Here is a little throwback on what happened with the plot, because, like, after one year who the heck remembers anything. I myself had lots of trouble remembering. For the record, I just went through the crapiest year ever, having to take the most important exams of my life, to finish highschool and enter university. Fortunatly, they both went pretty well so I am a free woman now!

So here is what the plot looks like so far:

Dara dreams again about kissing a charming stranger at the new Korean Talent Agency Award (KTAA) party and she remembers new details from that night. We find out that the mysterious man is for sure an employee at YG. So she manages to narrow down the possibilities by criss crossing names of YG employees with people who participated at the party.

Taeyang confessed only to Seungri that he is in the early stage of a relationship.

Seunghyun is still desperately trying to make Bom stop dating Ji Seok, the suspicious men who seems to bring back bad memories for both T.O.P and his sister.

Seungri and Chaerin struggle to keep their romance hidden.

Daesung is heartbroken after his brief beginning of ‘a relationship’ that he shared with Yuri. He uses Seungri’s phone to text her and accidentally comes across some old messages between Seungri and CL. Literally blinded by love, Dae completely ignores and even deletes the messages.

Yong Deuk is still trying to handle the mess his twin left behind. Deuk has to pretend to be his brother and hence prevent him from getting fired. Minzy offered to help Don win Sora’s heart, which means Deukkie is in an even more difficult situation, impersonating his macho brother while trying to contain his feelings for Minzy.

Now back to the story

 

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Tablo and Haru were walking along the halls in the YG HQ, the little girl skipping ahead of her dad with excitement.

“Yes, I know you want to see Jiyong – oppa. Let’s hope he is around here, ok? He’s a busy guy.”

“I really really want to see him! And I know he is busy, he is the best rapper and singer right now! Daeback!”

“What did you say? The best?”

“Neh!” Haru cheered for her idol with an energetic clap.

“Are you sure?”

“Neh!” An even more reassuring confirmation came again.

“Better than me?”

Haru scrutinized her dad, who made her wonder for a second. However she quickly proceeded to answer with the same cheerful confidence as before:

“Neh!”

“BETTER THAN YOUR OWN DAD?!”

Tablo abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway and gave his daughter a distressful look.

“Eh, appa, I like you too! But GD-oppa is my favorite!” Haru smiled innocently and started walking ahead again.

“Aish, chimcha, betrayed by your own child! Have kids they say, they will give you all their love, they say!” The vexed father run behind his daughter, trying to catch up with her energetic pace.

 

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“Dara-unnie!!” Haru enthusiastically exclaimed while running into Dara’s arms.

“Hey little one! What’s my favorite girl doing?”

The two of them met about halfway through the hall and hugged tightly.

“Am I really your favorite, unnie? You know, I also got a favorite!” With these last words, Haru’s rosy cheeks flushed with a fresh wave of color. “He’s . . . he’s GD-oppa!”

Upon hearing that well-known name, Dara’s face involuntarily gave away a queasy, annoyed microexpresion. Tablo gave her an apologetic look:

“Ah, this kid, she has some nerve! I’m sorry but I think she kind of has a celebrity crush.”

“Ah, really? Ha ha, so cute.” Dara uncomfortably giggled, hoping for a quick change of subject. “So what brings you guys here?”

“Ah, just the usual business. A quick check-up on things before I get some time off. So, I thought I should also bring this little one along for a visit.”

“It was a great idea” Dara fondly patted Haru’s head.

“Can you girls hang out together for a bit? I need to talk with the staff from the Media Center right here.” He pointed to the door behind him. “Will you take care of her for me? It only takes a few minutes.”

“Sure, no problem! Go away already; we’ll have some fun together!” Dara crouched down to Haru’s level and embraced her from behind.

“Thanks a lot!” Tablo pushed the door behind him and disappeared inside.

The girls were now smiling at each other.

“Whoaa, this jacket is so cool, daeback! You’re a real fashion icon!” Dara pointed at the cool leather jacket that Haru was wearing.

