I suppose it was a combination of making him feel bad about himself, comparing his strength to mine, and referencing an ex-boyfriend that did the trick because this time, as if true fire had lit his heels, Eclipse looked energized again. With a bitter grin, he placed another lit cigarette between his lips, propped his hands on my shoulders, and started pushing me forward. As he did this, he shadily walked behind me, transferring his exhausted weight onto me. I was about to call him out on using me as his resting post, but his next words prevented such a retort from coming out.
“My only consolation prize is that I get to admire that pretty little butt of yours while we climb uphill,” he whispered, his hot breath caressing the skin behind my neck.
I turned bright red, feeling a crackle of heat sweep through my already hot body. “You were pretending to be tired so you can stare at my butt?”
“And what a magnificent view that is,” he said with much satisfaction. He groaned before releasing his hands from my shoulders and coming beside me. “But seriously,” he resumed, a haze of smoke billowing from his lips, “this hike is killing me. I give credit to the humans who do this as a leisure activity. This is hard work.”
And with that useless crediting that did nothing to give us energy, we continued on our ascent, our lungs continuously gasping for air. By now, we had deposited OinkOink on the ground and made him hike with us as well. Curious as a cat, he tiptoed near the edge of the mountainside to stare down at the sprawling world below us.
Any normal owner would have thought to put a leash around their puppy’s neck to keep them from running off the mountain, but no one ever said that Eclipse and I were normal owners. Instead of leashing OinkOink for his own protection, we allowed him to roam loose, trusting that he was smart enough to not do anything reckless. We were not only negligent, but we were also feeling pretty damn mean. There wasn’t much for entertainment up on these mountains and OinkOink appeared to be the perfect living thing to tease.
Feeling quite sadistic, Eclipse and I exchanged mischievous glances before we jokily screamed, “Jump, OinkOink! Jump!”
Issuing a whimper of confusion, OinkOink turned to growl softly at us. Like the smart puppy that he was, he took a moment to stare at us in disapproval before he rushed several paces ahead of us again, turning back every now and then to ensure that we didn’t pick him up and throw him off the mountain ourselves.
I wanted to pat his furry butt in approval. I loved that he was so smart.
“You’ve never done anything like this in Hell?” I conversationally asked once we reached a plateau area of our hike. I took the opportunity to admire the breathtaking view and the serenity of the secluded world we were in. I may have been exhausted, but the picturesque environment alone was worth the fatigue. The sun was still setting, and I had never seen a more splendid display of golden colors settling over the rolling green mountains.
Eclipse laughed, shaking his head as he took one final puff of his cigarette. “No.”
“What do you do for fun then?”
He threw his cigarette to the ground, stepped on it, and briskly said, “Plan for world domination.”
There was no doubt that this was true. In light of everything he had disclosed to me, I was willing to bet that he had been obsessed with world domination since his first intake of air. Now that I had time to reflect upon it, I doubted someone like Eclipse would have time to climb mountains. He was too busy moving mountains.
Eclipse cast another glance at the scenic backdrop, perspiration dotted along his face. Just like the time at the gym, he looked sexy and alluring in this manner. I, on the other hand, looked like a sweaty pig with rivulets of sweat gliding down my temple. Apart from the icky perspiration coating my skin, it also didn’t take long for my joints to act up every time I placed pressure on them. I was beginning to get vertigo from this “workout,” and I was pretty sure Eclipse had been hit with the same ailment.
“How much longer do we have to hike here before I actually get bitter and throw OinkOink off the mountain for fun?” Eclipse whispered jokingly. When he smiled, one of the sun’s rays hit him at the perfect angle, making him appear more like a playful Angel rather than a mischievous Demon.
At Eclipse’s comment, OinkOink whimpered in front of us, swinging around to look at Eclipse as if he had betrayed him.
“I was just joking, champ,” Eclipse called out to OinkOink, who had cleverly moved closer in front of me. It seemed that to him, I was the lesser of two evils.
Eclipse’s query about how much longer we had to hike prompted me to check. I consulted the map we had, sneakily hiding its contents so Eclipse wouldn’t be able to peek at it. A relieved breath touched my lips when I noted that it was finally time to turn in.
“Let’s go this way,” I directed chirpily, migrating into the wooded area.
We hiked through the woods, enjoying the fresh scent of trees and unpolluted air. The beams of the evening sun speared through the canopy of leaves, casting their warm orange glow over us. Birds, insects, and little forest animals tweeted, chirped, and buzzed all around us, and I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like I was in a whole new world.
“You don’t strike me as the outdoorsy type,” Eclipse observed, catching my elated smile when we stepped over mulches of leaves and fallen twigs. In the distance, I could hear water streaming. What a wonderful sound that was. Everything out here was beautiful beyond words.
I turned to him, picking up a twig and breaking it off into small pieces for fun. “Why?”
The complimentary glow in his eyes appraised my body as if my outer appearance answered the question for him.
“I happen to like being outdoors,” I told him defensively, mindlessly breaking off another small portion of the stick. “I don’t get a chance to do it often. I usually stay in the city.”
Eclipse regarded me in interest. “Because you feel safer there?”
