GD'S POV

They know that it was the idea of Chaerin. It was a set-up dinner date for them.

“Dara, I’m sorry. I really have no idea about this.” Jiyong explained. Hoping Dara won’t be upset by this.

Although he could see her face obviously pissed off.

She stilled manage to smile.

That’s what he loves about her.

Temper control in any situation. She’s the best when it comes to that.

Not unlike him.

 “No, it’s okay. I don’t know what Chaerin is up to. But let just take this night. I don’t want Chae to be upset and waste her effort in doing this. So..have a seat.” she smiled at him.

The waiters left immediately after they served the food.

The two stared at each other.

He watched Dara sighs and runs her finger through her hair.

She was so simple as always but she still looks amazing.

His throat went dry as he remembers their conversation with TOP last night.

********

The five of them in their van comfortable in each other’s silence, passing streets and whole blocks on their way to a new famous bar that their mutual friend introduced. They five of them agreed to passed by tonight and have some fun even just for a couple of hour. They also deserve to celebrate and have some fun.

The place seems inviting.

There was a long line of people waiting to be admitted inside.

“It seems nice hyung, glad we have a special admission to that bar.” The maknae said as he gave a high-five to the tallest of the group.

He was grinning as if excited to go inside and have some fun.

Some people noticed their entrance and they heard some quite yelling from the girls and whispers as they passed on the door and went looking for thier table.

They went inside.

The room was noisy but entertaining at the same time.

Crowded but manageable.

The smell of cigarettes and alcohol wafted around the air, along with the noise coming from the dance floor.

Their table was exclusive for VIPs like them; guests, celebrities, politicians and famous people.

“Five glasses of ice-cold beer,” Jiyong told a passing waitress. Minutes later, she returned, sliding the drinks from her tray to the tabletop.

Top and Jiyong were seated next to each other while the three on the other side.

They sipped their drinks as they watched the DJ perform another song for the night.

“Hey guys, I’ll just go around and dance a little.” Daesung told them.

“Hey, wait for me hyung. I’ll also want to meet some girls and dance with them.” Seungri said as he followed Daesung while smirking.

“Sheeez..” Taeyang commented as they watched the maknae checking out some ladies in the bar.

Top laughed quietly, amused.

His stares on the floor.

A tiny glint next to him caught his attention. “I think this is yours,” he said, picking up the object.

Jiyong eyed what was in Tabi’s hands.

 It was a thin, silver necklace.

“You probably dropped it on the floor.”

Jiyong crouched and took the necklace silently.

“Say, Jiyong,” Taeyang began as he sips some beer.

“How come you never wear that? I always see you carrying that little thing around in your bag. Is it a lucky charm?”

Taeyang was teasing him.

“I didn’t know you liked spying on my stuff.” Jiyong glaring at him.

Top snorted, glaring back at Jiyong’s frowning face. “What’s it for?” Interested and confused.

“None of your business.”

“Seriously, I haven’t seen you wearing that thing– ” Tabi said.

“Cut it out, ok? I don’t wear it because it’s not mine.”

“Then why do you have it?”Taeyang said while smirking at Tabi.

The two laughed as if they’re enjoying teasing Jiyong.

“Why are you so interested?”

“Aha!” Tabi slouching on his seat.

“Is it from one of your girls?” Taeyang asked. The two laughed.

No response from Jiyong. Instead he drank a full glass of his beer. And waived at the waiter for another batch.

“She’s just the only one.”

Taeyang and Tabi stared at each other. With an awed face.

Taeyang had already the feeling of who was it but still he wanted to hear it from Jiyong his bestfriend.

But he doesn’t know if Tabi has an idea. He stared at him.

“I won’t tell you anything about her.”

“You’re going to, now.” Tabi demanded.

“No way,” Jiyong snapped, throwing him a disgusted look.

“Then no need to be all mysterious about it. C’mon. Right Taeyang?” as Tabi dragging along Taeyang into their conversation.

Damn it.

“The necklace belongs to your girlfriend, doesn’t it?” Top hollered over the loud noise from the speakers.

Surrendering.

“Yes. But no...” He said busy on his drink.

Top sat back, the cold glass between his hands, and patiently waited for the rest of the story. As well as Taeyang on his serious face as if he’s ready to listen.

The tang of beer lingered not unpleasantly inside Jiyong’s mouth.

“She was my girlfriend.” Jiyong paused, staring at the contents of his glass.

“She’s cute, attractive, y, very simple and sometimes silent but funny and fun to talk with and very nice.”

 “Is she someone we know?” Taeyang glared at Jiyong.