“Thank you, unnie! I am so much better dressed than you, right? Look at your cap, unnie! It doesn’t even go with the outfit!”

What did you just say, gurl?! We should take it easy with such big, drastic affirmations! HA! But how can anybody resist this type of boundary-less sincerity that children have?! It’s adorable!

“Ha, ha, yes, you are right! I can’t compete with you!” Dara chuckled, amused with the kid’s straightforward affirmations.

Their conversation was however interrupted when the Media Center’s door was opened, revealing not Tablo, as one would have expected, but another person. The guy was an employee from the respective office.

“Oh, hello Dara-shi! Hi there, Haru!”

“Hello Dong-Il!” Sandara promptly replied.

“It’s great I ran into you actually. I have something urgent to discuss with you, Dara-shi. We have to talk about the kiss p –“

“Look unnie, he is also badly dressed! His shirt is so baggy!” Haru’s acid remark cut off Dong-Il before he could finish his sentence.

What had been said until that moment was nonetheless more than enough to trigger an alarm response in Dara. She nudged Haru to make her understand that it was not a good time to intervene and then froze still.

This is it. This is the moment. I’ve been thinking all along I had to search and find this man, when it turns out he was the one who would come straight to me. He MUST be the one I kissed. He found me.

She stared horrified at the men before her and struggled to speak:

“Do – do you think it’s ok to talk about this sort of stuff in front of a child? Maybe we can meet later and discuss in detail . . .”

“Excuse me?!” Dong-Il was baffled.

“You know, it’s not appropriate for adults to speak about, uhm, personal matters in front of little kids . . .”

Haru, who had been heedlessly listening to the conversation all along, had at this point caught on to something. Sensing the weird atmosphere, she figured out quickly what the subject of the conversation must’ve been. She was a very smart kid after all. So she suddenly intervened:

“Did you kiss Dara-unnie? Are you dating? My appa and omma kiss all the time. They are married. When will you get married?” The little girl’s bold inquisition caught the two adults off-guard, leaving them in a silent mixture of apprehensive awkwardness.

First one that broke the silence was a stammering Dong-Il.

“Kiss?! . . . Dating?! . . . MARRIAGE?! What’s going on guys?! Is this some kind of game?! I was just talking about your Kiss PERFORMANCE Dara-shi! The one from your Filipino show?! I’ve finished editing the video and I just wanted to show you the final version . . .”

My kiss performance?! MY KISS PERFORMANCE, OF COURSE!!! KISS AS IN MY SONG! HE’S THE ONE WHO EDITS ALL MY PERFORMANCE VIDEOS! GODS OF DRUNKEN MISTAKES, YOU HAVE LISTENED TO MY PRAIERS AGAIN!

“I am so sorry for the misunderstanding! Don’t listen to Haru, ha ha! Children will always ask the most inappropriate questions, right? She’s just fooling around . . .”

Dong-Il rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort.

“Yeah, right . . . Gotta love children . . .”

Before the scene could get any more embarrassing, the same door from behind them opened yet again and Tablo walked in while talking on the phone. His tone was rather serious and concerned, drastically different from his initial cheerful mood that he left the girls in. He spoke explicitly:

“I don’t understand, why can’t you take care of this on your own? . . . You need my signature? Today?! I can’t! . . . You need it right now?! Impossible! . . . Ok, ok, calm down, I’m coming right now, then. Wait there!”

He hang up.

“What happened dad?”

Tablo had a regretful look on his face.

“I’m afraid our plans for the day must be postponed, my darling. There’s a problem with some paperwork at HIGHGRND and they urgently need me to sort things out. I have to go right away, I want things to always go smoothly with this label, it matters greatly to me.” He then addressed Dara. “Can you help me keep an eye on her until I return? I’ll finish the business much faster if she remains here.”

“Yes! No worries, leave her with me. Hurry and leave now!”

“Thank you so much! I owe you one! Good bye guys!” Haru’s appa waved good bye and rushed to the exit.

