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"You love me," he repeated weakly.

"N-No," she said in a hushed tone, her eyebrows mashed together in a mixture of anxiety and fear. "No, I don't," she repeated.

It was as if tiny needles were pricking his heart upon hearing what she said. He felt like he was trapped inside a nightmare and he couldn't wake up no matter how he tried to. Everything faded in the background and he could only hear his ragged breathing and the loud thumping of his heart. The searing pain in his chest was unbearable, almost driving him to madness.

He looked at her with a tortured gaze as he removed his hands from her, his arms hanging limply on his sides. Jiyong slowly leaned down and rested his head on her shoulder, breathing laboriously as he shut his eyes firmly. "D-Do I have to beg, Dara?" He whispered.

He felt like dying. Death was a more merciful pain than facing Dara who doesn't have any feelings for him.

"Do I have to beg?" He repeated.

"J-Jiyong..."

"What happened to you?" He asked between gritted teeth as he lifted his face and locked his gaze with the flabbergasted girl, planting his hands on the door and trapping her between his arms.

"I don't know what you're sayin-..."

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU WHEN YOU WENT AWAY?!" He erupted, making Dara jerk back in fear. Her eyes became misty as she pressed her back against the door, a lump forming in .

"I-I-...." She wasn't able to hold her tears back any longer as she faced the furious Dragon Head. Dara sobbed and her knees wobbled, covering with her hand as she slid down the door and slumped on the floor.

"No, no, no. Babe..." Jiyong crouched and leveled his eyes with hers, but the girl was too terrified to look at him. "I'm sorry. I just-..." He paused and exhaled in frustration, not knowing what to do. "I just can't accept this. Something happened to you when you went away. What you're saying isn't the truth."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," she reasoned in between sobs.

"Okay. Sshhh, don't cry," he cooed, wiping the tears from her face. "It's alright. We'll figure this out," Jiyong said and tried to scoop her up, but the girl scooted backwards while eyeing him in fright. "I'm just going to carry you in the couch," he explained softly.

He carried her in his arms while Dara stared at him, noticing his clenched jaws and his furrowed eyebrows, as if the whole ordeal was torturing him. She didn't know why, but being near him brought a familiar yet foreign feeling. She didn't feel threatened anymore by his presence, but she still saw him as a stranger.

Jiyong gently placed her on the couch and sat beside her. She tried to put a distance between them, but Jiyong held her hand, interlacing their fingers and resting them on his thigh. She tried to pull it away, but the guy wouldn't let her. The whole thing was really confusing her, and she was already too weak and tired to fight back.

Both of them were bathe in silence, finding it difficult to say anything that the other would understand. The situation was so unreal, as if somebody was playing with them.

"Something happened to you when you went away. Someone did this to you," Jiyong started in a tight voice. "Once I find out who, I'll ing kill that after torturing him," he muttered.

Dara glanced at him, her heart hammering inside her chest when she recalled the words that Haejin said.

"I want you to remember that my life is in your hands and if anything happens to me because you didn't withhold the fact that we were together during your vacation therapy and that you stayed here in my safehouse, I want you to drill in your head that my death will be your fault."

Her eyes widened in shock. Oh no.

 Jiyong would probably kill Haejin if he finds out that she was with him when she went on a vacation. What Haejin said was true!

"Do you remember where you got this ring?" The guy asked after a while, lifting their intertwined hands.

"I bought it in China," she replied, as if in a trance.

"I was with you in China. This is our couple ring that I gifted to you," He explained as he lifted his other hand and showed her his ring.

"N-No. I was alone when I went to China. This is not a couple ring."

"Look at the name engraved inside your ring," he said as he let go of her hand. Dara glanced at him, uneasiness swarming through her. What if what he was saying was true? What if the things she knew weren't real?

She swallowed hard and pulled the ring off her finger, growing dry as she peeked inside. She gasped in shock and covered with her hand when she saw his name engraved inside the ring. Her head was swirling with a multitude of questions, her heartbeat doubling its pace.

"N-No. This might be a mistake."

"You can ask your bestfriend if you want to confirm whether what I'm saying is true or not. You can also ask Donghae if you want."

"How did you-...Bom and Donghae knew you?"

"Yes. And your entire office knew me too. But they didn't know I'm from the Triads, of course. They believed I'm a security consultant."

She was becoming dizzy with the things that he was telling her. How did this happen? Why couldn't she remember her relationship with him? He said something happened to her when she was gone, but-... Her eyes widened and parted slightly when a sudden realization hit her.

"Dara, you'll see a lot of differences from now on. You might even question your sanity, but I assure you, you're not insane."

She felt like she was about to pass out, her heart thumping in an abnormal pace. Haejin. What did Haejin do to her?

