Do you know the feeling of wanting to stand up and fight but you can't because the one you're fighting for gave up on you? Like all hope was drained and you were better dead? That's exactly how Jiyong feels right now. His vision was blurry with tears as he was driving on the highway. Funny how his tears kept on flowing. He though that by this time, he would run dry out of tears already. It actually surprised him that he had still the strength to drive when he felt dead already.

 

Don't fight for me, Ji.

 

Don't fight for me, Ji.

 

No matter how hard he tries to forget those words, he can't. The words just kept on echoing in his head

 

Don't fight for me, Ji.

 

The car stopped.

 

Don't fight for me, Ji.

 

A high-pitched sound was heard followed by another and another. The lights flicked open followed by a creaking sound.

 

“Omo, Jiyong-ah! What are you doing here! Oh dear, what happened?”

 

The boy fell to his knees. “I'm sorry, Umma. Mianhe,” he cried. “Mianhe.”

 

“Come here, child,” the woman lowered herself. The boy hugged her and cried. He hugged the woman tighter, searching for the comfort and security from a mother's love that he never felt from his own mother. He cried and cried until finally, his tears run dry; until his voice became hoarse beyond recognition.

 

“It's all my fault. She's gone. . .”

 

~o~

 

One by one, they arrived. Dami looked around. Taeyang, Hyun Seung, Seungri, CL, Minzy and Daesung were all anxiously looking at each other.

 

“I'm glad that everyone made it,” Dami said. “I won't go into details since I'm not really good at explaining things. I know all of you are wondering as to why I'm going to tell you this but I think you all deserve to know.”

 

A moment of silence.

 

“But I hope I won't be hearing any harsh judgments from you guys.”

 

The others looked at each other again then nodded.

 

“Good. I guess I have to start when my brother, Jiyong got into that accident. You see, he didn't die like some of you thought. I thought my mother let it appear that way as a way to escape, to leave because of an unfortunate event that involves my father and Dara's mother. To those of you who don’t know, Dara and Jiyong had been bestfriends since they were kids, even our parents. But, my mother found out that Dad was having an affair with Dara's mother. . .” Dami paused as she heard collective gasps from a few people in front of her. But then she continued. “But I was wrong. I found out that my mother devised a plan to avenge herself from Dara's mother and that's through Jiyong. My mother was sure that Auntie would be in pain if she sees Dara in pain, too, so Mom let it appear that my brother was already dead. I also thought Jiyong hated Dara for what happened but it turned out that he was trying to protect Dara from the truth by pretending. . .”

 

“I told you that Mr. Kwon and Jiyong hyung was the same. I knew it!” Seungri burst out but he was hushed by Hyun Seung.

 

A small smile curved Dami's lips. “I told all of you these because I need your help to-”

 

“I'm sorry but I'm not taking part in this,” CL said, standing up. “And besides, it's already too late. Dara unnie and TOP oppa are already engaged.”

 

“Engaged?” Dami exclaimed.

 

“Neh, they're getting married at the end of the month. And you should have been more sensitive for asking my help.”

 

“Chaerin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-”

 

“Auntie was right. All of you always think about Dara unnie's welfare. It's all about her. What about my feelings? What about TOP oppa's feelings? His parents' feelings? What about Auntie Hyunmi and my parents' feelings, too?”

 

CL exited while the others watched her in shocked silence, especially Dae and Minzy who never saw CL lose control like that before. Not long after that, Seungri stood up and followed the girl. “Ya, ugly girl!” he called. The girl didn't stop. Seungri walked faster and as he reached her, he grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. “What's with the drama?” he chuckled. “I mean, you're not really in a relationship with Jiyong hyung, right? And besides, those two go a long, long way-”

 

“I don't care. If you're asking me to let Oppa go, than you're just wasting your time!”

 

Seungri let her arm go, appalled. He stared at her with a disappointed look. Then, he snorted. “Yeah, you're right. I'm just wasting my time thinking that you're different from the rest of them. But you're not. You're exactly like all those rich people who only think of themselves. I should have known. You're as selfish as everyone else.”

 

Seungri turned around and went back to the room, leaving CL in her spot. Unknown to him, a tear fell from the girl's eye. “I'm sorry to disappoint you, Seungri-ah,” she whispered to no one.

 

Seungri entered the suite with defeated shoulders. The others were looking at him expectantly but he just shook his head.

 

“Unnie?” Minzy raised her hand. “Ahm, I'm sorry but I can't take part in this, too. I love both CL and Dara unnie, I don't want to take sides.”

 

“Me too,” Dae seconded.

 

“I guess that goes the same for us,” Hyun Seung said. “TOP hyung's our friend, too.”

 

“But-” Seungri protested.

 

“You can take part in this if you want to, but count as out,” Taeyang shrugged. “Sorry.”

 

Dami sighed. Just like how they arrived, they left one by one and apologized to her. Then, only Bom and Seungri were left.

 

“What are we going to do now?” Seungri asked helplessly.

 

“I'm afraid CL's right,” Dami answered.

 

“I need to talk to Ssantokki,” Bom sighed, standing up. “See you at the wedding,” she mumbled darkly then added more to herself, “she is so gonna pay for messing up with my head.”

 

~o~

 

Somewhere in a restaurant. . .

 

“How much can you give?” TOP asked.

 

“Everything, I think,” she answered.

 

“Even if the cost is Dara's friendship?”

 

CL fell silent for a while. She took a deep breath before answering. “Neh.”

