“This year, G-Dragon had a rumour that he dated one person after another. 2016 was a big year for you. Did it all happen this year?” Jong-shin remarked amusedly.

“Can we watch another show?” Jiyong groaned, burying his face in Dara’s hair.

She grinned as her eyes steadied on the screen. “We need to get the ratings up, babe.”

Jiyong scoffed, pinching her side making her shriek. Dara lacked the response he wanted since she was too fixated on the show. He just sulked at the fact that she won’t pay attention to him.

“Was it all this year?” G-Dragon smiled awkwardly.

Kyuhyun the destroyer was now in the ring. “He broke up with… K-Kik…” which caused G-Dragon to burst out in laughter. “Then he dated… K-Kom… But then, there’s headlines about you and T-Tok that surfaced quite recently.”

“What is this?”

The BIGBANG members had knowing looks on their faces but none bothered to actually look at each other. Jiyong was still in the midst of panic laughing as he stared up and tried to think of a comeback that would avoid further speculation.

“Daraaaaaaa” he was shushed by a finger on his lips that he then bit.

“There was a rumour that he broken up with someone,” Daesung chimed in, “and then there was a rumour that he was dating someone else.”

“Were either of those true?” Gura asked.

Kyuhyun seconded, “Were they just rumours?”

“What were you thinking back then?” Dara asked him, noticing the slight pouty distaste he wore on the show.

He grunted and sighed, “Nothing really… I just wanted to end the topic as soon as possible.” 

“Were they rumours?”

Jiyong let out an incredulous breath as a smile painted on his lips. The hosts laughed when he hummed and interlocked his fingers in thought. “It’s not exact.” He said.

“What?” Dara raised a brow at him amusedly.

He pecked her on the lips and made a face. “Just watch, alright?”

“I can’t say we’re dating for sure.”

“What about the break-up?” Jong-shin threw in.

The younger man paused for a while, “If I admit that we broke up, does that mean that we dated?” The hosts were caught off guard and they were left to agree and chuckle at his statement. “Then that’s not exact either.” G-Dragon continued.

“Wow that was slick.” She remarked.

He gave her a peck on the cheek and put an arm around her shoulder. “I’m nothing if not professional.” He said with mock condescension.

“But what about T-ssi?” Kyuhyun shot. “There have been a lot of talk and speculation about your true relationship with each other.” The screen suddenly showed a short clip of his infamous confession during the MMA awards as well as some stills of the two of them leaving together in the Seoul Fashion Week festivities.

The other members looked at Jiyong worriedly while the latter just watched the screen with disinterest. Seunghyun gave him an inconspicuous nudge on the leg to get his attention but Jiyong just gave him a noncommittal glance. The boys didn’t know if he allowed the writers and producers to let this through. Usually, they would ask their guests if they have sensitive topics they want to avoid and judging from everything that has happened, his relationship with the YG producer was still very much controversial.

“You even said you loved her on national TV.” Gura remarked and the rest of the hosts suddenly scolded him for his accusing tone. Daesung added on with the teasing to help lighten the situation since the rest of the boys were looking tense.

“Yah, why are you ganging up on me?” Gura pointed at G-Dragon. “You said it right? You said you loved her?”

Dara’s eyes were glued on the screen as Jiyong watched her with slight amusement. “He did…” she said dreamily. The girl opened to say more but Jiyong suddenly cupped her face and made her lie on the couch as he kissed her senseless. Dara squeaked in shock before her eyes fluttered close and her hands tangled around his hair.

“Love is a strong word, isn’t it?” Jiyong laughed awkwardly making the others laugh at his clear attempt of stalling. Jong-shin began to sing a song relating to the woes of love and the rest sang as well while keeping a close eye on the celebrity in question.

Gook-jin regarded the young man with a soft smile before asking, “So what’s the deal between you two? Are you dating?”

“Yah, can we ask that?” Kyuhyun sputtered. “Won’t YG sue us or something?” he chuckled.

“No, it’s alright.” Jiyong suddenly said, getting everyone’s attention. “For Tokki-ssi…”

“Sandara Park, right?” Gura commented. The other hosts scolded him for saying her name and he threw them a defensive look. “What? It’s all over the news. Everyone in South Korea probably knows about her. She’s G-Dragon’s girlfriend after all!” A cartoon drawing indicating a burdensome aura suddenly appeared over Jiyong’s face as the man forced a smile.

When all have seized their laughter and small talk, Jiyong finally spoke, “I… respect… Tokki. I’ve only known her personally for over a year and I’m very grateful to have worked on songs with her.”

