Late one night, a young boy opened the door of a little girl’s bedroom door. Soft light shone into the dark pink room. He tip toed quietly to the side of the sleeping girl.
“I will be back and make you my bride…” he whispered softly into her ears, kiss her forehead gently and left the room.
--------------------------------10 years later--------------------------------
“Let’s break up.”
19 year-old Choi Hyo Rin looked up to her boyfriend, Park Yoo Chun.
“Heh? What did you say?” she asked him.
“Let’s end our relationship… Let us both go our own way…” he said softly, with a look of regret on his face.
Hyo Rin stared at her boyfriend blankly. She couldn’t register what he had just said; she could not believe what just poured out of his lips.
“WHAT?” Hyo Rin shrieked in disbelieve, about a minute later. Yoo Chun looked at her guiltily for a moment then took a sip off his Long Island.
They had never quarreled. They had been tolerant to each other. HE never once looked at another girl, and HE didn’t even mind SHE looked at other guys. [=_=;;] That particular day was even their 365th day/anniversary of being together. So why break up now?
“You…you have a new girlfriend?” Hyo Rin’s stuttered with her words.
“No…” he answered softly.
“You are bored with me?”
“No…”
“THEN WHAT! Is there anything you don’t like bout me? You can s…” Hyo Rin words were as fast as the train, her heart pounding heavily.
“I have a new boyfriend,” he said finally.
*~*silence*~*
Hyo Rin stared at Yoo Chun with a Did-I-Hear-Wrongly look.
“Ha..ha… Stop kidding, oppa,” Hyo Rin forced out a nervous laugh.
“No I’m not, Rin,” Yoo Chun said seriously. Hyo Rin stopped laughing and gulped down air down her dry throat.
“I…I thought I can escape from abnormality of being a homosexual when I obliged myself to love a girl… but it seemed that it’s impossible… I don’t wanna lie to you any longer, Rin, that I can barely treat you more of a sister…” Yoo Chun said painfully and put his hands on his face, looking down onto the floor.
Hyo Rin jaw must have swept the floor hearing that.
“Yoo…yoo…Chu…”
“YOO CHUN!” a dolphin-like squeak was heard from a distance away. Both of them looked up upon hearing Yoo Chun’s name being called.
A thin guy with cute face sliding passed the crowd towards them smilingly.
He’s thin but had a tough body…cute but charismatic face…he’t cute but isn’t he too manly to compare to a girl? Which part of him did Yoo Chun compared me to?
“YOO CHUNNIE!!” the stranger flung himself at Yoo Chun that was sitting opposite of Hyo Rin, exposing his…
*GASP* THAT WAS WHAT HE COMPARED ME TO! WHAT A KAMO BUTT!!
Sub-consciously Hyo Rin grabbed her own butt. Face flushed with embarrassment and anger.
“Ah, Jun Su ya…” greeted Yoo Chun, giving him a peck on the cheek. Hyo Rin could have just fainted there and then.
--------------------------------------2 hours later--------------------------------------
“Park Yoo Chun you PABO!!! PABO PABO PABOOOOOOO!!!” cursed drunk Hyo Rin while walking aimlessly at the cold street. An urge to throw up came up and she puked at that instant.
“Ugh…” she groaned and fell onto the floor into sub-consciousness. A tall figure appeared beside him, sighed and picked her up, piggy-back her all the way back to her house.
“Oppa…” she mumbled and snuggled into the warm back of the guy.
--------------------------------------The Next Morning--------------------------------------
9 year-old Hyo Rin was sobbing softly while being piggy-backed by a boy.
“Don’t cry ok? We will get your knee treated when we get home. Meanwhile, take this, it’s a magic remedy that will make you feel the pain no longer,” said the boy, giving lithe Hyo Rin a lollipop. Hyo Rin smiled naively.
*Ring Riiinnnnnggggg RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGG*
Hyo Rin woke up in a jump, her head hurt so much it can just explode. She hit her alarm clock to snooze and slowly dragged herself out of bed.
I gotta get a new alarm that doesn’t ring when I didn’t set it…
She went into the bathroom and sleepily turned on the tap to wash her face and brush her teeth.
Who’s that boy that always appears in my dream? He’s always so sweet in my dream...
*brush brush*
Who’s that?
*brush brush*
Who’s that?
*brush brush*
Who’s that?
*brush brush*
Who’s… *GASP*
HOW DID I GET HOME YESTERDAY?!
She rinsed her mouth and ran to search her house. Living room, hallway, porch, balcony…nobody. She shrugged, thinking she must had staggered home all by herself and walked into the kitchen; she looked up and was shocked out of her wits.
A tall man with muscular body and short stylish hairstyle, wearing a baby green hoodie and white pocketed pants standing in front of her, taking out sandwiches she figured he bought. He had such a handsome face, with a warm smile that melted every girl’s heart.
A sudden flash of a boy’s face sprint through her mind… somebody she seemed to have forgotten…
“Oh! Hey, you’re up,” he said. Hyo Rin jumped for a moment. A vague memory of a tall guy picking her up at the street the night before flashed through her mind.
“Ah! Good morning! Sor..sorry for causing you trouble yesterday! I’m…I’m Hyo Rin!” Hyo Rin spluttered nervously, bowing clumsily.
He looked at her interestingly, but with deep disappointment in his heart.
She doesn’t remember me…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“YUNNIE!!” Hyo Rin called out, running towards the tall handsome man that picked her up from the street and brought her home almost a year before. Yun Ho smiled at her as she reached him. Clinging to his arm, they started walking towards the station.
