl anymore, therefore the female had the chance to escape from its grip.

On the other hand, the wolion wasn’t one to give it up easily. Even though it was intimidated (and slightly confused) due to the abrupt appearance of the dragon, it didn’t let her go until Zuho finally made his move and walked closer. When he was close enough, he reached out with one of his masculine clawed talons and grabbed the beast. He threw the wolion away, hoping that it was enough of a reason for it to back off.

The dragon immediately turned its head to the girl whose jaw literally dropped to the floor, her fists suddenly loosening up. Her almond-shaped, caramel-brown eyes were filled with thousands of questions, her bafflement melding in with sheer terror. Zuho couldn’t tell if it was because she was afraid of the dragon or because she was so shocked to actually bump into one in the cave she wanted to use as her safe haven. To be precise, she was saved by a dragon.

Much to Zuho’s dismay, the wolion didn’t disappear right away. Maybe it was angered even more by the dragon’s not-so-gentle attack or it simply didn’t want to leave behind such a pray. No matter the reason, Zuho felt an indescribable pain in his tail, realizing that the wolion must have sunk its teeth into his flesh.

He had to admit that it hurt like hell; he hadn’t experienced any kind of physical pain that was as overwhelming and as powerful as the wolion’s attack. He wasn’t used to being defeated (or being in a fight for that matter), so he must have screamed out loud if he had been a human. Nevertheless, as a dragon, it was a bit different; his pain could only be heard as a sound somewhere between whaling and whimpering. Nothing artificial or suppressed, his cry of sorrow was loud and raw. The cave shook a little at the volume.

Without giving it a second thought, the animal side of Zuho immediately came to surface and after turning around and facing the beast, searing fire came out of his nostrils without him realizing what he was actually doing, and he managed to burn down the area in front of him including the wolion itself. The creature let out a final whimper before it collapsed to the floor and life left his body for good.

Zuho would have never thought that dragons could kill wolions with fire. Wolions were considered strong and undefeatable; he was sure they could be killed but it was the wolionhunters job, he didn’t really ponder if other animals were able to hurt them so badly.

Now, the boiling anger was enough to awaken the real dragon inside of him, letting him see what kind of power he could use if he really wanted to fight someone. He had never realized he could spit fire just like that.

“Oh saints, you are bleeding!”

The petite female shrieked as she caught sight of the open wound on the dragon’s tail that was as deep as a water well. Zuho winced as another rush of stinging pain went through him, electrifying every single one of his cells.

“Let me help you!” the girl exclaimed frantically and rushed to the dragon to examine the wound from up close. She narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her nose as she looked over the bleeding part of his body. After a few seconds, she already got herself a bottle from her waist pack and poured a bit of its content onto his skin.

The dragon let out another heartwrenching whimper. He was sure that she had put some kind of antiseptic on his wound because it stung just like the ones the royal physician used on his scars when he was a kid and hurt himself while climbing a tree or jumping from different objects. It was the same kind of pain; the one that sucks all the air out of your lungs and makes you speechless.

“Easy, easy…” She shushed him gently, her tone a melody that he couldn’t decipher. There was something inhumanly confident about her whole being; she seemed so at ease even if she had seen a wolion’s death with her own eyes. She seemed so used to extraordinary creatures that Zuho was more confused than ever. “It’s okay, calm down! It’s okay, just keep breathing! Or I don’t even know if it’s the right thing to say to you.” She let out a nervous laughter as the last words left her mouth.

Who knew what was the right thing to say in such a situation? She was a human being, he was a dragon. These two were never on good terms – at least not in theory. Dragons and humans met only when they were after each other. Zuho wasn’t being delusional either; the girl could have been someone who despised dragons as they were said to be one of the most dangerous and unpredictable creatures in the kingdom. Rumour has it that they had killed more humans than any other animal combined.

Yet, there she was pampering him like he was a baby. She wasn’t afraid of him and she wasn’t even disgusted of him. It’s true that her hands were shaking, and her heart was beating so loudly that he could clearly hear it, yet she didn’t make a mistake and caused him more pain than he was already in.

“You know, I wouldn’t do this for you if you didn’t save me. I’m actually a…” She mumbled while she was working diligently, feeling the need to break the suffocating tension between the two of them. She stopped halfway through her sentence and casted a side-glance at Zuho as if she had been afraid of blurting out something personal. They maintained the intense eye-contact for a good minute before she finally gulped and continued as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s just say that I don’t have the best relationship with dragons. In general. I don’t like them, and they don’t like me either. It’s just how it is,” she concluded with a forced smile, her teeth showing.

Zuho was pretty sure something was off but the pain he felt was more excruciating than his curiosity towards the unfamiliar female. Not like he knew a lot of people in the kingdom – especially not anyone of the lower class –, yet he found it peculiar that he hadn’t ever seen her before. She must not have worked for the royal family then. Also, who would know how to fight and who would carry a waist pack full of knives, weapons and bottles of antiseptic? She must have had a tough job (or she was merely careful in case she runs into a wolion and a dragon on the same day).

“I don’t even know why I’m talking to a dragon. I must be going crazy.” She giggled nervously, her embarrassment showing. She may have looked all fierce and almighty when it came to be fighting an animal, but when she was doing anything that had nothing to do with knives and doing somersaults to avoid getting hurt, she was almost ridiculously odd.

Zuho found her embarrassment almost endearing… Almost. If the bite didn’t hurt that much, he may have considered her cute. Considering that she poured half a bottle of antiseptic onto his skin without letting him know beforehand, he wouldn’t necessarily use the word cute for her actions.

“I wish I could ask you why you saved me, but I know I won’t get an answer.” She sighed, her hands working diligently.

After she was done with disinfecting, she started putting tiny little green leaves on the wound that were quite pleasant as they provided some coolness. They didn’t stop the burning sensation of the antiseptic, but they definitely helped to ease the pain.

“Your kind doesn’t usually help humans, they are more likely to kill us. I guess you’ve also killed humans before,” she said more to herself than to the dragon. Yet, Zuho felt the need to disagree, so he immediately made a headshake-like motion, causing the girl to jump back in surprise.

“What? Did you really just shake your head?” Her eyes widened in fear, her brain finding it hard to process the sight. She shook her head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts that were invading her mind. “Wow, I’m really going crazy.” She shook her head for the second time and went back to her task. Her hands were rough, yet her touch was careful. Small wonder he felt like he could fall asleep in her arms.

However, she was far too quick and he was far too immersed into examining her caramel-brown eyes, so he realized that she was done only when they had been staring at each other for a solid minute. For some odd reason, Zuho felt like he could see the truth in her eyes; there weren’t galaxies in her orbs, instead there were stories of fights and rough nights. No matter how little did he know about her, he was sure that she was truly one kind of a girl who wasn’t afraid of neither wolions, nor dragons. Not to mention that she helped him with his wound and didn’t leave him in the cave to suffer alone right when she had the chance to run away. Either she was bold or outright crazy.

“It’s odd. You have the eyes of a human,” she whispered in awe, her lips parting slightly at the sight. The way she looked at him with so much curiosity and so much judgement at the same time… well, it was more than confusing. “Your eyes aren’t narrow, and they aren’t orange either. It’s weird, really weird.” She puckered her lips while she was thinking of possible reasons of his odd eyes, yet when she realized that she could never be sure if the reason was true or not because the dragon couldn’t communicate with her, she tore off her gaze.

“I’ll stay until your wound heals but I have to go soon. It’s not like I have anywhere to go but…” She started rumbling, pacing up and down in front of the exhausted dragon. He had enough adventure for a day, that’s why he didn’t feel like solving the riddle that was the girl herself with all her contradictory words. Instead, he looked at her while she was looking for the right words to say, biting her rosy-coloured lips in annoyance.

