“Are you really going?”

“Do I really have the choice? It's a friend's birthday.”

“I'm not talking about that. You do know he's going to be there too. Right?”

“...”

“Seungri.”

“It's going to be fine. It's been years after all..”

“Are you really sure about that? Seungri, you know-”

“Yeah, I get it. I get it. Now, let's go or we'll be late. I can handle this. I promise.”

~

“Hey.”

“Oh, hi.”

“What's with that reply? Where's Dae? You came here with him, right?”

“Ah, yes. I wonder where he went to..”

“Seungri.”

“Huh?”

“How have you been?”

“I.. I'm fine. Things are going smoothly so far. How about you?”

“Same as usual. I got a business trip tomorrow to attend to though, so I can't stay that long here. Anyway I already gave my birthday present to Chae.”

“Business trip.. To..”

“Ah, it's to Italy.”

“Your dream workplace.”

“Yeah. What about you? Are you going back to New York soon?”

“Yeah.”

“Still on Ink Dot?”

“Hmm, yes.”

“With Yohan?”

“...”

“...”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

~

“You have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I met her two years ago. She's a pastry chef and really busy today so she can't go with me.”

“Oh.. Is that so..”

“Yeah.”

“...”

“...”

“I wonder what's taking Daesung so long.”

“He must've seen the chocolate fountain near the lobby.”

“There's a chocolate fountain? Seriously?”

“Well, you know Chae. She likes sweets a lot.”

“No kidding.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Why are you smiling? She's the birthday girl. Don't be rude.”

“What? I'm not smiling, you are.”

“You never change, Ji-”

“Oh, wait. I need to answer this call. Excuse me.”

“Oh, okay. Sure.”

“Hello, baby? Yes, I'm here at Chae's party. Wait, let me go somewhere less crowded..”

~

“It's been five years, Seungri. Why the hell are you crying, are you stupid or what?”

“I.. I can't help it. I saw him smile and it breaks me all over again.”

“Why are you doing this to yourself? You said you're going to be fine, you said you're going to handle it. Why are you being like this now? You're really stupid, do you know that?... Come here..”

“It hurts.. It hurts so much, Dae. I don't want to see him yet I also seek for him. And now that I finally see him, I feel my heart breaking into pieces again. It made me realize I've missed him so much, I thought I'm going to be happy seeing him but why am I hurting like this right now?”

“Because he's with someone else now. He told you himself he's dating someone else. What can you do about that? And to think he's found that woman three years after your break up.. He must've loved you too much it took him long to move on as well, Seungri.. But things are different now. Maybe he doesn't love you anymore and has found happiness on someone else. You have to accept it whether you like it or not.”

“Move on.. I wonder how he did it. Had he really move on from me? Was it that easy for him? What about me, Dae? Why am I still hurting?”

“How many times have we told you it's not going to stop hurting unless you stop it? The key, Seungri, is to forget. He has someone and you also have someone. You can't possibly love two people at the same time and the same goes for him. You have to stop loving him now so you can move on.”

“I can't do it, Dae. I can't..”

“I don't like seeing you like this.. Stop crying now. If you cry more, I'm gonna start crying too..”

“I love him, Dae. Even if it kills me to say it, I'm still going to admit it. Everytime I try to erase him, he just keeps coming back to my mind, to my heart. I told myself I'm not going to cry because of him ever again. I promised myself I'm not going to be swept by him ever again. I tried, Dae. I really tried to forget him. But I can't do it. So many years have passed I know that but I still can't do it.”

“Seungri..” 

“I'm so terribly weak, aren't I? I still love him so much it hurts. I still love Jiyong so much...”

~

“What did you want to talk about?”

“A business proposal.”

“What? You do know I'm not going to take my personal affairs get mixed up with my work, right?”

“Aish, how can you say that to me, Ri? I'm Youngbae, your senior who loved and protected you to death back in college.”

“Stop making up stories, hyung.”

“Geez, you never change, Seungri. You still have a smart mouth. Wait here, let me order us some drinks.”

“Pfftt, fine.”

...

“So, how are you and Yohan?”

“What?”

“You're still together?”

“...Yes.”

“I see.”

“How.. How about Ji.. I mean, he- Ji- they-”

“You mean, Jiyong and Jenny?”

“...”

“They're still together. I actually met them for a drink last week. Oh, and Jenny's really good in baking cakes.”

“Is that.. Is that so?”

“Yeah. To be honest, I haven't seen Jiyong become that happy with someone else after you guys broke up... He was in a miserable state back then. He couldn't even meet with anyone without making a fuss. We all thought he's never going back up to his feet again. I guess now that he has someone