--Miss, do you have this at my size?

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"Yah! Santokki, why are you coming in later than Bom unnie?" Our leader, Chae Rin or better known as CL, reprimanded me as soon as I entered the room. 

I am a member of a girl group in Korea named 2ne1. We are currently on hiatus, but we still meet up together to discuss our next concept or practice for our next comeback. 

"I'm sorry for being late guys. I had to do an errand for Mom and then I was caught up with traffic." I lied. 

CL just shrugged and then resumed whatever she was doing, letting me go easily than usual. Well,thank God for that!

I  grabbed a chair near Minji, the youngest in our group, who is sitting across CL then I placed my bag on top of the table and removed my sunglasses. I slumped on the chair ignoring the curious stare of our 'maknae'. I am so not in the mood for this meeting.

"Unnie, are you ok? Your eyes look--" the curious maknae asked but was thankfully cut off when Bom suddenly barges into the room. 

"Oh my God! Have you guys heard the news?" she said grabbing everyone's attention. 

"What news?" CL asked nonchalantly.

"Jiyong is engaged!" she said with her eyes getting bigger than usual.

"No way!" CL exclaimed surprised by the news while Minji asked Bom if she was just lying.

"Wow, that was fast." I mumbled to myself. 

I thought they didn't hear me but with their attention shifted towards me, I guess they did.

"Spill!" Bom demanded.

I have no energy for Bom today so I give in with a sigh.

"Yes, it is true… he is engaged." I said avoiding their stares. "He proposed to his girlfriend--Kiko yesterday and she said yes." I was trying not to sound affected as much as I can.

With the silent reaction i'm getting, I lifted my head up to see their faces. They are all wearing the same expression, mouth agape with incredulity. 

"Oh, it wasn't you?" Minji blurted seemingly disappointed with what she heard. "I thought you two were going to end up together though..." 

I was going to say something but Bom beat me to it.

"That explains the puffy eyes." She said moving towards the seat next to CL and across mine.

Wide-eyed, I was about to say something--again, but then I heard another comment.

"You were crying the whole night, huh?" Minji stated which I had to admit, it kinda hit a spot.

"And that explains why you were late!" CL attacked with a K.O.

How can they gang up on me in times like this?! And call themselves my friends?!

I was thinking of defending my pride at least, but I thought it was no use. They know me too well.

I decided to remain silent and pout my way out, neither admitting nor denying anything.

"You could have told us sooner...", a concerned Bom told me.

"But he just did it last night..." I whined like a kid.

"No, I meant, you should have told us that you are in love with him." 

"That's right. We could have done something at least." CL said

"Yeah…we could have kidnapped Jiyong oppa and then bring him to an abandoned warehouse and then we let him stay there for days and then he will think he was going to die and then he will have a flashback of his life and then he will realize that he is still in love with you and spend the rest of his life with you instead." the maknae ridiculously stated. 

"We're not in a drama, Minji-ah." CL said.

"Wait guys, I think I'm being misunderstood. I didn't say I'm in love with him, how can I when we are just friends?" I said but was kinda insulted by their blatant disregard of my statement. 

Really, no? No reaction? No comment at all?!

"Hmm...Jiyong...suddenly thinking about marriage, huh? Maybe he realized there are more fishes in the sea and just said, 'Oh! f@ck this! This fish is younger and fresh. Forget about the other one, I'll marry this one.' Bom said ignoring me as she grabbed a corn munched on it and continued, "If you had said yes to him back then...maybe it's you and not Kiko."

They can really tick me off sometimes...

"That girl. I want to like her but there is something about her that irks me. Her face is weird, you know." CL said.

"There were actually lots of rumors about her that the dancers told me and they were all rated 'R'." Minji said.

....but I still love them

"Okay, I know this is your way of cheering me up but let's not judge her. Also, according to Jiyong, she is a wonderful person and I believe she is. So let's stop this and just be happy for them." I told them.

"Are you really happy for them?" Bom asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, I am." I told her. "Jiyong is my best friend and his happiness is one of the most important thing for me."

"Then why were you crying last night?" CL interfered. 

"I did not cry the whole night because of that. I was actually watching movies last night. I was so engrossed I didn't notice the time. The next time I know, it was already morning. That's why my eyes are dead tired." I reasoned out.

"So, you're saying Jiyong oppa has got nothing to do with those puffy eyes of yours?" CL was squinting her eyes.

I nodded.

