He was notified by Bom that a large number of reporters had been piling up in their gated community. Thankfully the security in their area was strict seeing how it houses quite a few millionaires and celebrities. Despite these paparazzi trying to sneak in and get a peep from him, the stand-by police were fast enough to catch them. His manager didn’t even bother coming inside their residential area since how she couldn’t even get passed them. In the end, she just told him to stay in his pent house where it’s safe.

Hyunsuk hasn’t cooled off yet either. He was still furious at Kwon Jiyong. His irrational actions lost him his endorsement to Shinsegae and even Nongfu Springs for BIGBANG. Guilt consumed the star but he didn’t regret punching the guy at all. However, he did regret not saying a piece of his mind to the group of girls who went on to trash talk about his girlfriend without even knowing who Dara really was. Sandara Park was his sole priority right now and if he hears her name getting brought up in a bad context, things are going to get ugly. She was the one thing that he didn’t want to be corrupted. He knew from his past how the media attention had put a great stress on his past relationships. For that reason, he’ll do anything he can to stray her away from it.

Dara stayed for the night. As soon as she started dozing off, Jiyong carried her to his bed so that she could sleep peacefully. He felt that it was wrong to get into bed with her. He wasn’t thinking maliciously or something like that. It was just that they were both pretty tipsy and he knew what alcohol does to them—especially Dara. It’s not like he didn’t trust her or anything. He just wanted to respect her and her space so he backed off. Dara was a handsy, blubbering mess when she was still away and he was worried that they might do something that they might regret. Hell, he won’t regret anything when it comes to her but it would be better if the both of them were sober.

Jiyong woke up way earlier than usual since he slept on the couch that night. He was so lost in thought that he even forgot that he had a perfectly good guest bedroom for him to sleep in. He had texted the guys and his boss a sincere apology but he only got a lengthy reprimand from Hyunsuk. The guys didn’t seem too peeved about their comeback delay but he knew in the back of his mind that they were disappointed. He was never good with controlling his emotions and he felt that he let his group down because of this. He thought he was once he made this stoic G-Dragon persona but that was all a ruse. G-Dragon was worse at controlling his emotions because he kept bottling everything inside. It wasn’t healthy at all and he was actually on the brink of losing it when Dara suddenly caught his attention. It had always been her.

He was scrolling through his Instagram when he heard a loud thump and a groan. Alarmed, he hurriedly walked over to his room and there he saw Dara face-down on the floor with her blanket cocoon. He couldn’t help but stifle a laugh when he saw her disgruntled face as she cursed while her eyes were still tightly shut. Jiyong sighed before carrying her back to bed with her releasing another groan once she landed on the soft mattress.

The girl still looked half-asleep so he did the only thing he knew how to get her to wake up. The bed creaked when he towered over her, his knees firmly planted on her sides. He watched as she furrowed her brows while she snuggled deeper in her blanket heaven. Only her face was showing. Perfect, he thought, absolutely perfect. Slowly, he leaned down and stopped when their noses were just a hair apart. Dara squirmed and suddenly pursed her lips into a pucker, almost touching his lips. Jiyong smiled. Before Dara could even open her eyes, Jiyong pressed his lips on hers, kissing her in a lazy, contented pace.

She immediately snapped her eyes open once got a taste of something minty. The girl widened her eyes once she saw Jiyong kissing her while he straddled her. If she was dreaming right now then she never wants to wake up from it. Jiyong let out a throaty chuckle when she saw her struggling to get her arms out so that she could snake them around his neck. He leaned in even more to catch her lips, his elbows bent beside her head. This was definitely a nice way to start the morning, Dara thought to herself. But it was also bad because it got momma’s loins aching for more.

They released with a ‘pop’ sound and Jiyong rested his head besides hers, his ragged breath fanning her ear. Dara restrained a giddy smile as she felt her body heating up from the realization of what they just did. After a couple of seconds, Jiyong looked back and found her covering with her tomato face.

“I’m sorry.” She muffled.

Jiyong rested himself on her side, propping an elbow up to rest his cheek on his hand. “Why?” he drawled. He watched as she bashfully wrapped herself back on her cocoon. He laughed when she averted her eyes when they met each other’s gazes.

“My breath probably smells like a septic tank.”

Dara always had such an eloquent vocabulary for descriptions. This was why she was a billion won producer after all.

Jiyong merely smiled, nuzzling his nose on the side of her cheek. Dara squirmed away much to his amusement. “It was worth it.” He grinned.

She scoffed at him but the flush in her cheeks betrayed her. “Get off of me please.” She mumbled when he draped his arm securely around her.

