‘Oh no, please let me be hallucinating’ her mind screamed, recognizing the voice without even looking back. ‘Hallucination! Hallucination!’ her mind chanted over and over again.

“Does Taeyang know you’re here?”

She didn’t answer as her mind continued chanting.

“I guess not, because if he knew, you won’t be standing here all by yourself shivering”

Still, she didn’t speak.

“You never learn do you? Did you literally left your brain in the dorm or you’re just plain stupid for not thinking of bringing a jacket in a place like this?”

Okay, he’s not a hallucination. She’s definitely not imagining things. The sarcastic tone of his tells her so. She knew she had to face him eventually, but not tonight. She didn’t expect it to be now, not here. She’s not yet ready for this!

“Ya! Show some respect to your sunbae! I’m talking to you. Is that the right way to treat your senior after not seeing him for a long time?”

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes tight, trying to gather her senses and letting her guards up. Then she opened her eyes and exhaled slowly as she turned around. Ready or not, she had to face him. She had no choice. As she turned around, she immediately bowed, firmly keeping her eyes down on the floor for the fear of looking in to his eyes. She was scared that her defenses would crumble down and turn into ashes when she looks at him directly in the eyes.

“Mianhe, G-dragon sunbaenim! I was pretty busy that I didn’t notice it’s been days since I last saw my senior”

She straightened up. “But I don’t think you have the right to insult me just because I forgot to bring my jacket. Like you said, YOU’RE MY SENIOR, the only time you can criticize me is when or during performance or practice or if it’s related to music and work”

The guy chuckled. “Where did all these spice come from?”

She clenched her fists. How dare he act like nothing happened? Like he didn’t. . .

Well, maybe because it was really nothing to him because she’s a “nobody” in his life. Two can play a game, right? If he wants to act like nothing happened, she can do that, too, can she?

“From you of course” she answered, adding a hint of sarcasm in her tone. “I really learned a LOT of things from you”

A deafening silence passed between them as another gush of wind blew again. To her dismay, her frail body gave another wave of shiver.

“Oh well,” Dara croaked. “I’d better get going, it’s getting late already”
She walked pass by him, holding her breath. She silently scolded herself for expecting him to stop her. Then, when she was near the exit, she looked back. She smirked as she saw him watching her leave.
“Oh, by the way, welcome back sunbae! I’m looking forward to working with you again soon”

The following day. . .

Dara was busy fiddling with her phone, texting her brother. She felt other people’s presence in the hallway so she looked up. She smiled seeing the panic and fear in YB’s eyes, who was looking back and forth between her and GD and Jina. The latter was clinging to GD’s arm like he’s her lifesaver jacket. She bowed and greeted them.

“Annyeong G-dragon sunbaenim! Annyeong Jina-ssi!” She turned to YB. “Good morning Youngbae-ah!”
Jina and Yb looked shock while GD looked. . . . .er. . . .serious. She can’t really find the right adjective to describe his expression. Good thing YB was fast to recover.

“Good morning, noona! You looked happy today” YB greeted her back.

“It’s a wonderful day. And I slept well last night. Who wouldn’t be happy with that?”

YB chuckled. “I’m glad you slept well last night”

“Oh, actually, I’ve been sleeping well these past nights. I don’t know why but I’m stress free nowadays. I feel so alive and free. It feels good to be free, don’t you think?” She winked at YB

“Obviously” she heard GD said. And was it only her or there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone?

“Ah, noona, you’re being playful today. I think you’d better get going to the exercise room before the trainer ruins your mood” YB interfered.

“Oh, yes, you’re right. I don’t want to be late” She turned to the two statues beside YB. “It was nice seeing both of you again” Then she turned back to YB and said, “see you later”

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“Hello, y guy. . . . .”

GD never felt this kind of fear before. That smug look on her face was scaring the life out of him. And never in his life did he saw Dara smile smugly like that.

“Let’s take a break” he suddenly announced. The crew went out for refreshment and it only leaves the three of them: him, Dara and Jina. Dara sat on the floor, her head leaning against the wall. They’re currently in the middle of the preparation for his upcoming solo concert. Awkward silence filled the room. Jina’s phone suddenly rang. She went to a far side corner to take the call. He can’t really hear what she’s talking about because she was out of earshot and she was talking in bushed tones.

