Stay.

He was breathing heavily as he got to the house. Beads of sweat trickled on his neck and the sides of his face but that seemed to be the least of his worries right now. His hands couldn't stop trembling and he felt unbelievably cold even without her around. His breath hiked up again at the thought of her. He needs answers now. 

"NOONA!!!" he clamored, shoving his shoes on the doorway mindlessly. 

The couple looked behind their backs and saw a frantic Jiyong marching over to Dami. Jay stood up in alarm while Dami yelped when Jiyong suddenly shook her shoulders violently. Jay was trying to remove him away from his wife as Jiyong continued to ask her what happened to Dara. Jay was able to eventually push him away which sent Jiyong to the ground. Dami sought comfort and security from her husband as she rubbed her marked shoulders although she couldn't help but feel a great sense of worry for Jiyong. She knew that something big had happened thus the reason why he's acting so tense and jittery. Her brother's eyes looked lost and it mirrored a kind of pain that she hasn't seen in him before. 

Jiyong was kneeling weakly on the ground while looking desperately at Dami. His arms were hanging limply beside him since he was starting to feel his strength decrease as every second would pass without getting an answer. He let out an exasperated breath through his nose and covered his eyes. Dami saw him kneel even further, making his chest touch his knees and his covered face touch the ground. 

Stay.

"Where is she, noona?" He muttered weakly as he crumbled on the floor. 

The couple gave each other worried looks before kneeling down to meet him. Dami gave him a comforting pat and was about to say something when Jay interrupted her. "Tell us what happened, Jiyong." She could tell that he was using his 'psychologist voice' on him which meant that things were serious. 

"Dara's gone, noona." He slightly raised his head and she saw how his face just screamed despair. "I can't find her. She's gone. She's... gone." 

"Dara?" Jay's ears perked up. "Your friend who has amnesia? She passed away?"

"SHE WAS ALREADY GODDAMNED DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!!" Jiyong suddenly boomed and Dami was quick to put his head on her chest to comfort him. 

Jay's brows furrowed, "I... I don't understand..."

"SHE'S A ING GHOST, ALRI—"

"Shhhh." Dami interrupted, patting his hair. She looked at her husband apologetically and said, "Can you leave us for a minute, Jay? I need to calm him down." She has seen this happen to Jiyong before back when he found Mihyun getting abused by her own father. He couldn't fathom the thought of it so much that he loses all reason and often turns frantic or violent. 

"But Dami... I can help—"

"You can't because you refuse to believe in anything that doesn't sit well with you, ." Jiyong cursed under his breath and she was quick to coo at him once again. 

"Please." Dami pleaded to Jay. With a quiet but reluctant nod, he stood up and went to the door. The older man couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt by the truth that came out of Jiyong. He gently closed the door behind him and left the two sibling to talk things through. 

Dami carefully helped Jiyong to the couch while she fixed his unruly hair. "What do you mean by Dara's gone?" she asked softly but she bets that she already knew the answer. 

"She just left." he let out a bitter chuckle. "She just vanished... She was crying... Parts of her body were fading and then poof. She's nowhere in sight. Her ing vodka didn't even work. Useless piece of ." He took the sling from his bag and threw it mercilessly beside him. He leaned further into the back rest and looked at the beige plastered ceiling in front of him. "She didn't even give me a chance to answer..."

She wordlessly grabbed his bag and took Vladimir out. The liquid in the bottle now filled only half of it which was different from the last time she saw it where it was still filling a quarter of the neck of the bottle. She casted him a concerned glanced when he balled his fingers so tight that it was starting to turn white. Dami quickly smoothened them out and found them to be incredibly cold. 

"Do you remember what she was talking about or what she looked like before she..."

"We were talking about pig feet or some and then she told me..." Jiyong paused and looked away from her. "I didn't pay attention to her that much but I noticed her voice was cracking and her laughs sounded strangely forced... I should've paid attention. !" He roughly raked his hair and shut his eyes tight. 

"What did she tell you, Jiyong?" she rubbed his arm. 

"It doesn't matter." 

"Tell me so I can help you." 

She could tell that he was getting irritated by her but she had to pry it out of him. "It won't ing help!!!"

"Just tell me what she said—"

"SHE TOLD ME TO STAY!" He shouted. A defeated and strained laugh escaped his lips as he loosened his grip on his sister's wrist. "She wanted me to tell her to stay."

