They were talking while walking to school. As soon as they reached the school gate, a couple of whispering girls caught their attention.

“Isn’t that Dara?!” one girl said.

“Oh my gosh, it is,” the other said.

“Have you heard the rumor that she used to date each of them before?” the third one said.

“Yes, and now, she’s dating the three of them altogether?!” the first said.

“What a ,” the second said.

What the second said made Jiyong ball his fist on his side and was almost going to confront the girls when Dara held his wrist. She felt that Seunghyun was about to do the same but she caught his wrist in time too. However, she saw Taeyang already marching towards the girls.

“Taeyang!” she called, gripping tighter on the wrists on her sides so they couldn’t escape.

But Taeyang didn’t hear her. He was already in front of the girls.

“How dare you call Dara a ?! You don’t know her so stop talking about her!!” he shouted angrily.

“Mianhe... Mianhe…” the girls said while bowing then they ran away.

“Taeyang!” Dara called again.

Taeyang turned to face her with a bright smile on his face, showing that irresistible eye-smile.

“Why did you just do that?” Dara asked.

“They were gossiping about you,” Taeyang plainly said.

“I know that, but-“

“I would have done the same, Dara,” Jiyong said, cutting her off.

“Yeah, me too,” Seunghyun agreed.

She looked at the three of them and sighed. “Don’t do that again. I can take care of myself.”

“As long as we’re here, we won’t let anyone hurt you,” Jiyong said.

“Yeah, I’ll let them taste hell earlier,” Taeyang said, punching his own palm.

Seunghyun chuckled. “We want to take care of you. So just let us.”

Dara sighed again.

“Dara-ah!” Bom called from across the room.

Dara creased her brow. Bom hugged her. “What?!”

“Why? Am I not allowed to hug you anymore?” Bom asked.

“Well, I thought you have forgotten about me. You know, because these past few days, you’re spending more time with Chaerin than me,” Dara explained.

Bom was teary-eyed and her lips were quivering so she hugged Dara again, tighter this time. “I’m sorry, I just got to know Chaerin,” she said then pulled back. “She’s so cool, you know? She knows sports like me too. And she knows how to sing and rap.”

Dara frowned.

“Anyway, today, I won’t be able to go home with you.”

“Why?!” Dara asked.

“Well, Chaerin invited me to go sing at a karaoke bar,” she said. “Perhaps you can come with us.”

Dara shook her head. “I have somewhere to go.”

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the day’s classes.

Chaerin and Bom already left to go the karaoke bar. Surprisingly, Taeyang joined them. He tried inviting her too but she told him she had an appointment. Seunghyun, on the other hand, has his own appointments too. He said that they’re going to record the last songs of his Korean album. As for Jiyong… she doesn’t know where he was. Maybe practicing or maybe he went home straight.

She felt a presence while walking alone on the corridor so she turned and saw Jiyong just behind her. This made Dara jump out of surprise.

“Were you following me? Oh, I mean, how long were you following me? Oh no, I mean-“ she stammered.

“I wasn’t following you,” Jiyong chuckled. “I saw you walking alone when I got out of Mister Choi’s office. I kept on calling you but you were ignoring me. So…” he trailed off, “well, maybe yes, I was following you then.”

Dara just blinked her eyes numerous times before she was able to recover.

“So, where are you going alone?” Jiyong asked when she started to walk away. He walked beside her.

“Somewhere…” she mumbled.

“I can go with you, if you want,” he offered.

“It’s okay. I can go there alone,” she said.

“It’s getting dark outside.”

Dara stared at him long. Jiyong just blinked and stared back. “Okay.”

They were walking silently when they reached a café and she entered. Jiyong followed her inside.

“Is there a job offering here?” Dara asked.

The girl behind the counter shook her head.

They stepped out of the café. “You’re looking for work?” Jiyong asked.

Dara nodded. “It’s for my living expenses.”

Jiyong just stared at her when she entered a fast food chain just beside the café. He was impressed of how hardworking she was. She’s ready to accept any job just so she could live and continue on studying.

They had entered every store, from bookstores to every fast food chain to pastry houses to burger houses – just any store. She’s determined to have a job.

Dara sat back on a bench. “Aigoo, I’m tired.”

“Let’s eat first,” Jiyong offered.

“No, I have to find a job first. I won’t eat until I found one,” Dara said, standing again.

“Dara, don’t be stubborn,” he warned.

Then her stomach growled.

“You were saying?” Jiyong mocked.

“Fine, let’s just be quick,” Dara said and recklessly entered the store just in front of her. She hasn’t noticed that it was actually a club. But it was a different bar. Judging from the music, it sounded as if the club was meant for relaxing people with soft ballad songs. They looked around and the tables were filled with couples dating.

“What the-“ Dara started.

In front of her, a live band was performing.

”It sounds great here,” Jiyong said. “Let’s eat here.”