Dong-Il also planned to leave, as he started to awkwardly tip toe away, while whispering something in haste to Dara:

“Anyway, we’ll talk later about the video Dara-shi . . . I have to go too . . . See you later!”

Both girls said their farewells and were now left alone.

Dara was all of a sudden absorbed in her own thoughts. After spending some time in the company of Haru, she witnessed the immense power a child’s harmless frankness can have. Now her brain was working at full speed, cooking a new brilliant idea that’d just blossomed in her head.

This little human right here just bluntly asked a stranger if he shared a kiss with me . . . Wouldn’t it be so much easier for society if grown-ups could be just as straightforward too? I could literally just go around and simply ask people if they were the one that kissed me.

Dara threw a shrewd look to Haru.

Well, although I cannot do this sort of things, I’ve fortunately found somebody perfect for the job. Little Haru here can literally go ahead and ask anybody anything, no matter how absurd. People can’t get bothered by a child’s innocent curiosity.

“Haru, darling, would you help auntie Dara with something?”

The girl lifted her gaze to her unnie, revealing a quizzical yet engrossed expression. She promptly replied:

“Do you need fashion advice, unnie? First thing you’ll have to do is to get rid of the cap.”

“HA HA, thanks darling, but no.” She then lowered her voice and spoke more gravely. “I need your help with a serious issue. You know how you just asked Dong Il, uhm . . . how you asked him if he has ever kissed me? I need you to do that again. I want you to ask other people the same question.”

“Ok unnie.” Haru candidly responded.

“REALLY? You’ll help me?! Oh my god, thank you!”

“Sure, unnie, I’ll help. But what’s in it for me?”

EH?! CHIMCHA!? This girl is hella SMART.

“Oh, uhm . . . well, what would you want?”

“Hmmm. I want to see uncle Jiyong so bad! Please, I really want to see him!”

Ugh. Not that idiot again. What’s so great about that crippled monkey anyway?! But fine, whatever. As long as I get to cut some of the many names from my list, it’s fine.

“Ok then, we’ll pay him a visit later.”

“YAY!” Haru’s lips formed into a bright smile.

“Now let’s go find out who’s working today. I’ll start talking to some people and when I nudge you, I’ll give you the signal to ask about the kiss, ok?”

“Neh, unnie.”

Dara pulled her phone out her pocket and checked the list with the names of the people that were both an employee of the company and had been present at the party.

Just then, somebody entered the hallway and silently walked by, bowing and politely saluting the two girls as he passed near them.

Dara raised her gaze from the phone and locked her eyes on the moving silhouette. She quickly recognized him: Cheol Soo from Accounting. His name was on the list.

“Cheol Soo-shi! Wait a second!” she started running towards him, dragging Haru after her. “I have something to discuss with you!”

 

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The girls’ investigation had turned the whole building upside down. Wondering around the headquarters, whenever they came across a person that Dara recognized on her list, the plan was put into practice. Haru had ruthlessly asked about a dozen of employees if they ever tasted Dara’s lips, while Dara herself would study every man’s reaction, trying to deduce if they were showing any signs of guilt. But the job was getting tedious for Haru, who was demanding all sorts of little favors in order to continue with the asking. Dara had to provide the girl with raspberry flavored lollipops from the cafeteria, she had to break into a studio and let the kid imaginarily record her very own mixtape for a full half an hour and let’s not forget that Dara also stole a microphone that the kid desired from the audio room. And all this work with no luck. Nobody was betrayed by any suspicious reaction. Don’t get me wrong, they did get all sorts of reaction. Everybody was either astounded, left speechless or at very least stammering, or, the other way around: they received the question lightheartedly, getting amused and laughing at the sudden, bizarre inquiry. But nobody looked like the question made any sense to them.

This was still a good thing, as Dara was able to eliminate a bunch of names and reduce her long list a little.

But Haru was able to take only so much. It wasn’t long before she got extremely bored with doing the same thing over and over again, so she refused to continue and demanded instead what she was promised.

