KNOT THIS GUY (Romance/Fantasy) ✔

KNOT 10 - JUST ANOTHER DAY

SANDARA's POV



Eh?



I was stupefied as I stood frozen on my spot while a pile of letters and gifts came rushing on my face as I opened my school locker. The other students were whispering and giggling as they look at me. I swear, something is seriously wrong with this week. All kinds of crazy is happening to us and I'm beginning to think there are some external forces working in full throttle to drive us insane.



Jiyong shoved his hands inside his pockets and stared blankly at me. We both stood in silence and his lips twitched in mockery as he darted his eyes on the gifts and letters which are now scattered on the floor.



"Look who's cheating now", he suddenly said in a noncommittal tone.



"But Hubby!", I clung to his arm but he ignored me and began stuffing everything inside the strawberry backpack.



"D-Dara sunbaenim...this is for you", a junior suddenly materializes on my side, holding a little teddy bear.



"Oh, thank y-"



"Give me that", Jiyong snatched the stuff toy from the boy, who is obviously about to pee in his pants from the sight of Jiyong rapidly morphing into Genghis Khan. Jiyong then unceremoniously tossed the teddy bear inside the bag and began walking away, dragging me with him.



Suddenly, his phone beeped and when he looked at it, his expression turned grim. He started furiously typing on his phone and I was about to ask what's wrong when I heard CL calling me.



"Dara!", I glanced back and saw her half-running towards us while holding a document. She was gasping for air when she finally reached us but she was visibly excited with whatever news she has.



"The admin gave me permission to do the festival!"



"Congratulations!", I exclaimed even though I absolutely have no clue what she's talking about. This is the first time I saw her being enthusiastic about something and I'm happy that she shared me this news - whatever it is.



"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?", the ever sharp CL mused.



"Nope", I replied. "What festival are you referring to?", I frowned in bewilderment as she unfolded the document and shoved it on my face.



"The Senior's Farewell Festival! They've provided a considerable budget so we can do a lot!"



We? Omo, wait. What does she mean by we? I can't do this festival with her without dragging the unwilling cyborg. I can't take care of things while he's following me around because that would be totally weird. It's bad enough that he's coming along on each of my class.



I looked at Jiyong but his face remained impassive.



"Is there something wrong? You're going to help me, right Dara?", CL frowned at me, sensing my discomfort.



"Uh...I'll look at my schedule first. See you later!"



"What schedule?!", CL shrieked but I already hurriedly dragged Jiyong away from there. When I looked back, she was staring sharply at me - the kind of stare that tells me she is going to pin me on the wall someday and break my bones until she finds out the truth. Acckk!!



_____________________________________________________________



Beyond the realm of humans, a battle is currently happening. Hadana Bom and Jursa Seunghyun is creating so much chaos, attracting the attention of other deities. Never have they seen an exchange of ethereal orbs in such manner. The deities can just shake their heads in exasperation since they know that the destined couple assigned to these two lunatics are now utterly disoriented with the steady stream of good and bad events coming their way.



"Okay, STOP!", Seunghyun firmly said and the black sphere on his hand instantly vanished. Bom huffed in irritation and closed her palm, disintegrating her white ethereal orb.



"What the heck are you trying to do with the destined couple?", he sternly asked.



"Me? It was you who's giving them a heap of misfortune! I'm just trying to balance out things and make the couple happy!", she shot back.



"Oh, make the couple happy?", Seunghyun sarcastically said. "You want them to bake rainbow cupcakes together and sing a happy song while bouncing, which is totally crazy!! I'm actually the one negating your moronic enchantments so please...stop"



"Baking is part of Dara's Economic class so I don't see any problem with that", Bom reasoned.



"Uh, rainbow cupcakes? Hello? Jiyong was about to slash his wrist when Dara made him wear that pink apron with a fluffy bunny in front. Have mercy on the poor fellow"



"It's a happy memory", Bom insisted.