Dami's heart pricked at the sound of his voice. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she enveloped him in a hug. Jiyong's hands started trembling even more and he couldn't help but let himself feel how much Dara's sudden disappearance impacted him. 

"Is she really gone...?" It came out barely in a whisper.

Dami couldn't even answer that because she doesn't even know. As far as progress, she believed that they were far away from reaching anything life-changing. Dara has shared only shared not even a handful of useful memories so even she was left to wonder what happened to her. Did she achieve peace already? But it was impossible since Jiyong told her that Dara looked as devastated as he did before she vanished. She couldn't have left peacefully. There was something going on. She has a hunch on what was really happening with Dara but she has to make sure first. She has to find her first. 

"Let's just wait, okay? It's impossible for her to leave that fast." She answered tightly. "Have faith, Jiyong. She'll come back."

Stay. 

"She'll come back." she repeated which reassured him more than it reassured herself. 

_____________________________

Two days have passed and Dara's disappearance was still a mystery. Dami has been working on things on her own and asked Jiyong to give him space because he wouldn't let her focus with all his questions that she didn't have answers for. It was currently well past midnight but he didn't have a care in the world. He was sitting on his couch while across from him was his laptop which was playing 'When the Moon Rises'. It was the movie that Dara couldn't stop talking about even though they both knew too well that it was a mediocre film. 

His eyes watched every move and his ears listened to every sound that came from the movie but nothing seems to process through his mind. He was merely looking at a moving picture. He wasn't even paying attention. How the hell would he know why Min Dongwoo died? It was probably because he was stupid enough to take on this role. Jiyong laughed. If Dara was here she would've argued against it and tell him that Min Dongwoo is the greatest actor in the whole world with her loud, whiny voice and big beady eyes. Jiyong's smile faltered. 

Vladimir sat on the middle of his parted legs as he continued to watch this hateful film with a clearly absent mind. His eyes wandered around his condo and lingering memories of her keeps popping out in his mind. 

"Hey Jiyong. I bet you I can last without drinking Vlady by the end of the day." Dara challenged smugly. 

Jiyong was just casually eating his week-old spaghetti when Dara randomly blurts out a stupid bet right on his face. He gave her a nasty look before twirling the pasta with his fork and taking it into his mouth. When she shook his arm and complained to get his attention, he snapped and snatched his arm back. With a clank, his fork fell on the plate and he leaned back with a suspicious look on his face. 

"What's in it for you?" he asked. He knows that she already knows that he always wanted to spend some time without her as a prize for their infamous challenges and bets. 

Dara made a big grin which made the latter look at her with disgust. "I want to sleep in your bed." she clapped. 

"'Sleep in my bed'," he snorted, "Did you forget that—oh, I don't know—you are incapable of sleeping?" he remarked sarcastically. 

"HEY! I am highly capable of closing my eyes and pretending, alright? You are such a world-class, mood-killing assface."

"How very mature of you, Dara." he chuckled, crossing his arms. He checked his watch and found it to be 3 in the afternoon. "I can't wait until I get my peace and quiet for the day." he smirked. 

The day went on and Jiyong went to work soon after since the rest of his afternoon classes got canceled. He brought him with her so that she couldn't get away with drinking Vlad and telling him that he didn't. Time passed and soon it became 8 pm. Jiyong was still busy working and even though he won't admit it, he was starting to worry about Dara. She was slowly growing quiet and she didn't have the energy left to follow him around anymore. He saw her sitting down on the floor and leaning on the tall glass window that wasn't too far from him. There were currently no people around where he was cleaning so he could definitely hear who her breathing would turn shallow and then turn heavy. 

"Are you okay there?" He tried not to let the worry he was feeling seep out to his voice but Dara was too keen for his liking.

She giggled softly and slightly turned her head to face him. "You worried about me, babe?" Her obnoxious pout was then replied with the mighty middle finger. Dara faked being hurt and then went back to conserving her strength and stamina. 

Jiyong gave her a long side-glance, his brows deeply furrowed and his mind telling him to do something about it. A supervisor telling him that his shift was over, snapped him from his thoughts and he quickly finished up his duties. He told Dara to wait for a while and she just gave him a dismissive hand as well as a tired "Arasso." 

When they got home, Jiyong couldn't help but feel the worry overtake him. Thankfully, Dara hasn't shown signs of transparency which actually sur