7. 

AUGUST

 

For the past two days Jiyong had been thinking how he'd break up with Kiko. There was no way he could still be with her if he loved someone else, it wasn't right. 

 

He looked at his phone, at Dara's name, he was so tempted to call her or text her but of course he couldn't. They had agreed not to talk privately, only at work and he was going to keep that agreement. 

 

He hadn't been able to see her for these past two days since he was busy considering his single, "Heartbreaker", has just been released, plus he still had a lot on his mind but in the midst of everything, he still had time to think about Dara and what she was doing.

 

He would try to subtly ask Teddy or the girls of 2NE1 how she's been doing but they caught on what he was doing and just told them that she was fine, not telling him any other information about her. 

 

As he was about to loose to temptation and call Dara, his phone began to ring. It was Kiko. He gulped as he looked at his phone, he wondered whether or not he should pick up but he decided to answer since he couldn't hide from her. 

 

"Hello?" he answered. 

 

"Hey..."

 

Kiko did not sound her usual bright self which slightly worried Jiyong. Of course he would be worried about her, it's not that he didn't love or like her, they had been together for nearly a year so it was normal for him to feel some concern over her. 

 

"You don't sound so good. What's up?"

 

"Oh. You know the film I got cast on?"

 

"Yh..."

 

"We were suppose to be filming soon, right?"

 

"Hm.."

 

"It got postponed," she sighed. "I mean, I still have the part and they promise they won't change their minds later on but I was just so looking forward to getting to work, you know?"

 

Jiyong slightly rolled his eyes at her reason. It wasn't exactly the most terrible thing to happened in the world. Shootings and such can get postponed all the time, just like how some meetings get rescheduled, it was nothing to worry about. But Jiyong needed to be... Supportive? 

 

"Oh... So when are they planning to film it?"

 

"Next year! Can you believe? I have to wait a whole year. Well, actually, they're planning to film next summer and to release it around next December but still!" 

 

"Ahh... Well, at least you still have the part. I'm sure you'll do good when you finally get to shoot some scenes."

 

"Hmm, hopefully. I just really can't wait, you know? But I guess it's fine, they're waiting for the right season."

 

Jiyong couldn't carry on with this conversation any longer. He felt bad for keeping something from her, he needed to tell her straight. 

 

"Listen, Kiko, I need to tell you something."

 

"Oh, really? What is it?"

 

"Kiko... I, well, uhm..."

 

"Jiyong, is everything okay?"

 

Jiyong's throat felt dry all of a sudden. He didn't know where to start or what to say. 

 

"Babe???"

 

"Um, I just miss you a lot." he lied. 

 

Kiko giggled, "Aw! Babe, I miss you too. I really wanna visit you again but I can't, since there's plenty of time till the film shooting, my manager packed my schedule so I have to meet up with magazines and different fashion designers," she sighed. "Exhausting, but fun since I have to travel to France next week!" 

 

"Oh... So when are you free to come here?"

 

"Um... Hold on, let me check my schedule."

 

Jiyong waited for Kiko's reply. He couldn't break up with her, at least not over the phone. That was an idiotic move, he wasn't like those type of guys who just hide behind a phone and break up with someone. He was a man. He would take everything that Kiko would hit him with, he wouldn't care if she hit him how many times or how hard since he would've deserved it. 

 

"So I'm going to be able to go to Korea in a months time."

 

"A month?! Wow... Um, that's really long." 

 

Too long. 

 

"I know but it's work!" 

 

"Yeah, don't worry, I totally understand." he ruffled his hair as Jiyong laid on his bed. "Listen, Kiko, I gotta go, I have to be in the studio in a bit."

 

"Oh okay."

 

"Okay, bye."

 

"Wait!"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Heartbreaker is a really good song, you did such a great job! I'm proud of you, babe."

 

Jiyong placed his arm on top of his forehead. He felt so bad, she was such a nice girl. "Thanks."

 

"Okay, I'll let you go now. I love you, babe."

 

"Yeah, me too, bye." 

 

He locked off the phone and breathed out a loud sigh. 

 

He felt like such a jerk. He basically lied to missing and loving her, he shouldn't have told her that he was missing her. He groaned out loud. 

