Ten years ago? Dara looked over at CL with wide eyes. CL was looking over at her in concern. It can’t be me, not with what he did! There’s no way he liked me. Don’t tell me it was Sohee…it might have been. They were pretty close too…and she was all cute and girly…I should clear this up though…this would be pathetic if he didn’t even remember me…all these revenge plans for nothing…but not now…She looked over at Jiyong, “Wow, I didn’t know you had that side of you,” she simply said.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Oh, by the way,” Dara said trying to change subjects, “what do you do with your music once you’re done recording and editing?”

Jiyong was relieved that she wanted to change the subject, thank you Dara. “Once we’ve settled with the final product we release it online. We have blog site and a youtube account where we upload it. At first we recorded the music ourselves at home and uploaded it. We started by making covers and slowly transitioned to music we wrote. But all of a sudden we had a ton of followers. We’re actually paid to do this now! Isn’t that crazy? So, with the money we earn, we come here to professionally record our music.”

“But what if the school finds out?”

“Don’t worry we have it all covered. When we make videos for our songs we usually wear something to cover our face, or even apply make-up. We haven’t been caught so far,” Taeyang said with a shrug.

“Oh, I see. That’s pretty awesome then.” Dara commented.

“Yeah,” Jiyong looked at his watch, whoa we’ve already been here for 4 ½ hours??? Time just flew, “whoa it’s already this late? I didn’t think it’d go this late, we’ll end here for today since we’ve done most of it.”

“Oh shoot! I need to get to my part time! I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Daesung said as he quickly grabbed his school bag and ran out the door.

“Yeah, me too. I need to get to the studio,” commented Taeyang as he grabbed his stuff, “see you. Thanks for letting us use the studio hyung.” He said to Teddy.

“Yeah, no problem.” Teddy said with a smile, how could I not? These kids are simply amazing.

“Come on, let’s go Dara,” said Jiyong as he grabbed all of his stuff. “Ah, hyung, can you see if you can fix that problem we had with the background music? It’s a little off at the one section.”

“Right, I’ll listen to it again and play around with it before you guys come back,” said Teddy as he left the room.

“Thank you,” Jiyong called after him.

“So Dara noona, where do you live?” asked Seungri as he took her arm.

“It’s like I’m seeing what happened to you all over again,” Top commented to Bom causing her to giggle in agreement.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jiyong said, “Can you walk CL home? It’s already dark.”

“But—“

“No buts, just go,” said Jiyong.

Seungri pouted and looked over to CL. “Come on, let’s go sunbae,” he said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

CL glared at Jiyong, I’m perfectly fine with walking home by myself. You’re lucky that I’m willing to give you two some alone time. She grabbed her things, gave Dara a hug, and then followed Seungri, who was already complaining about how slow she was. Please let this end soon, she thought.

“Come on, we better leave,” Jiyong said. Both of the couples left and went their separate ways.

Dara and Jiyong held hands for a few blocks, but once they were a safe distance from the studio Dara let go.

Jiyong looked at her, why did she let go already? He thought sadly.

“Um, I know you might not want to talk about it…but who was the girl you liked before? What was her name?” Now or never, Dara thought.

She’s actually concerned about this? Don’t tell me…she’s jealous? Jiyong thought happily. I guess, I should just tell her the truth since we’re working together… “I don’t remember her name…or how she looks like, to be honest,” he started.

He doesn’t even know her name??? Or how she looked like??? What is this? Is there really any point to this revenge? If it was me, then it’d be easier to continue, but what now? He obviously can’t remember me if he doesn’t even remember the girl he liked from back then. What do I do now? Still go on and break his heart? Isn’t that a bit too unfair to him? Dara thought.

Jiyong continued, “My past…I don’t remember some of it, certain parts are fuzzy and others are clear. But, for sure, she’s the person who is the fuzziest. I can’t remember her face or name, I can barely remember voice. I can remember playing with her and everything, but when it comes to her face, I just can’t see it, it’s all a blur.”

He doesn’t remember…What do I do? Do I keep playing this game?

“Somewhere deep inside, I feel like I was always chasing her. She was in my reach, but I could never catch her,” he paused, “you’re like a butterfly”, the memory resurfaced. “She was like a butterfly…”

Butterfly? Then Dara remembered, “Happy Birthday Dara!” “Wah! Ji, you got me a gift?? Why is it a butterfly?” “Because you’re like a butterfly.” That’s right, on my 6^th birthday, Jiyong gave me that butterfly necklace and told me that… “Butterfly, huh?” she quietly replied. She looked up at Jiyong and saw the lines on his forehead as he scrunched his eyebrows together in an attempt to remember the past. Can I really do this to him? He had this first love, and now his only relationship is one based on a contract…

“Yeah, but I try not to think about it too much…” he kept going, “my life right now is all about music and school. And, I suppose I should be thankful to her, she’s the reason I’m able to create these beautiful songs. But, I guess,” he took Dara’s hand, “that you’ll be my new inspiration,” he said with a smile.

Dara just nodded, is this right? I should just end things…maybe one day he’ll forgive me. Maybe we can even start all over again…she thought sadly. She opened , to begin talking, “Um—“

“You’ll be even better than her. I’ll probably be able to write even more and better songs,” he gloated, not hearing her speak.

I shouldn’t ruin it now, he knows this is a contract relationship only, and I guess I’ll just pretend it’s just that and nothing more. He looks so happy, how can I ruin this for him? Dara stayed quiet and squeezed Jiyong’s hand.

