Another update because I love you guys. Happy New Year, darlings! :)

[I know Big Bang had their concert at Sapporo, Japan on January 1, 2014. In order for this fanfic to make sense, let’s all just agree that they moved it to January 3, 2014, instead. Alrighty? ^_^]

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Jiyong and Seungri arrived in Las Vegas just before noon on New Year’s eve and immediately checked themselves in their hotel. His friends, Harry Kim and several others, arrived a few days ago. It was an impromptu trip for the two Big Bang members and even Harry was surprised that Jiyong decided to celebrate with them since he had declined the invitation weeks ago.

But who's he kidding? Jiyong knew he's here for one person and one person alone: Ellie. The morning after the Christmas party, Jiyong took her to Incheon for her flight to Vegas. She had taken two weeks off from work and was to meet her family here to welcome the new year.

After clearing his schedule for a few days in between their Dome Tour in Japan, Jiyong immediately booked two flights going to Vegas. The return flight will take them directly to Sapporo for the next leg of their 6-dome concert tour with the rest of Big Bang. He almost did not get seats in First Class but after pulling some strings, he was able to get tickets. He brought Seungri as a cover but Maknae didn't have to know that. Jiyong's pretty sure his manager will kill him when he gets back but he doesn’t care about that, either.

Jiyong had been monitoring Ellie's IG posts over the last two days and he was thankful when he found out that her family was checked in at The Bellagio since Harry and the gang were also checked in there. At least I won't be running around Vegas trying to find her. That narrows down the search, he thought.

As soon as he and Seungri were settled, he met up with Harry and his friends at the restaurant downstairs to grab a meal.

He kept looking around as they made their way to the restaurant, keeping alert for any sign of Ellie. He had even rehearsed in his mind how he was going to greet her. He was going to act surprised and shocked at the "coincidence", then he would invite her to join him and his friends. If he’s lucky he might be able to meet her family. That’s how he planned to spend the next few days.

"Ji! Over here!" he heard his friend, Choi Soon Ho, call him as soon as they stepped into the restaurant. Peter Chun was also there and Harry, of course, but Jiyong was stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw who was sitting next to the young CEO.

"Oh, hyung, it's Kiko...” Seungri said slowly beside him, obviously surprised.

“You planned to meet her all along, didn't you? And I thought you just wanted to spend some time with me. You are mean, hyung," Big Bang's maknae grumbled as they walked slowly towards the table. Seungri didn’t bother to greet Kiko. Seungri just sat beside Soon Ho and chatted away.

"Hey, there Boo!" Kiko beamed at him enthusiastically as she threw her arms around him in greeting.

"Surprised?" she giggled before pecking him playfully on his cheek. Surprised wouldn't even begin to explain what Jiyong was feeling right now. She’s not supposed to be here! What the hell is she doing here? Hoping to get some sort of explanation, Jiyong gave his friend a questioning look.

"I heard Kiko was in California so I called her up when you said you'd be flying in. No need to thank me, dude. This is my late Christmas gift to you," his friend teased causing the group laugh, except Seungri who was giving him and Kiko the stink eye.

Jiyong forced a smile as he sat beside Kiko who promptly sidled up to him. He saw Seungri grimace before hiding his face behind the menu.

Jiyong sat in silence as Kiko told him stories about her latest fashion shows, the endless go-sees, and the photo shoot she did at one of the vineyards in California just days ago.

But Jiyong wasn't really listening. Since he had recognized that he really liked Ellie, he'd been planning to break it off with Kiko but he wasn't sure how. For the last few weeks, he and Kiko have not been on good terms after that argument they had in Japan so he was really confused at how Kiko was acting. Usually she'd have him beg on his knees before they got back together again. This bright and happy Kiko somehow frightened him.

Just then, Seungri suddenly stood up from his seat and was staring intently at something. Jiyong followed the maknae's gaze and felt his heart drop when he saw the familiar face. He prayed fervently to all the gods that Seungri won't recognize the girl but his plea obviously fell on deaf ears.

"Ellie noona!" Seungri called out.

Oh .

~~●~~

Ellie had spent the last three days hanging around Las Vegas with her parents and her brother. She didn’t care if she was still jet lagged or that her body still ached all over from the long haul flight, she woke up early and slept in late, making sure to spend as much time as she could with her family. She knew her parents were getting old and they treasure family moments since these have become very rare now that both she and her brother Gerry were adults.

It's been nearly half a year since she last spent some quality time with her family and she's really thankful that she was able to get some time off from work to visit them. Gerry, as usual, was busy with his luxury car rental company since holidays is considered peak season for his business. It has become somewhat of a tradition for them to fly to Vegas for New Years, odd as that may sound.

The first day of her vacation, her brother let her take the fleet’s new Ferrari 458 Italia for a spin to the desert and they drove out to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area just outside Vegas. She was so thrilled by the experience that her brother even let her borrow the Ferrari during her stay. She loved the car so much she wanted to buy one but that would be stupid.  

The following day, she went flying with her brother and dad. Their father had a passion for all forms of transportation by land, sea or air. It goes well with his other passion, which was traveling. The old man was considering buying a bigger yacht so he and his wife could spend their remaining days seeing the rest of the world.

On the third day, she and her mom had some girl bonding time and went shopping, had spa treatments and massages, and sampled the best wines at Wine Cellar & Tasting Room after their dinner.

Feeling more relaxed today, Giselle spent the morning lounging around their usual 3-bedroom Presidential Suite at Bellagio while her brother toured their parents at the new and bigger garage his luxury car rental company had just built.

It was New Year’s eve and her brother’s company was throwing an exclusive party at XS at the Wynn tonight and although Ellie wasn’t into clubbing that much nowadays, she wanted to support her brother’s event and meet some of their friends. Their parents will also be attending the event but they were planning on leaving right after the New Year’s countdown.

Despite the festive atmosphere, Ellie found herself feeling slightly under the weather.

It’s been four days already but she hasn’t heard anything from Jiyong. He didn’t call, or text. She was starting to get frustrated because she already missed him. Ellie stared at Jiyong’s number on her phone screen again. She had been doing that a lot since she got here. Good god, what has that man done to you? You were never the clingy kind, her ego reprimanded herself.

Since her parents had not called yet about lunch, she decided to head down to one of the restaurants to grab a bite. She could have ordered room service but decided that she could go do some people watching just to take her mind off Jiyong. She changed from her pajamas into something decent and acceptable, grabbed her jacket and her trusty HAC. She also decided to go shopping after lunch.

Ellie got out of the lift at the main level and stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar figure on the lift across from hers. Jiyong?

He was wearing a suit jacket, a hat and sunglasses, and was looking for something in his bag. Several people got on the lift and the guy was pushed further into the back of the elevato