-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

NOTE: *crawls out and dodges rocks pelted by readers*

...Hi. Yes, I know I said I will update more frequently but I had a lot of stuff going on. I will try my best to update this story (-:

Also, for those of you interested, I will be posting up my own story daragon story very soon; hopefully you guys will check it out when I upload it!

Please don’t forget to comment because people who comment are just the best.

See you very soon <3

xxx

J

 

A/N: Some of you guys have been asking me how on earth Dara is living alone and why hasn't social security put her in foster care already. I believe I addressed that problem in chapter 13. It was only a few lines so some of you may have missed it. It's partly my fault because throughout the story you've seen no guardian that's taking care of Dara and I've never really stressed Dara's aunt character. She's been kinda nameless. Again, I'm sorry for the confusion. :)

 

Fair warning: This chapter is in Dara's point of view. I wanted to do just one chapter where we were in her thoughts but don't worry, we'll be back in Jiyong's brain for the next chapter. I already miss Jiyong's head. :(

 

"What time is it?"

 

"Two minutes after the last time you asked me," Chaerin replied with a wry smile. "Dara, is everything okay?"

 

"I'm fine," I said quickly with a smile that wasn't fooling anyone. "What makes you think I'm not fine?"

 

"Well," she drawled looking down at my leg that was bouncing up and down rapidly.

 

"Oh, sorry," I apologized.

 

I stopped bouncing in my seat, reaching over for the ends of my hair.

 

"Okay, Dara!" Chaerin said, placing a hand over mine. "What's wrong? Why are you so eager to leave class?"

 

I shrugged, my hands nervously wringing around the fabric of my sweater. "I just want to avoid the rush of students in the hallway. You know how crazy people get before lunch."

 

"Mmhmm." Chaerin nodded. "And you also want to avoid bumping into Jiyong at your locker."

 

I slumped in my seat. "I just think it'll be a lot easier if we didn't run into each other."

 

"You can't avoid him forever. You're going to have to confront him sooner or later," Chaerin said.

 

"I prefer for my fist to confront with his face. But that's just me."

 

I rolled my eyes just as the bell rung. The shuffling of papers and scraping of chairs on the floor could be heard throughout the classroom from kids just as eager to leave class as I was.

 

"Chaerin," I said, standing up from my seat and gathering my books. "I want to do this my way."

 

"Also known as the boring way."

 

"Yeah, well, maybe I like the boring way," I argued back. "The last time I did something out of my comfort zone, I ended up heartbroken and alone."

 

"Dara," Chaerin sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder in sympathy.

 

"I know, I know," I said, shrugging her hand off. I walked towards the door, hearing Chaerin's footsteps following closely behind me. "Forget and move one," I repeated the mantra Chaerin had told me countless times since the break up.

 

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, grinning as she swung an arm around me. "Forget about that low-life. Move on and be happy."

 

I rolled my eyes. "Chaerin, I told you, I'm over it. If he doesn't care about me, I'm not going to waste my time being upset over him."

 

"Atta girl," she said with a smile. "You deserve someone so much-oh"

 

"Chaerin?" I asked after hearing her cut off.

 

I followed her gaze across the hall, until they finally landed on Jiyong. He was smiling and laughing without a care in the world. I felt my breath catch in my throat at the sight of him so calm, so unfazed, so normal. He had his arm crossed and he was leaning against his locker, grinning as he spoke.

 

"What a ." I heard Chaerin whisper from beside me.

 

I didn't pay attention to her because now my gaze was focused on the person standing opposite him; a pretty, little blonde in a floral dress. She laughed at something he said, holding onto his arm as she giggled. Jiyong smirked at the hand the was gripping his bicep and I knew that smirk; that smirk was when he knew he got a girl exactly where he wanted her.

 

The girl tossed a strand of perfect strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder as she let out another laugh. Jiyong's grin grew wider as he watched the girl go out of her mind to seem appealing to him. He played into the act, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. My stomach lurched, not because of the fact that the girl was practically throwing herself at Jiyong but because I recognized all of his actions. I recognized all of the laughing and the smiling and the hair playing because they were all things that he used to do with me.

 

"I have to leave," I said quietly, tearing my eyes away from them.

 

Chaerin looked at me, her eyes widening. "Dara, are you-"

 

"I have to leave," I repeated, pushing away Chaerin's outstretched hands.

 

I turned around, slamming head-first into an open locker door. I grabbed my head, falling clumsily and loudly to the ground. In a blur, I heard the sounds of screaming and laughing and Chaerin asking me if I was okay. I blinked, focusing my vision, as I looked around the hallway. The students had formed a circle around me, some worried, some taking pictures with their phones.

 

My eyes landed on Jiyong first. He stared at back at me, his mouth opening in a stunned panic.

 

The blonde beside him was laughing, clutching onto his arm as she did so.

 

"Dara," he said, walking towards me in worry.

 

"Where are you going?" the girl asked, still having a firm grip on his arm and refusing to let go.

