Dara's POV

Of course the peace didn't last for long.

Our food arrived soon after and that's when the mayhem began. We all began to chatter between ourselves individually catching up, and everything was all well for a while until-

"YAH! RAT! Just what exactly do you think you're doing?!" CL's angry voice rang out around the table, causing us all to pause in our conversations and turn to see what the fuss was about.

There, frozen on the spot, with a deer caught in the head lights look, was Lee Seungri. What was he doing you ask? Practically asking for a beating.

There he was leaning over CL's plate with his fork in hand. What was on his fork you ask? A prawn. You heard me. A. PRAWN. You maybe wondering, 'Dude, it's just a bloody prawn'. But no. It wasn't just a prawn. Firstly, prawns were one of CL's favourite foods. Secondly, CL hated it when people picked off of her plate, it was a big No-No and it was one of her most hated pet peeves (she has many huh?) - unless it was me of course, because she just loves me that much *bats eyelashes*. Thirdly, the culprit that was trying to steal her beloved prawn was no other than Lee Seungri - the one person she hated the most in this whole entire planet, milkyway, and all the adjacent galaxies.

"Uh...." Seungri let out an uncertain sound, gulping loudly. Is that sweat I see on your forehead Seungri? Well yeah, you should be scared, trying to steal food off of CL's plate when her back was turned whilst she conversed with Daesung. To think! How many prawns did you eat Seungri?! HOW MANY?! Do you have some sort of death wish?!

"WELL?!" CL fumed, her eyes now forming slits.

"Ehehe..." Seungri let out a nervous laugh, as he shook the prawn off of his fork onto CL's plate and leaned away from CL. CL's glare hardened, causing him to lean further and further away, seemingly trying to hide behind Jiyong when--

*Thud*

There he was, sprawled out on the floor for the second time tonight. He had leaned so far back that he had literally fallen off of his chair, landing on his about-to-be-beaten-to-a-pulp . He lay there his eyes bulging in shock, sweat now dripping down his face.

Silence.

Then...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" We all burst out into laughter at the look on Seungri's face, a cross between fearing for his life and shock from falling on his . I clutched onto my stomach, I haven't laughed this hard in soooo long. I glanced over to see CL trying her very hardest to hold in her laughter, but her attempts were failing, as her lips began to wobble. In a matter of seconds she burst into laughter with us, pointing at the flustered and red in the face Seungri like it was the funniest site in the world, throwing her head back in abandonement. Watching her laugh set me off again, our whole table was now laughing heartily at the expense of Seungri.

My tummy ached from all the laughing, I wiped my laughter induced tears with my right hand as my left hand gripped onto the person next to me, to steady myself as I tried to regain my breath.

"Didn't have you down as the touchy feely type," a familiar teasing voice whispered near my ear, lips very very lightly brushing against my earlobe. Woaaah. Too close for comfort. I sharply pulled away and looked to the left to see a smirking Jiyong, his right eyebrow raised. Damn it! I cursed myself in my head. Why did I have to grab onto him?! There was a perfectly nice, non-teasing Youngbae on my right!

Double damn it! I thought, as I felt the involuntary heat rise up into my cheeks. Why was I blushing?! I shot him a quick glare before grabbing the chair beneath me and scooting away from him and closer to Youngbae. I heard his light chuckle, causing me to curse him in my head.

Everyone had calmed down now, and Seungri's was now seated back on his seat, which was suspiciously close to Jiyong's - basically as far away from CL as he could get. How on earth did those two end up sat next to each other anyway? Meh! He was sat so close to Jiyong that he may as well be sitting on his lap. I'm sure he would've too, if he could have gotten away with it without receiving weird stares from other tables, and of course, if Jiyong wouldn't push him off as soon as his fabric covered touched him. I laughed at the mental image, as I picked up my fork, ready to shovel in another bite of yummyness when--

*smack*

My fork flew out of my hand and landed on Youngbae's plate, my food splattering on the table. I turned my blazing glare to the jerk on my left. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" I screamed. This time everyone turned their attention to me.