“Auntie Dara, you said we will go to see GD oppa. I want to see GD oppa right now! “

“But things were going so well! We can’t just stop now!”

“I am bored of this, unnie. I want GD oppa! Please!”

Dara pouted but eventually gave in.

“Fine, we’ll go to GD oppa then. We went through quite a lot of people, after all. Also, you have to know, you can’t tell anybody about what we did today, ok?”

“And what do I get in return for keeping this secret?”

YAAAAAAAHHHH! You little rascal! This is blackmail!!!

“What ELSE could you waaaaant?!” Dara whined in despair.

Haru contemplated for a brief moment.

“Right now, I can’t think of anything for the moment. Guess you’ll just have to do whatever I ask for for the rest of the day and we’ll see what else I feel like doing in the future.”

Unbelievable!

Dara struggled to conceal her offense and to comply with the situation instead.

“Ok, whatever. I’ve been doing it all day anyway.”

The duo proceeded next to the floor of Jiyong’s studio and knocked on the door. A quick “Come in” resonated back.

“Great. You’re in luck. He is here” Dara reluctantly opened the door and Haru busted in.

The little girl then froze in the middle of the room, with blushing cheeks and a shy smile playing on her face. GD turned around in his chair to see the newcomers.

“Hi there sweetie! Come and give uncle Jiyong a hug!”

He spread his arms waiting for an embrace, when Haru swiftly ran to him and buried her face in his lap in embarrassment.

“Oh, I missed you too!” Jiyong couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

“How are you feeling, oppa? Is your leg better?” Haru asked with sincere concern, as her eyes spotted GD’s plaster cast.

“Yes, thank you for your worry. It will take a few more weeks before I can walk again, but I’ll live.”

“But isn’t it hard to get around?”

“It is, but I use my crutches, see?” GD pointed at the crutches pair next to his desk.

“Oh but oppa must have trouble with many other things as well. You must have a hard time getting dressed, right?”

“It is quite difficult, I’ll admit, since you asked.” He chuckled, pleasantly surprised with the child’s serious interest in his wellbeing. “Actually, I’ve been quite chaotic with my fashion lately. I tend to choose clothes that I can easily get into and have no struggle with putting and taking of. I guess my style also has to suffer through this recovery period.”

Haru suddenly looked stupefied, gasping in shock.

“What do you mean oppa!? This can’t be happening! How can you give up fashion! You are a style icon! The best dressed person in the world! I draw all my inspiration from you!”

Dara, who stood in the shadows silently at the entrance, couldn’t help but huff indignantly.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that big of a deal, little one. Don’t worry, I’ll wear fancy outfits again soon enough!” Jiyong was totally amused with the magnitude of the problem.

Haru looked with dissatisfaction at what GD was wearing: a huge black hoodie and baggy pants. A humble outfit that somewhat resembled a beggar. A hella rich beggar because of course the clothes were still hella expensive, no matter how lousy they were looking on him.

“But this is not Jiyong uncle! My uncle Jiyong would always look polished, sophisticated and put together. A fashion king! Oppa, please, you’ll lose your will to live if you keep up like this!”

“Wow, wow, ok, maybe you are right. I shouldn’t lose my practice.” GD replied, ever still chuckling, but also playing along with the girl’s suggestion.

“That’s right! You should change into something better, right now! Let’s get oppa back in shape!”

“Right now? I don’t even know if I have other clothes around here . . . There must be something in the deposit though. “He reached out for his crutches, intending to stand up and search for the clothes, but Haru intervened and quickly shoved him back into his chair.

“No oppa! You can’t make any effort, you are injured! Dara unnie, go find an outfit and bring it here.”

“EH?” Dara raised one eyebrow, much offended.

“There’s no need for that, I’ll just go get them myself –“but Jiyong was interrupted once again.

“Oppa, no! You have to rest and recover! Dara will get it for you! She HAS to!” Stressing hard on the last sentence, Haru glared at Dara and put one finger to her lips, reminding her about the price she had to pay for secrecy. Dara had no choice.

