"There she goes...the princess's pet."

"Shameless! Who does she think she is?"

"I never liked her from the start."

Yoon Min squinted her eyes shut and continued walking. For once, she thought since she was dead, she wouldn't have to face people's gossips and whispers anymore. She was bullied by children in the same manner and it triggered a trauma inside her. Who knew years later, she would have to face this even after her death?

Nowadays, her days were tangled in a series of problems. Wherever she went, she was surrounded by many envious eyes and attacked by cunning whispers that were loud enough for her to hear. Almost all the residents, from guardians to fairies, they were raising strong objections against the couple who received their memories. Mostly against her; she didn't know why she was the only one being largely attacked. They didn't seem to have much problem with Seokjin. Sexism was still alive in their soul.

The subject of their protest was: they wanted their memories to be given back to them. Because they seemed it unfair to have only two guardians with their memories, especially when one of them got her memories using her own wish. They also found it discriminating that those two freely ignored their duties as guardians and took days off as long as they preferred due to their personal love issues. Their reasons sounded truly valid but they didn't have to raise protests and break the peace of the universe.

Aereum's words were coming true. Since their reincarnation was cancelled, within weeks, the amount of protestants were spreading in every corner and starting to neglect their human's calls freely. As a result, suicidal humans were not being helped. Their condition was to give their memories back as well. The whole universe was no longer the peaceful, happy place it was.

And these volitant residents liked to bully Yoon Min as well. On a bare minimum level, they threw offensive comments and shot unfriendly glares at her. She was quite safe when she was with Seokjin, because the residents didn't seem to find the courage to bully him. Of course, because he was their heartthrob crush and they believed it wasn't entirely his fault. So they refrained from bullying her when she was with him.

At least, that act of reincarnation would had averted their attention from getting their memories to finding their true love in order to be humans again. And gradually, their protests would had reduced too.

But thanks to Beomgyu's wish, their reincarnation was cancelled.

Speaking of him, he had found a new goal in his life now that he got what he wanted. Impressing Yoon Min, which was absolutely uncomfortable and awkward. He would hand her roses every single day, he would leave chocolate boxes in front of her door, sometimes he would directly ask her to go on a date with him. In any way, it was clear he wanted to get her attention by doing romantic stuffs.

Romance didn't go with Beomgyu. Maybe it did, but not to her. She didn't like his behaviour or the things he was doing for her. She gently tried to tell him there was no need to do all these, she tried to give hints that she will never be interested in him, but he wouldn't acknowledge them, maybe deliberately. She couldn't refuse his efforts straightaway because that would break his heart. But she was very uncomfortable with this version of him. She badly wished to her best friend back, the one who loved her as a friend.

And it was easy to guess that Seokjin was highly upset and mad with Beomgyu's inappropriate actions. They fought almost every day, whenever he found the other trying to flirt with his wife, he would get very pissed and pick a fight. Could she blame him? Beomgyu was being unreasonable honestly.

So to say shortly, Yoon Min's every day was filled with the resident's cruel gossips, Beomgyu's unpleasant efforts and constant fights with her husband. At this rate, she was tired of all these and just wanted to disappear. Who knew death would also be as troublesome as life?

--------------

"Yoon Min?"

She got startled by the voice that once used to bring her joy but now only brought her annoyance. She really wished she didn't feel this negativity against him.

Looking up, she found Beomgyu, peering down at her with a cute smile. If only his intentions were as cute as his smile. She didn't bother to speak a word before moving aside to give him space. He happily flopped down beside her.

The class was about to start in a few minutes. She deliberately put all her focus on her book just to ignore anything he says. She was aware he was talking non-stop beside her, mostly about how he felt for her so she concentrated on her book to escape the discomfort.

After a while, all the guardians stood up as Seokjin entered the classroom. His classes were always interesting and filled with people. No matter the hate he received from them, no one missed his classes. They knew how helpful his lessons were.

As he scanned the faces of the classroom, it only took him a second to find her sitting with Beomgyu. The sight made his eyebrows clutched and unconsciously his fists tightened. He wanted to storm over there and separate them to different seats. He couldn't tolerate the uneasiness of his wife. He sighed and changed his mind to the class. He started his lecture without wasting time, clearly aware nails will keep pricking him until he separates her away from the other.

Beomgyu wasn't interested in the senior guardian's lecture. Why would he when his most desired person was right beside him? With a smile on his face, he grabbed a pen and wrote down something in his notebook before sliding it to her.

"Let's watch a movie together in my room."

Yoon Min peaked at his message and spared a short glance at him. She shook her head quickly.

What she didn't know was he was not going to give up.

He wrote down again, "Please...?" He even added doodles of hearts around the word.

She shook her head again, this time with a bit force. God, she wished he would stop!

"Don't turn me down." This time, he drew a sad pout.

When she didn't give any sort of response, he took a daring step by whispering, "I'm gonna take that as a yes."

"Beomgyu, no." She hissed, not looking at him.

"I only hear yes--"

"I said No!" She half-whispered, didn't know her voice was raised.

He smirked a little. "It's a little movie night. What's wrong about that?"

"I am not--"

"Guardian Song Yoon Min?" Both of them turned their heads towards the senior guardian who was glaring at her in a questionable way. If that wasn't enough, the whole classroom was staring at them.

She widened her eyes and became nervous. How embarrassing!

"May I ask what is more important than this class?" Seokjin asked in a strict voice.

When she glanced at Beomgyu, he stayed still as if he was innocent all along. But she didn't miss the little smirk on his lips. He knew now she had no choice but lie to the senior guardian and eventually agree to his offer.

Gritting her teeth, she quickly said, "N-Nothing, Jin...Seonbae." She found it difficult to address him as her senior in front of others.

