5 months later.

“Hey hyung,” Seungri called pointing at the TV screen, “Isn’t that noona?”

“Ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng, ssaeng~”

All of us watched attentively, our brows slightly furrowing at the commercial that was playing.

“Air Con, electric fan, portable, fan…”

“I want some cold wind. Let’s go to G-Market.”

“What… is this?” Daesung chuckled incredulously, his eyes trained on the TV just like all of us.

I felt a nudge in my arm and glanced at Seunghyun hyung who had his eyes glued to the screen as well. “Did you know about this?”

Absently, I shook my head, inwardly racking through my brain if Dara mentioned this before. I know how G-Market pulls some crazy —I mean, I’ve done a lot of embarrassing commercials for them and my members did too—but this?

“Ice, water purifier, refrigerator, ice shaver…”

“Let’s escape the heat. Let’s go to G-Market.”

“Hard Carry, Hard Carry, Hard Carry, Hard Carry, G-Market does Hard Carry~”

The room was covered in silence as soon as her commercial ended and a different one started. Almost simultaneously, the guys turned to me just as I got out my phone and hit the speed dial button. After a few rings I heard a click and some rustling.

“J-Jiyong?” she yawned. “Why’d you call?”

“I… we just saw something on TV.”

There was a long pause before I heard her sigh. “I love you, Jiyong. You know I’d give a kidney for you if ever you needed it. I’ll even polish the floor that you walk on if you asked.” I couldn’t help the smile on my lips at that. “I’ll even tattoo you’re whole face on my back if you more so tell me too.” She sighed again, “But did you really—really—wake me up at… 3 in the freaking morning… just to tell me that you saw something on TV?”

I shook my head amusedly. I really shouldn’t have woken her up like this but the thing that we just watched just calls for an answer. “But this thing on TV had a certain someone in it… which was you.”

*TUT* *TUT* *TUT*

My mouth hanged open as I looked at my phone incredulously. Seungri suddenly took the phone from me and I was left to wonder what the hell just happened. Did she really hang up on me?

“What happened?” Youngbae asked.

I switched my unbelieving expression towards him and scoffed. “She hung up on me.”

“Oh? I wonder why.”

“You don’t understand!” I shot back.

Youngbae raised a brow. “Care to explain.”

I saw them all look at me with amused look on their faces and I glared at them. Do they really think this is a joke? Do they think this is worth smiling about?!

“She never does that!”

“Well, you did wake her up in the middle of the night, hyung…” Daesung mumbled.

“But this hasn’t happened before! She always perks up whenever I call her and now she sounded like she didn’t want to talk to me…” I frowned. “Something’s wrong.”

“Uh oh, are you guys finally going through the end of your honeymoon phase?” Seungri said teasingly but this was no teasing matter. This is serious. Deadly serious. “Hyung?”

“I need to go back there.” I announced, pushing myself off the bed and heading for my suitcase. There was something wrong in the air and I could definitely feel it.

Recently, Dara’s been a little distant. I don’t know when it started but I noticed it when we were in our North American leg of the tour. Our call times had decreased dramatically and she sounded like she was preoccupied whenever I talked to her on the phone. Something was definitely off with her and I don’t like it one bit.

And then there was this commercial—this weird… weird commercial with Kim Heechul from Super Junior. First of all, she never mentioned that she had a gig at a commercial especially if it’s one for a big name company like G-Market. I know Dara got more popular because of her appearance on Talking Street. You could say that she got famous overnight because of her ‘quirky’ answers.

“You say you have a crush on G-Dragon and there’ve been a lot of evidence towards the two of you yet you still say that you’re not dating?”

Dara looked at the questioner impassively and said, “Stop wasting your time getting a scoop out of me. So what if I have a crush on him? Don’t you wish your crush liked you back too? I work with him so naturally we’ll see each other often. It’s not my fault if I’m lucky. It's just a matter of acting on it.”

“You know what, this is getting out of hand.” Dara suddenly announced. “Stop asking questions about a person who’s not even here. Someone ask me what my favorite color is. It’s pink, I guess you didn’t know that, huh? What about your favorite food, Ms. Park? Uhhmm, ramen?”

