CHAPTER 13: DON'T STOP THE MUSIC by 2NE1

Dara became flustered upon reading the name that was attached to the message for the second time. She hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and finally caving in and opened the message.

From: Jiyong

Darong, did you make it back up to Se7en hyung’s apartment ok?

Keep an eye on Seungri for me, will you?

That rat is always getting into trouble if I’m not there keeping him in check.

After seeing the message, Dara let out a sigh of relief. She was surprised by the hug at first, but didn’t think it was anything she needed to be too worried about. It's not like there is anything going on between the two of them. Luckily for her, it didn’t seem like a big deal to Jiyong either. With the weight lifted off her shoulders, Dara happily typed in a response before hitting the send button.

From: Dara

Yes, Bommie came down looking for me after you left. We just reached Se7en oppa’s door.

Did you get to the studio safely?

And don’t worry~ I’ll keep tabs on that maknae of yours, and make sure he gets back to you in one piece ke ke ke ^_^

With a smile, Dara returned the phone to her pocket and pulled the door open to Se7en’s apartment, ready for the rest of the night that was ahead of her. Being that it was going to be their last time seeing Hanbyul for a while before she went overseas for her promotions, she was wanted to make the most of tonight with the rest of YG family.

Some time later, back at YG’s studios…

After several hours of non-stop work, Jiyong stretched out his arms and reclined back in his chair. A content look was on his face. He had just finished making a number of changes to a couple of his songs, all thanks to his newfound source of inspiration. Just the thought of Dara’s smiling face was enough to fill him with a sense of drive to do well.

Jiyong closed his eyes as he listened to the newly revised versions of his songs. He spent several hours rewriting his rap lyrics, until he was fully satisfied with the outcome. There was an added sense of sincerity and genuineness in his words that had been missing from before. Writing lyrics were never a problem for Jiyong, since he had grown accustomed to doing so from his training over the years. It was always the content of those lyrics, however, that he had trouble with. His lyrics were based on what he thought people wanted to hear and didn’t always fully reflect the things that he was feeling at the time. But things were different now. His realized that music should be about real things that he’s experienced. Lyrics should tell a story and convey real emotions.

A satisfied smile spread across his face as he bobbed along to the music. The heavy burden he was feeling earlier was long gone by now. Dara was right; he should take life for what it’s worth and enjoy it. Things are bound to fall into place if he just puts his all into whatever he is doing. Who knew that the simple advice to “be in the moment” would make such a huge difference? Sure, plenty of others have told him to not stress so much when it came to work, but he just needed to hear it coming from the right person to finally get the message. Jiyong’s mind wandered to an image of Dara’s smiling face and his smile instantly grew wider.

All that was left was to go over the songs with Teddy the next day and get the final sign off from YG and they would go from there. They might not be title track level, but those songs were more than album-worthy. He was glad to know that all his hard work was paying off and he a step closer to achieving Big Bang’s dream.

Jiyong looked at the clock hanging on the wall, surprised by how late it had already gotten. Despite it being 3 in the morning and having spent the past several hours working non-stop, Jiyong was still floating on cloud nine from his encounter with Dara. The thought of her reminded him of the message he had sent a few hours ago when he first got to the studio. He reached out for his phone on the table to see if there were any new messages or missed calls.

There were a couple of missed calls from Seungri from earlier in the night as well as a text message from Yongbae. Jiyong continued scrolling down through his messages and stopped at the name that had been running through his mind the whole night. There were two unread messages from Dara. He excitedly read the first and quickly went on to the last message from her.

From: Dara

Jingyo~

Did you get my first message? Are you still at the studio?

I know work is important, but try and get some rest if you can ^_^

Who knows, maybe some inspiration will come to you while you’re dreaming...

Good night~ ~

After reading through the messages from her, Jiyong ultimately decided against replying. It was late and h