Instead of sparing her, he pushed the matter like a fool. "I don't believe it was nothing. Stand up and explain properly."

The whole classroom gasped and muttered some weird noises. She herself was surprised by his command. Why was he pissed at her? What did she do?

Her basic instincts made her stand up from her seat but didn't help her to figure out what she should say. "Uh...I was...paying attention but I-I got distracted by something." It wasn't a lie, but she managed to hide the truth.

He stared at her in silence for a few seconds before saying, "Well, I can't have a distracted guardian in my class. Get out of here."

While every guardian gasped openly and exchanged comments, Yoon Min simply couldn't believe the reason he was acting like this. He had no valid cause to behave rudely with her. And that's when it hit her.

He was trying to separate her from Beomgyu.

He was saving her.

Her insides burst in gratitude and love for him. Not wasting a second, she took her books in her arm and walked to the door, unable to control the happiness of her face.

While she walked past him, she flashed him a smile which he noticed and replied a tiny smile for a short second before straightening himself. Of course he knew that Choi Beomgyu was forcing her on something, thus causing her discomfort. He did that to get her away from him.

When Yoon Min left the classroom, it wasn't even a second later until Beomgyu stood up from his seat and announced,

"Seonbae, I'm not feeling well. I've to go."

Beomgyu never took his permission to do anything. He didn't respect him at all. He only did that because they were among people. He couldn't stay in this class without her, that would be so useless.

Seokjin blinked his eyes as rage was taking him over. He clearly knew this guy was lying. He only wanted to follow Yoon Min. He won't let that happen.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Beomgyu-ssi. Take your seat."

"Well, I don't want to bother you with my health so I'm leaving." He was walking out of the classroom boldly.

The senior guardian shouted his name. "Choi Beomgyu!"

No answer. He smoothly walked out of the classroom, humming.

Yoon Min thought she won't have to see Beomgyu for the rest of the day but Almighty wasn't on her side unfortunately. She was walking back to her chamber when she suddenly heard him calling her name from behind. How did he manage to follow her out of the classroom?

Why was she here? Just to suffer?

Beomgyu caught up with her and with a bright smile, he suggested, "Let's go for the movie now. We got plenty of time."

She closed her eyes and sighed lightly. Massaging her forehead, she politely denied. "I'm tired, Beomgyu. Maybe some other time."

He as always didn't get the hint. "Why don't you rest in my chamber? I could feed you!"

Somehow he never gave up trying. He wasn't a dumbhead that he would miss the hints. It was amazing how he buried his self-respect down and kept on trying. He deserved someone who would love him the way he wanted.

But she couldn't take it anymore. Weeks of his pestering, awkward efforts had her exhausted. She was exhausted of denying him, of turning him down, of rejecting. Why couldn't he just let her go?

"Beomgyu, how long are you gonna keep this up?"

Her question made his smile drop and fade. The pupil of his eyes shook as if he was suddenly nervous. He wasn't expecting her to ask him that now.

She sighed again and looked down. "Loving someone is not as easy as you think. You can't expect someone to fall for you just because you want it. Love is a challenging subject, maybe the most complicated game you will ever play. You won't see just rainbows, or smile all day, or feel butterflies. You'll have to fight battles, endure rejections, live with the pain. It's more negativity than positivity."

He didn't interrupt her.

"Look at me, look at Seokjin. We didn't fall for each other because we wanted to. We didn't get each other by giving roses or chocolates. We didn't sit on our bed, thinking someday we'll be in the same love maze. Back then, our hands were tied. We were not supposed to love each other, it was forbidden. But we went through a journey of events, a rollercoaster of emotions, lived in denial and acceptance, through death and life; only because God wanted us to."

She looked at him. "We tried so hard. Not because we were helpless, because we wanted to earn each other's love as if that's the thing we needed to live. As if I were his lungs, and he was my heart. I'll never find out how we felt the same attraction even after losing our lives. Maybe love doesn't leave even if the person does, not even death can defeat it."

He was silent but he was listening. His eyes were frozen.

"Beomgyu, love isn't easy or cheap. It's priceless, it's rare. Only a rare number of souls can experience love. Your idea of love is not Love. Do you want to know what real love is?" She asked, expecting him not to answer. "Real love is letting them go even when you need them the most, letting them leave because they deserve happiness, setting them free because you know you're not good enough for them."

Her eyes had a curtain of wetness. "Seokjin did that. He let me go and took his own life. Even when I wanted to get back with him, he wanted to set me free, wanted to see me happy. Even now while everything's okay between us, he still regrets for his sins and wants to let me go. Because he thinks he doesn't deserve me."

She refused to drop a tear. She controlled herself and said, "That is love, Beomgyu."

Beomgyu didn't blink even one time. It didn't seem like he was shocked or emotional. She couldn't read his face properly. But he was sure confused now.

Right then, Seokjin appeared in the scene as he ran as soon as his class was finished. He took a hold of her wrist and moved her away from Beomgyu. Shooting a serious glare at the other, he glanced at her,

"What happened? What did he do?"

Yoon Min shook her head and gave him an assuring expression. He calmed down after that.

She told him for the last time, "The day you'll learn to let me go, that is the moment I will know you truly love me."

Her voice made him shiver and sent chills down his spine. He found himself in a position where he lost all the courage to move forward, to utter a word, to correct her.

Seokjin didn't want to be there any second. "Let's go, Yoonie."

She nodded and turned around with him. She didn't know if she hurt him by her words or simply made him realize his fault. She just wanted him to fight for someone who would fight for him in return. She wasn't just meant for him.

As Beomgyu watched the couple walking away from him, he clenched his nails on his palm harder, blood running furiously. After everything he was told, he knew there was only one thing to do to have her all to himself.

Eliminate Seok Jin.