Dara heard a few footsteps. She immediately turned her head towards the door.

“Seunghyun…” she whispered. She dropped Jiyong’s hand. “Have you…”

Seunghyun walked towards her and nodded with a small smile on his lips.

“Everything?” she asked.

He nodded again.

Suddenly, she felt sting in her eyes and her tears rolled down her cheeks. Unable to face Seunghyun now, she ran away.

Seunghyun was left standing in the middle of the room, staring at the only patient of the clinic.

“What are you still doing here? You should follow her,” Jiyong said.

“You heard everything too, didn’t you?” Seunghyun asked.

“Instead of wasting time interrogating me, you should talk to your girlfriend now.”

“Dara! Open the door please!” Seunghyun shouted at the other side of the door.

Dara was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees which were pulled up to her chest. Of all the places she has to go, her feet carried her to the only place that brought her too many memories – the school’s rooftop. Now, if she decided to face Seunghyun, the rooftop will have more memories on it.

“Dara…” Seunghyun said, dropping his hand from pounding at the door. “I know you’re just on the other side of this door, and I know you can hear me. And if you’re thinking that my feelings changed because I heard what you said to Jiyong, you’re wrong…” he trailed off. “Dara, please open the door, you have to face me sooner or later. You can’t stay like that forever. And I’m not leaving this spot unless we talk.”

Dara heard everything clearly. She stood up, uselessly wiping the tears that kept on flowing. She opened the door.

Seunghyun sighed in relief. He hugged her tight. “I thought you’re not going to talk to me.”

Dara pushed him gently. “Why aren’t you mad?!”

“What are you talking about?”

Dara looked up to gaze at his eyes. “You were just fooled! I toyed with your feelings! I made you believe that I loved you too! Why aren’t you mad then?! How can you just hug me like that as if nothing happened?! As if you haven’t heard anything?! How can you stay kind to me like that?! Why don’t you slap me?! Why don’t you slap me as hard as you can?!”

“You know I can’t do that to you.”

“Why?! You have all the reasons to do so! I gave you all of them! What else do you want?!”

“Dara, just stop crying already…” Seunghyun said, wiping her tears away.

“Why aren’t you mad?!” Dara kept on repeating the same question, pounding on Seunghyun’s chest.

“Because I love you…” he said, cupping her face.

“But you heard me…”

“I did. But i know that you love Jiyong even before you said that.”

Dara stared at him in surprise. “You…knew?”

Seunghyun nodded. “I can tell just by looking at how you stare at him from afar. I can tell just by your actions towards him, the way you smile at him, the way you laugh with him. ‘There’s no mistake in it,’ I thought the first time I saw how you reacted at Chaerin clinging on Jiyong’s arm the night we walked you home. And I’m not supposed to reveal this, but I have been spying on you. I have seen everything. I have seen how your eyes sparked when you’re with Jiyong. I’m sorry, hope you’re not mad. I just wanted confirmation…”

“Seunghyun…” she whispered.

“Three days is enough for me. At least, at those times, I felt the temporary feeling of having you as my girlfriend. At least I felt your fingers tangled with mine. At least I was able to call you mine for three days. At least I felt your lips against mine…” he said, pressing his lips on her forehead. “So, don’t worry okay? I will always be your best friend.” He hugged her tight and continued in a whisper. “I know Jiyong is the one that can make you happy. And not me.”

“Excuse me, Miss Shin? Has Mister Kwon discharged already?” Seunghyun asked.

“Oh, Jiyong-ssi? Actually not. The moment I returned from lunch a while ago, I saw the bed empty. So, I assumed, he went home to rest,” Miss Shin explained.

Seunghyun went out of the clinic. “Dara, Miss Shin said maybe he went home already.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Do you have any more to ask Miss Shin? I’ll call-“

“Omo, no! I don’t want to-“

“To what?”

“Never mind that. Let’s just go to Jiyong’s house to visit him.”

“I can’t go with you. I have to practice my live performance tomorrow.”

“Oh,” her face dropped.

“Take care,” Seunghyun said, waving.

“Is Jiyong home?” Dara asked, the moment the door opened.

“He’s asleep upstairs, Miss Dara,” Hae Man said bowing in front of her.

“Can I come in for a sec?” Dara asked.

“You can stay as long as you want,” Hae Man said, welcoming her inside.

Hesitantly, Dara entered. Even though it wasn’t her first time in the Kwon Mansion, she can’t help her eyes to gaze around the house. She still felt she was in a palace.

