Chapter Twelve

DARA POV

(bold = korean)

Dara woke up confused as to where she was. The room was dark and unfamiliar. 

She was about to get up but then she felt an arm over her, and the fact that she was completely under the sheets.

She now remembered what happened. Her body was burning up as she could still feel Jiyong's fingers ghosting on her body leaving her out of breath for a second. 

She immediately shakes that thought off her mind knowing that thinking about it was wrong because this wasn't supposed to happen. 

If she left many years ago because she didn't want to be a home wrecker then what she is doing now is much worse because Jiyong is married with a kid. 

She slowly sits up and looks to her left where Jiyong was laying with his back on her. His breath was even, so he was sleeping. 

In the dark, Dara tries to search for her clothes with her eyes. She tried to recall where they are but to her luck she knew most of them were by the door way. She pulls the sheet carefully towards her so she can get up and cover herself still. 

"Old habits die hard, we fight, we end up sleeping together and you leave in the middle of the night." 

Dara wasn't as surprised that he wasn't sleeping. He was probably waiting for her to wake up. He was right this was their norm. He would just let her leave most of the time and they would talk in the morning or when they'd see each other again. He just waits till Dara calms down. "I wasn't going to leave." 

He scoffs and turns to face her. "And yet I could still catch you in a lie Dara." 

Dara bites her lip not saying a word. She raised the sheet higher so she can cover herself with out showing her shoulder. She was totally conscious about being completely under the sheets. 

He shakes his head and sits up to lean on the headboard of the bed. He rubs the bridge of his nose. "I really don't know why you keep trying to cover yourself. I've seen you more than that, and far too many times."

Dara could feel her blood run up to cheeks and it was because she was looking at him, his too half without the sheet was making her uncomfortable too. She was glad that the lights are off or he would see how her face is all bright red. She even had her arm across her chest now and her hair fell to over her shoulder. "Because you aren't supposed to to see me Jiyong. This isn't right. You're married."

He just looks at her as if wanting to say something but he decided against it. He lets out a hallow laugh and grumbles something angrily, "Like it would matter now."

"What?" Dara asks in confusion.

He shakes his head, "If you want to leave, you can. I am not going to stop you but we aren't kids anymore Dara" He releases a long sigh and he ran his hands through his hair. "I admit this certainly isn't the right way to deal with any of this, us ending here but there are more things at stake now. I have a four year old that I don't know of. You gotta understand how I feel about this about it. This sort of information, I can't grasp it all in one night Dara." His voice was so desperate and lost. He was sharing something that he wasn't able to word out since he had found out about Jinnah.

"And I could never apologize enough for the choices I had made and the consequences that came with it." Dara looks up from her arm and faces Jiyong. Despite the darkness she could see the sadness in his eyes and it made her tear up as well. 

He sighs, "We can't do anything about it anymore Dara. I could be angry for the time that has past but it doesn't change anything anymore. One thing I can do is be here for Jinnah now." He turns on the light beside him and looks her in the eyes, "I want to meet her. Properly this time." 

"Of course." Dara didn't know how to respond to that without sounding like she is demanding him too. 

Jiyong stands up and nods. His gaze left Dara's and he was staring at the front door of the bedroom then towards the bathroom door. "I'm going to take a shower." And without saying another word, he shuffles to the bathroom. Before he closes the door, he sighs. 

Dara was left there alone in the room. She was gazing into nothing specific and she felt a tear drop on her palm. That was when she had realized that she was crying. She quickly wiped off the tears with the back of her hand. 

When she heard the water running in the shower, she absentmindedly stood up took look for her clothes that was scattered around the room and left. 

Dara opened the back door of Leah's house, which Leah kept unlocked. She walks through the kitchen, and she sees Leah sitting on the couch watching TV. She was patiently waiting for Dara.

When Leah saw her, she turns off the television and stands up. "Hey," Leah greets cautiously . 