“FINE! I’ll do it!” but before she could even leave, Haru had yet another intrusion:

“Wait! Actually, I’d better go with you. It will be a disaster if you choose the outfit. I mean, only a capable fashionista like me can know what to pick for G-dragon himself!”

Dara didn’t wait to hear more and just immediately left the room while grumbling morosely.

 

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The girls returned with an impressive, elaborated outfit, carefully chosen by Haru. It was quite obvious the child had no shame with self-praising, but her skills undoubtedly lived up to the hype. She decided upon a layered look, a logo T-shirt over a long sleeved turtle neck. Tight leather pants were the perfect bottom to match. Of course, to finish off the look, they also brought some mandatory accessorize and a posh pair of sneakers. It was an amazing outfit.

“We’re back oppa! You’re going to love these!”

“I can’t wait!” Jiyong smiled brightly at the excited girl.

“These will look perfect on you! You have to put them on immediately! Now c’mon Dara-unnie, change him into the new clothes!”

Dara’s jaw dropped to the floor. Jiyong widened his eyes in shock.

“WHAT?!?” they both shrieked in unison.

“You just said you have problems when you get dressed. I wasn’t going to just bring you an outfit you can’t even put on! Dara will help you change!”

“NAAAA HUH! NOT ON YOUR LIFE, GIRL! I AIN’T TOUCHING HIM!” a torrent of outcries poured from Dara’s mouth.

“I fully agree with her, she doesn’t have to touch me! Please don’t let her touch me! I’ll go in another room and change!”

GD and Dara were over the top panicking.

“Don’t be silly oppa, you need assistance! You can’t do it by yourself!” Haru then glared again at Dara. “Unnie, you WILL DO as I say!”

Dara was left speechless. She seized the clothes with rage and went with them to Jiyong. They threw an awkward glance at each other before GD proceeded to take off his hoodie.

“NO! I said Dara must do it! You don’t have to bother, oppa!”

G-dragon’s face contortioned into the most uncomfortable looking grimace ever.

“Oh my god, let’s just pretend you are a little child and I help you change. Don’t make matters worse.”

Dara took the bottom of his hoodie and pulled it over his head. With a fully exposed grown-man’s torso now displayed in front of her, Dara’s eyes couldn’t refrain from studying the fine lines of this body. She froze for a second, staring at his abdomen.

“Hey, my eyes are up here.” Jiyong snorted.

Dara frowned meanly at him and quickly seized the blouse to help him put it on.

“This too.” She dressed him with the T-shirt too. When his head reappeared through the neck opening, their faces were so close to each other that their eyes met for an intense moment. In order to break the eye contact, Dara quickly Jiyong’s ruffled hair to allegedly fix it. She then quickly took a large step back.

“This looks great oppa!” Haru cheered.

Dara suddenly stopped and hesitated before continuing with the next step. The awkward part was only now about to begin. She looked down at his lap knowing what was up next: the pants.

“You can do it. I’m just a kid and you help me change, remember?” GD tried to encourage her.

Dara’s hands reached cautiously to his belt. She unbuckled the belt and opened the pants’ zipper in haste, wishing for that part to pass as quickly as possible. She crouched down and started pulling the trouser legs.

“Lift your a little”

Jiyong was soon left in his boxers.

Next, Dara grabbed and exposed the leather jeans, realizing at the same time that it will be close to impossible to shove a cast into the tight fabric. She put the leg on the healthy side, not without a fair share of struggle, and proceeded to try and finish the job.

“You’ll have to help me with this one. Push your foot inside!”

And so he did, but not much happened. Only the cast’s tip made it inside the pant leg.

“Push harder!”

Jiyong kicked his foot as hard as he could, but to no avail. The cast wasn’t moving much.

“I think we’ll have to switch positions – “GD stammered. “I mean I think you’d better pull frim behind, instead.”

