Jungkook never liked losing. Be it for anything or against anyone. The only loss he could accept willingly so far is to Namjoon in their many physical combat trainings. Even that will get him to sulk for about 10 minutes. Tonight, however, he's been feeling like the biggest loser for 30 minutes straight.

Neither Oh Sehun's hysteric face in the water or the ride from the harbor back into Dukke have failed on making him feel any better, but he's keeping the emotion at bay just so it won't rain. She's gonna walk back home so it'll only make me feel worse!

She looked a little lost. And scared. Is it because I was there? Or that she saw right through me? Did she noticed how I barely touched her date? If she had, is she scared of me then? Is she gonna tell anyone? Was it a bad move to just disappear like that? What then - should I have helped to asshole after he insulted me like that?? 

These question loops in his mind and as he passes by his old man's garage on the way to his own house, he notices that the light is still on.

"Appa," He called upon entering. His father is sitting on the wooden desk, holding a hex key and a carved, wooden box. "What are you doing?"

"Ahh...your mom complained that the music doesn't sound the same anymore. I'm fixing it," The elder looks up only for a second before focusing back to the task at hand.

"Why are you using that? You know you can just make it work again in a second," He laughs.

"I have hands. Would be a shame if I don't use it," Hmm...I guess he's right. "How's the festival? Did you sell a lot?"

"It's fine," He replies with a small voice, reminded again of his own foolishness before he left.

Was I wrong to interfere? Noona's probably right - maybe I shouldn't have done anything! I mean...wasn't it the right thing to do? She clearly asked him to stop! I was fine to just sit back and watch over her...admire her. Why did she even went with him in the first place? He isn't right for her!

He shook his head and proceeds to sit next to his father. "Noona sold out everything,"

"That's good! Oh, before I forget...your eomma wants to make some kind of herbal tea for Hee to help with her sleeping. She asked for some passionflower, can you grow it?"

"I don't know what it looks like,"

"Can you find out tomorrow? Ask Chim to go with you," Oh...he would just love that!! Any excuse to talk to his ex again - God, I wish my love life's that exciting! "You seem different...anything wrong?"

"It's...nothing..."

His father's silent for a minute or two, then places the musical box on the desk. "You're thinking about getting out again?"

Hardly. Come to think of it, the thought now seems to be pushed farther away, replaced with something else. Someone else, to be exact! "No..."

"You know...you've been living on your own for four years now, but don't you forget that me and eomma raised you before then, so I know something's bothering you,"

It makes him feel like a kid again, but his father is right. Who is he trying to fool? Of course his parents knows him best but how can he talk to them about this? How can he talk to anyone at all about his confusing attraction to Lisa?

"I told you...you can leave if you want to. It's your time anyway. But you boys...aishh...you're so stubborn! Just because Joon tells you something, doesn't mean he's right,"

But he is...I mean, partly he is. If I go now, I'll probably won't get to see appa and eomma until it's too late. Joon hyung...all of them are gonna think that I'm selfish - that I don't care about my own parents, what more about them!

"I can wait, it's not a big deal,"

"Then what is it?"

Lately, he's been wondering how many times this story has played out before. If it has ever at all been played out...like a game of chess where you keep on losing. He's been taught that under Seongja's sun, no new passion lives. Just a need for survival...and to keep surviving.

"Appa," He carefully dissects his words. "You said that when you met eomma, you fell for her at first sight, right?"

"She bumped into me...and she was beautiful. Still is...but if you'd seen her then, it's hard for anyone not to fall for her,"

"Okay...and what if..." He unconsciously rubs the back of his neck. "What if you'd met her in Sanheoli then? What would you have done?"

His father gives him a fleeting quizzical look. "That's an odd question,"

"Is it?" Jungkook laughs nervously. "It just popped in my head - forget it,"

"I never thought of it before but I guess...I should just admire her from a far,"

Ahh yes...of course! This is textbook stuff - why did I even ask??