"Is Jinnah okay?" Dara asks standing by the kitchen table thinking if she should go ahead and check on Jinnah first before anything else.

Leah just nods, "She has been sleeping the whole time, She's in my room." She points at the bedroom on the corner of the living room. 

Dara sighs in relief. At least Jinnah didn't wake up wondering where she is. That would be the hardest part.

"How did it go?"

Dara had to fight the urge to shiver when she recalled what really happened and it was mostly Jiyong's kissing and his skin against her that had left a strong memory. The fight before that was a blur now. Dara clears as she responds, "Can I have some water?" 

Leah walks towards the kitchen to sit on the chair by her breakfast bar. She nods and points at the cabinet behind Dara where all the glasswares are placed. "Yeah can you get me a glass too?"

Dada grabs two glasses and fills it with water. She hands the glass to Leah while she drank most of her glass in one huge gulp as if she has been stuck in a desert deprived of water for days.

Leah raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "Do you want alcohol with that?" 

Dara blinks realizing that she had probably overreacted just now. She sets the glass to the side and shakes her head. As much as she wants to, she cant. "When Jinnah wakes up, I need to drive us home."

Leah just pursed her lips and nodded. "So? What happened?"

Dara couldn't remember much so she just replied the most simple answer, "Jiyong wants to meet Jinnah." That was the gist of what happened tonight anyway.

Leah's expression changed as her eyebrows met, she looked like she was going to laugh but then when she lifted her phone to look at what time. "It took you three hours to decide that? Obviously he'd want to. She's his kid."

Dara couldn't say anything. 

Leah's eyes widened, understanding what had just happened in the three hours that Dara was gone. "Oh my god. You two slept together!" She gasped and pointed at Dara accusingly. She didn't even need to wait for a response from Dara because it was too obvious. "Oh.my.god." She repeated again this time annunciating each word. "Isn't he like married with a son, to a Japanese model turned actress?"

"What?" She never told Leah about Jiyong. 

Leah shrugged, it should be clear by now that Leah always knows things even though no one tells her to. "I was bored. Didn't have anything else to do so I searched." Then she continues, "Doesn't this make things complicated though? Well, unless he's not married anymore."

Dara groans, as far as she knows Jiyong is still married. The way Jiyong looked at her as if she was correct that shouldn't have happened sort of verified it. She had a terrible pit in her stomach about it but she doesn't know what to do. And yes, it does make everything complicated but at the same time right now that is something she shouldn't worry about--yet.

"So how was he?" Leah asked mischievously.

Dara coughed out in surprise, "What?" She said in between her cough.

Leah just looks calm as if this was a normal question to ask. "Well, I've seen how male Korean entertainers act on TV. They are kinda girlish? I should say.... So I'm just curious how this guy is in Bed." Then Leah waves off her question and laughs at herself, "Well obviously if you have a kid with him, he's that amazing if you did it again."

Dara couldn't believe her ears. Her face soured and wanted to not talk about it now or ever. Even if Jay would ask, she wouldn't tell him. This situation is just something too complicated to even talk about. "You're seriously asking the most inappropriate question right now."

"You're in my house which means you aren't my boss right now. So no, I think I can ask that question but honestly, if I ask you what you guys talked about would you even tell me?" She knows Dara has been avoiding any topic that leads to Jinnah's dad. When he randomly showed up in the picture Dara has been on a spiral that Leah couldn't recognize in Dara. She could always knew Dara as someone who has her stuff together but the past three days it's like she's seeing a totally new side of Dara that she didn't know existed. 

Dara walks over towards the free seat beside Leah and sits there. In just a second she plopped and her head was on the table. She was exhausted and it wasn't about the whole day's events but what is going to happen now, especially between her and Jiyong.

Was it just ? Or was it supposed to be something more than that? She didn't want to think about it because she could remember what Jinnah had said. "If it makes you cry mommy, I don't want to meet my daddy...."