I shrugged, truly not having a definitive answer for it. “I just don’t like leaving Seoul.”
He smiled dimly, his reaction hinting to me that he had the answer for my behavior. “It’s your survival instincts.”
I canted my head, perplexed by what he was implying. “What do you mean?”
“Have you ever told anyone the name of your school?” he then asked.
We continued to trek through the woods while my eyes grew more and more puzzled.
“Huh?”
“At Sanctuary, for example,” he elaborated patiently. “Have you told anyone there the name of your school?”
“Of course I have. They know I go to college in Seoul.”
“Yes, but have you ever told them the name?”
I ruminated over it and I realized that, much to my surprise, I hadn’t. The most I had ever told anyone was that I went to school in Seoul. Now that I thought about it, if I were in their shoes, the most I’d assume was that I attended Seoul University, which wasn’t my school at all.
“How do you know this?” I inquired, nearly tripping on my own feet because I was so stunned with this insignificant, but accurate, observation.
“That is your Source instincts at work.”
Birds, insects, and the sound of streaming water continued to hum melodically as I listened to Eclipse’s enlightenment.
“You will never tell anyone the name of your home and school, the two places you frequent daily. You will show them to the people who need to see them, but it is a rarity for you to announce the names out loud because, even without knowing, you are protecting yourself. I suppose this is similar to a chameleon being able to transform to fit into their environment. Your survival instincts are innate. You are reluctant to leave Seoul because deep down, you know that Seoul is the one place where your veil is the strongest. It is the one place where you know danger is less likely to find you.”
I was daunted.
I mulled over all the times in my life where I was reluctant to leave Seoul, all those times where I omitted giving out the name of my apartmen
t complex or vaguely insinuating to others that I went to Seoul University. I smirked. I had always thought that I was only blessed with book smarts. It was consoling to know that I had some street smarts after all.
“So tell me why you’re still single, Gracie,” Eclipse suddenly brought up. His tone of voice was careless, but the subtle inflection behind it revealed that he was extremely invested.
I fired him a look that said I didn’t want him intruding in my personal business, and he fired back with a stark look of his own.
“You brought me to the middle of nowhere to climb up a mountain and trek through insect-infested woods,” he said with stern charm. “You better be ready to entertain my curiosity.”
I uneasily bit at my lower lip before drawing in a deep breath. I gazed at OinkOink, who was happily sniffing out trees and ignoring us. I ripped off another portion of the stick.
“I just am,” I mumbled, avoiding eye contact. The new topic made me feel shy around him for some unknown reason.
“You’ve had boyfriends, I presume,” he prodded idly. “Like that golf ball of a boyfriend you gave an apparent piggy back ride to.”
I sighed before dismantling the bashfulness I was displaying by admitting, “I’ve dated a lot, but I’ve never really called anyone my ‘boyfriend.’ I only think of them as guys that I dated longer than the rest and I refer to them simply as an ‘ex.’ But yeah, I guess in the technical definition, I’ve only had three ‘ex-boyfriends.’”
“Tell me about them,” Eclipse said anyway.
I briefly hesitated, but rationalized that if this would distract him from complaining, then it could only favor me in the long run.
“I was with the first one for a few months,” I launched with a reminiscent sigh. “He was the preppy type and really cute. I had just started college, and because I had no love interest during my chubby girl phase in high school, I really fell for him hard. He was a real gentleman, but when he realized that the most he could get out of me was a kiss on the cheeks, he dumped me and told me that he needed someone who was more ‘romantic.’”
I shook my head absently, ducking underneath a tree branch. “Then there was the second one. He was a virgin and he really respected the fact that I wanted to save my virginity for marriage. However, the thing with this was that he was very religious. I guess he assumed that since I was soft-spoken and somewhat of a pushover, I’d convert to Catholicism for him. When I told him that this would never happen, he parted ways with me. And finally, there was the third one.” I smiled to myself. “I really liked the third one.” I laughed, turning to Eclipse. “He was the one I gave the piggy back ride to.”
“Why’d you like him so much?”
For a moment, I thought Eclipse’s voice sounded annoyed.
“He was a model.” I blushed, thinking about my memories with him. My last suitor was truly a wonderful guy. “And he was one of the cutest guys I’ve ever met.” Of course, no one came up to par with Eclipse, but I kept that to myself. “He was really respectful and amazing. He never once pushed me into doing anything I didn’t want to do.”
“Who left who?”
“I left him.”
The answer took Eclipse by surprise. I surmised that since I had the two previous track records of being dumped, he logically assumed the third one would be a similar case. “Why?”
“I liked him a lot, but I didn’t like him enough.” I struggled to find the right words to explain. “There was no passion in that relationship. It felt really safe and satisfactory . . . and I guess I didn’t want that. I realized that I didn’t want to be content in my relationship—I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to never be satisfied, to always be kept on my toes. I wanted my relationship to be so passionate that I’ll never get enough of the one I love.” I shrugged. “Basically what I wanted, he couldn’t give me.”
I tossed what was left of the stick into the further depths of the woods.
