Dara’s POV:

Part of me still thought that this was all a dream…that I couldn’t possibly be standing in front of Choi Seunghyun! But the ‘inner fangirl’ side of me told me to ‘snap out of it’ and relish the moment. And that’s exactly what I did.

He just stood there, staring at me with those deep, dark eyes that contrasted so perfectly with his creamy, pale skin, making them seem even larger than they already were. His eyebrows – elegantly sculpted, thick lines – suggested what? Incredulity? Interest? Admiration? Or is that just the wishful-thinking fangirl inside of me?

“Careful, Hyung,” chuckled Seungri from behind me after TOP and I had been blatantly staring at each other for a while. “You’re starting to drool!”

I felt my cheeks flare up as TOP hurriedly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, before eyeing Seungri furiously, when he discovered his friend was lying. Embarrassed by the two of them, I cast my eyes downwards while biting my lip and staring at the now-interesting floor.
 
“I think that we should give these two some time…to get acquainted,” proposed YG as he promptly exited the room, followed by the rest of BigBang – excluding TOP. “Have fun, you two!”

Before he left YG’s office, Jiyong looked back at TOP and winked slyly at him, causing the other male to roll his eyes. Blushing again, I looked away, just as his eyes flicked back to me.

“So…you’re Miss Park Sandara?” he said as he leaned casually against the doorframe.

“Dara…please, call me Dara,” I said a bit breathlessly as our eyes made contact. I wasn’t expecting him to initiate the conversation! But hey, I’m not complaining!

“Dara…” he rolled it around on his tongue, and I swear, that my name has never sounded ier! “You’re not…what I was expecting.”

“And what were you expecting?” I asked with a slight frown, only realising afterwards how bold I was being. He chuckled as he took a step forward, off the doorframe and then grinned at me.

“Well…someone more like your sister,” he said as I inwardly groaned. What did Bom do this time?! “Or worse, to be perfectly honest.”

“Oh no…” I mumbled as I buried my face into my hands. “What happened?”

“It was nothing really…she just presumed that we had moved past the ‘acquaintance’ stage of our relationship and into something…more intimate,” he said with a grimace.

“Oh dear god…I’m so sorry,” I muttered as I looked up at him nervously, only to find an amused expression on his face. “Bom can be a little…much at times.”

“Agreed,” he chuckled. “But I’ve met my fair share of crazy fangirls…She could’ve done worse.”

“You don’t…like your fangirls?” I asked him hesitantly.

“I do…just not when they do creepy things,” he said after thinking about his answer for a while. “I’m glad that they support me and the rest of the boys…but some can take it a little too far.”

“Yeah…I saw some of the other entries that people had posted on other websites,” I said with a shudder, remembering some of the mentally scarring words I’d read. “And well…if they’d been chosen, you would’ve had my deepest sympathies.”

“I saw one of the entries – one was enough! – and it made the idea of bungee-jumping without a bungee-rope seem very appealing,” he said with a tight-lipped smile, but I could see the serious look in his eyes. “But well, enough of that. It doesn’t matter now. I’m curious about you. I know nothing about you, whereas you know a lot about me – what the media has said anyway. So if we’re going on this date, I want to know more than just your name.”

“Ummm…what do you want to know?” I asked as I sat down in one of the chairs in front of YG’s desk. This was going well, I guess. He was being nice and showing some genuine interest in me, which was a start.

“Why don’t you start with your job? And maybe some of your hobbies too?” he said with a shrug as he settled into the couch across from me.

“My job…didn’t you read my entry?”

“Your entry? Uh…no – everyone else has – but I haven’t. I don’t know why, really. I just don’t want to…ruin anything, I guess,” he said strangely, as he picked at the fibres of his worn jeans. “But what has that got to do with your job?”

“Oh nothing really…I just mentioned it in my entry form,” I said as I bit my lip and looked away. He hasn’t read my entry?! Um…what the hell?! Why hasn’t he?

“Oh…” he mumbled a bit guiltily as I looked back at him again.

“That’s okay…I’m a florist.” His head shot up and his eyes were filled with curiosity as he gazed piercingly at me. Those eyes…I swear that if I weren’t sitting down, my knees would’ve turned to jelly and I would be on the ground – a melted puddle of lovesick goo.