“Mum will be happy to see you, she had been inviting you again and again ever since our last home-visit,” said Hyo Rin. Yun Ho laughed, wrapping his muffler around her to keep her warm from the February cold.
“You’re mum’s cooking is the best, can’t help thinking bout it,” Yun Ho complimented. Hyo Rin snuggled closer to him.
She couldn’t believe that Yun Ho and herself shared the same hometown. She didn’t even know it until he spoke in dialect with her mum the last visit home. And her parents seemed to be know him so well and liked him a lot, she was puzzled but didn’t ask anything, as long as they gave them two a “YES”. She couldn’t explain why, but he had a familiarity of someone she can’t seem to remember of.
That night they returned to Yun Ho’s apartment after dinner with Hyo Rin’s family. Hyo Rin woke up early the next morning to make themselves the first Valentines breakfast together. Yun Ho suddenly barged out of the house hurriedly as she was almost done fixing breakfast.
“YUN…I wonder why he’s in such a rush…” she just mumbled.
Hyo Rin put on a robe and walked out to the balcony to catch some fresh air. Her sight fell on a couple a distance away from the apartment, a tall man and a young lady around her age.
The girl passed something to Yun Ho’s hands, hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hyo Rin heart crashed into pieces when she saw that. She was betrayed. Tears unknowingly formed in her eyes. She went back to the house and sat down on the couch. Holding back her tears.
Yun Ho opened the door and saw Hyo Rin on the couch, and quickly stuffed what was in his hands into the pocket of his jacket.
“Yah! You are awake!” Yun Ho said happily, trying to give her a hug from the back, but was pushed off roughly by Hyo Rin.
“Who was that?” Hyo Rin said coolly, still with her back to him. Yun Ho gulped.
“Er…who? There wasn’t anyone…I was just taking a stroll…HM…What a lovely breakfast!” said Yun Ho, trying to cover up.
What a bad liar…Can’t he be more creative?
Hyo Rin got up and threw the couch pillows at him. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
“YOU LIAR! I SAW YOU GUYS WERE SO INTIMATE!” she grabbed the CDs on the TV table and threw at him.
“WAIT! RIN! WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN!” Yun Ho tried to talk.
“YOU GUYS WERE ALL LIAR! PABO!!!” she unknowingly took a glass decoration and threw it at Yun Ho. It hit him hard on the forehead. He fell back onto the floor and was bleeding.
Hyo Rin stopped and was petrified, ran towards unconscious Yun Ho, shook him panicky.
“OPPA! OPPA! GET UP! GET UP!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
-At the hospital-
Yun Ho had a plastered forehead, but nothing was death-threatening, the doctor assured Hyo Rin. It was just that coincidently Hyo Rin’s throw hit exactly at his old wound.
Old wound? I wonder why…
Hyo Rin had called her parents, asking them to come over as she couldn’t contact Yun Ho’s family. She was confused and troubled to think straight as her lover had not yet wake up. She was worried that her temper had been over-board. She put her head on his right hand and dozed off while waiting for him to wake up. In her sleep, she dreamt, she dreamt of something from long ago…
Something she had once chose to lock up deep in her memory…
----11 years before----
“OPPA WAIT UP!” Hyo Rin ran after Yun Ho who was going to the park near her house.
11 years old Yun Ho was temporarily staying with Hyo Rin’s family when his parents was away overseas, preparing to bring him and his sister along as personal residence there.
It was late November, with some snow just fell the night before. The park was slippery and covered with some ice. Yun Ho scooped up some ice and made several snowballs. He threw one at Hyo Rin, hitting her knitted jumper. Soon after, they had snowball fight.
“HAHAHA! HERE I COME!” Hyo Rin bent down and picked up a “snowball”, and threw it at Yun Ho without checking what it really was.
“OUCH!” Yun Ho shouted in pain when it hit his forehead and bent down holding on tight to his forehead. Hyo Rin figured something was not right and ran to him. It appeared that the “snowball” was a rock! Hyo Rin had not realized that she was out of snowballs supply.
Yun Ho was groaning in pain.
Hyo Rin’s parents took Yun Ho to the hospital and he got 3 stitches on his wound. Hyo Rin was so upset she had hurt her favourite person on earth and locked herself in her room for the rest of the day, dozing off in the end.
When she woke up the next day, Yun Ho was gone. A young girl of her age was traumatized, thinking it was her fault that Yun Ho left. She cried for a few days and in the end, chose to forget him completely and not wanting to meet him again.
Hyo Rin woke with a start when the door was opened roughly and barged in her parents and a girl of her age.
“Oppa! Oppa!” the girl called. Hyo Rin rubbed her eyes and looked at her closely, she looked awfully familiar.
“Ji…Hye…?” she called the girl softly.
Yun Ho’s sister looked at Hyo Rin in surprise.
“Yes! Unnie! It’s me! Ji Hye! Thank god you remember me!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“WHAT!”
Yun Ho was back to Korea after a decade staying overseas. He was back…to fulfill his promise to make Hyo Rin his wife. He was high in hope to meet Hyo Rin as the first place he went after getting down from the plane was her house. The news he got from the mouth of Mrs Choi almost sent him falling into bottomless pit. Hyo Rin, it seemed, had erased him from her memory.
“How…how could this happened…we…we had a promise…” he mumbled sadly. Mrs. Choi gave him a hug.
“She was at a young age, perhaps she was in trauma as you left before you healed. She thought she had caused you to hate her. She cried for days…but after that…she never did mention you again…” Mrs. Choi explained pitifully to Yun Ho.
Yun Ho took a grip and asked for her address, at Seoul where she was working and staying now. He found her house, and saw her popping in and out from there. But…he was afraid to confront her…
God finally gave him chance the year before.
