Lovers in the Night II | Yang Jungwon

XXXIII

The two had calm down. Yona rests her elbows on the railing - of a nearby bridge they arrived to after aimlessly walking around together - as she admires the view. It was serene and definitely picturesque. "Sometimes I forget how pretty Korea is."

When they were making their way here, she was explaining the story of the night she met Danah. Not just that, she elaborated upon everything she had experienced during his absence, like her reencounter with Jett. Throughout, Jungwon listened to her intently and silently.

Her story was finished, so she simply admires the view of the ocean now. She lets the essence of nature flavour her sight, and she couldn't help but wonder why she used to take it for granted. She was happy that her life changed for the better, thanks to one boy.

She feels two arms encircle her wait from behind. Jungwon kisses her on the cheek and nuzzles his face into her neck. "Are you real?" he mumbles. "This isn't a prank, right?"

She wasn't sure exactly what he meant about her potentially not being real, nevertheless she is moved by his affection. "I'm real," she giggles, melting into his arms. She places a peck on his cheek, then they proceed to admire the view together.

The blossoming sun peaks over the line of earth, generously bringing an invitation for a new day Although Yona hadn't had proper sleep in so long, she was content as long as the person she loved most was next to her.

"I fell for the same person twice. Thank you for that, Yona." It always made her heart tingle whenever he said her name. She liked how he saw her for her current self and not just Danah.

She jokes, "I can't help but be so charming in both my lives."

"Sure." He places the left side of his cheek against her right, letting their dimples position themselves parallel against one another.

"We can finally experience what we were supposed to experience a long time ago," she adds.

"Which is?"

"Graduating together," she says and he smiles. That was certainly an opportunity taken away from Danah. Yona was glad that she was able to do it for her past life. "I wonder what's the next step after that."

Jungwon pretends to think a bit, "Marriage?" Already?! Yona thought to herself.

At first, she gets flustered, but she ends up giving him an unimpressed look. "You haven't even met my father yet... nor any of my family for that matter." She refers to how he never directly spoke to Danah nor her parents.

He mutters in a pout, "That can easily be arranged."

"Fine," she moves backward, pushing him away from her. He sends her a confused face. She chuckles as she takes his hand in hers, "I'll introduce you to one of the most important people in my life."

He quickly gets relieved. "Alright." He pauses for a moment, now exuding a face of nervousness, "Will they like me?"

"Definitely," she grins. "Trust, you know her very well anyway."

=

Jungwon looks at the grave before him with a heavy feeling in his heart. "So this is what Humanity does to someone." This was the first time he he'd ever seen graves of Humans whom he used to be in close contact with, and it irked him.

Jang Wonyoung.
Seol Yoonah.

He always had suspicions that Yona and Wonyoung were related in some way, but the latter being a grandmother to the other was a surprise to him. And the fact that she died recently made him feel guilty that he never got the chance to talk to her. After all, they worked together as the class presidents of their year decades ago.

"The end of Human lives look like this, Jungwon. Welcome to the ride," Yona giggles, pleasantly beaming. He continues to stare at the grave, uneasily imagining himself under one. She adds, "This is why we live so urgently; our future depends on it."

"Yeah," he sighs. Then, he sends her an evil smirk to cover up the uneasiness. "This is why we should get married as soon as possible."

"Yah," she widens her eyes. She hits him in the arm, "That's not something to joke about with a Human."

He pauses for a moment, his confidence not faltering, "What if I'm not joking?" Instead of directly answering him, she intertwines their fingers together. He scoffs, "I'm going to take that as a positive answer."

Although he sounded playful, Yona could see right through him. There was a hint of sudden fear in his eyes due to the fact that he'd die soon. She notices this and plants a peck on his cheek to comfort him, tightening her grip on his hand.

"This means Minji, her family, you... I'd have to watch you all- or you'll all watch me- die. It's impossible to predict, and that's horrifying to think about," he swallows. "Decades used to mean nothing to me."

She continues to console him, "Well, now your decades are special. All of us will make it special, even until our last breaths. Don't worry about it. Human years feel considerably longer than Vampire years. Anyway, how are your friends?"

"I'll never know. But I'm pretty sure Heeseung hyung is going to become king," Jungwon chuckles, recalling how becoming king was once his dream. "But it doesn't really matter to me anymore, because you're my dream. We're Lovers in the Night after all."

"Why are you so corny all of a sudden?" She pretends to vomit.

"Hey, you used to dig it." When he says that, it triggers her to travel inside her mind for a moment.

"I guess we are what you can call: Lovers in the Night," Jungwon smoothly puts a title on them.

Danah decides to play along with it, "You're like a dream come true, Won."

"The night is where dreams come true," Jungwon continues.

After recollecting this memory from her past life, she blinks in embarrassment. "I was corny too," she groans. She ends off her sentence with the nickname she just remembered, "Won." He grins.

"That's what makes us soulmates," he teases. "We're just romantic that way."

"You're always bringing out sides of me I never knew I had," she points out. "And you're not always romantic! Remember, for our first date, you took me here to visit Danah! Who takes someone to a grave for their first date?"

He raises his eyebrow, instantly getting defensive. "You considered that a date? I only asked you to come to meet someone. How could you think so lowly of me? I can definitely plan much better dates than that!"

"You're the one who kissed me that time! Plus, Humans never ask the opposite sex to hang out unless they're interested in one another or are thinging."

"Really?" he raises an eyebrow. "Does this mean you were thinging with Leehan even when you and I - based on your logic - were already established as a thing?"

She was instantly silenced.
He was right. Annoyed that she couldn't clap back, she shoves him in the chest and begins running away from him in a flustered manner. She didn't expect this pettiness from him.

"Hey, come back. I was just kidding!" he laughs as he chases after her.

When he catches her, he pulls her into a hug. They burst out laughing one more time while holding each other, enjoying one another's presence.