"Mama, you look like you're not feeling well." Tim said, looking at her from the rear-view mirror.

Dara was looking outside the window, trying to distract herself from Jiyong's presence.

She looked at Tim and gave him a smile. "I'm fine, baby."

"You're pale." Jiyong commented. "Are you okay."

"I'm fine." She assured him. "Probably just lack of sleep. I haven't gotten a good sleep since a few days ago, back in Japan."

"We can cancel this if..."

"No, Jiyong... This is not about me. This meeting is important for the kids... I'm okay."

"About earlier..."

"Kiko?"

"I didn't know she was coming."

"There's no need to talk about it... I've no right to discuss it with you anymore, remember?"

"Dara..."

"Why'd she left early?... I'm just curious."

"She said there's something urgent."

Dara nodded and went back to looking outside.

Jiyong heaved a sigh.

Tim and Kim looked at each other, sensing the tension between the two older person in the car.

They got to their meeting place after a few minutes of silence in the car.

*************

"Jiyong... Nice to see you again." Ji Hye (the twins' mother) stood up to greet him. She looked behind him, expecting to see the kids, but got disappointed. "You've promised?" Her expression changed from being bright to dark.

"I'm true to my words, Ms. Wang... I just want to make sure everything's clear."

"I'm not gonna make a step that's gonna hurt my kids."

"I can't be too sure on that."

She chuckled. "You're a little scary, Jiyong."

"I am."

"But that won't have an effect on me... I'm having my kids back."

"Let me just remind you, I'm here because the kids have the right to know about you... But I'm not giving them up."

"Let's see what's gonna happen." She threatened.

"I'm just curious... All these years, you've never asked to have them back... and now, all of a sudden... you're here, showing your perseverance to get the custody of the kids."

"Their mine... I carried them for 9 months."

"That's all you've done for them... You abandoned them after."

"I had no choice."

"You had a choice... You just chose to leave."

"Enough with the talking, Jiyong Kwon... I need to see my kids."

"I'm warning you... Do not frighten or give them information they aren't able to handle."

"You're not someone I'll listen to when it comes to handling my own children... Where are they?"

Jiyong opened the door to let Dara and the twins come in.

Tim and Kim hid behind their Mama, looking a little scared of what's to happen.

Dara squatted to match her height with the twins' and spoke to them in a gentle manner. "Tim, Kim, she's your Mom... Her name is Ji Hye Wang."

Kim hugged her and whispered in her ear. "She doesn't look nice."

"Ssshh... Don't say that. She's your mom." She whispered back.

"My babies." Ji Hye called.

Tim and Kim gave Dara a questioning look to which she replied with a nod.

She stood up, held the twins hand and gently pulled them closer to their mother.

Ji Hye crouched down and pulled the two kids into her arms. Tim remained stiff while Kim tried to pull away.

"Mama..." Kim called out.

"Yes baby... I'm your Mama." She said, looking at the little girl.

"You're not my Mama." Kim reacted, pushed her with her small hands and ran back to Dara.

Tim on the other hand ran to Jiyong and hid behind him.

"I'm sorry about their reaction... They're just not used to this yet." Dara apologized while lifting Kim who has started crying in her arms.

"Who's this person?" Ji Hye asked Jiyong, looking annoyed.

"The kids consider her as their Mama." Jiyong replied confidently.

She chuckled bitterly. "So you've inculcated in my twins' minds about having a different mother than me?"

"That's not the case Ms. Wang... At their age, they needed to have someone they can consider as their mother for them to feel secured."

Ji Hye felt insulted with what she said. She walked towards Dara and pointed at her. "Are you pointing out something?... that I am a useless mother? Is that what you want to say?"

"I didn't say that and I didn't intend to make you feel that way."

"Don't act like you're better, lady. You're not even part of the family."

Jiyong meddled and stepped between the two woman while holding Tim's hand. "She's part of our family... and YOU'RE NOT." He stressed. "I don't know why I agreed to this meeting. Instead of making the twins feel good about your existence, you've even scared them... What more if I let them be with you... You've given me more reasons to keep them away."

"Don't you dare."

"It's not a dare. I'll do it." He stayed firm.

"Then media will know about it."

"That won't scare me anymore... Do as what pleases you. I won't stay silent either."

"You're full of yourself, Jiyong Kwon."

