“Hey… why are you looking at me like that?” Chaerin chuckled.

Soohyuk chuckled too and shifted his gaze elsewhere. “Sorry… it’s nothing. I just thought you were kidding when you agreed to meet up.”

“Why would I?” Chaerin smiled and took a seat in front of him.

They were in a cozy café, overlooking the sea. They sat at the veranda so they could enjoy the breeze also for privacy.

“I know you’ve been busy. With your album and everything. Plus you don’t usually go out, so I was surprised when you said yes.”

“Oppa, it seems like you didn’t want me to say yes.” Chaerin joked.

“What? I’m happy you did. I… I missed spending time with you.” Soohyuk sincerely said. It really has been a long time since they spent time together. Just the two of them. They were pretty close. Closer than what everyone thought.

“Me too.” Chaerin genuinely said. “So, how’s Mr. Playboy doing?” She jokingly asked.

“I’ve been a good boy.” Soohyuk said and Chaerin laughed. They both know that’s a lie. “How ‘bout you? I saw your performances in the States. You were hot!” He exaggeratedly said making Chaerin feel slightly shy.

“I’ve been good. Performing there gives a different kind of thrill. It was fun.” She said and drank her coffee.

“That’s great.” Soohyuk said and hesitated about the next thing he wanted to say. “So… there’s this talk going around in the group.” The group. Nuthang. Chaerin understood as much.

“What?” She asked, curious. Even cocking her head nearer as if it was some secret.

“Ji and Kiko broke up. For good. Well, I still don’t know if it’s true because I haven’t met up with Jiyong yet but of course you already knew this, right?”

“What? Me? No. I didn’t know.” Chaerin said, busying herself by mixing her coffee.

“Really? Jiyong tells you everything. You’re usually the first to know something about him.” Soohyuk said, observing her actions. She seemed weird.

Chaerin harshly mixed her coffee, causing some of it to spill on the table. Soohyuk held her hand making her stop and look at him.

“Hey, you okay?” Soohyuk asked and she slowly nodded her head. Soohyuk could definitely feel how uncomfortable she was with the topic. “You wanna go for a drive?”

“I would love to.” Chaerin said, happy that they were out of the topic.

Jiyong clapped his hands when the music died down. YG asked him to look at the progress of the newest boy group in their company and check how they’re doing. Jiyong gladly accepted because he likes teaching his hoobaes just like he did 2NE1.

“Kamsamnida.” iKon bowed to him and all the others watching their practice.

Jiyong smiled and put two thumbs up. He could see the hard work put in by the boys to get the choreography on point.

“Good job. You danced well. But now, you have to work more on the vocals. Try just singing it out without all the movements. Then combine the two together until you can do it both without running out of breath.”

The kids listened carefully and nodded their heads to what he said. They were looking at him like some kind of god. Well, who wouldn’t? He’s G-Dragon.

“Yes hyung!” they replied.

Yunhyeong walked closer to B.I. and whispered “Hul~ that’s exactly what Chaerin noona told us yesterday.” He said in amazement.

“I know, right?” B.I. replied, somewhat amazed too. Maybe leaders do think alike. They started practicing just like how Jiyong told them to when they heard a commotion from the other side of the room.

Jiyong was talking to Jaewook, the choreographer, who was a close friend when suddenly, he started raising his voice. “She was here?!”

“Jiyong, calm down. Why are you getting mad?” Jaehyuk asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Tell you what?”

“Chaerin was here! For the whole afternoon yesterday and you didn’t tell me?!” He bursted.

The practice room suddenly fell quiet, except for the background music of Rhythm ta playing. Jaewook looked at the boys who had confused looks on their faces and sighed.

“Why are you stopping? Continue practicing like how Jiyong told you to, alright? I’ll be back.” He said and ushered Jiyong out of the room to prevent scaring the kids. He has seen Jiyong get mad before and he didn’t want the kids to see it.

When they were safely in his studio, Jiyong sat down and calmed himself. He didn’t even know why he was getting so mad. Probably because others knew more about her than he did. He didn’t even know she was in the company for the whole day yesterday. But what would he really have done if he knew? Nothing. He couldn’t do anything. But knowing where she was at, what she was doing gave him some kind of comfort.

“Jiyong, why are you getting so mad? What’s the problem?” Jaewook asked. He has always been a big brother to Jiyong and the others.

“Sorry hyung. I didn’t mean to shout at you. It’s just… the stress.” He reasoned. Jaewook nodded his head, understanding that Jiyong didn’t want to talk about it.

“Alright. Next time, be careful and considerate. The boys were there looking at you like you’ve grown two heads. You know they really look up to you, right?” Jiyong nodded his head apologetically. He knew yelling at his hyung would do nothing good but the frustration was just building up inside him. “And if you want to know, you could just ask you know. Chaerin will be checking on the progress of Winner kids tomorrow. It looks like YG is delegating his job to both of you guys.”

“Thanks hyung.” Jiyong said and just like magic, he felt that comfort again, knowing that Chaerin would be there tomorrow.