"You know what?! Could you just quit annoying me for just one whole minute and leave me alo--"

"You were about to eat a forkful of peanuts." Jiyong cut in calmly, but his eyes... his eyes held some kind of strong emotion? Was that... fear? Worry? I stopped mid-rant my mouth still open.

*Blink*

*Blink* *Blink*

"Huh?"

"I said, you were about to eat a forkful of peanuts." he reiterated, then sighed, "You're allergic to peanuts Dara," he reminded me.

OH SH*T.

My eyes bulged. I almost ate a forkful of peanuts?! I was highly allergic to peanuts, which was revealed when I tried to eat a snickers bar at Jiyong's house.

~ Flashback to 10 years ago ~

Third Person POV

"Hmmhmmmhmmm" Dara hummed to herself as she grabbed a chocolate bar from the fridge. Ooooh, 'Snickers' she read. 'I've never had one of these before' she thought. Excited at the prospect of trying something new, she eagerly ripped open the chocolate bar and bit into it. 'Mmmmmmm' Dara hummed in satifaction as she merrily chomped on the chocolatey goodness. 'This tastes gooood!' she thought, as she began to skip towards the living room, chocolate bar in hand.

This was one of those times where she had to stay over at Jiyongs, but neither the girls or boys could accompany her, and she really had no other choice. She almost made it into the living room when she collapsed on the flood with a *thud*, one hand clutching her abdomen in pain and the other clawing at which was beginning to close up, making it difficult to breathe. She tried to call for help, but she could barely breathe let alone make any call for help.

At this moment Jiyong walked into the living room with his phone to his ear, "Neh Omma, Arasso. I'll just make Ramyeon or something, since it's Dara's favourite." He hung up shortly after the call from his mother informing him that her and his father wouldn't be back till late at night due to some sort of last-minute crisis that had occured at work, so they wouldn't be back in time for dinner and he would have to either cook or order something in for him and Dara.

'Hmm, yeah I'll make Ramyeon, since it's just me and Dara...' Jiyong thought to himself. His elder sister Dami had gone to visit his halmeoni for a week, and Dara's younger brother Sanghyun was staying over at his friends Lee Joon's, whilst Dara's younger sister Durami had gone with her parents on the business trip as she was still too young, much like when Dara and Sanghyun when they were her age, as Dara's mother was a bit of a worry wart - like any mother would be.

'I wonder where that rabbit is...' Jiyong continued his train of thought, as he made his way towards the kitchen via the living room, ready to make Ramyeon for them to eat.

[If you want you could play Taylor Swift's Safe and Sound here, I personally prefer Jayesslee's cover of it though ^^ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iX4zejt1dc]

He stopped in his tracks, his heart stopped at the site before him. A site that would forever be imprinted in his mind and haunt his dreams. There, on the floor, was a stiff Dara, her body convulsing strongly on the floor -unnaturally- in ways a body shouldn't,  her face swollen and red. Jiyong let out a terrified scream and began to panic.

He knelt down beside Dara and started calling her name in fright, "Dara! Dara-ah! Stop scaring me! Stop joking around! It's not funny!" he tried, hoping with all his might that she was playing a cruel joke, but deep inside he knew what was happening to her body was against her will. "Please Dara-ah! I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry for the pranks! Please stop it! I won't make you call me Oppa! Please just... just..." Jiyong felt tears about to fall out of his eyes as he continued to beg, pleading for her to stop.

'Stop it Jiyong. You have to help her!' his conscious screamed loud and clear, cutting through his mind, that was currently not thinking straight. Jiyong inhaled a large breathe, wiped his eyes before the tears could fall and quickly pulled out his phone with a determined face. He quickly dialled 1339, his fingers not stumbling over the numbers, but striking at the keypad with strong determination.

"Hello?! Please, there's a 8 year old girl having some sort of seizure, her face is all swollen and red. I don't know what's wrong with her! Please come quickly!" Jiyong spoke quickly, then followed up with his address. When he was assured an ambulance was on his way he hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"Just hold on Ssantoki hmm? Everything will be okay..." he cooed reassuringly, as he her hair away from her face, trying to act strong for her, when deep within he was struggling. He was only 9 for gods sake, this wasn't something a 9 year old would expect to happen. His mind kept repeating the same questions, 'Is she okay?' 'Am I too late?' 'Did I do everything I could have?' 'Have I done everything correctly?'

