“Chaerin you look great tonight!” gushed Dara, as Chaerin walked out of her house in a lacy pink dress.

“You look terrific too, Dara!” replied Chaerin, as she saw Dara in a simple but classy black dress.

“Where’s Bom?” asked Dara.

“She’ll meet us there directly. Can’t wait!” giggled Chaerin, as the both of them flagged down a taxi to head to the pub where Bom was waiting.

Two hours later, all three of them had already had at least five drinks each, with Chaerin having had seven, since she was the birthday girl. Bom and Dara could tell that Chaerin was reaching her limit and were trying to restrict her intake.

“Yah, Chaerin-ah. You’ve had enough,” said Bom in a firm voice.

“Anni~, it’s my birthday. I want one more shot,” slurred Chaerin.

“Yah, Chaerin-ah. I think we’ve had enough for the day. We really should be heading off,” coerced Dara.

“Shiro yo! I already can’t get his attention. Can’t I at least get one more shot on my birthday?” protested Chaerin.

“What are you talking about? You already have Seungri’s full attention when you quarrel with him day in day out, don’t you?” asked Dara in a puzzled tone.

“It’s not Seungri! Why does EVERYBODY think it’s Seungri? Seungri’s just a friend who likes to squabble with me, like a sister!” bawled Chaerin. “I like Jiyong so much, but he’ll never notice me.”

This shocked Bom and Dara. Given Chaerin’s daily mannerisms, they would never have thought that Chaerin had a crush on Jiyong.

“You were so lucky to get him as a partner for the orphanage project, Dara,” said Chaerin in a drunken voice. “I ended up getting stuck with Seungri.”

“Why didn’t you tell Jiyong, Chaerin?” asked Dara.

“Why should I? I’ll never tell him,” slurred Chaerin. “He doesn’t need to know. Why would he accept me?”

Dara’s heart ached at Chaerin’s words. Chaerin finally gave in and allowed Bom and Dara to get her home by taxi. When they finally lugged Chaerin into bed, Bom spoke to Dara. “I know what you’re thinking of, Dara. Don’t do it.”

“Why not? And how do you know what I’m thinking of?” asked Dara defensively.

“Because you’re my best friend and I can read you like a book,” stated Bom with an air of finality. “You will cause Chaerin, Jiyong and yourself unnecessary pain if you do so, Dara.”

“Me? Why me?” asked Dara.

Bom shook her head in resignation. She sometimes felt like she wanted to give Dara a good shaking to make her see things that were right in front of her.

“Just remember what I said, Dara,” said Bom, as the both of them left Chaerin’s place to go home.

…

“Hey baby girl, shall we meet to discuss the party we’re going to throw for the kids at the end of the month?” asked Jiyong. They were having a short break between lessons early in the day.

“Yah! Don’t call me baby girl!” protested Dara.

“Why not? I think it’s a great pet name,” replied Jiyong cheekily, as the bell rang for lessons to resume. Jiyong had found out that literally nobody calls Dara baby girl and even though her mother uses it once in a while, it was becoming rarer and rarer as Dara grew up. Jiyong considered himself very lucky that he had chosen the right day to leave the monkey at Dara’s door.

“Nobody calls me that now,” said Dara.

“Nobody but me!” replied Jiyong, his eyes beaming at Dara’s apparent discomfort.

“Yah, Kwon Jiyong!” shouted Dara as she smacked him on the head.

“I’ll see you after school to discuss the farewell party,” laughed Jiyong as he went back to his seat, rubbing his head where Dara had smacked him.

…

Jiyong waited at the canteen as Dara had to see Mr. Kang before they discussed the farewell party. He saw Dara rushing over and waved to her.

“Calm down, calm down. There’s no need to rush. I’m not going anywhere,” said Jiyong.

“I just really want to make sure we complete the planning today,” replied Dara, her face flushed from running.

“Arasso. Anyway, I was thinking we could do this party as a whole class. That way, we can spread out the work and make it easier for us to plan something special for our kids. What do you think?” asked Jiyong.

“Oh, that sounds great!” said Dara. “I think the class should be open to this as well. I’ll text in the class Whatsapp chat.”

Dara sent out the idea over Whatsapp and put her phone down.

“What do you think we should get for our kids as a parting gift?” asked Dara.

“Do you think we should get them another stuffed toy?” thought Jiyong out loud.

“Can’t you think of something more original, Jiyong?” asked Dara. “Didn’t we already give them one at the picnic?”

“Isn’t that the point, baby girl? That way they’ll have two and that can remind them of us. One for each of us,” replied Jiyong with a grin.

“Oh I see! Oh then that’s a great idea. I’ll go get the toys,” said Dara with a beam, as she swiped Jiyong’s head again.