---

[DARA]

 

  Empty.

 

  The hotel room was empty when I finally woke up. The clock beside the table says 8.20am. It's that early but Jiyong was already no where in sight. I sat up, my chest suddenly filled by a sunken feeling as I ran my fingers subconsciously across the empty space on the bed beside me. It's only so early, where could he be? Has he fully recovered from the drugs already?

 

  There was no note, no nothing. His shoes were gone too. Geez, he must be hella pissed off by me yesterday.

 

  I gathered up my belongings and went down to the counter to check out. I pulled out my purse, ready to pay for the suite only to be told that the sum was paid in full earlier by 'a man in a black coat'. Jiyong.

 

  I started to walk back home restlessly. Gram's house isn't near from here, but I thought I needed the air. Beside, guess who has a whole load of unnecessary time now that's she fired her own job. Me. Sighs.

 

  I couldn't stop thinking about last night. That hard look that Jiyong threw me before he finished the glass of drink knowing full well that it's spiked, his sudden confession about his fears and the way he calls out my name while being in a semi-conscious state.

 

  It should be safe for me to believe that he loves me now... right?

 

  "AGKKKK!" I raked my hair in frustration, scaring a few elderly strollers. This whole thing is such a pain in my head. It's a problem I don't want to face but it's bothering me so damn much.

 

  I stopped in my tracks as I noticed the medical school a few buildings ahead of where I am. My new working place (to be)! I gazed up at the infrastructure as an amazed look smears itself across my face. I have been here before for the interviews, but it feels so different standing outside of the building while knowing that I'll be a staff here soon enough. 

 

  The lobby of the school is huge, and I feel a little out of place here. I just wanted to come in and take a look anyway. But before I could leave, an aged man whom I recognised to be my interviewer and the head professor of the school stopped me. 

 

  "You must be Miss Park. You don't have to start work until next week, you know?" He beamed at me.

 

  A giddy smile spreads across my lips as my new title hits me. Miss Park! Kyaa! I am a teacher (technically, just a teaching assistant but !!!!!)!

 

  "Yes, yes, I just thought I should check the place out and uhm, familiarise myself." I stammered flusteredly. Get a grip Dara!

 

  The old professor lifted his brows and surveyed me. "Sounds great. You do have a lot of passion, like I've heard. It's a fortune that we didn't really dropped your application." 

 

  I must've looked confused because the professor chuckled at my expression before going on.

 

  "We initially didn't shortlist you as one of the successful applicants after your interview. But some three months after that, your friend came over to ask us to review your application. We were hesistant for the same reason that we didn't grab you during the first round; it's hard to be a medical personnel with haemophobia. But he had dropped by almost every day to make a strong case for you. I'm sure you'll become one of our great assets. I'll see you on Monday then, Miss Park."

 

  I blinked at his words. Huh? What is he talking about, I've got no friends. Besides, who would do something as thick skinned as to come by everyday to plead for my position?

 

  "Wait!" I called out before the professor could leave. "That friend of mine... Do you happen to know who he is?"

 

  "Ofcourse," He laughed, "Mr Kwon. Hadn't he told you?"

 

  The professor left for his office, leaving me stunned on the spot behind him. 

 

  Jiyong... He did this for me?

  

  If it happened three months after my interview, that's a few months ago, when we were still together. That must be some time after we came back from Jeju. 

 

  As I dragged my feet out of the school and back on the way home, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a mixture of confusion and heartache, and I began to shed tears for god-knows why. 

 

  If he loved me, if he really loves me, why did he leave me? I begged him so hard to stay with me that day in the hospital, but he still left. When I told him I love him, he asked me not to make him feel bad for me. It's so hard for me to forget that crashing pain that followed, that pit of despair that I felt myself falling into. If he loved me so much like this, how did he bear to hurt me like he did?

 

  I found a bench on the street and sat down. Where on earth is he now? Was what I said last night really too harsh?

 

  Maybe it's not important to keep digging at the question of whether he loves me or not. 