"I just know what I'm capable of doing." He gave him a smirk.

He then turned his attention to Dara. "You okay?" He asked while she replied with a nod.

He kissed Kim on her cheek before saying, "We're leaving." He scooped Tim in his arms and the little kid pressed his cheek in his Papa's shoulder.

"They're my kids, Kwon."

"Let's just get this to court... end of discussion."

"I'm fighting back."

"Go ahead... I'm sure you won't win."

"Aish!!! The hell with you, Kwon!"

"Please, let's not talk rubbish in front of the kids." Dara reacted.

"Mama, I want to go home." Kim said with arms tightly wrapped around Dara's neck.

"Jiyong?" Dara looked at him.

"Yes, baby. We're leaving." He said and walked towards the door.

Dara followed behind, carrying Kim on her arms. She heard Ji Hye scream from the inside after she closed the door.

************

"You said it's something urgent?"

"Before we discuss about it, have a seat." Bom offered. "Champagne?"

Kiko nodded after taking a seat, adjacent to the couple. "I was at Jiyong's house before I received your message."

"And thanks for answering to my favor."

"Was Dara there?" SeungHyun asked.

"She's there... but I didn't get the chance to talk to her. She left after seeing me." She replied, taking a sip of the champagne that Bom has handed her.

"That's one thing we would like to discuss with you, Kiko." Bom told her after placing two more glasses of champagne for her and her boyfriend on the center table and taking a seat next to him.

"First, sorry for asking you to pay us a visit instead of seeing you some place more convenient for you."

"It's fine with me... At least, I get to see you both... again." She smiled.

"Kiko, can I ask you something?" SeungHyun interrupted.

"Sure."

"What feelings do you have for Jiyong?"

She chuckled. "We've made things clear between us, SeungHyun. We're off as friends."

"No pretense? Just the truth?"

"I'm not lying... It's true... And besides, I know he's already madly in love with Dara... He even admitted realizing his feelings when he thought of using her to get me back."

Both SeungHyun and Bom looked at each other.

"So?..." Kiko looked at them.

"And it happened that day when you were in the park, right? When Jiyong was a little drank?" Bom asked.

"Yes... He was calling Dara in his sleep. I thought he's drank and needed someone to bring him home... so while he was asleep, I texted Dara about the park where he was."

"You texted her?"

"He needed to be home... I can't just drive him there. She might be there and think differently... I only learned later on that she was in Japan for an art event."

"That means..."

"If you're thinking that I'm trying to ruin Jiyong's relationship with her, I'm telling you now that I'm not."

"Kiko, Dara was there when Jiyong told you about his plan to use her to have you back." Bom told her.

"That's supposed to be a good thing, right?... I mean, Jiyong told me that night how much he loves Dara... I'm confused."

"She only heard the part about the plan... After hearing it, she immediately ran away."

"What? That's crazy."

"I probably would have done the same thing... It's something painful, Kiko. She got hurt badly."

Kiko took a deep breath. "How can I be of help?"

"We're hoping you can talk to her about how Jiyong feels for her... About the truth."

"She might not listen." Kiko was doubtful.

"Or she might... It's a 50-50 chance."

"Have you talked to Jiyong about it?"

"Seungri and Chaerin will." SeungHyun replied.

"And you believe this will help fix the misunderstanding?"

Bom and SeungHyun nodded.

"Fine... I'll do it."

"Really?"

"I will." Kiko smiled genuinely.

"Thank you, Kiko."

"I wanna redeem myself... This time, I'm gonna do the right thing."

The couple smiled back at her.

************

"Oops!" Dara bumped at someone's chest.

She just closed the door of the twins' room and didn't notice Jiyong behind her.

She got a little dizzy and got out of balance. It was a good thing Jiyong was quick to pull her by holding her by the arm while his other hand wrapped around her waist.

"Are you okay?" He asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine... Just came to check on the kids to see if they're still sleeping." She forced a smile when the truth was her head was giving her a hard time to focus as she felt pain like something's pounding it.

"You don't look well." He try to feel his forehead and it made his forehead crease. "You're hot."

"I'm fine... I just need rest." She replied while gently pushing his chest away.

She was about to walk past him but her knees felt wobbly and her vision was spinning, she needed to hold on to the wall for support.