The words were left hanging in the air, covering him with the familiar, mysterious mist that he was already used to ever since the feisty female came into his life. No matter what she said, there seemed to be something else behind her words even though he couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

So even when that night when they were both ready to fall asleep, and he was pretty sure that the girl – who introduced herself as Hayoung – wouldn’t say anything more after talking through the whole afternoon with an adequate amount of half-cut sentences, some babbling and stuttering, she spoke up for the last time before they went to sleep, he couldn’t think about anything else, just her. Why was she there? Why did she have a bad relationship with dragons? Where did she learn how to fight?

“It sounds pretty weird to say good night but you know…” He heard her voice from the darkness, filling the chilly night with some warmth and care. “I hope you’ll sleep well. And don’t sleep on the side of your wound! It’ll help to fasten your recovery,” Hayoung reminded him, making his heart flutter for the first time in a while.

Zuho was sure that if he had been a mere human being, he would have been smiling to himself like a lovesick fool.

 The cursed prince found it peculiar to feel another warm body beside him the day after his encounter with Hayoung. Yet, there she was snuggling up to his chest like he was her very own pillow.

Zuho didn’t remember when she had come closer to him because he was sure that she didn’t fall asleep right beside him. She wasn’t even close to him. Hayoung kept a safe distance after she had patched him up, making sure that she wouldn’t touch him, nor would she come in any contact with him. He didn’t know the exact reason why she became so distant back then, it seemed all too confusing yet very much understandable after everything that had happened before. Maybe it was all too much for her. Maybe she merely needed time to process what had just happened.

Nevertheless, the ambivalent feelings Zuho had started to grow towards Hayoung seemed to fade away a bit when she finally woke up and realized that she had been sleeping beside the dragon. At first, she looked totally dumbfounded as if she had been caught after doing a prank, yet a second later her face was stained with worry.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to sleep on you. With you. Beside you,” she stuttered with her lips quavering, the embarrassment evident in her shaky tone. She looked just as puzzled as the day before, her behaviour making Zuho’s heart soften. He felt the need to pat her back and ruffle her obsidian hair just to tease her a bit more even though he knew perfectly well that he wasn’t capable of such things as a dragon.

How could anyone be so reckless yet so coy at the same time? Maybe he found her antics endearing because he hadn’t had the chance to meet a lot of girls his age (the perks of being the member of the royal family), thus he didn’t have anyone to compare to Hayoung. On the other hand, she wasn’t like how he had imagined females to act. She was just so unpredictable; like the hope-filled sunrise coming up on the horizon in one second and an abrupt, summer downpour in the next one. He never knew what to expect from her.

“Anyway, I hope you slept well.” She bobbed her head, averting her eyes to the huge wound on his tail. “How are you feeling? Does it still hurt a lot?” She pointed at the leaf-covered area of the dragon’s body, the sudden change of subject not deceiving him.

Zuho gave a slight nod of his head, indicating that it still hurt. Although it wasn’t as severe as the burning sensation he felt the day before, the pain was still noticeable.

“I see.” The girl flinched, a trace of sympathy being displayed on her pale skin. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it almost immediately. She seemed to be having an internal turmoil, not knowing what to do or what was the right thing to say. Zuho had no idea why she was hesitating, though he couldn’t deny that his curiosity was greater than ever before.

A moment later, Hayoung shook her head as if she had escaped a nightmare that was choking her and searched for the dragon’s eyes.

“Just so you know, I’ve decided to stay with you until you recover fully. I wouldn’t usually do it, but you saved my life after all,” she announced beamingly, her confident tone not leaving any room for doubt.

Even though it was completely foolish and Zuho knew it too, he couldn’t help the warmth that was invading his body. Hayoung’s explanation was too good to be true; she had a heart he would never deserve. He only did what was right, yet she was willing to stay with him until his wound heals. Maybe she had a family, maybe she had a lover and maybe she had a job… Yet, she would stay with him nevertheless. No matter how much of a monster he was and how disgusting his dragon body looked like.

“Dragon or not, I owe you a favour. I’m going to take care of your wounds and I’m going to change the herbs I’m using right now,” she continued, talking as firmly as possible. When she finished, she dramatically huffed and let out a big sigh. Her eyes were glued to Zuho’s orbs, their intense eye-contact electrifying him, setting fire to his dead soul. Why was she so special that he found it difficult to look away? Who was she to make him feel all sorts of feelings that he had never felt before? Why wasn’t she disgusted or enraged?

He had too many questions and too little answers.

“What?” Hayoung furrowed her eyebrows in question, her lips curling into a cunning half-smile. It was a new kind of smile; she looked like she was completely sure what the dragon was feeling, and she was pleased with the result. Even though Zuho himself didn’t know what he was feeling at that moment. “I hate that you can’t say what you want to say. I feel like I’m just talking to myself,” she rambled, using huge hand gestures as she talked on and on.

Zuho felt the need to boast a smile seeing her reaction, yet we couldn’t forget that he was a dragon. The way to express himself was extremely limited, so instead of a smile, he looked like he was snarling. Nonetheless, a blush was still creeping onto Hayoung’s heart-shaped face.

“Even though I’m really happy when I can actually see a reaction from you,” she admitted as she averted her eyes to the closest wall.

Feisty or not, she sure had an embarrassed side to her that was just as captivating as her badass side.

Zuho couldn’t decide which one he liked better.

 The more time passed, the more confused Zuho was.

On one hand, he was confused about his own feelings. Sure, he was still a human being deep down with a beating heart, he was capable of developing feelings for others (let it be frustration, anger or mere disgust), yet he had never experienced such powerful and overwhelming emotions before. He couldn’t pinpoint when was the exact time he realized that he wasn’t neutral about Hayoung. He knew perfectly well that he was most definitely not disinterested in her, thus he was actually glad that he was a dragon and the girl could never see how he would have reacted if he had been a human. Being a human beside her would equal being exposed.

Even though he himself would have never thought that it was possible to feel human feelings as a dragon, he now knew that it was more than possible. He knew it from the small things; the way his heart leaped when Hayoung’s cheeks were flushed or when she pushed away a loose strand of hair or when she exposed more skin than he would have liked; the warmth he felt whenever Hayoung talked about her childhood stories, babbling and babbling like there was no tomorrow; the harmony in which they lived beside each other day by day without annoying the hell out of each other and the odd way he would make himself understood and make Hayoung smile.

On the other hand, he was even more confused about the feisty female’s background. Sometimes she didn’t finish her sentences and sometimes she mumbled little things to herself as if she had been hiding something. She was sometimes very careful around Zuho, yet she was completely unfazed any other time like she was used to spending time around dragons. He really couldn’t decipher her.

One thing was sure; the clock was ticking, the kingdom was in already a worse condition than before according to Hayoung’s stories. Plus, Zuho was still a dragon. Even though he didn’t intend to help Fantasia in the beginning because he knew it was almost impossible for his stone-heart to change, now guilt was slowly but surely creeping up on him. He started questioning what consequences his cowardice could have on others or what he had already destroyed by running away. Not to mention how many times it crossed his mind that he may not ever be able to help not just himself but anyone in the kingdom. He would bring fatality to the kingdom.

Then, a week after their first encounter, everything changed.

Zuho was almost fully recovered by that time, so Hayoung shouldn’t have come with him when he went out hunting, yet there she was with him, talking about yet another silly nonsense, yet another adventure of hers. After some time, they heard shouting and the owners of the shouts made themselves known after a minute, coming out from the abyss of the woods with guns in hands and other weapons in their waist packs.