“A florist? Really. Wow. Do you have, like, your own shop?” he asked as he leaned slightly forward.

“Yeah…I opened it a couple of years ago, actually,” I said with a fond smile. “It’s going well too – I’m not bankrupt yet, which is a good sign! So business must be doing fine!”

He chuckled and leaned back into the couch, with a smile on his handsome face, flinging an arm across the back of the couch, where it lazily rested.

“What’s it called? Your shop, that is.”

“Uhhhh…it’s kind of cheesy and lame, actually. My sister came up with it,” I said, a bit embarrassed. I could feel my cheeks reddening again! A regular occurrence, it seems! “And since I couldn’t think of anything better…”

“Aw, c’mon! It can’t be that bad!” he pleaded with an encouraging smile. “They call me ‘The Official Pimp’ for chrissakes! It can’t be as bad as that…”

“Well, when you put it like that…” I laughed as he wrinkled his nose, scrunching up his face. “It’s called The Enchanted Florist. D’ya get it?”

“Yeah…it’s a spin-off on the enchanted forest! That’s quite clever, actually,” he said with a smile, clearly impressed. “Your sister is a smart cookie! Which is quite surprising…”

“Hey!”

“Oh…did I say that last part out loud? Sorry,” he said, as he looked away with a guilty expression on his face. “I need to work on being nicer…and not saying things that I shouldn’t.”

“I think that you are very nice,” I mumbled bashfully as the heat spread across my cheeks like wildfire.

“Really? Well…thanks,” he said, seeming surprised by my compliment. I wonder why? He was being most courteous and nice…and charming too!

“You’re welcome…it’s true though.”

He looked at me and smiled – teeth and all – more radiant than the blazing, summer sun. And I swear, that my heart – if it wasn’t so already – transformed and started beating for him, and him alone.

“Move it, Seungri!” hissed Jiyong quietly, as he elbowed the younger out of the way. “I want to hear what they’re saying!”

“Ow! Hyung!” whined Seungri pitifully, as he rubbed his ribcage. But nobody noticed, or they couldn’t care less. Everyone was focusing on the door, or more specifically, what was going on behind it. “I wanna hear too!”

“Wait your turn!” growled Jiyong as he pressed his ear against YG’s office door. “Now shut up! I’m trying to eavesdrop here!”

Taeyang rolled his eyes, but that didn’t stop him from roughly shoving Daesung away from the door, so that he too, could eavesdrop on the conversation that their Hyung was having with Park Sandara.

“Hey!” cried Daesung as he crashed, hard, into the opposite wall. “Careful!”

But both he and Seungri hurriedly raced back to the door and tried to find some space where they could press their ears too. Amused, YG watched the antics of his favourite boys – but don’t tell! – before deciding to take the adult approach to the whole situation.

“Boys, step away from the door. That’s enough,” he said firmly in his no-nonsense voice – heaven only knows how many times he’s used it with Seungri alone! And when they started to whine and protest, he held up his hand causing much grumbling and cursed mutters.

“B-But please! It’s so interesting! Don’t you think?” begged Jiyong as he looked up at YG with pleading, puppy-dog eyes. The others nodded in agreement with their leader.

“I agree with you all; it’s very interesting…But,” he added just when they were getting their hopes up! “If we are going to eavesdrop, we are going to do it properly!”

He pulled a stethoscope out of his jacket pocket and waved it in front of their bewildered faces.

“And you have that with you…because?” asked Jiyong with a raised eyebrow, but YG just waved him aside, ignoring his question.

Jiyong proceeded to go and stand next to Taeyang in a huff, and mumble incoherently about how little respect he gets and how he is always ignored, even though he is the leader.

“Why do you carry that around with you?” asked Seungri as he looked at YG curiously. He’d always thought that he was…eccentric, but this was a little much.

“Meh, you never know when you want to rudely listen in on somebody’s private conversation,” he said dismissively – as Jiyong glared at his back for answering Seungri and not him– as he placed the small, disc-shaped resonator against his door. “Shall we?”

The boys eagerly nodded and proceeded to argue as to who should be able to listen first. For once, YG decided to be nice and let the macknae have the first shot, going from the youngest to the oldest.

“Jeez…he’s such a dweeb!” sniggered Jiyong as he passed the stethoscope to YG.

