"Nothing"

Dara frowned. She was quite sure she heard him say something. "The others are looking for us" she muttered.

"Let's get going then" he said and started standing up. He took her hand as he stood up, bringing her up with him.

"I'm not as fragile as you think, you know"

"Huh?" he asked blankly.

"You're acting as if I'm an old lady who needs assistance in standing up" she said as she pulled her hand back.

'She's unbelievable' he thought. She misinterpreted his actions again.

"I didn't-" he started but got cut-off by her laughter and her amused expression.

"I was just kidding! You always fall into my traps, don't you?"

"Aishh!" he exclaimed exasperatedly and wrapped his arm around her neck and rumpled her hair. "You're so childish"

"Kyaa! I can't breath" she made a gargling sound.

They resumed practicing. And he, along with the other Bigbang members, practiced too for their performance. It was a bit sad that Daesung won't be able to perform with them, but at least, he wasn't in danger anymore.

He was caught between relieved and disappointed when he remembered what happened in the storage room. He knew he wasn't suppose to do that, but he was just a man after all, he can't control his feelings all the time. Those feelings were trapped inside him for so long but she didn't hear him say those words. . .

But maybe, it was meant to be that way. . .

---------->

He laughed out hard as he saw Dara's recent SNS update.

'Cute!' he thought.

He sent her a message.

GD: Ya! Cute hotdog!
Dara: You saw? kekekeke.. Yumyumyum...

for the next days, he's been teasing her about the hotdog thing. He would ask her, "What's for dinner later?"

She really never fails to amuse him.

One night, the other Bigbang members decided to drop him a visit. They were having a fun reunion when his mom called them for dinner.

He saw the surprised looks on the other members' faces, well except for YB, who gave him a knowing smile.

'Aisshh. I forgot to warn my mother!' he thought.

"Eat all you can, just don't touch the hotdogs, Jiyong's a bit possessive when it comes to that food"
his mom said.

"You're eating hotdogs for dinner?" TOP asked unbelievingly.

He remained silent, quite unsure what to say, but his mother answered for him.

"He's beeen taking a liking to that kind of food lately" his mom smiled that made him blush.

'Aisshh!' he thought.

"Since when did you loved hotdogs this much?" TOP asked, chuckling.

He mumbled something unintelligible. But the others caught the word "tasty" and "delicious"

TOP was about to give another snide comment but YB interfered.

"Let him eat what he wants" YB said chuckling.

------->

He was a bit preoccupied with the upcoming performance that he almost forgotten all about the release of his second MV next week until someone mentioned it to him in passing.

-FLASHBACK-

It was one of those busy days. He was currently shooting for Breathe MV. Today's scene would be with the featured girl in the video.

'What was her name again?' he thought, then continued, 'oh, well, I'll just ask the staff again later'

And to his surprise, "they" visited him again.

'Perfect' he thought then smiled.

"Hello!" he heard them greeting everyone.

"Ah" he moaned dramatically. "I'm starting to feel nervous now that 2NE1's here. Ahhh.. I can feel butterflies in my stomach right now" he finished, still in his dramatic mode.

The others laughed.

"I should really wait for Dara's song to wind down in charts, she might take over me again. Aiisshh" he shook his dramatically.

Bom, CL, and Minzy laughed while Dara was just silently chuckling, with an awkward expression.

"What's up with her?' he asked himself. It looked like she was not in the mood for jokes.

Then, the filming started.

A while later. . .

The people in the studio clapped as they finished filming that one part. He smiled at the girl and thanked her for doing well.

He looked at the others who were still cheering them, a particular girl catching his eyes, who was seemingly and oddly unenthusiastically clapping, the littlest smile on her lips.

He frowned and wondered what's wrong with her.

He smiled and thanks the others, slowly and unsuspectingly going to her place.

"Oppa! You did well" Minzy greeted him. CL and Bom also greeted him enthusiastically, though Bom was teasing him a bit.

"You did well" Dara said with a straight-face, not really looking at him and bowing awkwardly.

He stood there, laughing and talking with the other three, who seemed very energetic, especially CL.

He glances at her everytime the others are busy laughing at his jokes. She was unusually quiet and serious.

'Why is she always like that when I'm doing something?' he asked himself. First, during the recording of Hello, then when she was watching him on the monitor during the Heartbreaker filming (he saw that one on 2NE1 tv), then, now.