 

"What the hell is wrong with me?!" he scolded himself. 

 

He was just digging into this situation even deeper, he felt stuck, stuck in a relationship that he didn't want and didn't know how to get out of. 

 

He looked at his phone again and noticed the time. 2:45PM. He was free but he just felt as if he couldn't stay inside his room, he needed to get out, he felt as if he couldn't properly breathe inside his own home. 

 

He grabbed his keys and headed towards YG, he thought that he could just practise some more even though no one was going to be there to practise with him, but he didn't care, just as long as he was out of his house. 

 

* *

 

Dara was at the site of the shoot, she had not seen Lee Minho yet as she was taken straight to hair and make up to get ready. She was just about ready, the stylist just needed to add more mascara onto her eyelashes and she was done. 

 

She closed her eyes to make it easier for the stylist to apply the mascara and when she opened them, a smiling prince standing behind her was staring at her from the mirror. His arms were crossed, and he was wearing a black ensemble, his hair was tied up and he was just plain gorgeous. 

 

"Hey." he greeted. 

 

Dara's heart started beating just a little bit quicker, his voice was just so lovely. 

 

"Oh, hi!" she greeted back, turning around so she could properly face him. 

 

"So we finally meet," he said as he chuckled. "I should properly introduce myself. I'm Lee Minho." 

 

He extended his hand out at Dara, she looked at it for a second before taking it into her hand and shaking it slightly. 

 

"Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Sandara Park but people call me Dara." 

 

"Nice to meet you too." he smiled. 

 

Their hands were still holding onto each others, not that Minho noticed but Dara did. She broke eye contact with him, and looked at their connected hands. 

 

"Uhmmm...." she began. 

 

She didn't exactly know how to say it without sounding rude. 

 

"Is something wrong?" he asked. 

 

"Oh. Um, no! Nothing! It's just..."

 

"What?..."

 

"Can I have my hand back, please?" 

 

Minho looked at their hands, then a wave of embarrassment mixed with sudden shyness washed over him. He let go of Dara's hand and scratched the back of his neck. 

 

"Uh, sorry, I, uh, forgot?" he stuttered. He wanted to facepalm himself for sounding so stupid. 

 

But to his surprise, Dara giggled and he had to admit that her giggle was the cutest sound he's ever heard. 

 

"You're funny. I can see we'll get along well." she said. 

 

Minho gave an awkward laughter, he was so shy. He had always wanted to meet Dara and now he finally was, the best thing about it was that they were working together. 

 

The more they talked, the more they got comfortable with each other. It was fun doing the commercial shooting. Dara was nervous since Lee Minho was an actor, and a famous one at that, so she felt a little bit of pressure. But that soon went away when Minho had a couple of NGs, making Dara think that it's fine if you make little mistakes, even famous actors do it too. 

 

"Alright, it's time for the kiss scene!" the director informed everyone. "We'll do the second kiss first, just so we can get it over and done with, alright???"

 

"Yes!" replied all the staff, including Dara and Minho.

 

Dara's heart started thump thump thumping. It was time for the scene that she's been dreading. It's not that she doesn't want to do it, she's more than okay with kissing a hotty like Minho, even though they weren't actually going to kiss, but it was just she thought she'd end up laughing right in front of his face or something. 

 

Dara breathed in, she waited for the director to yell action till she would walk up to Minho and initiate the kiss. 

 

"And... Action!" 

 

Dara strutted through the crowd, chanting in her mind that she was y so she'd boost up even more confidence and have a better performance in acting. 

 

She was now in front of Minho, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and went close up to his face, just close enough to make it seem like they were kissing. 

 

She thought everything was going to go well until Minho backed away. 

 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I got a little, uh, nervous, hahaha." he awkwardly laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

 

She chuckled to herself as she looked at Minho's flustered face, he looked so adorable. He looked at her, his eyes were so mesmerising. 

 

"I'm sorry. You did great, it's my fault." he said. 

 

"No, no, it's okay! I was just about to end up laughing to be honest." she said, then laughed, and then Minho joined in too. 

 

The director walked towards the two, looking through the script then properly facing them. "You guys did great, but let's properly finish it this time, okay?"

