-Disclaimer: This is not my story. I got full permission from the author to repost this on AFF-

The Challenge by The Lucky Kind of fanfiction.net

"I am not wearing a wire!" I whisper-yelled shoving the device back into Seunghyun's hands. I looked around the room, making sure no attention was drawn to us.

"Well how are we going to know if she really said it?" he asked handing the wire to Seungri who promptly shoved it in the bottom of his abyss he calls a bookbag.

"You've trusted me before; why not now?"

"Because the stakes are higher on this one," he explained, waving his arms around his face for emphasis.

I rolled my eyes, throwing a glance behind my shoulder at Dara. She sat, hunched over her leather-bound book, with headphones plugged into her ears. My lips curved into a half smile as I watched her tap her feet against the tile floor. Her foot hit the floor in a constant smooth rhythm; a rhythm that sounded too much like my heartbeat.

"Okay!" the debate teacher's voice boomed, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hand in your assignments and you can leave at the bell."

The scuffling of shoes and chairs scraping against the floor could be heard throughout the room. I looked down at my unfinished paragraph and groaned. I quickly scribbled a few sentences that resembled the topic and piled it onto his desk with the others. Dara grinned at me, her headphones now tucked safely in her pocket.

"Zoning out in class again?" she smiled, pointing at the chicken-scratch that covered my paper.

I chuckled. "Well maybe if you stopped being so goddamn beautiful, there wouldn't be anything to distract me."

"That was cheesy," she stated, although I made sure not to miss the faint pink that tainted her cheeks.

"You love my cheesiness," I said proudly.

She didn't answer, only rolled her eyes as she walked back to her seat. I watched her pull the headphones out and plug it back into her ears. Her foot resumed that steady beat and I smiled again, imagining the songs she must be listening to.

"Jiyong? Are you going to return to your seat?" Mr. Kim asked me.

I looked around, quickly realizing that I was standing in the middle of the room. I mumbled out an apology before shuffling back to my seat. I tossed a look over my shoulder again at Dara and I was surprised to find her gaze already locked on me. Her grin widened and her smile never faltered. I chuckled, taking mental notes of the light brown swirls mixed into her eyes; a light color that matched perfectly to the tips of her hair.

She gnawed on her bottom lip as she continued to watch me, a look of contemplation and confusion stretching across her features.

I turned back forward, reluctant to pull my gaze away from hers. Seunghyun was whispering words to Seungri as he listened carefully, his face looking hesitant and demurring.

The bell rung and, like a stampede, the students rushed out the door, eager to get away as fast as possible. I stood up too, pushing my books into my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. I walked towards the door when I felt a small hand wrap around my arm. I turned around, a smile instantly reaching my lips as I saw her.

"You're coming with me," she stated firmly, already leading me towards the parking lot.

"So demanding," I teased but still letting her drag me away.

"Get used to it," she called over her shoulder.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" I asked, tearing my gaze away from the window to look at her in the driver's seat.

"You'll see."

"This conversation sounds oddly familiar. Are you going to take me to another top secret hide-out?" I joked.

She gave me a side-ways glance before turning back to the road. She pulled in front of a large white building almost completely covered with shrubs from the outside. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned over completely to face me.

She sighed, running a hand through her brown locks. "Look Jiyong. I really loved spending time with you this week but-" She cut off, looking down at her fingers. The smile was wiped clean off my face as I turned around to face her fully.

"Dara, is everything okay?" I searched her features for something, anything, that could tell me what was wrong.

"Do you remember the first time you asked me out? The time when I didn't say yes?" she asked, looking back up at me.

I winced at the memory. "I tried not to."

She cracked a smile and for a second she looked like herself. "Remember how I told you I was busy and you didn't believe me?"

"It's hard not to remember the worst lie someone has told me to get out of a date."

"I wasn't lying," she mumbled, returning her gaze to her fingers. "I would go see my dad at the nursing home before school, after school and on the weekends," she admitted, motioning to the big white building we parked in front of.

"Wow," I sighed, slumping backwards in my seat. "Way to make me feel like a jackass."

Her eyes widened and she put both hands on my arm. My eyes flickered downwards before meeting hers again.

"I-I'm sorry," she sputtered, sincere guilt reflected across her wide chocolate eyes. "We don't have to go if you don't want to. I haven't seen my dad all week but we can do something else if you're uncomfortable."

She rambled on as she moved to turn on the ignition. I chuckled, this time placing my hands over her furiously moving ones.

"Dara, calm down. I don't mind," I assured her, intertwining her fingers between mine. She bit her lip until it turned white, looking up at me through her long eyelashes. I rubbed my thumbs over her fingers, watching her relax at the feel and slowly become herself again. "Dara, he's your dad. If he's important to you than he's important to me. I really don't mind. Okay?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, taking deep breaths. My finger traced up her arm until I was able to caress her face with my