chapter one; 

                 the roommate

» Dara "Ji, I'm home!" I screamed at the top of my lungs the second I opened the front door to my second-floor apartment, with two armful of heavy grocery bags. It was a miracle that I did not faint from exhaustion or the weight of that watermelon I could not resist buying. But it was the summer and, hello, who can resist watermelons?! Oh yeah, it was a bit dumb of me to have gone out grocery shopping without telling Jiyong, because he would've offered to help or at least taken me there by his motorbike. That was the thing; I wanted to prove that I was independent and able to do things by myself without depending on anyone or making myself look like an idiot.

Which, of course, fails every time. Sighhh.

Everyone around me acts as if I'm a kid, even though I'm already sixteen years old and going into my junior year at Strong Heart Academy. Especially my papa, Teddy, who had remarried after mama's death and gone to live in Scotland with my new step-mom Chaerin a few years ago. He’s anxious to death that I would walk myself straight into some accident. Because I refused to live with them or leave Korea, he had no choice but to let me live on my own since middle school. I love my papa with all my heart; he’s the best man in the world, and spoils me shamelessly. My new step-mom though is another story. I loathe her, and I can’t live with her!!! At the same time, I don’t want Teddy to feel like he have to choose between the both of us, so in the end, I insist on staying in Korea. But Teddy worries for my safety, so he insisted on me to find a roommate who can take care of me. Even though I knew he dislikes Jiyong, I told Jiyong to move in with me anyways. No one can take care of me like Jiyong does, and I know I’m safe with him. To this day, Teddy is still under the illusion that I’m living with a goody-goody girl, and does not know that my roommate is Jiyong. Kekeke. I'm not quite sure why Teddy would hate Jiyong, but I'm guessing it may have to do with the fact that he's a boy, and Teddy goes berserk to any guy who gets too close to me. Talk about being a protective dad. I thought that, after all these years, he would have accepted the fact that there’s no way I’d be without Jiyong. It was like a package deal, buy one get the other free! Kekeke!

"Where did you go, Dar? I thought I told you to tell me before you go out-" That drawl could only belong to one person. Jiyong came out of his room with only a white towel wrapped around his waist, shirtless and revealing his chiseled abs. His usually spiked blond hair was damp, water dripping on the carpet, and his green eyes were staring at me unblinkingly. Aw, was he worried about me going out alone? Such a cutie. I grinned widely, and jumped on him, despite the fact that he’s barely wearing anything.

“Hi Ji! Did you have a good shower?” In our current positions, my legs were wrapped around his bare torso, and I could feel his wet and warm skin against mine. I looked down expectantly at his face. Jiyong would count as handsome. I once told him that with his pale complexion, lean figure, and spiky blond hair, he resembled that hot vampire Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and his response was throwing a pillow straight at my face. Who cares, I think he looks like Spike no matter how many times we fought about it. He should take it as a compliment! That Spike guy is sure hot and has the hottest English accent! I begged Jiyong to fake that accent, and he replied that he had far more important things to do than to satisfy my ual desires. WHATTT!? Let me tell you, it’s not what I mean!!! Really!!! “It’s so hot outside that I was sweating just standing there and doing nothing! That’s why I think that air-conditioning is the best invention ever! I mean, you can always wear more clothes if it’s too cold, but there’s only so much clothes you can take off when it’s too hot-”

“Where did you go, Dar?” He persisted, giving me one of his infamous serious don’t-you-dare-lie-to-me look. Whoaaa, I’m sure scared. Actually, I should be, because despite the fact that Jiyong is lean (more on the skinny side, but he refuse to admit it), he has been in a gang before, and I don’t doubt it when he admitted that he has used guns, beat up people, and did more unspeakable things. But these things don’t matter to me, since I know he will never ever hurt me. Well, except for when I get him really angry and we would chase each other around the house, usually resulting in me bumping into furniture. But even then, he made sure that he was just playing, and is the first to make sure I’m okay. “Baby.”

“I just went to get groceries.” Batting my eyelashes innocently, I hope that he would let it go and go back in his room to get some clothes on, but as expected, he did not let go of his hands secured tight around my waist when I hopped back down to the ground. His eyebrows were knitted, which usually means that he’s not happy with what he’s hearing. I wiggled to get free from his grasp, but it was no use.

“Baby, how many times have I told you not to go outside alone? It’s dangerous, especially when you did not tell me beforehand.” Blah blah blah. It’s sweet of Jiyong to look out for me and acts so protective, but sometimes it gets annoying. It’s like I have two fathers; one’s Teddy and the other’s Jiyong. Except for that, there’s no way I will see Jiyong as a dad. He’s my age, and we’re in the same class at Strong Heart Academy. I cannot imagine him half-bald as Teddy, kekeke!

I gave him a small peck on the cheeks, and smiled winningly at him. “Thanks for worrying about me, Ji, but I made it back in one piece! And I even bought watermelon!!!” I looked at him proudly. “Ta-da! You love watermelons, don’t you? Aren’t you proud of me? Here, let me go slice it for you!”

Jiyong sighed deeply and let me walk to the kitchen. Instead of going back to his bedroom, he followed me to the kitchen, still half-bare with that towel. It’s not unusual for me to see Jiyong half-, especially in the summer and when we live together. The way we act around each other is natural and comfortable, with nothing to hide from each other because we know each other so well. “What’s the occasion, Dara? Are you hiding something from me, or else why didn’t you wait for me to take you?” He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. “Did you go on a date with someone? Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

I stuck my tongue out at him, and started to put the groceries in the fridge. Before I went to get groceries, all there’s left was beer (for Jiyong) and coke (for me). “No! Even if I were hiding something from you, you would know it anyway. I just wanted to prove that I was independent, and not the baby everyone thinks I am.”

Jiyong chuckled, and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You are a baby, Dara. That’s why I call you baby.” He leaned down so that his mouth was slightly touching my ears. “You’re my baby.”

If I were any of the girls in town, I would have fainted from happiness at the fact that Jiyong was so close to me. So many girls have major crushes on Jiyong, even the prettiest senior girl at our school, Kiko Mizuhara, swoons over his existence! Like I said, he resembled Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so it’s no surprise that he belongs in the category of the attractive bad boy that everyone admires from afar. But I was Sandara Park, his best friend in the entire world since elementary school. All he got from me was a disapproving look back at him. “Jiyong, honestly. That’s why people get the wrong idea.”

“Do you get the wrong idea?” Jiyong tilted his head to the side, observing my reaction carefully, which was a very loud and unladylike fit of laughter.

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