 

"Yes, I'm sorry again." said Minho. 

 

"It's fine. But one more thing," he faced Dara. "Is it okay if you can properly kiss? Like a sort of peck on the lips, it's just better that way." 

 

Dara looked at the director wide-eyed, she wasn't expecting this. 

 

"Dara, you don't have to do it." said Minho when he saw the look of her face. 

 

But Dara shook her head. "No, it's fine." 

 

She had already agreed to do the kissing scene and she wasn't going to back out now. She wanted to perform well, plus if she ever wanted to have an acting career, then she should be okay with having a kissing scene. She thought of it as a type of practise for the future. 

 

"You sure it's okay?" asked the director. 

 

"Yes, director! I'll try my best!" Dara reassured and smiled widely to further reassure the director. 

 

The director smiled and patted Dara's back before walking away back to his chair. 

 

"Places everyone!!" the director instructed. 

 

Dara was going to walk back to her position when Minho grabbed her arm. He quickly let go when she turned back to him with a look that asked what he wanted. 

 

"Uh.. Fighting!" he said as placed a fist up in the air to encourage her. 

 

She laughed and said "fighting" back before she walked off to her position. 

 

Minho seriously wanted to kick himself. He was so lame right now, he wanted to look cool, like a proper man in front of Dara but she's just been laughing at him so he felt like a weirdo. He sighed before sitting back down next to the other actors/actresses. 

 

The scene began again. Minho couldn't take his eyes off of Dara. The way she was strutting, the way she pulled him by his collar, the way she pressed her lips lightly on his, the way she ily smirked after their kiss. He was frozen on the spot. He forgot his surroundings, he forgot that he was suppose to be shooting a scene right now, he just lost control of his mind the minute he saw Dara. 

 

"Minho! Minho! Minho!" one of the staff waved his hands in front of Minho's face. 

 

He blinked then shook his head. "Uh what??" he managed to say. 

 

"We have to do the scene again, your face looked too blank. Are you okay? Your cheeks have gotten slightly red." the staff looked at Minho in concern but Minho just shook his head. 

 

"I'm fine. Um," he began to bow several times to apologise. "I'm really sorry! I'm so sorry! I keep messing up. Sorry!" 

 

"It's okay, Minho. I'm sure anyone who Dara kissed would act like that too." said the director, causing people to laugh. 

 

Minho's face felt even hotter, he started to fan his hands to his face. "No!! I, what, no, I wasn't, aish!!" he stuttered. 

 

The staff sniggered, while some of the actors/actresses were all whoo-ing and teasing. 

 

Dara's face flushed, she was so embarrassed, not in a bad way or anything, she just didn't like to get teased that much. It was enough getting teased by Taeyang everyday, now the staff are. She sighed. 

 

Minho went back to his position and he suddenly remembered what had happened.

 

Dara kissed him. 

 

She actually kissed him. 

 

He touched his bottom lip, he was so frozen that he felt slightly numb. He didn't feel her kiss, he didn't know how it was like, whether or not her lips were soft but he would find out later since they would have to do the scene again. He silently thanked God for this opportunity. 

 

They had to do the scene over 100 times since either Minho or Dara would crack up laughing, get embarrassed, and sometimes Dara would trip while she strutted which would make Minho stand up from his spot and head over to her straight away. 

 

They had gotten really comfortable with each other during shooting. Whenever they were taking a break, they'd hang out, Minho would bring her a drink or something to eat and they would just talk about anything like work, interests, just anything and everything. 

 

"Hey, uhm, I know I should be saying this when we finish the shoot but I don't exactly know when it's going to finish but, uh..." Minho started. 

 

"What is it?" Dara asked as she looked at Minho, waiting for whatever he had to say. 

 

"Can I have your number?" he said with confidence this time. 

 

Dara started to blush, she looked down and nodded, taking her phone out, unlocking it and giving it to him to enter his number. He smiled and gladly took her phone, he did the same, taking his phone out of his pocket and giving it to her in order for her to enter her number into his phone. Once they were done, they exchanged phones and starting laughing for no reason, but it was most probably out of nervousness. 