“Good bye, Hyo Rin,” said a guy Yun Ho heard Hyo Rin calling as Yoo Chun, who left hand in hand with a guy not mistakenly called Jun Su. Yun Ho was sitting at a table which was parallel to Hyo Rin’s and had heard the whole break up scene. He stayed and witnessed Hyo Rin drinking heavily, got drunk and finally made her way depressingly out of the Pub.
He tailed her in a distance, fearing she may get into trouble. Hyo Rin stopped by a pillar and shouted like a mad lady.
“Park Yoo Chun you PABO!!! PABO PABO PABOOOOOOO!!!” and threw up soon after, and dropped down sitting on the cold street, appearing to pass out.
“Stupid girl! She’s gonna get sick!” whispered Yun Ho to himself and went to her, taking out his handkerchief and wiped her dirty mouth. Looking at her helpless face and few strands of tears rolling slowly down her cheeks, he sighed, then picked her up and piggy-back her the way back to her house.
“Oppa…” he could hear her mumbled. He smiled and was feeling blissful that Hyo Rin called out for him…even if she couldn’t remember him…a hope appeared in the corner of his heart.
Yun Ho stirred and slowly opened his eyes at 11.30pm. His head a little heavy and eye-sight was blurry.
What a dream…
When he saw Hyo Rin, he quickly tried to explain to Hyo Rin what had happened that morning.
“Sh…I know…it was just Ji Hye…” she said, placing her finger on his lips. “I’m so sorry…for hurting you…”
Yun Ho smiled.
“Again…”
Yun Ho’s expressions turned to surprised.
"Again?" he asked. Hyo Rin nodded.
“You have remembered?” he asked. She nodded again slowly. Then tears started trickling down her cheeks once more.
“Oppa…why did you leave me without telling me last time?” she sobbed. Yun-Ho sat up and rubbed off her tears. He moved closer to her and gently planted his lips on hers. Hyo Rin returned his kiss between sobs. Then Yun Ho broke off and whispered into her ears.
“But I promised to be back to make you my bride…” and planted a kiss on her forehead.
Hyo Rin had a sudden rush of memories in her brain. That very night before Yun Ho left. That very night he made his vow to be back again. That very lips that said those words and kissed her on the forehead on the same night.
Yun Ho reached for his jacket that was beside his bed. He took out a small box in the pocket. That was the reason he met up with Ji Hye that morning. He opened the box, laid there was a simple but beautiful diamond ring.
“Would you marry me?”
Hyo Rin eyes widened with shock and joy at the same time. She was speechless and just nodded. Yun Ho smiled widely and hugged her exclaiming, “YES!”
Yun Ho planted another kiss on Hyo Rin’s lips, this time longer than ever, as if there was no tomorrow.
He had done it; he had made Valentine the most memorable day for the years to come for his beloved that had kept him away for the past 11 years.
“Happy Valentines Day, my love…”
He was back to prove his endless love for her, 11 years later…
Saturday, February 7, 2009
CUPID'S LOST LOVE (AUTHORL: YUNA LUV)
“Thank you, Ae-Rin. I’m so happy now that it worked well with me and Jae Ha. So I guess… This is goodbye, right?”
Well, that was Yoora, one of my clients. She’s now happily united with her true love, and it was time for me to go. This is the cycle I had to go through everyday, every month, and every year after I got this job. And I must say, being a cupid is no playing matter. It is a real job.
Another client left happy, and here I am, walking again to a destination I do not know. I always had instincts to find the people who needed my help. But today, there was none. After walking for a very long distance, I rested my sore feet on a table in an outdoor café. I sat quietly and watched the people that passed in front of the café with no particular interest. Watching them passing me one by one, each either with friends, family, or even lover, I could not help myself from feeling lonely. It had been a while since my resurrection as a cupid. Since then, I had helped many clients to find true love, the love that I ended up dying for, the love that I never truly had.
Nobody here could see me, unless I was the one who approached them first. That literally added to the loneliness that I felt everyday, almost for every second of my second life… But, I wasn’t the one to complain as my boss; Mr. Han was the best boss one could ever have… He was the one who gave me the opportunity to see this world again even if not to live it. He also gave me the chance to meet my love again even if not to love him…
What was I thinking? I need to concentrate and find my next client. I closed my eyes and focused all my senses. Nothing. I opened them back and was shocked to see a very familiar face in front of me. A face that I had missed dearly, the face of my first and true love.
“What are you doing?” Asked the good looking young man with a rather puzzled face. I gasped. I turned my head to check if he was talking to a person behind me, but there was no one else there. How could he… I should have been invisible to him… Or at least, that was what Mr. Han stated in my ‘Cupid Contract’. I looked back at him and asked in return, “You can see me?”
“Of course I can see you. Who could miss seeing you in such a bright coloured dress?” He replied.
I looked at my yellow-coloured dress. Sure it was bright, but I like this dress. It’s my favourite.
“Oh, I’m sorry if my dress’s too bright for you. I’ll go and change it right away.” It was just an excuse. The real reason? I could not look into his eyes anymore without remembering the past. And my past hurt me the most. The capability of him seeing me was just out of this world too. I need to discuss this with Mr. Han.
Before I could walk away, he quickly grabbed me by the arm and apologized, “No, no… It’s not about the dress… I’m sorry if I offended you with that previous statement. Please, don’t go.”
I looked at him. How I wished this meeting would have happened before I died… I took a seat in front of him and waited for him to start.
