Date Number 23.2: Choi Seunghyun

What to do? Ottoke,Dara thought to herself as she shoved herself into a pair of leather pants. What do I do to get rid of this guy?

Dara stomped across the room, only in her underwear and newly donned pants. She paced irritably, racking her brain for ideas. Pouting, she stopped to look at Jiyong who was sitting by the edge of her bed. He chuckled taking in her half- form.

“Ya, what’s so funny?” She asked with a huff, “You should be helping me come up with a plan, not scrutinize my appearance!”

“You know D,” He told her calmly, “I don’t know why you bother trying to make yourself ugly. You know you look good in anything.”

She blushed at the compliment as she kicked off her pants. With a heavy sigh she slouched beside him on her bed, leaning her head on his shoulders.

“What do I do, Jiyong?” She whined.

“I knew you’d ask.” He said, pulling out his phone to dial.

Dara watched intently as he dialled her cousin’s number. “Uhm, Jiyong what can Bommie possibly do to help me?”

“Just let me handle this, okay?” He said, rolling his eyes at the sight of her pouting lips. “Hello Noona? (Pause) Yes, I did. (Pause) Yes, hyung found him for Dara. (Pause) He is exactly as you told me. (Pause) Great! He’ll be here at 8pm. (Pause) I’ll tell Dara. Kamsahamnida, Noona.”

“What was that all about?” Dara asked, looking at him suspiciously.

“I’ll tell you later.” Jiyong replied with a grin, “This is going to be exciting! Oh and Noona says she’ll love you more because of this. Cheer up, ‘kay?”

Dara frowned as Jiyong stood to leave the room. She whined audibly, disliking not being part of Jiyong’s secret scheme. “You know I hate surprises!”

Jiyong stopped and looked back at her. Blinking blankly several times, he walked back to where she was and wrapped her with her blanket.

“You forget that I’m a guy, D.” He whispered against her hair as he kissed the top of her head. “Try not to parade your almost self in front of me, arasso?”

Blushing furiously, she pulled the covers closer to her as he walked away with a smirk.

-

Dara sat in her pyjamas, chomping on popcorn as she waited for her date to arrive. She didn’t bother dressing up as Jiyong said it was unnecessary as Seunghyun wouldn’t need to take her out tonight. It was a quarter before 8pm when the doorbell rang. Lazily, she slid off the couch and dragged herself to the door. With the biggest frown she could muster, she opened the door.

To her surprise, it wasn’t the sight of the tall, arrogant-looking Seunghyun that greeted her. In front of her, stood a pretty, petite girl with long straight red hair.

“Bommie?” She shrieked in excitement, “What are you doing here?”

The redhead squealed as she launched herself in Dara’s arms. Losing her balance due to the added weight Dara fell back, almost hitting the floor if not for the hard torso that broke her fall.

“Woah, be careful ladies.” Jiyong said with a huff as he assisted the girls upright. “Hello, Bom-noona. You look great today.”

Dara frowned, not used to hearing Jiyong compliment other girls aside from her.

“Do you think he’ll like me?” Bom asked, twirling around to show off her floral dress.

Jiyong chuckled, casually hanging an arm about Dara’s shoulders. “Yes, Noona, I think he will.”

“Wait, who’s supposed to like you?” Dara asked, not understanding the conversation.

As if to answer her question, the doorbell rang once again. Dara found herself being lifted into Jiyong’s arms as Bom frantically fixed her already perfect hair.

“Act unconscious.” Jiyong whispered, as Dara’s eyes fluttered close to comply.

With no vision of what was happening, Dara listened in closely as Jiyong and Bom introduced themselves to Seunghyun, who sounded very surprised to see his date sleeping in the arms of another man.

“My apologies, Seunghyun-ah,” She heard Jiyong say, “But our Dara wasn’t feeling well. She fainted a few minutes ago. (Dara felt Jiyong shift her weight, as if to show Seunghyun her current state.) I hope you don’t mind, but I invited her cousin Bom to stand in for her.”

“That was highly unnecessary,” Seunghyun said politely, “I could have come for Dara some other day.” Turning to Bom, he added, “But since you have already been inconvenienced, shall we go, m’lady?”

Peeping a bit, Dara caught a glance of her cousin curtsying gracefully as Seunghyun extended his arm.