Kyuhyun made a confused noise. “Wait, you’ve only known her for a year but Tokki-ssi’s been writing for a long time now.”

“Tokki noona is very private. Only a few of the staff knew who she really was and it the rest of the company a few years until she finally revealed herself.” Seungri answered.

Gura frowned. “Why would she reveal her identity?”

“J-Jiyong!” Dara breathed, feeling the man’s soft lips trail down her skin.

“She likes to keep things private.” Youngbae said. “She doesn’t like putting attention on herself.”

The camera panned to Gura who continued to wear a discontented look as well as a shake of the head. “What a weird girl.”

His co-hosts sputtered and laughed. The other members added on to questioning him about Tokki being weird and it ultimately led him to giving up and urging G-Dragon to continue.

“Tokki-ssi actually helped me grow as a musician when I was still younger.”

That immediately got Dara’s attention. She tried to push Jiyong’s face off her chest but the man caught her in another heated kiss that led her into another daze.

“We were actually schoolmates ever since the 1st grade, I think. She would often write letters to me in high school and her words got me inspired to work harder since she was rooting for me even if I was still a nobody.”

“Oh? Was she writing song lyrics back then too?” Gook-jin asked curiously.

“Uhmm… they were poems but they could very well pass for song lyrics.”

“And you two are together now, huh?” Gura chimed in. “Two big producers… That’s a lot of music royalties. You two must be rich.”

“Anyone can be rich if they’re affiliated to Jiyong hyung!” Daesung laughed causing the others to do the same.

“But why did you say ‘I love you’?” Kyuhyun suddenly asked.

“Can’t friends say ‘I love you’ to each other?” Jiyong raised a brow and that instantly got Kyuhyun the head’s up of not going into it any further. “We’re close friends and we care about each other.” He confessed. “And I’ve been taken care by noonas all my life so it’s very natural for me to show affection like that. I also say ‘I love you’ to my members very often.” The others nodded, agreeing.  

Gook-jin formed a knowing smile and nodded towards him. “Do you love Tokki?”

“Of course I do.” Jiyong answered immediately.

“Will you marry her?” Gura, ever the straightforward one, asked.

He smiled slyly. “It's not exact.”

The topic suddenly ended with laughter and the hosts brought up a new subject. At this point, Dara’s shirt has been completely removed but her pants were still on. Santa—the seemingly forgotten puppy that Dara had—looked at the two blankly before yawning and moving to a more PG-13 part of the house. Dara giggled when Jiyong nibbled on a ticklish part in her neck making the man smile.

Finally, he removed himself now just towering over her and looking at the girl as if she was something fascinating that only occurs in a century which she was. He gave her only last lingering kiss on the lips before pulling away and resting on her side with her back to his front. Dara tried to snag back her shirt on the floor but Jiyong took her hand and kissed her bare shoulder.

“Jiyong.” She whined. “I need my shirt back. It’s cold.”

“I’m warming you up, aren’t I?” he smirked, taking a quick peck on her nape which made her shiver. He inched his lips closer to her ear and whispered, “Still cold, baby?” the girl shivered again.

Dara can get used to this. Dara can get used to this a lot. She restrained another shiver and crossed her arms, throwing him what she thought was a scowl but what Jiyong thought was a pout. “I didn’t hear what you said about me.” She sulked.

He buried his face in her hair and mumbled, “It’s embarrassing.”

“Half of the things you do are embarrassing.”

“Yah, I thought you loved me?” He said accusingly.

She turned around and gave him a fat smooch on the chin. “I do! I never said I wasn’t embarrassing either. We can both be embarrassing together.” She grinned.

In all his years, Jiyong never thought that he would ever get a girl like this. He smiled boyishly and held her tighter, savoring his innocent time with her. It was these little moments that made him fall even more. Dara would do something light but it would end up impacting him more than it should have.

“You’re making it harder to not miss you.” He sighed, brushing a thumb over her knuckle.

Dara shot him a glance and smiled. “Maybe that’s what I’m going for.”

“You’re evil.”

She blinked innocently. “I never said I was good.”

And boy did that turn him on.

BIGBANG was about to start their world tour which then indicated their temporary separation. The Korean leg of the tour was starting in only a few days and due to some time constraints, they were barely able to start moving. Most of Dara’s belongings were still in her house but her dog and necessities have been permanently moved to Jiyong’s place where they were at right now.

