“You do know you’re bound to come back home, right?” Bom asked through the phone.

Chaerin sighed but nodded her head as if Bom could see her. They’ve been chatting on the phone for over an hour, just talking and updating about what’s happening and Bom didn’t fail to mention Jiyong’s bad aura, moodiness and stressed appearance every time she saw him.

That made Chaerin feel guilty but what she did was right. She can’t forever be the back-up or the second choice.

“Hey, you still there?”

“Oh… yeah unnie. Sorry.” Chaerin mumbled. She got lost in her own world again. That happens a lot recently.

“Anyway, I gotta go. I’ll see you next week right? You can’t avoid him forever.”

“Yes unnie. Take care.”

The call ended.

She didn’t know what to expect when she gets back but the indifference of G-Dragon was certainly not on the list.

It was 2 days ago that she arrived in Korea but only today that she went to YG. There was no contact between them ever since the incident in LA. Only the single text Jiyong sent her that day.

I’m sorry for everything Chaerin. Take care of yourself, alright?

She didn’t reply of course.

She arrived early in the building and only a few of the artists were there. iKon was there preparing for their debut. They greeted her when they saw each other and she returned the greeting. Winner was also in the building recording for their comeback. She and Mino talked while she waited for YG to call for her.

Finally, she made her way up to YG’s office but before she could turn the knob, the door opened, revealing an equally surprised Jiyong.

Their eye-to-eye moment was broken by YG. “Oh Chaerin, great, you’re here.”

Jiyong slightly smiled at her and nodded his head to acknowledge her presence then he made way for her to enter.

She waited for him to say something but he just went out, closed the door and left. Leaving her hanging there. Her daze was broken by YG calling her to sit.

The meeting was a blur. She wasn’t fully attentive to everything YG was saying. She just nodded her head and smiled from time to time.

She slapped her face as if to wake herself. ‘What did you expect Chaerin? He’d beg you to come back after you’ve pushed him away? Don’t kid yourself. He’s obviously made a choice and that wasn’t you.’

A bitter smile appeared on her face after the thought.

“Chaerin’s back.” Youngbae said.

“I know. I saw her earlier.” Jiyong said. They were eating meat and drinking beer at the nearby restaurant they loved.

“Oh? So you’re both okay now?” Youngbae asked, curious.

Jiyong bitterly smiled and put down his chopstick. “I said I saw her. We didn’t talk or anything.”

“Ohh…”  Youngbae said suddenly feeling guilty for even asking.

“She looked fine. Great, actually.” Jiyong said. “I’m glad.”

“And you look like . Sleep more, bro.” Youngbae shook his head.

“No amount of sleep could make me feel less ty.” Jiyong said and drank from his bottle.

“You need to stop beating yourself up about this.”

“How can I? How can I when all I see every time I close my eyes is her crying face. Her, telling me to go. Telling me how much it hurts. The pain… the pain I caused…”

Youngbae sighed at his friend’s pitiful state, never in his mind did he think that it would go this far.

“Bae… tell me honestly, did I treat her that badly? Bad enough for her to never take me back?” Jiyong dreaded the answer but he needed to hear. He needed to feel the pain she felt.

Youngbae let out a deep breath. “You did… I didn’t wanna tell you this… ever, but I think I have to…”

“What is it?”

“You remember that time when you suddenly flew to Japan for your birthday?”

“Yeah… what about it?”

“Well… Chaerin… she-she planned a party for you.” Youngbae quietly said.

“What?!” Jiyong said with wide eyes.

“Yeah… she called everyone. The whole company knew about it. She even called some of your friends outside the industry and also your relatives.”

“What??? Why, why didn’t I know? Why didn’t you tell me?!” Jiyong pulled on his hair, suddenly feeling angry.

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if I told you…” Youngbae said, feeling apologetic. “Then I was the one surprised when you just suddenly texted that you were in Japan when your surprise party would happen in just an hour.”

Jiyong remembered that time. It was last year. He really didn’t plan on spending his birthday in Japan but Kiko couldn’t come to Korea and insisted to have it there. He was so stupid that he just said yes to everything without even thinking about the people in his home.

“…so what happened?” Jiyong asked quietly.

“It was so awkward having a birthday party without the celebrant… but what could be done? Everything was already planned. There was no going back. Chaerin… she put on a brave face and greeted everyone and apologized severely because the birthday boy wasn’t present. We all felt sorry for her that time. She was careful not to get caught with a frown on her face. She even joked that she was the worst party planner in history because you weren’t there. I ended up watching her cry in my car when I took her home.”

Jiyong felt his heart constrict and ache hearing that. He really was a bad guy. Maybe he deserves all the pain he was feeling right now. This is justice. He was feeling a hundred times more sorry hearing the story and he was a thousand times more disappointed in himself.

“Why… why only tell me this now?” he quietly asked, feeling ashamed of himself.

“Because she begged us not to. It was the least we could do for her.” Youngbae said.

“And I didn’t even take the time to tell her where I was…” Jiyong murmured, his head buried in his hands, elbows on the table.

Youngbae sighed looking at his friend’s defeated state. “So what are you gonna do about it now?”

Jiyong looked up. “I can’t do anything now. She doesn’t even want me anymore.”

“She told you that?”

“She asked me to leave.”

“And? Since when did you ever do what you were told?” Youngbae said.

HELLO BI+CHES!!! 

Anyway, thank you so much for subscribing and reading this. I'm really sorry if I take too much time to update, it's just that I don't have much inspiration and I'm really busy but I'll try my best to update sooner. I hope you comment and tell me what you think :)

Now go watch the dance performance video! CL killed it!