He looked at her… only to receive nothing but silence… she never talked or even greeted him when they saw each other again… the whole ride to home was awfully quiet that it bothered him… she was not like that from last night…and what bothers him more now was the whole incident from earlier…

Seeing her and Youngbae together…

Seeing her in his arms…

What were those all about…? 

Thoughts filled his mind…and thinking about those things over and over again makes him totally uneasy… connecting it to Youngbae’s confession… are they together now…? He almost dropped his utensils as he turned his gaze back towards her… 

She didn’t bother checking on him… busy on finishing her food silently… and it bothered him more… for since earlier, she never looked at him…

Was it because of the kiss…?

He too was surprised at the sudden move from Taeyeon…but thinking that Dara already knows about him and Taeyeon… why would she be upset about it…? 

His forehead creased… gripping on his utensils as the thoughts and images of her and Youngbae kept on repeating inside his head… 

Gritted his teeth for even caring about it… why would he…? He’s just her husband by papers and in the eyes of everyone…just as well as she’s just his wife… and nothing more… 

How could he be so selfish for thinking that she couldn’t belong to someone else… what is her to him…? 

He already had Taeyeon… and definitely there’s nothing that he feels for Dara… as far as he knows… 

In the end, he dropped his gaze…

He couldn’t possibly love her…? He loves Taeyeon… as far as he knows…

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Dara stood up from her seat… he looked up in surprise upon seeing her simply walked away after finishing her food… he felt his insides dropped when she left without another word… without even glancing at him…

Confused as to what’s happening…and earning a cold treatment from her… he suppressed himself from getting mad… he continued finishing his dinner still trying to figure out why she’s acting that way.

--

She locked herself inside her secret room… staring at ‘his’ portrait that she made… with a pained expression on her face… 


After a while, her tears finally stopped… she just then realized that she’s being hugged by Youngbae… her eyes snapped open and was about to pull herself away, only to be stopped when his arms s around her frame, hugging her tighter and closer to him…

“Youngbae-ah…”

She called him in worry… unable to hear even herself because of the music playing against her ears…

“Let’s just stay like this for a while…”

Yongbae said as he watched Jiyong who’s now looking at them with a clear confused look on his face… Youngbae’s hand formed into a fist…curling the fabric of her dress in his hand…

He then closed his eyes… leaned down as he caressed his cheek on the side of her head…

Dara was confused… her hands then reached up and rested on his back…

He probably saw what she’s looking at earlier… what could be more pathetic than that…? 

Her eyes fluttered sadly… seeking more strength from her friend… she pulled him closer as she snuggled her face on his shoulder…

“Thank you Youngbae-ah…”

Jiyong was watching them from afar… couldn't decipher what he’s feeling inside not until his blank thought was interrupted by Taeyeon…tugging on his arm… he looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face…

“Let’s go oppa…”

She simply said as she locked her hand with his…he couldn’t even speak nor think of what to do…he was there to see Dara…but everything went too fast before he could even realize what’s happening… finding himself being dragged away… he could only look back… seeing the image of them hugging each other immediately brought an immense pain inside his chest…


“I already know you’re hers… but why kept on shoving it to my face Jiyong-ah…?”

“You said you won’t hurt me again… but why am I always left hurt in the end…?”

She whispered as if she’s really talking with him… 

“I didn’t even know when it started… but why can’t I stop myself from loving you…?”

She said as she sighed… tracing the smiling portrait of him with her finger, she let out a bitter smile… 

‘Everybody gets tired in the end… and I know you’ll get tired from loving him too…’

Telling herself as she clutched on her chest… she had endured a lot of things already… and waiting for her feelings to vanish would be another thing that she should endure now… 

--

He was drying himself off when she entered their room… he looked up upon hearing the door closed, their eyes met for a minute before she continued her way towards the bathroom… only to be stopped when he spoke.

“Where did you go…?”

He calmly asked her… holding the towel he used from drying his hair on his lap.

“Just outside…”

Dara plainly answered without even facing him.

Jiyong’s brows twitched before he sighed… enduring yet another cold treatment from her.

“What did you do…?”

It took Dara a period of time before answering… she looked over her shoulder, slightly saw Jiyong still waiting for her answer.

“Catching some fresh air…”

“But it’s too cold outside…”

He immediately retaliated back… Dara could only sigh before starting again with her tracks.

“I’ll just go change…”

Upon hearing the bathroom door closed, Jiyong let out a frustrated groan as he harshly threw the towel on the floor…his hand then reached for his forehead and massaged it in much frustration…

‘What did you do this time Jiyong…?’ He asked himself…

--

It took her a while inside the bathroom but he waited for her… seated on one sofa inside their room, he looked up upon seeing her coming out… 

“Can we have a talk for a moment…?”

He tried his best to be calm… but her continuous cold treatment doesn’t help him to do so… she just looked at him… not bothering to sit… she just waited for him to continue…

He stood up from his seat and walked towards her… saw that she wouldn’t even look at him straight.

“Are you okay…? Did something happen earlier at the campus…? Did they bully you or something…?”

He looked more like a dad interrogating his daughter than a husband asking his wife… Dara just shook her head as she speaks…

“