“Uhm, yea, it might work.”

Dara circled Jiyong’s chair and clumsily hugged him from behind, trying to pull the pants up his leg.

“Come on, unnie, oppa must be feeling cold!”

“I’M TRYING!”

The injured foot was now halfway through inside, which was quite a progress. But it was stuck once again.

“You need more force; you can’t grasp the jeans properly if you are behind my back. Come sit in my lap – I MEAN – it will be easier to grab hold of them from the front!"

“Whatever, just let’s get it over with!”

Dara bestrode GD’s legs, as though he were a horse. She had both of her feet steadily fixed on the ground, ready to withstand her position. Jiyong was the one backhugging her now, as they both started pulling the pants up strenuously. After this final joint colossal effort, the cast eventually miraculously popped at the end of the leg.

“YES! WE DID IT!”

“FINALLY IT’S DONE!”

In a moment of excessive joy and relief, Jiyong and Dara high-fived and hugged each other, but they quickly retracted and returned back to their reluctant attitudes upon realizing what they were doing.

“Oppa, you’re looking excellent!” Haru clapped her little hands in admiration. “Unnie, doesn’t he look handsome!”

“Oh, uhm, yeah, sure, he does . . .” Dara rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well, thank you . . .”

Right after this awkward scene unraveled, the door of the studio opened again and Daesung entered the room.

“Hi Jiyong, any progress with the song we were talking about – oh, Dara . . . Haru? Hello guys!”

“Hi Daesung!”

“Hello oppa!”

Haru greeted and went to hug Daesung. When they parted, the girl stopped and stared at his face prolongably.

“What’s wrong?” He asked concerned.

“Oppa, your face reminds me of a fish!”

“Huh?!” Daesung quizzically pouted and scowled at the child.

“Look oppa! With this sullen look on your face you look just like a fish! You are Uncle Fish!”

“Oh, great, thank you. I’m in a point in my life when I’ll rather just drown anyway, so I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“You’re welcome Uncle Fish!” Haru smiled innocently while Dara and GD were giggling in the background.

“You remind me of the ocean, oppa. Now I am thirsty! Can I have some water, please!” she pulled his shirt, pleading.

“Yeah, sure, let’s get you a glass of water.”

“Dara-unnie, you are dismissed. I’ll hang out with Uncle Fish for now!”

“YAH! Ok we got it but you need to stop calling me this!” Daesung revolted.

“Okay, Haru-yah. Go with Daesung then. I actually have some other work to do too, so I need to leave as well.” Dara was relieved to be free again. “Uhm, bye Jiyong.” She waved goodbye and disappeared through the door.

“Bye-bye oppa! You look very good!”

Haru took Daesung’s hand and they also left the room, hand in hand.

Jiyong was now alone again. He looked at his new clothes in admiration.

Well, Haru was right though. I do feel much better now! This outfit looks fantastic! It’s like I almost forgot I even have a cast on! Fashion is the best medicine!

But when his eyes laid on his injured foot, he stared at the cast in horror, realizing that he still had it firmly fixed on his leg.

OH NO, DAMMIT! HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO TAKE THESE PANTS OF NOW?! I’LL BE STUCK IN THEM FOREVER!

 

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Before getting a glass of water, Dara instructed Daesung to take care of the child, explaining how Tablo should return for her in a short time. Haru and Daesung then bumped into Minzy after a while, and they were now all wasting some time together, taking turns with supervising the girl.

“Isn’t she an angel?” Minzy gently caressed Haru’s hair as the kid sat soundly in her lap.

“Pffff, what kind of angel hinders my love from blooming? She is playing games on MY phone. What if I get a text from Yuri and I can’t answer? What if I don’t even know I got a message? I can’t stay like this, without knowing right away!” Daesung ranted and fidgeted around nervously, trying to peek at the screen of his phone, which was in Haru’s little hands.

“Why are you soooooo dramatic?! Don’t be a freakin pig! Let her play, she’s a kid!” Minzy smacked Daesung mockingly.