 

He ignored her, prying her hands off of him, as he walked quickly over to me.

 

My eyes widened as I saw him coming closer. I jumped up, ignored the worried looks from Chaerin and sprinted down the hallway away from everyone. I vaguely remember hearing Jiyong shout my name as I ran away.

 

Chaerin found me ten minutes later in the girl's bathroom. I was sitting in a bathroom stall, my hands clenched tightly around my shirt. I stared blankly at the gray stall door, willing the memories of Jiyong to go away. My nails dug into my skin as the images of Jiyong talking to the girl squeezed its way back into my head. Chaerin managed to coax me out of the bathroom with fake promises of things getting better and real promises of paying for my school lunch.

 

"Stop looking at me like that," I said, stabbing a plastic fork into the fruit. Chaerin coughed, looking away from me quickly.

 

"Like what?" She asked, pretending as if she hadn't been staring at me for the past five minutes.

 

"Like I'm some broken toy," I sighed, looking over at Chaerin from the opposite side of the table.

 

"You've been walking on pins and needles around me lately and I'm sick of it. I don't need you treating me like a bomb that is going to explode any minute. I'm not a dainty little girl that is going to cry over some loser who never even cared about me. I'm not fragile. I'm not in need of fixing. I'm not broken."

 

I slammed the plastic fork on the table with a huff. I didn't look at Chaerin's face. I didn't need to see the hurt that covered it.

 

"I'm sorry," I heard her say softly.

 

"And I don't need you apologizing for every little thing!" I shouted.

 

Chaerin looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.

 

I gasped, slapping a hand over my mouth. Chaerin was at a loss for words, opening and closing dramatically.

 

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry," I apologized quickly. "I didn't know what came over me. I-I-"

 

"No! No!" Chaerin laughed slightly, stopping my rambling. "It's okay. I understand."

 

"I'm really sorry," I repeated.

 

"I get it. He-" she said, pointing behind me,"-gets under your skin."

 

I turned around, my eyes landing on Jiyong. He had stood from his lunch table with all of his friends to throw something away. I watched as he picked up his bag, swung it over one shoulder and left the lunchroom. He walked into the corridor, waving goodbye to his friends over his shoulder.

 

"Seungri said Jiyong talks about you all the time," Chaerin said causing me to look over at her.

 

"Oh, how is it going with Seungri by the way? Is it four months now?" I asked, nonchalantly stuffing a strawberry in my mouth, quickly deciding against it and spitting it into a napkin instead.

 

"Three and a half. Now stop changing the subject," Chaerin said giving me a pointed look.

 

I looked up at Chaerin who was poking a brown substance on her tray that was either steak, chicken, or a pile of dog poop. "Do you want to get something to eat from the vending machines?" I asked, looking distastefully down at our lunch trays. "I want a lunch that's actually edible."

 

Chaerin scrunched up her nose at the food before quickly nodding her head. "Yeah, okay."

 

I froze, halfway off my seat with my lunch tray in hand. I heard Chaerin continuing to talk off in the distance but my mind was already gone. My brain flashed back to a moment that probably wasn't so long ago but it felt like forever.

 

Jiyong and I were sitting in my car which was parked outside of Jiyong's house. I remember sitting in that car with the windows rolled all the way down, watching Jiyong draw circles on my skin with his finger. Neither of us were ready to go home; to go back to the real world, as we had called it. I remember trying my best to hold onto every second I had with him. I remember thinking of things we could do, just so he could stay a little bit longer.

 

"Do you want to get something to eat?" I finally asked from the passenger seat of my truck.

 

My legs were stretched out onto Jiyong's lap and my head was rested lazily out the window.

 

"I do," Jiyong said firmly, moving his hands from where they were on my leg to the steering wheel.

 

He smiled over at me, as if he had been waiting for me to finally think of a place to go. He hadn't wanted to leave either.

 

I laughed. "Why can't you be a normal person and just say 'yes' instead of your dramatic 'I do'?"

 

He shrugged. "I like saying 'I do'. It makes things sound more final and permanent. Like I'm making a promise and keeping it forever."

 

"It's just lunch." I smiled.

 

"Yes." He grinned back at me. "But it's lunch with you. And I kinda like the idea of things with you being permanent."

 

"Dara!" Chaerin shouted, waving her hands in my face to get my attention.

 

"What?" I blinked, looking around as if I just realized where I was. I looked at Chaerin who was standing a few feet in front of me.

 

"I said let's go. I think I just saw one of my potatoes move," Chaerin said, dumping her tray in the trash. She looked up at me, noticing that I still have not moved from my previous spot. "Are you okay?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

 

"I-uh. I'm fine," I stammered. "I just have to go. Can we get a rain check on that lunch?"

 

"Yeah, sure," Chaerin said, though I didn't stick around to hear her reply. I was already running across the cafeteria, towards the double doors leading to the corridor.

