"Oh my god."

Nope. Not yet.

"Oh. My God."

Getting closer...

"OH MY GHAAAADDDDD!!!!"

There it is. 

I could hear my parents hearty laugh while Mihyun made noona and hyung stand up so that she could bear hug and rain kisses on their faces. Once she had let out a burp from finishing this brunch thing we have going on, Mihyun's hyper switch had gone into full overdrive. She was bouncing excitedly earlier while alternating between running to the washing machine that was still on their truck and coming back to the house, screaming her lungs out--in a good way of course. This has been going on for a couple of minutes now and I could tell that everyone was gradually getting annoyed especially Jay hyung. Dara on the other hand, was still sporting a wide grin as she looked at Mihyun with amazement.

"Man," Dara sighed. "And I thought I was enthusiastic." 

I lightly nudged her, making her look at me with her toothy smile. 

It gets annoying but you would know since you're already a natural at being annoying. 

"Oooh sick burn, Jiyong. My pride has been wounded." she said sarcastically, her eyes still fixed on Mihyun. 

I snarled under my breath and looked back at this girl that gets her so amused. When I locked eyes with Mimi, my life suddenly flashed before my eyes. It went black for a second. I thought Dara took my body but when I opened my eyes and found that I could still move my fingers... and the fact that Dara was sitting next to me, told me that Mihyun--who's now hugging me by the neck and restricting the oxygen from reaching me--was the cause of my mini blackout. 

"Augghh, Mimi. I haven't even given you your present yet. Get off." I whined, lightly pushing her shoulders. 

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Dara with her hands above her chest as if she was protecting it. A creased formed on my head as well as a quizzical look.

What's wrong with you now?

"I can so feel her s pushing on you." she whispered as if Mimi could hear her. "Why can I feel that?" 

Okay. 

I gently forced Mimi to back away and she just pouted. I could hear noona giggling and I swear to god, I am so gonna get back at her. When I was about to stand up to get Mimi's present, she hugs me again and I could just sigh exasperatedly. Goddammit. Why does Mihyun become so clingy when she's spiked--well not spiked meaning alcohol spiked, but spiked like in a sugar high; you get me? Actually, she's pretty handsy when she's normal but not hug-you-every-second handsy. So now I have to practically drag Mimi with me because she refuses to let go. 

"Your girlfriend is so cute." 

I was just about to reach the handle on the gift bag when I heard Dara say that. My patience is wearing thin every time she makes a comment about Mihyun being my girlfriend. I gripped on the handle and dragged Mimi and I to my room. I caught a quick glimpse of Dara and saw her looking at her hands distantly. I stopped walking and just let Mimi's arms hang on my neck. I could already feel her enthusiasm slowly ebbing away. Thank god. 

Hey. 

I called out to her but she didn't respond. She remained sitting on the couch with distant eyes. I looked up to see noona looking at me confusedly and when I mouthed 'Dara', she just nodded in understanding.

"Jiyong-ah, what are you doing just standing there? Mihyunnie is sliding off of you." Appa laughed. I should've fixed Mimi's position like what appa suggested but I was too focused on Dara. 

Yah, what's wrong?

I stepped closer to the edge of the couch where her black hair spilled over it. She jolted and looked at me almost wide-eyed when I touched a strand of her hair. 

Are you okay, Dara?

Her hand stayed on the back of her head as her expression mellowed down. She met my eyes again and then suddenly broke out into that stupidly familiar grin she always wears. I was about to ask her what happened when she zoomed towards my room, not giving me a chance to further see her expression. 

We'll talk about this later, Dara. 

I know that she could hear my thoughts but I just didn't know how far my message could reach. I took Mihyun's arms off my neck and held her by the hand, guiding us towards my room. I saw Dara trying to clean up the mess she made with the photo albums when I opened the door. Before Mihyun could say anything about the 'floating book' in my room, Dara dropped everything in her hands and pursed her lips shut. I glanced back at Mimi and I just saw her blink slowly. Yup, she's back, alright. 

" !" Dara muttered with bulging eyes, and then those eyes directed to me. "." 

Dara has such a nasty freaking mouth. Jesus. If only I could put soap in to clean all of that nastiness off. I've never heard someone say only curse words in a sentence. Was that even a sentence though? I shrugged and just told Mimi to sit on my bed while I 'ready' her present. Meanwhile, Dara was silently screaming because Mimi sat beside her and had put my satchel on her lap. She whisper-yelled Vladimir's name and I couldn't help but to let out a chuckle. 

"Make her give you back your purse, Jiyong!" 

I deadpanned at Dara and went back to fumbling with Mihyun's gift. My satchel is not a purse. Purses are for women and satchels are for men, alright. And just because of that, I'll let Mimi take her sweet time with my satchel. I heard Dara sigh, frustrated, making me smirk. 

"Hey Yongie?" Mimi chimed. 

"Hmm?"

"Why was your photo album floating earlier?" 

