Chapter 9
The Appearance of Silver

It was 8:00 AM in the morning and Dara really needed to go back to UPA. She said her goodbyes to her mom, dad, Durami and... Sanghyun.

Sanghyun.

He was never going back to the university ever again because their father wanted him to stay so he can teach him the basics of running a mob. It was troublesome on her part because she was the one who needed to proccess his withdrawal papers, but famil comes first, so she's gonna do this for family.

She went back to the university using one of her fathers many cars and didn't even bother to call Jiyong and tell him she was going back first. She felt the need to just get it over with and put it all behind her, but she couldn't help but wonder... what is he doing right now?

"Jiyong, where are you going?" Boa asked from the dining room when he caught sight of her brother sneaking down the stairs and into the front door.

"Out of here and back to the university." He replied his hand already on the doorknob.

"You need to talk to appa."

She approached him and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.

Jiyong shook her hand off and opened the door. "I'll talk to him some other time. Right now I need to go back to the University."

Boa was about to say something else when he saw one of his hands was holding something. She couldn't help but point it out t him and ask what it was.

"It's nothing." He replied pulling it away from her line of sight.

She narrowed her eyes into tiny slits and snatched it away from him. Her eyes widened when the small item was finally in her hand.

"You still have this?" She asked in disbelief. Her features softened as she looked at Jiyong. "You need to stop holding on to the past. You don't know what happened to her now."

Jiyong's face twisted in anger as he snatched the necklace from the hands of his noona. "You don't know that."

He exited the house and slammed the door shut in Boa's face. He marched right up to his car and drove away from the manor and down the road that would lead him to the university.

The necklace he was holding in his hand suddenly felt hot. He put it on the dashboard to prevent it from chaffing his skin and concentrated on the road, but he could always see the small item at the corner of his eye. He could never miss it.

With each look he gave, images keep on flashing in his mind. It was driving him to the point of crazy.

Giving up he stopped the car at the side of the road and banged his head on the steering wheel.

"Sandara Park why are you doing this to me?" He asked no one in particular.

He looked for the necklace a certain girl had given him years back. It was silver and had a pendant that formed the letter 'S'.

No the little girl who gave the necklace didn't buy it. It was bought by her father for her birthday, but she gave it to him to remind him that whatever happpened she will always be there for him as long as he still has the necklace.

For years after they'd been seperated he'd always bring the necklace with him wherever he goes. But as time goes by and the hopes of ever seeing her again became thinner and thinner he gave up bringing the necklace everywher and instead kept it in a secret compartment in his room. Only his older sister knew about it and it was evident that she was clearly worried for her dongsaeng.

xXx

Dara arrived in their penthouse at exactly 11:00 AM in the morning. Chae Rin was watching TV in the living room when she entered the penthouse.

"Where's Bom and Minzy?" She asked putting her shoes into the shoe rack.

"Bom had a date and Minzy was working on some choreography for Youngbae's project." She replied watching her make her way to the kitchen.

"Where have you been?"

"I ran some errands for my mom and slept at her apartment." Dara replied opening the fridge and taking out a can of soda.

"Hanbyul was upset last night." Chae Rin started when Dara sat next to her on the couch.

Dara opened the can of soda and took one sip before answering, "Waeyo? Didn't she have fun in during the dinner?"

Chae Rin scoffed. "Oh she had fun all right... she had a lot of fun..."

Flashback

"Are you guys sure your host won't mind if I came with you?" Hanbyul asked the girls she were with.

"Hyung won't mind at all. You are Dara's cousin after all." Daesung reassured.

Hanbyul nodded her head and Seungri opened the door to the private room they were gonna dine in. Her eyes went wide as saucers as she froze on her spot at the bottom of the door frame. Se7en wore the same shock expression on his face as he suddenly stood up from his seat when he caught sight of the woman who came in.

"Jiyong and Dara won't make it hyung." Seungri had said taking an empty seat.

"Sometimes it makes me wonder if those guys are intimate or not." Chae Rin added also taking a seat.

Everyone was a little too busy pondering where Dara and Jiyong went that they didn't even notice se7en and Hanbyul were both as still as a statue. It wasn't until Bom pointed out that they were the only ones standing left that Hanbyul dashed out of the room with se7en running after her.

End of flashback

"They went back after 20 minutes with Hanbyul's make-up all smeared. She stayed, but she didn't utter a single word to Dongwook."

"So Dongwook is the guy Hanbyul met in LA." Dara pondered.

"Could it be any more obvious?" Chae Rin chuckled and added, "He kept on insisting on walking her home but she kept on ignoring him. You should have seen Dongwook on the verge of tears. It was classic. Too bad there weren't any paparrazzi around to see it."

"So how is Hanbyul now?"

Chae Rin shrugged. "I don't know. You should visit her and find out for yourself."

Dara threw her head back into the back rest of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm too tired to even leave this house."

She gulped down her remaining soda and put it on top of the coffee table. A few more minutes passed and the doorbell to the penthouse had rang.

Chae Rin stood from the couch. "I'll go get it."

"Thank you." Dara said following her with her eyes.

She waved a dismissive hand as she approached the door.

"Nae, nae. I know you're too lazy to get up and get it yourself."

Dara went back to the TV and paid no attention to their visitor. She could here Chae Rin say, "what are you doing here" and a, "she's there".

Sooner than later she felt two hands cover her eyes.

"Chae Rin why are you playing games?" She asked bringing her hands up to grab the wrists of the person who covered her eyes. Surprisingly, they were bigger than they usually were.

"I'm not playing games at all."

Dara could feel the the weight of the couch next to her and she knew that it was just Chae Rin who decided to get back to her place.

"Then who...?"

"I was wondering if I could take you out today..."

The hands covering her eyes dropped and the face of Kwon Jiyong suddenly popped out of no where.

"Mwo?"

Author's Note:

I wanna bang my head on my keyboard! I also haven't proof-read this chappie so forgive me for lousy writing. The short chapters are all because my muse hasn't been doing such a good thing of inspiring me. Someone give me a push to get my head back in the game.

No comment replies for now, but I am happy to inform you that... secret will be revealed on the next chapter! But wait... I wonder what secret? Stay tuned in!

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