“I know right?! No wonder he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” snorted Seungri as Taeyang rolled his eyes and YG hissed at them to be quiet.

“You don’t have a girlfriend either, Seungri,” Daesung pointed out, oh-so-helpfully.

“That’s not the point!” snapped Seungri as he glared at Daesung.

“Let it go! Both of you,” sighed Taeyang tiredly as he rubbed his eyes.

YG took a step back and grinned at his boys.

“I think that we picked a real winner boys!” he chuckled, obviously pleased with his efforts. “Let’s go back inside, shall we?”

He was met with a chorus of ‘yes’ and they headed back inside his office.

YG pushed open the door and oh-so-casually sauntered inside – looking like the cat that’d just devoured the cream, so to speak – flanked by the rest of the BigBang boys. The self-satisfied smirks, which they were flaunting on their faces, spoke louder than words.

“Well…I’d say that you’re getting along rather nicely,” began YG, as his sharp eyes flitted between a strangely quiet Seunghyun and a blushing Sandara. “So…why don’t we let Miss Park go home, and we will be seeing her again on Saturday for the date, okay?”

Jiyong resisted the urge to snigger as his best friend visibly gulped and looked away. He still couldn’t understand why he was apprehensive about the date! After all, the girl seemed to be nice – it did help that she was quite a natural beauty – and there would be free food, which was always an added bonus!

“Oh…okay then,” mumbled Sandara, as she fiddled with the clasp on the silver chain gracing her neck, while staring intently at her feet. “Um, thanks…for having me here.”

“Meh…it’s not a problem,” said YG dismissively with a careless flick of his hand, as he sat down in his – practically throne-like – chair. “We loved having you here…you’re practically family now!”

“Yeah! We’re family now!” exclaimed Seungri cutely as he – rather embarrassingly – flung himself at Sandara before enveloping her into an oxygen-depriving embrace.

“Dear god…” muttered Jiyong, as he facepalmed at his macknae’s actions.

Taeyang mumbled incoherently about his unfortunate luck of being associated with him. Daesung just rolled his eyes, and with the help of an amused YG, managed to pry the beaming Seungri off a wide-eyed and startled-looking Sandara.

And while all of this was happening, Seunghyun’s posture had become rigid, and his once-slackened muscles tensed. His hands curled into fists, while his jaw clenched in frustration as he exhaled loudly and turned his back on the group.

Only one person noticed, and he smiled as he caught a glimpse of his Hyung’s irritated expression as he turned away, already realising what was happening. Knowing that his Hyung would vehemently deny any feelings that were already starting to develop, Taeyang decided to take the subtle approach and mention the girl later this evening.

“Um…bye then!” Sandara said with a smile, as she waved at everyone before quickly exiting the room, to be met by Minzy on the other side of the door.

Only Taeyang was aware of his Hyung’s gaze, lingering on the now-empty space where Sandara had been standing, only moments before. But it lasted for only a few seconds, with everyone turning their focus back to YG, as he lectured them about his expectations of their behaviour for the coming Saturday.

“Remember boys…people will be watching this,” said YG sternly, as he stared at each member individually, before directing his attention mainly to Seunghyun. “And while the focus will mainly be on Seunghyun, the rest of you will make casual guest appearances. So don’t, under ANY circumstances, screw up!”

Seunghyun felt butterflies in his stomach, as he thought about the rapidly approaching day. Saturday. The day of his date. His date with Sandara. What could possibly happen?

TOP’s POV:

“So…what did you think of Park Sandara?” Taeyang asked a tad hesitantly, as the two of us were lounging on the couch, waiting for Daesung to finish cooking dinner.

Seungri, while sitting in his comfy beanbag, was busy watching the cartoons on Nickelodeon…something about a sponge with square-shaped pants? And Jiyong was taking a shower…a really long one, naturally. 

Daesung wanted us to be more ‘multicultural’ which is why we would be eating some sort of Indian curry…I hope that it’s not too hot! Seungri won’t stop whining for the entire night (and perhaps even into tomorrow) if it was!

“Dara,” I corrected him automatically, resulting in him raising his eyebrow at me with a smug expression on his face.

“Dara? Are you on a more…intimate basis with her now?” he said slyly as I rolled my eyes at his teasing.