He insisted that she would come with him in the tour but Dara had told him that she had some things to do. When Jiyong asked what they were, the girl merely bit her lip and snuggled closer much to his further concern.

“What’s wrong, Dara?” he cooed. “Can you please tell me? Pleaseeeeee?”

After a few more coaxing and feather kisses, she finally caved in. “I’m going on TV.” It came out barely as a whisper but he heard it loud and clear.

To say that Jiyong was shocked could be the understatement of the year. “What? Wait, why? Did Hyunsuk hyung make you do this? You don't have to—”

“I asked him to put me on the show.” She answered softly. “It’s gonna happen one of these days. Might as well do it now before something else happens.” She paused. “Can I please have my shirt back?”

“No.” he answered immediately. “To the shirt and the show.”

“Waeeeeee??? You said you respect your girlfriends’ decision if they wanna go public. You said you respected meeeeeeeee.” She whined childishly.

Jiyong raised a brow. “Are you gonna say we’re a thing?” Oddly, that made him more happy and relieved than it should have. He couldn’t help the smile form on his face and Dara scowled jokingly at that.

“I don’t know.” She said truthfully. “I’m not going there for that though…”

“Eh? Then what is it then?”

She casted him a shy look before she looked down and twiddled with her fingers. “I’m gonna say that I’m more than someone’s girlfriend and that I’ve worked hard and build my name on my own.”

Jiyong regarded her with curiosity and sat them upright. He finally gave her shirt back since things sounded like it was going to get serious and he really didn’t want to get distracted by her bare skin. Dara timidly put her shirt back while he helped her straighten it out. As soon as that was done, he nodded at her to elaborate.

Dara cleared and met his gaze. “Everywhere I go all I hear is ‘G-Dragon’s girlfriend this’ and ‘G-Dragon’s girlfriend that’ and honestly, I’m getting a little tired of it.”

“You’re not breaking up with me are you?” he muttered.

She scoffed. “I suffered half of my life not being able to be with you. Why would I break up because of this?”

“Dara—”

“I’m doing this because want people to know that I’m more than G-Dragon’s girlfriend. I don’t want to be labeled as just someone’s partner. I’m a producer and I gotta say that I’m damn well great at it.”

He kissed her on the cheek and smiled. “That you are.”

“Thank you.” She smiled back. “I want them to know that I got to where I was at because of me… that I’m a self-made woman and didn’t ride your fame to get a bigger name for myself.”

Jiyong knitted his brows. “Are people saying that about you?”

“It’d be a lie to say if they didn’t.” He was about to speak when Dara went on, “But that’s how people are and we can’t change that. The only thing we can do now is make them understand. I have to prove to them that I’m my own person… somehow.” She pursed her lips. “And I think I have the solution.”

“What is it?”

“I…” she looked at him unsurely. “I passed as a record producer under one of the labels in Universal.” Universal Music Group or Universal, was one of the biggest music companies out there. If an artist, song writer, or a record producer landed a job at even one of it's many labels, you would directly hit the jackpot.

He blinked. “Say that again?”

Dara sighed and put her head against his chest only to hear his thumping heart. It made her smile sweetly. “I got in Universal Records.”

“Oh my god.” He breathed, embracing her. “Oh… my… god… Are you serious?” God, she loved that smile. Dara nodded her head excitedly and he went ahead and started raining kisses all over her face making her giggle. “When did this happen?” he breathed, still overwhelmed.

Dara looked at him with mock condescension and it made him laugh. She chuckled and said, “Do you know one of Dean’s English tracks, ‘I’m Not Sorry’?” Jiyong nodded his head, brows crinkled. “Well before he went for the military, he asked me to work with him on it and I ended up working with Eric Bellinger on it too!” she almost squealed. “The song didn’t really make a huge impact in America but it was still successful! Dean recommended me to his label and I’ve been helping him on the side with his English tracks. I didn’t wanna tell you too soon but I got word from them that they’d like to interview me for a record producer position. I went to America for it and I only got the results fairly recently.” She took an intake of breath and grinned. “I passed!!!”

Jiyong suddenly hoisted her up and spun her around making the girl shriek in surprise. Dara quickly put her arms around his neck and relished the happy moment. He eventually brought her down and smiled down at her with a questioning tilt. “When did you go to America for the interview? Where was I when this happened?” he asked.

She bit her lip and looked at him guiltily. “It’s when we had our big fight… when you told me you didn’t love me.”

His smile instantly faded. “Oh.”

Dara cupped his face, her fingers brushing his cheeks. Tip-toeing up