“Um, Miss Dara,” Hae Man said, who was now on top of the staircase. “This way please.”

Dara hurriedly followed. “Um, Butler Hae Man, can I ask you something? What happened to Jiyong?”

“Well, Young Master Jiyong was drinking last night. He especially ordered not to disturb him. So we let him be. The next day, he insisted of going to school even if his temperature was already high. A while ago, he called me to fetch him so he could rest. The moment I arrived, I saw him lying on the ground by your school gate. When we called the doctor, he said he was just stressed and fatigued. He just needed rest.”

Dara nodded. “Did he tell you any reason why he drank alcohol?”

Hae man shook his head. “We didn’t disturb him and we never asked.” Hae man stopped in front of Jiyong’s room. He opened the door for her. “Please enter. I bet he’s still asleep. He hasn’t woken up since.”

“Thank you, Butler Hae Man.”

She gazed around the room. She saw a few empty bottles of wine on the table. She went straight to where his bed was. And there he was, sleeping peacefully.

Dara walked towards him. She placed her hand on his forehead to feel his temperature, he still has fever. Suddenly, a maid came in with a basin and a towel.

“Um, let me handle that,” Dara offered.

After she was done with compression, she headed downstairs to the kitchen.

“Oh, Miss Dara, do you need something?” Hae Man asked.

“Um, I was thinking of cooking porridge for Jiyong to eat when he wakes up,” Dara explained.

She has been sitting beside Jiyong’s bed, not doing anything but staring at Jiyong’s unconscious body. Her hand was entangled with his. She stared at the digital clock just on the side table. It said, 6:38 PM. She decided to stay longer. Then she returned her gaze to Jiyong.

“You look handsome even though you’re just sleeping. How can someone be like that?” she asked. She leaned her head on top of their tangled hands.

Later, she dozed off.

It was pitch black when he woke up. It took time for him to adjust to the darkness. He can’t remember being in his room. Then, he remembered calling Hae Man to fetch him, because he wanted to rest. He stared at the clock on his table. It was 2:41 AM. Suddenly, a towel fell from his forehead. He was about to get it off his forehead when he felt someone’s hand on top of his. But because it was dark, he can’t see anything. With his free hand, he turned the bedside table lamp on. Now there was light, he was surprised to see Dara sleeping. Apparently, she was the one holding his hand. He can’t decide what to do – whether he’ll wake her up or let her be. His hand started to cramp too.

Suddenly, he decided. He forcefully pulled his hand under her, causing her to jolt awake.

 “Omo, Jiyongie! You’re awake! What do you want? Do you want something to drink?” she started to head to the door. “Oh, are you hungry? There’s-“

“What are you doing here?” he asked his tone cold.

“What do you mean? I stayed here to watch over you.”

“Watch over me?” Jiyong asked, unsure.

She went towards him again, feeling his temperature. “Oh, good. Your temperature got down. If it weren’t-“

“You should go home now.”

“Eh?”

“Why were you wasting your time watching over me when you could have just spent your precious time with your precious boyfriend?”

Dara creased her brows. “Waste my time?”

“Surely your boyfriend has been looking for you and wouldn’t it be inappropriate to find his girlfriend in another guy’s room?”

“You could have just thanked me, you know?” Dara mumbled inaudibly.

“Don’t involve yourself with me anymore, Dara,” he said. “That night, at the rooftop, I take everything back. You belong to Seunghyun now. You’re better off with him than with me.”

“Are you pushing me away?”

“There can be a change of heart in people, you know. And Chaerin… she’s with me now.”

Unconsciously, Dara’s fists were clenched on her sides. She exhaled loudly.

“You know what? You’re right. I just wasted my time here. I could have gone straight to Seunghyun’s house and spend my night there instead of falling asleep at the edge of your bed waiting for you to wake up and recover…” she chuckled. “I guess I’m going home now,” she said, turning. She reached the door. But stopped and turned her head a little to his direction. “Oh, yeah. I also wasted my time here by cooking porridge for you to eat the moment you wake up. I guess I have to go home and make up to Seunghyun by cooking him porridge too, since he’s my boyfriend. And that porridge is cold now. I’m sure you don’t want to eat cold food. So, go and call your girlfriend and ask her to cook porridge for you.” she turned to the door and slammed it behind her. At the door, she stopped for a second and sniffed. She was trying her hardest to stop her tears from falling, but now, they were gushing.