“Hi, I’m Max. I’m sorry for startling you just now, but your behavior had caught my attention. I found it very inappropriate for a young lady like you to be sitting with both legs on the table, and in public too…”
Wow. He was just as straightforward as I had remembered him. I thought for a while before answering, “I’m sorry. I was just resting my feet… They got sore from the long walk I took…”
“Still, that doesn’t give you the green light to act like that. Be more like a lady.” His eyes looked very determined to make me understand and admit that what I did was wrong. My, he sure is something…
“Okay, I apologize for acting less like a lady. It will never happen again, I promise.” His eyes softened as I recognized my mistake.
“What is your name?”
I was stunned by that question. Looking back, I had just realized that he never knew my name… Well, that’s what you get from unrequited love…
“Ae-Rin…”
“Well, Ae-Rin, Nice to meet you.” For the first time, I touched his large muscular hands. The handshake was brief, yet the feeling that came with the touch stayed with me for a longer time, it even lasted until our meeting the next day…
***
“Hi there, Ae-Rin. It’s nice to see you again.” Max greeted me with a huge grin and those uneven eyes. Surprisingly, my feet dragged me to this café again after I left it for a meeting with Mr. Han. The meeting wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. Even he, the founder of the company, couldn’t explain why Max was the only one who could see me without me approaching him first…
“It’s nice to see you too…”
“So, is this your favourite place to hang out?” Max wondered.
I looked around. “Nope. It is just a place where my feet dragged me to. How about you?”
“Well, what do you know? My feet dragged me here too. I had no control over them this morning. Haha… Maybe we’re both destined to meet here… by our feet.” He laughed at his joke, and I joined him with a light chuckle.
“You’re wearing blue today.”
“Yes, this is also one of my favourite colours, apart from yellow.”
“Hm… Yellow of the sun and blue of the sea… Do you like the beach, Ae-Rin?”
The beach? Why did he suddenly ask me that question? “Yes, the beach is my favourite place to visit, especially to watch the sunrise and the sunset.”
Max looked like he was thinking of something, and then he suggested, “Let’s go to the beach together! Come on, it will be fun! I hear there’s some carnival going on at the beach too. You do like carnivals, don’t you?”
I was surprised by his invitation. Me and him, going to the beach, having fun at the carnival… together? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t it sound like… a date? Could this be the date that I never had? No, I’m exaggerating things… This was just an outing, a friendly outing…
“Yes, that would be great. But how do you plan for us to get there?”
“The bus, silly.” He answered and quickly got to his feet.
“But… but, I don’t have… any money…” Well, that’s the truth. My job doesn’t pay me money, but it pays in giving me a happy afterlife in heaven. Well, before that, I had to help at least a thousand clients before enjoying myself in heaven. And now, the numbers had only reached one hundred something… Still a long way to go… I sighed softly.
“Don’t worry about that. Just have fun with me, that’s all.” He said while urging me to stand up and follow him to the bus stop. Obediently, I followed him and waited for our bus to arrive.
It took us almost an hour to reach our destination as we took the seats at the back of the bus. I felt very tired from lack of sleep as I had stayed up all night trying to figure out why the person that was seating beside me was able to see me. I dozed off a few times and eventually fell asleep right after the bus took its fifth turning. While I was asleep, I dreamt. I dreamt that someone caressed my face lovingly and pulled the misplaced hair back into its place slowly. I dreamt that someone was kissing my forehead, and it went down, down… But before those tender lips could be in touch with mine, the bus hit the brakes and I was forced to end that wonderful dream. As I opened my heavy eyes, I saw Max turning his face away from me rather quickly. What’s up with him?
We were greeted by many colourful balloons that seemed to be flooding the carnival. There were so many booths that we had a hard time to choose which one to stop by first. My gaze fell onto a booth offering its visitors a chance to do a song dedication. Actually, it wasn’t the booth that caught my eye, but one of the posters hanging at one of its walls did. It was the picture of Max, along with his friends: Micky, U-Know, Hero, and Xiah.
“Don’t you have to go to work today?” I turned to face Max who was just about to head for the cotton candy booth. He stopped in his steps and looked at me before he answered, “No, I got the day off. Could you just stop worrying about anything and start having fun with me?” He looked like a cute little boy who wanted to ask me to play with him. My lips curled into a smile and replied, “Sure. As you wish, master.”
He took my hand and made me run all the way to a booth that sold us drinks. After getting two cups of cold punch, we headed to a playground near the entrance of the carnival and sipped our drinks quietly on the swings.
“Want me to push you?” Asked Max with a grin that he tried very hard to hide. What’s he up to now, I wondered.
“Okay...” I put my empty cup on the ground before taking a firm grip on the ropes of the swing.
“1… 2… 3!” He pushed me gently, up to reach for the sky. I can feel the wind blowing on my face each time the swing went higher and higher after each push. I never had a chance on a swing since when I was 10 years old, which seemed such a long time ago.
I turned to look at Max but he wasn’t there. Instead, he was already on the swing with me, putting his feet where my little figure did not touch the swing. He laughed loudly and crazily before suddenly jumping off the swing, unfortunately, taking me along with him to touch the ground with a loud thud. Actually, he was the only one who touched the ground in his attempt to protect me from the impact. I was so shocked by his previous action that not a single muscle in me moved away from the position that we were both in now.
He looked at me, and I looked at him. There was silence, a very comfortable silence. We just stared into each other’s eyes, until my ears suddenly caught light giggles from the children that were playing around in the playground. My senses came back to me as I had just realized that I was on top of him for a whole of ten minutes! Oh my, I never thought a cupid like me could blush like this. My face became hot, and the warmth was much like what I was feeling in my heart. I loved this man, I truly did.