"That's it." Without prior notice, he scoop her up to his arms and carried her to the nearest guest room near the kid's.

"Jiyong, put me down... I'm alright." She slapped his arm.

"You aren't." He gently placed her down the guest room bed and continued. "Can we forget about the issue between us for a second and focus on YOU? You know you're not feeling well but still insists of being fine... I'm sorry, Dara... but I won't let this pass. I can't just let you be like this and not take action." He raked his hair with his fingers, his voice a little louder than normal.

It made Dara a little speechless.

"I'm sorry if I raised my voice on you." He paced back and forth near the bedside while Dara was just staring at him.

He touched her forehead again. "You have a fever... Rest a bit while I get a pill for you."

"Jiyong..." Dara called, almost in a whisper.

"Rest... I'll be back." He said with authority and left the room.

Still feeling the pounding pain in her head, she didn't have a choice but to lie down and close her eyes.

************

Jiyong came back with a tray of soup, a glass of water and a bottle of acetaminophen/paracetamol (an antipyretic drug that helps relieve pain and fever).

He placed it down on the bedside table. "Have some soup before taking the medicine... You haven't eaten dinner yet." He spoke.

He looked at her when nobody responded only to find out she was already asleep.

He sat on the side of the bed and stared at her sleeping form. He tucked the few strands of hair that's covering her face behind her ear.

"I missed that angelic face of yours. It looks so peaceful when you sleep." A smile formed on his lips. "I miss you... I miss US." He whispered.

After s few minutes of looking at her, he stood up and went to the shower room to get a wet towel. Nana Jade suggested to wipe her with a damp towel to help lower the fever.

Jiyong decided to wipe her arms.

Dara flinched upon contact with the wet towel, she opened her eyes.

"Sorry to wake you up... Nana Jade said wiping you with damp towel will help lower your fever." He said then went back to what he was doing.

"I can do it myself." She said with frail voice.

"I insist." He said without looking at her. "I also brought some soup... Eat it while it's still hot so you can take your medicine... Let me just finish this." He continued wiping her arm. "The other one." He asked, pertaining to her other arm that he haven't wiped yet.

After wiping her arms, he stood up and went to the wash room again.

"Just needed to rinse it again with water." He said when he got back. "I'll wipe your neck and face."

Dara didn't reply. Instead, he allowed him to proceed with what he was doing.

"Feeling better?" He asked after he finished wiping his face and neck.

"A little." She replied. "Thanks."

He just smiled and placed the towel on the side table, beside the tray. "Now, have some soup... You haven't eaten dinner yet." He took the bowl of soup from the tray and stirred it with the spoon. He took a spoonful and asked her to open .

"I can feed myself, Jiyong."

"Come on... Just say AAHH." He instructed.

Knowing that Jiyong will insist, she just obliged.

After taking a few spoonfuls of soup, Dara shook her head. "I'm full."

"Already?"

"I can't taste anything." She said.

"Okay... Have some water." He placed the bowl down and took the glass of water from the tray to hand it to her.

While she was drinking, he got a tablet of paracetamol from the bottle and gave it to her. "This will help you with your fever."

"Thanks." She took it with a sip of water.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after taking the medicine.

"My heads as if being drilled... It's painful." She said.

"Remember you often massage my head whenever I'm stressed out?... Let me do it for you."

"Jiyong, you also need to get some rest... I'll be fine."

"I brought your favorite ointment... You told me you love it's minty scent." He chuckled, not minding what she said.

"Jiyong..."

He still didn't listen. Instead, he pulled her closer to him and laid her head on his thigh. "This should make you feel better."

She took a deep breath and sighed. She didn't want to argue anymore. She closed her eyes and surrendered.

It made Jiyong smile wider. "Sleep now." He told her while applying some ointment on her temple and giving it a light massage.

Few minutes have passed, he saw her breathing even out. He knew she's already in deep sleep.

He gently slid his hand on her nape and pushed it up to move it from his thigh to the pillow that's on the bed, making sure not to wake her up. He also covered her with a blanket and secured her side with another pillow.

He took another look at his sleeping form and wasn't able to stop his hand from reaching for her cheek, he gently caressed it. And slowly, without thinking, he bent down to give her a light kiss on her lips.

"Good night... I still love you, Dara." He stared at her for a few more seconds before deciding to leave the room.