She didn't even think it through when Jiyong kissed her about how sleeping with him would make a mess of things. It wouldn't have been awkward to meet with him if nothing happened but now? There's always that question hanging above them, the meaning of what just happened. 

But for Jinnah's sake she needs to forget about it. Every time any decision has anything to do with Jiyong, she is never rational. She always makes rash decisions that ruin people or hurt people. She did it to Kiko before and now it's  her own Karma because she's hurting the one person she cares about in this world. 

She knows one thing has to happen before she has to deal with whatever lingering feeling she has. She needs to get her together...

"See you're spacing out again," 

Leah's voice brought her back. She was gone in her own thoughts again. She turns head at Leah and she bad a knowing expression on her face as if she knew Dara would act like this.  "Sorry, it's just--" she took a deep breath and let it out. She does need someone to talk to since if Jay would hear about this he wouldn't be very happy and he'd probably say things that are too harsh which she isn't ready  for yet. 

Leah waves her off. "You don't have to say anything." She said calmly. 

She starts off with a soft exhausted tone, "If you asked me how it happened it was all a blur. I was telling him why I left, then of course if the past comes up. Everything else that was our problem was brought up..." She bites her lower lip and mumbles, "And when we were in the middle of a fight, instead of him talking back he kissed me." She didn't need to continue after that because it's too obvious what had happened.

Leah smirks. She clearly is amused by all of this, "So you guys had a fight, and then that lead to that?" She repeated what Dara had said in disbelief. "Well talk about your five year pent up ual frustrations."

Dara sighed in desperation. She definitely didn't want to have an excuse as to why she had caused him to cheat on his wife. "Every time we'd fight we just yell and instead of dealing with it, we.... Yeah. That happens."

Leah just raised and eyebrow and took a second before she responding. "You guys have major issues." 

"I know." Dara unfortunately agrees. She didn't need to be told to know the mess they are both in. 

"Well first and foremost at least Jinnah is going to meet her father, right?" Leah always tries to see the brightside of things that even Dara isn't thinking of yet.

Dara just nods after all it is what matters the most. Jinnah.

Speaking of which, Dara glances over at her phone to see that it was almost 3am. "We have to go. Thanks for watching Jinnah--"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Leah grabs Dara's arm when she started to stand up. 

"It's late." She said but when Leah just stared at her blankly she added immediately, cause she just realized that Leah is letting her stay the night so Jinnah wont be woken up again. "I can't have you sleep in your couch at your own home. That's just asking too much." Leah is living in a one bedroom apartment and the only bed available is being taken by her 4 year old.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not cutting that little girl's sleep just so she can fall right back to sleep twenty minutes later. You are so welcome to stay the night." Then she had a devious smile on her face as if enjoying her own inside joke of some kind. "Besides, you're not the only one who is getting some tonight." She wiggles her eyebrows playfully and started to play with her phone more obviously.

Dara coughed. "Please don't make it sound like it was okay at all."

" is . Either it meant something or not that still doesn't mean you didn't get laid." Leah rolls her eyes and stands up as she shoulders her jacket. "Jackson has been waiting for me to come over anyway." Leah has been dating  this guy for three weeks and so far all Dara can tell about their relationship is it's more of a companionship than feelings. 

"Oh." Dara said. She was secretly thankful since she sort of also was too tired that she could barely stay awake now.

"Stay as long as you'd like. I probably won't be back till late tomorrow night. It's Mark's birthday tomorrow and if I don't show up, my sister is going to kill me." Leah's face turned sour as she recalled how her sister ranted for a good twenty minutes about needing to remember family. "Just lock the door before you leave."

Dara pursed her lips and nods. "Well drive safely." It's a Saturday night which means alot of the people that are partying are going home and some of them may be dumb enough to think they aren't drunk enough that it's okay to drive.

Leah squeezes Dara's arm comfortingly. She offers a smile, "Get some sleep okay? God knows you need it." Then without saying anything else