Dara was in their living room, flipping through TV channels to find something interesting to watch. It was the day of the prom and she showed no sign of enthusiasm. Her mother, Mrs. Park, wasn’t happy about it. She was leaning on the doorframe with a hand resting on her hip and glaring at her daughter’s back disapprovingly.

Dara heaved a sigh, feeling the presence of her mother behind her. She shifted in the sofa so that she could face her mother.

“What?” she asked wearily.

“Are you seriously not going to the prom tonight?!” Mrs. Park inquired.

“No,” Dara replied blankly.

“But why?” Mrs. Park’s voice rose a bit.

“Mom, I thought we were already through with this topic,” Dara raised a brow at her mother.

“Oh, please, for the love of God! Don’t expect me to just sit down and accept the fact that my daughter isn’t going to the PROM when all her friends are!!” Mrs. Park rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

“I told you! I don’t have a date!” Dara exclaimed frustratingly and stood up. “And I’m NOT planning to go there alone, looking like a fool!”

“Then why don’t you ask Jiyong?! He’s your best friend! And I talked to his mother. He doesn’t have a date either!! Go with him! Enjoy! Have fun!”

“Mom, I’m just fine. And,” Dara paused for a moment. “I c-can’t ask Jiyong….”

“And why is that?” her mother snapped.

“B-because I just c-can’t!”

Dara and her mother have been having this argument for the past week. When Mrs. Park found out that her daughter was dateless for the prom, she literally got a heart attack. She kept nagging her to go ask Jiyong since it turned out that he was dateless as well.

After realizing her feelings for him, Dara had been trying to find out if her assumptions were correct, if Jiyong had feelings for her too. But she couldn’t figure out any way that would help her to get the slightest hint of how he felt.

Yes, Dara wanted to go to the prom. She wanted to go there with Jiyong. She wanted him to ask her to be his date. Not the other way around. And so she had been hoping against hope that Jiyong would just turn up at her doorstep and ask her.

But the problem was that Jiyong wasn’t showing the slightest interest in going to the prom. He was now oh so busy with the new play station his father had bought. Dara had the strong urge to smash the thing into pieces because Jiyong wasn’t even bothering to spare a glance at her.

What bugged her was the fact that Jiyong was NOT going to the prom as well. When she had asked him the reason, he had simply shrugged and said that he didn’t find anyone worthy enough to go to prom with. How could that be possible?! Even Park Bom, the campus hottie had asked him to be her date. But he had declined.

Dara sighed as she shuffled her way to the park, her peaceful sanctuary. After the heated conversation with her mother, she decided to escape from home. She heaved yet another big sigh and looked up at the clear blue sky, imagining shapes and objects made up of the white clouds.

There was a bump on the pavement along which she was walking. Dara had always been careful about it. But she was so deeply immersed in her desperate thoughts that she forgot about it and well, she tripped. Thankfully enough, she regained her balance, saving herself from a painful fall.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You’re so pitiful, noona,” a voice spoke from behind her, causing her to jump in surprise.

Dara clutched her heart and whirled around to see Seungri, the devilish brother of Jiyong. Truth be told, Dara had always been a little scared of that brat. She was his favorite target when he wanted to pull a prank.

Once she was given the responsibility of babysitting Seungri because Jiyong was in the hospital for a knee injury and his parents had gone there to fetch him. The kid had convinced her into believing that he was possessed by a ghost and scared her soul out of her the entire day. When Jiyong and his parents returned home, they found her crouching behind their couch, pale with fear.

Dara’s brows furrowed in suspicion as she watched the mischievous brother of Jiyong smirking at her with his hands folded against his chest. He looked older for his age.

“W-Why did you sneak up behind me, huh?” Dara accused him with her fists resting on her hips. She just didn’t like the boy.

“I wasn’t sneaking up behind you, noona. I was just following you,” he rolled his eyes.

“And why would you follow me?”

“There’s something important I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, suddenly very serious.

Dara’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the boy’s expression, trying to find any trace of mockery. Finding none, she asked, “Is that so?”