 

  But do I want to stop pretending that I don't love him anymore?

 

---

[-]

 

  The day after, and the day after the next, Jiyong has stopped appearing in front of Dara's house.

 

  Initially, she pretended not to be bothered. But she would wake up promptly at eight despite not having to go to work to look out of the window, hoping that she will finally get to see his familiar backview leaning against her fence. She would even walk to her boutique at the timing when she usually ends work, trying to convince herself that he might not be aware that she has already quit her job.

 

  Jiyong wasn't there, either.

 

  On the second day after Dara's club fiasco, she went back to The Groove and brought back Jiyong's motobike. He must've been too unwell to go back and claim it, so she left it in her yard. 

 

  On the sixth day, Dara and Bom were shopping at a mall when she ran into Jiyong.

 

  He looked fully recovered, with his expedition of formally dressed mobsters behind him. Dara stopped in her tracks, her wide eyes making contact with his from afar. Unlike hers, his were cold and unreadable, flickering away from her gaze. Behind him, Daesung caught Dara too and was about to wave before Seunghyun pressed his hand down. But Dara's eyes were on Jiyong only, who made a turn into the Hong Kong restaurant without nodding or aknoledging her presence. As if he couldn't see her at all.

 

  He must still be so mad at her.

 

  

---

[DARA]

  

  "Gosh, Bom. Can't we just not take a cab?" I whined.

 

  Shopping is like a war which Bom takes very seriously. And here I am lugging bags of her battle trophies which she didn't have enough hands to carry. In comparison, like the humble person that I am, I only bought a small bag of snacks and a single pair of socks. 

 

  "Come on, walking is good for our fitness." Bom cooed. Bull, as if I don't know that she has spent too much to afford a ride home now.

 

  We were two tragedies, trudging in the cold night with an insane amount of bags. As we passed by a street of bars, I thought I saw someone familiar in the alley. It was a man wearing glasses who was talking to a young-looking female while holding a mug of beer in his hand. I squinted hard at him before his identity hits me, and I tugged on Bom's sleeve feverishly.

 

  "That was the scumbag that spiked my drink in the Groove!" I whispered to her angrily in a hushed voice. Damn him, is he trying to hunt for another girl with the same trick?

 

  "Are you sure?" Bom asked. 

 

  "It can't be wrong." I answered grimly.

 

  Wrong move, because Bom snarled and dropped all of her bags on the ground.

 

  ", Bom!" I squeaked, lunging forward to grab her but it was too late, she had already started her march towards the human scum. Gah, I really don't want any trouble tonight! 

 

  "Hey child!" Bom yelled, catching the attention of the pair. "Don't drink that okay? He probably spiked it and is just trying to sleep with you." 

 

  "Watch your words, woman. Who the hell are you?" He demanded furiously just as I managed to catch up to Bom. Scumbag! How dare he try to deny it!

 

  "It's true!" I added loudly, glaring at the scum. Now he's ticking me off.  "He drugged my drink last week in another club. Thankfully I didn't have it."

 

  The young girl was now looking at the bespectacled man skeptically, pushing herself off the wall. He tried in vain to convince her with hushed lies, but she still smiled awkwardly, refusing his advances before slipping back into the bar to her friends. That's right girl! Mama would be proud!

 

  I didn't have much time to celebrate because as his latest prey slipped away, the guy turned his incensed expression to us. 

 

  "Hero time is over, time to go." I tugged at Bom.

 

  "What's there to be scared of? He-" Bom just opened when she was cut off by the sound of glass shattering. We shrieked and jumped back as the scum flung his glass of beer at our feet, shattering it into splintereens. 

 

  "ing es..." He growled, advancing on me as he whistled omniously. This is not good. 

 

  "Stay back, I'm calling the cops." Bom warned as we retreated slowly, her voice getting slightly shaky at his outburst of violence. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and waved it threateningly. Suddenly, it was grabbed out of her hand from behind and tossed against the alley wall before it fell on the ground, cracked. I turned around in fear to see that three more guys have appeared behind us, blocking our way out of the alley. .