"Gosh. Women are so...", Seunghyun paused and towered over Bom who stubbornly lifted her chin, "...CRA-ZY!", he growled before a swirling black smoke engulfed him as he teleported away from her.



However, as he was about to reappear in a near distance, someone suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back the swirling black smoke.



_____________________________________________________________



"Whenever I see you, my heart beats to an unfamiliar rhythm..."



Dara snatched the love letter from Jiyong and casted him a sharp glare.



"Seriously, stop it", she sternly said.



"Your beauty shines brighter than the sun..."



"Jiyong!"



Dara crossed her arms and scowled at him as they sat beneath the tree at the university garden. Jiyong has been reading the letters out loud the entire afternoon and her toes and fingers are already tired from too much cringing at the cheesy lines that he deliberately enunciates. The traumatic experience he's putting her through is far from over and Dara is already twitching whenever she hears the rustle of the love letters being opened by the heartless cyborg beside her.



"You gave me permission to read them", he pointed out.



"Yes, but not loud enough for the entire human race to hear", she hissed.



"Oh look, here's another one", Jiyong began reading the letter while trying to dodge the shrieking Dara.



"Dear Man with the Strawberry Backp-..what?", his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.



"What?!", Dara managed to snatch the letter from him and hurriedly read the first line out loud before Jiyong successfully snatched the letter from her and crumpled it.



"Ohhhhh....someone's having a crush with the..MAN with the STRAWBERRY BACKPACK", she jokingly mimicked the announcers in boxing fights for added annoying effect and had a ball laughing at her own joke.



Jiyong cocked his eyebrows and rested his arm on his bended knee. "So, love letters are okay but potato head is not?"



WHAT?



"You mean Park Min Young?", she asked in bewilderment.



"Yeah. You're jealous of her but you're not jealous of whoever this is?", he asked while pointing to the letter.



"I'm not jealous of anyone!", she vehemently denied.



"Oh yeah?"



"Oh...YEAH", she firmly said.



"Good. So it's okay if we both work at my father's company?"



"Of course! WHAT?!", Dara casted him a confused look, wondering why Jiyong had made such a decision considering he obviously doesn't want to be anywhere near his father.



"I got a text from one of my contacts earlier. I need to go back to the company and of course, you have to be with me. That old man needs my help. The company is sinking and he's too stubborn to admit it", Jiyong sighed. "I'll hire you as my executive assistant for the time being. You'll be graduating in a few weeks so at least, we won't have a lot of problems with our schedule"



Dara nodded and subconsciously played with the red cord while pondering about what he said. Jiyong looked at the cord knotted on her wrist and traced it with his finger. "We seem to be forgetting about this", he remarked.



"I think we just got used to it", she nonchalantly said and continued playing with the cord. "We almost read all the books in the library but none of them holds the magical words. I wonder where those two deities are"



"They might just be around", he said dryly. "The last time the woman deity showed up, she was apologizing to us and wanted to assure us that everything will be all right"



Dara clearly remembers that night. What strikes her is the old man wearing tattered clothes that suddenly showed up as soon as the woman deity vanishes. A sorrowful feeling gripped her when the man approached them and she cannot comprehend why.



"Let's go to the library. Maybe we'll get lucky today and hit those magical words"



"Jiyong, Jiyong"



"I told you to stop calling my name twice"



"If we get untied, will you miss me?"



"You are such a cheeseball", Jiyong rolled his eyes at her, making her pout.



"So, you won't?"



"No"



"Why not! You cyborg!", Dara lightly kicked his foot.



"Because you're noisy and you're crazy and you're cheesy", Jiyong continued gathering their things scattered on the grass without paying much attention to her.



Dara stood up and brushed the dirt off her skirt without uttering another word, disgruntled by what Jiyong said.



"Well...uh...it would be weird if I don't see you beside me anymore", he said without glancing at her, stuffing the letters inside the backpack.