"Should...I can't say it's what I would've done," He looks back up to the old man, finding a little smile at the edge of his lips. "Love makes us do things...crazy - and sometimes, stupid things. Look at me now, I'm fixing this thing at midnight just because your mother's used to play it before she sleeps. I could've waited until tomorrow but the thought made me restless,"

That's nice...I mean, it's always nice to hear him talk this way, isn't it? Jungkook's father is only the fourth among his brothers - the 'yeonsangs' - but he was always looked up on any decision-making and advices. The elder has always been the wise and patient one, maybe that's why. His father sighed before getting off the desk.

"I'm young, but I'm old, Kook. I forget a lot of things these days, but she reminds me. Who I am...where I'm from and where I'm going. I know that it doesn't seem that way to you now, but life is really short for us. We don't live that long so the best we can do is try. Try to feel as much as we can, as normally as we can. I'm not sure what's going on in your life these days and if you need to talk, me and eomma are just a few walks away,"

"I don't know if I can talk about it...I kinda know the answer already," He lets out an embarrassed laugh.

"You can try...I might surprise you,"

Tensed, Jungkook starts fidgeting with his fingers. "I know you said that it's a blessing...our powers...my power. It's just that sometimes...sometimes I wish that things could've been different for us. That we didn't have to carry it like a burden. I hate this feeling...like I'm bound to feel bad whenever I make it rain or cold. There's no way for me to feel normal at all,"

"Kook," His father held his shoulder. "No one's blaming your feelings on things -"

"I know no one's said it to my face,"

"You, my son, is even more gifted than you think. See, I never ask you or Jimin to strive for extraordinary lives. You boys are already a blessing to me and your eomma. You - you cry, and the sky cries with you. The ground comes alive when you're the happiest. Everything around you responds to your feelings. You're already a marvel...a wonder, why would you see it as a burden?"

"I just..." He sighs. "I just wanna be normal,"

"You know...every so often, we say or think that we wish things could be different. We dream that we can somehow return to the past and change the course of all this. I had that too sometimes, when I think about death and how much it scares me. But then I thought, if things hadn't been that exact same way, then I probably won't even get a chance to see how beautiful this life could be. I wouldn't be able to see all the amazing things that we had done, or could've done. Now what a waste would that wish be?"

He's right. Of course he's right. They say the grass is always greener on the other side...I just wish I could see the greens here too.

"There'll be times when you feel like you're trapped, like there's no way out. Kook, there's always a way out. No matter what life you live, there'll be good and bad. Both beautiful and ugly. I'll tell you a secret on how to live it normally, in the best way we can," His father smiled.

"What is it?"

"Courage in solving the mazes. In all of your phases. Everyone does the same - no matter how old you are or how long your life is...be brave, Kook. We're all born the same way and when we die, we'll end up the same too. Now, Seongja didn't sacrifice himself for us to be 'normal'. Don't worry about what your cousins will think, you're the one who needs to trust you, believe in you. What good is a life told by everyone else except ourselves?"

...

Sanheoli was empty and I was left alone. Where was everyone? I must've walked for miles looking for somebody - anybody - but there was none. And I still ended up at the same place...at the edge of the forest...Dukke.

The trees danced and sway in unison. Its lace of leaves sounded fresh and crispy as the Eden-greens wave along the soft wind. There were sounds of carolling birds from somewhere high above the tree tops...but I couldn't find any. And they then whispered out my name.

The incident of last night still feels a little surreal but that dream occupies most of her mind. Sure, it's been awkward with Sehun at work...the fact that none of them wanted to talk about it made it so. I mean, what can I say? Sorry for leaving you all drenched in salt water but you did try to force me into kissing you??

The thought was so irritating that she had to leave the shop early and met with her best friend. Chaeyoung was leaving the house when she caught her, thankfully. Now making their way to deliver some things to the friend's parents' store, she updated the girl about Spring Festival.

