They sat there, hands intertwined, quietly basking in the knowledge that they will be okay, that the two of them will work hard to ensure that they get past this.

A soft knock broke them out of their thoughts, and soon after Dara's mom opened the door slightly, "Everything okay here?"

Dara smiled a genuine smile that triggered a similar one in her mom's face. Without needing Dara to say anything, she said, "I'm glad." She turned to Jiyong, "I made some soup. Would you like some, Jiyong?"

"No. Thank you. I need to get going." Seeing the crest-fallen look on both mother and daughter, he rushed to explain with a sheepish smile. "Big Bang is actually recording and I was just supposed to go to the bathroom but you know.."

"Ji!" Dara admonished with a soft laugh. "They must be so worried that you suddenly disappeared. You should call them."

Jiyong rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pick with embarrassment. "They can deal until I get back."

"Will you.. come back after?" Dara asked hesitatingly. "I mean, if you're not too tired or too busy.. ."

"Baby girl." Jiyong stopped her babbling by pulling her head close to his and planting a kiss on her temple. "I'll come back. I promise. If for some reason I can't come back today, I'll let you know. Okay?"

Dara closed her eyes, cherishing the kiss. "Okay." 

Jiyong pulled away and said goodbye to Dara's mom. Before leaving the room, he  turned to look back at her, giving her the boyish smile she fell in love with.

Mother and daughter watched him walk away. "Told you so."

Dara looked at her mom with unadulterated happiness and conceded. "Yes, you did."
 

_________________________
 

Jiyong made his way back to the recording studio. His thoughts keep returning to his conversation with Dara earlier. His mind was still reeling  from all the things she shared.

He hates the fact that she actually loved Kim Jaejoong. Loved him enough to be burdened by that much guilt all these years. He won't lie. He's glad they broke up. Who knows if she would have given him another chance if they didn't. Sure, Dara said Jaejoong was aware that she still loved him back then but Dara is one of the most loyal people he knows. She won't leave Jaejoong just because Jiyong was trying to win her back. Probably why she felt so guilty at her perceived betrayal.

He's not happy that Jaejoong's clinical depression was part of the reason they broke up. He wouldn't wish that on an enemy, much less someone he actually respects.

But it still comes back around to how he isn't unhappy that they actually broke up. 

He's happy that they aren't hooking up behind his back. He's happy that Jaejoong is getting the help he needs and he's happy that they got their closure.

So is it still okay for him to hold on to the tiny bit of anger and resentment that he knows is buried underneath all his happiness and reasonableness?

He sighed as he massaged his temples. All this thinking and analyzing and self-reflection is giving him a huge headache. 

He entered the recording studio to find s laughing together. Upon seeing him, Daesung sprung up from his seat grabbing Seungri and turned to Youngbae. "Hyung, is it like this?"

He started singing and doing Taeyang's signature body wave

Girl, I need a girl 
mwolhaedo ippeun
mommaedo ippeun

Seungri joined in

Girl, I need a girl 
Baby I need you
Girl you need me too
 

"Hyung, show us how it's done." Seungri grabbed Youngbae's arm and led him to the center of the room.

Youngbae shook his head but complied, singing and showing off his dance moves. Seungri and Daesung immediately copying him after each verse.

Jiyong just stood near the door with a stoic expression and his arms crossed.

"Oh, hyung." Daesung greeted him with a big smile. "How long have you been there? We're just brushing up on our Taeyang dance moves."

"Yeah!" Seungri nodded eagerly. "I Need a Girl is such an iconic GDYB song. It's awesome!" He started singing again,

"Girl, I need a girl. Umm
Girl like you, Gotta make you mine
I’m treat you right, Baby"

"Come on." Seungri clapped his hands. "Awesome, right?"

His enthusiasm faltered when he faced Jiyong who was looking at them seriously. He started coughing. "Uhm, okay. What other songs should we learn? TOP hyung? Youngbae hyung?"

"Give it up, guys. I'm on to you." Jiyong told them as he took a seat.

"Wh- what do you mean?" Seungri spluttered. "We're just, you know, hanging out and we suddenly felt like singing some of our old songs."

"Okay." Jiyong nodded, trying to hide his smile.

"Hyung, you wrote this for noona, right?" Seungri pressed on. "Because you wanted to tell her that you love her?"

"Remember how mad you were at Youngbae hyung because he was half-?" Daesung added helpfully.

"I was not half-." Youngbae protested, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah and how Darayang and SunDara shippers became alive because of that MV and because of the behind-the-scenes videos?" Seungri asked.

"How is that helping?" Youngbae asked under his breath. 

"Idiots." TOP commented.

"Those were great times for you, huh, hyung?" Seungri continued. "Dara noona really is the best muse. You'd never run out of inspiration."

"Traitors." Jiyong accused them but the accusation lacked heat or anger.

"What are you talking about hyung?" Seungri laughed. "Man, you must be really tired. You need your rest. Why don't you go home and sleep? Or better yet, why don't you take the rest of the day off and go see noona?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea, hyung." Daesung chimed in. 