“I don’t think so.” Jiyong leaned his back on the sofa knowing Taeyang has already the idea of who he was referring to.

“Sounds like we have the same taste.” Top responded as his glare didn’t escaped Jiyong.

A strange look crossed Jiyong’s face but it was gone quickly.

“You can say that hyung.” His lips spread into a weak smile.

 
“The necklace… well,” Jiyong hesitated, “I gave this to her on her birthday, and it was meant to stand for everything our relationship was.

“But it had to end. They all have to end. The two of us started to drift apart. Or rather, it was me who did most of the drifting away. I let my pride, my ego get in the way.”

Tabi finished off his beer, and placed his elbows on top of the table. “. And you just let her slipped away?”


“Maybe you don’t try hard enough to win her again.” Taeyang said.

As if his words like bullets for Jiyong.

“I do. I really do,” Jiyong said, downing the last drop of his beer. “I guess I hurt her pretty badly. Damn, I’ve tried seeing some other girls, but it isn’t the same. I want only one. I want her back. When time comes that you’d compare her with other girls you’ve been with, you’ll feel sorry for yourself you let her slip through. She’s that kind of girl.”

Jiyong closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and his thumb. When he opened his eyes, he trained his gaze on the necklace sparkling on the table surface.

Sensing that Jiyong is having a hard time. Taeyang then decided to end the conversation.

“Hey, why so serious guys? We’re not here to do a talkshow. Haha. Let’s drink and have some fun.” Taeyang said.

After some couple of minutes.. Teayang stood up and said. “ I have to go the restroom. I’ll be back.”

The two just nodded.

“Jiyong” Tabi catching the attention of Jiyong who was looking at the dance floor and enjoying himself with the beat of the music.

“Yes?” Jiyong asked.

“You are close with Dara, right?” he said.

Jiyong almost puzzled and surprised, “Why?”

“Oh nothing.” He turned away his looks.

“Oh come on, tell me. What’s the problem?” Jiyong tapped his shoulder.

Tabi let go a deep sigh.

“She’s avoiding me.” Tabi confessed.

“Avoiding you?”

“Yeah, actually we’ve been pretty got close lately. We sometimes exchanged messages and I call her often. But, these past few days, she’s really avoiding me. As in completely avoiding me.” Tabi said.

“Really?” Jiyong said in his deep voice. He seems serious.

Tabi scowled as he drew circles on the cold, moist body of the glass.

“Yeah, I’m completely stumped as of the moment. I wish I can read what’s going on in her mind.” He heaved a sigh.

“You must’ve noticed how she’s been ignoring me. I’m losing her, and I’m not even sure if she was mine to lose in the first place.”

“You must have done something.”

“No, not really. Well, yeah – I did, but I wasn’t alone. She… I… we – ”

Bright lights flooded the entire room as the DJ chose an upbeat, catchy song to perform next. Jiyong had to lean closer and shout just to be heard. “I don’t understand!”

“Neither do I!” Tabi yelled in return. He inched his chair nearer to safety as the dance floor soon became packed with loud and wild party animals. He squinted at the frenzied activity and spoke without looking at Jiyong. “Listen, can you keep a secret?”

Upon turning his head and seeing Jiyong nod, Tabi continued. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone. But I can’t…, I can’t stand it anymore.”

“Just fire away.”

Preferring to buy his time, Tabi gulped down a third of the contents of his glass, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I thought that a kiss would make everything fall into place. Hah, if anything, it made matters more complicated.”

Jiyong threw a withering look at the mass of flailing arms and legs on the dance floor. “What? I didn’t hear you.”

Tabi cupped his palms over his mouth. “I said, Dara and I kissed.”

Jiyong apparently heard the statement because he was visibly stunned.

He even knocked over his glass, sending it rolling over the edge of the table and crashing into a thousand sharp, amber-colored shards on the floor.

The flashing lights suddenly went out, to be replaced by dark and white rays bouncing off the walls, the ceiling, and the floor.

 The decibel level also went up a notch higher, giving the room the impression that it was throbbing.

“Are you alright?” Tabi bellowed.

“I’m fine! The speakers, the bass… they’re too – ”

“Yeah I know!”

Jiyong’s face was hidden in the darkness, but his voice came strong and clear. “Yeah.”

Tabi cleared his throat.

“That night after we kissed,I went to sleep thinking – worrying – that when I get up the next day, I’d find out that everything was just an illusion. That when I see her again, she’d still be the same Dara who treated me just like she did everybody else.

But what I got was worse. Look at us now! Dara’s steering clear of me like I have a disease or something. And I’m going to pieces trying to figure out what went wrong!” Tabi looked up from his contemplation of the spilled liquid on the table and met Jiyong’s eyes. “That’s where you come in.”