 

"Breaks over! Let's do the scene where Minho approaches Dara and kisses her cheek." informed the director. 

 

Minho stood up from his seat, and so did Dara.

 

"Okay, let's get to work." Minho stated with a bright smile that made Dara want to just stare at him forever. "Fighting!" he said as he held up his hand for Dara to high five. 

 

She high fived him as she said "fighting" and they got to their positions to shoot the scene. 

 

* *

 

Jiyong had been in his studio for most of the day, he was about to go home but decided to drop by at the cafeteria just to grab something to eat quickly. 

 

He saw Bom and Minzy sitting on a table so he went to go join them. 

 

"Hey." he said as he sat down besides Minzy. 

 

"Oh, hey, oppa. I didn't know you were in the building today." said Minzy. 

 

"Yeah, I basically just stayed in the studio all this time. I'm so tired!!" he said. "Where's Dara? And CL?"

 

"CL went out somewhere with Seungho, the stylists, I guess to buy some stuff, I don't know. And Dara should just about be finished shooting the commercial." Bom informed. 

 

"Commercial?"

 

"Yeah, remember. For Cass."

 

"Oh." Suddenly he remembered something. "Wait. It was today?? Since when?" 

 

"Since probably around 12 or something. Dara unnie left pretty early." said Minzy. 

 

Bom's home began to ring. "Oh, speaking of Dara, she's calling. Hold up." 

 

She answered her phone while Jiyong looked at her, he was really curious on what had happened today in the shoot, whether or not the kiss scene actually happened or if she actually did kiss him. He wanted to know every single detail. 

 

"Bom, Bom, Bom, Bom." repeated Jiyong is hush tone. 

 

Bom looked at him and mouthed a "what?" 

 

"Ask her about the shoot." 

 

Bom nodded. 

 

"Put her on loudspeaker." 

 

Bom rolled her eyes but did as she was told. She placed her phone onto the table and switched it to loud speaker. 

 

Dara: "Is someone with you??" 

 

Jiyong started shaking his head, to tell Bom that he didn't want her to know he was there. 

 

Bom: "Just Minzy. Were at the cafeteria at YG right now. Just finished vocals."

 

Minzy: "Hi, unnie!"

 

Dara: "Hey~"

 

Minzy: "Where are you?"

 

Dara: "I'm in the car right now. I don't know where, we're like in a motorway, there's a lot of traffic right now."

 

Minzy: "Ah~ okay."

 

Bom: "So how was the shoot?"

 

Dara: *giggles* 

 

Jiyong raised an eyebrow. Why was she giggling for? 

 

Bom: "Well?..."

 

Dara: "It was... Fun. Minho is a really nice guy, he was easy to get along with and everyone was nice too." 

 

Jiyong furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't like that they had gotten along. Okay, so it's good that they got along but it seemed more than that. 

 

Jiyong turned to Minzy and whispered in her ear: "Ask if they kissed."

 

Minzy: "Unnie, did you two kiss?" 

 

Dara was silent for a moment. 

 

Dara: "Um..."

 

Bom shrieked. 

 

Bom: "Oh, my, gosh! You did!! No way! You said it was camera angling!!"

 

Dara: "Shhhh!!! Fine. We kissed. But it was for the shoot! And yeah, that's what I thought but apparently not." 

 

Jiyong placed his head on the table, looking at the phone and just feeling so upset over the fact that they kissed. 

 

Bom: "How was it?" 

 

Jiyong gave Bom a glare. Why would she even ask that question? But Bom ignored him and just stared at the phone placed on top of the table. 

 

Dara: "It was... I don't know... I mean, it wasn't a full on kiss. It was more like a peck but you had to stay in the same position for a minute or two."

 

Minzy started to laugh at how her unnie described the kiss. 

 

Dara: "Minzy, stop laughing!"

 

Minzy: "I'm sorry but the way you explained it. Oh gosh, HAHAHAHA!!" 

 

Bom: "Was it like a quick take?" 

 

Dara: "No... We had to do the same scene like 100 times."