Jiyong shook his head."It's a good thing Dara didn't rest her plan solely on your shoulders, otherwise we still wouldn't be talking."

There was a moment of silence as s processed his words.

"You talked to noona?"

"You knew?"

"Are you okay now?" 

"Why didn't you stop us?"

"Because I wanted to see how far you would take it." Jiyong answered the last question with a smirk. "You two are sad, sad, specimens of men."

"Aisht." Seungri flopped down on the couch. "You ambushed us! We weren't ready. I wanted to sing GD and TOP's Don't Go Home." He started singing again. "Man, hyungs, you really were desperate back then, huh? Asking noona to stay and -" He immediately stopped talking when faced with Jiyong's glare.

"So, what happened?" Youngbae asked as he once again tried to divert an impending fight. "You and noona, good?"

Giving Seungri another glare, Jiyong turned to Youngbae. "Yeah. We talked."

"And?"

"We're good." He confirmed. "We'll be okay."

"That's awesome, man. Really awesome." Youngbae tapped Jiyong on his shoulder. 

"So? What happened?" Daesung asked curiously.

"Bad timing." Jiyong shrugged nonchalantly. "They met up. He dropped her off. She drove around some. She was preoccupied and forgot to call."

"And you're okay with that?" TOP asked skeptically.

"Of course not." Jiyong snorted. "No one likes being ditched. I just.. I understand better now. We're working on it."

"I'm happy for you, man." Youngbae told his best friend. "You and noona deserve to be happy."

"Thanks." Jiyong smiled at him and then his smile turned into chuckles. "I can't believe you let these two drag you into that sorry excuse of a performance."

"That wasn't what we planned." Youngbae defended himself. He was planning to bust out his best Usher moves.

"I panicked, okay?!" Daesung burst out dramatically. "I mean we were just talking and then poof! Jiyongie hyung is there. I didn't want to waste the opportunity!"

Jiyong rolled his eyes. A few seconds later he started speaking again. "But.. uh - thanks for having our backs." He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to chase away the awkwardness that he is feeling. 

"You're welcome, hyung!" Seungri beamed. "I'm just so happy it worked out since it was practically impromptu and it's so hard to coordinate with YG Fam these days. But of course, since it's for Dara noona we all worked hard. Oh, and also for you too. Since Dara noona is on bed rest, Bom noona and I had to make sure everyone understood her orders.. It's a good thing everybody loves her. And you, of course. So? What did you hear? Tell me about it? I bet it was Jinwoo huh? That boy was so excited and kept asking where you would be. Or maybe it's Teddy hyung? He called dibs on Fire. Said since he produced it, it's only right that the song goes to him."

"Actually, TOP hyung got me first." Jiyong told the maknae.

"Bow down to me, you plebeians." TOP ordered smugly. "I pulled it off effortlessly while you three failed epically."

Daesung and Seungri protested loudly. Once again claiming they were caught off guard. Youngbae merely smiled. Not really caring since for him, the mission was already accomplished.

"Excuse me? But I pulled off my part less than half an hour after getting Dara's instructions." TOP's eyes narrowed at the two maknaes. "Jiyong was in the room with me the whole time and I executed it flawlessly."

"That he did." Jiyong agreed. "I thought I was going crazy but whenever I looked at TOP hyung it was as if he didn't have a care in the world. I was really impressed." He turned to Daesung and Seungri. "I thought you're also actors. How come you were so bad?"

"Hyung!" Seungri complained as the older members burst out in laughter.

_________________________________
 

In his seventh floor office, Yang Hyun Suk has been reading the media releases for almost two hours. He massaged his temple in an attempt to soothe the stress he's been feeling.

Jaejoong-Dara shippers are rejoicing at the seeming confirmation and they are demanding a statement from either YG Entertainment or C-Jes. On the other hand, her haters seemed to have been re-energized by the issue. Calling her immoral, a , saying she's desperate for a man since she's getting old already. 

He sighed as he leaned back against his chair. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to fan the flames of the viewers' interest by hinting at the relationship. Always stopping short of confirming or denying. They need to keep the interest high and speculations and fan theories are big factors in doing that. Free marketing.

But this? This is too reminiscent of Hye Sun's exposure. Although that turned out well. He knows that he can't say the same in this case. For one, Hye Sun and Jae Hyun were actually in a relationship. Also, there's Kwon Jiyong.

To add fuel to the fire, Dara has been sidelined for two days because of her hospitalization. He's sure this will trigger more speculations. Even now, people are saying she's in hiding or in meetings with her team to figure out a way out of this mess. People are already saying that she was put on lock down as punishment for her "ty behavior". Netizens could be so cruel sometimes.

He sighed one more time as he reminded himself of the reasons he agreed to this gamble.

 

______________________________

 

Dara smiled at her mom sleepily as she laid down on her bed. She felt like a kid once again as her mom tucked her into bed. After allowing her mom to fuss over her as she ate, she took some of the meds that the doctor prescribed and started feeling sleepy almost immediately.

