“Hey Ji, where’s Chae?” TOP asked, looking behind Jiyong.

“Don’t ask me.” He said coldly.

“Aww. Did you and little miss hot blonde fight?” Seungri asked playfully but was rewarded by a death glare by Jiyong. “Whoa hyung. I was just joking.” He said backing away.

“Well your joke isn’t even close to being funny.” Jiyong spat out.

“What’s his deal?” TOP whispered to Youngbae.

Youngbae shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s happening too but I think they broke up.” he whispered back.

“WHAT? You serious?!” he asked loudly, startling the other people around. They were at their usual table at school and as usual a lot of people (girls) lingered near their area.

“Keep your ing voice down. You want the dragon unleashed?!” Youngbae harshly whispered.

“Sorry.” TOP smiled shyly at everyone and turned back to Youngbae. “You’re kidding right?”

“Wish I was. But that’s what Chae told me. And this idiot here hasn’t said anything about it and it’s been two days already.”

TOP just nodded his head. Who would’ve thought they’d split. Jiyong was clearly still hung up. He felt bad though. How could he not know this stuff? Well, probably because the last time he saw Jiyong was at the club. “Well that . Chaerin’s great.” TOP said.

“I know right.” All they could do was wonder. What really happened? Jiyong hadn’t spoken to them about any of it. He was a no show for the past couple of days and was actually a surprise he showed today.

“So what’s your plan today, Ji?” TOP asked cautiously.

Jiyong just shrugged. “I don’t know. Just wanted to get out of the house and all you nerds are here so whatever.” He had his other persona again. The one they saw about a year ago and wished they’d never see again but it was right there in front of them.

“You going to class?” Youngbae asked.

“Tsk. Hell no.” Jiyong said still ice cold. He was so tempted to just get his pack of cigarette and smoke one but he was thinking about Youngbae. It was his school and he didn’t want to give a bad impression to Youngbae’s parents. They might not let him hang with him anymore. He wouldn’t risk that.

“So what’re you gonna do?”

“I gotta go.” Jiyong said abruptly, stood up and left without another word.

“What the hell…” Daesung said. They all just watched him rush towards the parking lot.

“What was that all about?” Seungri asked. He kept his mouth shut the whole time Jiyong was there because he didn’t wanna be on the receiving end of his tantrums.

“They broke up.” TOP said.

“Holy .” Seungri said surprised.

“Well that explains a lot.” Daesung said. “No wonder Minzy’s always going to Chaerin’s house. She’s even sleeping there now.”

“Whoa. I totally did not see that coming.” Seungri said, still shocked.

“No one did, kiddo.” TOP said.

“When? And what happened?” Curiosity built up in Seungri.

“I was wondering if you could use your stalking skills to find out.” Youngbae said.

“Observing skills, hyung!” Seungri pouted.

“Whatever you want to call it. It’s still stalking to me.”

Seungri just glared at him, making Youngbae laugh.

“Hi mom.” Jiyong said, laying down the flowers he bought. “Long time no see huh?” he said, chuckling alone. “I’m sorry I haven’t been coming. I got no excuse really, except that I’m a coward.” He knelt down and bowed. “I miss you so much. Every day I wish you were still here. Every day I wish I wouldn’t have asked you to come to that stupid battle.” He choked and tears start to form. “I’m so sorry mom. It’s all my fault.” He said, now crying. He continued to cry until he felt someone hold his shoulder. He immediately turned his head around, not caring about what he looked like right now.

There standing over him was his father, looking pained.

“Appa…” he managed to say. The word felt so foreign on his lips. It had been so long since he used it and never thought he would use it again.

“Son. Stop crying now.” His father said, wiping his own tears. “Your mom wouldn’t want to see you crying.”

Jiyong hastily wiped his face with his jacket sleeve and stood up facing his father. He was shocked to see him there. “What’re you doing here?” he asked, still trying to calm.

“Same as you son, I’m visiting your mom too.” His dad said, looking down to the ground where just over a year ago, they’d laid his mother to rest.

They didn’t talk for a while and just settled in the quiet that surrounded them. For the first time in a long time, being with his father didn’t make him feel like such a disappointment or didn’t make him feel burdened of being the one who caused all this tragedy to their family.

“Jiyong” his father looked at him, still with teary eyes. It was the first time he saw his father cry since the funeral. “Son, I never blamed you.” He said and that made the dam burst. Jiyong uncontrollably let out a wounded whimper and his knees gave out, making him kneel again and just cry in his hands.

Those were the words he had been desperately trying to hear for the past year. It was what he needed to feel loved and comforted. It was what he needed to somewhat move on.

His father knelt beside him and took him in a hug. “I’m so sorry if I ever let you feel like I blamed you for what happened but I never. I’m so sorry son. I know there’s no excuse for me being a ty father to you this past year and I’m sorry for that too. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me son.” His father was crying now too.

They just stayed like that for a long time. Crying while hugging each other. Letting go of all the hatred and hurt. Moving on.