 

  One of the guys behind us s his arms around Bom and tore her away from me, where he held her immobile in a head lock. 

 

  "Very vocal, aren't you?" The scumbag that spiked my drink hissed, moving closer to Bom as he picked up a large shattered piece of glass on the floor. 

 

  "No!" I shrieked, pulling my shoes off my feet as I rushed forward to smack at him blindly. I may not be as wild as Bommie but NO ONE can maul my best friend in front of me. NO. ONE.

 

  It didn't take long before the other two of his accomplices rushed up to restrain me. I managed to give the scumbag a black eye and he spat angrily before turning his rage towards me. Roughly, he pinched my cheeks, forcing my face up while bringing his palm up in the air. 

 

  "Don't touch her!" Bom sounded on the verge of tears as I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact that never came.

 

  Instead, his grip on my cheeks loosened and my eyelids flew open just in time to see his face shoved away from my vision to be replaced by Jiyong's.

 

  "Ji..." I muttered in a daze as Jiyong gently lifted my face up with two fingers on my chin while he tilted my stunned face from left to right, as if he's closely inspecting if the scum left any wounds on me.

 

  How did he find us here? Wasn't he in some important dinner meeting at that expensive looking restaurant?

 

  "You again!" The scum snapped. "Who the are you?"

 

  His voice caught Jiyong's attention and he looked down at my hand. Only then did I realised that I had been grasping onto a fistful of his shirt tightly, my heart thumping erratically in my chest. Immediately, I released my grip and he took a threatening step towards the bespectacled guy.

 

  "Your grim reaper." Jiyong answered his question casually as he moved his hand to the inside of his coat for his... No no no... Not that!

 

  I stumbled forward and yanked his arm back. "Don't use your gun!" I hissed. The scum blinked upon hearing my words and his trashy accomplices behind us seem to falter momentarily as well. Jiyong merely looked at me amusedly. 

 

  "What the hell are you doing, butting into other people's business?" The scum demanded at Jiyong. He seems very interested to keep the entire situation just at a verbal confrontation level now.

 

  "Hasn't anyone told you whose turf is the whole of Itaewon?" There was another voice behind us and I wheeled around to find Seungri, Youngbae, Daesung and Seunghyun standing at the entrance of the alleyway, cutting off any roads for them to escape. Looking far from ferocious, the four were wearing a lazy, entertained expression on their faces.

 

  "Can I join, boss?" Seunghyun asked loudly.

 

  "No, they're mine." Jiyong answered, before turning to the burly man who's still holding on a shocked Bom. "Let her go."

 

  The man growled and clenched tighter onto Bommie, who whimpered. Instantly, my feet started to move in worry but I was stopped by Jiyong's outstretched hand. 

 

  "They just won't listen." He sighed darkly. 

 

  It happened in a flash; one moment Jiyong was still standing in front of me and the next he was in front of the guy, who barely had time to react when Jiyong rammed his palm up below his chin. He staggered back in pain and Bom took the chance to shove him away from her. I caught her as she ran for me and pulled the both of us against the wall. Her breath was unsteady, mirroring my own's.

 

  This time all three of them charged towards Jiyong at the same time, one of them wielding a wooden pile he found dangerously. But Jiyong had anticipated this. He took a calculated step towards his side, kicking one of the goons in his hamstring while the other two crashed into each other. 

 

  With his free hand, Jiyong pulled one of them up, twisting his arm in a dangerous position as he writhed in pain, begging for mercy. Another crawled up from the ground and attempted to charge through the Untouchables' human barricade, but Youngbae shook his head as he crushed him hard in the back with his elbow.

 

  "You better take the punches or it'll be a bullet instead." He mused.

 

  With two of the four immobilised, Jiyong swiftly the bespectacled man as I held my breath, too scared for his safety to make a sound. Unlike me and Bom, the other four are starting to look bored. This is insane. These people have no concept of danger.