Zuho didn’t even have the chance to back away. Although he was a big creature compared to the tiny humans, clumsiness was a disadvantage of his monstrous body. He didn’t have time to run away. Not this time, not when his life was really on the line. He knew exactly who those men were, he saw people like that before, almost everyone did in Fantasia. They hunted one of the most precious yet most dangerous spices in the kingdom.

They were dragon hunters.

“Well, well, looks like Hayoung can’t deal with this one,” one of the two men spoke up, clicking his tongue like he disapproved of the female’s presence.

Hayoung visibly flinched and hissed when she heard the dragon hunter’s words. She didn’t seem baffled by their sudden appearance, she looked rather guilty. But what for?

“Junghyun, it’s not what you think.” Hayoung stepped closer to the man, making him chuckle. Zuho wasn’t stupid, he was very well aware by now that the girl and the dragon hunters knew each other, yet he had no idea how. Hayoung had never mentioned anything about a possible relative who might have been a dragon hunter. He knew only that she disliked dragons. Could it be that she was dealing with those men?

Junghyun’s lips raised into the smirk of a predator. He was ready to corner the girl, using words instead of actual weapons.

“I always knew you weren’t strong enough. You just earned the dragons’ trust and pierced a hole through their heart when these silly creatures least expected it. You use the same method that one dragon used on your family,” the man continued, enjoying the growing tension in the air.

Zuho turned his head to glance at the girl who sternly looked forward, not wanting to meet his eyes. Why would she want to look at the dragon to whom she had lied all along?

Suddenly everything made sense. Why she didn’t like dragons and dragons didn’t like her. Why she kept the story of her family to herself. Why she was so used to being around dragons, yet why she was sometimes uncharacteristically cautious. Why she backed away when Zuho took a step closer to her. Why she didn’t like to look at the dragon when she was talking. Why she was reluctant to stay after she was saved.

Zuho felt betrayed, broken and hopeless. He didn’t want to become a dragon, yet Hayoung made his days as a dragon seem like they were all worth it. He couldn’t have met her if it hadn’t been for that curse of the witch, and he was actually thankful for that.

However, right now meeting her was a more dangerous curse than him living the rest of his life as a dragon.

“But life is not a fairy tale, honey. It’s the reality, and in reality, we kill dragons with cold blood. We just need its skin, nothing else. So you wanna help us with this one?” Junghyun continued, looking straight at the female. She pressed her lips into a thin line, her chest rising up and down in a dangerously quick pace. Yet, much to Junghyun’s dismay and Zuho’s amazement, she didn’t budge.

“What? You wanna protect this dragon? Are you kidding me?” The dragon hunter raised a cocky eyebrow in question. When Hayoung stayed silent, he casted a glance at the other man beside him and spitted on the ground. “Looks like we have to do this the other way,” he announced in a rather low tone, crackling his knuckles to indicate that he was ready to fight.

Zuho wasn’t smart enough to realize what the dragon hunters were trying to do. If he hadn’t cared about Hayoung at all, he would have left, leaving the girl to whatever fate was waiting for her. Nevertheless, he did care about Hayoung and despite being betrayed by her, he couldn’t watch as the dragon hunters raised their guns at the girl. Even if he knew she was capable of protecting herself, something in his heart prompted him to move.

It was care.

So when the first bullet pierced through his skin, it didn’t even hurt. Yet, when the second and the third and the ones after the first hit him, the pain slowly started spreading through his whole body. He was fighting until his last breath, protecting the girl who showed him more of the world than anyone ever did before, guiding him through the journey of his emotions. He winced, he bellowed, he spitted fire and he fought. Until his knees gave in and he fell to the ground, the pain consuming his whole body.

He didn’t hear anything, he didn’t see anything. Everything was dark, and everything was quiet. He slipped into a whole different world, leaving nothing but ashes of his dragon body and two confused man and one heart-broken soul behind.

That’s how prince Zuho turned into ashes after trying to save the only one who could move his heart.

Hayoung’s cry resonated back from the trees for a long time after Zuho became one with dust.

 When the sun rises on the horizon, comes a brand new day with new hopes, new chances and new surprises.

It would be an understatement to say that everyone in the royal family was shocked when prince Zuho woke up in his own bed in his own room the day after he turned to ashes. Everyone was baffled, bewildered and confused. Even though Zuho didn’t understand everything, he told them what he knew; he told them about turning into a dragon, he told them about hiding in a cave, he told them about the dragon hunters and despite his face turning crimson even at the mention of the feisty female who conquered his pride, he had to tell them about Hayoung too.

“It must be because of her. When you wanted to save her, your selflessness came to light, so instead of dying, you became a human again. You managed to break the curse. You know how it goes; misfortunate will come for you when you least expect it, and nothing can break the curse, only a truly selfless heart instead of your stone-cold one,” the Queen quoted the exact same words, and Zuho didn’t even dare to question if the curse hunted her even in her nightmares and that’s why she remembered every single syllable so clearly or it was merely because it got stuck with her.

Nevertheless, her mother had to be right. There was no other way he could have broken the curse. Even though the word love still tasted unfamiliar on the top of his tongue after swallowing too many bitterness in the past few years, he couldn’t deny the undeniable.

Of course, after the initial amazement of the royal family, they soon became rather interrogative. After all, he brought destruction and loss to the kingdom and he had to take responsibility for his actions. He knew – yet he didn’t mind – that he wouldn’t become a king whom people would respect and follow as an example after this incident. Zuho never wanted the throne in the first place. He wasn’t made for it.

Thus, it wasn’t even a question that he would leave it to someone else. It’s true that he didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but he had cousins and they had chosen one of his cousins – Hyunjae – as the new king. He would be a much better and much more passionate king than Zuho could ever be. Of course, he had to bear the shame and guilt that his poor choices and cowardice coasted him, yet he wasn’t one to back off after spending almost a month as a dragon, having hardships day by day. The kingdom was regaining its old self back and the trade between Fantasia and other kingdoms were also going back to usual – slowly but surely.

It was her mother who actually mentioned the possibility of removing him from the position, and he didn’t even protest. He was rather apologetic. He even admitted his mistakes in front of the people of Fantasia and asked for their forgiveness. He was cursed for a reason and he learned from his mistakes. There was only one thing he had to do after he settled everything in the palace; finding Hayoung to tell her the truth and to properly introduce himself.

Of course, he knew she might not want to see him again if he revealed who he was, but they were both liars, cheaters and cowards at the same time. In one way or another, they both lied to each other and lied about what they had done before. The revelation regarding Hayoung’s dragon hunter past was almost worse than the pain he felt while he was dying. Yet, he wanted to ask her personally if she wanted to tell him the truth or not. They both owned each other an explanation.

Though he didn’t know anything about where he should look for her. There was only one place he knew she might have been at and luckily, he found her. In the cave he had been hiding and she had been living while she monitored his recovery.

“You were right,” the boy started with a mysterious smile on his face, watching as the girl’s expression went from terrified to confused. “I really do have the eyes of a human,” he bobbed as he searched for any trace of disbelief on her face.

She narrowed her eyes as she focused on his features, her mind trying to process the sight. Hayoung knew that his face was familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint who he might have been. She knew only one thing; that sentence was definitely all too familiar.

Yet, she knew there wasn’t anyone else when she said those words out loud except her and the almighty dragon. If he was so confident, that could mean only one thing…

“I thought you were dead.”

Hayoung didn’t intend to sound stupid but nothing seemed right to say under the circumstances.

