୨⎯ I felt the earth beneath my feet ⎯୧

"YOU'VE HAD MANY STUPID IDEAS, but this one's the worst of them all."

Dramatically gasping, Jang Wook placed a hand over his heart while the other still rested on the small of the girl's back as he sent her a look of mock hurt. "You insult me with your words. My plans aren't stupid, they're unique."

Heo Ari raised a brow as she stopped walking, making Wook do the same. She was already tired of Jang Wook's antics and it hadn't even been a day since he had returned. "Like your plan of marrying Cho Yeon."

"I admit that wasn't one of my brightest ideas but thanks to you, I got out of it." He grinned, patting her back as he did so.

"I should've minded my own business and let you finally face the consequences of your actions. Because of you, poor Cho Yeon is still clinging on to the hope that one day you'll change your mind and marry her." Ari scolded hoping to snap some sense into him and make him realize he couldn't always do whatever he wanted. But that didn't seem to be the case as Wook only shrugged in response clearly unbothered by his best friend's words.

"Even if that was the case, I'm certain Lady Jin would profundly opposed to that idea." He said, as the two started walking again. "Enough about Cho Yeon and let's get back to my plan."

"Right, the plan that would get you killed."

Wook sighed, before deciding to express his thoughts in a hushed low tone to prevent the people around them from hearing what he had to say. "How many times do I have to say I won't get killed? Look, If my assumptions are correct, right now Naksu isn't in a body as strong as her own. She has quite a few weaknesses, me exposing her real identity being one of them. This gives me the upper hand. The only thing I have to do is offer my help in exchange for her opening my gate of energy."

Raising an eyebrow Ari asked, "And what if she refuses and finds a way to get rid of you?"

A smirk made it's way into Wook's face. "I can be very persuasive." Through the years the boy had grown pretty confident over his appearance which left Ari to refrain herself from ever complimenting him. She liked to say it was her way of keeping him humbled. But right now he was way over himself if he seriously believed his looks would be enough to persuade the Shadow Assassin into helping him.

"Since when that ego of yours reached your stupidity?"

"My stupidity? Keep talking like that, and I won't buy you anything."

"Come on." Taking a hold of his hand with her smaller one, the Heo girl dragged him in the direction of a stall full of handmade eyeshadows and lipsticks. Her eyes scanned the many products before settling on a light pink of lipstick. Grabbing it she moved over to the side where a small mirror layed on the table, once she removed the cap she carefully started to apply the lipstick making sure every space was filled, Ari placed it back on the table as she admired herself in the mirror. The shade was pretty, but it didn't make her lips stand out the way she wanted to.

"What do you think?" Ari looked at Jang Wook waiting for him to express his opinion like he always did. To her surprise she didn't receive any as the boy only stared at her for a few seconds before turning his attention to the table. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the variety of shades before he smiled to himself as he picked one up.

Turning to Ari he gently tilted her chin upwards ignoring the girl's protests as he started to apply the new shade of lipstick. Lips on a small pout and brows furrowed, Wook concentrated on making sure he applied the product correctly. Once he was sure every inch of her lips were colored, he let go of her chin and then grabbed the mirror from the table all while still staring at a confused Ari with a smile of approval on his face. "Much better."

Passing the mirror towards the girl, he watched as she took a look at herself. She had to admit it did look much better. The shade of lipstick he had applied was a lot darker than the one she had previously used, it was a dark pink resembling the color of a raspberry. The new shade made her lips stand out in a way that made her lips appear more plumped and softer.

"I like it." She smiled at her reflection before lowering the mirror as she grinned at Jang Wook. The boy returned the smile, proud of himself for the work he had done.

"You two make a lovely couple." The new voice startled the two, as they quickly turned to the owner of the unfamiliar voice. The older woman who seemed to be the owner of the make up stall, grinned at the pair.

They weren't surprised by the woman's words, given they once in a while got similar comments from other strangers who mistook them for being a couple.

Ari looked at Wook, the two sharing a bored look before slowly shaking her head with a polite smile. "We aren't married, we're just friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize for my noisiness. I just saw the way you acted and how you looked at each other and thought you were in a relationship." Although the woman's words were apologetic, she had a smug look on her face as if she knew something the two didn't, which annoyed Ari quite a bit.