The crowd just looked at her, curious and slightly confused as the girl continued to have a one-sided conversation with herself. Eventually the people grew more interested in her as they knew more facts about her and they started asking questions. It was a relief that she was able to break the mold between them. She did however get some backlash for being a bit off-putting when she said to stop asking about G-Dragon.

But in the end, the Talking Street segment became the Dara show because the people wanted to talk to her more. The other guests got shorter times because of her and the young producer just bowed to them apologetically. Because of this, Sandara Park also got herself another nickname because of her eccentric yet down to earth nature.

Sandara Park was now South Korea’s neighborhood noona.

She also snagged herself some other guest appearances in a few variety shows like Knowing Brother and Happy Together. Don’t get me wrong, I love my girl and I’m proud of her but what’s with the sudden popularity?! It’s alarming, really. She’s just a record producer but she’s being treated like a star already. I mean, what boyfriend wouldn’t be alarmed seeing their girlfriend being paired up with different guys just because ‘they look cute together’.

Jesus, I’m gonna vomit on myself. The only person that she’s only supposed to be cute with is me!

Someone’s feeling deprived.

YES! BECAUSE MY GIRLFRIEND IS AVOIDING ME!!! Did I do anything wrong? Did I forget to call her? , did I kiss back on the phone when she made those kiss sounds?

“What’s wrong with you? You look like you’re about to yourself.” Seunghyun hyung laughed.

I glared at him before saying, “I’m gonna go back to Korea.”

All I got was a sneer and a shake of the head. “We’re still in a world tour, Jiyong.” Seunghyun sighed. “We’ll be back home in just a few days.”

“Yeah you’re overthinking, hyung. Dara noona’s just busy.” Daesung added. “It must be overwhelming her because it just happened all of the sudden. Maybe she can’t think straight right now.”

“That’s why I have to go home! Dara needs me—”

“You’re really thinking too much, hyung.” Seungri seconded. “Relax.” And then, without permission, Seungri started fidgeting on my phone and I widened my eyes in shock. I was about to get it back when he hurriedly put it on his ear.

His grin widened, “Noona—” but then it suddenly faltered and he was left in a confused state just like I had been earlier. Like me, he looked at my phone, bemused. Seeing that he was preoccupied, I snatched my phone back.

“What did she say?”

He glanced at me for a second before turning back and sitting silently on the bed. I don’t know why I grew pale at his reaction. I strode towards him and caught him by the collars, making the other members hold me back. I couldn’t take it anymore. There was a gnawing feeling inside me that was saying that there was something happening back home with her. Something happening that I don’t know about.

“Tell me.” I gritted.

A flash of reluctance showed on his before he mumbled, “I think noona didn’t read the caller ID…”

My apprehension just heightened a thousand folds because of that. “What happened?”

“She thought I was Dean.” He squeaked. “And before I could finish it, she hung up.”

Alright, something was definitely wrong. Jiyong started pacing around the room, not being able to sit let alone stand still because of his anxiety. This wasn’t his first serious relationship but it was the first relationship that he ever considered going on to the next level.

If his overthinking was telling him that she… no, the girl wasn’t capable of such things. She always told him—reassured him even—that he was the only one he loved ever since the beginning. Dara always told him that even though he had somewhat fickle tendencies towards the opposite gender. Sandara Park was steady and firm.

Oh god, oh god, oh god! Please don’t tell me she’s cheating—

NO! Sandara Park was faithful, kind, and gentle. She’s practically Mother Teresa’s daughter for Christ’ sakes! She’d never do that to him.

*TUT* *TUT* *TUT*

But why did she hang up on him?!

The door suddenly banged open and the rest of the boys excluding Jiyong quickly jumped to the bed and covered themselves with a blanket. Bom’s raging face was something that no man or woman would ever want to see in their lifetime.

“WHY THE ARE YOU STILL AWAKE?!” she roared. “GET BACK TO YOUR ING ROOMS RIGHT NOW!”

Daesung, Youngbae, and Seunghyun scurried out of the room like mischievous children running away from a spanking. Since they were in Seungri’s room, the maknae was already tucked in bed, pretending to sleep just to ease the red monster’s anger. Jiyong however remained unmoving and unblinking.

“YAH!”

The man didn’t even flinch let alone blink. Seungri did and boy was he scared than ever. There was one time where they didn’t follow her sleeping orders during a concert tour. That was one time. One time was enough for them to not make the same mistake and to follow their caretaker. Right now, Kwon Jiyong wasn’t getting the message.

