I will follow him

Han almost hit the roof. “That stubborn! Stubborn! Oh my God! Haisssssshhhhhhh!”

“Calm down” Se7en told her. Big Bang had flown to Japan with Teddy and Teddy had begged him to delay his flight for L.A. for another week and oversee operations at the club.
He had been unable to talk at all to Ji coz he didn’t want to push it too much.

He had proved one thing, though. Ji believed that Dara didn’t love him the way he did for her. Now, how Ji arrived at that conclusion… Se7en might not know just yet. The younger man had escaped him like Houdini after their talk.

“How could he think that Dara sees him as a brother? Is he blind?!? Oh! Why must that man be so thick-headed!”

Se7en took Han’s hand “Let’s seat ok? We need to think how we’re going to go around this. I care for those two nut heads and they seem to have a misunderstanding as big as that of North and South Korea. If we handle this the wrong way, they might not end up together like we want them to.”

“I know. I know” Han agreed “They’re both as stubborn as a mule! I told Dara to try and talk to Ji about this but she doesn’t want to. She’s afraid of him too, I think.”

“She’s afraid of how Ji might react you should say, not Ji himself” he clarified.

“Well, whatever it is. They’re both too afraid to talk to one another it’s irritating!”

“The both of them have got a lot to lose that’s why we need to make them both realize that there’s really nothing to be afraid of. We have to work on Ji first. He’s the key point here. He’s the one where all this started and if we get to set him straight… I tell you, he’ll be the one to make the way for him and Dara to be together.”

“We also have to talk to Teddy” Han added.

“We’ll do all that.”

Han, finally, smiled. “How did you get to become such a good man?”

“I have always been…” he replied sheepishly and hugged her.

“I’m going to Japan and talk to Ji” Han announced “And I’ll try not to be angry.”

Se7en laughed and kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t bring sharp objects with you, ok?”

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*Who said anything about jet lag?*

Ji had to rub his eyes again. He and the guys had performed for two hours last night and were harrowed by a group of “obsessive” fans (One was proposing to T.O.P. – much to his brother’s embarrassment) as they went out of the club.

Teddy took them to one of his favorite 24-hour noodle houses and Ji made a mental note to take Dara there (which he also kicked himself for afterwards coz he had no business thinking such things).

His alarm clock went off once more and he lunged at it. 10:00 AM.

In two hours, he had to be downstairs rehearsing a Nihonggo number with the guys. It was a song that Teddy had written and had a friend translate. Banking on their marketability, Teddy had gambled to build up their rep in Japan than launch his club here with a Japanese group.

It was inevitable, though, that the club here will be the fortress of underground talents in Japan (much like Teddy’s in Korea) but the Manager wanted to launch it using one of his own creations, same as he did with the Wonder Girls for the L.A. club.

He got up quite slowly and headed for the kitchen. He found that Seung-ri was up.

“I was going to already wake you” the maknae told him “I thought the alarm clock didn’t go off.”

“It did” Ji replied “I have to thank Young Bae for it. It worked.”

Seung-ri smiled “I would have clobbered you if it didn’t so you’d wake up.”

“You can try” he fired back “and then I’ll hammer you on the head.”

Their unit’s phone rang and Seung-ri went to answer it as he looked inside the fridge for any decent breakfast. Seung-ri had gotten hold of cereals.

Teddy had an apartment complex here as well. He and Seung-ri shared this floor. YB and Daesung’s unit was below them and T.O.P. was on his own one floor up. Teddy owned the Pent House.

“That was T.O.P. checking if we’re already up. He says breakfast is ready” Seung-ri told him.

“Yehey!” he announced and without worrying about how he looked like as they really didn’t expect anyone this morning, he headed immediately for the door.

YB and Daesung were both on their way up too. “The girls say hi” YB said as he closed his phone after replying to a message “They’re all up so early for exercise.”

“Wow” Seung-ri commented “Did they say anything about missing us?”