After dusting off all the sand off his back, he pulled me to another stall. This time, it was a stall where you could win yourself a big fluffy teddy bear or just a cute keychain of mismatched slippers. Max looked at me and whispered, “I’ll get you that teddy for sure.” I was about to say “You don’t have to,” when he took the ball from the vendor and started to play the game. I watched silently as he tried for the second round and at last was able to win me that teddy bear. That fluffy and cuddly teddy bear. I hugged it through the carnival as we continued to stroll around, playing games and enjoying ourselves.
When it was about the time for us to leave, Max grabbed my hand and led me to the beach. “Not yet, we still got plenty of time…” He said while ushering me to a spot on the beach to sit on the soft and warm sands. He made sure that I was comfortable before landing down beside me to enjoy the view.
Oh my God. My eyes went teary as I watched the sun set at the far horizon. My wish had just come true. But that was not even close to the best part of it. Just as the last of the sun had vanished from sight, Max leaned closer and gave me a kiss. His lips softly embraced mine, as a longest, softest and sweetest kiss in the history of first kisses was being made. As a cupid, I should tell you that it was true.
Pulling himself away rather reluctantly, he whispered his love to me.
“I love you, Ae-Rin. And I want to be together with you, forever.”
I must be dreaming again, continuing the dream that I had on the bus. Though I find it very wonderful, I couldn’t help but feeling that something was wrong. That I should not be here. That I should not have kissed him in return. Oh my, what have I done? I quickly got up, and without looking at him, I replied, “It’s late. Let’s head back.”
He too got to his feet and he wrapped his hands around me. “No, not before you give me an answer. I had dreams, Ae-Rin… Wonderful dreams about you. I fell in love, though we only met in dreams… Who are you, Ae-Rin? I feel so attracted to you… What spell had you put me into?”
I bit my lower lip as a tear fell down my check, burning it with guilt. “I’m sorry, Max… I’m so sorry… But… I can’t return your feelings…”
Max turned me to face him. I didn’t dare to look into his eyes, but Max slowly pulled my chin up so that our eyes could meet. At that point, I could not hold back my tears any longer. One by one it fell, as I tried to explain everything to him.
“I’m a cupid, Max. No, I’m not joking. Yes, I did once live this life like you, but now, there is no place for me anymore in this world. We cannot be together. I only existed to assist, not to live. I’m not real anymore; I’m just a mere memory… I died, Max.”
“No… That’s not true… Here.” He gave me another loving kiss. “If you are not real, then why could I do that?”
Yeah, why was it that he was able to touch, feel, and even kiss me? “I… don’t know… You shouldn’t have seen me in the first place, but yesterday…” I looked away from him, unable to answer.
“Then you must be real! You are real!”
“No, I’m not, Max.”
Max looked at me with questioning eyes. Those eyes… They always told me the truth about you… And I guess it’s time for me to tell you the truth in return.
“Do you remember middle high?”
“Yes, why?”
“I went to the same school as you.”
“Really? I didn’t see you anywhere around the school at that time…”
“Well, who would notice a four-eyed girl who wore the same sweater to school almost everyday during winter?” I let myself loose from his embrace and walked nearer to the edge of the water.
“Everyday, I saw you and your friends. Everyday, I gathered up my strength and bravery just to try and walk up to you to confess.” I turned to my side where he stood, listening to my every word trying to understand everything. “I loved you, Max, but we were never destined to be together…”
“What happened?”
I watched as the wave splashed on my feet, making it wet. My body trembled at the memory of that evening. The evening when all of ‘that’ happened. The evening of my death… The wave splashed again as if it was trying to say: ‘It’s okay. You are strong now. Tell him…’
I wiped my tears before answering, “I was about to run after you one evening, to give you the chocolate that I made myself, when… when…”
“When…?”
“He was drunk, Max! He shouldn’t be! Not when I had finally gathered enough courage to go after you!” I continued to tell the rest of the story between sobs. Max pulled me for a warm hug, as I told him the tale of my life. “The lorry driver hit me… in his attempt to brake at the red light… I was drenched in blood, as you continued to walk away… You were already too far away to notice the accident… You left me, together… with my last breath…”
The front of his shirt became wet with my tears. But he didn’t mind. He continued to hug me, and giving me comforting words. His sweet words…
“It’s okay. You can cry all you want… So, you really did… die?”
“Ye…s…”
He gulped and exclaimed, “I don’t care. You alive or not, I still want you! Even if our meeting was a bit too late, I love you, Ae-Rin.”
I pulled myself away from him. “No, you shouldn’t be. This is all wrong. I don’t want to hurt you any further. We cannot be together, Max.” I started to head for the road. It’s time for us to be apart again, my dear…
“Why, Ae-Rin,? Why?”
“We just… can’t…” Tears accompanied me with every step that I took. As I was crossing the road, a lorry passed by and quickly hit the brakes.
I looked behind me and there was Max, chasing after me and was in the lorry’s way. I jumped myself at him and pushed him to the roadside. I watched as the lights from the lorry came nearer and nearer to me and the beeping horns deafening my ears. I looked at Max’s terrified face. At that time, I wondered… Could I die again, for the second time?
***
“Hey, Max. Wake up! You had been sleeping for 24 hours already.” Xiah’s voice could be heard from the living room, apart from the noise from his video game.
Max slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them, still feeling sleepy. Suddenly, a pillow was thrown to him at hit his head.
“Wake up, sleepy head. Even I had woken up before you.” This time it was Micky, on his way to the living room to join Xiah.
“Are you okay? You don’t have a fever, do you?” Asked U-Know with a concerned look.
“No, hyung. I’m fine.”
