• DARA •

 

"Chaerin, I am not getting on that thing." I cross my arms and stare wide-eyed at the red motorbike in front of me.

 

"C'mon," chaerinpouts. "jiyoung let me borrow it. Better make the most of it." sHe throws her leg over the bike, patting the other half of the seat behind her.

 

I shake me head, taking a step back. "No way! Have you ever even driven one of those before?!" chaerin chuckles. "No...but I can learn. C'mon, dara. I'll drive you home."

 

"chaerin, that thing's a death trap!" I fuss. sHe reaches out for my hand and takes it, pulling me closer. "You'll be safe with me. You're always safe with me." sHe motions to the back.

 

"Hop on." I bite my lip but jump on anyways, my arms instinctively wrapping themselves around chaerin's waist.

 

"What about a helmet?!" I question.

 

"Don't have one."

 

"But-"

 

"Hold on." sHe orders. I hold onto her tighter, resting my head on her back and squeezing my eyes shut as I hear the engine start.

 

"Here we go!" chaerin says and I squeal. I can feel the wind on my face already as he rides through the streets.

 

I keep my eyes shut the entire time, praying to make it home safely.

 

"And..." chaerin brings the motorbike to a stop. "Safe."

 

I peek through my eyelids, expecting to see my house. But instead I see that she's parked in front of some studio-like building.

 

"Where are we?" I ask her, slowly getting off the motorbike.

 

" YG BUILDING. I want to show something." sHe hops off and wounds her fingers around mine, leading me towards the building. sHe takes a small key out of her pocket and unlocks the front doors, stepping instead. He leads me to a door with 'Lee Chaerin ' engraved on it. I follow her inside to find the room to be some kind of recording studio.

 

"What is it you wanna show me?" I question her.

 

"I wrote something," sHe tells me and then smiles. "For you."

 

I blush as she grabs what looked like a CD off a table and handed it to me.

 

"Listen to this whenever you need me and I'm not around." sHe whispers. "It'll keep you with me even when I'm not physically with you." I smile, pressing my lips to his cheek. "I love you."

 

sHe grins. "I love you more than you'll ever imagine." sHe responds and flops down on a small couch leather couch, pulling me onto her lap.

 

sHe takes me off guard when she begins to sing, singing the lyrics into my ear while carressing my cheek.

 

" Saeroun mannameun sirheo waenji mollado Yeojeonhi nega manhi miwo ajikdo Unmyeong gatdeon mannami Ijen nimeseo nami" sHe gives me a soft kiss on my neck before continuing. " Doeeo tteonagasseo ajikdo maemdoneun neoui hyanggi We used to be all turnt up Urin meoreojyeosseo jeomjeom Neon anira haetjiman dugo bwa Sarangui yeokjeon Oneuldo oechyeo Geujeoncheoreom lets go Apeuro rewind Cheoeumeuro x o"

 

I turn my face, resting my forehead against her's.

 

" Ajikdo neol itji motago inneun nae moseubi na sirheunde Ijeuryeo ijeuryeo haedo geuge andwae everyday Neo animyeon an doendago Kkeuchiran isseul su eopdago"

 

" It aint over til its over It aint over til its over It aint over til it's"

 

her lips meet mine and she kisses me softly inbetween lyrics.

 

"Neoui sarangi nal mangchyeodo nal apeuge handaedo Naegen ojik neo hanappun Nae sarangeun neoro sijakhae neoro kkeutna I jarie waiting for you"

 

sHe stops singing, distracted as she kisses me deeper. her hand slips to my back and pulls me closer, her lips moving with mine.

 

I wrap my arms around her neck, kissing her harder. I can feel her tongue against mine as we both get lost in the kiss.

 

I don't even realize that I somehow ended up lying down on the couch, chaerin on top of me. Not that I cared. In fact, I just held her to me, not breaking my lips away from her.

 

"If you're going to do that, get a hotel." A deep voice chortles.

 

chaerin chuckles against my lips, whispering: "jiyoung."