The Heo girl dismissed the woman's apology before pointing to the shade of lipstick Jang Wook used. "I would like to buy this lipstick."

Nodding, the woman told her the price, making Ari expectantly turn to Wook watching as he took out the amount of money needed before passing it to the woman.

Walking off, the pair kept strolling around the stalls. Then they stopped at one that had hair accessories, the owner was nowhere to be seem but Ari didn't pay any mind to it as she looked through the different hairpins, disappointed that she couldn't see any new ones. All the ones that were displayed she already had.

As she kept trying to spot something she didn't have, her eyes fell on the different colored ribbons laying on the table. Turning to Jang Wook her eyes moved to the blue ribbon he was wearing before she said, "You know, I can't believe you still wear that old ribbon. It's been years since I gave it to you and you still use it. The material is frayed and it doesn't even have the color it originally had."

Touching the old material of the mentioned ribbon, Jang Wook answered. "This is my good luck charm, did you forget?"

"Oh you still believe that." Heo Ari mumbled not intending for the boy to hear what she said.

"What do you mean?"

"What? Did you think it was really special?"

"You said it belonged to your grandfather and that it gave good luck." He frown noticing the way she looked at him in amusement. "Wait—you lied?! Don't tell me I've been wearing this old thing in vain." He sassily placed his hands on his waist as he sent her an offended look.

"Do not look at me like that. You were sad, full on sobbing and everything and I just wanted to make you feel better so I lied and said it was special. Happy?" The Heo girl turned away from Wook and sent a polite smile to the owner of the stall once she had realized he came back and had been listening to their little argument.

"No, I'm not happy. I really thought it held an important meaning." Huffing Jang Wook untied the ribbon, making the hair that was being held back fall down against his brows and forehead, tempting Ari into pushing it back with her hand but she refrained herself from doing so and instead she pushed his arm as she shoot him an exasperated glare

"Hey—why are you taking it off?!"

"If it doesn't hold any meaning, why should I wear it? You said it yourself, it's already tattered and I can buy a new one."

"No, put it back on!" Ari insisted as gestured to the ribbon with her chin.

"Why? You just implied I should get a new one." Wook sighed. "God, you're so hard to understand sometimes."

The owner of the stall nodded from across the table a smile on his lips as he gestured down  to the table clearly eager to get some new costumers. "We have many ribbons you could choose from."

Ari shook her head trying to dismiss the man's offer. "He doesn't need any-"

"-but I do."

"I'm sorry about him. We're leaving now." Shooting the man a smile she took a hold of Jang Wook's arm and pushing him away from the stall or more specifically from the old man who kept yelling for them to come back.

Jang Wook complained removing his arm from the girl's tight grip. "Stop dragging me."

"I never said I didn't like you wearing it, I just found it weird that you never took it off." The two started walking in a slower pace, their bickering catching the attention of a few people around them but just as soon as it came, it left.

"Does that mean you want me to keep wearing it?" He asked before gently patting her head. "You're very sentimental did you know that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

After a long pause Jang Wook said, "I'll continue wearing it." Gathering a small handful of hair, he skillfully tied the ribbon again. Guessing by how easy he made it seem, considering he wasn't standing in front of a mirror, it was obvious he had done it many times before.

At least he's good at something.

Ari had planned on forcing Jang Wook into buying the most expensive thing that caught her eye but unfortunately for her that was not the case. Since the last time she had visited the stalls nothing had changed apart from the prices that seemed to go up every month, so she decided to wait for another time and just enjoy Jang Wook's company.

-——————✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧——————

—— Joyce speaks

Hiii

I know it's been a while but here I am!!
I have to say I've notice that around 98% of you guys are silent readers and that makes me very sad. 😖

You guys need to know that if you want an update the best way of encouraging me is to leave comments throughout the story. Even if you think they're stupid, comments always bring a smile to my face.

But changing topic, I'm still working on the plot for this story and I'm not sure in which direction I'm taking it but I think I'll probably change some of the storylines so if you see something different from the show do t be surprised.