12:03 PM

People said nothing good happened when it's past midnight.

But Jiyong liked midnights. He liked because it's dark, quite, and it made him calm. He worked best at this time of the day. His mind worked much better, much effective and much sober.

Maybe, because he’s such a nighter, he seemed to be lack of energy and not really enthusiastic about anything in daylight. He tried to change that though. That could be counted as an effort, right?

Could he also used that as an excuse for his cranky mood today?

No.

Jiyong knew it better than anyone else, the actual reason for his not-so-good mood today. He hated making people tiptoe around him. Trust him, he did. But he also could not stand it, when his nerves were testing like this.

“Don’t come to find me until you know what to do.”

Now come to think of it, saying that to maknae was a bit harsh, Jiyong realized. But, maknae had been quite unfocused these days. They’d been spending 5 days recording his part for their upcoming album, yet Jiyong couldn’t satisfy with any try. After numerous times of saying “Again” for the past 5 days, Jiyong had enough. It’s either maknae totally focused on their work or they wouldn’t be able to have any new song.

A new message was coming, Jiyong glanced at his phone..

Jiyong-ah, cut him some slack, and some for yourself too. He’s trying. - Youngbae

It’s true when their fans said that he was like BIGBANG’s father and Youngbae was the mother. Everytime he scolded the members or being stressed over works, Youngbae would always be there to console others, trying to make them feel less hurt and understand for each other more. It’s like Jiyong burned a flame, and Youngbae gave the ice to tone down that flame.

Jiyong ignored that message, his eyes focused back onto the road he was driving. Where he was heading, Jiyong wasn’t sure. He just...drove, to somewhere. After nearly shouting at maknae, he stormed out of the room, got in his car and drove aimlessly for nearly 2 hours now. He just kept driving, going further from Seoul, lonely on the empty dark high road near the rural area.

Did you just ditch our dinner? - Youngbae

S h i t! Jiyong mentally slapped himself. Right, they intended to go to Se7en’s restaurant after finishing recording today. But, they hadn’t finished anyway.

Pressing the calling button, Jiyong the speaker mode. “Sorry, I forgot.” He said as soon as Youngbae picked up the call. “Tomorrow?”

“Where are you?” Youngbae asked him right away. He didn’t really care about that dinner anyway. He was just trying to get a response from Jiyong.

“Somewhere.” Jiyong murmured. “I’ll meet you tomorrow then. I’m hanging up.” And before Youngbae could utter a single word, Jiyong already disconnected the call.

Sighing, Jiyong went back to the dark high road in front of his eyes. But his phone rang again, bringing Jiyong once again to look at the screen. Narrowing his eyes, he hesitantly but picked up anyway.“Hello?”

“How are you?” The other line asked quietly.

“Fine.” He snapped in English.

“Don’t snap at me.” She retorted back in English too. “Don’t act like you’re having a PMS.”

“What do you want Kiko?” He asked annoyingly. He was not in the mood for talking, or worse, fighting now.

“Am I calling at the wrong time? Why you are so rude to me?” Kiko asked in an equally annoying voice.

Jiyong murmured. “Just say what you want to say quickly, I’m driving.”

“Are you being mad because I rejected you?” Kiko sighed. “Don’t drag our friendship down because of this.”

“You know better than anyone else it’s not what makes me angry at you.” He snarled. “Listen. I don’t wanna talk right now. I’m hanging up.”

Jiyong was ready to end their conversation, but not before Kiko quickly said. “I’m getting married next month.”

He kept silent for so long that Kiko thought he might end the call already. “Jiyong, are you still there?” She asked nervously. “Hey...”

“What did you just say?” He growled suddenly, startled Kiko on the other line.

“I said I’m gonna get married next month.”

“To whom?”

“My boyfriend, of course, who else?”

“Since when you have a boyfriend?”

“We’ve been dating for 7 years, Jiyong.”

And Jiyong ended the call without saying any more word. “Damn it!” He cursed loudly and sped up, trying to calm himself. He was furious, angry and hurt at the same time.

That girl had given him hope for 5 years for heaven’s sake.

Even though they denied their dating rumor from time to time, saying they just saw each other as friends, Jiyong always found himself being fascinated by Kiko Mizuhara. She’s just the type of girls he liked. Everything about her was his personal likings. He found comfort in talking to her, funny when chatting with her, relax when having meals with her, comfortable to tell her about his problems. She’s a very good friend, and the fact that she possesed a very mysterious beauty just gave her a bonus, which made Jiyong fell for her. He was trying to be sure with himself, didn’t want to ruin their relationship, but after 5 years, he knew that what he had for her wasn’t just friendship or admiration.

He confessed to her, hoping everything would be fine. But the girl rejected him right away, at the spot, saying he’s not her type, just someone she found good to be friends with.

But that wasn’t what made Jiyong furious at her. In 5 years, when he was trying to figure things out between them, many times he thought that, she was giving a cue, a signal, an encouragement for all the things he did to her. In sum, she gave him hope.

And now she threw it to his face, saying that she’s gonna get married with a long time boyfriend whom Jiyong didn’t even know, just one week after his confession to her.

Too much for a long Monday.

Without realizing, Jiyong sped up. He was not calm, he was not okay. He wanna punch someone.

A dog appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road. Jiyong widened his eyes, hastily pressed the brake and trying to make a turn, ended up sliding toward the opposite lane, crashed his car to something which was being driven up at a much equal speed.