Ladies and gentlemen: Letting you know, this is the final chapter. I wasn't sure how long it would continue, but the direction it was I knew it wouldn't be going on too long. Considering there isn't much plot to be discovered, its only storyline is Hwoarang dealing with his growing interest in Julia and vice versa. The story was winding down and now it has to come to an end. Once they give into their feelings then its done.. I guess I could have held out for a couple more chapters making them both avoid each other and be unhappy but, there's only so much I could write about there. Anyway.. I do apologize to those that have been waiting so long for my updates, its with my sincerest apologies I made you wait so long, and thanks for still reading! I also apologize if this still isn't up to par, my muse has been raining on me with this story and I am afraid it hasn't really helped at all (that's right, blame the muse!) Meh. Read on. Mwah.

Also, I am spamming my other Hwo/Julia "story", which I highly encourage you ALL to read (and let me know you're reading), you can find more details in my profile, it'll be fun, I promise.. Aaaaaand, you haven't seen the last of me. Bwahahaha. Okay. End.

His Obsession: Chapter Eight

-
His kind words just fall near your feet.
With their last air, all they want done,
is to be heard in your sweet ears just once.
-

Do you ever get that feeling? Where you can't stand it to go outside and do something with yourself, but at the same time you can't stand sitting alone. Or when you get so hungry, but you can't eat because it makes you sick. Or you get so tired that you can't even sleep..

Julia felt that way, right now.

It was an early Tuesday morning, it had been quite a few days since the incident at the club. She didn't answer her phone, her door, her thoughts. She felt so ill, but she knew that it was nothing like a sickness that infected her. It was her heart, aching. It infected her. He, he infected her.

She stared lifelessly at the counter beside her, the full glass of water sitting still beside her. Bored, her finger traced its rim, the sound being the only thing that made noise in her apartment. But she dare not sip, for her stomach would clench with its foreign taste and make her feel worse. That was what she was reduced to. Eating so little as to not even enjoy a sip of water.

The phone rang shrilly, cutting through the silent room. And it rang, and rang, and rang..

"Hey, you've reached Julia. I'm either out or I'm busy, so leave me a message, okay?"

The phone beeped, and silence met the other end. Then..

"Julia? Julia, I know you're there. Please pick up the phone..." Xiaoyu's desperate voice spoke through the machine. "I know you don't want to talk to anyone, but we have to talk. I.. I have something I want to talk about. It's about Hwoarang.. I'm, I'm really sorry, Jules. It's all my fault and I- I- please, pick up.."

Julia paused her motions, staring at the machine. She was confused by Ling's words. What was she talking about?

The phone hung up, and beeped again. But it did not ring again.

She stared at the machine longer, and sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair. A pause, then her hand reached out and picked up the phone. She dialed Ling's number, and she picked up almost instantly. "Julia?"

"Yeah, Ling, it's me..."

"Thank God.. Julia, I've missed you..." Silence. "And I, I really need to talk to you about something. Please.. it's really important."

"Okay." Julia replied. "What is it?"

"Meet me at the plaza, in a half hour. I want to tell you in person. Okay?"

"Mm. Alright." Julia said, not really wanting to meet, but figuring Ling sounded desperate enough. She hung up the phone and got dressed, stepping outside for the first time in a few days. The light hurt her eyes almost, and she locked her apartment and headed for the plaza, Ling's words running through her head.

Ling sat at a small table outside that was surrounded by trees and bushes. She waved Julia over and motioned her to sit down. Julia noticed that Ling was fidgeting a lot with her hands and she looked a little pale..

"Julia, why have you been avoiding everyone lately?" Ling asked.

Julia shrugged, "I guess I felt.. sad. Or guilty, in a way. I haven't really had the energy to do much at all.."

Xiaoyu noticed that Julia was looking a little unhealthy, and a pang of guilt ran through her. "You saying that makes me feel worse about what I've done.." She whispered.

Julia's ears perked, and she looked at her friend suspiciously. "Ling.. what did you do?"

Xiaoyu dropped her head, looking on the verge of tears. "Promise you won't hate me?"

"Ling, I.."

"Promise, please." She begged, grabbing Julia's hands.

Now Ling was officially freaking her out. "Uh.. okay, I promise." She replied, "Just tell me.. you're freaking me out."

Xiaoyu took a deep breath and leaned back, looking at anyone but her. "That night when we were at the club.. and we had that plan, you know, to make Hwoarang jealous?" Julia nodded, motioning her to continue. "Well, I bumped into him earlier that day, said a few things to rile him up. He pretended not to be fazed. Anyway, I knew the only way it'd work is if he went to the club, right? Well, he refused to, and I kind of got desperate.."

Julia wasn't liking how this was sounding. "Ling, spit it out."

"I told him to take Nina, Julia!" Ling all but screamed. "I told him you were head over heels for him! I told him you wanted him there! I told him that Nina would make you jealous, make you confess to him how you felt!"

Julia sat there, stunned, not quite believing her friends words. "You.. told him.. to go with Nina?" She whispered. "But.. why?"