Soon enough, as promised the sound of ambulance sirens could be heard, his eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, ran to the door and flung it open. He quickly gestured to the paramedics where Dara was. Fear filled him when he saw the worried faces on the paramedics. 'Oh no, am I too late?' he thought, on the verge of a mental breakdown. He watched as they carried her body onto a stretcher and carried her out.

He ran after them and stood by the van as they loaded her in. One of the paramedics turned to him with a warm smile, "You can come with us if you wa--" He didn't have to be asked twice. Before the paramedic could finish Jiyong jumped in and sat down, his eyes glued to Dara's face, hoping that she'd be okay.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the hospital. The whole journey Jiyong watched silently in his seat as the paramedics attached weird things to her body, placing an oxygen mask on her face.

As soon as the doors of the ambulance opened, Dara was immediately transferred to a hospital bed and was rushed to be treated, her case being a state of emergency. Jiyong tried to keep up with the people wheeling her to god knows where, his short legs running as fast as they could to try and stay beside her. He saw her hands and on a whim slipped his hand into her smaller ones. They felt cold. "It's going to be okay Dara, hmm? You'll get out of here soon, and then we'll have Ramyeon yeah?" Jiyong whispered as he tried to reassure Dara, when in reality he knew he was just trying to comfort himself.

"Hey, she's going to be okay, alright?" the paramedic who had asked him if he wanted to come had followed him, seeing how panicked the young boy was he tried to reassure him. He grabbed onto Jiyong's shoulder to stop him from entering the operating theater Jiyong's hand slipped out of Dara's cold ones, his hands now felt empty. Colder than they were when he was holding her small, cold, seemingly lifeless hands. Jiyong's eyes remained on the theater door, the paramedics hands still on his shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be okay. The doctors will cure her, don't worry. They're just going to clean out her stomach. She had an allergic reaction to some peanuts," he tried to explain and reassure at the same time. Jiyong stiffly nodded his head, vaguely understanding what the paramedic was saying, his eyes not moving away from the theater door. The paramedic sighed, and placed his other hand on Jiyong's shoulder guiding him to the seats directly outside the door, pushing him to sit down.

"Where are you parents? Guardians?" he asked gently, kneeling infront of Jiyong, they had to alert the parents of the patient as soon as possible, but Jiyong just continued to stare, his gaze piercing through the paramedic as if he wasn't there, his eyes fixated at the spot where Dara had disappeared through.

"Look son, there's not much you can do now, but I need you to help me contact the girls parents," the paramedic patiently asked again, only to receive no response again. The paramedic sighed, then thought of a different tactic.

"Hey, you want to help her right? If you could tell me where her parents or you guardians are you would be a big help," bingo, the paramedic thought as Jiyong finally blinked, only just registering the fact that the paramedic was speaking to him. He nodded and silently stood up, sliding his phone out from his pocket. The paramedic smiled reassuringly and guided Jiyong to an area where it was safe to call, Jiyong trailed behind, glancing back at the theater doors.

This time when Jiyong typed in his mothers number, his hands were uncontrollably shaky, completely different from the determined, confident jabs he had made when he had called the hospital. It took him several attempts before he typed in the right numbers.

*ring ring rin--*

"Yobeseyo? Jiyong-ah? Is everything okay?" Jae-hwa's soft melodic voice spoke through the phone. As soon as Jiyong heard his mother's soothing voice the barriers holding in his emotions broke free and tears began to fall from his eyes uncontrollably. The paramedic stood by the side awkwardly, then alarmed, unsure how to handle the situation.

"O-omma!" Jiyong wailed into the phone, letting the disturbed 9 year old out, the one that was dying to come out the moment he saw Dara on the floor, the 9 year old he had to lock inside whilst he tried his best to do everything that would help Dara.

"Jiyong-ah?! What's wrong?! Are you alright?! Jiyong?!" Jae-Hwa's voice became frantic as she shouted his name through the phone.

