"You better watch it. You might lose her. She's not strong like you. She may act all cool with her swagger, but she's just as fragile as anybody." Hearing these words from his own best friend Youngbae, was enough to make Jiyong's heart sink to the ground.

If only he knew the real reason for his coldness and indifference to Chaerin, then maybe he'd be taking back those words. He opened his mouth to retort but he couldn't find enough words to explain to him; he's been like that for a while the whole week.

Clamming up and not saying a word to defend himself over the fact that it was precisely because of, unknown to Youngbae, Chaerin's fragility or lack thereof is why he broke things off with her.

They both agreed that it was a casual thing between them, friends with benefits is all. They could date someone else while they were together if they wanted to, after all commitment was off the table since they began the illicit affair.

Youngbae was the only one who knew and he had his fair share of comments and opinions about the whole deal; however he felt powerless to stop something as natural and chemical as Jiyong and Chaerin hooking up and keeping it secret from everybody.

"Ji I think it's about time you stop taking her for granted." he told Jiyong one time; who came home from her apartment for a quickie.

Or maybe it was her that was taking him for granted. Youngbae was always so quick to look at the best in people and Chaerin was no exception for that matter. He and Youngbae had always been close and being Jiyong’s best friend he was a witness to Jiyong’s playboy ways. So Youngbae always took Chaerin’s side. He always thought it was Jiyong who wanted to keep things as casual as possible.

Jiyong answered him the only way he knew he could, as he fixed his shirt that was on backwards.

"I'm handling it okay." 

But since that encounter with Youngbae he got to thinking, that maybe he was going about this all wrong. Maybe it was about time that he stopped fooling around with Chaerin and just be serious.

But he couldn't.

She wouldn't let him.

Chaerin was the type of girl that you could never tell that she loved to be spontaneous; but in truth she liked being playful and flirty with him. Utterly finding ways to subtly at any moment possible and constantly thrilled by the excitement brought about by the forbidden. Chaerin was more into this no-commitment exchange between them than he was, and he thought that if he started to act differently around her that it will just drive her away.

He wouldn't want that.

He was selfish.

So selfish that even to himself he was prepared to be dishonest, primed to indulge her fancies of their prohibited relationship. They hid in closets, the bathroom, and even this one time right before Teddy almost caught them; inside the recording booth. They kept their secret and Jiyong kept his.

When he held her in his arms like, he felt like he was alive. Like every time his lips met hers, she breathed life into him. If this was how she made him feel then he'd leave things the way they were; why ruin it?

However as time went by he found himself wanting her more and more.

Not just someone to fool around with but someone he wanted for himself alone. He felt his feelings for her deepen. Now he was more afraid than he was of being caught in the act.

He was set to hide his feelings from her and be more indifferent and distant, but every time it comes to a point that they both need their fix of each other, they both gladly obliged. And without skipping a step he found himself always back to square one.

Jiyong did not prepare himself for what was to happen next; Youngbae wasn't alone now, TOP got a whiff of what's going on, so his Hyung thought that enough was enough. It was time for Jiyong to be serious, whether or not it'd be with Chaerin.

"Ji I set you up on a blind date." he blurted out all of a sudden during dinner, just when Jiyong finished his joke to Chaerin who laughed deliciously at it.

He warily eyed Youngbae thinking it was all his idea, but Youngbae shaking his head shrugged at him not knowing anything about it, Youngbae was anything but a liar because he was very bad at lying.

"What?!”

“Why all of a sudden an interest in my love life?" Jiyong asked a little bit annoyed at his Hyung. He couldn't help but be suspicious that he was doing this on purpose right in front of Chaerin.

"I don't know. You tell me, cause it seems to me that people here keep a lot of secrets these days." TOP answered coolly. He expected this sermon from his Hyung sooner or later when he found out, but not right now when Chaerin was right there.

"Oppa, Tabi Oppa's just looking out for you. You know you’ve been looking a little bit pale these past few days. Maybe you should stop and be serious with someone finally; someone that’ll take care of you." he couldn't believe it, coming from Chaerin herself. He was pissed now, even she was agreeing to this nonsense.

"Oh really? What about you? Don't you think you should get someone for yourself too?" Jiyong blurted out all of a sudden at Chaerin, who was simply amused at the thought.

"Oh believe me, I'm looking. It's just that right now I'm preoccupied is all. And besides I'm still young, albeit I'm still not allowed to date in public, but that doesn't mean I can't do it secretly. It’s more fun to date around in secret, I don’t sleep with them, but I do date." she answered.

Jiyong felt his face redden with heat; she was discarding him just like that. Like his feelings didn’t matter at all, not to mention the thought of her dating other guys and while she was “just” sleeping with him. He felt betrayed and just rubbish to her.

"I'm fine okay. I don’t need anybody to take care of me." Jiyong said pursing his lips.

"I know. But you have all the time in the world to date around, seriously even. YG papa encourages you to date, as you should. Unlike us you have the freedom. There's a lot of fish in the sea but finding that one person would take a long while so maybe you should get cracking." Chaerin said composed as she took a sip of iced tea.

She was making Jiyong madder by the minute. It's not like he hasn't thought of it, finding the one to be with, dating just one person, taking care of a girl he could call his own and his alone, and she doing the same to him. But it was always without a doubt in his mind that that girl was Chaerin.

He never imagined himself with anyone else but Chaerin.

"Fine. Then I'll look for that ing fish you're talking about!" Jiyong stood up slammed his fist on the table and walked out muttering to himself through gritted teeth. Jealousy & feeling of abandonment was creeping its ugly head.