His plan on dealing with the situation backfired. He forgot that with Fantastic Duo, she would have to sing with her numerous fans, including the opposite-. And who has a lot of male fans? Her. Jiyong forgot to take that into account. Regardless of whether they are ‘uncle’ fans or that they are the same age as her, they are still dangerous in his book.

But whatever, he is not going to do anything about it. He is not going to try to pick a fight with her. It’s just work after all. Besides, there’s Jaesang hyung with her - he trusts the older one to at least watch over her (and also report to him whatever it is that needs to be reported). Not only that, it’s also her birthday. He does not want to ruin her day with some meaningless fight over something stupid. It is already tough enough that she has work during her birthday when she could be out celebrating it properly with her loved ones. When he could be there to celebrate it with her.

He could feel his days to spend time with her are numbered. He has only few more days left until the start of his hectic schedule, starting with the music video shoot in LA. He wants to spend as much time as possible with her but their schedules do not allow that. Regardless of that, he will try to make it possible to spend time with her before his flight for LA – he has got something in mind anyway.

He looks at the time now. She’s probably done with filming for the show and is probably about to go out for drinks with Jaesang hyung and the crew. He hopes that she could go home soon so that she could see the gift he sent to her. He hopes she likes it.

*

Exhaustion. Jieun feels so exhausted. She never thought that she would have to do some work during her birthday but then again, this is something that is not unexpected when you’re working in the entertainment industry. These things happen – there are times when they have to miss spending time with family during Christmas or during any other important holidays just because of work. Besides, they were kind enough to celebrate her birthday. She feels thankful for that.

And it’s not like she is not going to celebrate her birthday with her family – just that she will have to postpone it to tomorrow. Inna unnie is also planning to bring her out either tomorrow night or the day after. So that leaves it with him.

She wonders if he is planning anything to celebrate her birthday or anything really before they leave Seoul – him for LA; her for Jeju. Not that she is expecting anything – she knows that he is really busy with preparing for his final solo comeback. She also knows that Taeyang’s birthday is also really soon so wouldn’t he be busy celebrating his birthday too? Whatever it is, even though she’s not expecting anything, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful for it. And that is really a dangerous thing. Because she is scared of being disappointed. And she does not want to ever be disappointed with him.

Just when she is about to just unlock her front door to her apartment, she notices a large bouquet of flowers quietly awaiting for her arrival. Not just any flowers – it is a mixture of red roses with dragon lilies. Who is it from? Jiyong? She picks them up, enjoying its sweet floral smell when she realizes that there is also a letter beside where those flowers were placed.  She grabs it and opens it up. Inside is apparently a birthday card with lilies as its cover: ‘Happy birthday, you! I hope you like the gift. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to celebrate with you on your birthday. To make it up to you, wanna meet up this Friday? I’ll pick you up at your place. I have something planned. With that, I truly hope that you still enjoyed your day today and I hope that you have a wonderful future ahead of you. Stay beautiful just the way you are. Truly yours, Kwon Jiyong’

She feels touched. She could feel her heart beating faster by the seconds. Who knew she would end up being with him? Life certainly does work in a very strange and mysterious way. She was and still is a Bigbang fan but she never was interested in him, not in that way back then – her preferred member had always been Taeyang, his best friend. But now, the best friend is the one who manages to steal her heart. She is not sure if this is love yet but at this rate, she could tell that she is starting to slowly fall for him. That dragon. Kwon Jiyong.

*

Just one more day before he leaves for LA and she leaves for Jeju. He could feel the time slowly ticking away. The reality finally sinks in. He won’t be able to see her for weeks, and probably won’t be able to contact her as much after today. He could tell that he is going to miss her. He could tell that he would be missing the way she laughs: that ahjumma laugh when she finds something amusing. He could tell that he would be missing the way her eyes: those naïve innocent eyes perk up when she finds something interesting or is curious over something. He is definitely going to miss spending time with her – their house dates have always been a highlight to his day, especially after a long stressful day. Not only that, he would just miss her. Thinking about all this makes him miss her even more even though he is going to see her any moment now.

This is why he is going to enjoy this date as if there is no tomorrow. Buddha did say to just concentrate the mind on the present moment instead of dreaming of the future. And that’s what he is going to do.

Before he knew it, there she is, making her way to his car. And she looks beautiful. He has never seen her properly dressed up just for him – he is so used to her just being casual around him in just her cute pajamas. She looks and is beautiful either way but he truly appreciates the effort put in making her look good for him. Color him seduced. He steps out of the car and greets her a ‘hey’ before opening the door for her.