“Are you trying to be funny with me, punk!??” she screamed, shaking him out of his reverie. Jiyong just swayed with the tides, still not giving her the guarded reaction that she was expecting.

When Bom lost some energy she stopped and that was when he finally caught her eye, his expression pleading and sad. Bom in the midst of panting, raised a brow. “You’ll tell me when Dara’s cheating on me… right?”

Her brows furrowed irritably at his statement. “I should be the one that’s coming after your about that type of .” The man however still looked unsure so she added, “Dara would never cheat on you. You’re the last person she’ll ever think to cheat on.”

Jiyong remained silent, now bowing his head. Their manager heaved a woeful sigh and allowed herself to spare him some minutes of heart-to-heart talk.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.

Seungri suddenly shot up from the blankets, gaining both of their attention, “Dara noona mistook Jiyong hyung for Dean and she hung up twice.”

They were answered by yet another raise of the brow. “So?”

“Dara’s keeping things from me.” Jiyong mumbled. “She stopped telling me about her day like she used to… I didn’t even know she had a commercial with Heechul! She didn’t even tell me about her recording with Happy Together… I had to watch just to know what happened!”

“What a shocker.” Bom replied dryly.

“This is serious, noona!” he growled. “She’d space out whenever I talk to her lately and she’d be the first to hang up now! Back then she’d wait until I hung up first and she’s always attentive when we have our conversations.”

“Tch. I didn’t know you were in another extreme of clingy.”

“Noona!” he whined.

She let out a breath and looked at him straight in the eye. “If you go to sleep now, I’ll call her about it.”

And just like that, he was out the door. Bom scoffed knowing that he was just probably going to lie in bed all night until the next day. So what did she do?

From: Ticking Time Bom

I’ll check-up on you and if I find you pretending to sleep, I’m never going to tell you what I talked about with her. I’ll even check your heart rate and breathing to know if you’re asleep so you better get your to bed before I kill you.

“What do you think’s wrong with Dara noona?” Seungri asked curiously.

Bom walked towards his bedside and pushed his forehead down until his back hit the mattress. The look that she had on was deadly and Seungri knew exactly what that expression was for. Without another word, he closed his eyes and hid himself back in the covers making Bom form a ghost of a smile.

Heading towards the door, she took out her phone and dialed the girl that was being questioned. Bom didn’t even let her say hello because once Dara picked up, she said…

“They’re suspecting.”

Noona never told me the day after. You know what she did though? Sneered at me. And here I thought we were allies in this cruel world.

It’s been 5 months of continuous concerts and travelling and finally—thank —I’m going home. Not just any home. My home with a certain Sandara Park. You see after the incident when noona betrayed me, I got a call from Dara wishing me luck on our final Japanese leg of the tour. You could say that we did more things than just idle conversation.

Yes, “more” just like she said last night.

You’re incorrigible.

People have needs. Just as I have needs to be back in my girlfriend’s non-cheating arms because she loves me and only me. Christ, was I always like this? I feel like Dara infected me with her… ‘loveable clinginess’. Oh whatever, at least we’ll be the same in the end.

…

I sure hope that’s a good thing.

“C’MON PEOPLE, LET’S HURRY IT UP!”

The guys and even some of our staff glared at me and all I did was smile. Was it a crime if I wanted to be home as soon as possible? No. Would they have liked it if we went home at around the night and not in the morning? Probably… but who cares! I’M GOING HOME!

Heol, do people back home still remember me? I haven’t been out of the country this long for such period of time. I know I’m over exaggerating but I just can’t contain myself! I have a girl and a dog named Santa waiting for me at home! I feel like a father coming home to a family after a hard day’s work. The thought made me sigh in content. That doesn’t sound so bad actually.

“, just shut up.” Youngbae hissed. “Just shut up. Please.”

“I’m going home~ I’m going home!” I sang just to spite him.

“If someone doesn’t shut his mouth for another second, I’m gonna have to start killing es.” Bom noona seethed and then pulled on my sleeve, making me stop and look at her. “And you’re gonna be the first I kill.”

I gulped and carefully removed my shirt from her grip, walking—no, striding—as far away from her as possible. Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my shoulder and I found Lee Seungri walking beside me with a disturbed expression on his face. He gave me some sort of secret look and nodded towards some seats.