“Well, as a dragon, yes. As a human, not so much.” He shrugged as if it had been so common that animals die, and they come back as humans. Zuho almost enjoyed the puzzled expression on her face, the slight frown of her mellow lips, the elevated left eyebrow and the messy strands of hair that stuck to her slightly sweaty temple. It was the same girl who had taken care of him despite being a dragon hunter, despite her mind telling her to do the opposite and despite her family’s story. It was the same girl who amused him with her hilarious childhood stories and babbled about every little nonsense she could come up with. It was the same girl but the feeling of actually talking to her felt so unfamiliar and oddly nerve-wrecking.

“Have you heard of the prince who ran away, and his curse brought demolition to the kingdom?” he asked, ready to tell her the whole story and shed some light on his identity and his story of turning into a dragon.

“Of course.” Hayoung nodded fervently, furrowing her eyebrows. She probably didn’t understand why he asked such a question.

“Then, let me tell you something…”

This is how their very first honest conversation started, the truth forcing them to strip to their bones, to reveal everything that was covered or purposefully hid away, showing the rawest and realest version of themselves.

A flicker of a pulse could be felt at his neck and you gasped in surprise. You brought your hands to hold his paler face. He definitely was unconscious, however there were no sign of cuts or bruises. Nothing about him seemed generic; he was amazingly handsome, with plush lips and a serene aura. You felt strangely safe which confused you.

The man opened his eyes and you screamed. He coughed and sputtered as he sat up, “What? What’s wrong?”

You looked at him in abject terror, wondering if someone who had washed up could suddenly wake up without intervention before he interrupted that train of thought.

“Oh no… Don’t tell me, do I look… ugly?” He brought his hands up to his face in panic, but felt nothing different and frowned.

You licked your lips in confusion, “What? No! You look very handsome, but are you okay?”

He chuckled, “Hm, I think that’s what I should be asking you.”

“Um, I just found a guy washed up on the strand who seems to have no recollection or worries about being washed up, so no.” You slowly shook your head at him. “I’m not okay.”

He cocked his head and you huffed at his nonchalance. “Are you talking about me? Because if you are, you are completely oblivious to your radiance. I’ve never seen a person so beautiful.”

You stared at him for several moments. How does someone even respond to this? Should you take him to a hospital? You would, but he just seems inclined to flirt.

“Are you drunk? I seriously can’t tell.”

He looked crestfallen with a pout and sad eyes that you didn’t react to his flirting, but it prompted him to give a real answer.

“I don’t remember anything.” He sighed and glanced around. “I also don’t recognise this beach.”

“Right. Okay. Do you have any injuries? Does your head hurt?” You let your eyes scan his body again to check for any injuries, but miraculously there were none.

He scratched the back of his head and grinned, “No, I’m actually feeling pretty good!”

You really wanted to call an ambulance but the man truly seemed fine now, even in his unkempt state with seaweed in his pink hair, torn trousers and bare chest.

He noticed your gaze had shifted to his chest and waggled his eyebrows.

“See something you like?”

You barked out a laugh, quickly looked away while denying it.

He smiled in small triumph before you cleared your throat.

“Okay. So here’s the plan - we’re going to go back to mine to get you a dry set of clothes and then I’ll take you to the hospital.”

The stranger nodded absentmindedly as you stood up and wiped the sand off you. You helped him up and couldn’t help but notice how cold his hand felt. The quicker you could warm him up, the better.

As you both reached the steps to the road, you stopped, remembering something.

“What’s your name? My name is Y/n.”

He looked slightly taken aback.

“It’s Jaeyoon.”

You reached home in record time and quickly rushed through the closed cafe to pull your father’s clothes from the closet in the back.

Jaeyoon curiously looked around the cafe. The back area was poorly lit, as the light entering the two large front windows failed to make it that far. There were worn, comfy seats with scratched wooden tables. Old newspaper clippings hung on the walls along with family photos.

“Is this your place?”

“Well, it was my dad’s, but I’ve taken it over.”

You came back from the back of the cafe and found Jaeyoon glancing around, looking a little miserable and lost.

You ushered him through the side door and into your kitchen. You showed him around before bringing him into the bathroom to have a shower, setting the clothes down and leaving to give him privacy. He caught your hand and thanked you as you left.

Deciding to distract yourself, you get started on making food, although it doesn’t stop your mind from wandering to the stranger currently in your shower. This turns out to be a good thing as you hear a sudden thump from the bathroom just after the shower turned off.

You run up the stairs with panic in your heart and knock rapidly on the door.

“Jaeyoon? Is everything alright in there?” You tried to sound calm but ultimately failed.

There was nothing but silence and so you knocked again.

“Jaeyoon.”

The door opened to reveal a clothed Jaeyoon with tousled hair and rough breathing.

“I-I need to lie down.”

“Ah, of course.” You quickly took his arm and rested it over your shoulders to lead him to the spare room. The room was was bit cramped due to the low ceiling, but with Jaeyoon leaning on you slightly slumped over, it didn’t make a difference.

He settled onto the bed with a slight groan. You rushed away to get him some water and when you came back he had passed out; it seemed the exhaustion had set in. Letting out a worried sigh, you set the glass of water onto the bedside table and gently placed a hand on his forehead. He felt slightly warm, but it wasn’t a concerning temperature.

For the rest of the day you drifted back into the room every-so-often to check up on him, but he still hadn’t woken up when you went to sleep.

That night you dreamt of turbulent seas and thundery clouds. The feeling of being pulled under waves woke you with a jolt. The dream confused you even more so because of the sleep inertia you suffered from. Regardless, you had to open the cafe, so in your dazed state you dragged yourself up from the bed and got ready for the day. You were just finished and leaving the bathroom when a delicious smell wafted from downstairs.

Still feeling dazed as if you were trapped in your dream, you followed the smell.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the smell became 10 times stronger but the trance quickly ended as you were greeted with passing dimples and a cheery “Good morning darling!”.

You stood there and gaped at his retreating back. How could you possibly have forgotten the invalid in the spare bedroom?

He went to pass again, but this time stopped right in front of you and frowned.

“I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind, I made food - to thank you for your hospitality, and for the amazing views.” He winked at your dumbfounded state and then pulled you in the direction of the dining room.

“T-that’s okay.” The overwhelming gratitude rendered you speechless as you stared at the wide range of side dishes Jaeyoon had prepared. Slowly, you lowered yourself down onto the chair.

Jaeyoon made small noises of pleasure as he ate, until he noticed you staring down at the food in wonder.  He hummed with a mouthful of food to catch your attention.

“Have you remembered anything?” You gently asked, putting down your spoon.

“No, I haven’t. I didn’t even dream last night.” He pouted down at his food for a moment before suddenly looking back up at you. “Do you know anywhere that would put me up while I work? A work for bed and board type of deal? I’m really grateful for you letting me stay the night, and I know making breakfast would never be enough to repay you.” He continued to thank you while explaining he’d fully pay you back, especially if you could help him find somewhere else to stay.

You don’t know what possessed you to say it. Maybe it was his sad brown eyes, or maybe it was the memory of his pitiful state yesterday. Or perhaps it was the fact that you felt so alone without your father’s company that you were about to crack under the pressure and close the cafe. It was the last thing you wanted to do and so maybe this was the glimmer of hope you’d dreamt for, you’d hoped for.

“Work for me.”

“Huh?” Jaeyoon said around a mouthful of egg and rice. He looked adorably lost, but you carried on.

“You should work for me. In the cafe. I need some extra help and you can have the spare room.”

You both stared at each other before he suddenly swooped across the table to throw his arms around you.

“Yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”  

You laughed at his exuberance, and his tinkling laughter.

He settled back down to eat and for the rest of your meal you described the seaside town with a population of 4,000. You also began to explain the ins and outs of the cafe.