“He’s a fish unnie, not a pig. Uncle Fish!” The child calmly spoke.

“YAH STOP CALLING ME –“

Minzy hit him again and aggressively scream-whispered at him:

“This is the only way we managed to keep her still for a moment. DON’T RUIN IT. And stop being so up-tight, you’re so annoying lately!”

“I’m sorry.” Dae sighed deeply. “We can’t choose who we love, right?”

“Tumblr called. They want their emo life-reflecting quotes back.”

A crooked smile broke on Daesung’s lips. Minzy returned the smile, satisfied that she could cheer her friend up a little.

“Let’s change the subject ok? I have something that keeps on bothering me lately. I am worried for Chaerin unnie.”

“Chaerin? Why? What happened?”

Minzy affectionately Haru’s hair again, while her expression turned from bright to grim, flooded with a wave of genuine concern.

“It’s just that . . . Uh, this will sound silly. But l think I am on to something. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. But it’s not pretty.”

Daesung frowned:

“What do you mean? Tell me what you have.”

“Well, nothing clear at the moment. But I think she has some sort of a problem with Seungri. Haven’t you seen how much they’ve been arguing in the last couple of months?”

“Eh, Seungri tends to get on everyone’s nerves.” Dae tried to brush it off.

“Yeah, but, it seems to be different with Chaerin unnie. To me, they seem like they are actually seriously arguing all the time. They don’t have any normal conversations; every word they exchange is either a taunt or a holler.”

This had Daesung thinking:

“Hmm, now that you point this out, it’s quite true.” His eyes fell upon the colorful flashing screen held by the child, who has been all along playing unbothered. “You know, this phone used to be Seungri’s, right?” He head-gestured to the device.

Minzy pulled Haru closer in her lap and leaned her head on the child’s shoulder, so that she could also look at the screen better: “Yeah, I know.”

“Well, I found some bizarre messages between CL and Seungri on it. Now that I think of them, it really looks like Chaerin is being seriously bothered by the maknae. I remember I saw the words << annoying habit >> written in bold, quite a few times. This means she is pretty irritated with him. Do you think Seungri started to persistently bully CL, for real?”

Minzy’s eyes lit up instantly. She could not believe there was real proof that something was going on.

“Oh my god! REALLY?! Show me quickly! I knew something was off!”

“Ah, well, I deleted the messages. I needed the phone empty.”

Minzy’s jaw dropped to the floor: “YOU. DID. WHAT.”

“Yeah, I have only one conversation saved, the one with Yuri. I keep only the things that matter.”

“SO PROOF THAT YOUR OWN FRIEND IS BEING ASSAULTED IS NOT IMPORTANT?! MICHYEOSSEO?!”

And this time, Minzy hit Daesung for good, making the poor guy twitch in pain.

“AUCH! OH MY GOD HOW CAN YOU BE SO VIOLENT IN FRONT OF A CHILD?! YOU MONSTER!”

The child in question was serenely, yet tactfully typing away her little fingers on the screen, fully immersed in the challenging game, while the yelling around her only intensified.

“OH SHUT UP! I can’t believe this! You deleted EVERYTHING?! ”

Dae was half-afraid to even answer the question, so he just nodded in guilt.

“What were you thinking!?! How could you not realize something was wrong!?!” Minzy was very much indignant with his inexplicable course of action. “Did you at least read the conversation? What else were they talking about?”

“READ THEIR PRIVATE MESSAGES?!” Daesung threw his hands in the air, looking absolutely insulted. “What kind of a friend do you think I am? I am revolted!”

“Uhm, THE KIND THAT DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HIS CLOSE ONES WELLBEING?!”

Minzy’s glare could’ve lit up a woodpile and start a bonfire. Daesung fell into a remorseful silence.

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t think of it.” He sincerely apologized. “Why don’t you just ask Chaerin about it if you think something is wrong?”

“I did. She won’t tell me anything. She says it’s nothing.” Minzy sighed. “Guess I’ll have to further investigate the problem.”