 

Jiyong sat back up. 100?! What the heck, he thought. 100 was just way too much. Jiyong blamed Minho, it was definitely his fault, it was probably planned, he must've just wanted to keep on messing up so he would get to kiss Dara again and again. Jiyong was beyond upset and angry, he didn't know why he was so angry, he didn't know what type of emotion he was basically feeling at that very moment. 

 

Bom looked at Jiyong, she knew that it was time to stop the conversation but before she could tell Dara that they'll talk later, Dara continued talking. 

 

Dara: "But anyway, it was really fun. And I'm glad to have done the commercial with Minho, I gained a new friend. We exchanged numbers and he asked me out for lunch. Well, that is when I get back from Philippines." 

 

Jiyong's eyes widened. Philippines? He was so confused, this was the first time he had heard that she was leaving. Now he was on the verge of being depressed. The fact that she had given Minho her number and they were planning to go out for lunch was bad enough, now she was going to Philippines who knows when and who knows how long. What will he do when she's gone? He may have been over exaggerating considering he had plenty to do, his schedule was busy since his debut was in a weeks time. He shouldn't be thinking about this, he should be focusing on his solo but right now, he just couldn't. 

 

He stood up and began to walk off towards the exit, Bom quickly told Dara that they'll talk later and she hurried off to him. She stopped him by grabbing his arm, he stopped but didn't look at her. 

 

"What?" he asked, his tone was cold and empty. 

 

"Look, Jiyong, you shouldn't be upset. It's no big deal." she tried to comfort him but it didn't work. 

 

Jiyong shook Bom's grip on his arm and faced her. Bom was slightly shocked by the sadness in his eyes, she didn't expect him to be like this. 

 

"No big deal?" he started. "It IS a big deal. The woman I love is getting friendly with another guy, and then I find out she's leaving to go to Philippines soon for who knows how long and I didn't even know about it. To top it off, when she comes back, she'll just go and run off to Minho and have lunch."

 

Bom was taken aback. Jiyong just confessed. Jiyong had admitted to loving Dara. 

 

Minzy heard what Jiyong had said, she was relieved that no one was in the cafeteria at this time or else this would be all over the building by now. 

 

"D-did you just say that y-you l-love Dara?" Bom stuttered as she was still in complete shock. 

 

Jiyong sighed and ruffled his hair as he leaned against the nearest table. "Yes." he whispered. 

 

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." repeated Bom. "Since when?!" 

 

"Since forever. But I just found out how I proper felt recently." he admitted. 

 

"I knew it!" exclaimed Minzy. 

 

Jiyong looked at Minzy. 

 

She shrugged, "I could tell these things." 

 

"Did everyone know except me?!" questioned Jiyong. 

 

"Kind of. We never thought you'd realise or admit your feelings this early though." Bom said. 

 

Jiyong sighed. 

 

"Jiyong," Bom placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dara is only going to be gone for 5 days which will pass by quickly so don't worry about it. And it isn't just her going on a holiday, all of 2NE1 are, it's a present from the president since we've been working hard he said."

 

"Okay, that's kind of made me feel better." Jiyong stated. "But still, the whole kissing thing, it really pissed me off. I don't know why. I know I shouldn't really mind since it is work, a lot of people kiss all the time in movies and such so I don't know. I'm just really pissed off."

 

Bom chuckled while Minzy rolled her eyes. 

 

"You're so stupid, oppa." she said, getting a look from Jiyong telling her to have some respect to her oppa. "What you're feeling is jealousy. You're probably jealous over the fact that Minho has kissed Dara before you have gotten to kiss her." she smirked. 

 

Jiyong stared at her for a moment. "Jealous?" 

 

"What? You've never felt jealousy before??" asked Minzy. 

 

"Uh, I don't know." 

 

"Haven't you ever gotten jealous seeing Kiko hang out with guys or something."

 

"Well, not really. I don't really think that way, they're just colleagues or friends."

 

Bom raised an eyebrow. "Yet you get jealous over Dara's colleagues, huh?" 

 

"Shut up." Jiyong said in a hushed voice, not in a rude way but in an embarrassed way. 

 

"Speaking of Kiko... What's happening there? Are you two still together?" 

 

Jiyong nodded. 

 

"Oppa!!" shouted Minzy. "How can you still be together when you just told us you love unnie?!"