Seungri nodded and stepped towards her, causing her to back off one step. He smirked at his noona’s reaction and pushed his hands in his pockets.

“I’m here to tell you a secret,” he said in a hushed tone, causing Dara to lean towards him.

“And what makes you think I’ll believe you?” Dara inquired suspiciously. “What if it’s one of your stupid pranks?”

“First of all, my pranks aren’t stupid! They’re cool!” Seungri snapped. “And I’m doing this because it’s a part of my brilliant plot against hyung.”

Dara’s ears perked up at the mention of Jiyong. What kind of secret did Jiyong have that he never shared with her? Her eyes glinted with interest as she curiously asked Seungri, “What is it?”

Seungri grinned. “You love him, don’t you?”

Dara gasped. She was taken aback. She made it sure that no one, absolutely no one, would know about her feelings for Jiyong. But how could this kid find out? And come to think of it, the kid just turned eleven last December! How could he know stuffs about ‘love’?

Seeing Dara’s flabbergasted expression, Seungri chuckled. “What? Surprised? You must be wondering how I know your little secret, right?”

“H-How d-did you-?”

“It’s obvious from how you’ve been gawking at hyung like a fool and spacing out now and then,” Seungri stated matter-of-factly.

“WHAT?! I never gawked at him!” Dara barked.

“How would you know? You were spacing out while doing that,” Seungri taunted her.

Dara rummaged through her brain to find words that she could spit at the brat but found nothing. She heaved a sigh of defeat and looked wearily at the boy. Only she knew how much she hated him.

Seungri’s face split into a wide grin. ‘Oh, the taste of victory,’ he thought to himself proudly.

“But obviously, we’re not here to discuss about your secret, are we?” he said smugly.

Dara pursed her lips. She absolutely didn’t want to keep up with the smugness of this brat. But her curiosity got the better of her.

“Just tell me what it is already!” Dara said, impatiently.

“Hyung loves you too!” Seungri spoke out instantly, making Dara’s heart skip several beats.

She gaped at Seungri for several minutes, wondering if she heard it correctly. Her stomach was doing summersaults. She must have heard it wrong. Or maybe-

“It’s a prank, isn’t it?” Dara asked.

“Nope, it isn’t,” Seungri shook his head.

“How did you find that out?”

“Come on, the way he looks at you, even a kid would be able to figure out that he’s MADLY in love with you,” Seungri said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And it really was obvious. Their friends, some teachers and even their parents had noticed it except for her. [Even we noticed that, didn’t we? But then again, if she found it out in the beginning, this story wouldn’t exist, would it? So yeah……]

Dara blushed a deep shade of red as her heart started to flutter wildly.

“W-Why sh-should I trust you?” she stammered.

“I swear it on the new PS3,” Seungri vowed, raising his right hand.

“And why are you telling me this?”

“As I’ve already said, it’s a part of my plan,” Seungri stated wearily.

“What plan?” Dara asked.

Seungri grinned. He would, of course, tell her. After all, she’s the main part of the plan.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But you’ve to promise me that you’ll keep it quiet,” Seungri told her.

“Promise,” Dara nodded.

* * *            

Jiyong slammed the controller beside him on the couch after losing five times in a row. He just couldn’t concentrate on the game. He ruffled his hair and leaned back into the couch. He felt like a mess.

Having Taeyang out of the picture, Jiyong felt hope rising within him. A part of his mind was encouraging him to go and confess to Dara, to tell her how much he loved her. But the other side kept reminding him of the fact that things wouldn’t be same if he confessed to her and she rejected him. Their friendship would be lost. Worse, she might start avoiding him.

The memory of what happened two days after the exam ended flashed in his mind……..

Jiyong was deep in thoughts of whether he should go and confess to Dara or not when he heard his mother call him. He went downstairs to find his mother sitting on the couch with Mrs. Park.

“Mrs. Park just told me that even Dara isn’t going to the prom,” his mother spoke. “Did something happen? Why did you two decide to not go?”

“Nothing happened, mom. It’