My hands stilled and I looked up to see Dara's rigid figure slowly inching away from her. I saw Mimi open up my bag and I could see her droopy eyes light up in surprise. She gently took out Dara's vodka bottle while giving me an amused smile. I groaned and waved a dismissive hand. She nodded and continued to wait patiently for her gift. I gotta say, at first I didn't like her gift solely because Dara bought it. With my money, just so you know. 

"Are you gonna believe me if I say it was because of a ghost?" I started, trying to test the waters. 

Mihyun blinked slowly while the ghost in question was holding her breath and squeezing her hands into fists. The birthday girl suddenly narrowed her eyes at me and I just found myself walking towards her with her gift in my bag. She let out a yawn before blinking again, scratch her neck, and then nodding while giggling at the same time. I ruffled her hair and smiled, handing her the bag. 

"What just happened? Did she believe it?" Dara went up to me and hooked her hands on my shoulders. 

Probably not. I don't know. Does it even matter though? Why are you so anxious about her finding out about you?

She let out a raspberry and I could feel her knocking her head on my chest. "I don't know... I don't want her to be intimidated?"

I looked back at her and was about to mentally ask why would Mimi feel intimidated when I heard my best friend's lazy-sounding astonishment. I directed my gaze to the front and saw her holding the dress that we brought up with a smile on her face. She inspected it wonderingly while Dara jumped behind me while patting me on the back. 

"See! I told you she'll like it." She grinned and I found myself doing the same. 

"Why are you always so hurt when I do something? It's not like I killed someone." Dara sputtered, leaning on my kitchen counter. 

Oh you did kill someone. You killed my image. 

This girl argued, bargained, and suggested with other girls using my freaking body about what a girl would like as a present. I swear I saw their boyfriends, who were waiting outside the stores, making fun off me. I'm just thanking god that she didn't come in Victoria's Secret for underwear. I would kill myself first before I'm seen out of that store with a piece of lacy disgrace in my hands. I mean, they're not bad--they're actually pretty nice. But it's the process of me getting it was what's bothering me. Like hell do I want them to know that I'm some erted . I'm not saying I'm a erted ! I'm just... it makes me uncomfortable when I buy those. 

Anyways, she settled on buying her a dress that looked exactly like hers now that I got a better view of it. She went up to the coffee table where I laid the dress down and put it up over her body. As expected, Dara twirled it around and played with it and I was just left to wonder if she was actually just a child. She looked quite young so I might not be far off. I asked her back then if she remembers how old she was and all I got was an uninterested shrug. So much for that I guess. 

I looked down and saw her feet had some cuts and blisters in them. I never saw that before. Has it always been like that?

"Come sit beside me for a while, Dara."

She stopped abruptly and carefully put the dress back down. "Are we gonna have another heart-to-heart talk, hot stuff?" She asked amusedly and settled beside me. I gently grabbed her feet and put them to my lap, much to her delight. "Massaging me?" she mused but I just ignored it. I traced the cuts and I was surprised to find some bruises in there too. I pointed to it questioningly and she just sighed in return. 

"If you're gonna ask where I got those, I don't remember." she looked at me distantly. "It was just there... just like how I'm here right now. Everything's just here and leaving me to wonder just like you." 

"Do you really not remember anything?" 

"Why would I even lie about that, Kwon Jiyong?" Dara laughed bitterly. "That would be really ed up if I did, but I didn't. Why? Don't you trust me?"

I don't know.

Jay hyung once told me that people get amnesia because they want to block out bad experiences or something in that manner. In this case that Dara forgot almost everything but her mundane hobbies, had her life been filled with unwanted memories that her mind completely erased it all? 

I don't know. 

But I do know that I'm going to find out sooner or later. 

Who really was Dara? 

"Don't you have to do something in..." I checked my watch. "10 minutes?"

Dara narrowed her eyes at me and then snapped her fingers in thought. She flew across the room to get my laptop and landed beside me while gushing on about this American show she's been watching. She quieted down when I heard a cheesy-sounding opening play. I found myself watching along with my arm resting on the edge of the couch behind her. I didn't pay attention at all. My mind was too busy looking at my watch that I've been obsessed with ever since I moved here. I realized that I'm slowly losing my track of time and never really paying attention to it like I used to. 

My hand grazed the tips of her hair and I unconsciously started playing with it and twirling it in the spaces between my fingers. She was too busy watching to even notice what I was doing. Long, black and simple, that was her hair. It was neither colored or styled differently. It was just hanging loosely and it felt like silk beneath my fingers. 

She's still so cold. Are ghosts always like this? I always thought it was just an overused stereotype. I felt her hand on top of mine as she patted it to get my attention. Her excited eyes and wide smile greeted me and I felt the corners of my lips tugging up into a slight smile. 

"Did you see that guy? He looks exactly like you!" she squealed. 

I silently looked at the screen, her hand still on top of mine, when I saw the guy that she was pointing to. I don't know if I should feel insulted or what but that guy clearly doesn't look anything like me. I lightly nudged the back