A smile formed on Dara's lips as she stared at him. "Which means you're going to miss me", she teased.



"Oh, shut up"



"Hubby, you're blushing!"



_____________________________________________________________



Hadana Bom giggled while watching the destined couple bicker, with Jiyong maintaining his stoic face and Dara continuously driving him nuts. Unknown to Jursa Seunghyun, there is another reason why she chose to lie to the couple and made them search for the 'magical words' that don't even exist. Bom knew that in search for those magical words, the two will seek the books in the library. And there is one particular book that she wanted them to read.



Her giggles died down when she noticed that Seunghyun has been missing for a while now. Meh, who cares. She just shrugged her shoulders before stepping back on a swirling white glittery smoke and appearing on the university hallway. Placing her hands on her hips, Hadana Bom darted her eyes on the students while smiling inwardly.



She opened her right palm and blew gently on it, creating a light breeze with tiny sparkles, engulfing the students.



_____________________________________________________________



"HUBBY'S HERE!", Seungri loudly announced, earning him a punch from Jiyong. They were all gathered at the Hongdae basement which is the jam studio of the Big Bang band and which is also the place where they normally hang out.



"Hello!", Dara merrily greeted.



"Hi cutie patootie!!", Seungri opened his arms and was about to hug Dara but Jiyong pulled Dara's wrist, making her sit on the couch.



"Why did you call me out? I told you guys to reschedule our gigs", he said while sitting next to Dara.



"Oh nothing much. We just want to, you know...'talk' and see how each other is doing. So, how are you doing hyung?", Seungri playfully asked and plopped himself on a chair, facing both of them.



Jiyong wearily sighed as he glared at Seungri. Sometimes, he just want to beat the sh!t out of their maknae to straighten him out.



"We did some chords and we wanted you to liste-...is that a strawberry backpack?", Youngbae frowned.



"Yeah"



"Whoah! You didn't strike me as someone who digs that kind of stuff", Daesung interjected.



"Not mine"



"O-kayyyyy", Daesung nodded while glancing at Dara, who was now sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, fully concentrating on something that she's watching at Jiyong's laptop.



"Anyway, here's the demo. You might want to add some stuff", Youngbae played his guitar and the four of them started doing some additional mixes and minor tweaks. Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri were playing their instruments as they create the song while Jiyong wrote the lyrics. Whenever he feels frustrated and is on the verge of just throwing everything he wrote away, Dara would lightly pat and rub his back to calm him.



"Let's take a break", Jiyong announced after a while and sat on the floor near Dara. He then looked over her shoulder to see what she's doing.



"Those crappy dramas again", he remarked while extending his arm on the edge of the couch behind Dara. Still focused on the drama she's watching, Dara scooted closer and leaned her head on Jiyong's shoulder. Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri exchanged glances while their mouths hung wide open at the sight of the two.



"Sleepy?", Jiyong asked.



"Mmmhmmm..", Dara mumbled.



He then draped his arm over her shoulder and gently rubbed her upper arm.



Seungri's mouth formed a big 'O' and he began giving all kinds of hand signal at Youngbae and Daesung, who are both as dumbfounded as him.



"Are we seeing the same thing?", Youngbae asked.



"Yeah. You're not hallucinating", Daesung replied.



_____________________________________________________________



SANDARA's POV



It was supposed to be just another day.



We were about to go to my afternoon class after Jiyong's client meeting when I noticed that some people are taking photos of us and gushing behind our backs. That would've been my first clue that this day can be potentially disastrous, but I ignored the signs.



"Is it just me or..."



"It's not just you", Jiyong cut me off while frowning at the students who were seemingly fascinated by the sight of the two of us. Instead of sitting on their respective classrooms, the university hallway is packed and everyone are staring at us. It's beginning to creep me out, honestly.



I clung to Jiyong's arm and almost instantly, giddy shrieks erupted among the girls. What the hell is going on here?