"I thought you're in love with him?" she asked again.

"Didn't you guys hear what I just said earlier? For the record, I was never in love with him. Yes, I admit, I liked him in the past but that was it." I said almost hysterical.

"You are not lying to us, Unnie?" Minji asked.

"Be honest with us, Dara. You can say it to us, we are your friends right?" Bom said.

Sound defeated, I sighed, "You know when you go to a mall and saw this fabulous shoes but due to lots of reasons, I can't buy it at that time. Then I came back to the store, ready to buy the shoes but the sales lady said 'I'm sorry but your size is not available anymore, she already took the last pair.' pointing to the girl who just passed by you..." I paused and took a deep breath. Yes, I was disappointed at first because I know it fits really well but....if it is not meant for you..." I have to pause before I can choke on my words. "Oh well! It was my fault anyways, kinda took Jiyong for granted." I told them with a smile.

All three of them were silent.

"Come on, guys. I am fine~ There are more fabulous shoes out there." I said trying to lighten up the mood.

"I say, lets go shoe shopping tonight." Bom said with a wink.

"I don't think that's a good idea, the president will not let us go out tonight." Cl said 

"Screw the president! This is a shoe crisis we are dealing with, Chae Rin-Ah~ This! needs to be dealt with A-S-A-P. How do you expect Dara to sleep tonight?!" Bom exclaimed

"Unnie, we can just order shoes online, right?" Minji said. "So the president will not scold us for going out."

"Minji, you are so darn cute." Bom said pinching Minji's cheek which made her turn red.

"So, who's coming?" Bom said raising her hand.

Somebody, wish me luck!

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"Bom, I don't think this is the best place for--" Bom cut me off even before I can finish my sentence.

"Dara, this is the best place trust me. You can find the cheap ones and the imitations but amongst them, you will find the one. You just have to  be patient and keen so keep on looking." Bom winked at me before going back to the VIP room of the club.

Can I really find the one? 

I'm getting frustrated already. I have been sitting here with my 3rd drink and still with no avail, I can't find one decent man. Did they all decide to hibernate tonight? 

"Look who's here. Isn't it Miss Sandara Park?"

I turned to the direction of the voice and saw an unfamiliar man walking closer towards me. I can tell he is already drunk, I can smell the alcohol stench from him. I shifted my attention back to my drink. The last thing I want is to deal with a drunk man. I was praying for the man to find another attraction and leave me alone but unfortunately, he did not.

"You! *hic* "really look cute in person." he said placing his left arm over my shoulders. "I'm a fan." *hic*

Great! He is a fan of mine. 

I squirmed a little bit to let my fan know that I'm not comfortable with his warm gesture but instead of pulling back, he held my shoulder tighter and gave me a smug look.

"Why don't we *hic* go somewhere....private?" *hic* he whispered to my ears. Why don't you drink water first?

This man should be thankful I'm still sober and he is my fan because if not, he will be sleeping on a cold floor tonight. I tried to composed myself and be calm as I can be. I don't want my face on the headline tomorrow morning. I was ready to utter my last minute organized speech when someone's voice grab our attention.

"Miss Park hates skinship, especially with a stranger." the man said who was standing behind us.

"I don't *hic* she minds." my fan said smirking and not moving his arms.

"But I do" the man grabs his arm off my shoulder and said, "I will appreciate it if you will move out of your seat and go."

My fan finally sensed danger and staggered away, leaving us in peace.

"He was a fan, you know." I told my knight in shinning armor.

"He's not a loss." he said.

"I was actually about to scare him off, you just beat me to it." I said.

"Yeah...like that will happen." he scoffed.

"Yah! Jiyong-ah!" I playfully slapped his shoulder.

He chuckled. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Shopping." I answered.

"What?"

"I said I'm going home." I stood up ready to leave.

He just shook his head. "Alright, Lets go."

"When did you get back?" I suddenly asked turning over him who was just closely behind.

"Like an hour ago. I was looking for you but CL said you and Bom were here. Good thing I came over to check on you guys. What could have been the scenario, if I didn't?" he said dramatically.

"What can I say? You have such perfect timing." I said with sarcasm.

We looked for Bom but she told us to go ahead. So we ended up leaving the club together.

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Guess there was no luck for me tonight. 

I look at Jiyong who is silently driving...

'Why does someone like you can run out of stock?' 

I smiled at the silly thought.

I wish I had that perfect timing.

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