Chapter XLVII:

A Ceasefire

18:55 KST

Donghae damned the absurd plot twists the universe seemed to keep throwing into his life.

One moment he was anxious, the next he was happy, then all of a sudden everything didn’t go the way he planned it to be. He could almost laugh at the humor of his situation only if he wasn’t feeling so annoyed and bitter right that very moment.

Sighing in exasperation, Donghae panned his gaze around, assessing the sight before him with his mouth slightly curled up in annoyance. Gaho, which brought him a horror and suspense filled experience, was now tied in a leash and the leash tied around a nearby tree. Then, his eyes glided over the newcomer, who was now wearing a wide, wide smile on his face, his arms crossed over his shoulders seemingly entertaining the two girls in front of him—one of which was acting extra hyper.

“Omo, oppa, your skin looks much much much flawless in person!” Dara’s friend squirmed, her eyes practically shining with reverence, while the oppa chuckled meekly.

“Well, it feels just as smooth as it looks,” he said, grinning now and leaned his face closer towards her. “Here, you can touch it.”

The girl’s face brightened up; her eyebrows perked high, hung ajar in a motion that was achingly slow as though she was trying to drink in a series of breath but couldn’t.

“Really?” the word barely escaped her lips, small and hesitant, but it was audible enough for her oppa to nod his head at her.

“Of course!”

And in a flash, she held his face with both hands—so fast it looked like she just slapped him with both palms but the man didn’t seem to mind. Upon the action, her smile blossomed into a delighted Cheshire cat like grin, trying to suppress a giggle while she rubbed his cheeks fervently.

“Oh my god, I just touched Seungri’s face! Oh my god! I’ll never wash my hands again!” She squealed after withdrawing her hands, and turned to Dara. She looked like she would suffer from hyperthermia any moment now; flailing mindlessly and spilling all kinds of high-pitched noises while she wobbled on her feet, acting like someone who was about to collapse from so much feels.

But in contrary to her friend’s blunt fashion of intense fangirling, Dara remained rooted on her spot, stiff like a statue as though her soul had just been out of her body, and what was left behind was the frozen and stunned shell of her being.

Suddenly, Donghae heard a snort behind him and was reminded again of Jaejoong’s existence in the story. The man was a mirror image of his self; both of them hardly suppressing a hint of annoyance on their faces while watching carefully as Seungri interacted with the girls.

And looking at how Dara just stood there, acting like a star struck teenager seemed to irk the two of them. The unlikely sight of her bashfulness gave both Donghae and Jaejoong, an unpleasant feeling sizzling inside of them, their minds obviously running along the same train of thought.

Heck, she was never the shy type!

“Do you want to touch my cheeks, too?” Seungri then came towards her, the playful grin still there, and Donghae swore Dara’s face flushed beet red upon the sudden closeness, like a metal statue turning hot red when placed into a pit of scorching flames. She blinked once, twice…thrice, made small movements with seemingly struggling to find her voice before the presence of the BIGBANG’s maknae.

Donghae could only click his tongue at what he was witnessing.

“Aw, you’re cute.” Seungri added, chuckling, as he pinched Dara’s reddened cheeks before taking her hands himself and brought it towards his face. “There,” he said, rubbing Dara’s palms on both sides of his face. “Smooth, right?”

Like an awestruck fan that she was, Dara could only nod in a daze.

“Aigoo, you’re such a cute fan!” Seungri cooed. “Would you want to be mine for the rest of your life?”

 And that was when both Jaejoong and Donghae bolted to their spot, pulling the startled Seungri away from Dara’s grasp; his arms were held by the two gorgeous men as they dragged him towards a safe distance from the two ladies. And by safe distance, I meant far far away from his original spot—probably 20 steps away or more.

“Wha—what’s wrong hyungs?” Seungri whipped his head at both of them, shooting each guy with a confused and bewildered look.

“Seriously? You can’t own your fans for the rest of their lives just like that!” Jaejoong gave him a reprimanding glare. While Donghae, on the other hand, nodded his head with a friendly smile, but his eyes was entirely a different story; he looking at the maknae through a thinly vailed contempt.

“He can.” The girl beside Dara exclaimed, raising her hand and waved it enthusiastically. “I volunteer! My body is always ready for you, oppa!”

After giving her a wink that sent the girl swooning all over again, Seungri turned to look at both of his hyungs, tuning his voice five decibels lower. “You know I was just joking, hyung.” Then he glanced at Dara over his shoulders once again. “But…hmm, they might be an exemption,” he said, a radiant yet mischievous smile crawling up the corners of his mouth as he looked back at them.

But then a h