 

I rounded the corner, coming to a sudden stop when I saw him. He was standing in the empty hallway, pulling books from his locker. A took deep and unsteady breaths as I watched him. I took a moment to familiarize myself again of the features I hadn't seen in so long. I had realized that every time I saw him lately, I wasn't able to appreciate the things I normally would. Recently, I had been so caught up in hating him that I didn't even realize how much I missed the things that made me love him.

 

I focused on the effortless swoop of blonde hair before moving on to his eyebrows. They were brown unlike his hair which he swore up and down that was naturally blonde. I noticed his impossibly poor posture and barely there moustache he refused to shave. He used to say that the measure of a man was his ability to grow a moustache. I remember laughing as he told me this. His moustache was only a few hairs, sprouting out in all directions. I told him that it didn't matter how big of a moustache he grew, it would come out blonde and unnoticeable anyway.

 

I walked slowly and tentatively towards him. For some reason I was scared to make too much noise as if I would somehow scare him away.

 

He must've felt my presence nearby, because he looked up suddenly, his eyes growing wide when he saw me. "Dara." He said my name in a gasp.

 

"I don't even know why I'm here," I said quickly before he could speak.

 

I knew it was a lie though. I knew exactly why I was there. It was the same reason I almost forgave him last night on the rooftop of the church. It was the same reason I listen to him every time he tries to explain. And it was the same reason seeing him speaking to other girls gets me so angry. I kept telling myself that it was because I made a promise to him and I always keep my promise. But I knew that the real reason I was there was because Jiyong would always be the one person I kept going back to; no matter how much I didn't want to.

 

"I just," I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "I have to say something and I made you a promise."

 

"Dara-" he began.

 

I shook my head. "No," I interrupted him. "I need to talk and I just need you to listen. Please?"

 

He looked at me, silent for a second, before nodding his head. I watched as he sunk to the ground below him, his back leaning against the lockers. His eyes flickered to the empty spot next to him then back to me. I walked forward, taking careful steps. I slid down against the lockers until I was seated next to him, our knees bumping into each other. We sat in silence for a little; me staring forward and him staring directly at me. Jiyong didn't say anything though and I was grateful. I needed time to gather my thoughts.

 

"That night," I began, my voice soft. "That night I wasn't only crying because my dad forgot me. There was something else too."

 

I finally looked over at Jiyong whose eyes never left me. He didn't seem at all surprised at what I had just said. His lips curved up to a crooked smile as if saying 'I totally knew it'.

 

"Before I left the nursing home that day, the nurses had told me-" I paused, feeling a lump in my throat. "They said-they said-"

 

I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut, willing the tears to stay in. I felt a soft hand placed over mine that was resting on my knee. I opened my eyes, glancing down at the large calloused hand that completely covered my own. I felt his hand squeeze mine and I smiled, instantly relaxing at his touch.

 

"They said that it would be best if I didn't come see him anymore," I managed to say. "They-They said that my appearance would only set him off again. They said that seeing me triggers an emotional response and that I wasn't allowed to visit anymore."

 

"I miss him, Jiyong. I miss him and I can't see him."

 

I felt Jiyong's hold on me tighten and I squeezed back just as tightly. I held onto him like he was my lifeline.

 

"It's bad enough I got my mom taken away from me and now-" I cut off as soon as I felt one tear rolling down my cheek.

 

I dropped my head in my hands, rubbing my face hard to stop the tears. "What is wrong with me? This past week, all I ever wanted to do was just scream." I said to my hands, letting out a long moan.

 

He was quiet for a second. "So scream," he said. "Scream, cry, curse, hit something. Do whatever you want because, if there is anything I know for certain is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You have every right to feel the way you feel."

 

I lifted my head up to look over at him. He smiled gently when our eyes met. I looked away quickly choosing to stare at the row of lockers in front of us.

 

This moment felt all too familiar. Us sitting side by side with our knees bumping into each other. I could picture the night. His arm is around me and we're just sitting and talking about my dad and everything else wrong with the world.

 

I shook my head, clearing all thoughts from it.

 

"I'm sorry," I said, standing up. "I'm sorry for telling you this. You don't even care."

 

I turned around and walked away in a rush, all without ever taking a glance down in his direction.

 

"I did care," he called after me, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. "I still do."

 

I squeezed my eyes shut, begging with everything i had that the tears would stay in. I slowly moved one foot forward, forcing myself to walk away, forcing myself to not believe him. But I knew I did. I believed him to a point where I knew it was unhealthy. I knew that if I stayed a second longer, I could easily forget everything. I could fall for him all over again because he made it so easy. He made falling in love seem just like a fairytale; no real problems and a happy ending guaranteed. It was so like him to change one of the most difficult and complex things on earth into something so simple.

 

But I'm choosing to walk away with my fists clenched and my heart locked. Because even through everything, I still cared about him too, and what scared me was I didn't know if I could ever stop.

 

I played music in my car today. Okay, so maybe playing was an understatement. It was more of blaring the song with the windows down all the way to school. The little portable stereo that Jiyong bought me had sat under my bed since the night he gave it to me. I haven't had the nerve t