 

  The wooden pile is now broken into two, and the remaining accomplice picked it up while Jiyong is busy teaching their leader a lesson and aimed the splintered end at his back. Before I could scream a warning, Jiyong grabbed onto the pile without looking back and twisted it around, driving it into his assailant's thigh instead.

 

  A pool of crimson immediately started to spread across his khaki coloured pants as he howled in pain. I couldn't tear my eyes away from that patch of scarlet that's starting to drip. My breath was getting short and ragged, as if there's someone pressing on my throat. 

 

  "Dara!" Bom squealed, squeezing on my shaking hands. "Are you okay? Don't look at the blood." She hushed, turning my face away from the sight with her cold palms. 

 

  Jiyong seemed to be momentarily distracted as he turned to me with worry creasing on his forehead. Behind him, the scum who now has a bleeding nose took his opportunity to punch Jiyong in the jaw. Jiyong snarled, his eyes turning into slits as his hand started to roam dangerously on the ground for a piece of glass shard.

 

  "Jiyong no!" I shrieked, unable to help it. He was already seeing black, and nobody needs to end up in the police station for manslaughter tonight. 

 

  Jiyong cursed again, yanking the scumbag to the ground before lifting him up closer to his face by his collar. 

 

  "Do not let us see you anywhere again." He warned and immediately, the man agreed, begging to be released.

 

  Once the threat has been done, the Untouchables stepped aside, allowing an opening for the four who didn't hesitate to scamper out of. My heart was still pumping erratically in my chest from all the violence that I witnessed in the span of 10 minutes, but I tried to kept my composure steady as I stared at Jiyong, who turned around while cracking his knuckles. He held my gaze, but he didn't stop when he passed by me, only giving me a small nod of his head. 

 

  Wait, is he going to leave again? Just like that?

 

  No!

 

  "Jiyong!" I called out frantically. His feet came to a halt.

 

  Jiyong turned around and so did his sworn brothers, who were all eyeing the scene carefully. Suddenly, I lost my tongue. , what did I wanted to tell him? At a loss, I knotted my fingers together and bit my lips.

 

  "Come on Miss Bom, we'll send you home." Youngbae said loudly behind Jiyong. Bom turned around, giving my hands a hard, reassuring squeeze. I looked at her nervously and I knew her round eyes were trying to convey a single message, before she let my hands go and followed after the four.

 

  Have courage.

 

  It's just the two of us left now, apart by around twenty metres, seperated by that single question that has been burning in my head.

 

  Do I dare to love him again?

 

  "What's wrong?" He asked, his brows mashed together as he tried to gauge the expression on my face. I stared at his eyes, his lips, his nose. Every part of him is still so captivating to me. 

 

  His frown deepened with my silence and he started towards me. But before he could take a step, my feet took off on their own accord, and I lunged myself into his chest, causing him to stagger backwards in surprise. 

 

  "What-what's wrong?" Jiyong stammered in alarm. I hardly ever hears him stammering. I shut my eyes and took in a whiff of his scent. He smells so.. him, so familiar, and so much like home.

 

  "I miss you." I admitted. There goes my last bit of dignity.

 

  He pushed me lightly off him and scrutinised my face, looking flabbergasted. 

 

  "Huh?" He asked in confusion, looking extremely adorable. I can't believe he was the same badass earlier who knocked out four men barehanded.

 

  "I said I missed you." I repeated patiently.

 

  He looks even more confused. "I thought you didn't want to see me anymore?" Jiyong deadpanned. 

 

  Gah, did I say that? Hah hah, oh yeah I did. For the entire past month, actually. , now I'll have to do the humiliating thing of eating my own words in front of him. 

 

  "I.. I..." 

 

  A boyish grin was starting to spread across his face from ear to ear as he waited for my reply. This douchebag! He just wants me to lose face on purpose!

 

  "I know you won't bear to ignore me forever." He closed the distance between us, whispering hoarsely. His eyes were twinkling, and I found myself lost in them once again before I quickly snapped myself out of it.