"Hmmmm...", Jiyong tilted his head at me, seemingly pondering over something while adjusting the strap of the strawberry backpack draped on his shoulder. "They seem to be excited by the fact that we're together"



"What? Why would they?", I asked, completely flabbergasted.



"I don't know. Did you do something?"



"No, I didn't."



"Did you tell someone that you have a crush on me?", he flatly asked.



"I don't have a crush on you!"



"Yes, you do. You're calling me hubby and you're always being a cheeseball"



"I am NOT a cheeseball! And I'm just calling you hubby as a joke because...urgh! Whatever", I fanned myself with my hands so I could calm down because I swear, I'm so close to rewarding him with a solid punch on the face for being a big walking lump of ego.



"Cheeseball", he whispered before striding away.



"Android", I lamely shot back as I followed him, trying to ignore the teasing glances of the students around us. But ignoring them is proving to be a big challenge as everyone is openly gawking at us. I'm already sweating from stress so without thinking, I pulled the handkerchief protruding from Jiyong's jeans pocket. I jumped back in surprise when spazzing extravaganza ensued, engulfing the entire hallway. Okay, I swear the level of crazy in here is reaching the ceiling.



When I glanced at Jiyong, he was seemingly amused with this entire chaos.



"Well, this is fun", he remarked.



"By this, you mean public humiliation?"



"Try getting something from my front pocket. Let's see how they'll react"



"You gotta be kidding me", I asked, completely perplexed.



"No, I'm serious"



"You two look good!" "Dara unnie and strawberry backpack man, hwaiting!" "Kiss kiss KISS!"



My jaw almost dropped to the ground as I heard some of the students chanting. Are they seriously cheering for us? What the heck?! Are we some kind of a circus show?



"Your strawberry hairpin is in my front pocket", Jiyong nudged me, interrupting my thoughts.



"You're enjoying this, aren't you?", I accusingly said.



"Yeah. It's amusing"



This weirdo!



I looked around and people are still watching us, as if we're expected to do something brilliant.



"Go ahead", Jiyong arched his eyebrows at me, challenging me to get the stupid hairpin at his stupid front pocket. Oh, what the heck...



I shoved my hand in the right pocket of his jeans, earning loud shrieks from the students. Some are even feigning heart attack, dramatically clutching their chest and pretending to collapse.



"Left pocket", Jiyong whispered near my ear and I swear, the giddy wails of our 'fans' blew the roof. I can't help but chuckle at their overly enthusiastic cheers.



"Watch where your hand is. You're enjoying this too much"



I immediately withdrew my hand and slapped his stomach. "I'm not enjoying this!"



"Yes, you are", he said before finally entering my classroom.



I coyly waved at our 'fans' and followed him. I might as well have fun with these kind of things instead of letting it annoy me. After all, we're tied with a magical cord. I mean, how bad can it actually get, right?



_____________________________________________________________



"There you are!", Bom exclaimed as she saw Seunghyun sitting on a rock in front of Dara's college building with his legs spread apart, his arms resting on his thighs, staring at nothing in particular. The hadana slumped on the grass beside Seunghyun and cupped her face with her palm.



"Oh, you're being dramatic now?", Bom mused, arching her brows. Her onslaught of teasings did not stop there and she continued annoying Seunghyun, who just remained silent the entire time.



"Okay, I'm bored now. If you're not going to say anything, I'll leave your lonely self alone. Be dramatic all you want. Ta-ta!", she was about to warp in her glittery white smoke but Seunghyun suddenly shot his arm, gripping Bom's wrist.



"H-Hey", she casted him a confused look.



"The red string won't come back to its original form even if they fall in love", he started, freeing her wrist from his grip.



"Yes, it will"



"No, it won't"



Seunghyun stood up and stared at the building where the destined couple are currently at.