“Here is your phone, Uncle Fish. I beat every level. I’ll go play with Uncle Seungri now!” Haru jumped off Minzy’s lap and handed Daesung his phone back.

“You finished the game?! HOW ON EARTH!?” Daesung exclaimed in disbelief as his eyes followed the little silhouette exiting the room. “I’VE BEEN STUCKED AT LEVEL 2 FOR 3 MONTHS!”

“So you deleted the messages but kept this freaking game? What kind of system of priorities do you have?!” Minzy remarked and waved Haru good-bye.

 

____________________________________________

 

“Couple rings?! Couple rings are stupid! Couple rings are the most idiotic thing on this planet! How can you call them cute?!”

Seungri went ballistic when Chaerin had casually showed him an ad with personalized couple rings from her instagram feed.

“Calm the down! I didn’t say anything! I was just showing them to you! Still, I don’t think it’s that bad of an idea. I’ve seen couples wearing them and they look cute!”

“It’s completely outrageous! What kind of a cringy, corny couple likes these kind of things?!”

CL rolled her eyes in disagreement.

“It’s just a way in which people show their affection. I find it very sweet. Do you think that showing your feelings to somebody is idiotic?!”

“AGH, no but . . . “Seungri sighed. “It’s just . . . I don’t think we need this kind of useless shams to confirm our relationship. You know very well that my feelings for you are real.”

“I wouldn’t mind being reminded about it from time to time . . .”

Seungri put on an apologetic smile.

“I’ll just tell you right now then. So listen carefully.” He took Chaerin’s hand in his and looked straight into her eyes. “I . . . I love you.”

CL smiled complacently. She cupped his face and leaned in for a warm kiss.

Now let’s guess who just walked in on them in the very next second, ruining their perfectly cheesy moment. Haru busted in with a joyful look on her face and boldly set forth what was on her mind, upon only seeing Seungri’s back as he embraced CL:

“Hello uncle Seungri! Hello Chaerin auntie! Why are adults so obsessed with kissing? I don’t see what’s so great about it.”

“KISSING?! NOBODY WAS KISSSING ANYBODY HERE!” Seungri jerked himself away from CL in a flash.

“But oppa, I just heard you say you love Chaerin unnie. I know that when two adults love each other, they start kissing. My appa and omma kiss all the time, you know?”

“I DID NOT SAY SUCH THING! I DON’T LOVE ANYBODY!” Seungri hollered in panic.

“Who do you say you love, Seungri?” Taeyang just entered the room, having heard the conversation from beforehand, as soon as he approached the widely opened door.

“Uncle Seungri loves auntie CL!” Haru merrily answered the question for him.

The boy desperately tried to deny all allegations:

“NO NO NO! I NEVER SAID SUCH THING! I SAID – I SAID I –" he stuttered with a halting voice. “I SAID I LOATHED HER!”

CL smiled bitterly and remained silent.

“What?” Taeyang asked with disbelief.

“YEAH! I LOATHE YOU! That’s what I said! And the kid misheard it for love. There are absolutely no positive emotions to worry about here!"

“And how it’s that a good thing!?!” Taeyang marveled at Seungri’s audacious words.

Chaerin stepped in to try and mitigate the situation.

“Don’t worry Taeyang, we always bicker like this. I can’t stand him either!” She raised her voice and frowned seriously at Seungri while saying the last sentence. “So tell us what’s up?”

Taeyang blinked a couple of times in confusion before answering to the question:

“Well, I came here searching for Haru. Daesung and Minzy told me she went to visit Seungri. Her dad is downstairs, he came to pick her up.”

“Appa came back?! Let’s go to him then!” Haru leaped towards the exit, briskly followed by Taeyang.

“Good bye oppa! Good bye unnie! See you later!”

After the pair was once again alone, the atmosphere became grim. Chaerin turned to her boyfriend, crossed her arms and shook her head in disappointment.

“I’m sorry. I panicked . . .”