o=o=o

“Got a spare seat?”

Everyone looked up, dumbfounded. Dara got the worst of it. She was totally shocked. There, in front of her stands Kwon Jiyong with a tray of food on his hand.

When no one answered, Jiyong shrugged and sat at the vacant space. There was an awkward silence.

“I heard what you did for Dara’s father” Sulli finally broke the silence. “Thank you for doing that”

Jiyong glanced at her then smirked. “I was just around the area” he said, exchanging a look with Jaejoong. He avoided glancing at Dara as he turned to the others. “I believed we haven’t formally introduced?”

“My name’s Victoria” Victoria quickly came up and exchanged a handshake with him. She introduced the others to him without breaking the handshake. Dara then went back to her senses and cleared in an attempt to catch Victoria’s attention. When the latter continued holding on to Jiyong’s hand and looking at him like she won a in a lottery, Luna silently nudged her side. This made Jiyong chuckle.

“So., let’s eat?” he began.

Dara on the other hand, can’t keep her eyes off Jiyong. He hasn’t glanced at her yet, though. It’s as if he’s doing it on purpose. She watched as he engaged into a conversation with Sulli. She frowned at this, wondering how he can talk POLITELY to Sulli. She thinks he’s being unfair and she can’t help but feel a little grudge towards her close friend. Her friend was acting like she’s a long time friend of Jiyong. She felt a hand intertwined with hers. She knew it was Jaejoong. But she kept her eyes on Jiyong and Sulli.

o=o=o

~DARA’S POV~

I found out I’m a territorial friend because after a week or so of the incident where Kwon Jiyong joined our table in the cafeteria, he suddenly became the “lady’s man”, though I must say, Krystal’s still hesitant and awkward around him. Some people were still cautious to be around him but over all, it’s as if he suddenly became the most admired person in school. Before, I used to hear people saying negative things about him but lately, all I can hear is that he looks so hot, so mysterious, etc.

I haven’t talked to him properly yet, though. Since he became somewhat sociable, he was always surrounded by girls or a few male students as well. I don’t want that. I want to talk to him with just the two of us. Plus, I feel a bit irritated since he’s totally ignoring me. I’ve got a lot of question that I’d like to ask him. But the question that’s really bugging me is, why is he avoiding me? He always engages to a conversation with Victoria, Sulli, Luna and Jae but he never initiated a talk with me.

Why is that, huh?

I looked through my window the moment I got up from the bed. When I saw the curtains drawn away, I quickly ran to the bathroom and took a shower. I also did my usual morning rituals before heading out. I smiled as I saw that he left his front door opened. I quickly went in and ran to his room.

“Kwon Ji-“ I started as I pushed the door open but I suddenly stopped at the scene that greeted me. Jiyong was sitting on the edge of the bed, drying his hair with a towel with only his boxer shorts on. But the sight of him being half- wasn’t the reason why I stopped. It was the girl on the bed, whom I recognized as Victoria. She quickly gathered the bedcover up to her chest and smiled at me.

“Hi, Dara. Good morning” she greeted.

“H-hi” I greeted back, then turned my eyes to Kwon Jiyong. “I’ll just. . . just wait on the kitchen”

I quickly ran to his kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, taking it all down in one go. I closed my eyes and started taking deep breaths. Afterwards, I opened my eyes and shook my head.

Did I really see Victoria in Kwon Jiyong’s room – ? Or was it my imagination playing with me again?

It was her! A different side of my mind shouted.

“Jeez, I’m not deaf. No need to shout”

“Who are you talking to?”

I glanced sharply at the source of the voice and squinted. He went to the sink and leaned against it, facingme with his arms crossed across his chest.

“What did just happen?” I inquired.

“You seriously want to know what HAPPENED?” he retorted. I fumed. I can feel the steam coming out from my ears and nose. Before I could answer, I heard footsteps. I looked behind and soon after, Victoria emerged, fully clothed with her hair in disarray.

“Ahm, thanks for last night” she smiled at Jiyong then turned to me. “See you around”

I was too shocked to even wave her goodbye that eventhough it has been minutes since she left, I was still staring at the spot where she stood a while ago. But then, I snapped back to earth after a while and turned back to Jiyong. He was still in his position.

“First, you started mingling with other people, totally avoiding and ignoring me. And now, this?” I said. “I think I’m going to have a heart attack” I added as I closed my eyes and massaged my temples.

“What’s so wrong with that?”