“Your sister told me you have a girlfriend.” His father initiated the conversation. They were now in the confines of their home, eating dinner. They left the cemetery after talking for what seemed like hours and getting past all their issues.

“Had.” Jiyong said, acting like it was nothing but deep inside, it was everything. It was funny really. Just when one problem of his life got resolved, another big one just popped in. Guess life didn’t want it easy on him.

“Oh…” his dad said looking apologetic. “Well, that’s too bad. Your sister spoke very fondly of her. It seems like she really liked her.”

“Let’s not talk about it.” Jiyong said, not in the mood. He didn’t wanna spoil his newly established relationship with his father by lashing out because of Chaerin.

“Okay then. Oh, your sister’s coming home tomorrow. Wanna fetch her from the airport with me?” His father said, sounding overly excited so Jiyong couldn’t refuse the offer. He didn’t have anything better to do anyway.

“Sure dad.”

“I’m really glad we’re okay, son. I missed you.”

Jiyong felt warm inside. Nothing beats a parent’s love.

“Whoa. I never would have imagined coming home to this.” Dami smiled at the pleasant surprise in front of her. There, standing tall were the two most important men in his life.

“How was your trip?” Her father asked as he took her luggage.

“It was awesome! We should go back there sometime! Europe is so beautiful.” She said clapping and jumping up and down while holding her dad.

Always was a daddy’s girl, Jiyong thought.

“Yeah? I’ll see what my schedule can fit.” They’re father said.

“Yasss!” Dami looked at Jiyong. “Yah! Why are you here?” she said nudging his shoulder.

“Ouch noona! Didn’t you miss me?” Jiyong said, holding his shoulder.

“You know I did. But why are you here? aren’t you supposed to be in school or something?”

“We don’t have school today.” he said plainly but Dami can see right through him.

“Liar.” She mouthed.

Jiyong just smirked.

They spent the whole day as a family. Just hanging out and eating. Jiyong actually really enjoyed himself and he was very grateful for his family. They made him happy but he still couldn’t hide the obvious pain in every heartbeat.

“Oh hey! Isn’t that Chaerin?” Dami said excitedly, pointing to the Chanel shop just in front of the restaurant they were eating in. Jiyong immediately looked up as the sound of her name and searched for a blonde but failed to see one. Instead, he saw a dark brown haired girl inside the shop, looking at what seemed to be a Vintage Chanel Necklace.

His breath caught in his lungs. She looked even more beautiful like that. God, he missed her so much. At first he thought she was alone but in just a second a tall guy went to her side and put an arm on her shoulder, looking down too to where she had set her eye on.

That made Jiyong’s blood boil. Who the was that? It was what, 3 days since they split and now this?

“Who’s that?” Dami asked curiously, unashamedly pointing at them.

“I don’t know. I don’t care.” Jiyong said coldly and went back to his food, confusing Dami.

“They broke up.” Their father took the liberty of breaking the news to Dami.

“What?! Why?” Dami whined looking harshly at Jiyong. “I liked her!”

“Then you date her.” Jiyong said.

“If I didn’t have a fiancé, maybe I would, you idiot.” Dami said.

“Enough you two.” Their father scolded, effectively shutting them both up.

“Oh, they’re coming here.” Dami said with a glint of excitement in her eyes.

Jiyong groaned. ‘Oh hell no.’ he knew just what his sister was gonna do.

“Chaerin!” Dami called out, making Jiyong groan louder. He didn’t dare turn his head around but he felt her presence. He always did.

Chaerin was surprised when someone screamed her name. She turned her head and saw Dami excitedly waving her hand at her and in front of her was the unmistakable back of Jiyong. She hadn’t seen him for three days now and she missed him. So much.

She went closer to their table and bowed and as she did she saw another person whom she concluded was their father because of the striking features they shared.

“Hi unnie. Hi Mr. Kwon.” Chaerin said while bowing. She kept a safe distance from their table. Jiyong still hasn’t turned around to look at her. She felt er-punched.

“Hey Chaerin. It’s nice to see you again! You here alone?” Dami asked even if they knew she wasn’t.

“Err, I’m with someone.” She said a bit unsurely.

“I bet you are.” She heard Jiyong say but still he hasn’t turned around to face her.

“You want to eat with us? We have enough space.” Dami offered, looking at that the restaurant was packed.

“Oh, it’s alright unnie.” She said, thankful for the sweet offer.

“Don’t take her away from her date noona. Leave her alone.” Jiyong said loud enough for her to hear and she wished someone really just punched her. It would have hurt less. Way lesser than this. She felt his anger.

“Yah Jiyong!” Dami scolded her brother.

“Chae, I was wondering where you went.” A new voice said and Jiyong fought hard not to look back but he couldn’t. He turned and saw the man who put his arm around her earlier and he can’t help but feel agitated all over again.