"I told him you didn't really like Steve... I told him you were trying to make him jealous. And even if you were, Julia.. I.. I told him to do the same to you. That it would make you both see! Make you both less stubborn and confess how you felt for one another! I actually thought that was the right thing to do!" Xiaoyu slammed her fists on the table, looking angry and sad at the same time. "I caused this! I'm the reason you feel guilty, why the both of you got hurt. It's all my fault."

The sun was shining, in the trees above she heard the birds chirping happily. People were walking by, smiles on their faces. Julia suddenly wondered why she couldn't be one of those people. She wondered how she got involved in such messes. And she wondered, briefly, why she wasn't mad at all.

Julia looked up, seeing Ling with her face in her hands, looking morbid. She paused, then reached her hand over to her friend, grasping her hand. "Ling.. you shouldn't get so stressed out about such things.." Xiaoyu looked up at her friend, baffled by the sad smile on her face. "It's not a good look for you." She winked.

"You.. you aren't mad?" Xiaoyu asked in disbelief.

"I didn't say that." Julia replied.

"But, you don't hate me?"

"Hey, I promised, didn't I?" Julia smiled, shaking her head. "Even though you have some of the dumbest ways of trying to play matchmaker, Ling, your intentions mean well. Sure, I'm angry that you're the reason I had to witness Nina with her six inch heels and her breasts on display." She made a face. "But its not all your fault. Hwoarang and I, we were asking for trouble. Nina was right, love is blind. It doesn't matter how many times you could try to get us to confess it, in the end, it just falls upon deaf ears."

Xiaoyu sighed, "Julia, you two may have been dancing around it for too long. But don't throw it away just because you don't know how to dance well."

Julia shook her head, "I'm not throwing anything away. I'm just.. not dancing anymore."

Ling raised a brow, "What does that mean?"

"It means.. that if he wants me, he knows where to find me. And if I want him, I know where to find him." Julia grinned. "But I'm not going to search in places I know will get me into more trouble. If I really want to be with him, I know what I have to do. Its just if I'm ready to." She stood, the seriousness of the situation finally getting to her. "Anyway, I'm kind of hungry now. Think we can get something to eat?"

Xiaoyu jumped up, "Righto!"

And do you ever get that feeling? When everything feels so messed up, that you are sure that it cant be fixed. Julia had felt that way, but it was suddenly as if the universe shifted, letting you know that it could be fixed. And when Xiaoyu jumped up and down, bouncing happily as she led her into the plaza, she felt as though a part of it was getting fixed now. And she realized, she didn't want to be anyone else. Because she was fine dealing with her own messes, as messed up as they could make her feel.

A flash of red from the corner of her eye made Julia halt her thoughts, turning her head quickly towards the edge of the trees, where they stopped and disappeared beyond the many buildings surrounding her. But there was no one there.. she was sure, for a moment..

Xiaoyu tugged on her and Julia snapped out of her daze, looking ahead and smiling as they headed into one of the buildings. Yeah, she wouldn't dance anymore.. especially not with Steve, she mused inwardly.

-

It had been 3 long hours since Julia and Xiaoyu had had their talk, and since then Xiaoyu dragged her to eat, to get clothes, to rent some movies, to get more clothes, to get ice cream, and more clothes.. and Julia was almost dead. Xiaoyu however, had no signs of fatigue at all, much to her displeasure. She was chatting amiably with one of the store workers about some sort of dress that was on sale. Julia had opted against dress shopping and had simply sat on one of the chairs offered, surely, to poor souls like her forced to stare at fabric upon fabric of 'blowout sale prices' that she was sure caused by the devil himself. (Or maybe just Devil Jin.. ha.. ha... eh..)

Suddenly her cell phone rang, which was something of a new experience since the only one that usually called this number was, well, Ling.

"Hello?" Julia said curiously, not noticing the number.

"Go to the club downtown tonight, Julia Chang." A familiar voice said on the other side of the phone.

Julia's face twisted, confused. "Nina?"

A chuckle, "Lets just say I have a keen eye for red haired pain in the asses when they're suffering from heartache. The club, downtown. You're the only one that can help him now, Julia Chang. Lets hope you're as smart as you think you are."

Call ended.

Julia stared at her phone, baffled. Had Nina just... given her advice?

"What's up?" Xiaoyu chirped, three different dresses in her hand.

"That was.. Nina..." Julia said slowly, still confused.

Xiaoyu's jaw dropped, "What?!"

"She.. gave me some advice." Julia continued, putting her phone away and standing up.

"Uh, good advice?" Xiaoyu questioned curiously, heading for the exit.

Julia shrugged, "I'll let you know."

What the hell? She thought, waving goodbye to her friend and walking back to her apartment, her thoughts filled with Nina's words. One minute she tells me to leave him alone, and now I'm supposed to what, go have a drink with him?

Dance with him, her mind whispered.

Julia shook her head, entered her apartment and kicked off her shoes. The time read to be almost 6 o'clock, so she shrugged out of her clothes and into the shower. For a second, she decided against following Nina's orders. It hadn't yet been a week since the last time she saw him, and honestly she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to say the right thing. Or even if she knew the right thing to say..