He was an attentive learner and picked up everything with ease. He began straight away, much to your dismay, even though you thought he should see a doctor or he should at least rest more - but he pushed away every concern with his excitement, and flirtation.

This man had a duality that you’d never seen before. Your ex had been burly, closed-off, and never confided in you. Jaeyoon on the other hand acted like a puppy one minute and then a stripper the next. You liked that he kept you on your toes, but his flirting was beginning to affect you and you were honestly afraid of your feelings. Regardless you pushed through each day, opting to ignore the heart-stopping smiles, and the knee-weakening whispers, although it was proving difficult.

Jaeyoon brightened up the cafe considerably, from day one. His sweet smile had captured the hearts of the locals; even your friend Inseong was enchanted by it on the odd time he’d pop in.

“Who is this fine gentleman? Y/n, have you been hiding him from me?”

To Inseong’s delight, Jaeyoon responded with “Finders keepers” and a sensuous wink before promptly slinking away to clear a table.

Although Inseong’s teasing might have been getting old, the cafe was doing better than ever with Jaeyoon being eye candy for the customers, especially among teenage girls who swooned at his charm. You found yourself strangely jealous at his habitual flirting and occasionally reminded yourself that it was for the good of the cafe.

You found yourself being continuously blown out of the water by Jaeyoon. He was just brilliant at everything, and you had become attached to him and his many skills, so much so that things felt almost homely and domestic.

Every morning you woke up to a cooked breakfast, before you opened the cafe together, greeted the first customers together. For the whole day you both ran the cafe, and you closed it together. Very often you found yourself staring at the ceiling in the quiet hours of the night, feeling scared at the prospect of being so dependent on Jaeyoon, afraid that something would rip him from your life like the sea had done to your father. However, you’d eventually fall asleep and the day would begin anew.

The fear had to be pushed back, and so you did just that by asking Jaeyoon if he’d like to watch tv with you, or maybe a movie. You’d sit together on the couch, cosy and warm. Sometimes he’d fall asleep and sometimes you would. Either way, it was more common that you’d fall asleep, and he’d rest your head on his shoulder while smiling at your peaceful face and your quiet snores. Completely unbeknownst to you, he’d brush your hair from your face, and wipe the drool from your chin while huffing fondly. And when the movie was over, he would gracefully lift you into his arms and carry you to bed. He’d tuck you in, pet your hair, whisper a “sweet dreams”, and then would retreat to his own bedroom with a sweet smile on his lips.

You found yourself growing fonder by the day, but the day he brought a stray dog home was the day you realised you’d fallen - for the man you’d known for only 5 months. He named the Boston terrier Phantasia and begged that the two of you keep her. How could you say no to such a gorgeous girl anyway, nevermind the man you loved? The evening was spent bathing her out the back which ended with both you and Jaeyoon soaked, shivering but also laughing from the joy of Phantasia’s playful licks to each of your faces.

Phantasia took turns sleeping with the both of you. This meant Jaeyoon trying to wiggle his way into your bed, claiming he wanted extra time with Phantasia.

Phantasia also proved to be a big hit in the cafe. The customers adored her, and even though she technically wasn’t allowed in the cafe, it didn’t stop Jaeyoon from bringing her in every once in a while to say hello.

Once Phantasia settled in, life composed itself once again. It was a pattern which lulled you into a false sense of security.

You laughed at your phone screen as Jaeyoon texted you the wacky story Miss Lee told him earlier. You were walking back from the takeaway after retrieving your dinner; Jaeyoon had offered to do all the cleaning while you went out to grab it.

The night air was chilly and had you shivering in your thin coat. You could hear the distant waves and traffic as you walked through an alleyway that would quicken the journey.

You laughed again at Jaeyoon’s messages before typing back a message about the lovey-dovey teenage couple that frequent the cafe. Of their goo-goo eyes, and how they always fed each other cake-

You heard a can skid across the ground behind you. Your footsteps faltered slightly and you quickly glanced behind you to spot a lone cat. Regardless of finding the cause of the noise, your heart still felt as if it would burst from your chest, and you forced yourself to keep moving.

You would have kept briskly walking, but the sudden and delicate sounds of breathing behind you made you break out into a run.

Your feet slammed against the tarmac, and the plastic takeout bag rustled in your grip from being swung every which way. Your lungs began to burn at the exertion.

The door slammed shut behind you as your chest rose with every breath.

“I hope you got me my jjajangmyeon-!” Jaeyoon poked his smiley head into the hallway from the living room, and Phantasia followed suit. “Y/n? Why are you out of breath?”

You stood up straight and laughed nervously, “Oh, you know! Just have to get my exercise somehow.”

He sent you a strange look, but told you to sit down while he took the food into the kitchen to place it in dishes.

Phantasia whined at your feet and you patted her head in consolation. The uneasiness couldn’t be shaken from its grip around your heart all night. Not even Jaeyoon’s flirting could snap you out of it.

By the morning, Jaeyoon easily cleared it anyway with extra smiles and pancakes, which you were grateful for.

Days past since the alley incident and today was quite a busy day for the cafe, with incoming tourists and beach goers.

Mid-afternoon, a handsome man enters the cafe and takes a seat in one of the deep blue booths.

“Hi! What can I get you?” You greeted the man with enthusiasm, sliding up beside the booth.

He slyly smiled up at you, his eyes lingering on your name tag before flitting to your face. “Is your number available, Y/n?”

You laughed awkwardly. “Unfortunately, we just ran out of it, but there’s plenty more on the menu to choose from.”

He stared deep into your eyes for a few seconds. It almost felt invasive.

“But you’re all I want, nothing else seems appetizing enough.”

You felt disgusted at what the man was saying, but you swapped your shocked expression for your customer service smile.

“All right. I’ll give you another few minutes to decide then.” You smiled and went to leave the table, but a hand grabbed your wrist before you could.

Looking back, you saw the man with a thundery expression.

“I didn’t say I was done ordering.”

You tried to pull your wrist free from his grasp, but it only made him tighten his grip.

“What seems to be the matter here?” Jaeyoon appeared behind you, sending a stony glare to the man, who looked unbothered but let go of your wrist.

“I was trying to order some food, but I see the customer service skills are severely lacking.” He gave you a displeased look before Jaeyoon stepped in front of you.

“Oh, I see. Maybe next time you shouldn’t go grabbing people just because they don’t give you what you want, hm?” He leaned down to whisper in the man’s ear. “I heard every word you spoke. Try that again and I’ll have a murder on my hands.”

The man finally left, furious of course, and the weather turned soon after. The people began to complain at the raindrops hitting the windows, and within an hour the cafe was cleared.

After putting the closed sign up, Jaeyoon took your hand and lead you behind the counter.

“Why didn’t you call me over? He could have hurt you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and gave you a displeased look.

“I mean, I could have handled it by myself.” You refuted. “He was harmless-”

“Harmless?” He barked out a laugh. “Are you always this carefree? He could have hurt you. He could have killed you, his words were enough to lead to that.”

Jaeyoon huffed and looked away from your tearful eyes.

“I’m thinking of leaving soon. You need to wake up because the real world isn’t kind and there’ll come a day where no one will be here to protect you.”

Your blood froze as soon as the words left his mouth. First, he berates your actions and then he drops this bomb on you? You wanted to be so angry but all you could feel was fear at the thought of abandonment. It wasn’t a feeling you’d ever thought you’d have to feel again, but now here you were, right at the other side of the pistol.

You meekly replied, “I hoped you would stay by my side.”

And he, in his anger, replied “I can’t protect you if you’re not honest with me,” and stormed out. In his departure, he accidentally brought several plates crashing down from the counter.