I squeaked and jumped away as I felt his breath blew my way. I opened my eyes and found out he was in front of me already.

“victoria’s my friend!” I gritted. “You shouldn’t have. . . have. . . .

“Have what?” he asked, smirking. “Have ?”

“Ugh!” I growled. “Can’t you be less vulgar? And can you stop appearing and disappearing suddenly?”

“She came to me” he shrugged and ignored my other question.

I squinted my eyes. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you starting to talk to other people and mingle around? And why have you been ignoring me?”

“I’m not obliged to explain my actions or behaviors to you”

“You’re-!”

“Have you eaten breakfast already?” he suddenly asked.

“I – huh?”

“Do you like pancakes?”

“I-“

“I’ll make some” he said. “I haven’t eaten yet and I’m hungry”

I was too stunned to move, speak or even blink. I just stood there and watched him moved around his kitchen. I was brought up short when he placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. I looked down at the plate then back at him, frowning. He then poured an average amount of syrup on top of my pancakes and on his, too.

“Let’s eat” he said. I looked at him in amazement. After a few seconds, he scowled and looked up. “You lecture me of being rude but what you’re doing is also rude”

“Huh?” I asked blankly.

“Staring is rude” he growled.

“Oh!” I murmured. “I wasn’t staring, I was just looking”

I heard him snort. “Eat” he said.

I looked at my plate then smiled. We ate in a compatible silence but eventhough I find the gesture sweet, it doesn’t mean I’ll keep a ‘blind-eye’ about what I saw in his room.

“So,” I started. “You and Vic-“

“It was just a one night stand, Dar” he impatiently cut off.

“But she’s my friend!”

So?”

“It’s out-of-bounds”

He snorted again. “I’m not planning to have a relationship with her, if that’s what you’re asking”

I glared at him. When will I ever get to talk to him NORMALLY? Oh well, like he said, I should get use to it because he’s already like that. But still, he’s being unfair and rude!

I snapped as I heard my phone ringing. I quickly took it out and looked at the screen. It was Jae.

“Hello?”

“Hey” he greeted. “What are you doing?”

“Eating pancakes” I answered.

“Oh” he chuckled. “I was wondering what if we could-“

“I can’t” I answered at once. I instantly slapped my forehead. What on earth am I doing?

“Oh” he murmured. “You got other plans?”

“Yeah” I answered. “Well, not really. I didn’t plan it but. . .” I trailed. “I’m sorry”

“It’s okay. There’s still next time” he said. “What are going to do anyways?”

“I’m. . . .I’m. . . .” I faltered and glanced up at Kwon Jiyong. “I’m with. . . . with Kwon Jiyong” I finished in a small voice.

An AWFUL silence greeted my words.

“J-jae?” I softly called.

“I’d like to talk to him”

“Jae, I came to his house. He-“

“Give the phone to him, Dara” he said.

“But-“

“Dara, this’ll be quick”

I hesitated and bit my lower lip down. With reluctance, I passed the phone to Jiyong and told him Jae wanted to talk to him.

~JIYONG’S POV~

“What?” I asked.

“You don’t like Dara, right?” he asked.

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“Just asking” he said. “Anyways, I know I don’t have the right to ask a favor from you but could you watch over her for a while? I want to investigate what happened myself”

I snorted. So the pretty boy doubted my words when I told him that I looked into it already, huh?

“I’m not a babysitter” I said.

“But she’s already in your house. I know her. She can be persistent”

I growled. “You should be the one doing the guarding thing” I hissed in a low voice, making sure the girl won’t catch anything I said. “She’s your girlfriend!”

“I know but I want to look into the forest and look around. I might get something”

“Huh!” I snorted then stood up, walking away from Dara. “Do you really think you’ll find something? I don’t think the person would be that stupid to leave traces behind”

“True but you looked into it yourself” he said. “I just want to make sure. And besides, I think we both know that there’s a difference between us”

My jaw clenched. It won’t take a genius to know what he meant. He was merely saying that he’s stronger compared to me.

“Suit yourself” I gritted and went back to Dara. I gave her the phone and went to the sink, disposing the plates we used.

“What did you say to him?” she asked. “He looked pissed”

I rolled my eyes and washed the dishes.

“Oh” she mumbled. “Well, I think you only made him ruder than before”

I turned around and faced her. She stuck her tongue out at me and smirked.

----------

pretty boring chap.. haha... thanks to everyone for reading and subscribing!! much love to everyone!

be doing replies on next update.. sorry.. net's too slow..

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