 

TOP smiled upon hearing that. “Good, then. Glad to hear we're on the same track.”

 

~o~

 

Dara can't get over CL's enthusiasm for the wedding. The younger girl was touchier to details than her. CL even offered their family's hotel for the reception. “Dara unnie!” CL called. “Look! The invitations are already made. Aish! You just don't know how shock I was when I found out you don't have any invitations made yet. I know I didn't ask your permission and opinion for the invitations but since I know we almost had the same taste, I volunteered to decide on which design. Oh, by the way, the dress rehearsal will be two days from now. Aigoo! I'm so excited. Anyways, I'll be sending out the invitations already, so, I'll get going.”

 

Dara sighed as she watched CL go. She looked around at the cafe. It was weird now that she's not an employee here anymore. She resigned a few days ago, making the wedding preparations as an excuse.

 

“I want to strangle you, do you know that?” Bom said, suddenly appearing in front of her.

 

“What for?” she asked.

 

Bom sighed then shook her head. “Never mind.”

 

“Funny how CL-roo's so hyped up for the wedding, don't you think?” Dara chuckled. Bom gave her a long look then sighed heavily.

 

“I think it's funnier how history kept on repeating itself because of stupidity. Mistakes after mistakes,” Bom said.

 

“What does that mean?” Dara frowned.

 

“It's like what your mother did, isn't it? Marry someone for the sake of others. Are you quite sure you're not making the same mistake your mother did?”

 

Dara opened then closed it again. “Of course not. Tabi's not just someone,” she mumbled.

 

“If you say so,” Bom snapped, walking away.

 

Meanwhile, CL jogged through the stairs. Upon reaching a door, she knocked. She knocked several times but no one answered so she tried the doorknob. Luckily, it wasn't locked. She pasted a bright smile on her face as she entered the room.

 

“Jingyo oppa!” she greeted enthusiastically. She saw Jiyong sitting in a couch, a remote on hand and a bottle of alcohol on the other. The television was on but he was obviously not paying attention to it. He didn't even look up to greet her back. Despite of that, CL still smiled, ignoring the dark circles under his eyes; ignoring the blank look in his once-lively eyes; ignoring how he seemed pale; ignoring how he seemed to lose weight; ignoring how his hair had grown carelessly; ignoring how the hairs started appearing on his jaw and totally ignoring how he looked like someone who's been living in hell for the past few days.

 

“Oppa, I brought you your suit. They told me you didn't pick it up, so I just brought it. You should try this at once because I don't know if I gave them your right measurements. Oh, by the way, the invitations been made. Here’s yours,” she said as she reached the invitation to him. But he didn't take it, instead he jut looked at it.

 

“Oh, I'll just put it here in your bed then,” CL amended then went to his bed. Her smile wavered a little as she saw Dara's sketches scattered all over the bed. She took a deep breath and ignored them. She then placed the suit and invitation on his bed. She went back to Jiyong and leaned down to kiss him in the cheek. But he avoided the kiss. CL straightened up and pretended nothing happened. “Oh well, got to go, still got lot of things to do for the wedding. See you on the dress rehearsals two days from now,” she waved enthusiastically and headed towards the door.

 

Not long after CL was gone, Jiyong glanced at his bed and saw the white suit and envelope neatly placed on top of it. He stood up and went to his bed. He pulled the envelope with trembling hands. He opened it and took the invitation out. Seeing Dara's name beside TOP did it for him. He crumpled the paper. Then, he started shouting and screaming all the pain out. As if the screaming wasn't enough, he started trashing his room wildly, breaking all the things that can be broken, ripping all the things that can be ripped. His hands landed on the framed sketch of Dara. He was about to throw it across the room when his arms stopped midway. He fell to the floor, kneeling. He hugged the frame tightly to his chest.

 

Meanwhile, a girl covered as tears started falling uncontrollably. She tried to hush her sobs as she listened to the guy's tormented and tortured cries. She leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. When she started hearing faint footsteps getting nearer, she quickly stood up and ran away.

 

“Chaerin, what-?”

 

But the girl was already gone. The woman went to her son's room. She was alarmed when she started hearing him shouting and screaming. Upon reaching her son's room, her eyes went wide and her hand flew to in shock. The room looked like a storm went through it! And Jiyong. She never saw her son looking weak and broken like this, crying like a defeated soldier on the floor. Then, another footstep was heard, more frantically moving.

 

“Omo, Jiyong!” Dami exclaimed and went to her brother. Then, she looked at her mother accusingly. “Look at what you've done! For once, Mom, stop thinking about yourself. Think about Jiyong!”

 

~o~

 

It took ALL of her courage and pride to do this. It took EVERYTHING for her to decide to do this. Dami was right. She needed to put a stop into Jiyong's sufferings. She just hoped she's not yet late. She gathered up all her senses and went towards the door. She pressed the buzzer. A while later, the door opened.

 

“H-hyunmi!”

 

“Hello, Yuri.”

 

Yuri opened the door wider and invited the other in. When both were inside, the former grew anxious. “W-what are you doing here?”

 

Hyunmi sighed. “I made a mistake. And so did you. But I think, I made too many compared to you. But I think we should settle this for the sake of the children.”

 

Yuri smiled a little. “Jiyong already did that for you. He's been here. But like what I said to him, I think Dara deserve your apology more than I do. And I hope if you're going to forgive me, it's because you find it in your heart to do so and not because you have to.”