“Good. Don’t fall sick again or we have to cancel our photo shoot tomorrow.” U-Know grabbed a newspaper and sat himself on the sofa to read the latest news.
“Oh, if you’re hungry, there are some leftovers on the table. I’ve heated them up for you.” Jae told Max before disappearing into his own room.
Max looked around him. There were no more beaches, no more beeping horns, and no more Ae-Rin… He was in his own room, and that led him to a conclusion: “What a dream…”
As Max was sitting comfortably on his bed reading his favourite book later that day, there was someone out his bedroom window looking, observing him… She cuddled the fluffy and cuddly teddy bear and kissed it goodbye. When Max went out of his room to have dinner, she slipped inside and left it there, to lie on his bed together with the chocolates that she made. She looked around; inhaling his scent with every breath she took. “Goodbye, Max. I love you.”
Before she left, the calendar caught her attention. Today was the 14th of February… The day she almost had her true love.
“And Happy Valentine’s Day to you, my love.”
Well, that was Yoora, one of my clients. She’s now happily united with her true love, and it was time for me to go. This is the cycle I had to go through everyday, every month, and every year after I got this job. And I must say, being a cupid is no playing matter. It is a real job.
Another client left happy, and here I am, walking again to a destination I do not know. I always had instincts to find the people who needed my help. But today, there was none. After walking for a very long distance, I rested my sore feet on a table in an outdoor café. I sat quietly and watched the people that passed in front of the café with no particular interest. Watching them passing me one by one, each either with friends, family, or even lover, I could not help myself from feeling lonely. It had been a while since my resurrection as a cupid. Since then, I had helped many clients to find true love, the love that I ended up dying for, the love that I never truly had.
Nobody here could see me, unless I was the one who approached them first. That literally added to the loneliness that I felt everyday, almost for every second of my second life… But, I wasn’t the one to complain as my boss; Mr. Han was the best boss one could ever have… He was the one who gave me the opportunity to see this world again even if not to live it. He also gave me the chance to meet my love again even if not to love him…
What was I thinking? I need to concentrate and find my next client. I closed my eyes and focused all my senses. Nothing. I opened them back and was shocked to see a very familiar face in front of me. A face that I had missed dearly, the face of my first and true love.
“What are you doing?” Asked the good looking young man with a rather puzzled face. I gasped. I turned my head to check if he was talking to a person behind me, but there was no one else there. How could he… I should have been invisible to him… Or at least, that was what Mr. Han stated in my ‘Cupid Contract’. I looked back at him and asked in return, “You can see me?”
“Of course I can see you. Who could miss seeing you in such a bright coloured dress?” He replied.
I looked at my yellow-coloured dress. Sure it was bright, but I like this dress. It’s my favourite.
“Oh, I’m sorry if my dress’s too bright for you. I’ll go and change it right away.” It was just an excuse. The real reason? I could not look into his eyes anymore without remembering the past. And my past hurt me the most. The capability of him seeing me was just out of this world too. I need to discuss this with Mr. Han.
Before I could walk away, he quickly grabbed me by the arm and apologized, “No, no… It’s not about the dress… I’m sorry if I offended you with that previous statement. Please, don’t go.”
I looked at him. How I wished this meeting would have happened before I died… I took a seat in front of him and waited for him to start.
“Hi, I’m Max. I’m sorry for startling you just now, but your behavior had caught my attention. I found it very inappropriate for a young lady like you to be sitting with both legs on the table, and in public too…”
Wow. He was just as straightforward as I had remembered him. I thought for a while before answering, “I’m sorry. I was just resting my feet… They got sore from the long walk I took…”
“Still, that doesn’t give you the green light to act like that. Be more like a lady.” His eyes looked very determined to make me understand and admit that what I did was wrong. My, he sure is something…
“Okay, I apologize for acting less like a lady. It will never happen again, I promise.” His eyes softened as I recognized my mistake.
“What is your name?”
I was stunned by that question. Looking back, I had just realized that he never knew my name… Well, that’s what you get from unrequited love…
“Ae-Rin…”
“Well, Ae-Rin, Nice to meet you.” For the first time, I touched his large muscular hands. The handshake was brief, yet the feeling that came with the touch stayed with me for a longer time, it even lasted until our meeting the next day…
***
“Hi there, Ae-Rin. It’s nice to see you again.” Max greeted me with a huge grin and those uneven eyes. Surprisingly, my feet dragged me to this café again after I left it for a meeting with Mr. Han. The meeting wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. Even he, the founder of the company, couldn’t explain why Max was the only one who could see me without me approaching him first…
“It’s nice to see you too…”
“So, is this your favourite place to hang out?” Max wondered.
I looked around. “Nope. It is just a place where my feet dragged me to. How about you?”
“Well, what do you know? My feet dragged me here too. I had no control over them this morning. Haha… Maybe we’re both destined to meet here… by our feet.” He laughed at his joke, and I joined him with a light chuckle.
“You’re wearing blue today.”
“Yes, this is also one of my favourite colours, apart from yellow.”
“Hm… Yellow of the sun and blue of the sea… Do you like the beach, Ae-Rin?”
The beach? Why did he suddenly ask me that question? “Yes, the beach is my favourite place to visit, especially to watch the sunrise and the sunset.”
Max looked like he was thinking of something, and then he suggested, “Let’s go to the beach together! Come on, it will be fun! I hear there’s some carnival going on at the beach too. You do like carnivals, don’t you?”
I was surprised by his invitation. Me and him, going to the beach, having fun at the carnival… together? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t it sound like… a date? Could this be the date that I never had? No, I’m exaggerating things… This was just an outing, a friendly outing…
“Yes, that would be great. But how do you plan for us to get there?”