“Well… they did say they do miss me” YB answered playfully, earning him a jab on his rib from Ji Yong.

“And I thought you were shy around girls” Daesung told YB.

“Well… they’re like our sisters… I’m cool with them” YB defended.

“Sisters huh?” Seung-ri prodded “You go everyday with Dara-noona and you just see her as a sister??? I don’t believe it!”

Ji raised his eye brow at that “Why Seung-ri? Don’t you see Dara as ‘just’ a sister?”

“Maybe” Seung-ri answered smugly “but she’s really really pretty.”

“They’re all very pretty” Daesung inserted as the elevator opened.

“Who’s pretty?” Teddy asked them, hearing their conversation as he came off the other elevator.

“2NE1-maknaes” Daesung answered “Seung-ri is showing a soft spot towards Dara-noona’s cuteness.”

“Wow. So her aegyo works on you” Teddy told Seung-ri in a stern voice but he was smiling.

“But she is pretty isn’t she Manager? She makes me wish she was really my noona. I can cut a lot of guys who try to woo her” Seung-ri explained, showing off his non-existent arm muscles.

“In your dreams” Ji muttered as they rang the bell on T.O.P.’s door.

T.O.P. opened the door with a wide grin. “Han-noona just arrived! She got us breakfast!” he announced.

“Han?!?!” Ji asked – stunned – at the exact moment that Park Han Byul sauntered towards them.

“BIG BANG!” she announced and pointed a make-shift gun at all of them “Miss me?”

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*SMS is just wonderful*

“YB-sunbae says that Han-unnie is in Japan” Dara announced then looked at Se7en who had trained with them today.

“She has a shoot for a commercial on location in Japan” Se7en told her.

“That sounds great!” Minji answered “It’s a good thing you have extended with us Se7en-sunbae. We hope to learn a lot from you.”

Se7en smiled “Well.. I do hope I can teach you a lot. You’re already wonderful as it is. Your performance the other night was great.”

“Thank you oppa” Bom bowed humbly and they all followed.

“Just don’t change ok? Be as humble as you are now and opportunities will just keep on coming.”

“Oh!” Dara exclaimed as she looked up from a text message she had just received “She brought her specialty for the Big Bang-sunbaes. I’m jealous!!!”

“Han-unnie’s specialty?” CL asked curiously.

“Ow! It’s very very good. She cooks this dish that you have to smother with Crab Paste Soy Sauce and its heaven! It’s like Bom-tori’s specialty – chicken .”

“Wow! I’d like to taste that!” CL declared.

“You won’t forget the first time you taste it but you have to be careful, though. I ate too much and my tummy ached really bad” Dara recounted, smiling despite the discomfort about the situation that she was trying to convey “It was a good thing that Ji was there to take me home or I wouldn’t have made it at all.”

“Ji?!” Bom asked “Kwon Ji Yong?!”

“YOU GOT A MESSAGE!” Se7en quickly pointed at her phone before a reaction could set on Dara’s face – that the three girls would see “If that’s Han, tell her I miss her, okay?” the oppa continued and then faced the girls “Dara’s talking about another friend of mine we call Ji – Seuk Ji Hyun.”

“Ow…” CL muttered as Dara offered a thank you up to heaven.

“What a mess!?!” Dara thought to herself “I almost slipped. Haissssh. Haisssssh. I have to be really careful next time.”

“Who is the message from?” Minji asked “Is that still YB-oppa?”

Dara – who had momentarily lost focus went back to reading the message. It was from Ji Yong – speaking of the devil. “It’s Ji Yong-sunbae. He’s asking how we have been… I think he texted this to all of us.”

“Tell him we’re doing great. My phone’s still in my bag so you reply unnie” CL answered “And why don’t you take a picture of all of us with Se7en-sunbae and let him see. Maybe he’ll also show it to Han-unnie!”

“Oh yeah. Yeah” Dara agreed, still a little distracted, unable to believe her fortune at being rescued by Se7en-oppa “Sure.”