“What?”

“Jiyong, I need your help.”

“What on earth can I do?”

“Just talk to her, as a friend. Come on, I’m desperate. Ask her why she’s torturing me like this.” Tabi smiled weakly at Jiyong. “Tell her I’d do anything just to have things back to normal. Tell her I won’t force her into a relationship if that’s not what she wants. Tell her I’m sorry if I did anything wrong. Tell her I really miss her. And if she asks you how you found out about us, and then just tell her I had no choice.”

Jiyong was the first to pull away his gaze.

“Why me, Tabi?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why trust me with this?”

Tabi slammed his palm down the table surface and laughed.

 “You’re close with her and I don’t know, it’s just that I trust you with this. I mean I trust you four guys. I know there is Seungri but you’re the first one that I talked about me pursuing Dara right? So, definitely, you won my default.”
 
A ball of soggy tissue paper landed on Tabi’s forehead. “Yare yare. I guess I should feel honored then.”

“So will you do it?”

“I don’t have much of a choice now, do I?”

The DJ played another song. Feeling reinvigorated – both from the drinks and the conversation – Tabi sprang to his feet and joined in on the noise.

"Jiyong, come on!" gesturing an invitation to join the other members.

Jiyong smiled and mouthering the word "Later."

It was good he had his back turned, for he didn’t see the way Jiyong gripped the edge of the table with white-knuckled intensity.

*********

 Dara broke the silence first.

“Let’s eat. I’m hungry Jiyong.” She said.

He laughed. “Me too.”

“Sorry if I haven’t called you back since you had been calling me the other day. We’ve just been really busy.”

“I saw your CF with Shinee. Did you really .. you know..kiss them? Especially the brat on the last episode?” he asked.

“Brat?! Haha! Oh, come on Jiyong. It’s just for work. And they’re not brats. They’re my friends.” She replied.

Stupid mouth Jiyong. He scolded himself.

He guessed the thoughts of what Tabi said made him so mad.

“I’m sorry, but I’m just jealous.” His defences made his voice louder.

“Jiyong?! Why? Oh stop it! I don’t know why you’re reacting like that. You’re not my boyfriend anymore.”

That hurts.

“I must go. I’m sorry.” She said as she stood up.

He was shocked.

“You know what, I’m sorry Jiyong, but let’s face it. I don’t think I’m ready yet to face and talk to you seriously. Not this time. I have to go.”

“Then go! “Cause I know why you’re walking away! You’re walking away because you’re thinking that this talk could lead to the part where I will ask you about you and Tabi. Isn’t it? Am I right Dara?” he shouted.

“That’s not true!” she was shocked by Jiyong’s behaviour.

She glared at him, hands on her slim hips.

 “You know what Jiyong! I couldn’t believe you.

Stop acting as if you’re still my boyfriend!

I’m so full of your immaturity and your jealousy! Ever since in the past, you always treat me bull as if I’m doing something wrong in our relationship everytime there’s a fanboy who confessed and said that they like me! Do you think I liked them? When it’s only you that I loved so much but still you don’t trust me!”

“And by the way, there’s nothing between me and TOP,” she replied, recovering quickly. “And it’s none of your business.”

He stared intently, “I’m making it my business.”

She let out a loud growl “Fine, but you’re not blind. You’ve seen me ignoring and avoiding him completely.  As in completely. What else do you want to know?”

“I meant *before* that, before you started ignoring and avoiding him.”

Dara’s heart thumped wildly against her ribs.

She wanted to step back, increase the distance between the two of them, but found that she couldn’t bring herself to budge. She also couldn’t form a rational response in her mind.

He never removed his eyes from her. “I think I have a pretty good idea already,” he said slowly. “But I want to hear it from you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she countered, although it sounded every bit as banal and useless to her ears.

“You don’t know? You forgot that he kissed you, or damn, you kissed him? I don’t know which way it was, but you two did something.”

She gasped, her hand flying towards to stifle the sound. “Where did you hear that?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Where did you hear that?” she repeated, this time her voice rising.

“From him.”

She could see how hard his jaw was set. “And you believed him?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

Dara knew a split second of panic before her instincts snagged on an idea and took over. “Because he’s lying and just bragging.”

He gave her a look that clearly asked if she was sure.

“You should know me better than that, Jiyong. , I never did pay any attention to him or to any other guys. I mean, come on. Even if I did, Tabi’s just not my type; he’s sometimes too dominating for me. And did you honestly think I’d take him seriously knowing that he’s a playboy as they say and that he could leave me in any minute? Just like what you did to me? And I can’t stand the awkwardness when I’m beside him.”

