Annyeong! I updated fast, didn’t I? Didn’t I? :DDD No? Solma? But I felt it. Hmmm.

Arasso. Go and read!

“I really hope we could do a collab oppa! It’ll be daebak for sure! Hyuna is such a big fan of your group! Well, we of course! We really look up to you along with Super Junior and Bigbang. I’m sure the fans will like it if we could make a song together. Jiyoon’s ultimate crush is actually Yunho oppa. Aigoo! Her face always turns into a tomato whenever Yunho oppa is around.”

No one was actually listening to whatever the 4 Minute leader kept on blabbering about. It was already 7:16 pm and they met at a restaurant inside the Lotte World. Kyuhyun was busy playing on his phone as they waited for their orders to come. Jaejoong kept on glancing at the lady beside him. She was looking outside the restaurant but her eyes would always take a glimpse of the namja across her. Donghae had been quiet ever since they came. Kyuhyun was asking him questions here and there and he would always just give short answers. Sitting, the fish had his head bowed down and staring at his own lap. What did he find there interesting to ignore everyone’s existence, especially Dara?

Nothing.

But staring at his own lap was ten times better than seeing Dara with Jaejoong.

The kiss he saw a while ago . . .

His throat felt constricting and he took the glass of water in front of him and took a sip from it. Still, it wouldn’t lessen the pain of seeing Dara just smiling at Jaejoong after he kissed her. She wasn’t mad. Wasn’t offended. She was perfectly fine with it. With him.

With that thinking, Donghae emptied the water on his glass before putting it gently on the table, wanting to just disappear right there and then.

Their orders finally came and they ate in silence. Well, not actually in silence because Nam Jihyun couldn’t keep her chill at the idea of SuJu/DBSK/4Minute collaboration. Kyuhyun had been giving her dry looks as he ate his beef stew.

Jaejoong was smiling at her but deep inside, he was hurting as hell. He knew it. He saw it. He saw how Dara looked at him after the kiss. Sure, she wasn’t mad. Wasn’t offended. But obviously, wasn’t perfectly fine with it as well. With him.

The kiss . . . She wasn’t even looking at him but looked passed at Jaejoong. And when he turned around, there he saw Donghae walking with sagged shoulders.

Jaejoong glanced at Dara again and saw her staring at Donghae before looking down to eat her spaghetti and then glancing at Donghae again. Jaejoong smiled thinly at that and just looked at the food in front of him. I could never replace him. Right Dara? Jaejoong gulped his water in one go.

“So, Jaejoong oppa!” Jihyun finished chewing her salad and looked at Jaejoong with that aegyo face. “Are you and Dara eonni officially dating? Since when? You guys look really good together.” Jihyun smiled at Dara sweetly before turning back to Jaejoong.

Donghae stopped chewing the chicken in his mouth, not really tasting it and waited for his answer.

“Uhm.” Jaejoong cleared his throat and looked at Dara who seemed really uncomfortable now. “We’re-” Honestly, Jaejoong didn’t know what to answer that too. They weren’t officially dating. He just told her that he would show her how much he loves her.

But Jihyun cut him off. “Do you love Dara eonni, Jaejoong oppa?”

“Yes.”

A deafening silence ensued on the table that even when the waiter who arrived with a tray of desserts felt uncomfortable too. Kyuhyun wanted to tell Jihyun to just shut the up or else he’d shove her to the kitchen’s sink.

That was when Donghae lifted his eyes to look at Jaejoong who was staring lovingly at Dara. And her . . . Dara . . . She just smiled at him.

Donghae grabbed his glass and drank, only to notice that he already emptied his water a while ago. His eyes were unsteady. The place was well-ventilated but he could feel something suffocating him from the inside. His eyes returned to his plate. His fork piercing the chicken lightly but not really cutting it. His left hand on his lap already balled into a fist.

“How about you Dara eonni?” Jihyun was half-smirking at the YG goddess. “Do you love Jaejoong oppa?”

“Hello?”

The four wasn’t able to react well with the question when Donghae stood up abruptly with his cellphone on his right ear. “Excuse me. I’ll just.” He smiled and pointed a finger at his mobile. He wasn’t looking directly at anyone of them as he went out of the restaurant.

He got out of the restaurant already but his hand was still on the door’s handle. His grip tightened as he closed his eyes firmly.

You can do this, Donghae.

Don’t cry.

You can fight him.

You can still fight for her.

He let out a long breath as he let go of the handle.

But he really couldn’t bear to hear what would Dara answer to that question.

Dara felt someone pricking her heart as she saw how Donghae avoided looking at any of them.

No.

I’m sorry but I don’t.

I just couldn’t.

That was her most honest answer to Jihyun’s question.

But how cruel could she be to say that in front of the man who has stayed beside her when she shut herself out to everybody else? The man who supported and cared for her when the only man she loved just left? It was Jaejoong who loved her secretly for the past years and was just asking for a chance. Just one chance.

No.

I’m sorry, Donghae.

I just couldn’t.

“How about you Jihyun ssi?”

Dara was gotten out of trance as she heard Kyuhyun’s loud and excited questioning voice.

“Oppa?” Jihyun asked him. Quite surprised because it was the first time the Suju maknae actually talked to her. Jaejoong excused himself as his phone rang.

This is what I stayed for. Right, monkey? Kyuhyun tried so hard to hide his evil smirk as he chewed the beef lazily. “How long have you been dating uri Donghae?”

Jihyun immediately turned red with her eyes widened. Dara suddenly gripped her chopsticks a little too hard as she looked away from the girl. I thought she isn’t his girlfriend. But Kyuhyun . . . Why is he asking? Is there really something?

 “A-aniyo Kyuhyun oppa.” Jihyun giggled as she wiped with a napkin. “D-Donghae oppa and I are just friends.” She then felt alarmed as she glanced at Dara who was now staring at her. “B-but, really close friends.” Jihyun said as she stared at Dara but the rabbit just looked at her back.

Dara took a large bite of the grilled meat boringly, trying to hide that wide smile threatening to show on her lips. It failed do because her eyes said otherwise. They’re just friends. She didn’t know why but hearing that from her felt so good she could compose a song and make Jihyun’s name as the song title.

“Solma?” Kyuhyun just nodded at her. “Mianhe. I really don’t know. Ever since Donghae came back, we haven’t really talk so . . . I might be missing a lot from him.” Donghae. You owe me this. “I just thought.” Paused. “’Cause you know, I saw the Dispatch pictures last year and-.” This made Dara stopped chewing and her eyes fell on the condiments. “Hope you wouldn’t mind ‘cause the fish won’t really say a thing. Did you two purposely meet at Chicago?”

Jihyun was silent for a second. She wasn’t expecting him to ask her about that. “Uhm. I was there because of our music video shooting. We were having our comeback and it was just an accident that I saw Eunhyuk oppa at a nearby mall and it’s been a while