The cold thorns inside that patronizing gaze
suffocate me

All Chaerin wanted to do was launch at the boy and snap his neck. She was practically clenching Bom’s arm so hard that Bom’s blood circulation almost stopped. Minzy had to slap her shoulder so that Chaerin let go of Bom who has been shrieking a few times.

“Chae, if you want to kill someone, just kill him now. I’ll make sure to help you to hide his body.” Bom said sarcastically while rubbing her arm that have turned red.

“Yah, Bommie. Don’t challenge her. She’s already in CL’s mood.” Minzy threw a glare at the girl who was a bit taller than both of them. 

“What’s the difference between CL and Chaerin?”

Chaerin sighed, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Nobody can call me Chaerin other than my friends.”

“And CL?” Bom asked again.

“CL is when I am being a b*tch.” Chaerin retorted, earning chuckles from Bom and Minzy.

“You’re actually cute. Dara once asked me why you do not allow her to call her CL. She thought that you don’t like her.” Minzy put her arm around Chaerin’s shoulder. They were standing a few meters from the said girl.

“Yeah. She voiced it out to me, stuttering like I was going to kill her if she talk. Then she cried while telling it to Jiyong that I actually like her as a person.” Chaerin blew a raspberry.

The three watched Dara vigilantly. Only God knows how disappointed and angry they were when the four of them were strolling in the city on that Sunday, but Brian just popped out of nowhere and tried to join them. What made them angrier was when Brian purposely ditched Dara from them, saying to Jiyong’s little puppy that he wanted to know more about her since they were already friends. Being the naive Dara, she agreed. But the girls saw the uncertainty in Dara’s eyes.

“I’ve told Seungri about this. They are in the city too because Taeyang wants to watch Black Panther.” Chaerin informed, her eyes on her phone, tapping something.

“Jiyong is with him?”

“Hm.” Chaerin nodded her head. “But he disappeared somewhere after Seungri told him about Dara.”

Automatically, Bom and Minzy’s eyes darted to everywhere, looking if Jiyong was somewhere near them.

“He must be somewhere around here.” Minzy stretched her neck and whirled around to look for Jiyong. There were too many people strolling around, so it was hard to search for a glimpse of him.

“Don’t look for him. I’m sure he is looking after Dara from afar.” Chaerin forcefully pulled both of their heads to keep their eyes on Dara and Brian.

“If that as*hole touches even a strand of Dara’s hair, I’ll make sure he could never get children if he gets married,” Chaerin muttered under her breath, clenching her jaw.

...

To be honest, Dara was happy and afraid at the same time. Brian treated her like she’s a girl. Not like she was a boy or what, but nobody ever treat her like that. Buying her ice cream, offering her a sit by pulling the chair out from under the table. Brian’s actions were so sweet. He was really different from Jiyong. Every little thing that Brian did for her sent her to cloud nine. Maybe this was what it feels like to have a friend that really cares for you.

The thing that she was afraid of was that Jiyong wasn’t with her to tell if she was doing the right thing. When she told him about Brian, the latter only looked to her, expressionless but Dara swore she noticed him frowning a bit. Dara took it as a sign that Brian was okay to befriend.

However, his action showed the opposite. Dara saw him sending glares to Brian from afar, even Seungri and Taeyang were openly talked about Brian being a b*stard but immediately shut their mouth when they noticed that Dara was around. When she asked them about it, they would change the topic. 

Even now, the girls were walking a few meters from her as if trying to get far from Brian. It was confusing Dara.

“Dara, would you want to go to the cinema?”

She blinked at him, thinking about the cinema. She never got a chance to go to the cinema. She knew it’s dark and there would be a big tv on the wall but she never got to see it with her own eyes. Feeling giddy to try new things, she nodded happily.

She felt comfortable with Brian. He was charming and smile offense when he was talking to everyone, even the salesgirls around the mall when they were walking to get to the cinema on the top floor of the mall. He didn’t say anything about her face, which made Dara relief. 

Ever since Jiyong took out her mask at the restaurant and told her not to be embarrassed, she started to not wear it anymore but kept