“Hello?” CL answered the phone. We’re currently going home now. I’m still thinking about what Auntie Mi said. I can’t get over it eventhough I don’t usually believe in those things. I tried thinking of how it is related to me. I know the fly could represent me since I’m the one who always tries to escape. But what could the web and the spider represent? What am I trying to escape from anyways? Well, only one thing comes to mind, and that is Ji’s death. I don’t know but it’s just too hard to accept it, like my heart is rejecting it. I’ve been trying to run away from his death. But he couldn’t be the spider, can he? I mean, he’s dead. Does this mean that it could represent Tabi?

 

“Ya!” someone shouted. I jumped in my seat. I looked up and saw Mr. Kwon turned towards me.

 

“What?” I blankly asked.

 

“I’ve been telling you for three times already to move here in the passenger seat.”

 

“Oh,” I frowned. “Where’s CL?”

 

“A friend of hers called her and asked to meet up. Didn’t you hear her say goodbye to you?”

 

“Oh, sorry. My mind must have drifted,” I said.

 

“Obviously,” he snorted. “So, what? Are you going to move on your own or do I have to carry you?”

 

“I’m fine here. It’s comfortable. And bes-“ I stopped as he stepped out of the car and opened the door on my side. He scooped me up without any word.

 

“Ya! Ya! What are you doing?!” I blurted out. I saw him opened thedoor of the passenger seat and put me down gently. He reached out across me to secure my seatbelt. Then, his face stopped inches from mine. A boyish smile curved his lips, making my heart skipped a beat.

 

Aigoo! He’s so cute! I stared at him, dazed, as he walked to the driver’s seat. He was still wearing that smile when he drove off. I shook my head. Aish! SINCE WHEN DID I LEARN HOW TO USE THE WORD ‘AIGOO’?

 

 

A while later. . .

 

“Ya! Where are you taking me? This isn't the way towards my apartment!”

 

“I was supposed to ask Chaerin to watch a movie tonight. I already got tickets but since she can't come. . .” his voice trailed.

 

“So?”

 

“Well, I thought maybe you can come with me.”

 

“Pfft. I'm not really a moviegoer.”

 

“You don't wanna come?” he asked.

 

“Nope.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Absolutely,” I answered.

 

“Oh well, I guess I'll just find someone who wants to come with me. Do you think Dae likes action movies?”

 

“Well, you should find someone else beca-” I stopped. “What did you say?”

 

“I asked if Daesung likes action movies.”

 

Did he say ACTION MOVIE? My eyes went wide.

 

And did I just say NO? My eyes even went wider.

 

Hell! How the hell am I going to take my words back now? I must say something; he's changing the direction of his car already! We're heading back to my apartment! No! I could just ask him but my pride is getting in the way. Ugh! Stupid pride!

 

“Uh, Dae's pretty tired. I'm sure he won't have enough strength to come with you,” I said.

 

“Oh,” he mumbled. I held my breath, hoping that he'll ask me again. “I guess I'll just watch the movie alone and throw the other ticket away since I-”

 

“WHAT?!?” I burst out a loudly. “You're just going to throw the ticket away? Do you know how much that cost? And do you know the value of one cent today? You can already help someone in need!” I ranted. “Fine, fine! I'll go with you even if I don't want to. I don't want one cent to be wasted,” I angrily said, trying my very best to hide my grin.

 

“Whoa! I didn't know you're humanitarian,” he chuckled.

 

 

Later. . .

 

“Oh, hell yeah! Give him a right hook! That's right, that's right!” I gleefully said as I was doing some reenactments again. Before, I used to do reenactments with anyone sitting beside me, particularly Ji. But right now, I'm just punching the air. Ha! I guess I did change somehow.

 

“Jump! Jump! Aigoo!” I heard Mr. Kwon said beside me. I looked at him. He was engrossed with the movie. My head bobbed a little to the side, a small smile curving my lips. “DODGE!” he shouted.

 

“Yeah, dodge,” I quietly said as I continued staring at him. I sipped my drink then turned my eyes back to the screen. But I would glance at him once in a while, watching his reactions. His reactions to the movie amuse me. I didn't think he was capable of having fun like this.

 

We started heading towards my apartment as soon as the movie was over.

 

“You're staring,” he said without looking at me, eyes fixed on the road.

 

“It's just that you're very confusing and hard to figure out,” I answered.

 

“Really? How come?” he asked.

 

“It's like you have multiple personality disorder. And out of all the personalities you've shown me, I think I like this side of yours tonight.”

 

“Multiple personality disorder?” he laughed. “If I have personality disorder, what do you have, then?”

 

I pouted. “Alright, I take what I said back. I don't like any side of you.”