‘I wonder what’s wrong?’ he asked himself. Then as the phone call ended, his girlfriend turned to him and said, “I have to go somewhere”
The hesitation in her voice didn’t escape his ears as he saw the girl took a quick glance on Dara.
“My friend’s in trouble but I promise I’ll be back later”

She tiptoed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before hurriedly exiting the practice room.

‘Now this is what you call total awkwardness’ he thought as he realized that it was only him and Dara in the room.

“Aren’t you going with her?” the girl asked.

“Huh?” he asked blankly.

“I think you should go after your girlfriend. She looked kinda distress”

“Oh. Well, unlike other people, J-ah can solve problems by herself. She’s really an independent girl”

Dara’s eyes squinted. ‘Is that supposed to be an indirect insult to me again?’ she thought. But she countered back. “You really got good taste, sunbaenim”

-->

“What do you want?” Jina hissed as she arrived in her place and saw him standing in her doorway.

“You promised you’d tell me everything!” he fired back.

-->

GD just wrapped up rehearsals. He doesn’t know why, but there’s something pulling him to go to the storage room. He knew it’s not right, that it’s not healthy for him to go there anymore. There were too many memories in that room. There were too many memories of them together there. Every corner of that room was filled with her presence. He hasn’t been there for a long time. And he’s been avoiding to pass by it or even glance at it. But tonight was different, something VERY strong was telling him to go there.

He frowned as he reached it. Now that he’s in front of the room’s door, the need to go inside got even stronger. He reached for the knob and slowly turned it. As he silently pushed open the door, a gut-wrenching sound greeted him. He peeked inside and he was right. He silently closed the door again and leaned his forehead against the door as his hold on the knob tightened. His eyes automatically shut tight as he tried to stop himself from entering the room again. He leaned back then looked at the door longingly and sadly. He breathed and started walking away. He took out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” he asked.

“What is it?”

“I left something very important in the storage room and I think it’s broken. Can you do me a favor by trying to fix it?”

“Huh? What kind of thing-“

“It’s on the floor near the cabinet. Please try your best to fix it, okay?”

“But-“

GD purposely ended the call and gripped his phone tight.

-->

YB frowned as he made his way to the storage room. He can’t really understand why GD wouldn’t fix that ‘thing’ himself. He opened the door as he reached it then stopped as he saw the figure of a girl sitting on the floor near the cabinet with her head down, crying.

“Noona?” he asked. The girl jumped in surprise and looked at him with tear-stained face. Upon seeing him, she look the other way and wiped her tears away.

“Youngbae-ah, what are you doing here?” Dara asked.

“Jiyong told me he left something very impor-“ he stopped as his eyes grew wide.

Something important. On the floor. Near the cabinet. Fix it.

‘Something’s not right here’ he thought.

“Oh” Dara answered quietly upon hearing GD’s name, then she tears started pouring out again. Seeing that, YB set his own thoughts aside and went to her side to comfort her.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Youngbae. I can’t pretend anymore. It hurts too much. Seeing him with her is breaking me”

YB kept his silence and let her talk.

“But I have to be strong, right?”

SILENCE. . .

“Youngbae?”

“Hmmm?”

“I made a promise to give myself one last gift this year. Can you help me get it?” she asked.

YB can’t help but smile at her childishness. “Of course I will. What’s your gift to yourself anyway?”

“I want to have one last happy memory with him.”

“What should I do?” he asked quietly.

“Just promise to stay by my side after this. . .After his concert. Then, maybe after that I’ll be able to let go already”

‘Yes’ Dara thought. She’ll force herself to let go. But as for now, she likes to be a part of his happiness, of his dream. She wanted his solo concert to be successful. She knew he’s been dreaming about this that’s why he’s been working and preparing so hard for the event. And she would not cry starting tomorrow. She would temporarily forget what happened in the hallway. In order to get that one last happy memory with him, she needs to smile and be happy for the remaining days. It’s the only way to create that memory because if she’ll keep on sulking and crying, she won’t achieve that. But she knew after making that memory, she’ll have to accept defeat.