“You look beautiful, you,” he compliments her the way she deserves to be complimented as soon as he got inside the car. He gives her a small peck on the lips, trying to memorize every bit of its features into his mind. One thing for sure is that he is going to savor every bit of these moments spend with her because missing her is definitely in the very near future.

*

“Where are we going, oppa?” She asks him. They are going further and further away from the typical streets of Seoul that she is used to.

“Hehe, it’s a surprise,” he answers with a smile on his face. He grabs her left hand, assuring her that he knows what he is doing. He puts it close to his mouth and lightly kisses it. He is going to miss this. He tries to imprint how it feels to hold this hand, how his hand feels when holding her soft small hand.

Jieun, slowly getting relaxed as a result of his gesture, is slowly enjoying this quiet serene moment. She too is going to miss this. How, even though no words were spoken between them, it is never an awkward silence (except for during that first hour of their first Palette meeting) – they are simply just enjoying the moment. Probably thinking about how their days went. Probably thinking about what they have to do the next day and so on. Or probably even just not thinking at all. They are simply just enjoying the peacefulness of it all.

How they are both going to miss this.

*

She has officially come to his world and he knows she is ready to know it all. She is ready to know every parts of him - the good things about him, the bad things about him, what makes him happy, what ticks him off – she is ready to know it all and this place plays a huge part of it. If the nightclub he brought her was somewhere he enjoys spending time escaping with his friends, then this place he is bringing is somewhere he enjoys spending time alone and truly escapes. From reality itself. From everything. Judging from her reaction, she seems to like it as she enjoys the view.

“Oppa, how do you know this place?” She never thought such place exists in the midst of the busy, bustling streets of Seoul. She never thought that such beautiful but empty park exists in the midst of this city. It feels like a secret hideout, a private property even because of the absence of people, excluding them, from this place.

“My parents used to take me and my sister here before when we were young,” he explains. “Even though they no longer bring us here, I still visit here often… sometimes for inspirations for my music, sometimes to just enjoy the view, and sometimes to just think.”

They stroll around the place, holding hands as they admire the view before settling on a place to just rest and sit for their lovely picnic. They finally settle on one place where it is close to lilies and roses – two types of flowers both him and her love. They talk for hours, just enjoying themselves as they try to hold on to today as if tomorrow does not exist. As if leaving each other physically does not exist.

*

“Oppa…” She puts her head on his shoulders as they watch the sunset together. Time has flown by so quickly between them that it is about to be evening by now. “Can we just pause this moment forever?”

“I wish we could, Jieun ah, but I don’t think that’s possible.” He pulls her closer to him, trying to not leave any gaps between them. He wants to feel her presence as much as possible.

“Oppa.” She looks back at him, eyes full of longing. “I’m going to miss you.” She could feel tears about to form from her eyes but she is not going to let these tears fall. She does not want this moment to be tainted by her tears.

“I’m going to miss you too.” He pulls her in for a soft gentle kiss, their lips in sync with each other. He doesn’t know how he is going to be without her during those weeks. He is too addicted to her: she is a drug that he could not seem to quit. He could foreshadow the withdrawal symptoms he has to endure during those times.

Can we just pause this moment forever? Never in their minds do they want it to happen so badly. Until now.

*

“Oppa, this is it. Thank you for today. Good night.” Her heart feels heavy to say those last words. Because it signifies the end. She plants a quick peck on his right cheek before trying to get out from his car. Why does it feel so hard to leave?

“Good night, Jieun ah. Take care.” His heart too feels heavy to say those words. He is not ready to watch her leave but he knows he has to. He wants her so badly to stay, it hurts him so badly to watch her back on him at this moment. No, he is not ready to leave her just like that. “Jieun ah!” He calls her out mere seconds after she exited from the car.

“Yes?”

“Can I stay the night?”

***

A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Honestly, it’s been a pleasure to write this fanfic. I wrote this fanfic with the intention of fulfilling my delusion thoughts for this couple – I feel deprived by the lack of GD x IU fanfics when I first started writing this (Just so glad that there are more and more fanfics about them now hehe). But it ended becoming more than just a fanfic to me. Writing this up has been a pure escapism for me from my life. I was (and still is) stressed out when I first started writing – stressed out over my final year exams, stressed out with anxiety over my final year results hoping that I would graduate with the best marks I could possibly attain, and now stressed out over my future: whether I could continue to do the optional final year of my higher education or whether I have to start finding a job. So yes, this fanfic helps to make my mind off those worries. And I would like to thank you for that. For giving me support by reading this story. For subscribing to my story. For leaving me such wonderful comments that I could not help but feel happy when receiving them. For upvoting my story. Just thank you, really. No words could really describe how appreciative I am of you guys.

Just thank you. :)