FOURTEEN—TWIST

"Melissa is a social reject. She makes every situation awkward and...Wait… No." Dara stopped what she was typing on her laptop and sighed. This is insane. She hasn’t written any draft for the storyline which is due tomorrow and this is not good. What the hell did she do in the past days for her to completely forget about the project? If not for Hyoyeon, she would never remember it.

Maybe she was busy thinking about her problem with Kris.

.

Okay Dara. Forget about the jerk for today and focus.

Taking a deep breath, Dara stared at the laptop screen and tried to think of another concept. Her index finger pressed the backspace button until no characters were left.

Think Dara. Think of something interesting.

"Hey,"

Dara looked up from her laptop and saw Donghae looking down at her with a smile etched on her face. For a moment, Dara was speechless. She felt like Donghae was more handsome right now with the light of the sun serving as his background.

"What are you doing?" Donghae asked as he sits beside her. That's when Dara noticed she was ogling at him.

Shaking out her thoughts, she answered, "Still trying to think of a storyline."

Donghae peeked on her laptop screen then back to her. "Yeah. Hyo told me you haven't written anything."

"Honestly, I don't know what to write." Dara blew a raspberry before deciding to just close her laptop.

"Do you want me to help you?" Donghae asked.

Dara placed the laptop beside her before looking at Donghae with a confused expression. "How?"

Donghae smiled. "First, have you decided which genre would you like to focus on?"

Dara paused to think. "No."

Donghae flicked her forehead lightly. “How can you start writing?”

“Yah!” Dara rubs her forehead and pouted. “I just write what comes to mind.”

The guy wagged her finger left and right in front of her face. “No. Before you start writing, you must have a definite choice of which genre would you like to write about. In choosing a certain genre, you must choose something comfortable not just in writing it but also in acting it out." Donghae explained. "If you decided to write something about love, as much as possible refrain from writing clichés and give it some unexpected twists. Think of something that will make your work stand out."

The whole time Donghae was talking, Dara was just listening; nodding occasionally. She never thought Donghae can be this calm and wise. The two of them never really had a decent talk and having him right now, beside her, and offered her for a help is really amusing. "Remember that a good story is based on how well it is constructed." Donghae smiled at her after he finished talking.

"Wow," Dara finally said. "I never thought our first decent conversation will be about this."

Donghae raised his brow at confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I never pictured you really as the man who will say those words. I blame you for being always so quiet." Dara chuckled softly.

"I'm a man of few words." Donghae smiled.

"Not anymore." Dara pokes Donghae’s waist making him yelped.

"Seriously speaking though, I get what you are saying. I have no specific genre to write about and thank you for reminding me about that." Dara chuckled. "Love."

Donghae looked at her with a brow raised. "Love?"

Dara nodded. "I'm going to write about love. I mean, I think it's the right genre to write about."

"Right." Donghae rested his back on the tree that was behind them and stared ahead. "I've written about that too. I hope Miss Hyori won't reject it."

Dara crossed her legs as he glance at Donghae. "So, have you experienced love?" She asked, not minding if the question’s a little too personal.

Donghae's expression didn't change. His face still looks so calm and Dara wondered what he was thinking.

"Yes." He answered without looking at her.

Dara unknowingly smiled at his answer. She thinks that whoever the girl was is so lucky because Donghae was one fine man—like he can do no wrong.

"The girl is very lucky." Dara echoed her thoughts.

Donghae's lips curved into a smile before looking at Dara. "I'm the one who's lucky."

Dara just looked at him, waiting for him to say more but Donghae went back staring into the space. She just smiled and decided to keep quiet about it.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Donghae spoke. "Incorporating real life in your story would be more appealing to read." Donghae glanced at her briefly and smiled. "That's what I did."

Dara's eyebrows knitted in confusion as she shifted her sitting position so she was facing Donghae. "What do you mean?"

"I think I've just written a storyline very similar to what happened to me." Donghae answered.

Dara didn't say anything as she tries to process what Donghae told her. So meaning, he wrote about his experience in love? "You wrote about your..." Dara started and Donghae nods his head knowing exactly what she was about to say.

"Isn't that a little... you know... uhm... why?" Dara cannot even form a coherent question as she look at Donghae's calm expression.

This time, Donghae was the one who shifted his sitting position. He was now facing Dara and their knees were touching. "Let me ask you, have you experienced love?" He asked and Dara was taken aback.

"Why are you asking me that?" She asked before she could stop herself.

"Why? You said you wanted to write about love. So, I'm asking you. Have you experienced love?" He was smiling and his eyes show amusement in them.

Dara rolled her eyes playfully. "Of course! I'm 21 already. At my age, it's impossible not for me to experience such thing." She looked at him and he seems satisfied with her answer.

"Then write about it." He tells her, smiling a little.

Dara paused and think. So, should I write about my unrequited love with Jiyong? Well, that's kinda pathetic on my side and is full of cliché. Besides, if Miss Hyori decided to pick my storyline for the play, not that I’m expecting or anything, but Jiyong would obviously know I was talking about him. That, I can't let happen.

"No," Dara said to Donghae.

He looked at her with one brow raised. "Why?"

Dar shook her head rapidly. "No. Just no." Donghae just continued to look at her. "I mean, it's a very common love story. Cliché and you know." She explained.

Donghae smiled as if understanding her dilemma. "Clichés can’t be helped. What I told you is to avoid it as much as possible. If you can’t, then just go with it. Well, you don't need to write every detail. That's why I told you to put some twists."

Dara nodded and thought about it. "Thank you for the help." She smiled.

Donghae matched her smile. "So," he stood up. "I guess I'll leave you right now."

"Yeah."

Donghae dusted the dirt off his pants and waved at her before walking away. Dara remained seated as she continues to think about her talk with Donghae.

Her eyes looked around the university and her eyes caught Suho together with Kris, walking out of the Main building.

Twist.

For some odd reason, the words Jiyong, Kris and marriage came at once into her mi