“I’m not the type of person who wastes time if there is no hope. As amazing as it was, it wasn’t meant to be.” I smiled with effort. “Anyway, that’s my story,” I concluded, very curious about his story now. The hostess—Rho—at Tony’s restaurant floated into my mind. “What about you? What’s your story?”
“I’ve had plenty of girlfriends,” he reminisced, unthinkingly holding my hand as we galloped over a fallen tree trunk, “sometimes several at once. My monarchy has some of the most beautiful women you’d ever see.”
I felt jealousy spark within me. I disentangled my hand from his and coolly asked, “Like Rho?”
A baffled expression overtook Eclipse’s face. “Who?”
“The hostess at Luxuria,” I reminded firmly. “I heard your Elders mention that you’ve had your fun with her.”
Realization lit his eyes. “Oh, her. Lollipop girl . . .” he chortled awkwardly.
I simmered at the fact that he referred to her as “Lollipop girl.” He must’ve had some fun with her and that lollipop of hers if his eyes lit up that much.
“I forgot that she worked there,” he admitted, nervously scratching the back of his head. It was evident that he found it awkward that I met one of his old flames. “I was with her for a while, but I was with others too. I was a”—he paused momentarily—“what do you call guys like me in your world? Oh yes, player. I was a player.”
“What kept you from being committed to them?”
“I’m a big workaholic,” he provided listlessly, his eyes watching as OinkOink continued to explore the woods ahead of us. “Plus, some were too predictable. They wanted me too much.” I cast him an “are-you-serious” look, and he smirked. “You think I’m magnetic right now, right?”
I didn’t dare to answer and thankfully he didn’t push for an answer.
“Well, you should try being around me when I’m at full capacity. Your senses won’t stand a chance against everything that makes up my existence.” He tipped his head back, pausing for a second to think up the right analogy for it. “It’s akin to being drunk on gallons of alcohol and it’s akin to being trapped in a heat wave. Your senses are screwed up and the only thing that acts as your salvation is me. I am your beginning, your end, and the reason for your entire existence.”
He laughed dryly. Rather than being proud of having this effect on women, he actually appeared to have found pitfalls in it.
“Basically I am your poison and your only antidote. With this type of frenzy, as the one being lusted after, it turns you off. You never know if they truly want you or if it’s a mirage—if it’s only because they are caught up in their own lust.” He turned to me with a prideful look in his eyes. “As you know, I am not the type of entity of who will live in anyone’s shadows, even ones cast by my own presence. So that’s why I’m still a virgin, so to speak. At the risk of sounding cliché, I suppose you can say I haven’t found the ‘right one’ who can overcome everything that embodies my existence and simply lust after me for me.”
Strangely enough, his explanation made sense.
Then, with his gaze fixed on me, he abruptly changed the subject and asked something that was so out of the blue, it nearly caused me to trip and fall on my face.
“Having said all of that, who was the guy that was with you at the student lounge?”
“What do you want?”
22: The Cottage
I had to do a double take when Eclipse’s question hit me.
I wheeled around to face him in surprise. He made it sound casual, but I had the feeling that he had been waiting to ask me this question since the trip started.
“Excuse me?” I replied carefully, watching as Eclipse casually threw a stick he had picked up and tossed it in OinkOink’s direction. With an excited bark, OinkOink chased after the stick, retrieved it, and eagerly ran back to Eclipse with the stick in his mouth.
“My eyes and ears found you that night, remember?” he reminded before taking the stick out of OinkOink’s mouth and tossing it again.
I swallowed uncomfortably, watc
hing as OinkOink jovially ran after the stick. He was unaware of the fact that I wanted to run with him so I could escape this conversation. I snarled silently. I should’ve known Phix—the Gossip Girl—would have reported everything to Eclipse as soon as he woke up.
I appraised Eclipse with shifty eyes, not appreciating being put on the spot. I had been doing a good job of hiding my relationship with Shin from him, and I resented being called out on it. Eclipse and I weren’t in a relationship, but when he asked me this, I felt like I had been caught cheating, which was ridiculous considering we weren’t romantically involved.
“Why does it matter to you?” I countered briskly, putting up the appearance of naivety.
“Since I’m your soul mate, this guy needs my seal of approval if he wants to be my soul mate’s suitor.”
The look I threw him was rife with venom. “Just like what you did with DonKi?”
Eclipse stifled a chuckle at the reminder of DonKi and the fiasco he created. When he noticed my glare, he cleared his throat of laughter and went back to his earlier question.
“Seriously, Gracie. What’s the deal with this guy?”
“He’s really good-looking,” I told Eclipse honestly.
For a moment, I thought I saw his jaw stiffen in discontent before he indifferently voiced, “Yeah?”
I nodded and because I was still feeling jealous of him and Lollipop Girl, I kept going. “And he’s really understanding . . . and sweet . . . and respectful . . . and I think he thinks I’m cute.” I shrugged, smiling like a little schoolgirl. “I don’t know. I think he might make a good potential husband . . .”
“A potential husband?” Eclipse repeated in disbelief, displaying an unusually envious side. His scrutinizing eyes raked over me. “Why are you in such a rush to give him that title? How long have you even known this guy?”