So Julia took a shower, dried her hair and left it down. She searched through her wardrobe and noticed herself asking, 'What would he like most?' She grabbed a sheer, golden tank that she remembered Hwoarang commenting about a long time ago. Then she grabbed a nice, faded jean skirt. She left her hair down, and her glasses on, nevertheless. By the time her nerves had calmed and she was ready, the time had passed quickly.

If Nina was right.. if she were the only one that could help him.. Julia figured that she owed him at least that much. Taking a deep breath, she turned off the lights to her apartment and headed out, towards the club that she was told he'd be at. Hopefully she wasn't too late.

The closer she got the more nervous she felt, her palms feeling itchy and hot. Doubts filled her head and she forced herself to shrug it off, knowing that now was not the time to get cold feet. As the lights came into view, she forced herself not to run, and prayed that he would be there like Nina had said.

Julia was let in with ease. Since it was only a Tuesday, it wasn't as packed as it usually was. There weren't as many people dancing and the music wasn't as loud. She scanned the room for red hair, and she smiled as she noticed a figure sitting by the bar, his back to her. His hair was tied, and he sat alone wearing jeans and a nice white button up shirt, that looked a little disheveled. His shoulders were slouched, and he was alone. She spotted he was drinking, a little worried he was already severely drunk.

Straightening her shoulders, she mustered all the courage she could and walked towards him slowly. His head didn't turn, like it usually did when he noticed her presence. Good, she wanted to surprise him. Taking the seat to his left, Julia hesitantly sat down and placed her hands on the counter. "Could I have a water?" Julia asked the bartender. He nodded and got her some.

Julia felt him tense, but she didn't turn to face him. "A rude woman told me where I could find you, but I will admit I didn't believe her."

He didn't say anything. She didn't expect him to.

"You know, I've been doing this all wrong." Julia chuckled nervously. "I kept trying to make myself believe that you were just some pain in the ass guy that kept showing up. I think I was just fooling myself because I was scared about how I really felt."

Hwoarang turned his head, barely, but she noticed it. Good. "So tell me Hwoarang, what made you more angry? Was it that I actually punched you, or that I was dancing with Steve even though you knew I wanted to dance with you?"

Music drifted to her ears then, slow music. She turned her head and noticed people dancing together, slowly, but dancing. She smiled and stood, holding her hand out in front of him. When he made no movement she leaned down and whispered, "Dance with me, Hwoarang."

Maybe her heart was beating because she was scared that he would decline, that it was really too late. But when she felt the warmth of his hand enclose hers, she felt as though her heart was surely going to explode any minute. She looked up into his teal gaze, one that she knew would surely burn into her very soul, and guided him towards the floor.

Strong arms guided hers around his neck, and then wrapped themselves around her middle, and she suddenly had never felt more safe. His hair fell out of their hold and into his eyes, but she knew that he was staring at her. Julia moved her hand and swept away his bangs, her fingers lingering on his face. Her eyes shifted, moved over his entire facial features, and they were drinking him in as if seeing him for the first time. I wasn't too late, she admonished.

Hwoarang moved with her gently, and she was happy this wasn't a dream. Suddenly, he grinned softly, resting his chin against the top of her head. "This song isn't very good.." He chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath her.

Julia shook her head, "You're ruining the moment.."

His chin lifted and he tilted his head to gaze into her eyes. "No, Julia.. " He smiled. "I could never."

And then his gaze drifted downwards and rested on her lips, which were smiling unknowingly. Dazed, he grabbed hold of her chin lightly and descended his mouth upon hers, deciding that now he had to drink all of her in, whatever she would let him do, it was now or never.

The kiss was soft and slow, nothing like she had imagined how Hwoarang could ever kiss her, and she sighed deep into the kiss. He pulled back and brushed her hair from her face, and she realized they weren't really dancing anymore. He smiled, "I like your shirt."

Julia chuckled, "I know."

Maybe it was the alcohol, but suddenly Hwoarang's mind felt.. funny. Light. Different. He had kissed the woman who dominated all of his thoughts for so long, and suddenly felt like a new man. It was then that he realized, that for the first time in a long time, he was happy. Truly happy, because of her. That was enough to make him kiss her again.

"You are my obsession, Julia Chang." He whispered, resting his chin on her crown.

She smiled, "No.. such a man as yourself could never stoop so low as to be obsessed with someone. Why, that would require much discomfort and violence and, daresay, you might just hurt anyone that so much as touches me. It cant be that.." She joked.

Hwoarang snorted, not amused. "Then I guess there's only one thing that it could be.." Julia looked up at him, curious. "It must be love."

They stared at each other for a long silent moment, until Julia smiled, soft laughter escaping her mouth as she punched him lightly in the shoulder. Hwoarang's mouth quirked, and he too laughed with her. Kissing each other was one thing, but they were both sure that it would require lots more dancing before they'd admit they were in love. (They were both fine with that.)

The End.