“Thanks for the ride.” Chaerin smiled at Soohyuk. It was already 10 PM but they just arrived at her place. They took a long road trip making them discover a nice, small gallery just outside the city. Both being into art, they enjoyed the gallery and even bought a piece.

“Anytime.” He said, going out of the car too.

“Here, you should take this. As a remembrance for today.” He said, taking the painting out of the backseat.

“No oppa, you take it. You paid for it.”

“Come on Chae. Just take it. It’ll look good in your living room.” He smiled. “I’ll bring it up for you.”

Chaerin just smiled. “Alright. Thank you.”

“I had a great time today.” Soohyuk said when they were in the elevator.

“Me too, oppa. We should do it again sometime.” Chaerin said.

“Definitely.” He smiled and she smiled back. The elevator opened and Chaerin felt her breath stop.

“Chae.” He said as soon as he saw her.

“Oppa…”

“Hmm?” Soohyuk asked, thinking it was him she was referring to.

“Hyuk?” he heard someone call him. Soohyuk looked forward and there he saw Jiyong, standing in front of Chaerin’s apartment door, looking confused.

“Yo Ji man! Wassup? It’s been a long time.” Soohyuk greeted Jiyong like he usually does and went to give him a hug.

“Sup man.” Jiyong said with furrowed eyebrows and eyes still glued on her.

Soohyuk who is good at reading situations understood it immediately, feeling the vibe they were both exuding. Jiyong looked at him, with pleading eyes and he understood. “So uhh… Jiyong, can you take this inside Chaerin’s place. I gotta go now. I’ll see you both soon huh.” He said and waved, turned back to the elevator.

Chaerin could just helplessly watch as SooHyuk waved and the elevator door closed. She took her time to turn and face him.

“Hey…” he started, looking straight at her when she seemed to be more interested in the floor.

“What’re you doing here?” she didn’t intend it to sound mean.

“Please look at me.” he said, wanting to pull her face up but scared to touch her.

Chaerin breathed deep and looked up immediately meeting his eyes. She didn’t know if the lights were playing tricks on her but there seems to be tears in his eyes.

“Can we talk?” Jiyong almost pleaded. “Please?”

Chaerin contemplated but nodded her head. Jiyong breathed in relief. He almost thought she would reject him… again. “Would you like something to drink?” Chaerin asked, walking in first and directly going to the kitchen.

“Just water.” Jiyong said, following her, carrying the thing SooHyuk handed him.

“You could just put the painting down. Wherever.” Chaerin said. “Thanks.” She added. Chaerin went to the living room, holding two bottles of water and saw Jiyong examining the painting that she and SooHyuk bought.

“Here.” Chaerin handed him one bottle. He smiled at her and took it.

“Thanks… did you buy this?” He asked.

“Uhm… no. SooHyuk oppa bought it but we both chose it.” Jiyong nodded his head but he couldn’t deny the pinch in his heart. That used to be their thing. They bought things together. Chose things for each other. That was supposed to be their thing. Theirs alone…

“Did you spend the day with him?” Jiyong cautiously asked, not sure if it was too personal or if he was probing too much. He felt weird feeling like that because in the past, they could talk to each other freely, about anything… about everything.

“Yeah.” She answered shortly. Gosh. Jiyong wanted to know more. What did they do? Was it only the two of them? Where did they go? But he feels like he shouldn’t. “So what did you wanna talk about?”Chaerin asked, feeling a bit uneasy too but is terribly good at hiding it. Instead, she gives off an indifferent vibe.

“I called you… a few times actually.” Jiyong tried to chuckle.

“My phone died this afternoon.” She said suddenly remembering it. She enjoyed her time enough to forget about her phone the whole day.

“Oh… I heard you watched the iKon kids yesterday.” Jiyong said, trying to make small talk. She felt so distant. So closed out.

“Yeah. They’re doing great. They’re talented kids.” She said, taking a seat on the couch.

“You should have told me, I could’ve went and watched them with you.” Jiyong said lightly trying to make the atmosphere better. She didn’t answer, instead just drank from her bottle. “And you’re going to watch Winner kids, tomorrow? We should do it together.” He said again.

Chaerin looked at him. “Is this what you wanted to talk about?” She asked, straightly.

Jiyong sighed. He wanted to talk about anything and everything with her, just like how they used to. He wanted to talk about more important stuff too but he just can’t bring himself to do it yet. He’s too scared that if he’ll start talking about them, she’ll reject him again. He just wanted to spend time with her.

“I really miss you Chae.”

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Hi guys! It's been a long time huh? I'm really sorry for that. I'll try to update sooner :) Thank you for those patiently waiting. I hope to not disappoint you guys. Comment and tell me what you think :) Thank you for reading! God bless you all xoxo

And of course HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE AND ONLY KWON JIYONG / G-DRAGON!!! <3 *wishing for some scratch that lots of skydragon moments please* fingers crossed haha :))