You slowly dropped to the floor, wondering what just happened, not caring about the plate shards digging into your legs and cutting you slightly.

You begin to cry and stayed crying for what felt like years. You cried until your throat was dry and until your face was salty with tears.

You wiped the tears away when you heard the bell of the cafe door ring, thinking it was Jaeyoon.

However, when you came out from the kitchen you saw the horrible man from earlier. It had gotten darker outside, the moonlight casting shadows on his face, which was pulled into a grotesque smirk.

“Long time no see.” He looked at your bloody legs and chuckled, “Those pants didn’t suit you anyway.”

“What are you doing here? We’re closed.” You stood a few feet away from him, trembling and hating that fact.

“Exactly. Now I can have you all to myself. Oh, and that guy? The one that threatened me? He’s never coming back. They all end up leaving you, don’t they Y/n? Why do you think that is?”

You swore for a split second the man’s appearance had changed to Jaeyoon’s pink hair, full lips, puffy cheeks - but that was impossible.

“S-stop.” You said, snapping back to reality and wincing at the pain in your legs.

“Stop? Why would I when I’m having so much fun?” A twisted smile adorned his lips.

“Besides, that dick doesn’t deserve to have such a good life, never did. He drowned as a teen, you know? But some pompous ass made him into the god of the ocean. Instead of ME!” He kicked an uncleared table down, sending glass, cutlery and porcelain flying across the floor.

“We can’t always get what we want Y/n. He took my throne away, so I’m gonna break his little heart. Fun, isn’t it?” He drew a smug smile to his lips. He took a step towards you while removing a knife from where he had concealed it under his shirt, and you tripped trying to take a step back, landing roughly on the floor.

“Don’t hurt me! Don’t you dare fucking come near me!” You screamed at him, your voice coming out shrill.

“Shut up! I’ve waited so long to get back at him. I was standing at his side for years. It was degrading, to have a newcomer, a cast off suddenly usurp your position. But now, I can have my just desserts. Now I can have my revenge.” He held the knife up and it glinted in the moonlight.

He began to stalk towards you, and you scrambled back in panic. You reached for your phone in the back pocket of your pants but it slipped out of your fingers and slid across the floor.

“Hmph, you really aren’t lucky are you?” He had swiftly approached and now loomed overhead. He cocked his head to the side playfully as if you were his prey and he had easily caught you in his web. “My my, isn’t it a shame to hurt such a pretty thing? But this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t resisted my advances earlier.”

He stooped down while maintaining eye contact with you and gently slid the edge of the knife up your calf.

You held your breath, too panicked and afraid to make any movement until he reached one of the cuts on your knee. You moved your knee back and swiftly brought the other leg swinging towards his head. Despite your quickness however, he caught your ankle in his hand and slammed it down into the ground.

You screamed in pain at the impact and the resolute crack that echoed throughout the cafe. He had broken your ankle with the strength in his hand and as seconds passed and the pain grew stronger you began to realise this.

“You fucker! How dare you!” He shouted in your face after letting your ankle go and pinning you to the ground.

He was seething. His breath was ragged, his face was red and veins were protruding from his forehead and neck.

You were still whimpering at the pain and fresh tears streamed from your eyes as you struggled to no avail. So this was it. You were about to be murdered by some lunatic in your cafe, one of the only things left behind by your father, and you’d possibly lost one of your best friends and the love of your life earlier, but as you choked through the tears you thought, ‘Well, maybe this isn’t a bad way to go, because at least Jaeyoon will be safe.’

The man held the knife poised above you. He took a deep breath before going to plunge it into your heart.

A sudden crash from behind made you both freeze, and soon there was a hand gripping the man’s wrist and yanking him away from you.

You spotted a flash of pink hair and sudden hope bloomed in your chest. However, as you looked over at the two men you noticed one Very Wrong Thing. They were both Jaeyoon.  

One of them had the other in a headlock, while the other was still brandishing a knife. You could only surmise that the one with the knife was not your Jaeyoon.

And you were proved correct as your Jaeyoon glanced over at you with a look of frantic concern. However, in the brief moment of distraction the other had dug his knife into Jaeyoon’s thigh, and his face quickly morphed into one of pain.

The other used it to his advantage and smacked him backwards to the ground, bringing his empty hand to wrap around his throat.

You felt helpless as you stared at Jaeyoon struggling against his doppelganger and glanced around for something to help.

Under the counter was a lone glass quiche dish, and so hoping that it would help, you grabbed it, while ignoring the severe pain in your ankle.

Quickly, using the counter, you crossed the distance and smacked it against the man’s head before crumpling back down onto the floor. This gave Jaeyoon enough time to flip them over, steal the knife from his grip and hold it to his throat.

“Sungjin, still feeling inferior I see, isn’t this getting a bit childish?” Jaeyoon looked down at him with a cold and callous glare. “You know what? I’m not even going to let you speak.”

Jaeyoon punched Sungjin and finished the job that you had tried to do.

As soon as he was sure Sungjin was knocked out, he came over to where you were leaned against the counter and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I said earlier. And I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you Y/n.”

You merely nodded against his shoulder before pushing him back suddenly and checking his leg. He let you pull away in confusion. His eyebrows shot up when he realised you wanted to check the stab wound.

You gently ripped the fabric apart to get a clearer look, but miraculously there was nothing there, just smooth baby-like skin. You gaped at the spot until Jaeyoon put a gentle finger under your chin to direct your attention back at him.

“How - where - I’m -” You stuttered, mind boggled.

He smiled gently at you, “I’ll explain later, but first we need to get you to a hospital.” He frowned looking at your legs. “You’re seriously hurt.”

You nodded at him and he lifted you up into his arms.

“I’m glad Phantasia came to get me, although I have no idea how she got out.”

You chuckled, feeling proud. “That’s my girl.”

Later, as you lay in a hospital bed feigning sleep, you heard Jaeyoon whispering blessings and thanking you for hanging on for him. And in that moment, you realised you hadn’t been abandoned and opened your eyes.

Something that you hadn’t heard in his voice were the tear drops slowly falling from his eyes.

“Jaeyoon.” You whispered.

He quickly began to wipe away tears at the sudden realisation that you’re awake.

“Y/n, I’m sorry if I woke you. How are you feeling?”

You took his hand in yours and he gripped yours back.

“Well, the morphine surely doesn’t go amiss, but I’d rather be curled up on the couch with you and Phantasia.” You gave him a wan smile.

He brought his other hand up to pet your hair. “Soon. Don’t worry sweetie, we’ll get our schedule back and up running again. And I’ll make up for being a dick also, you didn’t deserve all that from me. Getting some of my memory back isn’t a good enough reason for that behaviour.” He was about to go on before you held a finger to his lips.

“You should have told me Jaeyoon. I might not have said this before, but no matter the weight of your past, I couldn’t love you any less.”

His lips parted for a second before they split into a shining grin.

“I love you too, Y/n.”

A/N: Hi guys! Thank you for reading! I just wanted to give a shout out to Beth (@restlessmaknae) who organised the collaboration, because without you it wouldn’t have happened, and I wouldn’t have met such amazing writers. I also want to give a shout out to Nadia (@nadiepie), my dear friend, who designed the banner for me! Thank you for the time and effort you put into it, it looks amazing! Thank you to Laura, my trusted beta! Without you, my tenses surely would have stayed mixed. And lastly, Fantasy, thank you for supporting the boys for as long as you have. These 9 men will truly become something sensational (as if they already aren’t in our eyes lmao).

