TSI: The Next Step: Ep. 20-4

----The Game of Love: Pt. 4----



As Il-ho led Lilith out of the alley back to the sidewalk, Lilith kept looking at him in shock. She just couldn’t believe that Il-Ho was the one who saved her. She had never known that he was so good with fighting. Not just that, but how did he even know where she was and how she got caught? Was he following her…?

“Uh…thank you…for saving me…” Lilith said nervously. She was still a little shaky from the threats from the gang, but now she had mixed emotions of relief, amazement, and nervousness. Il-ho smiled a little bit and said, “No problem. But I’m sure you’re wondering how I knew when to save you…”

Lilith looked at him really quick and then calmed down and said, “Yeah, how did you know where I was, or that I was in trouble? Were you following me or something?” Il-Ho took a deep breath and said, “Come on, let’s go to the park, and I’ll tell you.” Lilith nodded and she moved a little closer to him, not only because she liked him, but because she was scared something else was going to happen.

But soon they arrived at the park and they both sat down on a bench. With Lilith still close to him, Il-Ho sighed and said, “I wasn’t following you, actually. Even though I’m sure I would of found you sooner if I did, I was already at the alley when they got you...” Lilith looked at him with a confused face. “But who exactly were they?” Il-Ho looked away and said, “They’re a well-known gang here in the city. They’re known to kidnap people and take their money. What they do with them afterwards is always different. They could either let you go without minor damage, or…”

Il-ho stopped and closed his eyes. Lilith looked at him and then looked away as well. “That could have been me…” she thought. Without Il-Ho, she probably wouldn’t have been alive anymore. “But how did you know where they were, or when to be there at the right time?”

Il-Ho didn’t even look at her. It took him about a minute before he finally said, “Did I ever tell you that I was once in a gang?” Lilith looked at him with shock. Now she was a little bit scared of him, “What do you mean?” she said.

Il-Ho sighed again and continued, “Yeah, a long time ago, along with YI-Ho and Sam-Ho. We pretty much did what the other gang did, but we never actually killed anyone. They may have gone away with serious injuries, but they still lived…” He paused for a second and continued, “Anyway, we stayed with them for a year until we finally realized what we were doing. We were stealing and hurting people for no reason. Heck, we didn’t even get the good portion of the money. Then, something happened that made us quit…” Lilith looked at him with curiosity, “What was it…?”

Il-Ho smiled and said, “I met Doki…”

Lilith looked even more confused and then put it all together. “So, you liked Doki so much that you decided to quit the gang? How did the gang take it?” With that said, Il-Ho’s smile faded and he quietly said, “The first rule of the gang is that you could never leave. And once we did…they wanted to make sure that we didn’t tell anyone...” He closed his eyes again, and Lilith looked at him and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t realize what you’ve been through…But with all due respect, what’s that got to do with the other gang?”

IL-ho looked at her and said, “While we were in the gang, they were our main rivals. We had fights with them almost every day. They even sent spies to get information on us…Anyway, after I left the gang, I still heard stories about our rivals, and I decided that I didn’t want anyone to get hurt anymore. So whenever they found someone, I would make sure that they did as little damage as possible. And it just so happened that you were captured when I was watching tonight. Once I saw it was you, I did all that I could to save you…”

Lilith smiled and blushed. Now she felt flustered towards Il-Ho. “So, you saved me because you wanted to make sure the gang failed…?” IL-ho looked at her real close and said, “That, and I didn’t want anything to happen to you, cause I don’t I could live with myself if that happened…”  Lilith kept smiling, and as they both stood up, and noise pierced the calmness of the night.

It was Lilith’s cell phone…

She opened it up to see that it was her parents calling her. She sighed and Il-Ho said, “You should go. Your parents probably are mad, and they could-…” But before he could finish, Lilith pushed the end button and turned her phone off. As she put it in her pocket, Il-ho looked at her with confusion. Lilith smiled at him and said, “Right now, I don’t care about what my parents are gonna say or do, and I don’t care what they’re gonna think. Right now…” Lilith came close and hugged him real hard while saying,

“…All I care about is being with you.”

Il-Ho couldn’t say anything for a second. He was too shocked to even think. But as he looked at her, he finally smiled and hugged her back. And as they stood there near in the park, an image of Doki flashed through Il-Ho mind. Then he remembered how happy he was when he and Doki were together. Now, as he stood there with Lilith, he realized that this was the same. As Lilith let go, they both looked into each other eyes,

And shared a long kiss…

As they came closer, it was as if all the depression and anger from the past disappeared from Il-Ho. As they kissed, he felt happier than he ever had before. He also felt relieved that now he had gotten rid of the anger from the past. After they kissed, they hugged each other again and stayed there for a few more minutes, cherishing the moment…

==Epilogue==

A few weeks later, school started once again, and Doki, Nabi, and everyone else was too excited for it. Lilith had gotten an earful from her parents from sneaking out, but after what had happened, she didn’t even listen to them. In fact, afterwards, she was even able to convince them to let her go to the same school for her senior year. The only exception was her parents would choose where she would go for college. But Lilith didn’t mind… Now, as a senior, there was only one year left, and she would make the most out of it. As they all walked into school, they were all prepared for what was coming for them this time.

Maybe…

To be concluded in Season 4…