°Is a mark enough for two people to fall in love?°
The Ganghans were considered a myth for years, but these long-lived supernatural creatures are alive, wandering among us, struggling to survive since the last female Ganghan was killed. Ganghans wer...
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•°•
"Jiyoon, where are you?!" her mother almost screamed making her daughter flinch at the hearing of her upsetting voice.
"I'm coming!"
"Hurry up and get yourself down here! Your fiance is waiting for you!"
"I said I'm coming!" Jiyoon murmured as she threw her backpack on her shoulder and ran down the stairs. "Here," she said when she faced her mother trying to catch her breath.
"Now, go, go! Love you!" She patted her back and blew her a kiss as she urged her to walk out their luxurious mansion.
Jiyoon saw her fiance's limousine waiting right outside their central door.
Min — handsome as always, even with his school uniform on — was leaning against his car. Once he saw Jiyoon, he straightened his back and opened the car's door for her. "Good morning," he muttered seductively. Being flirty was one of his favourite habits.
"Good morning, Min," she answered and sat down in the car. The man jogged towards the other side and entered the car too. He signaled to the driver to start driving away, while he gave one of his best smiles to Jiyoon.
She didn't love him. And for that, she was sure. She may like him a bit. But not enough to marry him. However, Jiyoon couldn't object to her parents' decisions. Woo Min was a good guy, a bit flirty and frustrating, but bearable. He was fun.
•°•
"And what do we do now?" Jongho asked his friend.
"We wait," Yunho replied as if what they did was the most common thing ever.
"For what?"
"For Jiyoon to cross the street."
"By car... You can't even see her face..."
"I just want to make sure she is okay," he whispered more to convince himself and not Jongho.
"Why do you do this to yourself? It's more painful to watch over her life like that and then take her away from it... You don't have to do this..."
"I... I feel like I have the obligation to protect her."
"To protect her from what, Yunho? She is rich, she has guards, she has a... fiance..."
Yunho cleared his throat. He didn't quite like that Woo Min who was supposed to be Jiyoon's fiance.
"You are gonna get yourself in trouble sooner or later. And not only that, but you are also gonna hurt your feelings. You're gonna be the only one who will get hurt. Remember my words..."
Yunho was a very pure and kind Ganghan. In addition, he was considered to be the most powerful male amongst the Ganghans, due to his power, element control.
He was dedicated to his bride from the moment he marked her. By force.
"Mark her! Now! Quickly!... Do it, you cowardly bastard!" His father's words during that night still lingered in his mind.
And that was why he felt the need to protect that girl; because no one was there, 18 years ago, to protect her from him.
"Is that her?" Jongho nagged him.
Yunho took a close look to his car mirrors facing behind and recognised Woo Min's fancy limousine driving towards the direction his car was parked.
The car passed by, just like that, with Yunho barely discerning Jiyoon's figure behind the shady windows.
"And that was it, right?" Jongho forced himself not to giggle.
"I just wanted to see her. I never asked for more," he whispered while he thought of the one and only time Jiyoon ever spoke to him...
•°•
It has been three years since Yunho have marked Jiyoon. And he was watching over her playing with a blue ball that was a little too big for her small size.
She was quite enjoying it until she threw the ball a bit too high. As a result, the ball caught on the branches of the nearest tree. The little girl started crying while looking at her toy, not able to reach it. No one was around to help the kid; only Yunho.
The Ganghan, incapable of watching Jiyoon cry like that, he approached her with slow, hesitant steps.
The girl fixed her gaze on the unknown man. "Who are you?" she asked in a somehow bossy and adorable way.
"I..." Yunho didn't want to reveal his name. "Do you want any help with that?" He muttered and smiled tenderly at her as he pointed towards the ball on the tree.
"It... It is too high..." Jiyoon muttered disappointingly against her sobs.
"Let's just try!"
The child looked at him curious about his next move.
"Um... Let me see..." The man mumbled to himself. He took a big breath and blew towards the ball making it flow in the air. The young girl gasped, not believing her eyes as the wind blew her short hair. Meanwhile, Yunho had already landed the toy on the ground by controlling the air.
"Wow! How did you do that? Teach me!" Jiyoon said in awe.
Yunho laughed and kneeled down to her eye level. "I'll teach you something else. Give me your palms."
The young girl tended her small arms forward agitating for what would come next.
"Now, think of water. That water in that fountain down there, you see?"
Jiyoon did as Yunho said as he made a good amount of water get out of the fountain some metres away from them and wet the child's hands. The girl screamed out of joy at the thought of having controlled the water.
"Jiyoon!" Someone heard the kid's yelling and exited the giant mansion, looking for her.
Yunho took a last look at the young girl and began running towards the back door of the garden, leaving his bride behind, who stared at his back while he got lost in the green of the trees around.
•°•
"You never asked for more, but... our function will," Jongho continued. "She is already 18. You have to bring her to Ganghan city."
Yunho sighed and hit his head on the steering wheel. "I know..."
"Don't make Hongjoong tell you himself. It will be super awkward."
"I will," he announced decisively. I will do it. Tomorrow."