“The bus, silly.” He answered and quickly got to his feet.
“But… but, I don’t have… any money…” Well, that’s the truth. My job doesn’t pay me money, but it pays in giving me a happy afterlife in heaven. Well, before that, I had to help at least a thousand clients before enjoying myself in heaven. And now, the numbers had only reached one hundred something… Still a long way to go… I sighed softly.
“Don’t worry about that. Just have fun with me, that’s all.” He said while urging me to stand up and follow him to the bus stop. Obediently, I followed him and waited for our bus to arrive.
It took us almost an hour to reach our destination as we took the seats at the back of the bus. I felt very tired from lack of sleep as I had stayed up all night trying to figure out why the person that was seating beside me was able to see me. I dozed off a few times and eventually fell asleep right after the bus took its fifth turning. While I was asleep, I dreamt. I dreamt that someone caressed my face lovingly and pulled the misplaced hair back into its place slowly. I dreamt that someone was kissing my forehead, and it went down, down… But before those tender lips could be in touch with mine, the bus hit the brakes and I was forced to end that wonderful dream. As I opened my heavy eyes, I saw Max turning his face away from me rather quickly. What’s up with him?
We were greeted by many colourful balloons that seemed to be flooding the carnival. There were so many booths that we had a hard time to choose which one to stop by first. My gaze fell onto a booth offering its visitors a chance to do a song dedication. Actually, it wasn’t the booth that caught my eye, but one of the posters hanging at one of its walls did. It was the picture of Max, along with his friends: Micky, U-Know, Hero, and Xiah.
“Don’t you have to go to work today?” I turned to face Max who was just about to head for the cotton candy booth. He stopped in his steps and looked at me before he answered, “No, I got the day off. Could you just stop worrying about anything and start having fun with me?” He looked like a cute little boy who wanted to ask me to play with him. My lips curled into a smile and replied, “Sure. As you wish, master.”
He took my hand and made me run all the way to a booth that sold us drinks. After getting two cups of cold punch, we headed to a playground near the entrance of the carnival and sipped our drinks quietly on the swings.
“Want me to push you?” Asked Max with a grin that he tried very hard to hide. What’s he up to now, I wondered.
“Okay...” I put my empty cup on the ground before taking a firm grip on the ropes of the swing.
“1… 2… 3!” He pushed me gently, up to reach for the sky. I can feel the wind blowing on my face each time the swing went higher and higher after each push. I never had a chance on a swing since when I was 10 years old, which seemed such a long time ago.
I turned to look at Max but he wasn’t there. Instead, he was already on the swing with me, putting his feet where my little figure did not touch the swing. He laughed loudly and crazily before suddenly jumping off the swing, unfortunately, taking me along with him to touch the ground with a loud thud. Actually, he was the only one who touched the ground in his attempt to protect me from the impact. I was so shocked by his previous action that not a single muscle in me moved away from the position that we were both in now.
He looked at me, and I looked at him. There was silence, a very comfortable silence. We just stared into each other’s eyes, until my ears suddenly caught light giggles from the children that were playing around in the playground. My senses came back to me as I had just realized that I was on top of him for a whole of ten minutes! Oh my, I never thought a cupid like me could blush like this. My face became hot, and the warmth was much like what I was feeling in my heart. I loved this man, I truly did.
After dusting off all the sand off his back, he pulled me to another stall. This time, it was a stall where you could win yourself a big fluffy teddy bear or just a cute keychain of mismatched slippers. Max looked at me and whispered, “I’ll get you that teddy for sure.” I was about to say “You don’t have to,” when he took the ball from the vendor and started to play the game. I watched silently as he tried for the second round and at last was able to win me that teddy bear. That fluffy and cuddly teddy bear. I hugged it through the carnival as we continued to stroll around, playing games and enjoying ourselves.
When it was about the time for us to leave, Max grabbed my hand and led me to the beach. “Not yet, we still got plenty of time…” He said while ushering me to a spot on the beach to sit on the soft and warm sands. He made sure that I was comfortable before landing down beside me to enjoy the view.
Oh my God. My eyes went teary as I watched the sun set at the far horizon. My wish had just come true. But that was not even close to the best part of it. Just as the last of the sun had vanished from sight, Max leaned closer and gave me a kiss. His lips softly embraced mine, as a longest, softest and sweetest kiss in the history of first kisses was being made. As a cupid, I should tell you that it was true.
Pulling himself away rather reluctantly, he whispered his love to me.
“I love you, Ae-Rin. And I want to be together with you, forever.”
I must be dreaming again, continuing the dream that I had on the bus. Though I find it very wonderful, I couldn’t help but feeling that something was wrong. That I should not be here. That I should not have kissed him in return. Oh my, what have I done? I quickly got up, and without looking at him, I replied, “It’s late. Let’s head back.”
He too got to his feet and he wrapped his hands around me. “No, not before you give me an answer. I had dreams, Ae-Rin… Wonderful dreams about you. I fell in love, though we only met in dreams… Who are you, Ae-Rin? I feel so attracted to you… What spell had you put me into?”
I bit my lower lip as a tear fell down my check, burning it with guilt. “I’m sorry, Max… I’m so sorry… But… I can’t return your feelings…”
Max turned me to face him. I didn’t dare to look into his eyes, but Max slowly pulled my chin up so that our eyes could meet. At that point, I could not hold back my tears any longer. One by one it fell, as I tried to explain everything to him.
“I’m a cupid, Max. No, I’m not joking. Yes, I did once live this life like you, but now, there is no place for me anymore in this world. We cannot be together. I only existed to assist, not to live. I’m not real anymore; I’m just a mere memory… I died, Max.”