“I think that she’s very nice!” interrupted Seungri, not taking his eyes of some dopey-looking pink starfish. “I like my new noona!”

“Agreed!” shouted Daesung suddenly from the kitchen. “I like her.”

Is no conversation private in this place?! Oh, that’s right, I forgot who I live with, for a second there!

“Yeah…she seems to be a nice girl,” said Jiyong, coming out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. It’s a good thing that we’re guys, and we feel no shame…

“She’s pretty too,” added Taeyang, as he watched Jiyong shake his sopping-wet hair, resulting in little droplets of water being sprayed everywhere. I swear that he’s like a dog sometimes!

Speaking of dogs…I’m thrilled that Gaho was sent to live with Jiyong’s parents – something he hasn’t forgiven me for, and unlikely ever will – after the incident. I also got a nice, new bed! Which Jiyong paid for, out of his own personal bank account – which he wasn’t too thrilled about! But hey, it kinda was his responsibility to do it…

“You haven’t answered me yet,” Taeyang reminded me, as Jiyong wandered into his room to find some clothes to wear. “What did you think of her?”

Dara. What did I think of her? I have no idea, really. I mean, she seemed to be a really nice and genuine sort of person when I was talking to her…but I don’t know…

I don’t want to get my hopes up, just in case she turns out to be just another one of those girls. The girls that only like BigBang’s TOP and not me, not Choi Seunghyun. Which is silly, I guess. I mean, she is a fangirl and only entered that competition because she wanted a date with the ‘TOP’ part of me…right?

“Look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent under’t,” I muttered as I fiddled with the drawstring of my pants.

“Don’t spout that Shakespeare crap! That guy was obviously high on something!” grumbled Jiyong as he came back into the lounge room, now dressed. “Take ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ for example, it’s about a bunch of faeries that turn people’s heads into that of donkeys! I can’t believe that they teach children about it in schools!”

“Shakespeare was a poetic genius! One of the most creative minds to have ever existed!” I retorted, defending the famous playwright, as Jiyong rolled his eyes at me and Taeyang got up and left before we started bickering like children…too late!

“Captain Shakspaw!” bellowed Seungri suddenly as he leapt up and pretended to be in a duel with someone.

I have tried – all of us have – to convince Seungri that William Shakespeare was a writer…and not a swordsman. I think that he has him mixed up with Macduff, or someone else from a play…

“How many times do we have to tell you that he was a writer?! NOT a fighter!” said and exasperated Jiyong. “It’s just like the time we told you that the faeries didn’t take their clothes…they took them off. Sometimes I wonder about you, Seungri. I really do.”

I chuckled as I remembered the time that we rented ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ – don’t ask why, we had nothing better to do – and our darling macknae kept insisting that the faeries stole their clothes which is why the people were …oh his innocence!

“Dinner’s ready,” called Daesung as he placed the deliciously aromatic curry on the dining table, accompanied by a bowl of steaming rice. “Come and get it!”

We all raced to the table and dug into the meal placed before us. But amidst all of the chaos – Seungri was wailing that he couldn’t feel his tongue because the curry was too hot – I could feel Taeyang’s hawklike eyes watching my every move, and I knew that he knew that I still haven’t answered his question from before.

But that’s because I had my own question to find the answer to. It had been swirling around in my head since I’d left YG’s office…and her, earlier today. What was Dara? Was she a flower or a serpent? Part of me was hesitant about discovering which one rang true…

Hiya folks!!! How goes it??!!

Hmmm...don't ask why I chucked in some Shakespeare...I have no idea why ><

But yes, for those of you who can tell me what play this was from, and who said it,

 “Look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent under’t,”

I will dedicate the next chappie to you!! ^^ And no, you can't guess it Chippa, Sorry!! XD

 But I have another mission for you guys, I need you to tell me whether or not the faeries took their clothes!! I watched a Midsummer Night's Dream a few years ago (The one with Michelle Pfieffer) and I swear, that the faeries took their clothes!! But my friends think otherwise...PLease let me know if I'm wrong!! ...awkward if I am...><

Enjoy this chappie ^^

Love Minspro

p.s. When TOP and Dara were left alone, they did talk for longer, but I didn't include that. Just basic 'getting to know you' stuff really. It was too long and boring otherwise!!! XD