The sound of footsteps almost inaudibly, pierced the air and stopped Jiyong from answering her.

Her wide eyes locked with his. He was as stunned as she was.

The small hairs on Dara’s neck stood hot and prickly.

Even before she spun around, she already knew who stepped from behind them.

She swallowed hard. “Tabi.”

He had an unreadable expression on his face.

“H-how long have you been listening?” she asked him.

“Long enough.”
 

DARA'S POV

Dara couldn’t do anything but watch Tabi calmly, very calmly, approach the stairs and went down.

She threw a quick, stricken glance at Jiyong.

Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, trickled down her chest and back. She didn’t know if she should explain to Jiyong or run after Tabi first.

In the end, the stronger impulse won over and she dashed into the stairs and ran down.

But Tabi was nowhere to be seen.

The two security guards in the restaurant looked startled at her. But seeming to understand, they pointed towards the exit.

Sounds of motorcycle she heard.

 In the precious seconds she spent in deciding her next move, he had already disappeared.

She hurriedly hopped in to her car and started the engine in panic.

“I have to follow him.” she asked loudly, barely containing her breath.

She drove her car as fast as she can enable to follow the motorcycle that Tabi is driving.

Why did he have to tell Jiyong of all people? Why, why, a dozen why’s buzzed around her ears and she had to stand still to be able to think well.

But the whirring in her head refused to leave her alone. Why was Tabi there to hear her say that lie? She remembered the pained, dulled look she saw in his eyes when she discovered his presence too late, much too late.

She had to face him fast and explain it to him..everything.

She lost the sight of him and his motorcycle because of the traffic and he was also driving fast.

He took a different route.

Then she heard thunders.. It’s going to rain.

Then she saw his motorcycle again..

She immediately followed him and drives her car as fast as she could.

It’s the first time she’s driving this fast.

But she didn’t care. As well as she didn’t care if she will have an accident because of this.

All her efforts and strength. She overtook him and made her car blocked his motorcycle.

Then the rain started to pour down.

But still she went outside to face Tabi.

He stopped the engine of his motorcycle and made his way to her ,,..to face her.

“What do you think you’re doing Dara?! Do you want to die?!” Tabi shouted at her.

He has to shout at her. The raindrops and the thunder were too loud.

“I have to. And I don’t care if i’ll die. I just want to talk to you.” She replied.

“Tabi, please I have to talk to you. Let me explain” She said in her medium voice.

They were mere few steps away from each other. They are getting wet because of the rain.

Don’t,” he voiced hoarsely.

Don’t what? She didn’t understand, but seeing him close his eyes as if he was in real pain gave her the sinking feeling that she knew what he meant.

“Don’t make things harder,” he finished.

“Tabi, please. You have to hear me out.” Grabbing his hand.

His hands were shaking.

Oh God, What have I done?

“I think I’ve heard enough.”

“No, you haven’t. What I told Jiyong, it was just –”

“I get it, don’t worry. It’s just that… if you knew from the start you couldn’t feel the same way for me, you really didn’t have to play games –”

She closed the distance between them and boldly placed her two hands on his shoulders. “Tabi, I just didn’t want Jiyong to find out about –”

“You didn’t want anyone to know about us. You were too ashamed, and at least now I know why.”

God, if he only knew how it hurt her that she hurt him. “That’s not fair.”

“Not fair? Tell me who’s being unfair here.” He said in his weak voice.

Why didn’t he just yell at her? Why did he have to fight back so weakly?

She’s now crying.

Glad there’s the rain which would cover up her tears.

He closed his hands over hers and lifted them from off his shoulders. He brought them between their bodies. Her head dropped down to look. At that instant it struck her how perfect their hands were together.

“Dara, he broke off abruptly, realizing his slip. “Dara, I… For a moment I thought we had something wonderful. I guess it was too good to be true.”

 He offered a pale smile as he led her towards the door of her car and let go of his hold on her.
 

He was also crying.

She couldn’t say anything.

He didn’t want her to say anything. She opened for one final attempt, but he beat her to it….

"Please.. Gome home right now. You’ll get sick. Just take good care of yourself for me.”

He immediately went to his motorcycle and drove it.

Leaving Dara behind...

 broke in tears.

*********

What do you think of this chapter guys?

DRAMA NEH?! T___T
I got teary eyed also.

My oh my! tssss..  it's hard to choose between GD and Tabi.

I 'd let go Taeyang first. but it's still hard to choose between the two left.

(what should i do? what should i do?) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y TAEYANG!!