"O-omma, D-d-dara! Th-th-there's s-something, w-wro-- *hiccup* --ng with her," Jiyong tried to speak inbetween his tears, his breathe uneven.

"Okay, Jiyong, stay calm. Tell Omma where you are!" Jae-Hwa asked her son, her voice laced with concern, for her son and for Dara. She treated Dara like her own daughter. Although she had told her son to be calm, she couldn't help but begin to panic herself. She had been entrusted by her good friends to look after their daughter, and something had happened to their daughter when she was supposed to be under her care.

The paramedic noticed how Jiyong was unable to talk and slipped the phone out of his hand, "Yobeseyo? Is this the daughter of the patient?" he asked professionally.

"N-no, this is Kwon Jae-Hwa. I'm Jiyong's Omma, I was instructed to look after Dara, whilst her parents were away on a business trip," Jae-hwa answered as calmly as possible.

"Okay, please could you come to Seoul Hospital as soon as possible and contact the parents please," the paramedic replied. They exchanged a few more words before the paramedic hung up and slipped the phone back into Jiyong's pocket.

"C'mon, it's okay," he patted Jiyong on the back reassuringly, and then guided him back to the seats, with Jiyong's head hung low, crying, his cries now much calmer. He gently pushed Jiyong to sit and the boy immediately lifted his feet off of the floor and curled up in the foetal position on the uncomfortable hospital seats.

10 minutes had passed and the paramedic was still gently patting Jiyong on the back, speaking reassuring words to the boy. He knew he should be working but he also knew that if he had a young son who had just witnessed what he had witnessed, and was in a state like this young boy, he would have wanted someone to take care of him too. If he was going to be scolded, so be it, but he wasn't going to leave the poor boy alone. Jiyong had stopped crying now, his eyes puffy and red, and his face tear stained. He tried to sit up, hiccuping every now and again - the after affects of crying. As he sat up a cup of water was offered to him by the paramedic. Jiyong took the water mechanically and drank from it like he hadn't drank in years. He placed the cup down beside him then his eys flickered back to the theater door.

He closed his eyes and prayed. Jiyong didn't believe in God, but he had to do everything in his power to help Dara, and if that meant praying to a God, even if he didn't believe in one then so be it.

"Jiyong! Jiyong-ah!" Jae-Hwa rushed in shouting, with a frazzled looking Jin-Sang on her heels. Jae-Hwa grabbed Jiyong in a tight hug and immediately began whispering reassuring words. Tears formed in Jiyong's eyes again as he hugged his mother just as tight, allowing himself to be the 9 year old boy he was yet again, safe in the knowledge that there were adults that could handle everything else.

The paramedic took Jin-Sang to the side to tell him the full details, and was informed by Jin-Sang that Dara's parents were already on a flight back.

As Jiyong clutched his mother tightly he opened his eyes in time to see the red light above the theater door turn off. He'd watched enough movies to know that the operation had finished. He let go off his mother and rushed forward to meet the doctor that emerged from the operating theater.

"Is she okay Doctor!?" Jiyong asked hurriedly, his mind hoping that it was good news, but a part of his brain couldn't help but think what would happen if it was bad news.

The doctor smiled, ansd relief washed through Jiyong, "She's absolutely fine, any later and it could have been life threatening, but she was brought in just in time," with that the Doctor walked back into the theater to clean up.

Everybody sighed with relief, Jiyong walked back to the chairs and slumped on them, mentally exhausted from all the different emotions, the overriding emotions were worry and fear but there was another underlying emotion Jiyong couldn't quite comprehend. All he knew was that he was extremely worried for Dara because he cared about her like a friend. Now though, he could be rest assured that Dara was safe and sound. Physically tired from all the crying, he closed his eyes, sighing in relief, an image of a healthy Dara flashed in his mind, and he cracked a small smile, before he fell into a deep slumber.

~ End of Flashback ~

Author's Note:

Annyeong Yeoruben! First update of the day! A long one too! *cheers* A Daragon filled chapter, but not the fluffy one you may have wanted, mianhe! I really enjoy writing these flashbacks, and I hope you enjoy reading them!! ^^
~Water Phoenix