 

 

AUTHOR's POV

 

They arrived at her apartment but she seemed to not notice so he just shrugged it off. The both of them were laughing as they were exchanging funny remarks with each other.

 

“Okay, this is final. I REALLY don't like you tonight,” she said, chuckling.

 

“Well, I don't like you either,” he joked back.

 

“Yeah, right. Like I care what-oh. We're already here. I didn't notice,” she said, sounding amused. “I better get going.”

 

Dara stepped out of the car. “Hey, Mr. Kwon, thanks!” she said, then went running to her apartment.

 

“Ya! Don't dream about me tonight!” he shouted. The girl turned around and stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed. The moment the girl was already inside, the laughter died from his lips as it was replaced by sadness.

 

~o~

 

Dara can't fully understand how it all happened. But the fights between her and Jiyong changed. They don't snap at each other anymore but more of. . . teasing. It was weird how one movie can change something that seemed so impossible to change before.

 

 

WEEKEND. . .

 

TOP was hanging out in the cafe, waiting for Dara's shift. He was busy texting her that he didn't notice someone entered the cafe and immediately proceeded to the manager's office. A while later, TOP saw a girl arrived. He smiled and waved at her. Upon seeing him, Dara brightened up and immediately went to greet him.

 

“Tabi!”

 

“Hey,” TOP smiled.

 

“So, how long will you stay for tonight?” she asked.

 

“Your whole shift,” the boy answered.

 

The girl turned serious. Then, she squinted her eyes. “Ya! That'll be tomorrow in the morning! You shouldn't be staying up that long! Aish! You shouldn't-”

 

“Hey, lower your voice down. The other customers are staring at us already.”

 

Dara looked around and she blushed as she found out that he was telling the truth. She turned to TOP, voice turning into a whisper. “Like I said-”

 

“You can't make me go. Not tonight,” TOP smirked.

 

“Aish. You are so stubborn!”

 

“And you're not?” he raised his brows. The girl rolled her eyes.

 

“Fine!” she said and walked away to change into her uniform. After changing into her uniform, she saw Jang Eun and Eun Mi whispering to each other. “Ya! What are you two whispering about?”

 

The two looked at each other meaningfully. “We saw a pretty girl entered Mr. Kwon's office a while ago.”

 

Dara frowned. Who could that be? Well, only one way to find out, neh? She's just curious.

 

“Noona, you have to go now,” she heard a voice inside. She was currently at his door, eavesdropping.

 

“Why do you sound so displeased? Aren't you happy to see me?”

 

“I'm not really in a good mood to entertain visitors right now.”

 

“Ah, Jiyong-ah, is this the way you treat your sister? We haven't seen each other for almost a year because I'm filling up Mom's role for the business. If Chaerin haven't called me, I wouldn't have known that you temporarily left school and take over this place.”

 

Dara's hand was frozen on the doorknob. That voice is so familiar, she thought. She frowned, trying hard to remember where she heard it. Oh, well, she could just knock and see for herself, right? She got a pretty good excuse on hand just in case the manager questions her presence. So, she knocked twice then pushed the door open, a bright smile on her face.

 

“Mr. Kwo-” she stopped as she saw the other occupant in the office. Her eyes went wide as she felt her blood dropped to the floor. She felt dizzy.

 

“Dara!”

 

“Dami unnie!”

 

Dami turned to Jiyong, looking shocked and confused at the same time. “Jiyong, what's the. . . .?”

 

“You called him Jiyong!” Dara gasped, her head turned sharply to the boy. Jiyong's head was bowed down, but Dara can see that he was pale. Dara started to pale as well as she felt her whole body trembling. Then, everything finally dawned on her but she can't seem to accept it. “No,” she breathes, shaking her head. “You did not. . .”

 

She looked at Dami then back at Jiyong. No words were needed to let her understand what this means. It was so simple. “I can't believe this!” she muttered, sounding broken. That's when Jiyong looked at her. What she saw in his eyes made her advance on him. She grabbed the chair in front of his desk and threw it at him. Then, she ran away from him, from Dami, from the office.

 

“Dara, where are you-?” she heard someone asked as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't sure who it was but she didn't care and punched the person straight in the face. She continued running and running and running. Her mind was too clouded. She felt like it would explode anytime.

 

 

CAFE. . .

 

TOP massaged his jaw as he was momentarily dizzy at the impact Dara made. He pushed himself up from the floor. He was about to follow Dara when he saw Jiyong with Dami going out of the office. The three of them looked at each other.

 

“Oh my, God!” TOP gasped. Then, he immediately ran outside and looked for Dara but she was nowhere in sight already. He went to his bike. He put his helmet on, kicked the bike alive and went speeding up, looking for Dara.

 

Then, it started raining.