He looked down at her and smiled. She can be so cute sometimes. Why did this even happen? I agreed to this relationship because of Youngbae, but now, I don’t think I can fulfill those plans. Maybe I’ll be able to make her fall in love with me…or maybe not…she told me she never would, he thought sadly. They continued to walk to Dara’s bus stop holding each other’s hand. They departed like that both feeling a bit sad, but for completely different reasons.

A few weeks past smoothly, the couple became closer…well at a snail’s pace. They were convincing enough, always holding hands, hugging occasionally, and walking to and from school together. Their dates only consisted of them going to the studio with the rest of the gang. The seasons started to change as fall was slowly becoming colder. And next thing they knew it was November.

“So…” Daesung started out, “what are you preparing?”

“Preparing for what?” Jiyong asked while working out a math question. Dara, CL, and Bom decided to hang out after school that day, so Jiyong decided to help out Daesung with some math homework since Daesung keeps falling asleep in class.

“For Dara’s birthday, of course!”

“Dara’s birthday?” Jiyong looked up at his friend in surprised. Her birthday? Is it soon or something?

“It’s the day after tomorrow! Don’t you know that? You’ve been dating her for how long? Two months now? How come you don’t know when her birthday is?” asked Daesung is disbelief.

“It…never exactly came up…” Jiyong said. Crap crap crap. What am I going to do? It’s only two days from now? Why didn’t I know when her birthday was? Why didn’t I ever ask? Even though they spent plenty of time together when they went to and from school, they never really talked about themselves. And things such as birthdays never really came up.

“Tsk tsk tsk, what a bad boyfriend you are,” lectured Daesung.

“Yeah, I know…what should I do?” asked Jiyong desperately.

“What do you usually do when you guys go on dates?”

We go to the studio…and you were there too…does that still count as a date? “Just…umm…normal stuff…”

“Hmm….how about you do something really romantic? Girls love that kind of stuff. Oh, like you can take her to a fancy restaurant or sing to her or get her flowers or take her somewhere special or go on a trip,” he said with a suggestive smile. Pfft, I don’t think he’s ready for that, but it’s amusing to .

Then the idea hit him, “Wait, what did you say?”

This surprised Daesung, I didn’t think he’d seriously consider it, “Go on a trip.”

“No, before that.”

“Uh…flowers?”

“No, even before that.”

“Oh, sing to her?”

“Yes! Hmmm” Jiyong thought carefully about this…Maybe I’ll take her to an amusement park to have some fun, and then when it’s just the two of us I’ll sing her a song. She’ll definitely fall for me then! And maybe this relationship will change and we’ll actually go on dates…without everyone, especially Seungri. “I know what I’m going to do,” he stated proudly, “by the way…don’t mention to the others, especially Seungri, that I didn’t know when her birthday was.”

“Yes, yes, you can count on me.” Daesung said with a salute, “So…I still don’t understand this question…” he said sheepishly as he pointed at one of the questions in the textbook.

“Oh, that,” then Jiyong explained the problem. I’ll text her later to make sure she’s free.

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

Hey ssantokki,

Are you free the day after tomorrow? ^^

He needs to stop calling me ‘ssantokki’. Ssantokki became the pet name that Jiyong gave her saying that she’s like a bunny. It’s so embarrassing and he keeps bringing it up around all of our friends. Butterfly was so much better.

To: Me

From: Park Dara

Stop calling me ssantokki! Hmph :(

We don’t have school that day, so I think I’m free, why?

Yes! Perfect, wait…if it’s a date then would that be violating the contract? But the others will want to know what I did for her birthday…ugh, whatever, I’ll just stick to the original plan,  Jiyong thought.

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

But you’re my ssantokki :)

Would you like to go the amusement park with me?

Amusement park? And MY ssantokki? I’m not you’re anything! Thought Dara angily. But the amusement park sounds fun…wait doesn’t the contract say that we don’t associate outside of school unless circumstances say so?

To: Me

From: Park Dara

Wouldn’t that be violating the contract?

I knew she’d ask me that, one step ahead of you ssantokki!

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

But the situation calls for me to take you out on that day.

Huh? What is he talking about?

To: Me

From: Park Dara

What are you talking about?

Jiyong laughed, does she not even know what day that is?

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

That day is your birthday; everyone will be asking us how we celebrated it. Even though we can make it up, it won’t be as convincing. And come on, you’ll be hanging out with me :D

My birthday? How does he know when my birthday is?

To: Me

From: Park Dara

How did you know that it was my birthday?

I can’t tell her the truth…

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

I just do, why wouldn’t I know my ssantokki’s birthday?

There he goes with the ssantokki thing. *beep beep* She received another text, he can’t even wait for me to reply?

To: Me

From: Kwon Jiyong

Plus, I’m paying for everything, so why not? It’s your birthday, you get to be with me, and it’s free, perfect deal, right? What’s not to like?

Aigoo, this guy, I guess I can’t argue. It’s not like we don’t get along. And it’d be a nice change to celebrate my birthday with him.

To: Me

From: Park Dara

Okay! But remember you promised that you’ll pay for everything! Yay amusement park! \(^o^)/

Yes!!! Success! Birthday Date here we come…This is our real first date, huh? The first time we’ll be alone on a date thought Jiyong excitedly.

Dara continued to listen to the CD Jiyong gave her, this is our first date, neh? Even though we’ve been dating for a while…

A/N: Hello...again! Same day i think lol Thanks for reading, commenting, and subscribing. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

So what really happened 10 years ago? Why can't he remember? And what will happen with game really starts to get fired up? Until next time! :D