"What we overheard was right. One of the destined couple is supposed to die. In about two full moons, the ruler of the underworld is going to gather the soul", Seunghyun paused and stared deeply at her. "Dara's soul"



Bom's eyes grew wide as she took a sharp intake of breath. "T-That can't be true. Yes, we overheard that one of the destined couple is supposed to die. But isn't the red string of fate hindering it?"



"Hadana, they can't be tied forever"



As Seunghyun said those words, they heard the sound of chime bells and the sound of a gong, indicating that they're being called in the Sky Palace by their ascendants.



_____________________________________________________________



"Just to make things clear, you're not my type. We're stuck together so I have no choice but to put up with your weirdness", Jiyong lazily said as they were about to leave Dara's school after stopping by the library. It was amusing a while ago but when the number of KwonDara minions increased in a gremlin kind of way, it became irritating. And, it's even more annoying when the cheeseball he's tied with is flaming the rumor with her 'fanservice'. Clearly, Dara is enjoying this wayyyy too much.



"Will you get off me?", he wiggled free from her grasp but Dara was insistent, attaching herself to his arm despite his protests.



"Hubby, quick! They're taking pictures of us!", she excitedly said and posed with a V-sign beside her face.



"Don't call me hubby!"



"Oh, you are such a grandpa. Just loosen up. You were enjoying it a while ago", she said as they exited the building, clasping the book that she borrowed from the library.



"Not anymore", he shot back. "This is worse than when potato head and I were being paired up in high school"



"Reallllyyyyy now", Dara arched her eyebrows and stared at him. As they walk along the pathway of the university garden, the silence of the night finally settles upon them. The chaotic afternoon is now over.



"Is that jealousy that I'm hearing, AGAIN?"



"I told you, I'm not jealous. I actually think you two fit each other", she muttered and fiddled with her fingers while walking. "She will totally name your kids after decepticons", she pouted and pretended to be busy inspecting her nails.



The corner of Jiyong's lips tugged in a tiny smile as he glanced at the dorky cheeseball walking beside him. He then fumbled inside the strawberry backpack and pulled out his ipod.



Jiyong placed the right earpiece on his ear and the other earpiece on Dara's ear, startling her.



"There. Stop moping and just listen to this song", he said.



They both walked in silence towards the parking lot while listening to the music, the wire of the earpiece dangling between them together with the red string of fate. It's this kind of moment that they treasure the most. The kind where even though they're not talking, they feel each other's reassuring presence.



With the moonlight illuminating their path, the music on their ears and a trustworthy companion by their side, both of them feel that they can face anything. A crappy day can end in a nice note just as long as they have these kinds of moments.



"We'll start working in my father's company soon", Jiyong said in a low voice.



"Mmmhmmm..."



"Will you be alright?", he asked.



"Yeah, I will. Because you'll be there"



"Cheeseball"



"I heard that", Dara grumbled. "Come on, cling cling. Let me cling", she wiggled her fingers at him, making him shake his head in amusement. To Dara's surprise, Jiyong extended his arm and opened his palm at her.



"What? What's that?", she suspiciously asked, looking over his palm.



"It's just a hand, silly. Give me yours", he said with disinterest.



Dara extended her hand, which Jiyong captured. He then intertwined his fingers with hers, his eyes still focused on the road before them. Dara glanced at him tentatively and immediately averted her gaze, biting her lips, unsure of what to say.



The feeling was not foreign to her since she has done that with her former boyfriend, and yet everything seems so different. Everything seems to fit - the warmth of Jiyong's hands wrapped around hers and the red string binding them together.



Standing at a near distance, Hadana Bom wiped her tears as she saw the title of the book that Dara was clutching - 'The Old Man in the Moonlight'



Things were finally falling into place....unfortunately.





Writer's Note:


And yep, that's the Hadana's plan.

Guys, the days between full moons takes about 29 1/2 days! Two full moons is almost two months.


The time between two full moons (a Lunar month) is about 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes) on average (hence, the concept of the time frame of an approximated month was derived).