He was fairly tall. He had an eye for fashion that’s for sure. He had tattoos on the back of his fingers and Jiyong would bet his life that there were more. A thought suddenly came to Jiyong, maybe Chaerin had a thing for tattoos because Jay definitely had them. It made him sick.

Chaerin was hopeful when he turned around but he never even looked at her way. Remembering her manners, she introduced them.

“This is Xin. Xin this is Jiyong, Dami noona and Mr. Kwon.” Chaerin said politely and Xin bowed.

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you all.” He said respectfully a total contradiction of his image because of all his tattoos.

Jiyong stood up from his seat. He couldn’t take the annoyance anymore. He wished that the guy would be rude but he wasn’t, making his anger rise more.

“I wish I could say the same.” Jiyong said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking at him up and down. He didn’t dare spare a look at Chaerin’s way. He didn’t think he could stop himself from hugging her if he saw her beautiful face.

Chaerin stepped in between the two boys and looked straight at Jiyong who still hasn’t looked at her.

“Ji, can we talk?” she whispered. Just enough for him to hear.

He didn’t respond though. He just smirked and turned back around and sat down, leaving Chaerin standing there with her heart breaking to pieces. Again.

After an awkward goodbye to Jiyong’s father and sister, Chaerin rushed out of the restaurant feeling like her lungs were about to burst. She felt constricted inside and breathing became hard.

“Chae, you alright?” Xin asked as he followed her out.

“I need… I need air.” Chaerin said, looking around for the exit.

“Okay okay. Calm down. Let’s go.” Xin grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the nearest exit he saw.

Cool air brushed her face as soon as they stepped out and she never felt so thankful for the wind.

“Hoooo~” she breathed out heavily and placed her hands on her knees.

“Well… that dude .” Xin said, pulling out a stick of cigarette from a pack. “He looked like he was about to jump me.” He said as he lit the stick.

“Shut up.” Chaerin said still breathing hard. It was a total rush of emotions.

“So that’s Jiyong huh. The that was able to steal your heart?” Xin chuckled, taking a large puff.

Chaerin stayed quiet just taking in the cool air.

“You sure he broke up with you?” Xin asked. “He sure looked pissed with me being with you.”

“Pretty sure. Did you see that a while ago? He didn’t even… he didn’t even look at me.” Chaerin said in a whisper.

“Yeah. Well, hre was too busy giving me deadly glares. I thought I would die.” Xin said with sarcasm.

“You know, sometimes I wish you didn’t come home.” Chaerin said a bit annoyed.

“Hey now. You know I’m just messin’ with you, baby girl.” Xin said, ruffling her hair.

“Aish. Come on, oppa, let’s get outta here. I can’t be here and know he’s here too.” Chaerin said, pulling XIn.

“Come on Ji, that’s enough.” TOP said while grabbing the drink in Jiyong’s hand. Jiyong protested but he’s useless right now, being too inebriated to even look straight.

“You know… You guysss… you should all be carefuuuul! Because women… they can be verrrry tricky. One moment, you think they lllove youuu but think again.” Jiyong drunkenly said to his friends. They weren’t at Sky Lounge tonight as per Jiyong’s request. They were in a small lie low bar where college students rarely come to.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.” Youngbae helped his friend stand but Jiyong pushed him away.

“I’m not done.” He said and took a swig directly from the Jack Daniels bottle.

“Yah!” TOP, once again grabbed the drink and placed it away from him and Jiyong just sat there with a stupid grin on his face.

“Did you know… did you know that she’s moved on already?” Jiyong chuckled bitterly. “Did you know that? She… she… !” Jiyong put his arm over his eyes as he laid back on the couch and his friends can do nothing but watch him self-destruct. It’s been a week that he’s been like this.

“What are you talking about Ji? Chaerin hasn’t moved on. You should have seen her. She was—“ Youngbae was cut off from what he was saying.

“Shut up. Don’t talk about her.” Jiyong suddenly sat up, as if hearing her name suddenly made him lucid.

“Hyung, Chaerin is not over you or whatever you think. She’s always asking about you. You should just talk to her.” Seungri carefully said.

Jiyong scoffed and didn’t believe it even if his heart desperately wanted to.

“Ji, Seungri’s right. You should just talk to her. Both of you are miserable right now.” TOP said. “You wouldn’t want her slipping away from you if you can stop it, don’t you?”

“We don’t know what really happened between you two, hyung. But I really hope you fix it soon. We’re all worried. Minzy’s been asking me to talk to you about it.” Daesung added.

Jiyong didn’t take into heart whatever his friends said because whatever he did. However drunk he got. He still remembered it. That image. That image of Chaerin clinging onto Jay’s arms.

Jiyong just looked blankly at his friends with a sly, twisted grin.

“I chased her long enough. I think it’s time she chases me.”

HEY. Sorry it took so long to update. 

Are you confused? I'm confused too. Haha anyway I'm just going at this with whatever inspiration that strikes so I'm sorry if its confusing now but I promise it won't be so confusing later :) I hope you'll stick around until we're all not confused anymore. ;) Thanks for reading!