 

I giggle and bring myself to a sitting position, chaerin as well. My cheeks heat up as I look at jiyoung who has an amused look on his face.

 

"I come here to pick up a recording and this is what I get?" He laughs softly and shakes his head.

 

chaerin rolls her eyes and drapes her arm around me. "Can't I kiss the love of my life?"

 

I blush deeper, shifting in my seat. jiyoung smirks. "That looked a hell lot more than just kissing to me."

 

chaerin rolls her eyes but doesn't respond, flashing a smile back at me. I roll my eyes as well, gently nudging her.

 

"Well," chaerin says, standing up and pulling me with her. "We've got to go. See ya around, Ji."

 

"Bye, Jiyoung." I chirp, throwing him a three-finger wave as chaerin pulls me out the door.

 

"Don't crash my motorbike!" jiyoung shouts after us, directing the comment towards chaerin. chaerin laughs. "I'll try not too!" sHe jokes, leading me out the building and to the motorbike.

 

"Please try not too." I beg.

 

"No promises."

 

"CL!"

 

"Kidding." sHe gives me a reassuring kiss. "How many times am I going to have to tell you that you're safe with me for you to believe it?"

 

"Get me home alive and I'll believe you." I tell her.

 

sHe chuckles and hops onto the bike, me after her. I clutch the CD tightly in my hands as I wrap them around chaerin , once again closing my eyes and waiting for the short nightmare to end. I thank god when she pulls the motorbike to a safe stop in my driveway.

 

"Now do you believe me?" sHe asks.

 

I pretend to ponder over the thought. "Hmm...I don't know..." I tease, jumping off the bike. I'm about to start walking towards my porch when she gently grabs my wrist and pull me back, her lips absentmindly meeting mine.

 

"I trust you." I whisper honestly.

 

"Good." sHe smiles, running her tongue over my bottom lip as she kisses me. I let my lips linger on her for a while before I pull back, blowing her a kiss and trotting up my porch.

 

I hear chae start the engine and I look back, grinning and waving in her direction. sHe waves back, blowing me a kiss as well before driving away.

 

I smile to myself and pry open the door, stepping inside. I start to make my way to the kitchen, craving a banana.

 

But trip over a box instead. A puzzled look falls onto my face as I stare down at the box. There were a couple more stacked along the wall which I hadn't noticed before.

 

"Aunt ?!" I call out.

 

"Yes?" Aunt saunters into the kitchen, leaning against the island. "What is it?"

 

"What's with the boxes?" I ask her, motioning my head in the direction of the boxes.

 

Aunt bites her lip as a nervous look falls onto her face. "I've been meaning to tell you, dara, but...I didn't have the heart."

 

I frown. "Tell me what?"

 

"I got a job offer." She blurts. "It pays well and it's very important to me." She pauses and looks down. "But it's in Philippines."

 

I shrug, flashing her a proud smile. "That's great, Aunt ! You should definitely take it. bom unnie and I will miss you, but-"

 

"dara," She cuts me off. "bom just got her acceptance letter from Chonnam National University . She's gonna be in gwangju . I can't leave you off on your own until you graduate. dara, WE are moving to philippines . I'm sorry I didn't tell you eariler."

 

My mouth drops and I slowly start to shake my head. "No. No, no, no! I can't move! What about chaerin? What about...what about... No!" I throw my hands up in frustration. "I can't leave chaerin!"

 

Aunt gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm really sorry. I've been meaning to tell you for the past two months, but you seemed so happy. I really am sorry, dara. This job is really important."

 

Tears start to stream down my face uncontrollably. "chaerin is really important!"

 

"dara," Aunt sighs. "It's just until you graduate. After that, you're free to do whatever you want with your life."

 

I open my life to argue, my bottom lip trembling, but get choked up on tears instead.

 

"dara," Aunt begins to say but I cut her off, sprinting upstairs and into my room, roughly slamming the door behind me. I fall onto my bed and burst into more tears.

 

This can't be happening to me.