14 - I Love You

The club was swarmed with people. Seung Hyun just excused himself from the manager of the club after apologizing profusely of what happened during their performance. He almost kissed the manager’s feet just so he’d allow them to perform in the club again.

Jiyong performed drunk on stage, spurting nonsense during his rap and almost punched the bouncer if it hadn’t been for Seung Hyun blocking him.

Seung Hyun darted through the crowd and looked for Jiyong. He stopped by to ask the bartender on where Jiyong was. The bartender pointed towards the back part of the club where he last saw Jiyong tagging along a girl.

Seung Hyun finds Jiyong at the corner of the club, pinning a girl in the wall, kissing her while his hands roamed around the girl’s body. Seung Hyun hisses out a curse. He grabs Jiyong by the collar and pulls him away from the girl.

“Excuse me, miss. I’ll have to stop your make out session. I need to talk to him.” Seung Hyun says to the girl, his eyes furiously staring at Jiyong. The girl whines in protest but Seung Hyun already dragged Jiyong away from her. He leads Jiyong outside the club through the fire exit. They were in the alley where the workers usually go in and out. He throws Jiyong against the wall.

“What the is wrong with you man? Do you want to die?” Seung Hyun screams at him furiously.

Jiyong looks at him seriously. He tries to match Seung Hyun’s fierce gaze but then Jiyong laughs out of the blue.

“I know how much of a jerk you are. I know how irresponsible you can get Jiyong but I never once doubt your dedication when it comes to performing on stage. You take this seriously. If there’s one thing I can rely on you, it’s always giving your 100 percent on stage. Why are you ing this up? We can’t afford to piss off the manager, we can’t lose a gig.” Seung Hyun seethed. He walks toward Jiyong and stands so close in front of him.

“Do you have any idea how much I had to apologize to the manager for your behavior? Damn it Jiyong, I can’t look after you every ing single time!” The frustration in Seung Hyun’s voice was evident.

Jiyong says nothing. He slides down the wall and ends up sitting on the floor, his arms resting on his knees. Seung Hyun sighs heavily. He looks at Jiyong and shakes his head. He sits down beside Jiyong. Jiyong leans his head on the wall and looks up at the sky. They both share a moment of silence. Seung Hyun knows something has been bothering Jiyong for days now. He knows Jiyong well enough to know if he’s going through something.

“You never get pissed off with me when I take the girls who go after you. You always give way for me…you’ve always let me win…even with Yuki…I knew you liked her a lot too…but still…you gave way…” Jiyong sighed heavily.

“Would you still give way to me if I take Dara?” Jiyong looks at Seung Hyun with a blank expression. Seung Hyun freezes and looks back at Jiyong. Jiyong’s eyes were serious. Memories of their high school days with Yuki flashes back in Seung Hyun’s mind.

“What did you say?” Seung Hyun finally catches on. His face turns grim as Jiyong’s question finally settles in his mind.

“What the did you say?” Seung Hyun demands. He grabs Jiyong’s collar, making his body rise up as he held on to his shirt.

“Would you still give way if I take Dara?” Jiyong repeats the question. Seung Hyun lands a punch on Jiyong’s jaw a fraction of a second after Jiyong repeated his question.

Seung Hyun breathes heavily as he watched Jiyong fall a feet away from him, sprawled to the ground. He waits for Jiyong to get up. Instead of getting angry, he hears Jiyong chuckle. Jiyong reaches for his lips and wipes off the blood dripping from the corner of his lips.

“You told me you like Red Lotus…you told me you like Kiko…If you have feelings for Dara, you better tell me now Jiyong.” Seung Hyun murmurs coldly. He walks toward Jiyong and grabs his collar, making him look at him in the eyes.

“Do you have any feelings for Dara?” Seung Hyun asks again.

For a moment Seung Hyun thought Jiyong was about to say yes. He’s been noticing the way Jiyong looks at Dara differently after their double date. Jiyong laughs all of a sudden.

“Relax hyung…I was just playing with you…” Jiyong finally says. Seung Hyun lets go of him. He held out his hand for Jiyong to take, helping him get up.

“You were always the calm and collected. Always the cool guy…now look at you…you’re all pissed off…there’s fire in your eyes…” Jiyong chuckles and taps Seung Hyun’s back.

“I like Kiko. I think she’s a nice girl. Anyways, I’m sorry for my behavior earlier. I just had something going on with my parents. I won’t screw up our performance again. I have to split hyung. You go ahead. Don’t wait up for me.” Jiyong walks away with a feigned smile on his face.

*****

Dara was working on her paper when she receives a direct message from Jiyong.

                @red_lotus still awake?

                @IBGDRGN what do you want?

                @red_lotus I miss you…

Dara was a bit taken aback with Jiyong’s tweet. She couldn’t help but feel giddy with his tweet.

                @red_lotus I miss you everyday…

Dara couldn’t think of a witty reply. She doesn’t know how to respond to his tweet when she knows that the sweet words will never be meant for her.

                @IBGDRGN you’re drunk aren’t you?

                @red_lotus you wound me Red… ;(

      @IBGDRGN its 2am in the morning. Everyone’s asleep. You’re telling me nonsense. You’re obviously         drunk.

     @red_lotus I’m about to go to bed. I just wanted to tell you I miss you.

    @red_lotus don’t you think its much better letting out your feelings before going to sleep Red?

   @red_lotus how about you? Don’t you have something to tell me Red? You can tell me now…

Dara froze upon reading Jiyong’s tweet. She felt like his tweet meant something more…like he’s taunting her