Then, he saw her face lit up as something caught her eyes. She stood up smiling.

"Hi!" YB greeted. Dara bowed and greeted him back. The others greeted him, too.

They talked for a while. He was getting more and more awkward as his smile was appearing to be a forced one. It's as if his smiling muscles were strained because he can't give off the full smile that he usually do.

He watched how Dara interact with YB and the girls only, laughing and smiling.

Then, he saw how her face fell as YB mentioned about the girl in the video.

"Yeah, she's really pretty" Dara said, looking at GD with raised eyebrows.

He frowned. He was about to open his mouth but YB said something (that he didn't quite understand), that made Dara divert his gaze back to YB.

YB just shrugged when he heard Dara praising the girl. "GD got good taste" he said, a mischief look in his eyes.

"Ya! I didn't personally choose her. If it would me, I would choose-" GD stopped.

YB secretly chuckled, looking at Dara's reaction.

"I was just kidding, I knew YOU didn't personally choose her, and you didn't decide that by yourself"

All this time, YB knew what was going on, so before the two started ranting on the phone once both of them arrived at home, which he was pretty sure would happen, he interfered at once. Then Dara would call him again. She would then tell him everything, about why GD treats her like that, how GD changed towards her, how she thinks that GD and CL really looked good together (with obvious jealousy in her voice, that is). He knew Dara pretty well that he can anticipate what would happen, he was pretty sure that he would be up all night again, listening to her rants. He's not saying that he was getting tired, but he don't want thing to worsen furthermore, knowing how stubborn these two people are.

"Okay! Let's get back to work!" the director shouted.

He looked once again at Dara, and surprisingly, she was smiling at him.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

He smiled. That was one of Dara's weirdest day.

A day before the Global Gathering performance, they were called by the President for the final rehearsals.

They performed energetically, as if they were really performing.

The President watched his artists as they performed energetically. He smiled. He felt proud for having producing artists like them.

But he can't help to notice and observe Jiyong in particular. As he watch, he saw how serious he was for the final rehearsal. It can be seen through his expression, a fierce and a serious one. So, as much as he don't want to be surprise, it seemed inevitable as the music started playing Hello.

He saw how his expression changes from a serious one to a playful one; from fierce to gentle. The truth is, he was quite used to how his expression changes sometimes when it comes to Dara, but GD seemed to surprise him always. That boyish smile on his face can only be seen when he's looking at Dara.

'The boy's so obvious' he thought. So, he can't really understand why Dara is still unaware of Jiyong's feelings until now looking at how GD was so transparent. He then looked at YB, who was watching the two intently, a small smille on his lips, but he was not fooled. He knew GD and YB that much, loved both of them as if they were his own sons. He can see a glimpse of sadness and regret on YB's eyes. But no one can also deny the glimpse of happiness in those chinky eyes.

He clapped, following the others after the performance.

"You all worked really hard. Take a rest so you can perform well tomorrow" he said, his usual dismissal speech, then went on his way.

The others started packing and arranging their things.

GD cleared his throat. Dara jumped in surprise then turned around.

He smiled. She smiled back.

"Here" he said, giving her an energy drink. "You need that"

"Oh! Thank you"

Later that evening. . .

A message. . .

Dara: kekeke.. Ya! Still awake?
GD: U should be sleeping right now. . .
Dara: kekeke.. Look who's talking? Ur really not a very good model for a junior.
GD: And ur not really an obedient junior. . .
Dara: kekeke.. I'm just excited for tomorrow! I can't sleep thinking about it! kekekek. I'll be performing with the Legendary Kwon Jiyong! kekeke
GD: I'm excited, too!
Dara: Eh? What r u excited about? You've been performing onstage for quite a long time already!

He sighed.

GD: I'm excited for my performance with Kush
Dara: Oh! I c! Oh, well. I should go to sleep! Bye bye

"Eh?" he mumbled. 'She just said she can't sleep, and now she wants to go to sleep already' he thought.

"Aisshhh" he muttered.

Dara: Ya! Goodluck with your performance tomorrow.
GD: Goodluck to you, too
Dara: Goodnight
GD: Wait!
Dara: I'm not going anywhere. C u tomorrow! Kyaa! Bye bye

He keyed in another message.

He waited.

He dialed a number.

He waited.