In reply, I gave him an ‘are you out of your mind?’ look and stalked off. But alas, this jiu-jitsu-learning maknae had a strong grip and I found myself getting pulled towards a set of seats close to our boarding gates. Seungri pulled me to sit down and I gave him a confused and irritated look.

“I heard noona talking on the phone earlier.” He mumbled gravely.

“So?”

“She was talking to Dara noona.”

My senses immediately perked up at the sound of her name. “And?” I asked eagerly. “Bom noona won’t tell me anything.”

He caught my gaze before he quickly turned away, checking if someone was watching us. “There’s… something fishy going on with Dara noona.” 

It was like I’ve been drenched with cold water. Earlier I was awake because of excitement and now I’m awake because of uneasiness. No, it can’t be… Why am I even thinking about things like those? This is stupid.

“What did they talk about?” I managed to question.

“Bom noona was telling her that you’re suspecting and that she has no choice but to do it now…”

“No choice.” I repeated absently. “No choice in what?”

Seungri made a doubtful noise. “I’m not really sure… All I know was that Dara noona seemed livid because I could hear her shouting. Bom noona looked pretty serious too. She said that Dara noona doesn’t have enough time.”

“Enough time for what?” Jiyong suddenly felt enraged. He continued to ask him but the man was just as clueless as he was. When all else failed, he stomped over to Bom who was clearly in no mood just like he was. Even with sunglasses on, you could still see the anger radiating from the pissed off manager.

“Get out of my face before I make you.” Was the first thing she said to him right when he stepped in front of her.

Jiyong gritted his teeth, his fists clenching. “What did you talk about with Dara?”

“You’ll find out when we get home.” She replied, annoyed.

“Is she cheating on me?”

The staff who overheard quickly turned their heads towards the scene, shock evident in their faces. Bom took off her shades to get a better look at him and there he saw anger and a hint on anxiety in her eyes. Leaning back, she brushed her head to the side and regarded him with a spiteful look.

“Don’t you have any trust on your girlfriend, Kwon Jiyong?” she spat. “I thought you were a better man than this.”

“I haven’t seen her in months and she’s starting to keep things from me.” He shot back, angrier. “I’m losing my mind, noona. I... I don't know what to think anymore.”

“Gate 529 to Seoul South Korea is preparing for boarding. Passengers, please ready your tickets and passports.”

She gave him another observant look and then wore back her shades, standing up. Jiyong breathed out an incredulous breath when Bom suddenly put a hand over his shoulder and stopped right beside him. “Dara’s not like any other girl you’ve ever been with, Jiyong.” She said. “Don’t mix her with the others who could never compare.”

In the end, Jiyong watched his manager and his girlfriend’s best friend walking up to the counter and smiling kindly at the airport clerk. He watched her turn back and raise a brow at him before she disappeared into the gates. That ill feeling in his gut continued to gnaw him. He tried to believe her but the experiences he had with cheating and using his name to get famous had traumatized him too much.

Yet he was still hopeful. He took out his phone and instantly dialled her, wating for her to pick up.

*RING* *RING*

She was going to pick up.

*RING* *RING*

He’s just overthinking things.

*RING* *RING*

“Let’s go Jiyong.” Youngbae called. He noticed how tense Jiyong looked so to lighten the mood he added, “Dara’s waiting.”

“The caller you have dialled is unavailable. Please try to call again later.”

Jiyong silently walked through the gates, only hoping that Dara truly was waiting for him back home.

His carry-on produced a loud thump on the ground while his squeaky luggage wheels came to an abrupt halt as soon as he stepped inside their shared condo.

“I’m home.” He muttered quietly.

His eyes roamed around the house, noticing how oddly pristine it looked. Usually it would be cluttered with her lyrics sheets or boxes of take-out but the house looked completely spotless. The clock read 10:57 am and there seemed to be no sight of Sandara Park… at least in their living room anyway.

Growing exhausted, he walked over to the bedroom and found it empty as well. Honestly, he felt completely disappointed. She didn’t even bother sending him a text that she won’t be in the house. The thought made him agitated. Is this what months of separation had caused them? What was all that talk about having unrequited love with him for a long time and always pining for him? Was that all a ruse?

He was angry, disappointed, and annoyed. That was never a good mix of emotions and