"I still can't believe he did that," Chaeyoung rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "Gosh, I feel so bad now! I've been telling you to give him a chance but he turned out to be such an ass -"

"No, don't say that! How could you have known anyway?" She tries to redirect the friend again.

"He probably bragged about it to his friends - I swear, if I hear anything at all, I'll slap the hell out of him for you!"

"That's really not necessary, Chae," She laughs nervously because honestly, she's not sure if her friend can even reach up that high! "So there's this thing that I heard -"

"The nerve of Jimin though - trying to fight him! Sehun's a lot taller and bigger than he is, what was he thinking??"

Lisa opens her mouth to speak but from the looks of Chaeyoung's frown and pink cheeks, her amusement shifts. "Is that you...worrying about him?"

"No!" Her friend stopped walking. "It's just me being reminded of how stupid he is!"

Mm hmm...of course. Lisa purses her lips into a straight line, suppressing the urge to laugh. "Why did you guys broke up, anyway?" She resumes their walk into the alley which leads to Park's Bloom.

"It's stupid...just like him," The eye-roll is paired with a pout. "He was all sweet and the next, he said he can't see me anymore,"

"Suddenly? Why?" Lisa hugs the brown bag filled with dried, recycled paper tighter on her chest as it feels a little heavier than before.

"Hell, I don't know! I guess it dawned on him that he's been going out with only one girl for two months - must've felt forever for those boys -"

"Hey, Chae," The voice made both feet turned.

Lisa stood still as she's met with Jungkook and his brother. There are some moments that she's being reminded of as his gaze is fixed on her, but she told herself to just breathe in and out calmly. Last night was too embarrassing for her and she just can't afford to lose more face than she already has!

"The hell do you want??" Obviously, Chaeyoung has no problem getting her claws out!

Jimin's smile gets cheekier as he struts confidently forward. "Always so feisty...just as how I remember you," 

Okay...this seems a little personal -

"Any forms of flattery is unwelcome, thank you! I already hate you," Wow...she really doesn't hold back -

"Aww I'm hurt!" Jimin stopped only a feet away from her friend, holding one hand on his chest and the other in the pocket of his jeans. "But it's you, so I'll take whatever I can get,"

The sudden change in Chaeyoung's expression made her uncomfortable so Lisa shifts her eyes down to her ground.

"I need help...we're looking for some Passionflowers...do you have some?"

"Depends...what'll I get?" Now, why does it sound like she's flirting with him? 

"I'd say I'll treat you dinner...but you'll probably say no so..."

"Ask and I'll surprise you," Okay...? What happened to 'I already hate you'??

"Have dinner with me,"

This is so awkward - why am I here, so close to these flirty exchange of whispers between exes?? She looks up and Jungkook is still staring at her. His brown eyes are twinkling, as if he too finds humor in Lisa's stiff stance of being in between the two. When Chaeyoung decided to entertain her so-called 'hatred' for Jimin and continues walking close beside him, she knew she was left with no other option than to just follow behind.

"I'm sorry about last night," Jungkook's voice came shortly after. 

She turns only to find him catching up to her side. "No," She lets out a nervous laugh. "I should be the one to apologize. He was rude to you,"

"Let's just agree that he owes both of us an apology then," He grins. Cutely.

"I have questions though," She said after a few nods. 

"Mm...I bet you do," There's a secret behind that playful smile, she could see it clearly. This guy has been nothing short of peculiar since the first time they met, yet no matter the many times they had been this close, she's still unable to unravel anything.

"You have your moods...I have my questions. And if your sudden helps and unnecessary apologies is what I think it means, we should start being honest with each other, right?"

"What did you think it means?"

"That you wanna be friends...in your own weird ways,"

He sighed a few laughs and it made her feel a little better. "Okay...so let's say we're friends...you'll accept my moods and I -"

"Answer my questions," She returned the grin and saw his lips parting. His eyes - "You need to tell me how you do that,"

"Do what?"