Her mom planted a kiss on her forehead as she arranged the comforter around Dara. "Sleep tight, sweetheart."

"Omma.." Dara murmurred drowsily, followed by some unintelligible words. 

"Okay." Her mom answered with a smile even though she didn't understand a single word.

Dara tried to answer her mom, but once again the words came out in gibberish. Her mom caught a few words though: Jiyong, YG, call, videos and.. Pororo? Her mom frowned as she tried to make sense of her daughter's ramblings. She assumed that Dara is saying something about Jiyong calling once he's done at recording at YG. She wonders where the heck Pororo comes into the picture. 

She shrugged as she watched Dara fall deeper into sleep. With a grateful smile at her daughter's recovery, she slipped out of Dara's room, leaving the door open to ensure that if Dara wakes up, she'll be able to see or hear her.

___________________________________

After hours of recording, Big Bang once again decided a break was needed. This time, they all agreed to just raid the YG cafeteria.

They were all laughing and joking with one another as they made their way inside. Seungri was trying to bug Jiyong into spilling the details of his talk with Dara. "Come on, hyung. Just tell me already." Seungri begged. "Dara noona is going to tell me anyway so I don't get why you won't."

"Then ask her you, brat." Jiyong shot back as he sauntered into the cafeteria. There were quite a number of people in the cafeteria, to their surprise. They made their way to the line and were calmly chatting with each other when one of the stylists bumped into Daesung.

"Oh my God!" She squeaked. Then in a louder voice,  "Big Bang! Big Bang is here! Hello Big Bang!" 

"Noona, why are you being like that?" Daesung asked with a smile as he tried to stop the stylist from bowing repeatedly.

That was when they noticed several managers at one of the tables. Soon Ho was pushing Jinhoo aka Jjangmae to stand up. "Come on. Show us. You've been with her the longest so you should know."

Jjangmae glared at Soon Ho who was continuously urging him on. After some sort of silent communication between the two, Jjangmae sighed and stood with his hands on his hips. Big Bang's jaws dropped when he started singing and dancing.
 

"In or Out 

Am I in or out?"
 

Seungri burst out laughing as everyone else stood transfixed watching Jjangmae perform Dara's hit song in the Philippines. And Jjangmae was truly performing! He was doing all the turns and the hand movements. He was stumbling through some of the foreign words but to anyone who has heard the song more than once, it was pretty clear.
 

After the chorus, Jjangmae stopped singing and turned to Soon Ho. "It's like that. Now you try."

Soon Ho choked back his laughter as he shook his head and crossed his arms. 

Seungri put his arm around Jjangmae's shoulders. "Jjangmae, if anyone ever doubted how much you love my noona, this would surely convince them. You're a good man, brother. A real good man." He patted his shoulder twice, then turned to face the rest of the room. "Now please tell me someone got that on video."

Jjangmae's face turned beet red. He sat down and started eating his food quietly.

"Thanks, Jjangmae." Jiyong told him seriously. "That was great. Really great. Dara would have loved it."

Jjangmae looked at him in confusion, the blush still evident on his face.

"Yep. Dara noona and Jiyong hyung already talked earlier." Daesung informed the room. "She apparently revealed everything to him."

Jjangmae blushed even more and grumbled. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Because she's knocked out." Seungri interjected. "I just called her phone and her mom answered. Said she's been asleep almost as soon as Jiyong hyung left. What? I wanted to share with her how much Jjangmae loves her. That would surely raise her spirits and help her recover more quickly."

"Alright, kids. Break it up." TOP clapped his hands to get everybody moving. "I'm hungry and we still need to finish that song."

As the members started to follow him back in line, Jiyong turned back to Jjangmae. "Seriously. Thanks. We appreciate the effort." He raised his voice. "That goes for everyone. I'm glad to know you've got her back."

"Yours too." Jjangmae told him before once again focusing on his food.

Jiyong smiled at Dara's long-time manager's words. He nodded and joined s.

"Oh, hyung." Seungri called his attention as he picked up a tray and started handing them out to s."Auntie said something about Pororo."

"Pororo?"

"Yeah." The maknae nodded as he went down the line. "She said that before Dara  noona fell asleep, she mentioned something about you calling YG about a Pororo video." He shrugged as s looked at him weirdly. "Hey, I'm just relaying the message. She said noona was insistent about it and was wondering if you had any idea what she was talking about."

Jiyong shook his head slowly.

"Maybe Dara noona was already dreaming. Isn't she on some pretty strong medication?" Daesung asked. Dara's doctors gave her some strong medication since Seungri and her mom expressed concern that she won't slow down and let her body rest. The pills would help her sleep deeply so that she could recover as soon as possible.

Jiyong shrugged but as soon as they moved to a table, he took out his phone and sent a text to Dara, 'What's with Pororo?'. He paused and started typing again, guessing that she would be confused when she re