“No… That’s not true… Here.” He gave me another loving kiss. “If you are not real, then why could I do that?”
Yeah, why was it that he was able to touch, feel, and even kiss me? “I… don’t know… You shouldn’t have seen me in the first place, but yesterday…” I looked away from him, unable to answer.
“Then you must be real! You are real!”
“No, I’m not, Max.”
Max looked at me with questioning eyes. Those eyes… They always told me the truth about you… And I guess it’s time for me to tell you the truth in return.
“Do you remember middle high?”
“Yes, why?”
“I went to the same school as you.”
“Really? I didn’t see you anywhere around the school at that time…”
“Well, who would notice a four-eyed girl who wore the same sweater to school almost everyday during winter?” I let myself loose from his embrace and walked nearer to the edge of the water.
“Everyday, I saw you and your friends. Everyday, I gathered up my strength and bravery just to try and walk up to you to confess.” I turned to my side where he stood, listening to my every word trying to understand everything. “I loved you, Max, but we were never destined to be together…”
“What happened?”
I watched as the wave splashed on my feet, making it wet. My body trembled at the memory of that evening. The evening when all of ‘that’ happened. The evening of my death… The wave splashed again as if it was trying to say: ‘It’s okay. You are strong now. Tell him…’
I wiped my tears before answering, “I was about to run after you one evening, to give you the chocolate that I made myself, when… when…”
“When…?”
“He was drunk, Max! He shouldn’t be! Not when I had finally gathered enough courage to go after you!” I continued to tell the rest of the story between sobs. Max pulled me for a warm hug, as I told him the tale of my life. “The lorry driver hit me… in his attempt to brake at the red light… I was drenched in blood, as you continued to walk away… You were already too far away to notice the accident… You left me, together… with my last breath…”
The front of his shirt became wet with my tears. But he didn’t mind. He continued to hug me, and giving me comforting words. His sweet words…
“It’s okay. You can cry all you want… So, you really did… die?”
“Ye…s…”
He gulped and exclaimed, “I don’t care. You alive or not, I still want you! Even if our meeting was a bit too late, I love you, Ae-Rin.”
I pulled myself away from him. “No, you shouldn’t be. This is all wrong. I don’t want to hurt you any further. We cannot be together, Max.” I started to head for the road. It’s time for us to be apart again, my dear…
“Why, Ae-Rin,? Why?”
“We just… can’t…” Tears accompanied me with every step that I took. As I was crossing the road, a lorry passed by and quickly hit the brakes.
I looked behind me and there was Max, chasing after me and was in the lorry’s way. I jumped myself at him and pushed him to the roadside. I watched as the lights from the lorry came nearer and nearer to me and the beeping horns deafening my ears. I looked at Max’s terrified face. At that time, I wondered… Could I die again, for the second time?
***
“Hey, Max. Wake up! You had been sleeping for 24 hours already.” Xiah’s voice could be heard from the living room, apart from the noise from his video game.
Max slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them, still feeling sleepy. Suddenly, a pillow was thrown to him at hit his head.
“Wake up, sleepy head. Even I had woken up before you.” This time it was Micky, on his way to the living room to join Xiah.
“Are you okay? You don’t have a fever, do you?” Asked U-Know with a concerned look.
“No, hyung. I’m fine.”
“Good. Don’t fall sick again or we have to cancel our photo shoot tomorrow.” U-Know grabbed a newspaper and sat himself on the sofa to read the latest news.
“Oh, if you’re hungry, there are some leftovers on the table. I’ve heated them up for you.” Jae told Max before disappearing into his own room.
Max looked around him. There were no more beaches, no more beeping horns, and no more Ae-Rin… He was in his own room, and that led him to a conclusion: “What a dream…”
As Max was sitting comfortably on his bed reading his favourite book later that day, there was someone out his bedroom window looking, observing him… She cuddled the fluffy and cuddly teddy bear and kissed it goodbye. When Max went out of his room to have dinner, she slipped inside and left it there, to lie on his bed together with the chocolates that she made. She looked around; inhaling his scent with every breath she took. “Goodbye, Max. I love you.”
Before she left, the calendar caught her attention. Today was the 14th of February… The day she almost had her true love.
“And Happy Valentine’s Day to you, my love.”
DBSK/Tohoshinki Lovers One Shot Writing Contest
Here are the entries for the very first DBSK/Tohoshinki Lovers One Shot Writing Contest . . . .
Hope all of you will have a wonderful time reading all the entries and please do not forget to leave your comments and vote for the story that you want to win.
1. Cupid's Lost Love
2. 11 Years Of Forgotten Valentines
3. My Dream With You
4. My Valentine's Day
5. S.O.S
6. The Bitter Sweet Reunion, A Sweet Romance
DBSK/Tohoshinki Lovers GPX Contest Entries
Here are the entries for the very first DBSK/Tohoshinki Lovers GPX Contest . . . .
NOTE: SOME OF THE ENTRIES MAY HAVE SOME SMALL IRREGULARITIES IN THEIR PICS THAT ARE QUITE NOTICEABLE, THIS WAS DUE TO THE EDITING OF THE CREATORS' NAMES. HOPE THAT THIS SMALL MATTER DOESN'T AFFECT YOUR OVER ALL IMPRESSION OF THE ENTRIES.
Hope all of you will have a wonderful time viewing all the entries and please do not forget to give out comments and vote for the GPX design that you want to win.
ENTRY 1
ENTRY 2
ENTRY 3
ENTRY 4
ENTRY 5
ENTRY 6
ENTRY 7
ENTRY 8
ENTRY 9
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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