Dara felt like the world was crashing in front of her eyes.

It was so painful. Searing. Stabbing. Into her heart and into her being such that she found it hard to breathe, hard to think, and she could only cry.

She knew what heartbreak was really well. After all, she had broken her heart the moment Jiyong agreed to be Sohee's boyfriend. Her heart broke even more every time she saw them both together, and she had to put up a nonchalant and brave expression just so no one suspected that there was anything wrong.

It was suffocating. It was hell.

And this time the pain was a thousand times deeper because she already had a taste of Jiyong. She already knew what it was to be loved by him, to be wanted, to be cared for and protected. She felt like the happiest woman alive on the planet, and she was contented just to have him.

Only now he was going to be taken away.

"You should have known, Sandara Park." Dara murmured to herself as she sat in the corner of the cafe, a tear rolling down her eyes. "He chose Sohee over you in the past. What makes you think he would choose you over her this time round?"

She closed her eyes and the image of Sohee making herself feel at home in Jiyong's house caused a searing pain in her chest. She hadn't even been to Jiyong's house before and Sohee was already staying there.

She had no idea Sohee was there, and she always believed that if you didn't do anything wrong, there was no need to hide. Jiyong hid Sohee's appearance from her, and that spoke volumes.

He was hiding something, they were hiding something.

No matter what it was, Dara didn't want to know anymore. She was devastated by the whole event that she was too tired to cry. Was it always so mentally taxing to love someone?

Because she's really tired. She really felt like giving up. Can't she just be a computer chip and erase all trace of Jiyong from her mind? Isn't that possible?

But Dara knew she could never stop loving Jiyong. She couldn't stop four years ago, and now she was even more deeply in love with him. It was like a fire that could never be put out, a sun that burned for centuries. It was impossible to stop and the only way was to cope with the burns.

And the burns were painful. Seriously painful.

Dara heard her phone going off again and glanced at the screen. Jiyong had been calling non stop ever since the last call but Dara hadn't picked up. What would she say?

He told her he chose her, but on the other hand he refused to leave Sohee just for five minutes. All Dara wanted was to talk about what happened, for Jiyong to explain himself. But no, he couldn't meet her.

He made his choice as far as Dara was concerned and to her his mind was set. There was no point in picking up his calls because there wouldn't be anything to clarify. She saw the ending before it even came.

"Aren't you going to pick your phone up, miss?" an ahjusshi from another table looked over at her. "The person who's been calling seems to have important news for you. I think you should pick it up."

Dara stared at her phone and saw Jiyong's name flash on it again. She faked a smile and rejected the call. "No. It's the wrong number anyway." she shrugged.

She paid for her untouched coffee and took her bag. She was ready to go home to cry, to cry her hearts out without anyone knowing. That was her way of suffering.

Just as she got out of her seat, tingles were sounded as the door of the cafe was rudely pushed opened. A masked man with a large duffel bag barged into the cafe and held out a gun. "EVERYBODY! GET DOWN!" he hollered.

Dara let out a squeal of fright and immediately squated. What was this? A robbery?

The robber got to the cashier and pointed the gun at the man. "Get all your cash and put it in my bag. NOW!" he barked.

The man frowned bravely. "Sir. What you're doing is against the law." he daringly challenged. "Please put down your gun before you do anything you would regret in the future." he advised.

"Motherer." the robber spat. He smirked and looked around, his eyes falling on Dara. Dara felt the shiver as she could feel someone's gaze on her. Before she identified who it was, she was whipped out of her position and pulled up, her back landing on a chest.

A gun pointed towards her temple and Dara heard the robber's fingers curl around the trigger, forming a slight click sound. Her blood literally froze.

"Get. The. Money." The robber hissed.

The man immediately began unlocking his drawer to get the cash out. He could afford to get hurt but he couldn't let an innocent customer get hurt. Dara was trembling madly, tears streaming down her face.

The feeling of the gun pointed at her head was beyond description. It was pure terror. She didn't know if this guy was mentally sound, and any moment he might just decided to kill her off. She vaguely wondered if being shot in the head by the gun would be a painful death.

*Jiyong....* Dara squeezed her eyes shut, willing this to be a nightmare. If it was, she desperately wanted to wake up again and return to Jiyong's arms.

The man took his time getting the cash out and the robber got more and more impatient. "HURRY UP!" he roared his fingers tightening around the trigger. Dara stiffened even more and more tears rolled down her face. "Please don't." she whimpered in fear.

The man hurried, stuffing all the money into the duffel bag and handing it over to the robber. For good measure, the robber continued holding Dara hostage even as he grabbed the bag and made his way to the door. He eyed the other customers who were squatting down to look for any sudden movement.

