After all the years they had been apart, Kei still couldn't get rid of the girl in his mind. It's normal for one to stop forgetting something memorable especially if that moment was truly special.

For him, it wasn't just special but a precious treasure he wouldn't get a chance to hold again.

Back when he was in his first year of highschool, it was all about her. It was as though his whole world revolved only around her. Her luminous smile, lighting up his dark. Her impressive night eyes, glowing despite its dimness. Her raven hair, bringing out all the colors he sees.

Earth. She was the 'art' to his dull 'eh'. That girl was something else and someone he couldn't hold hands with again as of the day Kei's heart sank when listening to his master; the shadow pulling his strings.

"I'm sorry, Rinn, but could you please repeat what you said?"

He wished that he heard the name as a mistake in that first time. Kei knelt down a leg, lowered head, and petty eyes made from ash and gray almost swallowed the flecks of silver in his orbs. Bile stuck in the middle of his throat became his concern while his fingertips couldn't stop receiving chills from the floor he had his hands on. And there was an uncertain rumbling in his stomach, twisting and prickling as if he had eaten a rose engulfed with a thousand thorns. But his wishes weren't heard.

"You must kill a girl named Diamond Veleen. All the files will soon be delivered to you by Freeze. That person would be a nuisance to our plans."

From the moment he listened to his master saying her name for the second time, his lips sealed tightly, not allowing any air to enter his mouth. Pressing it firmly, Kei swore silently that he almost made it bleed. He muttered a curse under his breath, evaluating how pathetic his life was and how he still was that woman's minion and second in command as of today. It became his sole regret with his heart pounding to be released from the ribcage its trapped in, hurting his bones and soul.

I can't, he wanted to say. Instead, he found an excuse to make when he reminisced the background of the girl to be assassinated. He inquired though he fully knew her, "But isn't she the daughter of the-"

It didn't work. Rinn who hid her face in the darkness boomed, "I know you have some kind of connection with her and you have met her already. So, don't try to trick me with your poor choice of words, Kei."

He bit his lower lip with his upper teeth. There was no more doubt that he tasted blood in his mouth. Trying to restrict himself from murdering the only person who actually knew who he was and his very employer was a job he couldn't achieve even if he tried. Or rather, he didn't want to try.

"I heard from Quinn that you have fallen over heels for that girl, isn't that right?" She held her head up high with pride and deceitful eyes glowing in spite of the glum mood circulating the room.

"Fell," he reluctantly corrected, trying not to make it any more worse for himself. Bitterness glued onto his tongue with savory guilt as if the person they were talking about had felt the knife being plunged to her back. Kei evaded her intense gaze of unsureness. "I don't have anymore positive emotions for that girl."

Rinn smirked, a broad smile painted her complexion while she took his hand and helped him get up from kneeling. Kei followed her silent orders calmly rather than turning the storm in his heart to an attack towards her.

Kei instantly caught her face out of the shadows. Her blonde wavy hair rested on her shoulders, eyes made of overwhelming sweet chocolate, and soft pinkish lips curving upwards.

"That's great." She slightly leaned closer to him, their breaths collapsing with each other. Rinn was too near, making Kei's cheeks turn red while he avoided her intriguing stare.

He wasn't oblivious to someone else's emotions. In fact, he had known for quite a long time that the blonde had a liking towards him. He only chose not to say a word about it nor reject her feelings.

As much as Rinn was despicable and capable to order out an assassination for strangers, she'd be brittle as a rose after hearing the one word she had not yet heard directly at her since the day she was born. No.

For some reason, Kei became attached to Rinn, incapable to let her go all of a sudden although one thing was for sure. Whatever his emotions was for Rinn, it wasn't love. It will never be. After all, she was the one who dared threaten Kei's parents. It was the only reason why he couldn't leave her side until this moment.

"You can only be mine and I to you." Rinn landed a quick kiss to his already blushing cheeks, adding the intense crimson to the roaring flames of embarrassment.

He quietly stood in the middle of the room as she passed him by. Before Rinn reached the door, like the dark knight he was, Kei opened it for her.

Rinn added one last thing. Her breathy voice tingled his ear. "Do your job quickly. Don't make me wait too long."

She walked outwards and leaving him alone inside his own quarters then a sigh of desperation escaped from his mouth. Kei quickly paced to his bed, plopping on the cushions and burying his head in a nearby pillow.

His muffled mutters were only heard by him as he almost bit his lips to bleed more. "What am I going to do?"

It had been years since he had known the two girls in his life. The one he loved, and perhaps he still loves, was somewhere out in the world doing unladylike things Kei never expected from a well educated girl like her.

On the contrary, Rinn used him in order to get the things she wanted and be deserved the outcome she desired. Kei could never disobey Rinn. He often would describe himself like a knight, or rather, a dog under her leash. And a mutt like him would have trouble escaping from his master, especially if Kei's parents were threatened to be murdered if he'd not assassinate for Rinn's personal wishes.

If only that time didn't happen, he pondered while his gaze landed on the ceiling.

He was right though. If only that time didn't happen, their paths would still be the same. Unfortunately, their roads veered away from each other.

They were like parallel lines. He knew that. She knew that. The whole world who knew them had knowledge of that very fact.

Always close but never together.
Kei could only watch her from afar but he could never get the chance to hold her hands again like he used to.