 

  "I take it back." I scoffed in defiance, making a move to leave. Instantly, a look of panic flashed across his face as he grabbed me roughly and crushed me in his arms again. Hah, gotcha.

 

  "No way Dara." He growled, burying his chin into my shoulder. "Please don't. I don't think I can handle that again."

 

  My heart softened upon his words. 

 

  "Promise me a few things." I requested.

 

  "Anything"

 

  "First, I want you to always discuss things with me. The dangers, the risks and your worries. We'll face them together. Stop making stupid decisions that only end up hurting the both of us. Like leaving me for my sake. Things don't work that way, Jiyong."

 

  He snuggled closer to me. "Okay."

 

  "Second, I won't be your woman, Jiyong."

 

  He pulled away aruptly. "What?"

 

  "I don't care how the Mafia works, but I'm nobody's woman." I said in a determined voice. Hell yeah Dara! "It's either girlfriend or nothing."

 

  A small smirk was slowly beggining to form on his face. "Since when did you became so authoratative, Park?"

 

  "Oh, I don't know. You hurt me into changing a lot of things." I snapped.

 

  "Okay, girlfriend it is. But to my brothers, you'll still be my woman. The only one. Nothing can change that."

  

  I was trying to hide the crazed elation that erupted in my chest. He said I am his girlfriend!! KYAAA!!! I CAN FINALLY CALL JIYONG MY BOYFRIEND NOW!

 

  I cleared my throat to calm myself. But I felt like I needed to confirm that fact again, just in case.

 

  "To all of my friends... they'll know you as my boyfriend."

 

  "As you please." He shrugged nonchalently.

 

  YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

  But my euphoria was cut short when I see a deep graze on his forearm. Immediately my chest constricted painfully.

 

  "You're bleeding." I frowned, lifting his arm up. Without answering me, Jiyong tooks my hands together and bought them to his mouth, where he planted a small kiss on them. 

 

  "So am I finally forgiven?" He asked, his voice suddenly quiet as he stared into my eyes, and as he did all of the pain, the hysterical crying and the despair from the past months flooded back into my head again. To forgive means that I have to let go of that, to accept why he hurt me the way he did and to emphatise with it. 

 

  But his days without me didn't seem to be a breeze as well. I remembered the way he was in the fight club. He wouldn't degrade himself like that if he wasn't suffering too, right?

 

  Jiyong was waiting for my reply, his eyes reflecting a speck of fear which makes me want to just hold him tighter. He was waiting, waiting for me to end this nightmare. For me to end my own nightmare.

 

  "I forgive you, Jiyong." I sighed. It felt like a heavy piece of rock in my heart is finally laid down. "But please don't ever-" I added hastily, but I was cut across by his triumphant shout as he punched the air before swooping down to capture my lips in his. I shut my eyes as I let the feeling of his warm, moist lips against mine wash over me. This feels so right. It has to be right.

 

  "You don't have to say it. I lost my mind when I saw you hurt and unconscious after that ing crash. It was my fault and I thought you'd be safer without me baby. It wouldn't happen again. I swear." He said in a raspy voice after he finally drew away, his forehead leaning against mine. My eyes fluttered open and upon seeing that pained expression beyond his tightly shut eyes, I touched his cheeks.

 

  "Okay, Jiyong. It's over now." I reassured him.

 

  "So is there any third request?" He asked after a while. Ah right, that reminds me.

 

  "Ofcourse." I answered playfully, drawing myself away from him as he eyed me with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. 

 

  "Uh huh?"

 

  "I want to spend the night at your place."

 

---

FINALLY.

I KNOW THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING,

BECAUSE AS THE AUTHOR MYSELF THAT'S ALL I CAN HEAVE OUT AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.

And all you kinkies waiting for something to happen, you won't be waiting for long now

 

8 more chapters to go :( How long do you want their honeymoon period to last?

In the meantime, please please please  do check out one of my mafia related One Shot,
a MV reintepretation of Tell Me Goodbye.

READ HERE