Everything was black and there was a sharp pain in your head, as you found yourself coming to. All you could hear was yelling, someone yelling something about not hitting a lady. Trying to pull yourself up, just to sit up on your elbows, you saw a flash of pink and a blur of black. Three girls in pink jackets rushing you, a flurry of questions coming from their lips. These words you are unable to understand. Then the black blur is seen once more, but this time you can tell it is a jacket, a leather jacket.

“Aye, calm down, you’re gonna make them faint again. Let’em come to before you start with the questions, kay ladies.” A voice you find yourself unable to recognize says. Seemingly trying to quell the three that were questioning you. “Are you okay? You took quite a hit. And also quite a fall.” The voice asked, as you started to realize it was male, but that was all you knew.

Opening your eyes fully, you found your face just a few inches away from another’s face. As you started to completely come to, you recognize the face of the person in front of you. But, there was something that did not make sense to you at all, what were you all wearing? He was in a leather jacket and white shirt and the girls were wearing hot pink jackets. Looking down, you realize that you yourself are in a poodle skirt. It was confusing. How were you suddenly in a poodle skirt, you did not own one, nor did you know anyone that did.

Staring at him, you started to recognize him, Seokwoo. He had been in the elevator with you, and he was here now. How was he here? How did he change so quick? Where were you? And what had happened? Your thoughts were overloading your mind. You found yourself starting to slip off your elbows, falling to ground again. Falling, you did not find yourself hitting the ground, instead hitting a hand. The hand ended up scooping you up, beginning to carry you somewhere, in your half conscious state.

As he walked carrying you, shrill yelling could be heard. Some poor boy was being berated by three girls. They all took it upon themselves to defend the honor of their best friend. But that yelling soon was inaudible, as you found yourself being carried into a building.

Nurse beds were never comfortable, and anyone who says they are is lying. Finally awaking, you found yourself in a stark white room, but you did not see a single person around. You were confused as to where you were, was this heaven, was this a hospital room, was this a hallucination. There was one person in the room you had yet to realize, it was him, Seokwoo. He was staring out the window, and scaring off anyone that might come near the office. A short laugh resounded through the office, as you sat up and started looking around.

It was odd to see him like this. From your few interactions before he was never this threatening or intimidating. He never wore leather jackets either. There were so many things he was doing and wearing that were so foreign. The way people seemed scared of him without him even doing anything, it was odd. Especially since usually he was somewhat of a nerd. “What happened?” You found yourself asking to him. Your voice was scratchy, as though it had not been used in a while, which you assumed was probably due to you fainting. Or the fact you presumably fainted.

This finally got his attention, and you found a set of warm brown eyes on you. It only took him a few seconds to stand up, closing the door, and making his way over to you. “Are you okay? You took a football to the head.” He said, his hands finding their way to your face. He caressed your chin, as he turned your head so he could see the spot where you were apparently hit. A bruise oddly not forming. The hit was hard enough to knock you out, then cause you to faint again later, it should have at least left a mark. But there was nothing.

“No, what happened? Why are you dressed like that? Why am I dressed like this? Where are we?” You started a jumbled mess of questions falling from your lips at a rapid speed. He was unable to understand even half of what you had asked, you honestly were not even sure about what you had asked. You just wanted answers, and wanted them now. Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, which brought you closer to him, you had finally calmed down. “Where are we?” Was the question you had settled on asking, hoping for him to at least be able to answer that.

You heard a sigh leave his lips, seemingly one of relief. “You don’t know? I don’t know either?” He started. “All I remember was being in the elevator. Then I was here, watching you get hit by a football and falling to the ground. People were calling me Rowoon and moving away from me as I neared you. It was weird, they acted like they were afraid of me. And I honestly have no idea what happened or what is going on, I was hoping that you might know.” He finished. He seemed just as confused as you. The both of you were in an elevator only moments prior, on your way too class. Yet here you both were now, wearing odd clothing and in an odd location.

After a moment of silence, you found your voice. “This doesn’t make sense. We were in the elevator, it was malfunctioning, and now we are here. Like maybe this is just some grand hallucination and we’ll wake up in a few minutes and be back on our way to class.” It was easier to brush off the idea of what might have happened. Chalk it up to a shared delusion, and that you would be on your way to class in a moment.

“But what if this isn’t. I mean what if this isn’t a delusion, what if it is real?” He did not want to believe it either. But he found himself unable to entertain any other idea of what could have happened.

It was an idea you did not want to admit or accept, it could not be real, it just could not. Earlier it had been two thousand eighteen, but now according to the wall calendar in the office it was nineteen fifty-eight. That just had to be wrong, how could you just go like sixty years back in time so easily, it is impossible, it had to be. Despite the fact everything had a familiar feel to it, you knew it was wrong. It could not have been as familiar as you were thinking.

The room was silent, as the two of you seemed to be collecting your thoughts. “We need to get home, one way or another. This just isn’t right, this isn’t where we should be.” You said, as you stood up, starting to move towards the door. “This isn’t our home, we need to somehow get out of this shared delusion. Since there is no possible reason we should be here and dressed like this most of all.” You told him, gesturing to puff of a skirt you were wearing and the leather jacket he was wearing.

“Honestly your dress reminds me Sandy from Grease.” Seokwoo said with a short laugh, before he grabbed your arm as you tried to pass him. “You need to sit down, we don’t need you to faint again.” Was all he said, before he escorted you back over to the bed, helping you sit down once more.

Deciding to listen to him, you sat back down, trying to gather your thoughts. “We need to find a way home, this isn’t making any sense.” You said, before looking up at him once more. “And I swear if you start singing any songs from Grease,I’ll be going back home and leaving you here.”

This caused the two of you to laugh. It was odd, finding humor in a situation you had no idea what was happening, why it happened, and all. “You just don’t want to hear me sing Greased Lightning. Since you know it’ll be better than John Travolta’s version, and you’ll never be able to listen to the original again.” Seokwoo jokingly said, before starting to laugh once more.

“Yeah, you just think that.” You said, through your laughing fit. The conversation however, ended promptly, as the nurse returned to the office. She kicked Seokwoo out of the room, before clearing you to go back to class.

Time passed for the both of you without much of a thought. You were both dragged into your respective friend groups. Friends that mirrored the ones you recalled from reality. But they were also so much different. Joy never had been the leader of your friend group,  and she definitely was not as cynical in reality as she was here. Sally was always so studious, but here she had dreams of dropping out and becoming a hairstylist. Mina was never as energetic and bubbly as she was here. Lastly was Lisa, she was always stunning in reality, but here she became even more so.

Seokwoo had never been in a large group of friends. It was odd that he was somewhat easily accepted as the leader of a group of five. Chris, Mark, Johnny, and Kevin easily becoming his friends. He seemed to be adapting to everything much better than you were. His friend group grew, he became less feared and intimidating. But that mostly just to the people that realized he was not all he was chalked up to be.

You kept trying to return home, you did so many things, never being able to get home. Through your attempts, you also found yourself unable to get hurt. No bruise would form from a spot you were hit. No place would bleed if your skin was cut. No pain would be felt from any sort of injury. It was odd, but Seokwoo and you kept trying, well trying for as long as you could. Soon, it became hard to try to return home with him. He would show up late and mess whatever ritual you thought could work up. He would come up with a reason not to come. He doing anything he could to deter you, to get you to not try at all, like he wanted to stay here.

The two of you quickly began to grow apart. You would only see each other at school and then it was brief. Long conversations you had grown accustomed to, turned into longing stares. Stares at one another, when the other was not paying attention. You found yourself missing him. You missed how he would hold your hand as he lead you to class, or just walked with you anywhere. You missed how he would always brighten your day. You just missed him in general.