"The grey in your eyes. How did you change them?"

He ruffled the back of his hair apologetically before answering, "Genetic. I can't control it,"

"Is that a lie?"

"It's not,"

"Is there a pattern for it?"

"Maybe,"

"But you won't tell me?"

"I can't. Not that I won't,"

Acceptable...for now. "And about last night,"

"I'm really sorry," He dips his head down and stares to the ground...like a child who's ready for a good scolding. What is he being so cute for?? 

Lisa stopped her tracks and squints her eyes. "Be honest with me. Did you pushed him?" 

Jungkook looks back up to her. "Not really...not physically anyway -"

What does that even mean? "Always with the same vague answers..."

"Always so curious,"

She pursed the need to smile. "You keep a lot of secrets - there should be a book about it somewhere,"

"I'm not as important as you are, Lisa,"

What? Where is this thought coming from? "I'm not -"

"Yes, you are. Everyone here respect your father. Your family is probably the most loved and precious in most of their lifetimes. I have a lot to be careful for,"

"Is that why you stayed away and kept showing up out of the blue? That's you being careful?" 

He shifts between one foot to the other - looking around as if he's waiting for an inspiring answer. "The first time we met, I was drunk but you were beautiful," Lisa felt her heart skipped a beat. "I didn't see you for a while and I almost thought I imagined the whole thing...that an angel appeared to slap my madness aside. But then I saw you again. Everyday, I kept seeing you...and I'm finding it harder and harder to look away -"

Had the ground shifted itself to bring her closer to him or was it her own doing? She can't tell. All she could think of right this second is how shy this beautiful guy looked...and how sincere he sounded.

"There are things...a lot of things that's forcing me to stay away and if you're smart enough, you'd welcome it too,"

"I'm not that smart -"

"I don't believe that for a second," He laughed a sigh. "No...you're too smart. I think that's what I'm most scared of,"

He's scared of me? Why?? 

"I never planned on talking to you - explaining myself to you. Though I wished there's an acceptable world where I could. I saw you with Chaeyoung and I guessed that you've heard pretty much everything you need to know about us woodsmen. I thought you'd have zero tolerance for me since...and then came the night when I ruined your clothes -"

"The skirt is fine by the way," She gave a convincing smile and he nods.

"You didn't look at me like you were scared of me. If anything, you were nicer than I deserved,"

"I'm not used to word-of-mouths, Jungkook. You kept acting like a stranger but managed to save me at just the right time doesn't justify the stories I've heard. If anything, I'm kinda dying to know what's this pressure you're dealing with to keep yourself at the same edge as your clique,"

"Is that why you keep looking at me like this then?" His eyes twinkled again. "Do you want me to be closer so you can live?" For some reason, the flick of his tongue on his parted, smiling lips had her breathless. "Cus I've been reasoning it out on my own. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me but please, do tell me what's on that pretty mind of yours," He stepped even closer and breathed. 

"I..." She could feel her blood heats almost immediately. It's either that or the evening wind had collectively decided to stand still. What should I say? The magnetic pull is stirring all kinds of elemental levels in her and maybe he's right. Maybe I should run...but I can't. Or maybe I don't want to. Maybe I've been too drawn in the idea of him that everything in me is shouting for answers. I've never felt this way about anyone before... "Yes,"

His brows furrowed yet his eyes seemed like they're battling against a wild desire, as if he couldn't comprehend her answer.

"If..." His gaze narrowed. "...I do keep myself close enough...will you hurt me?"

What? "How can I even do that?" I don't even know how to throw a punch!

"By being afraid of me. That's how,"

"Then I should be the one to ask if you'll hurt me, not the other way around,"

An amusing smile appears on Jungkook's lips. "We'll see," 

Lisa was going to return it before they both heard his name being called out by a young, fierce female.

...