Chapter 15

When he said the beginning, he meant the very beginning. All the way back to their first awkward meeting where the seeds of friendship had been sewn. Actually, she hated him when they first met. She'd thought he was annoying and childish. And he'd thought she was a pervert.

Okay, maybe this wasn't a perfect plan, but he had already put the panda hat on. Now, it was just a matter of waiting till she looked out the window. His legs hurt and he was getting tired, but if he didn't do this now, he'd lose his nerve. So he stood in silence and waited until she looked at him

She looked shocked to say the least when she at last turned around. There was no spark of memory in her eyes, and no reason for him to be angry with her this time. He was hoping that maybe he could start their relationship from scratch, and that meant replicating everything. She shut the blinds suddenly and he ran to her apartment in the snow.

Had it been this cold last time? He thought as he clutched the fur hat close to his face. Maybe he had just been stupider and ignored the cold. That seemed more likely. If there was anything Dok Mi had done to him, she had, made him less idiotic. Slightly.

He pounded on her door for a solid five minutes without a word before Jin Rak came out.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, "It's almost midnight"

"I'm starting over" he said cheerfully.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Probably" he admitted, "But nothing else is working"

"So you stalk her?" Jin Rak asked angrily.

"It worked last time," Enrique shrugged.

"You're a lunatic," Jin Rak yelled.

"Pervert!" Enrique screamed, "Dirty old man!" that should at least bring her out, Enrique figured. But she stayed silent. Enrique frowned and pressed the bell. Over. And over. And over. Until…

A security guard walked down the hall.

"Sir," he said to Enrique, "We've had noise complaints."

"Thank god you're here, Officer," Enrique said in his sweetest voice, "Whoever lives here has been peeping on me and my cousin"

"Peeping?" the officer asked skeptically. He knocked on the door softly, "Sir, please open up"

The door opened a fraction of an inch and Dok Mi's head popped out.

"A girl!" Enrique exclaimed, feigning surprise.

"Go away," she said to Enrique, "I'm working"

"Sorry, miss" said the officer, "I was just taking him away"

"Thank you," she said before shutting the door.

"C'mon, kid," the officer said as he grabbed Enrique's arm.

"No, you don't understand." He said desperately, "she's a pervert!"

"She seems like just a shy young woman," the officer replied, "You on the other hand…"

"Jin Rak," Enrique said as they passed his door, "Tell him!"

"Give it up, Enrique," Jin Rak said looking away.

"Traitor" Enrique spit, "Brutus, Pontius Pilot!"

Enrique continued to scream as he was dragged down the hall, "I'll be back, Go Dok Mi! Prepare yourself!"

The officer held onto Enrique tightly until they were completely out the door. Enrique sulked in the corner of the lobby for a few minutes, completely aware of the odd looks he was getting from the apartments other tenants.

That went about as well as it did the first time, Enrique thought. He tried to remember the exact sequence of events that led up to their friendship and eventual relationship. She had fainted in his arms, but that would be difficult to replicate. The next logical course of action was to take her to the beach, but Enrique was hesitant to do that.

That was the place where he'd first fallen in love with her, it seemed wrong to bastardize the memory in the vain hope it would trigger something. Especially since she now thought he was insane as well as an obsessive stalker. And the kiss… the first time they kissed had been an awkward accident. He'd thought for weeks about how to kiss her again. The kiss had been crucial to their story. But it would be nearly impossible to fake an accident like that. She'd surely know he'd planned it, and then what?

Enrique rarely thought things through before he did them, but that was going to require some finesse. Finesse he was unaccustomed to having to demonstrate. Sure, dealing with his fans took some tact… but he wasn't in love with them.

And even if he wanted to take Dok Mi to the ocean, he doubted she'd even open her door for him after what just happened. He was trying to remember how they had gotten their first time… but it had been so long ago…

They had been somewhere else and she had fallen asleep in the car. If he was remembering correctly, he'd kind of taken her against her will. What had he been thinking! That was borderline kidnapping. But he knew she had enjoyed herself at least a little bit. She loved the ocean and Enrique had tried to take her there as much as possible.

He had to take her back, he decided. Somehow, they would get back to the ocean.

A.N. So I thought we could use a break from some of the angst that has been going on. This one was super fun to write and is probably my favorite so far.