A loud siren from outside could be heard and it got louder and louder. The robber looked out of the cafe in fear and cursed.

The police arrived.

Jiyong sighed and stared at the blue hospital walls.

They haven't gotten the doctor to see Sohee yet, despite his earlier belief that they had. Apparently at the emergency ward, Sohee's fainting wasn't something serious and there were more important patients to be attended to.

Jiyong wasn't able to sneak off without the nurse looking, the darn woman was a reincarnation of a hawk.

He had went to look for Sohee for a bit and saw that she was still unconscious. He vaguely wondered why she fainted so suddenly when she had been well all the time, perfectly capable of whining day in day out.

But his thoughts never focused, as they trailed to Dara.

Was she still waiting for him at the cafe? Did she expect him to turn up? Or did she go off already?

Was this really the end for them both?

Jiyong felt himself shiver at the aspect. He really really couldn't leave her. Ever.

"Mr Kwon?" Another nurse appeared. "Doctor Kim had already taken a look at Miss Ahn. You may go and see him now."

Jiyong nodded, wanting to get this over and done with so that he could go and meet Dara. He strode into the ward and saw the doctor in question, folding his arms and frowning deeply while Sohee cowered at the corner.

"Oh you're awake." Jiyong looked at Sohee. "So I guess she's well?"

Doctor Kim rolled his eyes. "She had never been unwell, Mr Kwon." he said as a matter-of-factly. "Miss Ahn feigned to faint. She was perfectly conscious all the time and is as healthy as a horse. You and I, together with all the nurses here are all misled by her little prank."

"What?" Jiyong barked. His eyes snapped towards Sohee and he frowned. "You were faking? Just when I wanted to run after Dara? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"Jiyong!" Sohee whimpered, frightened. "I was just afraid you'd go back to her."

"Whatever the case young lady," Doctor Kim frowned. "Don't do that again. You're taking up our time and medical equipment when it can be used on someone else who really needs it. Please refrain from your chilish acts again."

Jiyong took a deep breath to calm himself. He was afraid he'd just march up to her and punch her in the face. Seriously? Fake a faint?

"I'm telling you for the thousandth time, Ahn Sohee, no matter what you do I'll still only love Dara!" Jiyong barked. "Get your stuff out of my house and never show yourself in front of me again!" His eyes flashed dangerously and he turned to go, only to stop.

He froze and turned slowly back to the tiny tv screen in the ward. It was a news flash, reporting a robbery case in a cafe. A cafe near his house. That cafe.

Jiyong's eyes widened as a video was shown of the scene.

"The robber has been caught by the police just in time before any harm was done." The news reporter said. "And thankfully, Miss Sandara Park who had been unfortunately held hostage throughout the incident as the robber threatened for cash, was also alright. Here is a clip of the hostage scene from the security camera."

The man in the mask was holding Dara in front of him, pointing the gun at her head. Dara was pale, paler than Jiyong had ever seen before. She was crying madly and trying not to make a sound, but Jiyong could tell she was scared out of her wits.

"Jiyong..." he saw as the robber shouted orders from behind her, his grip tightening.

Jiyong felt dread run throughout his system. "No...Please no..." he whispered in shock.

Jiyong was out of the door within a fraction of the second, praying repeatedly in his mind. *Please let her be alright. Please. I beg you.*

OH MY GOD. OHHHH MYYY GODDDD.

ASJHLSLKGJSLKGJKSDFHKDSJHF!!!! I can't believe it! I'm featured again!

I have to say I really am shocked and pleasantly surprised! I was out studying and when I returned home yesterday, got out my iPod to get onto AFF, I was a little surprised at the number of friend requests and wallposts.

And then there were people congratulating me on getting featured and I just thought it was because of "My Princess Bodyguard" from last week.

And then I scrolled down and there were people saying two weeks in a row and I didn't really get it.

Until I got to the front page and saw "The Dull One" on the right there! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

I really didn't expect getting featured again, immediately! Thank you guys so much! I can't even....I can't even find the words to say! I'm just shocked and delighted!

I'm really regretful that to this happy news, I bring sad ones to you guys.

My exams are starting on Monday, and these are the most important exams of my life. Seriously.

I have to do well, and I'll be in the exam hall most of the time etc etc. So yeah you can imagine, I won't be able to update often.

I'll be updating once a week from now onwards, till 28 November for my last paper. (On that day I won't be either, I'll be out partying xD)

I really really really appreciate this second feature.

Thank you guys so so so sooooo much for this. Especially since The Dull One only has 10 chapters to date (now 11) and you guys made it to the top! I'm absolutely delighted!

I'm just one seventh into the fic, I haven't even really started! Oh gosh.

Thank you thank you thank you.

I can never say it enough.

THANK YOU!