“What?! But this is a club where most customers are couples.”

“So? I thought you were hungry.”

“I lost appetite,” she said. Then her stomach growled again. “Fine! Let’s eat here.” She stomped her way to a table.

While a waiter was taking their orders, someone approached them.

“Seunghyun!” Dara gasped. He was wearing a cap and a scarf that covered half of his face.

“I’m surprised that you can still recognize me even when I’m looking like this,” Seunghyun said. “Can I join you, guys?”

“Sure,” Jiyong agreed.

“I thought you’ll finish recording your songs,” Dara said.

“Yeah, we just finished. Since I still got time, I came here to relax. I’m actually a regular here because the owner is my friend.”

Dara nodded.

“So, what brings you here? Are you, guys, having a date?”

Dara shook her head frantically. “No, no… I was…”

“She’s looking for a job. We have already looked all over town. No one accepts a job,” Jiyong explained.

“Oh! I have an idea. Do you want to work here?”  Seunghyun asked.

“Here? Sure, why not?” Dara asked, excitedly.

“Okay, wait here, I’ll look for the owner. We can ask him to let you in easily.”

When Seunghyun left, Dara was clapping her hands, glad that she would finally have a job.

“I wonder what I’ll be working here. Maybe a waitress or cleaning of tables. I don’t really care as long as I have job.”

Just don’t overwork yourself, okay?” Jiyong reminded her.

Seunghyun returned with a fat man with eyeglasses beside him.

“This is Mister Jung, the owner of Love Club,” Seunghyun introduced the man beside him.

“Nice meeting you, I’m Dara,” she said, shaking hands with him.

“I heard you wanted a job,” Mister Jung said. “That’s good, we have a job opening. Just wait here, okay? I’ll tell Donghae to get down of the stage so you can start your job now,” Mister Jung said, hurriedly going towards the stage.

“What?!” Dara asked, surprised. “I’ll sing?!”

“Why? What’s wrong with that?” Jiyong asked.

“Yeah, you can sing, right?” Seunghyun said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our newest singer, Miss Dara Park,” Donghae announced to the microphone after Mister Jung instructed him what to say on the microphone. The audience gave applause.

“What?! No! I can’t sing,” Dara refused, starting to back out but Seunghyun pulled her towards the stage.

Dara was already on the middle of the stage. The band was behind her, asking her what she’ll perform. She was speechless. She doesn’t know what to sing. She wasn’t expecting that the job to be given to her was to become this club’s singer.

The audience started to complain, throwing insults against her. She heard them and creased her forehead. Out of all the things in the world, she doesn’t want to be discouraged by people around her. She’s a determined girl who always gets motivated by the people around her. So, when negativity is being thrown to her, she always shows them that she got all it takes to impress everybody.

Dara whispered to the band behind her what she’ll perform. Donghae, who was apparently the lead singer and lead guitars, gave her the acoustic guitar just behind them. She sat on the high stool and fixed the microphone in front of .

“Um, Annyeong haseyo. I’m Dara,” she said through the microphone. A couple of applause was heard and she smiled. “Thank you.”

She signaled behind her to start the soft music. And then she started singing.

Dara got off the stage with a satisfied grin on her face. She chose to sing a song titled “Wish you’re my love”. Much to her contentment, the audience gave her a loud round of applause and even requested another song from her. So the next song she chose to sing was “Yearning of the heart”. Some of them complimented her soft and sweet voice telling her that ballad songs really fitted her. Mister Jung said the same thing. He told her that she’s accepted as the regular singer for the band.

As for the band, they welcomed Dara warmly. When another band replaced them to sing on stage, they took the opportunity to spend time to know Dara together with Jiyong and Seunghyun. The band’s lead singer and lead guitars was Donghae.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Donghae said. And turned to her band mates. “He’s Wooyoung, our lead bass, he’s Nichkhun, our keyboardist, and this is Heechul, our drummer. At times, we don’t only play ballad songs; we also play rock or pop. It depends on the audience’s requests.”

They bowed and shook each other’s hands.

“Please take care of her,” Jiyong said.

“No problem, dude. She’s in good hands,” Donghae said.

Jiyong rolled his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re going to work there?” Jiyong asked for the nth time. Since they got out of the club, he kept on asking her. Now, even when they reached Dara’s home, he was still asking.

“Again, Jiyongie, of course I am. What’s wrong with working there?” Dara said. She feels really comfortable with being with him that she tends to keep on calling him ‘Jiyongie,’ but she wonders why she can’t call him that when Seunghyun is around. Thankfully, Seunghyun stayed at the club, to discuss “some matters,” with Mister Jung and the band.

“Well, there’s Donghae, and-“

“What’s wrong with Donghae now? He seems to be a very cool person.”

Jiyong rolled his eyes. “I’m going home.”

“Oh, okay, then. Take care,” she said, waving. But he never waved back nor turned his head towards her.