 

Meanwhile, as soon as TOP went out of the cafe, Jiyong immediately walked to his car and drove himself to Dara's apartment. The lights were closed but still he pressed the buzzer. He didn't stop until an old lady, probably Dara's neighbor told him no one's around. He thanked and bowed to the old lady before going back to his car. The rain grew stronger. Worry kicked his chest painfully. He started the engine and drove off hurriedly.

 

TOP on the other hand, was almost to his speed limit. His jaw was clenched as he looked around for any signs of Dara, not minding how the rain was soaking him. He didn't care how the heavy raindrops bite into his skin. He didn't mind how it felt so cold and he definitely didn't care that he was trembling.

 

 

JIYONG's POV

 

I was starting to get frantic. I'm literally panicking. I can't think straight anymore. I looked everywhere: the sidewalks, stalls, bus stops, showing them a sketch of Dara that I always bring with me. I pulled my hair out of frustration as I looked around but seeing no sign of her. I went back to my car, my clothes dripping wet. But what the hell! I need to find her. A million frightening thoughts came into my head. I know she's a trouble to herself and it's scaring me. What if she jumped off somewhere? What if she involved herself in a fight? What if some bad guys might take interest on her? What if she-? My thoughts suddenly stopped as I realized something. Dara usually likes quiet places when she wants to think. I started driving off the city.

 

I don't know where I was heading or how long I was driving. All I know is that I'm currently driving on a long, empty road with only trees on both sides. There were no signs of houses or buildings nearby. The lights coming off from the lampposts brought a little relief to me. Then, I saw a figure standing in the middle of the road, head turned towards sky. I knew it was Dara even if her back was facing me. I immediately stopped my car and stepped out of it, not minding how the rain and air whipped at my body. As much as I wanted to go to her and secure her in my arms and car, I found my feet moving in a slow motion towards her. And before I even reached her, I heard her sighed.

 

“I thought the rain could wash all the pain away. But I was wrong,” she said. I stopped just a few inches away from her.

 

“Dara, get in the car. You'll get sick,” I said. She suddenly laughed. Then, she turned to face me.

 

“Why do you sound so concerned, Mr. Kwon? Or should I say, Ji? You didn't seem to care how I felt when you showed up and introduced yourself as a different person!”

 

“Dara, please get in the car. Let's talk there.”

 

“NO! I want to talk here! Do you even know how grateful I am that it's raining now?! At least I know I'm not the only one crying tonight!”

 

“Dara, stop this. Don't be stubborn,” I said as I closed the distance and cradled her in my arms. She struggled, pushed me away and slapped me in the face.

 

“Stay away! Don't go near me!”

 

“Dara, listen-”

 

She shook her head. “Did you know what I felt when Umma said you were dead? I didn't believe her but when you never showed up again, that's when I started thinking that you really died. I felt worse than what I felt when Appa died! It was a thousand times painful. I nearly died, no, I DIED TOO! Did you even care?! No! All this time, you knew but you didn't even have the decency to show yourself up to me! You lied to me! YOU LIED TO ME!”

 

“I have to!” I burst out. “You don't know how hard it was for me! I tried hating you! I tried blaming you for everything! I tried hurting you but it only whipped back to me! Everytime I see you getting insulted, I felt your pain thrice! The more I tried to hurt you, the more I get hurt!”

 

“Huh! So what are you trying to say? That you're just getting back at me because I was the reason behind the accident?”

 

“No, you misunderstood me, Sandara-”

 

“Don't call me that! You lied to me, Ji! And you're supposed to be my bestfriend!” her voice broke down. “You're supposed to be my bestfriend!”

 

I felt my tears went its way down. Right now, I'm starting to be grateful that it's raining, too. At least she won't see my tears.

 

“You're supposed to be my bestfriend, Ji! Bestfriends don't lie to each other! They're supposed to trust and love each-”

 

“EXACTLY!” I shouted. “I'm your bestfriend! I'm JUST your bestfriend!”

 

“Well, not anymore,” she said. “And I thought I was the worst bestfriend. But you, you don't even deserve to be called a bestfriend, not even a friend. And you know what? I hope you just died in that accident! I wish I never met you! I wish you weren't my bestfriend!”

 

“Dara, don't say that,” I begged and went to hug her again. Like a while ago, she struggled but I held on tighter to her.

 

“Let go!” she gritted. “Let me go!”

 

“No,” I said, tightening my hug.

 

“I said let me go!” she shrieked.

 

“Let her go,” a voice entered my ears. Caught off guard, I let Dara go and looked behind me. I saw TOP hyung soaking wet just like me and Dara. I didn't hear the bike, maybe because of the heavy rain.

 

“Tabi!” Dara exclaimed as she started going to TOP hyung. But I grabbed her wrist, stopping her and not letting her go on any further.