Seokwoo, unknown to you, was feeling the same way. He missed the polite laughing at his jokes, even though he even knew they were bad. He missed the stunning smile that would grace your face when he spoke to you. How you would always dedicate all your attention to him when he spoke. He missed holding your hand, how you would always let him do so without questioning it. He missed so many things, but unlike you, he saw no reason in wanting to return home. He would never tell you, but he was more than fine staying here forever, as long as you were with him. But you were still trying to get home, which is why he started to spend less and less time with you. Something in his mind made him think it might help you realize that there was no reason to return home. Since to him here was fine.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, and after this, it was something you started to believe. You never realized how much you loved being around him, until you were no longer around him. It was not until you rarely saw him, that you finally realized how much you needed him. The thought that talking to your friends about it might help it did nothing. Only allowing them to tell Seokwoo’s friends, which confirmed that he was the same way.

This is what caused them to decide to do something. They saw all the longing looks. They heard the talk of missing one another, and saw the lack of doing anything about it. A plan started to form in their heads. They finally taking it into their own hands to help you both out. Since they seemed to know that trusting you two to fix everything yourselves was not going to work. When starting to plan, they thought of the perfect event for it to take place, the school carnival that was to happen next week.

The carnival had only just started when you felt a hand intertwining with yours, as you started to be dragged away from your friends. It was odd to see Johnny being the one dragging you away, but then you saw Sally doing the same to Seokwoo. You followed him, being confused as to what was happening. It was not until you found yourself and Seokwoo standing near each other by the edge of the carnival.

“You two need to settle this, we don’t care what is going on, just fix it.” Sally quickly said to you, before she intertwined her hand with Johnny’s and the two left. As they left, Seokwoo exchanged an odd look with you, since it seems he also had never realized the two were dating.

Moving behind a large standee, as you were finally hidden from the view of most, Seokwoo decided to speak. “How did your little satanic ritual go?” He started, like he honestly had no idea of where to take the conversation. “Since I heard from Mark that Mina told him you were doing something satanic. What they said sounded like something that would have been in the Blair Witch Project.”

“Have you even ever seen the Blair Witch Project, since your comment is telling me you haven’t. Which one no what I was doing wasn’t satanic. And two both you and Mark should really not trust Mina to judge what is satanic and what is not. And even if I was, what else do you want me to do, I’ve tried everything. I’m trying to get us home, at least I’m trying instead of just sitting around waiting for something to happen.” You retorted back, part of you was getting tired of his attitude, but the other part knew he was right.

“What if this isn’t what you thought? What if this isn’t some grand hallucination? What if this isn’t some heat stroke dream or anything like that?” He said at your denial of the situation. “What if there is no one to return to? What if our families aren’t worrying, since there is no need to worry about us?” He added, never giving you a change to reply. “Did you ever think about that? Why else wouldn’t they be trying to find us or something. Since if we were in the hospital from it malfunctioning, wouldn’t we be able to hear voices or something. You need to realize, that maybe there is no going home, since we are home.”

Everything he said was possible, but also something in you that refused to admit it. “No, there has to be a way, we can’t just stay here. I have my parents, you have your parents and older sister. Don’t you wanna get back to them? Don’t you want everything to go back to normal?” You said, trying not to scream at him, you were not exactly angered, just exasperated. He seemed as though he did not want to return to them, like he would prefer here to going back there.

You had tried everything at that point. Every cliche thing you had seen in movies and read in books, nothing worked. Losing hope was harder than someone might think. Maybe you just had not done something right, or maybe your timing off was. Deep in your heart you knew it was worthless, but you could not find it in yourself to stop. Weird rituals and all helped none. At this point there was pretty much nothing else you could think of that would possibly fixed it all.

Well, you could not think of anything, until you saw Chris and Joy kiss. It might sound stupid, but it worked in some movies, like Sleeping Beauty. Yet, this also was not an animated movie and you were not waiting for your prince charming. “What would you do if I kissed you?” You questioned him, completely changing the topic of your current conversation. As you did so, you realized his face was much closer to yours than you previously thought. “Would you want me to kiss you?” You added murmuring it, some part of you hoping he might have not heard it.

“I don’t know. Why?” Seokwoo asked you back, as he started to wonder if this was another one of your ideas. An idea that would suddenly transport the two of you back into your time. He remained as skeptical as ever, but did not question you any further.

At one time you saw Seokwoo as nothing more than the studious business major, who did not socialize or even actively participate in the social scene. Yet, here he seemed different. He was confident and sarcastic and somewhat alluring. He was a person you had found yourself falling for. But you were still unsure of whether it was truly that or just due to the fact he was the only person who understood how you felt. “So is that a no?” You muttered, part of you took his words as a mild rejection, and the other part of you felt stupid for even thinking this might work. He would tell you this is not a fairy tale. You are not Cinderella and he is not Prince Charming. No kiss will make either of you magically awaken into the world you were accustomed to.

The crestfallen look on your face hurt him, he was unsure of what to say. Yes might scare you but a no might anger you, to him there was no safe option.  “What would you do if I kissed you?” He asked back, finally deciding that it might be one of the few safe options on what to do.

You were at a loss for words, did he just ask you what you had asked him. Resisting the urge to scoff, you shrugged before giving him the answer he gave you. “I don’t know.” It gave you a small triumphant feeling to say to him, exactly what he said to you. Part of you wanted to disorient him by saying something bolder, but you were unable to. You instead just relying what he had said to you back to him.

“Do you want to kiss me?” Seokwoo then asked. He had heard your murmuring, and that for some reason mildly terrified you.

This would be an easy question to answer for some, yet you found yourself unable to. Maybe it was having to admit the fact that you had fallen for the diligent business major. Maybe it was the fact that he alluded something he did not before, confidence. The both of you had changed being here. Despite thinking it was not a positive change to start, you began to realize that it was a positive change. He was more carefree and confident. You were even more carefree and you found yourself unable to stress the little things. Maybe this is where your flood of confidence came from, if even only for that moment. “What would you do if I said yes?” You retorted, moving even closer to where Seokwoo was standing.

As the small distance between the two of you was easily closed. You found yourself practically pushed against his chest. Had he not been so tall, you would have been face to face with him. “I would do this.” He muttered, before you felt his lips pressing against yours. The kiss was chaste and ended far too soon for your liking. “What would you do then?”

Maybe the kiss gave you another random shot of confidence. You moved to wrap an arm around Seokwoo’s neck, to keep him from moving back up. “I would do something like this.” You said before connecting your lips to his once more. This kiss lasted much longer, as his hands found their way to your back, and your other arm did as your first did. “What would you do then?” You ask him back, once you pulled away from the kiss.

Had the two of you been paying attention, you would have been able to see your friends somewhat rejoicing. They celebrating their plan working. The two of you however, were too engaged with each other to be paying any attention to them. This being the first time you were together in what felt like weeks.

As his lips met yours again, you began to think to yourself, that maybe this was not so bad. The original thoughts you had of here being a horrible place to be. It was second best to your home, well those thoughts for some reason faded when you were kissing him. Replaced by thoughts of how great this place was, of how it was different, but a good different. It made you think of him, made you think of being carefree, and it made you think of happiness. And here that is what you would get, happiness.

In some part of your mind you knew it was stupid of you. Stupid of you to think that you were somewhat some time traveling Sleeping Beauty that went back in time. Thinking that the kiss of a Prince Charming would help you return. Yet, then again, many of your little plans and ideas to get back home were stupid. Seeing how no matter what you did, nothing ever changed. Things only ever stayed the same. But maybe the same was not as bad as you thought. The predictability of here, and the comfort of him made it feel different.