“You know I know that we both know that you don’t want that to happen.”

“M-mwo?” said red-ears.

“I just noticed it recently,” he started, “you always push me away with your words but your actions beg to differ.” He then looked pointedly at her as she unconsciously snuggled closer to him. “You like playing hard to get, huh?”

She puffed her face up in denial and before he knew it, Dara threw him off the bed and sprinted out of the room. Jiyong groaned on the floor and shook his head amusedly. Standing up, he noticed Dara’s blinking phone on the nightstand. His curiosity got the best of him. Cautiously, he walked towards her phone and found a bunch of messages flashing on her screen. Most came from unknown numbers and a few were from some celebrities she apparently knew. He didn’t mean to read any of them but when he caught his manager’s name, he instinctively opened it.

Be careful, Dara. Don’t go outside. The paparazzi are having a field day around your area.

Jiyong’s face instantly paled when he read the last line.

They’re looking for you too.

“Why am I still in jeans?”

He quickly set her phone down and turned around to see her looking down at her clothes from yesterday. He walked over to her, purposefully making her avoid seeing her phone. She didn’t need to know because nothing was going to happen to her anyway. He was going to protect her.

“Did you want me to change you then?” he smirked.

She scrunched her face jokingly before looking at him with a solemn expression. He tilted his head questioningly and held her hand to bring them closer. “What happened back there, Jiyong?” she asked softly. He knew what she meant. He noticed that she’s been diligent in trying to avoid the topic with Dispatch yesterday so that he’ll have more time to cool his head. After the incident, all he’s been thinking about was that event and he was thankful that Dara allowed him to get his mind off of it for even just a bit.

“Nothing for you to worry about.” He smiled, kissing her head. “I just had a bad day yesterday and I let it get the best of me.”

“It must be really bad if it made you punch him.” Dara looked for more answers on his face but only found him smiling faintly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Have I ever told you that you’re the first girl I met that looks so good after a hangover?”

Dara was thrown off by his remark but nonetheless she laughed and lightly slapped his face. “Oh honey, Dara noona doesn’t get hangovers.” She then removed her hand from his and stalked to the living room to stretch or a bit.

“It’s weird calling you Dara noona.” He said. “I never felt the need to call you that.”

She rolled his eyes and gave him a pointed look. “You don’t respect me, dongsaeng?”

“Oh god, please don’t call me that.” He grunted, pulling her by the waist so that she could sit on his lap. “So, about Dean…”

“I’m having a sneaking suspicion that you’re developing feelings for him and as your girlfriend, I have to warn you that you have me now, and that he’s married.” She warned.

“No, it’s not that but… did you date for long?” he asked awkwardly. He’d never done this ex talk before but he felt compelled to do it now. There was just something about Dara that made him want to get to know everything about her.

“Not really… maybe a few months?”

“Did you do… a lot?” she raised a brow at that. “Of dates, I mean.”

A small smile suddenly appeared on her lips as memories flashed her mind. Jiyong could just stare at her face almost longingly. “I would say so.” She said followed by a chuckle. “We went out often and we had fun too but it just didn’t felt right at the end.”

“Why not?” He asked softly.

“I was always thinking about another person and I didn’t want to hurt Hyuk even more because of it.”

He nodded in understanding and hugged her tighter. How wasn’t he able to see this girl for all those years? He felt bad for only paying attention to her love recently. He only regrets that he realized his feelings a little later than her. He knew from the first time they had their non-date that they had… something. He thought that it was only infatuation or merely interest because that’s what the case is always. He never knew that that something would turn even bigger. It’s like they had an invisible connection or something and he only saw it when he finally looked at her. He knew that this was going to be different this time.

“Let me go, Jiyong.”

He snapped out of his reverie when he heard her whiny tone. He smirked and held her tighter. “Why? You have a perfectly good spot.”

She groaned. “I need to go wash up and look human. I need to go home too.”

“No! You can stay here! I swear I won’t do anything, just don’t leave!” he said, alarmed.

She looked at her curiously and brushed the hair away from his face. “I’m just in the next building, Jiyong-ah. I’ll come back.” She reassured but Jiyong looked unconvinced. He vividly remembers Bom’s text message and didn’t want to risk it.

“Please Dara, just trust me.”

Okay, something’s definitely going on.

“Fiiiiiiiinnnneee.” I complained. I mean, I don’t mind staying in—I know how much my husband simply adores yours truly—but I also know that staying in isn’t good either.

Yeah and you call yourself a freakin