 

"Stop shouting!!" Jiyong countered back. "I will break up with Kiko, seriously. But I don't want to do it over the phone or by text message or anything because that's just a jerky move. In a month, that's when I'll break it off with her since that's the only time when she's actually free."

 

Minzy and Bom nodded, now they understood why they were still together. And it was nice of Jiyong to break up with her face to face, it showed what a nice guy he really is, and brave considering he would most probably get slapped by Kiko once she found out the reason for him breaking him with her. 

 

"Is it worth breaking up with Kiko?" said Jiyong suddenly. 

 

Bom pushed his shoulders roughly. "What the hell, Jiyong?! You just said you love Dara and you want to stay with Kiko? That's stupid! She shouldn't be in a one sided love relationship." 

 

"Bom unnie is right. Why are you even thinking like that, oppa?" asked Minzy. 

 

"Because!" 

 

The two girls waited. 

 

"Because it seems like she could turn out to like Minho and I'm just her friend."

 

Bom sighed. "Jiyong, stop being so negative. You never know how things work out." 

 

"Dara sees me as a friend. Of course she's going to end up with Minho if they hang out. Plus, I'm not going to try and get her attention after I break up with Kiko. I'm going to at least need a month or two, even three, till I want to start a relationship with Dara. What if during that time I'm taking a breather, she ends up with Minho?" 

 

"Then let her." said Minzy. 

 

Jiyong looked at her, a little bit puzzled. Why would he let her go out with Minho when he wanted her all to himself?

 

"Oppa, see it from this point of view, if she does end up going out with Minho then maybe it just wasn't your time with her yet."

 

"What if they don't ever break up?"

 

"Stop looking at the negatives from your point of view. You don't exactly know how the two of them are so you don't know if they'd last long or not. I'm not saying I wouldn't want unnie's relationship to work out if she does go out with Minho, but just think of it as it not being your time. You two are still young, you have plenty of time so there is no reason to rush things. I see the way unnie looks at you, the way she acts with you, it's definitely not the same way she acts around any other friends of hers that is a guy. She probably does like you but hasn't realised it yet, just like you, you just realised recently how you truly felt and I'm sure one day that will happen to her as well. So just wait patiently. Don't go off to other girls just because your love isn't being returned right yet. Just wait. Wait for her. She'll definitely appreciate it and in the end, both of you will be happy, okay?"

 

Jiyong nodded and took everything in. She was right. They were both right. No one knew what would happen in the end so he needed to be patient. Sure it would hurt him if he was to see Dara and Minho together but then again, he would be happy for her since she's happy. 

 

"Yeah. You guys are right." Jiyong said. 

 

The two girls smiled, Bom patted Jiyong on his shoulder again. 

 

"Don't give up, okay?" Bom said. 

 

"And don't worry, oppa, we won't tell unnie. We promise." Minzy added. 

 

"Thanks." 

 

"Anyway, let's get out of here. It's getting really late now. And CL just texted me telling us she has a surprise for us so we better be home." said Bom. 

 

"Okay, you guys go ahead. I need to go to my studio and get something." 

 

"Alright. Bye, Jiyong." Bom waved as she walked towards the exit. 

 

"Bye, oppa." Minzy said, waving as well. 

 

Jiyong waved, then turned to another exit when the direction of his studio was. 

 

He walked along the corridor and went inside his studio, he grabbed his bag then walked out towards the car park. 

 

When he had gotten home, he collapsed on his bed, not caring that he was still in his jeans. He quickly fell asleep with the thought of never giving up in his mind and how as long as Dara is happy, he'll be happy.

 

---

 

 

A/N: Okay, so I wasn't planning on updating any time soon considering I wasn't finished with this chapter AT ALL but since you guys kept commenting and telling me to update, here you go! I really just finished writing this up a couple of minutes ago so if there are any spelling mistakes or anything, I'm sorry because I didn't check. I am dead tired even though it's just 11:50pm right now but I went out with the family and got home late so yeah, I am pretty tired and I just wanna crawl in bed and sleep ><

Idk about this chapter because I feel as if I rushed it but I hope you guys like it. Tell me what you think! :)

And thank you thank you thank you for subscribing~ <3