"Babe..." Jiyong called out as he slipped the ring back to her finger and held her hand. She slowly shifted her gaze at him, her breathing becoming ragged as she recalled Haejin's warning.

"You're back to how you used to be. But he will come back to your life."

He was referring to Jiyong. The guy who will come back to her life was Jiyong.

"We will fix this," he assured her. "This is all my fault. I'm really sorry, babe. This wouldn't have happened if we discussed things instead of fighting."

"Let him feel that you don't need him anymore, Dara. Remember that you asked for my help. You dialed my number because you had no one to turn to."

"I'll catch whoever did this to you," he added, squeezing her hand a bit.

"Can't we just leave things as it is?" Dara asked cautiously, pulling her hand away from him.

Jiyong eyed the girl with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"D-Don't you think I chose to forget you?"

Jiyong thought he was already numb from all the pain being inflicted in him, but he was sadly mistaken. He couldn't believe he was hearing those words from the girl. He couldn't accept it. He felt like his insides were being set in flames, his body burning with the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. His mind was in chaos and his heart was clenching painfully inside his chest. It was so ing painful that he didn't know what to do. Every breath he took was piercing his throat, as if he was being tortured slowly.

"I mean, I don't have feelings for you anymore. And from what you said, something unfortunate happened between us. We probably should go on separate-..."

"Stop," Jiyong mumbled as he averted his gaze, slumping his shoulders as he rested his elbows on his knees, his legs spread wide apart. He casted his gaze downwards, despair dancing in his eyes. "You're ing killing me, Dara," he whispered in a raspy voice.

Dara remained silent, noticing that the guy was trying to hold in the pain that was tormenting him. She bit her bottom lip and bowed her head down. She hurt him, but what could she do? For her, he was like a stranger. Even though what he was saying was true, she could only see him as the Dragon Head, the leader of the Triads.

"You didn't choose to forget me," he said after a while. "You wouldn't let anyone play with your mind by altering your memories. You're stronger than that."

Dara looked at him and saw Jiyong staring at her intently as he sat up straight and faced her. 

"You won't be able to push me away. I'll stay by your side until this ed up mess is fixed. Then, we will talk when that time comes," he added. He lifted his hand and brushed the strands of hair away from her face, his soft gaze directed at her. Her heartbeat became erratic as she met his eyes, his hand now cupping her cheek and his thumb caressing her skin. "And I'll make you fall in love with me again," Jiyong whispered hoarsely.

_____________________________________________________________

TOP’s POV

Youngbae, Daesung, Seungri and I were gathered in Dara's apartment, gawking at the girl who was sitting on the couch beside our boss. Dara was smiling at us shyly, her eyes a mirror of confusion that we were also feeling. I couldn't believe what Jiyong told us. Apparently, her memories were altered during the time that she went missing. Que horrible!

"Oh my God, no way!" I exclaimed, cupping my cheeks with my hands. "What are we gonna do?! This is some ing heavy, serious stuff!"

"Stop it, hyung," Daddy Youngbae hissed.

I slouched and stared directly at her eyes while pointing at myself. "I...AM...TOP...I...AM...TOP," I said slowly, nodding at her to repeat after me.

"She has altered memories!" Daddy Youngbae yelled. "She's not stupid!"

"Ignore him, Dara. This guy has problems. He completely loses his for no reason at all and will start yelling at poor, sweet me every chance he gets," I explained. She just blinked curiously, darting her eyes at each one of us.

"Holy crap. You really don't know us, do you?" I said in a hushed tone, slowly bringing my hand on top of my chest. "How could you not know me, Dara? I carried you in my womb for years!"

"You're really a drama queen, TOP," she giggled.

"You know me?"

"Yes."

", yeah! I know there's no way in hell you're going to forget my awesomeness!" I puffed my chest and tipped my chin up as I bumped everyone's shoulder to show them who the real king of the jungle was. "Dara remembered me, s! You're all insignificant!"

"I also know Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri. We met at the Triads Party a week ago," she explained.

I was too mortified to even utter a word, my eyes widening at an impossible size. She thought we just met at the Triads Party? Her memory was really altered. What the hell is this sorcery?

"Noona, we've known each other for years," Daesung said.

"That's what Jiyong told me, but..." She sighed and glanced at our boss who was just silently watching her the entire time. I looked at Jiyong and I instantly knew he was trying to hide the storm raging inside him. This whole mess was probably killing him and I couldn't imagine how he was handling this, to be honest. If Dara thought that we all just met at the Triads party, then that meant she didn't know that Jiyong was her boyfriend. She couldn't remember the things that they went through...the things that brought them together. That's a ing messed up right there.

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